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Everyone Knows Women Can’t Do Dips or Pull-ups

January 28, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 4 Comments

Yes, “everyone knows women can’t do dips or pull-ups” is what I recently heard a young woman say. Young as in 28 years old. And who apparently goes to a bootcamp class somewhere.

She complained that she can’t do dips and said that of course she can’t do pullups. Because, yes, you got it, “everyone knows women can’t do dips or pulls.” The only good thing I can say is that at least she didn’t add any age to it. Her belief is for ALL women.

Women Can’t Do Dips or Pull-ups. Or, Can They?

Sheesh. Several women in the Becoming Elli Facebook group are working towards doing a pull up. I was able to do a pull up a few years ago. I can do a dip today. OK, maybe my arms might shake a bit but I can do it. And I guess I should say that I usually do bench dips or I use the dip machine.

I love the dip/pull-up machine. It’s one of my favorite pieces of equipment at the gym. And you know what? I see women use it frequently.

I get that doing some things can be hard. Difficult, even. But if you set a goal and work at it, usually you can get there.

If you go through life saying it’s impossible to do something, then of course it’s impossible to do it. If you don’t try, you can’t succeed.

I’m still impressed by Pam Sherman who we interviewed in Episode 59. She does pull ups every day.

Obviously, this young woman is struggling and so justifies her frustration by saying it’s impossible. That’s despite it clearly being possible. It makes me wonder if there’s anything that I’m saying is impossible that I could actually do.

What about you? Is there anything that you find yourself saying, “oh everyone knows that’s impossible.” Share with me if there is.

Mental Performance with Jen Borovica

January 26, 2021 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

In episode 75, Jill and Chris talk with Jen Brovoica about mental performance, triathlons, and overcoming trauma.

Jennifer Borovica is a three-time Ironman finisher and an avid triathlete. She coaches triathletes and specializes in mental performance coaching.

She is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) in the State of Ohio. She currently runs her own private practice, called RebelRising Wellness where she does individual therapy and has created a sober active community for women in recovery.

Jen is a member of the Applied Association of Sport Psychology (AASP) and is working towards obtaining a Mental Performance Consultant Certification (CMPC) through AASP.

During the podcast we discuss:

How to find a sport community group of runners or bike riders
How her group helped her to make changes in her life
Why the nervous system can get “hijacked”
The effect of mini traumas on ability to be calm
The window of tolerance between hyper aroused, and hypo aroused.
How to control anxiety and deal with difficult feelings
Using power words and incorporating a mantra to manage emotions

She shares her story of overcoming trauma and addiction, learning how to deal with difficult feelings, and gaining strong mental skills to be able to perform.

With her mental performance coaching, she works with athletes on these topics:

Mindfullness
Mental toughness
Mental imagery
Mental rehearsal
Positive mental attitude
Positive Self Talk
Motivation
Goals & commitment
Concentration & focus
Managing emotions

For more information about Jen Borovica, check out these links:
RebelRising Wellness
AJ Baucco Coaching

Three Word Commitment

January 23, 2021 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

A few weeks ago, my three word commitment for 2021 bubbled out of my annual review of 2020. The prior year had been, in many respects dismal and disappointing, because of a boatload of challenges. I needed more resilience. As I mentioned in that post, I really was affected by so many mental challenges.

Coming out of that post however, I selected my three words for 2021: activity, fit, strong. Funny how I didn’t pick any words that primarily focus on mental resilience. I think I left that all in 2020 – when all of my words centered around attitude.

From 2020’s last three words:
Here is my three word commitment of focus words for 2020:

Grateful – Focus on gratitude. Count my blessings, hug my loved ones and try to look at the good side of situations. It’s too easy for me to get fixated on what is not going well and ignore the 99% of how lucky I am. While I don’t want to be overly pollyanna-ish (I’m naturally opimistic), I do want to be sure not to miss the good things that come from difficult situations. (A good friend calls them growth opportunities.)

Cue – After re-reading the book on building habits, I’m going to focus on the cue to the habits, more than the actual routine or reward. Set a reminder on my phone to take my vitamins. Put out exercise clothes the night before for the next morning. Make my to-do list at the end of the workday.

Declutter – Let go of the things that are too worn, outdated, I don’t need or don’t bring me joy. Finish the projects I start. Discard or donate the things that I’m no longer interested in. In my mind, this word somehow ties in with letting go of procrastination.

If you had asked me in the summer what my 3 words were, I think I would have only been able to utter: “resilience” because that was my focus at the time.

I am taking a cue from Jill and her approach to her 3 focus words for 2021 and making a print out that will remind me daily of the my 3 words.

Activity to me means taking action and actually doing something about it. Not try but do. Not plan to but actually execute. This applies to taking care of myself physically and mentally, along with other ways as well.

Fit is fitting into clothes that I love that remain in my closet because they either don’t fit, or I am not going anywhere that requires a party dress or a business suit or even a 5K race. My clothes don’t fit me anymore and I blame the pandemic mindset of PJ’s, sweatshirts and Zoom meetings. I don’t think I put on my dancing shoes (comfortable black pumps that match dress up outfits and slide around the dance floor, perfect for any wedding), at all this past year.

Strong embraces both mind and body. Strong enough to lift, carry and be physical active for hours. Strong enough to bike for hours and strong enough to seek hills! Strong enough mentally to enjoy the time of care giving as a blessing, not an obligation. Strong enough to be patient and kind.

Winter Running Requires Some Planning

January 21, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

I’ve tried to do my running outdoors this winter as much as possible. I’ve been lucky that the weather has not been too bad here this winter because I’m not really prepared for running in snow. My shoes are not winter running shoes, really.

What to Wear

Check out the photo of me. I’m wearing layers to stay warm while running. I have on my winter running tights from Under Armour. They do a great job of keeping my legs warm. I do have on my knee high compression socks just as an added layer for my calves. I have about three layers of clothes on top. It seems like it’s necessary to keep my core warm. I also have gloves, a hat, and a scarf thing that I recently bought.

Here’s my advice on running in the cold. Keep moving! Even if you just slow down, you want to keep moving at some pace. Otherwise you’ll start to cool off. When you’re waiting to get started, don’t stand around in the cold. You will get cold! If you’re waiting for a running partner, wait in your car.

I like to wear enough clothes that I get warm while I’m running though I might feel a bit chilly when I first start out. If I overdress, then I get overheated while running so it’s important to find that happy balance.

Staying Warm

You’ll notice that I have my Nathan water belt strapped around my waist. I took a bottle of water with me just in case. I probably didn’t need it because I only ran about three miles but I like to have the option. Obviously, during the winter, I don’t freeze my water bottles because I don’t need to have that cold feeling on my lower back.

When you’ve finished your run, you’ll want to get out of the cold and get out of your damp clothes. Don’t stand around talking in your running clothes because you’ll get chilled. Also, you might enjoy a warm drink or a cup of soup after your run. I’ve seen that some companies are coming out with protein mixes to make hot chocolate. I’ve not tried them but I bet they’re a great way to end a run.

Quarter Folded Tuna Melt Wrap

January 16, 2021 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

It seems that a quarter folded wrap is the newest thing in sandwiches. Or maybe I’m really late to the party.

I wanted to try a folded wrap sandwich using a tortilla.

It’s really quite simple. Prepare your ingredients and have them ready to assemble into the quarter folded wrap. I burned my first one because I didn’t have everything ready the first time.

Heat the griddle on medium low. You can spray a little olive oil if you want. Place the tortilla on it. Slice the tortilla from the center to the side.

I find it helpful to picture four quarters. Fill three of the quarters with food. I used mozzarella cheese, tuna salad and spinach. The warm ingredients (cheese) are assembled first (so it can melt) and the cold ingredients are assembled last (so they don’t get too hot!)

Because the cheese needed to be cooked the longest, I put that into the tortilla first, but it became the last quarter to be wrapped.

Flip the empty quarter over the spinach. Then flip the folded spinach part over the tuna salad. Last, flip the spinach and tuna salad over the cheese. I have a quick one second video that shows the flipping. It’s easy once you do it, but maybe hard to picture if you’ve not seen it before. I know the video flipping helped me to visualize how to do it.

Folding the Quarter Fold Wrap

Click the one second video to see how the folding works. It would have been so much easier if it was only a egg salad sandwich with a tomato garnish and a spinach garnish, but because I wanted melted cheese, this involved trying to get the cheese in the place where it would melt and also not have the tuna salad fly out when I was folding the quarters.

Of course I made it harder because I wanted it to be a grilled cheese, tuna melt… not just any sandwich.It’s not real easy folding tuna salad!

I feel I should have started with a beginner sandwich, not a grilled tuna melt!

Do you make quarter folded tortilla sandwiches?

What’s your favorite?

My Three Words for 2021: Create, Lift, and Rally

January 14, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 3 Comments

It’s time for my three words for 2021. Choosing three words to reflect my goals for the year has become an annual tradition. I actually think it might have been Chris who started me on doing this.

I dug out last year’s words. As you can see, I wrote a post about them but then the year got so crazy that I forgot all about it. You’re supposed to review your words every day to keep them in your mind but I obviously didn’t do that. My words for last year were Abstain, Routine, and Family. I spent a lot of time dealing with family issues so I guess that was accurate without even trying. I don’t think I abstained from much and my routine fell to pieces when I quit going to work every day.

Last year was a tough year and I’m hoping that this year is better. That hope is reflected in a way in my words.

I like to choose words that have multiple meanings. That way I can think about them in different ways. For example, the year that I used the word Reduce for one of my three words turned out to be the year that I release some weight that I’d been wanting to see go as well as the year that I got rid of many household items that I no longer needed.

My Three Words for 2021

Here’s what I’ve come up with for 2021:

Create
Lift
Rally

These words all have multiple meanings for me.

Create

I have lots of things I want to create this year. I love creating content for the Becoming Elli community and hope to increase what I’m doing here. Hopefully, you’ll see some creative content on this website.

I also joined a Zoom writing group in 2020 and while I’ve been a participant, I’ve not been a creative one. I’ve been the person giving some feedback and being the audience. I intend to pursue some creative writing projects this year.

Finally, I took knitting back up after a lengthy break and enjoyed it. I made some scarves, a couple of hats, and a lot of dish cloths to share with people. I’m hoping to create some more bigger projects this year.

Lift

This word too has multiple meanings. I really want to focus on my strength training this year. My boyfriend, who was a big gym rat, always refers to a strength training session as a lift. He’ll ask me, “how was your lift?” I hope to spend a fair amount of time at the gym this year lifting weights.

Lift, of course, also means to raise something up (besides a barbell that is). I’m hoping that 2021 allows many of us to have a lift. A lift in spirits, a lift in health, a lift in mood. We could all use some sort of lift.

Finally, a third definition is to give someone a ride, as in “do you need a lift?” I’m hoping that as I move through 2021, I do it with others. I’ve spent too much time alone recently and I need a lift, indeed.

Rally

As soon as I reviewed the definitions of this word, I knew it had to be one of my three words for the year. Absolutely.

According to the Free Dictionary, rally as a verb means:

1. To call together for a common purpose; assemble: rally troops at a parade ground.

2. To reassemble and restore to order: rally scattered forces.

3. To rouse or revive from inactivity or decline: paused to refresh themselves and rally their strength.

and as a noun:

1. A gathering, especially one intended to inspire enthusiasm for a cause: a political rally.

2.

a. A reassembling, as of dispersed troops.

b. The signal ordering this reassembly.

3.

a. An abrupt recovery from a setback, disadvantage, or disease: The doctor was delighted with the patient’s rally.

b. A sharp increase in price or value after a decline.

I want to revive myself and rally my strength. Also, I want to get my life back into some sort of order after the past year.

My boyfriend and I do some camping in his Airstream trailer. We plan to attend a few Airstream Club rallies this year, assuming the pandemic is at least somewhat behind us.

Wrapping Up My Three Words for 2021

The important part of setting up the three words is to focus on them throughout the year. It does no good to select the words and then forget about them. I think I’ll make my graphic a wallpaper for my phone or laptop. That way I’ll see them all the time.

What are you doing for the new year? Setting goals? Picking words? Let me know what works for you.

tracking and motivation 3 year anniversary

Tracking and Motivation – Three Year Anniversary Podcast

January 12, 2021 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

In episode 74, Jill and Chris celebrate their three year anniversary of the Fit Strong Women Over 50 podcast for the Becoming Elli community.

They discuss tracking and motivation while reviewing highlights from past episodes.

“It’s been an exciting three years and we’ve learned a lot about healthy eating, fitness and motivation.”

Mentioned in this podcast:

Veggie Challenge
Strength Training
Cardio
Sleep
Akron Half Marathon
Biking
Goal Setting
Working out at home
Healthy Eating
Food and Fitness tracking
Tracking and Motivation
Mental aspects of Fitness
Discipline
Habits

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

January 9, 2021 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

This recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls is made from cabbage leaves and is sometimes called “Pigs in the Blanket” or “Rolled Cabbage.” I know if I call it Pigs in the Blanket, most people think of those little hotdogs in a rolled up piece of dough… This is NOT that recipe. I’m not sure when that name turned into hotdogs, but somewhere along the way I missed it! I was born in western PA and grew up in northeast Ohio, where this was called Pigs in the Blanket at potlucks or other gatherings. It really is rolled up cabbage leaves stuffed with rice, veggies and meat, covered with tomato sauce. Now you can go wild making this into a major process where you cook your own sauce and spend lots of time on the stuff part of the cabbage. I like to keep it simple.

Here’s my recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls:

Ingredients: cabbage, onion, brown rice, hamburger, tomato sauce. (Some folks also use sausage and I think that’s the pig part of the name pigs in the blanket. I prefer beef instead of pork, but that’s just me!)

Core the cabbage. Peel off leaves as big as possible.
Steam the leaves. (Some people freeze the cabbage and then let it thaw. I’ve never tried that.) I actually boil leaves in water while I’m cooking some brown rice. Remove the cabbage leaves when they are pliable. I use tongs because they are hot. Set aside and let them cool.
Pour tomato sauce in bottom of 9×13 pan. I used about a third of a can of Hunts traditional tomato sauce.
Cut up the cabbage core and the little left over parts of cabbage that didn’t come out as good leaves… chop into bite size pieces, cook in the water. When they are a bit translucent, lay them on top of the tomato sauce. This uses up the rest of the head of the cabbage. The bottom of the dish is lined with the cooked cabbage.
Drain any left over water. Chop and cook the onion until translucent and put into a bowl. After rice is cooked combine the chopped onion, cooked brown rice and raw hamburger. Salt and pepper. Add a little less than a third of the tomato sauce to mixture.
Now it’s time to make the blankets. Use tongs to remove cabbage leaf. Spread on a cutting board and trim that little hard part of the stem so it will fold easier. Make a small oval ball of rice/onion/beef mixture and place on on leaf. Wrap leaf around the hamburger rice onion mixture.
Line pan with the pigs in the cabbage blanket.
I figure about 12 cabbage rolls for one cabbage, depending upon how big my cabbage was.
Pour remaining sauce on top. Cover with tin foil.

Bake at 375 for about an hour. Uncover for about 15 more minutes to brown. After you take it out, let it rest for a few minutes so it can cool a bit before serving. Delicious!! Remix: Here’s a different version of the same recipe with just a few changes.

different version of stuffed cabbage rolls

Another time I made these cabbage rolls, I really upped the veggies. Instead of adding just an onion, I used a whole bag of frozen green and red peppers with onions. I chopped up the frozen veggies and mixed that in with the meat and rice. I also added an egg to hold it together better. This made more filling so in turn it made more cabbage rolls. The last few rolls were actually made up of pieces of cabbage leaf, because all the whole leaves were gone. I also used some toothpicks to hold the tin foil off the cabbage rolls. So do you ever make this? What do you do differently?? Leave me a message at Chris@becomingelli.com or in the comments below.

Creamy Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot

January 7, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 2 Comments

I came up with my version of creamy vegetable soup in the Instant Pot.

I was out of town unexpectedly recently and left with a refrigerator full of vegetables. When I got back, I realized that I needed to use some of the produce quickly or I was going to have to throw it out. It was more than I could eat in one sitting so I tried to come up with a creative solution.

We’ve shared a variety of vegetable recipes on this site. Chris shared a recipe for vegetable soup. I didn’t have enough variety of veggies to make her recipe so had to come up with something different.

Creamy Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot

Here’s the recipe I created. I used the Instant Pot for this though I suspect you could make this on your stove top. This ended up being a quick and easy recipe that was came out well.

I took the head of broccoli and chopped it roughly into large pieces, including the stalks. There was a bag of Brussels sprouts that needed to be used so I cleaned them. I ended up with about a pound of broccoli and a half pound of Brussels sprouts.

I think you could switch out the vegetables to something different. Perhaps a squash and carrots would be good. Cauliflower added with either the broccoli or the Brussels sprouts would be good.

Experiment with different combinations of vegetables for a variety of quick and easy soups.

I put all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and set it for 10 minutes.

I think you could make this soup with any number of vegetable combinations.

Ingredients

1 pound chopped broccoli

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts

½ yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tsp ground ginger (fresh ginger would be great)

Salt \

Pepper

1 can coconut milk

1.5 cups of chicken broth

Juice of half a lemon

Directions

Put everything in the Instant Pot. Set the Instant Pot to 10 minutes. Let it release naturally.

Use an immersion blender to cream the soup. Or put the soup in a heavy duty blender (I use a Vitamix) and blend. Take the center piece out of the lid and cover the lid with a towel.

Toppings

If you have toppings, go ahead and add them to the bowl of soup. I used raw pumpkin seeds. They worked well. You could probably use croutons or a bit of coconut cream or pine nuts. Toppings aren’t necessary but they do add a bit of crunch to the soup.

Achieving 2020 Fitbit Goals

January 5, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 4 Comments

I ended up setting 2020 Fitbit goals when earlier this year I checked out my Fitbit stats to see what my annual numbers were. I discovered that I’d had a drop in everything in 2019. Even though I was more than half-way through 2020, I decided to set a goal of exceeding my 2019 numbers.

2020 Fitbit Goals

In this chart, you can see where I was at the end of August and then the new data for the balance of the year.

Year	Steps	Floors	Miles	Calories
2020 (Sept – Dec)	1,746,319	2260	777.75	292,848
2020 (Jan – Aug)	2,753,992	4030	1,227.36	561,806
2019	3,688,570	4274	1,649.06	812,909
2018	4,341,364	6801	1,913.71	896,669
2017	4,662,734	5635	2,118.93	910,336
2016	4,824,029	6836	2,182.38	868,856
2015	4,253,875	7124	1,971.57	810,115
2014	3,071,844	5713	1,365.49	778,890
2013 (Mar – Dec)	2,505,079	4481	1,101.9	731,658
Totals	31,847,806	47,154	14,308.15	6,664,090

I met my goal!

Here’s what the annual totals look like.

Year	Steps	Floors	Miles	Calories
2020	4,500,311	6290	2,005.11	854,654
2019	3,688,570	4274	1,649.06	812,909
2018	4,341,364	6801	1,913.71	896,669
2017	4,662,734	5635	2,118.93	910,336
2016	4,824,029	6836	2,182.38	868,856
2015	4,253,875	7124	1,971.57	810,115
2014	3,071,844	5713	1,365.49	778,890
2013 (Mar – Dec)	2,505,079	4481	1,101.9	731,658
Totals	31,847,806	47,154	14,308.15	6,664,090

I met my goal of beating my 2019 numbers but I also beat my 2018 numbers.

2016 remains my banner year so perhaps I should set a goal of making 2021 my highest year in steps. Looking at the numbers, perhaps I’ll aim for reaching 5 million steps for the year. I was going to say, “I don’t know if that’s doable or not but I’ll try” but then remembered that we’re supposed to say things in a more certain way. So, let’s go with, this year I am able to break the 5 million mark in steps.

Women Can’t Do Dips or Pull-ups. Or, Can They?

What to Wear

Staying Warm

Folding the Quarter Fold Wrap

My Three Words for 2021

Create

Lift

Rally

Here’s my recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls:

Creamy Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot

Ingredients

Directions

Toppings

2020 Fitbit Goals

2021 Goal: 5 million steps