The Great Debate: Pre-Workout Fuel

TGIF! TGIF!

Good morning FitFeat friends!  Are you so excited that the weekend is upon us once more?  I am ESPECIALLY excited because this weekend they are forecasting some 70+ degree weather and sunshine!  More chances for me to get some Vitamin D action!  😉

What a week it has been.  Have you noticed what’s been missing this week?  WOGGING!  My poor dogs.  They haven’t been out on a walk since Monday evening.  I’m a bad puppy-mommy this week!  I’ve had daily “social-cizing” plans and the rest of the time I’ve been glued to my PC in preparation for the upcoming blog move. 

Maybe yet today I’ll be able to get them out.   

Check out my new breakfast creation:

Now I know what you’re thinking:  “OMG what IS that?  It looks disgusting!”  But let me tell you this was one delicious little pre-workout fuel!  It is toasted Ezekial smeared with coconut oil (in lieu of vegan butter) and then smeared again with a MEDJOOL DATE!  Mmmm coconutty-datey sweetness!  Brendan Brazier (professional Ironman triathlete) says that coconut oil and dates are great exercise fuel:  the coconut oil has MCTs (medium chain triglycerides) that are more easily converted to energy by the body, not to mention easily-digested simple carbs in the form of the date. 

I often will eat half of a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar for pre-running fuel thanks to Brendan’s info.  That particular Larabar contains dates, coconut and coconut oil. 

I met up with my friend (and fellow personal trainer) at The Bluffs yesterday morning for a hilly run.  Wendy is a serious running pro, let me tell you.  She’s a multi-time marathoner (including the BOSTON which one must qualify to enter).  The only reason I’m able to run with her currently is because she is nursing a foot injury.  Notice I’m not saying “keep up with her currently” — because she still could have TOTALLY left me in the dust yesterday, I know it.  🙂 

We got in 3.62 miles of hills and dales.  It was a BEAUTY of a morning!  And I felt fantastic afterward.  Wendy, thanks for a great time – I’m looking forward to going again soon!

After that I hit up Starbucks to catch up with another friend and her adorable son, where I had a grande SOY STEAMER.  (Essentially that means I have Starbucks heat me up a nice cup of soy milk, with no coffee or flavoring, and then pay them probably 3 times what a whole container of soy milk would cost!)  Ahhh gotta love th SBUX.  (Thank you Magen for treating — that was very sweet of you!)

Riley never gets any photo love since Rascal is the ham of the family, so I had to get her in the shot.  See what she’s saying with her eyes?  It’s “why haven’t you walked me today, ya big jerk!”  🙂

Lunchtime meant it was time for me to get my major veggie fix.  I still don’t think photos do this salad bowl justice.  It is HUGE.  I measured yesterday and it is 11″ in diameter.  🙂  This one was chock full of spinach, heirloom tomatoes, yellow pepper, dulse, avocado, zucchini ribbons, kalamata olives, nutritional yeast, and pepper.  Dressed with extra virgin olive oil.  I ate every last bite and had a few baked potato chips on the side. 

A little Pecan Pie snack in the afternoon: 

And leftover “Lazy Girl Dinner” from the other night whenI had Amy’s Organic Southwestern Vegetable soup.  I had it in a mug with a  little raw goat cheddar and Mary’s Gone Crackers on the side.  Right back to the PC I went…  MSP had his last softball game of the season, so I was right back to the PC to get some more blog work done.

I did need an evening snack since my soup didn’t keep me full very long, so I made a bag of homemade microwave popcorn (1/4 cup of plain popcorn kernels in a brown lunch bag, fold up the top, microwave for up to two-and-a-half minutes or until the popping sounds are far apart).  No fake butter flavor, no crazy chemicals, no fumes that allegedly cause lung cancer.  Sprinkle with some sea salt and/or nutritional yeast, and munch away!  

I fell asleep while watching “The Office”.  Lame.  All the social activity of the day combined with a whole lot of sitting at the computer made Shari very sleepy…

***

So for today’s discussion, I’d love to hear how you fuel your workouts. 
Are you an “empty stomach exerciser” or a “fully fueled exerciser“? 

I definitely vary, depending on the situation.  For running, ideally I get it done first thing in the morning after just a cup of coffee (and maybe a bite or two of Larabar at the most).  I feel lighter on my feet and don’t experience ‘side stitches’ when I don’t have food in the system. 

But sometimes when I meet up with running buddies, it’s usually a little later in the day and I don’t like to go that long without food.  So I’ll try to eat something about 90 minutes prior to the outing (usually anything sooner and I get severe side cramps during the run).  Yesterday’s toast with the coconut oil and date worked perfectly.  I had some simple carbs, some complex carbs and the coconut oil.  The date gave me some quick energy and the sprouted grain toast gave me some sustained energy.  It was plenty for my run and held me over for about 3 hours until it was time for SBUX. 

Other forms of exercise (like my weight training and hiking) don’t cause me to have to overthink the food situation as much.  Weight training is usually first thing on an empty stomach.  For hiking I eat about 90 minutes for hitting the trail, then bring a Larabar in case I need it on the trail.

There are a lot of schools of thought as to whether you should work out on an empty stomach vs. being ‘properly’ fueled.  Some say that if you exercise on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, you’ll burn more fat (still burning the same number of calories, but because your glycogen stores will be lower first thing in the a.m. you potentially dig into fat stores sooner.)  On the other hand, there are those that say if you exercise without properly fueling for it, you will be causing a bit of catabolism of the precious muscle tissue we all work so hard to keep.

My opinion is this is highly individualized from one person to the next.   Feeling crampy or nauseous during a workout from a belly full of food isn’t something that will keep you coming back for more.  But feeling lightheaded or dizzy from not eating enough and hence lacking energy isn’t good either.   Base it off of how long or how intense the workout will be.  Common sense applies here.  Listen to your body and take note of how you feel so that next time you can make the right ‘tweaks’ to feel FANTASTIC during your workouts. 

Isn’t that really what it’s all about anyway?  🙂  I’d rather feel great during my workouts (which means I’ll be more inclined to do it again tomorrow, and the day after that, etc.) than be too focused on what percentage of the calories burned are from fat.  (Been there, done that…!)   Overall if you are moving your body regularly and eating nutritious foods, you’ll get where you want to go.

Let us know which side of the fence you’re on — drop a comment!

Alrighty friends, I’ve got a LOT on the plate today so I’m gonna get cracking!  Have a FAB FRIDAY! 

If all goes as planned today I may be back later on with the last notice before the blog moves.  If not, you’ll know I hit an speed bump… 😉  

See ya next time! 

— Shari B. =)

Save Our Soles!

Holy moly FitFeat Friends… there was an explosion of activity on the blog yesterday!  Wow!  A record number of hits to the FitFeat site.  Whatever you guys are doing to spread the word, THANK YOU!  And please keep it up – you’re AWESOME!

So I thought I’d take some time today to talk about another one of my favorite “tools” – but this one is not related to the kitchen.  It’s for our feet. 

Back when I was running half-marathons more often and putting a lot of miles on my feet, I was getting blisters left and right. 

Two friends / running buddies each recommended that I try a particular brand of sock called the Wrightsock Coolmesh.   What’s special about these socks is that they are made of two thin layers.  Instead of your sock and foot rubbing together, the two layers of material rub together and the friction stays within the layers as opposed to on your skin.  

I wasn't kidding when I said I have SMALL FEET...!

These socks were lifesavers (well, OK that might be an overstatment 🙂 at the very least they were sole-savers!)  They are a small investment early on, but worth every penny.  I now own about 8 pair and I wear them every day:  running, hiking, walking.  Anytime my sneakers go on, so do these socks.

If you’re a runner, walker, hiker or just someone who is prone to blistered feet, you should look into trying out these socks.

I am grateful to have learned about these socks at a time when I really needed them (thanks Scott!  thanks Lori!) and wanted to pay it forward, so to speak.

In light of the recent FTC ruling about product reviews and blogs, I thought I’d make a note for the record that all of the products I have reviewed and/or recommended to date on this blog are offered up solely because I use and like the products, not because I am being paid to do so or offered any sort of kickback.

On to Monday’s eats:

After the nice Back/Trap workout I detailed in yesterday’s post, I wanted a quick influx of carbs.  So I opted for a bowl of mango-licious.  This one should have been given over to the green smoothie gods though, because it wasn’t as ripe as it should have been.  That’s what I get for being impatient and dying to eat my yummy mango taunting me from the fruit basket on my counter!
 

Shortly thereafter it was time for my real breakfast so I had a bowl of OATSMILE:

Lunch was yet another leftover serving of Veggie Enchilasagna with a side of spanish rice.  There’s one more sliver of this still in the fridge, but I’m pretty sure at this point that I’ve had my FILL of this particular food for awhile.

I also had a side salad with lunch (spinach, tomato, dulse,  pepitas, hemp oil, balsamic vinegar, nutritional yeast):

Followed by a little dessert!  Endangered Species brand 72% dark chocolate… mmmm chocolate!

Afternoon snack time came up FAST!  I was busy on blog hosting study… I decided to forego the standard Larabar for some hummus, Wasa, raw goat cheddar and baby carrots.  Tasty and fiber-rich!

When MSP got home, we still had some daylight and it wasn’t completely freezing outside, so we decided to take the dogs out for their wog:  a quick 2-miler to work up a little appetite before dinner: another set of leftovers that I tried to make into something different.  I had some of Friday night’s “Warm Asian Thai-Fry” left, so I warmed it up, then wrapped it into red chard leaves.  The ‘dipping sauce’ is just a generic version of Annie’s “Gingerly Vinaigrette” from a bottle. 

It wasn’t bad at all for a meal that only took about 90 seconds to build!  But I was still a little hungry after so I had a few Mary’s Gone Crackers with some slivers of the raw goat cheddar. 

OK, friends, I’m off to get Tuesday started!  Have a fantastic Tuesday!  If you’re located in the Colorado are, KEEP WARM!  If you’re located someplace outside of Colorado that is warm, please send some heat our direction!

For today’s discussion, do you have any tips/tricks/tools that have helped any of your outdoor activities, in the way that the Wrightsocks have helped with my blisters?  You FitFeat readers are very FIT-SAVVY, and have lots of great info to share!  Thanks for doing so and keep it coming!  We are ALL learning and benefiting from each other!

See you tomorrow!

— Shari B. =)

The One Thing You Can Do Now to Improve Your Fitness Journey

Good morning FitFeat friends!!  Happy Wednesday to you!  Friday is getting closer!  It’s supposed to be mid-70s today and then SNOW tomorrow!  So I better get outside while I can (‘scoop-n-squats’ anyone?)

While I was out on yesterday’s 3 mile dog wog, I was listening to a Tony Robbins recording on my iPod. 

Right off the bat I’ll confess that there is something about Tony Robbins that just gets me going!  Sadly I don’t do the written exercises that he suggests.  And I rarely get past day 1 or 2 in a 7-, 10-, or 30-day set.  But just hearing him speak lights a fire under my tail like nobody’s business.  Yes, I am a self-help junkie.  🙂

One question I’ve noticed he poses in most of his programs is: 
What is your “camera lens” focused on?

This is something I think about often in terms of personal training clients looking to improve their fitness and/or their body composition, so I thought I’d touch on it today for a FitFeature.

In your own fitness journey, are you focusing on negative or self-defeating points like “I’m on a diet”, “I have to work out”, or “I can’t believe I can’t eat such-and-such”? 

Sometimes the best path to getting fit is more about making the mental shift than it is about what program you choose to follow.  Wouldn’t you rather focus on the positive things like “I feel so energized after working out”, “The foods I’m eating are making me healthier by the day”, or “I choose not to eat [insert fave junk food here] because it makes me sluggish and I’d rather feel vibrant.”  Once you do, you will be amazed at how easy your journey becomes.  Focusing on the negative wastes a lot of energy.

I’ve stated this before but in my early “dieting” days if someone had recommended to me that I follow a nutrition plan similar to the way I eat now, I think I may have felt it REALLY restrictive.  Mentally it would have been a huge jump for me.  (What? No chicken?  Minimal dairy?  How will I survive if I can’t mix cottage cheese into everything?)  But now?  I feel such a sense of freedom from dieting because one, I don’t consider what I do ‘dieting’ now, and two, that’s not what my “lens is focused on”.  Now I am focused on all the great things I DO eat, all the energy those foods provide me, how I no longer have digestive issues.   The fact that I’ve lost body fat is just icing on the cake.

About 6 years ago I participated in a fat loss program where one of the requirements was to eat 4 cups of veggies every day.  As I hadn’t yet made the shift, getting ‘those veggies in’ was a huge struggle for me.  Which is funny because these days, I pretty much meet that ‘requirement’ in one green smoothie, and that’s just the start of my day!  Add in one of my crazy big salads, and that’s probably another three cups more!

How hard or easy something feels is simply a matter of where you choose to aim your focus. 

***

Speaking of all that healthy food… 🙂  Tuesday started with a Vega chocolate whole food health optimizer, with some added vanilla rice protein powder, shaken violently with some almond milk!  Greens, probiotics and maca, oh my!

Someone (known on the comment board as MSP Buddy) gave MSP a BABY LARABAR to give to me!  Thanks MSP Buddy!  That was so sweet… and my little pecan pie snacky is so cute!

At lunchtime I tweaked another recipe, this time for a tuna burger.  But my tweaking actually made it worse, so I won’t be adding it to the “Build A Meal” section!  I made it into an open-faced sammy, with the “top lid” as a piece of lettuce.

Oh my afternoon snack was total bliss …. I am hopelessly addicted to mango.  Do you think I could make a mango tree survive in the Colorado climate??  I kid you not, when I finished cutting this thing, I gnawed all the extra ‘mango meat’ from the core.  I did not want to miss one bite…

Tuesday is Hell’s Kitchen night (w/Gordon Ramsay) so I felt all “chef-like” setting out my ingredients to prep for dinner.  🙂

 And voila!  Pesto Gnocchi with Zucchini, Asparagus & Sun-dried Tomatoes (with an unpictured side salad)

Well folks, I’m off to stock up on enough sunshine to get me through the next few days!  🙂

Keep your ‘camera lens’ in mind today and look for areas where you can ‘adjust your focus’!  Make it a great day!

— Shari B. =)

Fruit-Filled Saturday

Well hello blog buds!  Happy Sunday!  Ours started out sans-sun but it seems to have reappeared now.  That’s what I LOVE about living in Colorado.  We have a bazillion days of sunshine, even when it’s chilly out.  (Are you sick of me loving on my state yet?  I’m sorry, I can’t help it!  Truly the Colorado  tourism board should be sending me checks!)

First thing Saturday morning directly following coffee, we took the dogs out for a 4-mile WOG (that would be walking/jogging for any new readers, because my dogs cannot keep from stopping to smell every single thing there is to smell along the way.  It’s a very herky-jerky form of running, for sure!) 

I’m thinking that Riley being all tired on the 2.5 mile wog earlier this week was all an act because she treated this 4-miler like it was nothing!  I’m on to her now…  😉

So Saturday turned out to be a B-A-N-A-N-A-S kind of day so it was fitting that it started out with this for breakfast:  

MSP made me French Ezekial Toast!  Isn’t that sweet (pun intended)?  I topped it with a smear of raw almond butter, half of a banana, and some Michigan pure maple syrup that I brought back for him from my trip.  It was a DEE-LISH-USH breakfast. 

We rushed around after that because we had to be out the door at 10:00 AM to get our day of BIZ-EEE-NESS started and didn’t get a chance to stop for a snack or lunch.  The french toast sure did the trick because normally if I’d had to wait from 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM before eating, I’d be about ready to start gnawing on my own fingers.  But I made it until we got home, and then I made a plate of leftover Garbanzo!  I used some of the leftover pita, smeared it with hummus, added a slice of heirloom tomato and a skinny slice of raw goat cheese.  Then I cut the leftover falafel in half and topped it with the tahini sauce, with the rice on the side.  It was mmm-mmm-good.  Now if only we could tell Garbanzo to stop OVER-COOKING their falafel, we’d be golden.  I don’t think falafel are meant to be charbroiled.  Correct me if I’m wrong, because I’m no falafel expert.  🙂  Next time we’re craving some, I think we’ll make our homemade version that we bake instead.

Later in the afternoon, I was craving something sweet so I decided on some fruit.  In my quest for “new-to-me” produce this week, I’d picked up a PLUOT.  I’ve never had one before. 

Is it the prettiest red when it’s cut open or what?

I’ll definitely be buying pluots again.  (I’m guessing pluot is supposed to be a mix of plum and apricot??)

It didn’t fill me up, so I went back for even MORE fruit, this time my beloved MANGO.  I just can’t bring myself to mask this delicious fruit in any form of smoothie.  I am so in love with mangoes.  

More errand running later and it was getting pretty chilly, so a tall soy chai latte seemed in order (with a petite vanilla scone to keep the latte company – love that they make bite-sized scones!)

At 7:45, we were on our way out the door to a huge birthday bash for a good friend, and I must have been in a SMIRKY mood… not sure what this face was for!

We didn’t eat a dinner Saturday night – it was just an “off-schedule” day all around.  At the party I had a glass of white wine and a handful of tortilla chips.  But being that today is FOOTBALL SUNDAY, I have a feeling I’ll make up for any lost calories.  😉  Anyone up for joining me in some football-watching exercise?  Drop me a comment and let me know if I have any takers!!  Today would normally be my ‘rest day’ but if I have some peeps willing to do this with me, it’d be much more fun knowing that somewhere out there you might be doing some pushups or squats during the commercials too!

I have a couple of FitFeatures I want to blog about but I’m going to save it for the weekdays, as my blog stats tell me that Sundays are pretty slow and I don’t want you to miss them!  In the meantime, if you have any specific topics you’d like to hear about, please don’t hesitate to let me know! 

Have a SUPERB SUNDAY! 

— Shari B. =)

Mashed Faux-tatoes

Hey everyone! 

Well, my quest for finding a fun new veggie didn’t turn up anything.  King Soops only had ‘normal veggies’ so I at least bought a veggie that I haven’t had in a long time:  cauliflower.  (Looks like a trip to Whole Paycheck Foods is in order to find the fun stuff!  Better leave the credit card at home…!)  

Back when the South Beach Diet first came out, there was one recipe that quickly became ‘famous’ from that program and that was using cauliflower to create a dish that resembled mashed potatoes.   The ingredients in the South Beach version include a couple of dairy products, and while I don’t shun dairy completely, I will find ways to minimize or avoid things made from cow’s milk when I can. 

Here is my twist on the original recipe of what I like to call Mashed Faux-tatoes:

• 12 oz package of cauliflower florets
• 2 tbs MimicCreme
• 1 tbs nutritional yeast flakes (approximate – use to your own taste)
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Steam the cauliflower until tender (I used the steamable microwave bag, 3-4 minutes on high). Place steamed cauliflower in a food processor and begin pureeing.  Add the MimicCreme and continue pureeing until you have the consistency of mashed potatoes (a few minutes max).  Add nutritional yeast, sea salt and pepper to taste then run the processor for a few seconds more to thoroughly mix all the ingredients.

This makes a pretty small batch (essentially a single serving) since I am the only one in my house that will eat cauliflower. Adjust your batch size as needed if you have veggie eaters in your house.

 ****

Before my trip I’d ordered the MimicCreme to have on hand when I returned.  I’d planned to use it in my coffee but learned that it can also replace cream in most recipes, which is why I’d decided to try it in the faux-tatoes before giving it a thumbs up or down.  I’ve been searching for something to use in my daily coffee other than fat-free liquid Coffeemate and thought this might be the solution.  I tried it for the first time yesterday.  I had to use a fair amount to get the level of lightness in my coffee plus a full pack of Stevia as this ‘cream’ is unsweetened.  It does give a very creamy taste to my coffee and it worked great in the cauliflower, so I’d say it’s a definite thumbs up!  Which is good, seeing how I had to order a package of SIX from Amazon!

 My Tuesday started with my Denver mug, in honor of being home!

I woke up hungry so had 1 cup of Kashi GoLean cereal with some almond milk. 
 

Then I took the dogs out together for their wog.  We did 2.5 miles – Riley got really tired right at 2 miles and kept stopping to lay in the grass, so we cut the loop really short.  I’d been aiming to get them out for 4 miles but I need to remember that in dog years she’s like 70 and so I need to take it easier on her.  That was the extent of my ‘planned’ exercise and the rest was running stairs from the 2nd floor to the basement floor with laundry and massive unpacking!

After wogging I had a scoop of Chocolate Vega mixed with almond milk.  
 

For lunch I was in the mood for a veggie wrap.  This one started with a warm whole wheat tortilla, smeared with Tofutti.  I sprinkled pepitas on, then added sliced avocado, sliced tomato, alfalfa sprouts, sea salt and pepper.  For crunch I added a few Baked Lays on the side.  It was so good… I might have to have another one for today’s lunch too!  But maybe with some fauxtatoes on the side.  🙂

Afternoon snack was a delicious lemon flavored Larabar.  And some hot green tea.

For dinner I ate my leftover Chipotle bowl (rice, black beans, fajita veggies, pico de gallo, and corn salsa) with a spinach salad on the side.

I’m working on getting the recipe page going since I had a few requests for that before I left for my trip, so you should see that coming soon! 

Have a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!  Still looking to hear some comments on your favorite interesting veggies or a veggie you’ve never tried but wanted to!  I like to eat pickled beets, but have never tried them any other way, so that’s one that I’d like to purchase and prepare myself to see how it goes.  My most recent new veggie was fennel, which I tried because I heard that it tastes like licorice and it actually kind of does!

— Shari B.  =)

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Hello blog friends!

Wahooo Thursday is here!  Travel day!  (woot woot!)  I am very excited to see my family tonight when I touch down in Michigan.  I’m also ready to just get out the door today and off to the airport so I can STOP THINKING I’m going to forget something.  I am an insane traveler, I swear.  I spend more time planning, packing, preparing and overthinking than I actually spend on any trip.  Even for short ones.  Do any of you do that too? 

I have been particularly overthinking this trip, as I will be spending a full week of my vacation in an RV and nowhere near a Whole Foods market!  And since I have been loving all the positive effects of the great nutrition plan I follow at home, I don’t want to miss out on that while travelling.  In the past, I have seemed to catch some sort of cold every time I’ve been on a plane.  So to a certain level, I feel I am kind of ‘testing’ my current food plan to see if it has boosted my immune system!  🙂

I have vacuum-packed rice protein powder, Vega whole food optimizer, Amazing Meal, and nutritional yeast.  I have purchased what looks like a year’s supply of Larabars.  I’ve packed olive oil, almond butter and agave nectar into small containers, then vacuum packed the containers so they (hopefully) don’t leak.  I have Mary’s Gone Crackers, pepitas, sundried tomatoes, raisins, stevia.  If the plane crashes on a desert island a la “Lost” I’ll be SET! I am taking a small suitcase (besides my big suitcase) just for food and running shoes.  Am I crazy?  Maybe.  But no one can call me unprepared!

Normally I’d just go on vacation and eat what everyone else is eating.  This has always led to severe bloating, cramping, gas and other unmentionables which seem to impact my fun.  Being in an RV with paper-thin bathroom walls is plenty of motivation to be a little freakish about packing my own food this time around.  😉 My brother has already been informed that we are going directly from the airport to the grocery store so I can stock up on green smoothie fixins for the road. 

I’m also very excited to get on the plane today because I’ve loaded the new Dan Brown book onto my Kindle and I’m itching to read it!  It’s been WAY too long since he released the “DaVinci Code”.  I hope this one lives up!

Yesterday’s feats & eats:

Weight Training (Legs/Shoulders):

• TM Warmup + Ball Squats to get the blood flowing to the leg muscles
• Side Steps with Exercise Band around ankles 3 sets of 30, 40, 40 reps
• Weighted Step-Ups  3 sets of 15 reps per leg
• Overhead Shoulder Press 3 sets of 15, 12, 12
• Weighted Static Lunges 3 sets of 15 reps per leg
• Single Leg Lying Hamstring Curls 2 sets of 15 reps per leg
• 1-Arm Overhead Shoulder Press 3 sets of 15, 10, 15 reps per arm
• Bicycles for Abs 3 sets of 30

Lots of hamstring and hip flexor stretching between sets this time too.

I got the dogs ready to go out for their ‘wog’ and made the mistake of taking them together.  We made it .12 mile.  That decimal was not in the wrong spot.  We literally went 12/100 of a mile.  They were crazy beasts so we turned around and came back, lest I ‘accidentally’ unhook their leashes while near some open space and let them find their own way home.  It was that kind of morning with the spazoids.  I don’t understand how little creatures who can be so cute can drive me so absolutely up a wall sometimes!  🙂  Moms out there, how do you do it with REAL kids? 

I had my JOE in my Denver Starbucks coffee mug this time, since it was my last full day here for awhile!

Breakfast after my workout was a green smoothie with my diminishing stock of produce.  8 oz water, scoop of rice protein, 1/2 banana, 1/2 pear, one clementine, BIG fist o’spinach, 1/2 cucumber and 2 romaine lettuce leaves.  I think my pink cup makes the green smoothie even greener!

Midmorning I was in the mood for something savory, so I plated up some Mary’s Gone Crackers and herbed goat cheese.

For lunch I continued to clean out my fridge of leftovers, so this was the last of my Whole Foods Thai Lime Shrimp.  Although, there was no shrimp left so this was essentially flavored noodles 🙂  I added zucchini ribbons to bump up the veggies a bit.

Afternoon snack was an unpictured small bowl of dry Mom’s Best Naturals cereal during my packing frenzy. 

Dinner was MSP’s favorite:  Chipotle.  He could eat there every day and never tire of it.  I like it once in a blue moon.  I ordered the veggie bowl with rice, green peppers & onions, black beans, salsa and guac.  At home, I plated some of it, and surrounded it with some Baked Tostito Scoops for the guac.  And sprinkled it with nutritional yeast for some cheesy flavor.

Later in the evening I had a cup of herbal tea and half of a “Simply” chocolate chip cookie from a batch I made for MSP to snack on while I’m gone. 

* * * * *

When I had originally planned to start my blog, I figured I’d begin in October right after I return from my trip.  But because accountability is something I feel we can all benefit from in our health & fitness endeavors, I decided that blogging DURING this road trip would be the ultimate in accountability so that you the reader can see how I (attempt to) keep up with healthy eating and exercise while on vacation.

I hope to maintain my same blogging schedule while I’m “on the road” – it will be dependent upon internet and cell phone access.  I hope you’ll ‘join me’ as I take FitFeat on tour.  It should be interesting if not comical!

Thank you to everyone who has been reading the blog so far and thank you for commenting!  Keep spreading the word so we can get that first giveaway going when we have comments from 30 individuals!

Have a GREAT Thursday everyone and I’ll be back with an update from the road the first chance I get!

— Shari B. =)

“His-n-Hers” Lasagna

Wahoo!  Saturday!  Love Saturdays!  And I have a BIZ-EEEE one ahead of me.  Lots of catching up with old friends (all former coworkers) today.

Well, as I suspected, my Back/Tri workout was not up to par.  My grip was really weak from the shovel and spade work the day before.  But I got it done – even if it wasn’t my strongest.  My workout partner (MSP) also abandoned me decided to stay in bed for the morning, as he hadn’t had a great night of sleep.  I don’t blame him – been there done that about 600 times myself!

Here’s the Friday recap:

Weight Training (Back & Triceps)

• TM Warmup followed by arm circles to get the blood flowing to the muscles near my shoulders
• Close Grip Pulldowns 4 working sets of 11, 10, 9, 12
• Barbell Rows 3 working sets of 9, 14, 15
• TRX Row 3 sets of 10, 11, 10
• Overhead Triceps Extension 4 sets of 15, 15, 8, 9
• Hyperextensions (low back) on Ball 3 sets of 15

Then I took the beasts dogs out for their wog session (together this time) because I wanted them to get some extra mileage  – it keeps them a little calmer during the day.  I’ve recently started taking them one at a time because together they are a LOT to handle for one human arm that likes to stay in its socket.  Separately they each behave much better.  Together, they turn into disobedient little freaks!  I think it’s because they know that they can overpower me when they are together. 🙂   I had planned to take them for 4 miles but I go SO tired of being yanked around like a rag doll I shortened the outing to 3.  They’re lucky they’re so cute – it’s impossible to stay mad at these cuddlebugs:

Friday coffee was my holiday peace dove mug.  It was a chilly windy morning that felt like fall (even had to wear my sweatshirt outside) so I figured I better start preparing myself for summer to be over…. waaaaahhhhhh!  (Can you believe HALLOWEEN stuff is out at the stores now??  It kills me.)

Between weights and dog wogging, I was crazy hungry, so I mixed up a partial scoop of Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer with a cup of almond milk. 

I figured I’d eat something more substantial when I got back but I wasn’t really hungry at that point and was busy doing my ‘chores’.  I had to run to the library and grocery store late morning so I went to the Target SBUX.  Holy moly what a RACKET they have going at that particular Starbucks.  You don’t get to use your registered SBUX card rewards (which in my case this day would have been free soy ‘upgrade’ and free syrup squirt).  I ordered a tall decaf soy latte asking for just ONE pump of pumpkin spice (since it was such an autumnal day!).  Guess how much that tiny cup cost me?  $4.01.  Ex-SQUEEZE me?  For a TALL?  I had to look at the receipt because I thought she must have charged me for a Grande.  They now charge 50 cents for the soy (is this everywhere I wonder or just Target?)  It used to be 40 cents, but I always use my registered card so I haven’t paid much attention I guess.  So no more going to the one at the Target.  OK, sorry for that, just had to get that off my chest.  (I may have to rebel and start going to DazBog instead!  😉 )

Lunch was my SAME-O SAME-O salad.  I know you guys must get bored with my salads having a rotating set of the same ingredients!  I can’t help it!  Don’t fix it if it’s not broken, right?  They’re so good that I just don’t want anything else at the moment.  Maybe I will broaden my SALAD HORIZONS someday soon!  This had spinach, zucchini ribbons, yellow tomato, red pepper, dulse, pepitas, sea salt & pepper, HB egg, and olive oil w/ balsamic vinegar.  Oh and a few sundried tomatoes and sprinkle of nutritional yeast, I almost forgot!

Afternoon snack (not pictured) was 1/2 a Larabar and a square of dark chocolate.

We jokingly refer to Friday as Pasta Friday in our house because for a long time we noticed were having some sort of italian meal every Friday night.  Since I had some free time yesterday afternoon, I figured I’d try to make lasagna for MSP as a little surprise.  I’ve never made lasagna before and I love to eat it at restaurants.  (And you KNOW when you eat it out, you’re probably getting 3 days’ worth of calories.)  Well I found a recipe for tofu “ricotta” and thought I’d make that to then put into my own attempt at creating a lasagna recipe. 

I have all of my ingedients gathered to make the tofu ricotta (I felt so “FoodNetwork” taking this pic!)  Tofu, basil, sea salt & pepper, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic, & olive oil.

I began building the layers into my lasagna.  I made a vegetarian half for me and a meaty side for MSP.  This is the middle layer.  My side has mushrooms & sundried tomatoes, MSP’s has italian chicken sausage.  My next layer has spinach & artichoke hearts, while MSP’s next layer has…. more sausage.  🙂 

My side has a very light sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top and his side has loads of 2% Italian ‘Three Cheese Mix’.

After I put it in the oven I noticed that a cooking bomb had gone off in my kitchen – look at this mess!

And after some serious dishwashing and cleanup:

Ahhh, that’s better.  I can’t stand a messy kitchen!

So here is the lasagna after cooking.  It looks really done, I know!  I should have left the foil on until just at the end because MSP’s cheesy side went a bit past ‘golden brown’ and maybe more toward ‘burnt brown’  😉 
 

 And after plating (on the side is Genesis sprouted grain bread with a smear of pesto & a sprinkle of parm, then into the broiler very briefly):

 And no Italiano dish is complete without a small glass of this:

You know, the lasagna wasn’t too bad at all!  I didn’t add a lot of seasoning because I didn’t know how strong the fresh basil would be.  Next time, I’ll add more seasoning to the tofu “ricotta”.  But I liked it!  Which is a good thing, because I have a TON left over!  Dessert was a cup of Teeccino (herbal ‘faux coffee’): 

And I was again hungry right at bedtime so this little snack was a scoop of raw almond butter with a squeeze of raw honey, about 1/2 cup of almond milk.  I don’t know why I’ve been getting hungry at night, so I think I’ll eat a bigger dinner for the next few days to see if it makes a difference.  I don’t have any qualms about eating right before bed – but it DOES make me wake up ravenously hungry which is why I’d rather not do it.

Today’s question is:  Do you have housemates or family that eat completely different than you?  Do you find it difficult or have you  gotten into the groove of working around it?  I was a little worried at first that when I went meatless it would really add to my cooking workload, but it’s actually been fun to find ways to have us eat essentially the same meal but with a few adjustments.

OK, blog buds!  My tummy is growling, so I need to go get some breakfast started!  Have a MARVELOUS Saturday and I’ll see ya next time!

–Shari B. =)

Why I Pulled the Plug on Soda

Mornin’ blog buds!

The countdown is on!  A week from today I’ll be on a plane heading back home to see my family.  Woot woot!! 🙂 I can’t wait! 

The FitFeature for today is about ol’ soda pop!  During my earlier dieting days, I would use a daily diet soda (or two or three) as a way to thwart cravings for sweets (or so I thought) while I was trying to keep my calories down.  As I began down the path toward more holistic and healing nutrition along with acid/alkaline balance in the body, I started to pay closer attention to the ill effects of pop (both diet and regular).  I’d read the bad things before, but sometimes we make changes when we’re ready to make them and not a second sooner.

I had drastically reduced my soda intake after the initial meeting with my acupuncturist.  But I later read “The Ultimate pH Solution” by Michelle Schoffro Cook and one statement in her book stopped my soda habit in its tracks:

“…you need to drink 32 cups of water (and expend tremendous amounts of energy that would be better used elsewhere in your body) just to neutralize the acidity of one glass of soda.”

32 cups of water?  Yikes! 

So that did it for me.  I may drink the very rare occasional mixed cocktail that will contain some soda in it.  But I certainly don’t want all this care and effort I’m putting into alkalinizing my body to be ruined by ONE CAN of pop!

You’d think that hearing how the phosphoric acid can lead to weakened bones would have convinced me first.  Or how the aspartame allegedly converts to formaldehyde in the body.  There is enough weight on the cons of soda to really consider switching it out for something better for us. 

Will you accept the challenge today to replace at least one soda with water or herbal tea.?  Give it a try.  Then maybe tomorrow, you might want to do it again!  🙂

One day maybe I’ll also give up my single daily cup of coffee as well, but I’m desperately holding on to the hope that there are still a few good reasons to drink it (like the antioxidants, reduced effect of lactic acid buildup during exercise.)  😉

Now on to yesterday’s feats & eats!

Weight Training (Legs / Shoulders)

• TM warmup for 5 minutes followed by 3 sets of 20 rep ball squats for a muscle specific warmup. 
• Straight-Leg Deadlifts 4 sets of 15, 15, 12, 12
• Deep DB Squats 4 sets of 15 reps
• Explosive Lunges 4 sets of 20
• Overhead Shoulder Press  4 sets of 15, 11, 11, 8
• DB Rear Delt Flyes 3 sets of 15, 11, 12
• Ball Crunches with KB 3 sets of 15 reps

Today my hamstrings and traps are telling me they apparently had a good workout!

My morning started with my antioxidant-rich cuppa JOE  😉  hahaha

Post-workout BLENDED GREEN GOODNESS (banana, 2 clementines, spinach, sprouts, 2 celery stalks, 1/2 cucumber, scoop of rice protein powder, 8 oz water):

I had a friend over for lunch so we had soup and salad under the umbrella on the back patio.  It was gorgeous out!  We had a very relaxing time catching up.  The salad had spinach, arugula, romaine, zucchini ribbons, sundried tomatoes, red pepper and cucumber.  I topped mine off with Greek vinaigrette. 

My afternoon snack had a lemon theme going on!  Larabar “Lemon Bar” flavor (OMG a new fave Larabar, it was AWESOME!!!!  I thought I was eating lemon loaf!) and a Ginger Lemongrass herbal tea to go:

I had a handful of raisins around 5:00 to hold me over till dinner because we took the dogs for their quick 2 mile WOG in the evening.  We had some errands to run for our living room project so we picked up some falafel on our way to Home Depot.  Mmm, hummus!  Tabbouleh!  Falafel!  Something pickled (not sure what it is but it tastes really good!)

I don’t think they gave me enough falafel!  (6!)  I ate 2.5 of them.  MSP took one, and the rest came home.  Not sure how they’ll reheat, guess I’ll find out today!  

OK friends, off to get this Thursday started!  Have a fantastic day and I’ll see you next time!

–Shari B.  =)

I Heart Hummus

Good morning!

Our extended 6-day holiday ‘weekend’ is speeding by so quickly!  Day 5 already!  But it’s MUFFIN MORNING!!  Yay! Plus I love Sundays because sometimes we sit around for the first hour looking at the paper with HGTV on in the background (if we’re not out on a run or hike).   The simplest things are always the best aren’t they?

So yesterday morning I had my a.m. magic potion (coffee!) in my drama queen mug, which oddly looks like it says ‘dreme queen‘ doesn’t it?

We took the dogs on a 5.5 mile wog shortly thereafter.  I had a half of one of these during the walk to tide me over till breakfast:

Normally I wouldn’t seek out this particular bar, but it was in my Camelbak so I ate it!  Just out of curiosity, do any of you happen to carry your Camebak for the sole purpose of GIVING YOUR DOGS WATER? I take it on long runs for myself but when I take the dogs out for anything more than 3 miles they get super thirsty.  This way I can squeeze a stream of water out and they lap it up like it’s running out of a hose!

The dogs were SO tired when we got back to the house.  They haven’t seen 5.5 miles in a long time (Riley our Weim is almost 10, Rascal our min-pin is 7).  But I didn’t get them out for the Friday wog so I wanted them to get a little extra.

Of course I had my OTHER magic potion for breakfast, a green smoothie!

This one turned out EXTRA green didn’t it?  It had a whole mango (cut into chunks before adding to the blender), a big fistful of spinach, 2 clementines, alfalfa sprouts, and 1/2 of an English cucumber.   (Joan, my gardening friend, why are these “English” cucumbers?  Do you know?)  I should add that most of my green smoothies start out with 8 oz of water and no ice, just in case you are making these at home.  🙂

By lunch time I was seriously craving some hummus.  My friends know I refer to myself as the Hummus-Holic.  If I am supposed to bring something to a party, I like to bring hummus and baked pita chips.  My mission on my upcoming roadtrip is to get my mom to love hummus.  She and MSP eat very similarly, and if HE will eat hummus, surely she will like it.  She thinks she doesn’t.   But I know better  😉

I make my own hummus when I have a few minutes, because they charge WAY too much for hummus at the store.  My version has a can of garbanzo beans, drained but reserving the liquid to use during blending, cumin, fresh garlic, a smidgeon of roasted sesame oil, olive oil and sea salt.  Mmmm.  So good.  I ate it with some celery, cucumber, orange pepper and the wonkiest baby carrots I’ve ever seen.  (They taste fine, but look at them!  They look all shriveled and dry!)

And no, I did not eat the whole dish of hummus.  I did restrain myself and save a little for later!

While I was on my hummus kick, I made some HB eggs to have in the fridge and also made some of these in the oven:

CHICKPEANUTS!!!  I read about them in “The Flexitarian Diet” so I had to try them.  They are baked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and they come out kind of hard like a peanut!  Crazy!I put them in a dish to snack on during the day.   I’ll have to try making these again though and NOT put them in the dish because as the day went on they seemed to soften.  So maybe I need to keep them on the flat pan longer.  I did follow the recipe to a “T”.  But overall this was a fun little snack to make!

After that I spent most of the afternoon writing yesterday’s novel of a post.  🙂  So after all that talk about cheese, I decided that I wanted to make my own little “wine bar dinner” so I ran (OK I drove) to the liquor store for a bottle of this (recommended by their staff):

And paired it with my “cheese flight” (Manchego Sheep Cheese and Naked Goat raw goat cheese with JJ Flats 7 grain flatbread crackers and a handful of chickpeanuts):

I ate every last bite and I was full for the rest of the night.  Didn’t even need a snack while we were watching a rented movie.

Do you hear that?  Off in the distance?  It’s a chocolate chip muffin calling my name!  I better go get it!  Have a fantastic Sunday!  See you next time!

— Shari B. =)

What a Tool!

Happy Saturday morning Blog Buds!  Hopefully you all get to enjoy the extra day off Monday for Labor Day!

First off I want to say thanks for all the great comments and emails about the blog!  Keep ‘em coming!  I love hearing from everyone!  As I mentioned in the email announcement I sent, I’ll offer this site’s first giveaway once there are two consecutive posts with comments from 30 or more different people.  Hmm, I wonder what the first prize will be? A unique mug for your morning coffee?  A cookbook?  An assortment of Larabars?

(speaking of prizes, be sure to read through to the end of the post – you’re in for a fun dessert treat!)

Today’s FitFeature is about a particular kitchen tool, the hand chopper (you may have seen a knock-off version on late night infomercials called the “Slap Chop”.)

About 6+ years ago it seemed that everyone I knew was having Pampered Chef parties (including me).  As direct marketing parties go, Pampered Chef was a good one!  (Someone cooks food for you then you eat yummy treats!  Gotta love that, right?)  Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of various Pampered Chef tools.  And I must admit that they really do make the prep work easier.  This particular one is a favorite of mine if only for making chopping onions easier and less tearful!  Plus it is really easy to take apart and rinse off.   Kitchen tools that cut down on your prep time are definitely worth the upfront investment if they will propel you to make more healthy home cooked meals with fresh ingredients.  I have a small list of great tools that I use regularly and will feature from time to time.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

• Mandolin slicer
• George Foreman Grill
• ThunderStick (it’s NOT what it sounds like it is!)
• FridgeSmart containers by Tupperware (keep my veggies fresh much longer)

What is your favorite kitchen tool? Drop me a comment!

On to Friday’s round-up of Feats and Eats!

Weight Training (Back & Tris)

• Barbell Bent Rows 4 working sets of 12 reps
• Parallel Grip Lat Pulldowns 4 working sets of 12, 9, 7, 12 reps
• Tricep Pushdowns 3 working sets of 12, 10, 10
• TRX Low Row 3 sets of 10, 10, 10
• Overhead KB Tricep Press 3 burnout sets of 20, 20, 20

Poor pups didn’t get their “wogging” session but we’ll make up for it over the weekend!

Friday started with a cup of coffee pre-workout.  Yet another Starbucks mug, I know!  Those damn mugs call to me when I’m in the store…

After the workout I was really hungry, so not only did I go for two pieces of toast this time, but I also make a rice protein & almond milk shake.  My usual Ezekial 4:9 sprouted grain bread was nowhere to be found at the grocery store, so I had to go with another version by the same company called Genesis.  This one has a lot of sprouted seeds and has a distinctly sesame taste. – can’t decide if I’m ok with that or not.  After toasting I added raw almond butter to both, then topped one with raw honey and one with raw agave nectar.  While the nectar tasted great, it is thinner than honey and had pretty much rolled off the toast before I got to eat it!  I’m using my favorite toast plate (which is really a sushi plate – my friend Beth made it for me at a ceramic studio as a gift and I use it all the time!)

We had plans for an early (10:00 AM, cheap seats) showing of a new movie called “Extract” so I packed up some pepitas to take in my purse into the movie with a bottle of water:

Lunch was my usual BIG salad, this time with a side of wild rice.  I added some orange pepper to my salad today – the only rainbow color I’m missing here is blue!  Spinach, romaine, arugula, dulse, pepper, nutritional yeast, fresh tomato, sundried tomato, olive oil and balsamic vinegar:

Mid-afternoon snack was just a cup of decaf coffee with non-dairy creamer and a side of two-bite extra dark chocolate (while reading my Kindle – the PERFECT afternoon!)  Had to use my “reading glasses” mug:

Finally dinner time! I’d been smelling this all day in the crock pot!  My mom’s chili recipe!  (It’s so good!)  But it does have ground beef in it so before I add the beef, I divide some out for me and put MSP’s batch into the crockpot.  First I sauteed some onion and green pepper (that I had used my hand chopper to chop up):

Then I cut up half a block of remaining tofu I had in the fridge to add to the pan:

Then I took the plant-based items out of the pan and partially browned the ground beef, just long enough to get it really crumbled (it will cook the rest of the way in the crock pot.)  I added the tomato juice, chili beans, kidney beans and spices to the crock pot and mixed it all up.  I put my tofu, green peppers and onion into a small pan and spooned out some of the chili mixture for my vegetarian version, then added the beef to the crock pot for MSP’s beefy version.

His is on the left with cheese mixed in, mine is on the right topped with some nutritional yeast (for cheese flavor + some B12) and a few crushed Baked Tostitos:

It was a GREAT meal!  Very filling!  And SO easy (which is how I like every meal to be – if it’s not easy, it probably won’t get made in my kitchen!)

After dinner we toasted the holiday weekend:

And later on into the evening, it was time for a dessert.  MSP had standard ice cream and I had the HEALTHIEST ICE CREAM EVER!!  This recipe is credited to  Gena, a fantastic raw food blogger in NYC Choosing Raw, and the post where she shows how to make this banana soft serve is titled “This Post Will Change Your Life” (Click on the title of her post to check it out and see the recipe.)  She’s not kidding, either – it will change your life!  🙂  You would never imagine that you could make ice cream out of JUST frozen bananas, but it really does come out that consistency.  It’s GREAT!  I love having an awesome “go-to” dessert that I can feel really good about.   Gena, I thank you for this heavenly creation!  Here’s how it looks (topped with a squeeze of agave nectar):

Well that’s my Friday friends!  Hope yours was a fine start to a great holiday weekend!  Enjoy!

See you soon!
— Shari B. =)