Detox/Cleanse Week 1 & Tri-Training Week 2 in Review

I last updated you just one full day into my cleanse. As I sat down to write on day 3 or 4, I realized, it would be horribly boring for you to read, so I decided, less is more.

Mango Smoothie

It's Sunday night, and week one is nearly complete. I managed to stick through it the whole time! Pretty amazing considering the temptations I had to face. On Day 2, we had a birthday lunch scheduled at work, I contemplated skipping, but I knew I didn't want to. So instead I looked at the menu and found a salad that would "mostly" work. This is a good tip in general, that I learned from a friend. When you want to stick to a plan, checkout the online menu first, and pick what you are going to eat. Then, when you are at the restaurant, you will be less tempted to go off your plan. As it turned out- it snowed like crazy on Monday night and the two birthday guests could not make it in. Crisis averted! Thankfully, I had brought the broccoli soup, for just this reason!

Beet and Spinach Salad

The next big temptation was Thursday... bowling night. I managed to make it through the night without drinking. At first it was pretty easy... but it's amazing how pushy your friends get once they start drinking. It actually wasn't that hard to say no, it's just that there was constant pressure... more annoying than frustrating.

I was nervous about the weekend, but I kept pretty busy and that helped. I know I'm a snacker when I'm home! I was not good about drinking water though-- I never am at home! It's probably good that I work 5 days a week!

Since this week was really low on the protein scale, I was a little nervous about how it would affect my training. If you've scanned the cleanse info, it says to stick to stretching this week, and don't be too active. This was not a problem for me. I completed all of my workouts as planned, with the exception of waking up Saturday morning with a headache that limited my interest in pushing myself. (when I got home from the gym, I used Peppermint oil, and it was gone before I got out of the shower- hindsight). Perhaps less healthy eaters would struggle more with energy levels, but I had no problems.

Sweet potato and Red Lentil Soup

I'm really looking forward to adding grains to the program! One of the things I've struggled the most with is not feeling full. I miss the satisfaction that only comes with grains!

Be sure to check the Whole Living website for these awesome recipes!

Whole Living Detox Cleanse Day One

Lately, I've been struggling with a lot of headaches, and some knee and SI joint pain that has been creeping back. It's only the first week of my tri training and I'm already struggling. I knew I needed to take a look at what was different. I started tracking my food, and really, to no surprise, it became pretty clear. Too many grains, too much meat, too much sugar, NOT enough veggies. I tried to get myself back on track, but there were just too many distractions. And then, last Friday, in an issue of Whole Living that I'd picked up weeks ago and hadn't looked at yet, I saw this cleanse.

The Whole Living 2013 Action Plan

After reading through the menu and recipes, I decided this was actually a healthy detox. There's no protein shakes or supplements, you eat real food, and you pretty much eat as much of the prescribed food as you feel like.  And so, I set out to the grocery store with a plan.

Today was day one...  I started out the morning (6 AM) with this Blueberry Smoothie! YUM! You can bet that this smoothie will be on the menu all summer! I added a half of a grapefruit to my breakfast (Not the smoothie) because I know that I'm a "Food" person- I like to chew- not sip- my meals. I think this helped a lot. I didn't get hungry again until about 9:45-- that's pretty good for just having a smoothie! I'd packed a baked sweet potato (with sliced almonds) as a snack. Perfect! (Sorry no picture)

Lunch (11:30 AM) was this fabulous Mango-Pine Nut salad! Now, I've had this recipe for EVER, and stumbled across it the other day, and with mangos on sale this week, it was a no brainer... the fact that it fit into the program was perfect!

Around 2:30 I broke into this Coconut trail mix. While I wasn't that hungry, I knew I was going to work out after work, and thought I should put something in my system.

Dinner was Broccoli Soup. Honestly, I REALLY wasn't sure about this one. I like broccoli enough, but I've found these pureed vegetable soups to be less than satisfying, if even edible. I made this with store bought veggie stock, and I waited to add in the avocado. I LOVE avocado and I thought i didn't want to waste one on a soup that wouldn't make it past one bowl.  I tested the soup, and it was really good! So, I pureed in the avocado-- it made it SO MUCH BETTER! Creamy and delicious! I added some pumpkin seeds, for crunch!

It's the end of the day, and I'm feeling really good! Tomorrow I face my first challenge... of course it had to happen, someone planned a birthday lunch! I don't want to miss time out of the office with my friends, so I scoped the menu and found a salad that will work pretty close with the plan. It's not perfect, but I'm ok with that! I'll make it up somewhere else, I'm pretty proud of sticking to day one!

Tri Training- Week 1 Recap

I haven't been a very good blog poster! I'm going to start trying...again. I say this a lot. :)

My 2nd triathlon is scheduled for June 15th, 2013. June still seems far away this week, even as we turned the page to March, but yesterday (Saturday) marked 15 weeks from race day! I have a lot of work to do.

I'm trying some new things this year. For starters, I've been swimming once a week since probably Thanksgiving (maybe before- I don't remember). A couple of weeks ago, I read an article that said that just swimming laps was relatively pointless, and you should basically be swimming increasingly difficult intervals. I decided to start following that plan. Today was swim #3. Because this swim plan is really geared toward a 1/4 mile swim, and mine is a 1/2 mile swim, I'm doubling the workout. Technically it has me swimming a little less than I was before, but it's definitely more of a workout. Today, I swam 20 laps (50 yds) as fast as I could with a 20 second rest in between laps. I've been using poker chips to count my laps- so that helps. And typically I've been able to go the same pace throughout the whole workout with in about a 4 second variable! I feel good about the workout. And I can really feel it in my shoulders!

Another thing I'm trying is Yoga. The gym I belong to is offering a Saturday morning Yoga Fusion class at 8am. Currently, the timing is perfect. I'm able to get up and do a short interval run before the class. I'm not sure how this will work as we move into warmer weather, and longer runs, when I can run outside. I'm really enjoying the class!

My goal this training session is to remember to continue to stretch everyday AND lift weights twice a week. I guess you could say, I'm approaching this triathlon a lot different than I did last year. I think I signed up with about 10 weeks to train last year. I was out of shape and it was a big goal. I definitely have more confidence going into it this year!

In closing, week one went really well! I got all of my workouts in pretty easily. I am struggling a little with my knee, but it's a post-workout soreness, and not affecting my actual workouts. This upcoming week, I am hoping/planning to do a 3 week detox cleanse. Honestly, I doubt that I will make it through 3 weeks, but I'm looking forward to trying!

Strive for Five

Introducing my Strive for 5 initiative!! A list of simple 5-based guidelines to help you live a healthier life. I hope this helps you remember how eat less processed food, and get enough of the good stuff on your plate each day!

A little background on how it came to be...The other day, I was working on some marketing material for a show I'm doing this week. Thinking about signs and advertisement, and how to draw people in.  I decided to focus on the real food movement this time, as it's January, and so many people are thinking about goals and diets and eating healthier. 

I came up with the idea of doing a raffle drawing for a few Real Food items that you can find in your mainstream grocery store. I was creating the sign for display and I typed "Strive for 5 ingredients or less on your packaged food".  Strive for 5-- cute! Then it hit me, there are many other things that come in 5's when it comes to being healthy.

STRIVE FOR 5 (the details)

5 Ingredients or less in packaged foods. I originally started eating less processed foods by following a plan called “100 Day of Real Food”. It starts with a 10 day challenge of and becomes a lifestyle choice. Start looking at your nutrition labels, not just for the fat and calorie content, but for the ingredients list as well. Strive to find foods that have 5 or less ingredients listed. Less ingredients is better, but be realistic too-- Condiments are tough! I choose to just use them minimally!

5 Cups of Vegetables and Fruits. To be clear, this is 5 cups of vegetables and fruits combined. This is the USDA recommendation. What counts as a cup? Without being too exact, 1 Cup of 100% juice, ½ Cup dried fruit, 1 average size hand fruit (apple, orange, grapefruit, banana, etc), 1 C chopped raw or cooked vegetables, or 2 cups of leafy greens

5 Ounces of whole grains.  It might be hard to think of grains in this “Ounce” proportion. Here are some common equivalents; 1 small biscuit, ½ cup uncooked oatmeal, 1 4-inch pancake, 3 cups popped popcorn, 1 C cold cereal, ½ C cooked rice or pasta, or 1 small (6 inch) tortilla. While I’d like to see you eat as many whole grains as possible the message of the USDA is “Make half of your grains whole”.

5 Ounces of Protein. Protein is important for building muscles and keeping you feeling full. Per the USDA: “In general, 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish, ¼ cup cooked beans, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or ½ ounce of nuts or seeds can be considered as 1 ounce equivalent from the Protein Foods Group.”

5 Teaspoons or less of oils. Oils are not a food group, but they do provide essential nutrients. Use oils sparingly in cooking, and try to get healthy oils from nuts, olives, fish and avocados!

5 One-half cups of dairy. Ok, so the real recommendation is 3 cups per day, but I had to make it fit into my rule of 5! Choose low-fat dairy as much as possible. There are 5 categories of Dairy: Milk, Yogurt, Cheese, Milk-based desserts, and Soymilk. Assume 1 cup of food = 1 cup of Dairy, with the exception of cheese, which can be considerably more or less depending on variety. Check the USDA (myplate.gov) website for clarification on all of these food amount recommendations.

5 Hours of Exercise! Get Active! This doesn’t mean you have to run for an hour 5 days a week! But get out there and walk, play with your kids, or actually hit the gym for 45 minutes every day!

This about sums it up. I'm pretty excited about this whole thing!!

No-Cheese Sauce

This is straight from the Forks Over Knives Cookbook (p29). I will say- this will never replace cheese, but I think if you were making a Mexican dish and wanted to add some flavor and cut the fat of cheese, you could sub this in. Or maybe cut half the cheese with this mix! I think it would be really good in chicken enchiladas. Or as a chip dip- cut with plain yogurt or sour cream.

Makes 2.5 cups
1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 1.5 cups)
3 tablespoons cashews, toasted, optional
1 tablespoon tahini, optional
1 cup nutritional yeast
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender in the order given and puree until smooth and creamy, adding up to 1/2 cup of water if necessary to achieve a smooth consistency.

Thoughts? I have no idea if I really understand what nutritional yeast is... but I've used it a few times in recipes from this book, and it really does make things creamier!

What I did differently? I really don't like raw onion, and the book calls a variation of roasted red pepper. So I roasted the onion and pepper myself. I also skipped the tahini as I didn't have any in the house.

Results? It tasted a little like queso. Think of this as you think about where you would use this.

Would I make it again? Yes, but as I mentioned earlier, I would make it as a dip or a filler. In this case, I put it on a plate of nachos in place of cheese, it was pretty good.

Pork Chops with Apple & Wine Sauce

For starters, the real name of this recipe is "OMG Chef Michael Symon Tweeted Me!" Pork Chops...

So... let's start with the background for this recipe. If you've read this blog before, you know that I am in love with the show The Chew and Iron Chef, Michael Symon.  Keep that in mind as we go along. This Christmas, I asked for, and received a cast iron skillet. While I know how to cook and care for a cast iron skillet (never soak it in water, just wipe out and dry), I've never used one that's brand new. It was New Years day and I was researching what to do before it's first use online, so I tweeted Chef Symon and asked him what to do. It was less than a minute later, and he responded! I jumped out of my chair and laughed! And... immediately posted it on Facebook! :)

So Chef Symon, the only way I know how to thank you is to cook some pork! Thanks for making my 2013 just 11 hours into it!

I just kind of threw this together, it's what sounded good. Sorry it's a little rough on the details.

Ingredients:

My new Skillet- And the Pork Chops!

2 boneless pork chops, thinly sliced

1/4 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1/2 apple, diced into medium chunks

2T golden raisins or craisins

1/4 C white wine

1/2 T cornstarch

salt/pepper/oil/red pepper flakes (all optional, and to taste)

Heat skillet over medium high heat, with a tablespoon of oil (I use grapeseed oil). Season pork chops with salt and pepper, and place into skillet when oil is hot. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side (hint- don't move it around just place it in the pan and flip).  Remove chops from pan and set aside.

Add onions to the pan and let them cook until soft (4-5 minutes) Meanwhile toss the apple chunks with cornstarch and place in the pan. Cook for one minute, then add wine, raisins and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring sauce to a boil- and slide the chops back in to reheat and cook through.

You can decide if this is one serving or two. Personally I ate this all myself. But if you served with roasted potatoes and a side of steamed broccoli- this could probably serve two! :)

Just for fun... here's my Twitter interaction!

One Word Workshop

Today I invited some friends over to my house for a One Word Workshop. The instructions were simple, instead of making a New Years Resolution, pick one word to focus on all year. Use the word in as many different ways as you see fit! It was fun to hear everyone's stories about why they picked their words. It seemed the hardest part of the day was deciding on background colors.

Boards in the works!

NOURISH is my 2013 word

As a Fitness Chef, my word "Nourish" has some pretty obvious meanings. But, to me it's about feeding my brain and relationships, not just my body! You can read the post I wrote about my word HERE.








My friend Diana and her step-daughter arrived first. Emily didn't have a word picked out but after a few minutes of chatting about how she wants to read and study more this year... she ended up with FOCUS.

Emily's got FOCUS!

Diana's already RELAX'd

Diana is busy planning a wedding, and running her own business... so RELAX seemed like a great word for someone who has a lot going on in 2013!  Although this picture might make you believe she's already found it!

ELASTICITY... it's a big word to live up to!

My mom came next! She was prepared she had her word "Elasticity" and all of her reasons for it. She even had some dragonflies (her favorite) already picked out. It took us a few tries to make her letters fit, but in the end she really liked the way hers turned out!










Next up - Kim and her twin 8 year olds Erika and Ella. They are a scrapbooking family, and they came prepared for the event. We didn't get Kim very far on her word FAMILY, but she's got it all planned out. The girls appeared to have a great time, and were excited to have their photos taken with the boards. FOCUS and DREAM seem like perfect words for these two! I was told I started a trend with the family.  :)

Ella's a DREAMer!

Erika's  FOCUSed in on 201

Working away!

Jen came over to check things out. Deep into her own craft projects at home, we decided she was "crafted out". But, she had picked her word, BELIEVE. I kind of forced her to do something. So we wrote her word in glitter on a wood craft stick! She plans to hang it above her list of goals at home (goals that include a half-marathon!)... because she's my neighbor, I'm sure I will be able to get her to stick to it! (Ha- no pun intended)

Jen BELIEVE's  2013 is her year!

A few others couldn't make it to the party. Jess picked her word CHOICES. I'm personally excited about being able to throw this one back at her throughout the year... Jess- are you making good choices?

Jess is making good CHOICES

I know a few other friends chose the words FINISH, ACTION and CONFIDENCE as well as another friend who chose to make an inspiration board this year.

My cat Sixx finally came out of hiding after everyone left... I'm pretty sure her 2013 word is PLAY, as she immediately jumped on the table cloth I'd tossed on the couch.

Sixx PLAYing

All-in-all, it was a really great day! I was happy that I got to bring the One Word concept to so many people! I continue to count my blessings that I was ever introduced to Jon Gordon and his work. It has changed me in so many ways!! Did you choose One Word? If so, I'd love to hear about it!