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Autumn Vegetable Ragu with Pumpkin, Fennel and Sage

Sep 14

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Vegetarian | 3 Comments

Hi there friends!

Is it just me or does it feel like today should be FRIDAY not WEDNESDAY?  The weather here is dreary and a little on the chilly side (high of 58 today).  My internal solar battery is running low already today.  I feel like I need a nap or some caffeine.  One or the other.

Hope you guys aren’t getting too sick of me, what with all this daily posting again during the ‘challenge‘ days!  It’ll be over in a couple of days and then I will be back in ‘travel mode’ again so you’ll get a breather!  ;)

So yesterday’s exercise was an EARLY hilly interval running session with some extra-intense intervals on a steep long hill tacked on at the end.  I was feeling pretty beat when it was done.  I’ve been running on an empty stomach again because I noticed I felt less sluggish.  However on this particular day, I wish I’d had something prior because I could have used the extra oomph!

My post-workout meal was a smoothie made with kale, cucumber, frozen pineapple, mint, pepitas and some raw plant protein powder.

Some other highlights of the day included leftover fajita veggies for lunch, this time in a “Southwest” tortilla that I picked up at Whole Foods.

Times two, because it was delicious.  The red, yellow and orange peppers were so sweet and flavorful on their own, the only ‘condiment’ I added was smear of garlic that I’d roasted when I made the veggies.  No need for standard fajita fare here (meaning cheese or sour cream) – it would just detract from the natural flavors of the good stuff!

And a wonderful treat that I split up throughout the day into 2 servings.  A bubbly!!  Mmmmm kombucha!

I was looking forward to cooking dinner because I recently found some tomatoes packaged in an aseptic box rather than in a can!

Love the ingredients list:

Nothing but tomatoes!

I made kind of a pumpkin-infused vegetable ragu.  I’ll call it Autumn Ragu with Pumpkin, Sage & Fennel.  In last month’s Good Housekeeping, there was a recipe for Linguine with Carrot Turkey Ragu that sparked the idea.  But I totally revamped it and did my own thing.  Here’s my take on it:  I sauteed some onion, carrot and fennel, then added fresh garlic, a little cinnamon and some rubbed sage (dried).  I deglazed the pot with red wine then added the tomatoes and a cup of pureed pumpkin.  I let it all simmer for about an hour and then I added some Eden (BPA free) lentils, a pinch of red pepper flakes and some fresh basil. The idea with the lentils was to provide texture (and a little protein) that a meat normally would have.

I spiralized some carrot and zucchini into ribbons to serve along with spaghetti noodles (you can add them to the pasta water with the noodles for the last minute of cooking to take the cold edge off the spiralized veggies).  Whenever I use pasta, I almost always try to cut it down by at least half using some sort of vegetable (like these ribbons, or spaghetti squash or kelp/tofu noodles).

And dinner was served!  (There I go doing something with some Italian influence again.  It looks like a marinara based meat sauce, but taste-wise  you get the pumpkin and fennel undertones with a hint of the cinnamon).

This was another meatless dinner that Cory and I were able to enjoy together.  His review was that the sauce was very “meaty” for not having any meat in it and that the only thing missing was “garlic bread on the side”.   :D

Late evening I had a little Teecino with almond milk and a bit of dry cereal.

So today’s question (which maybe someday should be a whole post topic and discussion):  do you find that you actually USE cookbooks or recipes?  I don’t write out the meals I make “recipe style” very often here, because my hope is that something I make will just spark your creativity with whatever you happen to have in your own kitchen at the time.  I love to READ cookbooks (and I own a bunch of them too) but truth be told I just don’t use them very often.  I have also read through the recipes on a zillion blogs, but have probably only tried a handful over the course of 3-1/2 years of blog reading.  Usually I’ll try a recipe from a cookbook checked out from the library or I’ll adapt one from an online source, like Epicurious.com.

Have a fabulous Friday friends!  (Ha, just kidding:  make that Wednesday!)

– Shari B. =)

 

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Weekend of Weddings

Sep 2

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Hi friends!

Are you excited it’s Friday?  I love long holiday weekends.  They feel like little vacations. We have so much planned for the weekend in addition to that hike I mentioned yesterday.  We’ll be going to the wedding of my good friends Beth and Jason (very excited about that!), hopefully dropping in on the Taste of Colorado to try some interesting eats, and I’m sure we’ll see a movie at some point because that’s just how we roll.  There’s another wedding happening this weekend as well – my cousin Carrie is getting married in California.  Unfortunately I don’t get to go to that one, but I’m thinking I should probably eat TWO pieces of wedding cake at Beth’s reception, in order to honor Carrie’s, right?   ;)

Congrats to BOTH sets of the soon-to-be newlyweds!

I’m excited for all of you!

***

Let’s talk about yesterday!

Thursday’s workout was an intense run at my favorite hilly spot.  Hike up the first steep big hill, then run fast on the downhills and “sprint” intervals on the uphills.  I put “sprint” in quotations because it’s an attempt to sprint for sure, but when going uphill you feel like one of those cartoon characters whose feet are moving so fast they are all a blur, but the rest of the body’s not moving at all.  :D

It was a gorgeous morning for it – getting outside for a run as the sun comes up is always a great way to start the day, even if I do grumble a little while I’m getting ready to go.  ;)

Before I left for the run I had my half-caff coffee and a little serving of Mom’s Best Naturals Toasty O’s for some fuel.

When I got back I felt the need for some GREEN but not of the smoothie variety because I just wasn’t too hungry.  This would my lazy version of a green smoothie – dried greens powder mixed with water:

Morning snack was cucumber cups filled with hummus and topped with leftover tempeh strips:

When lunchtime rolled around, I took a peek in the fridge and realized I had a lot of Italian-ish items (shocker right?  :)   Somehow I always have Italian goods…. they are my FAVORITE!):

So I made a little sauté of mushrooms, zucchini and shallots in balsamic, then tossed in cannellini beans and arugula toward the end.

I also made some whole wheat penne pasta which was tossed with pesto.  The veggies were served alongside and then topped off with a few flakes of raw goat cheese and a chopped heirloom tomato from my garden:

It was a TINY tomato…

But it was sweet and succulent, almost like you could taste all the nurturing that’s gone into the plant over the summer.

I’m glad it was good, because so far it’s been the only one we’ve gotten out of the garden this year.

After lunch I was craving a little chocolate, so I mixed up some almond butter, protein powder, carob powder and agave, pressed it together into a ball shape then tossed it around in hemp seeds.

I’m guessing the are somewhat similar to Gina’s protein balls, but I didn’t measure anything so I have no clue if they taste the same or not.

It was a delicious little bite and shut down the “craving monster”.

In the afternoon I had a few slices of raw goat cheese along with some unpictured Mary’s Gone Crackers flax crackers.

By dinnertime, I was feeling a little how Riley looked… which is to say TUCKERED OUT:

For dinner I made some brown rice with some shallot gravy (made with minced shallots, olive oil, spelt flour and vegetable stock) to serve with the last of the meatless loaf from earlier in the week.  But I just couldn’t bring myself to eat ANY MORE of that loaf.  As much as I loved it, I’d eaten it too many times this week.  So I just had a few ramekins of the rice and gravy while Cory cleaned up the loaf.

Then later a protein shake and piece of toasted Ezekial.

Mmmm it was a yummy day!

I hit up Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocer’s today to gather some goods to make a fun dinner tonight in honor of Labor Day weekend.  I’m crossing my fingers it turns out.  I’m trying a product I’ve never worked with before so I have no idea what to expect!  But I’ll share the results with you tomorrow!

Have a beautiful evening and a LOVELY start to your Labor Day weekend!  See ya tomorrow!

– Shari B. =)

 

 

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Sprint, Rest, Repeat

Mar 9

Posted by Shari B. in Marathon Training | 8 Comments

Hi friends!

I hope your Tuesday is off to a great start.  Mine is flying by quickly as usual!  It started this morning with another gorgeous outdoor hilly run with one of my clients.  After our usual loop we added in some hill sprints.   Some of you asked in yesterday’s Marathon Monday post comments about further info on getting faster by going slower.  I did reply to those comments but thought I’d also bring it up briefly today as well.

In addition to working your body in the aerobic range so that you can build up your body’s ability to burn fat as fuel on long runs, you’ll also want to incorporate some faster training on your short runs (plus weight training and flexibility, but again that’s a whole other FitFeat post ;) )

You can Google running programs and find a TON of free info on the internet that will tell  you how many miles to run each week based on your goal, on which day, that you need to do tempo runs, hill repeats, speedwork, yada, yada, yada.  I don’t follow any of them as written.  I’m not knocking them by any means.  I’m sure they are great plans (and maybe if I followed them I would complain less about my achy knees!)  But the minute I see a schedule detailing that I have to do X, Y, Z on these days and A, B, C on the other days, my eyes glaze over and the rebellion sets in immediately.   :)   I spent too many years being overly obsessed with counting every minute of exercise and every calorie I ate to ever want to do that again.  For me, that’s the express train to Boredom City.

Yes I do get in “tempo runs” and “speedwork” but they are primarily unscripted.

I incorporate intervals during my week in a variety of ways, but I couldn’t guess as to whether they are 400, 800, or 1600 meter repeats – ask my running buddies how I feel about trying to calculate math during a run.  :)   When my legs are running, I promise you my brain switches off.  So looking at the fractions of miles on my Garmin and converting to meters when I’m running?  Not gonna happen.

I can’t say whether I’m running at my “5K pace” or my “10K pace” because I don’t race at those distances, so I don’t track that.  I pay attention to my pace and my heart rate as they relate to each other, but not as they would relate to which race distance pace they might equate to.

What I can tell you is that I love to blast out different types of intervals and that’s basically my speedwork.  Today after our run, we picked the steepest hill and did sprint intervals for 10 seconds, then recovered until my client’s heart rate was down to around 70% of max, then we shot off for 10 more seconds, repeat, repeat, etc.  On my own, I might do this for 20 seconds, then continue walking up the hill for 40 seconds, then sprint for 20 then walk 40 and so on, until my sprint and my walk aren’t easily discernible.  Maybe I’ll find a landmark (tree, sign, streetlight) and sprint to it, then recover, find another, sprint to it and so on.

At home on the treadmill, after a good warm-up and maybe a short run, I’ll bump the incline way up and do some incline interval running.  One day I might spend 30 seconds crazy-fast, then 60-90 seconds recovery, then repeat.  I do this for the amount of time I have and/or for the amount of time I enjoy doing it.  I don’t do X, Y, Z and A, B, C as written in a plan though.

My “tempo runs” are the ones I do for fun at my normal “happy, but pushing a tad” pace, usually with a friend and sometimes on a treadmill.  Or maybe a hike (speedwalk the ups, run the downs). But again, unscripted.

To do well at running distance, yes you do need to factor in a variety of running styles:  long slow runs, short fast runs, speedy interval training, incline work.  But to do it well and be happy doing it?  Maybe you just need to march to the beat of your own drum a little.  :)   Find out what you like and do it.  Find out what you don’t like then figure out how you can tweak it slightly to make it something you dislike a little less so that you’ll still get some done.

***

OK friends, I am off to the dentist to have him look at my second broken crown in a year.  I’m going to ask if he’ll give me a gold crown this time, so that I can stop paying a thousand bucks a pop for these porcelain ones that keep breaking on me.  (FYI if you have porcelain crowns, be careful with SEA SALT!  Both times my crowns cracked I bit down on some sea salt that must have had a good chunk o’ minerals in that crystal…)  I’d rather have a gold tooth than give up sea salt though.

Next time you see me, maybe I’ll be rockin’ the Flavor Flav look:

Peace out yo!  ha ha!

– Shari B. =)

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Chili and Ice

Jan 12

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 5 Comments

Hi blog buds!  How’s your Tuesday treating ya?  I hope I’m not throwing off your reading schedule by posting in the afternoon the last couple of days.  I thought I’d play with my schedule a bit to see which I like better.  What I’m coming up with is post when it fits, instead on a SCHEDULE! :)   Hopefully it doesn’t matter if it’s morning or afternoon!

Well Monday turned out to be a fun exercise day.  First I did 25 minutes of intervals on the treadmill in the morning.  I really do get bored on the treadmill and have to vary my speed and/or incline constantly just to stay interested.  After a quick warm-up I did 1 minute intervals of 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 mph running then walk one minute, then increase the incline a notch and do it again.  The time goes by so much faster that way.

Then when I pulled in the driveway after work, our street had been plowed again!  Which is good on one hand because at least they were moving all of the big ice chunks onto the sunny side of the street.  Unfortunately that also meant our ‘ice trench’ was covered up AGAIN!!!  So I put on my grubbies and some waterproof boots and went out there to dig yet another trench.  It was 50 degrees yesterday so things were just starting to melt a bit in the shaded part of our street.

This ice issue in front of our house has become the neighborhood comedy – neighbors sure like to chuckle at me every day as they drive by, thinking “Suckers!  You got stuck with the worst lot on the street!”  :)   I appreciate that it at least provides a neverending workout, that’s for sure.

But THEN the exercise gets better … because it was so nice out, I couldn’t resist getting the dogs out for a some WOGGING!  It’s been so long I think they forgot what WOGGING is (and you readers may have as well!)  I can’t keep a steady pace with my crazy pups because they like to stop every two seconds to sniff something, then run, then sniff.   So we’re walking AND jogging:  WOGGING.  They had a blast and actually didn’t drive me insane this time.  I think it had something to do with the treats I stashed in my pocket.  ;)   It was perfect weather for a walk.  Now THIS is the Colorado winter weather I love and miss!

***

Every weekend, usually on Sunday, I sit down to come up with food ideas for the week for his dinners (mine are much easier because I always have veggies on hand and as such always have a salad, wrap, sandwich, soup, etc.)  This time MSP said he wanted me to make my mom’s chili during the week, but make it VEGETARIAN.  I’m sorry, say that again? Did you just tell me to make VEGETARIAN chili?  By George, he did!  He said he’d be fine if I used a meat substitute for the beef so that we could both eat it.  (When I made it last time, I just made two pots side by side, mine without beef, his with.) He’s the best, huh?  No wonder I love him to pieces.  :)

So I picked up some Gimme Lean “Ground Beef Style Veggie Protein” and used that in place of the beef.  My mom’s chili is awesome.  We love it.  And it’s very easy and we had it last night for dinner.

I always seem to change the recipe around in some way.  Here’s what I did this time:

Brown 1 package Gimme Lean “ground beef” veggie product in the bottom of  a large soup pot.  If you like onions, you can brown it with that.  I just added a little onion powder, since MSP doesn’t like onions.

After browning, add the following to the pot:

  • 46 oz can of tomato juice
  • 15 oz can organic azuki beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 15 oz can organic kidney beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 1/4 tsp celery salt
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 2 Tbsp chili powder

Simmer for a few hours.

I plated my helping over some spiralized zucchini (just for Cindy, since she wants a spiralizer) and then topped it with some nutritional yeast (in place of cheese).  Mmmm my mom’s home cooking, with a twist!

What are your favorite beans to use in chili?  Are you a WHITE BEAN chili lover or a RED BEAN chili lover? I like ALL chili colors!  :)   I don’t think I could pick a favorite.  I just love BEANS, period!

– Shari B.  =)

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All That and a Bag of (Kale) Chips

Nov 4

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Product Review | 4 Comments

Hello FitFeat Friends!

Whew, what a busy bee kind of morning it’s been so far, and it’s only 8:47 as I begin to type this.  I’ve had a lot of blog-related catch up to do this morning, emails to reply to, made a pancake b-fast for MSP today, am still in my PJs and have yet to finish my post!  What’s weird is my coffee this morning seemed to be UBER-caffeinated! I used the same single-serve pod brand that I’ve used every day for years, and today it hit me like a truck for some reason.  I am having a hard time sitting still, my fingers are going faster than my brain and I feel almost shaky!  Crazy java!  Maybe the dogs slipped a”wog ruffie” into my mug, in hopes that I’d take them out to burn off this extra energy ;)

Speaking of dogs… yesterday’s exercise included a 30 minute WOG for the pups.  Poor Riley hadn’t been out for a real wog since her cone-inducing incident.  And you could sure tell.  She was a maniac!  I spent most of that 30 minutes snapping her leash, shouting “Riley, BACK”.  I think she has stubborn mule syndrome short term memory problems because she only follows commands now for about a millisecond and then goes right back to whatever she was doing before I corrected her.   She thinks she can get away with anything now that she’s OLD, but I’m on to her little scheme.  :)

Since the wog was more for them than for me, I then hopped on the treadmill afterward, while watching an episode of “Eastwick” on Hulu.  It was 40 minutes of interval fun!  Speedwork this time:  I focused on including intervals of 9+ mph.  It was definitely a sweat-maker!  I might have to do it again today!  :)

Yesterday’s eats included a quick bite before my a.m. client, Ezekial toast (which looks to be drowing in vegan ‘non-butter’ but really it just doesn’t melt well!)

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Later a PUMPKINY green smoothie…

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This one had:

  • 1/2 cucumber
  • sweet clover sprouts
  • 1/2 banana
  • about 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
  • palmful of raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
  • BIG fist o’spinach
  • 1/2 cantaloupe

I felt like NOT having a salad for lunch, so how ’bout a salad in a can?  Amy’s Organic Minestrone, mmm warm and veggie-ful.

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Late afternoon while I was prepping dinner stuff, I made a little batch of kale chips, this time with a good dash of nutritional yeast… and ate the whole batch.

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We’ve been craving a visit to Garbanzo’s lately and just haven’t made it up there, so I decided we’d make our own homemade version.  I finally tried this box of Falafel mix I had in my pantry.  I wanted to see if it was easier better than the ones I’d made from scratch.  The answer:  NO WAY.  Not that the ones I made at home were all that and a bag of kale chips, but these were SO flipping dry you felt like you needed to load them up on some sort of sauce, which we did not have.

In their defense, I did follow their “broiling” instructions rather than frying them in oil.  They obviously wouldn’t be so dry if they were sopping around in a pan of olive oil before eating.  But that would defeat the purpose of them being a bit healthier than the charred deepfried version we get when eating at Garbanzo.  Sorry “Fantastic World Foods”, this one won’t make it into my grocery basket again anytime soon.

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Here’s how my plate turned out:  smeared with my  homemade hummus, topped with a little rice pilaf, some roasted zucchini & baby bellas,  a rooster tail of romaine and 1/4 whole wheat pita.  Oddly, the broiled falafel look like GINGER COOKIES!!

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And MSP made his into a pita pocket (sadly lacking any veggie action) :)

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I need to make a good cucumber dill sauce to put on our leftovers to combat the dryness, so I’ll be on the hunt for a good (read:  EASY) recipe that I can use MimicCreme in.  :)   If you  have one, please feel free to share in the comments section!  Or if you  have a homemade healthy falafel recipe that you love, please share that too!

OK, fit peeps, I need to get this party started moving on my Wednesday.  Don’t forget to email me a pic of your awesome bicep flexing for FLEX IT FRIDAY before midnight Thursday!  If you have a blog, be sure to include your blog address in the email so that I can mention it!

Have a brilliant day and I’ll see ya next time!

– Shari B. =)

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Tabata Time!

Nov 3

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 11 Comments

Hi friends!

Happy Tuesday…!  I hope your week is getting off to a lovely start.

In case you didn’t see it, there was a comment made to yesterday’s post by reader Tray about a FLEX IT FRIDAY this week – saying that if I post a flex shot (biceps) she’ll post one to her blog too.  This totally put a smile on my face (mostly because I have pretty tiny ‘guns’) and I thought it might be a fun way for you all to join in too!  Send me an email with your best BICEP flex shot shari@fitfeat.com by midnight Thursday and I’ll add it to Friday’s post with mine.  Don’t leave me hanging, now!

Monday was a great day for feeling on track again.  After the morning joe, it started with some Tabata-style weight training, which really becomes more a game of muscular endurance than strength.  Originally designed for sprint intervals to increase VO2 max, you see it used for many other types of training now.  You alternate 20 seconds of high intensity with 10 seconds of low intensity and repeat for 4 minutes.   When you do this for sprints, the goal is that your high intensity segments are so tough that truly by the end of the 4 minutes you are wiped.  Full-body exercises are a great use of this training style as well.

Well you know I love any exercise that alternates intensity with rest so when I first read about Tabata last year I was excited to try it out.  I later downloaded a Tabata timer on my iPhone and use it to turn pretty much any exercise into an interval session.  And of course, I like to make up my own rules, so instead of things like pushups and pullups, I like to do a full Tabata round for each muscle group.  Here’s how Monday’s workout went down.

Tabata Full Body

  • TM Warmup 5 minutes
  • Chest: DB Bench Press 4 minutes
  • Back: Seated Rows 4 minutes
  • Shoulders: Side Lateral Raises 4 minutes
  • Biceps: Seated DB Curls 4 minutes (2 min palms up, 2 min palms in)
  • Triceps: Tricep Pushdowns 4 minutes
  • Core: Planks 4 minutes
  • Legs: Static Ball Squats 4 minutes
  • Legs: VS Rear Lunges 4 min (alt legs every interval)

This is a quick and efficient training method, less than 40 minutes.  My bis, tris, and shoulders are definitely ‘vocal’ today!

By then, my bod was ready for a post-workout shake:  chocolate Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer with 1/2 banana.

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Then a mid-morning Lemon Larabar while working at the computer:

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At lunchtime I wanted to use up a couple of veggies that were looking a little wilty, so I cut up an orange pepper, roma tomato, baby bellas, and zucchini, tossed them with a drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt and roasted them in my toaster oven for about 25 minutes.

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During the last few minutes I sprinkled nutritional yeast on them to give them a ‘cheesy’ feel and made an avocado/sprout sandwich for the side:

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Veggie-licious!

Midafternoon called for another Larabar, this time Cashew Cookie flavor.  And a cup of herbal tea.  Mmmm, tea and “cookies”.  I feel so PROPER!  ;)

Dinner was a special treat because MSP’s brother happened to be passing through town and we hadn’t seen him since June.  So we went to one of our local favorites, Via Baci, where I would normally order a pizza (oh do they ever have great pizza!!) but since I have been making so many pita pizzas at home, I opted for the seared tuna salad with lemon vinaigrette on the side.  It was SCRUMPTIOUS and I even have a little leftover for today.  (Caution:  fuzzy iPhone pic ahead, view at your own risk!)  :)

via baci

A few pieces of candy corn for dessert at home while chatting with family – it was a great end to a fabulous day.

***

Today’s questions:  Do you prefer intervals or steady-state exercise?  Have you tried Tabata for your cardio or weights?  How did you like it? Drop a comment to let me know your thoughts.

And then drop me an email with your BICEP FLEX!!!  We’ll all have a reason to pump up our biceps with some exercise beforehand ;)   and I know some of you are jokesters so it could be comical!

Have a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!

– Shari B. =)

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Turning the Tables on Naysayers

Nov 2

Posted by Shari B. in FitFeature, Keeping Fit | 10 Comments

Good morning FitFeat friends!

I hope that you had a wonderful post-Halloween recovery day.  Alison from Mama’s Weeds blogged about “recalibrating” – I think a few of us were definitely in that mode!  I know I was (and am today as well).  I’m feeling ready to hit the reset button and get back to my regular routine.  Between hosting houseguests and then getting snowed in, I feel like it’s been 2 weeks since I’ve had a routine day.  Vacation is over.  Back to reality!  :)

MSP and I did get out yesterday for a great 5 mile interval session.  Intervals of any sort are my favorite, which is why I love to hike.  Hiking to me is bascially one big interval session.  Higher intensity on the uphill portion, recovery on the downhill.  We did something similar on our run yesterday, as where we live is pretty hilly.  We speedwalked the uphills and raced on the downhills.  It was so fun and the miles flew by in a hurry. 

The sun was shining  and the sky was clear blue.  A big thanks to our Recreation Association for taking a snowplow to the trail system, because they were in great shape despite all the snow that fell.

I fueled up about an hour prior to the run with a Larabar Coconut Cream Pie.

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And a post-run green smoothie (that I almost forgot to photograph, so it’s almost gone).

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During the Broncos game, which did in fact turn out to be the snoozefest I figured it would be (Ravens ended the Broncos undefeated streak with no trouble at all), I was craving pizza.  As you know I adore pizza and could probably eat it every day ;)   so I made a super-healthy veggie-topped pita pizza.

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It was filling and DEE-LISH!

Mid-afternoon I had a handful of Newman’s Ginger-O’s and a glass of soymilk (the store was OUT of almond milk this time so I am stuck with soy this week.)

Dinner was a beautiful veggie salad dressed with hemp oil and balsamic vinegar.  On the side I had a Sunshine Falafel patty.  Mmmm. 

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It felt great to get plenty of veggies in my day again.

***

On to a new FitFeature topic that I’ve been wanting to cover for some time:  using naysayers to propel you to success.

Through the years, I have tried many different nutrition plans and fitness routines as I enjoy experimenting to determine what works best for me. 

When you are eating healthy and exercising, chances are you are going to bump into people who want to rain on your parade.  I could do a whole series on the reasons WHY and HOW people will do this to you, but for today I’d like to focus on YOU turning naysaying into motivation.

Many years back, before I became a personal trainer and while I was still new in my fitness journey I was working as a consultant and had been assigned to a project with a fairly large company.  Over time, people got used to the fact that I packed my own food and ate healthy most of the time.   

I had a 3-ring binder in which I kept my food and exercise logs.  On the cover of the binder was an “Avia” fitness ad I’d torn out of a magazine as motivation.

One of the women that worked in the department I’d been assigned to saw my motivation photo and actually told me that I could “never look like that”. 

Now I am sure she didn’t mean it maliciously.  I like to think she was implying that she figured only a select genetically gifted few looked that way and that I’d only be wasting my time or setting myself up for failure. 

Ten years later, I STILL remember that comment. And boy did I prove her wrong.  Not that she knows it – my contract there ended and I moved on to the next consulting gig and then ultimately became a full-time personal trainer.  But just knowing that I reached my goal and THEN SOME, gives me satisfaction that she could not diminish my excitement or drive with her negativity. 

In fact she PROPELLED me further. 

I am one who responds when you tell me I can’t do something.  I must have a little rebellious side because if you tell me I HAVE to do something, I immediately do NOT want to do it.  And when you tell me I CAN’T do something, I will move mountains to show you I just how well I CAN. 

When I first embarked on my journey to better fitness I looked like this (150 lbs, 5’4″) – geez I look unhappy don’t I?

Before

After a couple of rounds of “Body for Life” I’d improved to this (this is where I was when I was working the consulting job) – cheesy pose due to entering the BFL contest :)

before mid

This is the ad I’d referred to for motivation:

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And then at my first NPC figure competition:

BW fit show

Now I won’t kid you – getting ready for figure competitions was no easy feat.  I worked my tail off and I endured ridiculously strict diets for each one.  But it was something that I chose to experience.  I’d moved on from my AVIA model and soon her pic was replaced with that of NPC and IFBB figure competitors.

What I want you to take away from this is:

Never let naysayers talk you down from your goals.  Use it as fuel for your motivational fire.  You CAN accomplish what you want when you put your mind to it and really dial-in  your focus.  

Don’t let it hurt when people say you can’t do something, or shouldn’t do something.  And when it comes from people close to you, I know it can sting even more.  Often times, people just don’t quite grasp what you are aiming for and that’s OK.  Let it get under your skin to ENCOURAGE you, rather than allowing it to cause doubt.

Here is the body “I live in daily” now, eating foods I ENJOY and doing exercise that I look forward to (and obviously in dire need of a tan, but hey it’s November!) 

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So today I would like to say thank you to all the naysayers out there who help propel THE REST OF US to kick a$$, take names and show ‘em how we roll.

***

Today’s discussion:  Have you experienced people attempting to rain on your parade or make you feel that you can’t achieve a certain goal?  Get picked on for eating healthy?  (That’s a big one for me.)  Please drop a comment and share your experiences with us. 

Make it a great Monday friends, and a great week as well! 

See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

 

If you know someone embarking on their own fitness journey (or could use some help battling the naysayers!) please feel free to send them my way. I offer fitness consulting by phone nationwide and in-person in the South Denver area.

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Hide & Seek Veggies

Oct 21

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 3 Comments

It’s snowing here this morning!  Hello Winter. 

I’m very excited to tell you about yesterday’s feats!  They had to do with getting MSP to consume some veggies!  I hereby dedicate this post to those of you who have written saying that you are having a hard time getting someone in your household to eat their veggies.  :)   

To begin, I made MSP what I’ll call a “First Step Green Smoothie“.  Normally for every breakfast during the week he makes a chocolate protein shake.  I asked if I could make him a special shake this time to see if I could camouflage some veggies in it, starting small in hopes that he’ll like it, get used to the flavor and then progress in to further greens.  (I did tell him I’d be putting veggies in and he agreed to give it a shot.)

First Step Green Smoothie Ingredients:  

  • Ice cubes
  • 10 oz water
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • stalk of celery
  • 1/3 cucumber
  • small fist o’ spinach
  • 1 banana
  • 1 clementine
  • 12 green grapes

Wow, I thought this shake turned out GREAT!  If I still ate whey protein, I’d have guzzled this one myself!  It had such a delicate light green color and sweet flavor.  He did drink it (with only a few funny expressions so progress is being made), but he apparently HATES celery and that was the flavor he zeroed in on.  Note to self:  no celery in future MSP smoothies. 

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For his dinner I’d planned on making him one of his favorites:  Turkey Tacos.  While getting ready to start cooking, I had a thought: I had a can of organic sweet potato puree in the pantry.  Surely sweet potato could be hidden amongst taco seasoning!  I consulted Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious (which I had conveniently checked out of the library on Sunday) to see if maybe she had a taco recipe in there and sure enough she hides purees in tacos in the book (meant for KIDS, I might add!)  I didn’t follow her recipe, but it confirmed that it could be done — without my ruining a pound of pricey ground turkey to find out!

Sneaky Taco Meat Ingredients:

  • 1 lb extra lean ground turkey 
  • 1/4 cup dry taco seasoning 
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree
  • 1/2 cup sweet potato puree
  • water if needed

Brown the turkey, then add the purees and the seasonings to the pan, mix really well.  If it seems too dry add a little water at a time to desired consistency (I only added about 3 TBSP water) and simmer for 15 minutes or until the family is ready to sit down to dinner.  I served MSP’s on small corn tortillas and he only tops his with cheese. 

Voila!img 370

In keeping with the southwest dinner theme, I made a myself a small veggie quesadilla (smeared avo, zucchini ribbons, tomato slices and a very light sprinkle of shredded raw goat cheddar.)  The avocado and warmed zucchini ribbons definitely gave it the texture of a creamy, melty quesadilla without much cheese to speak of.  ¡Bueno!

Topped with some Tabasco sauce:

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And served with a side of Amy’s Organic Black Bean Soup (with nutritional yeast):

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***

Veggie day was a SUCCESS!  MSP ate cucumbers, spinach, celery, a clementine, a banana, tomatoes and sweet potatoes ALL IN ONE DAY!  I can almost see the nutrients making him glow already!  ;)  

My Tuesday exercise was 45 minutes of incline intervals on the treadmill, while suffering through yet another episode of the new Melrose Place. (I keep thinking, “Next week it will get better…”  It doesn’t.)

As for my own ‘hidden veggies’  I hid some sweet potato in my oatmeal (oh and I hid a few raisins in there too…):

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I also hid some veggies inside of two toasted Ezekial slices:

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Now go hide some veggies in the food at YOUR house (I double dog dare you)… but not until you enter the FitFeat Free Giveaway Contest if you haven’t done so yet.  You can enter until Thursday night at 8:00 PM MST! 

Have a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!

– Shari B. =)

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Bitten by the Hungry Bug

Oct 2

Posted by in FitFeature | 2 Comments

Wahooo TGIF!  I love Fridays and Saturdays!  Got any big plans for the weekend? 

My Thursday started off with a little Rascal looking at me through my coffee mug.  I sure love that little guy!  It doesn’t matter what kind of day I’m having – Rascal can alwas put a smile on my face. 

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Speaking of smiles, here’s another on on my morning toast!  (Ezekial with almond butter and raw honey.)

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After a client session this morning, I ate half of a HUGE cantaloupe. 

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I blasted through my to-do list, then did my ADC (attention-deficit-cardio).  I can tell I’m not ready to be running indoors just yet:  I was on the treadmill for about a mile then had to start mixing other things in because the monotony of the TM was killing me.  I did intervals of step-ups, mountain climbers, bench hops, jumping jacks.  Anything to keep my heart rate high and not bore me to death. 

Mid-morning, I finished off my Gingerberry Kombucha, in a wine glass ;)   Makes it feel more festive!

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So one of the new (to me) veggies that I picked up at Whole Foods on my quest to try new foods was Red Chard.  Very Christmasy looking!  It almost makes a good centerpiece!

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I wilted it over medium heat in some macadamia nut oil, seasoned it with a little onion powder and fresh ginger, then topped it with a tiny drizzle of agave nectar.  Thought it might go well with the leftover Spicyaki Boulder Bowl from Tokyo Joe’s.  The chard wasn’t bad, but not one of my favorites (at least prepared in this manner.)  I’ll try some in a green smoothie and see how that goes.

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I was still hungry after I finished the plate above, so I  made a quick open-faced sandwich of Ezekial, herbed goat cheese, sliced cucumber, slice of tomato, and a sprinkle of pepper.

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And a few squares of dark chocolate make the lunch complete:

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My standard afternoon snack:  Larabar!  This time I had Ginger Snap, with a side of green tea.

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For dinner I made MSP a swiss & spinach chicken roll with a side of rice pilaf.

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And for me, I made a MONSTER of a salad with a side of Amy’s Organics Split Pea soup.  This is my new salad bowl (I think it is literally 12″ or more in diameter…  I’ll have to measure.  It is HUGE!)  My salad was bursting with ingredients:  spinach, kale, red chard, cucumber, tomato, dulse, nutritional yeast, sprouts, zucchini ribbons.  I made a vinaigrette of hemp oil, olive oil, basalmic vinegar, a pinch of lime juice and a pinch of agave.  Turned out pretty tasty!

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While MSP was at softball late in the evening, I had almond milk flavored with some chocolate syrup, and an unpictured banana with almond butter and honey. 

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I have been seriously bitten by the hungry bug this week!  (I even have a pic to prove it!!)

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The little bugger got me good, no wonder I’m famished!!  ;)   I’m having a tough time feeling full for some reason this week.  I wonder if it’s this streak of cold weather we’re having and my body thinking it needs some extra insulation for the winter!  I better dress warm today to trick it!  Since it is currently 28 degrees!  (Dear Summer, please, I beg you… do not leave me yet!  I’m not ready!)

When the hungry bug bites, I don’t want to ignore it completely if I’m truly feeling hungry (and not bored, stressed, tired or thirsty.)  In this situation I aim to fill up on nutrient-dense, high volume food, which is why I had such a HUGE salad for dinner.   It would be really easy to go grab something that I can stick my whole face into like a bag of baked chips, crackers, cookies, etc.  But I know that would just be adding insult to injury, and not doing any good for my body or my mood.  So I eat quality foods until I feel full.  If that doesn’t do the trick or if I have a feeling I’m just craving things for emotional reasons, usually a hot cup of herbal tea or a decaf coffee will work wonders.

Today’s questions:  Do you have your own strategy to fight off food cravings if you know they aren’t true hunger signals?  Do you have a “go-to” food or beverage that will squelch any cravings and keep you feeling fit?  Drop me a comment!  I’d love to hear from you! 

(Speaking of comments, where’s my sister-from-anotha-mister, Alexandra??  Hope you are doing well!)

Have a fit & fabulous FRIDAY! 

– Shari B. =)

 

 

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