FitFeat

where daily feats & eats can be adventures in themselves

Posts Tagged raw

The 10 Commandments of FitFeat

Mar 4

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Hi Fit Peeps!  It’s Friday-EVE!

The sun is shining and supposedly it’s going to hit 60 degrees today.  I can’t even describe how happy that makes me!  Spring is just around the corner! You all know I run on solar power, right?  ;)

I took the day off from working out yesterday.  I want to get past this mini-bug as quickly as possible, so I’m saving my body’s energy for immunity rather than for recovering from exercise.  I’ll have to take a trip to Whole Foods today and pick up some Kombucha tea and maybe some of the other cool supplement ideas you all suggested for me this week!  (Thank you for all the great ideas!)

As I mentioned in the last post, since I started training for the marathon a little over 6 weeks ago, my appetite has been a bear and I’ve also allowed more sugary items to creep back in.  Part of that is thanks to the season of Cadbury Caramel Cream Eggs which I love, love, love!  Part of it is the increased expenditure of energy from the long runs, yes, but not nearly as much as you may think.  (The rest of my week has LESS exercise in it than it used to because I spend a day or two ‘recovering’ from the long runs and then minimize leg work as I gear up for the next run.)  So my weekly calorie expenditure isn’t that much more than it was when I wasn’t training for this event.

I’ve been working at such a high heart rate in every run that I’ve been burning mostly sugar as fuel and not much fat.  This leads to a cycle of craving carbs, burning carbs, craving carbs, etc.   When our bodies feel wiped, we crave foods that will give us instant bursts of energy.  And unless you are planning to be running sprints in the next couple of hours, you know right where that sugar’s gonna go:  to your trouble spots!

I eat for weight maintenance.  Over the course of a lot of trials and many errors, I found what works best for me to feel healthy and satisfied, with the added bonus of fitting into my skinny jeans! :)   Enter an endurance sport, and my ‘natural rhythm’ gets thrown a bit off balance.

From a speed perspective I have a target weight in mind that I would like to race at on May 16.  For every 5% of weight you lose, you gain about 5% in speed.  If I want to increase my speed by 30 seconds per mile, I’ll need to get a bit lower than what my ‘summer maintenance weight’ is.

Here’s what I’m NOT going to do:  be obsessive or restrictive about it.  If I make it, great.  If not, I’ll just be 14 minutes slower over the 26 miles.

Here’s what I AM going to do:  get back to the basics of what I know works for me, both from a nutrition standpoint and an exercise standpoint.

With that said I thought I’d share the basics I follow (and coach my clients on) for losing (or maintaining weight) and healthy living in general:

10 Commandments of FitFeat

1.) Eat when hungry, stop when full. Never walk away from a meal feeling stuffed.

2.) Eat a green smoothie every day.

3.) If hungry between meals, choose natural (and preferrably raw) snacks.

4.) Eat a HUGE salad every day, chock full of veggies and fun things like dulse, nutritional yeast and healthy fats.

5.) Chew every bite until it’s practically liquefied – good digestion starts in the mouth!

6.) Eliminate (or greatly reduce) foods that cause nutritional stress (primarily refined flours, refined sugars, trans-fatty acids, artificial chemical additives).

7.) Plan, plan and plan some more.  If you don’t have the right foods within your reach, it’s much to easy to grab the WRONG ones.

8.) Save and Savor: SAVE the once-in-a-blue-moon foods for special occasions (like birthday cake and wedding cake) and when you do treat yourself to these indulgences, SAVOR it. And maybe have some fun with it.  ;)   For the not-so-special occasions where you need a treat, pick those that have some nutritional value like red wine and dairy-free dark chocolate.

9.) Choose exercise that energizes you and that you enjoy doing.  Let each workout leave you wanting to come back again the next time.

10.) Love yourself and your body.  Appreciate what it does for you and treat it with respect.  When you put that thought first, the choices you make will come naturally.

***

Today’s discussion:  how many of these 10 commandments do you already ‘obey’?  If there are some you don’t, which will you implement first?

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Day of Many Dates

Dec 31

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Keeping Fit | 8 Comments

Hi friends!  Happy New Year’s Eve!  :)   My eyes popped open at 4:03 a.m. this morning – oh boy, midnight seems like a L-O-O-O-N-G time from now.  I have a feeling I’ll be celebrating on East Coast time and out like a light at 10:02.  ;)   That is, if MSP is driving us home from the party.  If not, I better borrow some toothpicks from the marinated mushrooms I’m taking so that I can keep my eyelids propped open long enough to drive home.  Then it might me more like 10:32.

Yesterday was a great (if not super busy) day.  I had dates with a couple of “new friends”, Tanya and Alicia.

First Tanya.  She is the instructor on the “Physique 57″ DVD.  Still doing my ‘try lots of new exercises till I can get OUTSIDE for a run’ game.

There is only ONE reason really that I chose to purchase this DVD – this little lady right here:

(Photo Source)

I have a little “fitness crush” on Kelly Ripa.  So if SHE does it, I wanna try it too.   Her transformation through the years has been fun to watch.  She’s said in the past that she goes to classes at Physique 57, so now that it’s available via DVD I wanted to see what it does to my body, being someone who already works out with weights and runs.  I’ll keep you posted for sure!

My second date was with Alicia Silverstone:

It was a short date, only enough time for one chapter.  I’ve been coveting this book since its release.  And I took a good long look through it at Borders the day after Christmas.  It has a beautiful full color format and a lot of great recipes.  And as much as I wanted to take it home that day, I knew it was half the price on Amazon.  The first chapter and the intro are great – I have a feeling I’ll love this book.  I’ll give a better review when I’ve read it and tried some recipes.

I also had dates with Costco, Vitamin Cottage, Safeway and Whole Foods!  (Any guesses on what I had for dinner? Yep, Gigande Beans at the WF Food Bar!)

And last but not least I had a date with my kitchen.  It was a messy date, can ya tell?   :)

When you are in the mood for new recipes that are healthy, raw and vegan, head on over to Choosing Raw.

Gena’s blog always inspires me.  She has a style of writing that I could read all day.   And recipes that I could try all day as well.  This week, I tried her Raw Zucchini Hummus and her Cashew Cheese with Meyer Lemon & Cherries.  Except that my hummus wasn’t completely raw, and my ‘cheese’ didn’t have meyer lemons OR cherries in it.  But you work with what you’ve got, right?

The zucchini hummus is genius.  I love it.  I will love it even more when the tahini that I currently have in stock is GONE (because it’s roasted AND salted) and then I can buy the raw unsalted version.  This brand I have in the fridge has an almost burnt flavor that is too strong in this hummus, but luckily it has mellowed out in the fridge the last few days.

Per Gena’s recipe notes I did NOT add the sesame seeds so in turn I also left out the olive oil. It came out with a perfect hummus consistency.  ;)   Yesterday I smeared it on Wasa crackers with some mashed avocado and leftover black bean burgers halves for lunch at my desk.

I know, I know, again with the blurry iPhone photo! How 'bout that snazzy legal pad placemat too?

And the sweet Cashew Cheese?  Amazing.  It reminds me of neufchatel cheese with the subtle tart and sweet flavor.  I couldn’t find Meyer Lemons (so I used regular lemons) and I didn’t have dried cherries (so I added a small palmful of raisins), but it’s fantastic nonetheless.  It made me want to smear it all over a cranberry bagel.  But that would defeat my ‘clean eating’ somewhat.  So instead I’ll probably put it on some Ezekial toast or a sweet wheat cracker that I happen to have on hand. It would also make a perfect breakfast crepe filling.

Gena's Cashew Cheese with Lemon

Part of the excitement in trying this cashew cheese?  Getting to use one of my new xmas gifts from MSP:

A microplane superfine zester!  It rocks!!  I’ve been using a teeny tiny thing that only takes off one piece of zest at a time, so I was SO excited to find this inside some gift wrap under the tree!!  (Isn’t MSP the best??  I’m certainly a lucky girl!)

***

I’ve been reflecting on what an interesting year 2009 has been.  It started off a bit on the rough side and is ending beautifully.  Isn’t it fun to rewind the year and consider all of the changes that you never would have expected?  If you’d asked me last December 31 if I thought I’d:

  • walk away from my job with the really NICE salary and benefits during an economic recession
  • stop eating chicken, beef, pork and cow’s dairy and finally be someone who eats veggies because she WANTS to
  • eliminate soda, artificial sweeteners and a list of other ‘health thieves’
  • go back to personal training
  • start a fit living blog (and actually STICK WITH IT for more than 2 days!)
  • make new & wonderful friends all over the country from that blog (I love you guys!)
  • be able to go off ALL medications (and it was quite the laundry list)
  • recover from chronic insomnia
  • go on an RV adventure with my mom and grandma
  • and much, much more

I would have said you were talking crazy talk.

But lo and behold, that is what this year has included.  How about you?  What’s the most ‘surprising’ thing that’s happened this year that you would never have expected when you started 2009?

It has been an absolutely ENLIGHTENING year.  And I can’t WAIT to see what 2010 brings!

Have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR celebration tonight!  I’ll see you back here tomorrow!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

What Is YOUR “One Thing”?

Oct 28

Posted by Shari B. in FitFeature | 4 Comments

Another day, another snowstorm.  :)   It’s starting to feel like the norm here lately!  This has been the craziest, snowiest AUTUMN that I recall having experienced in Colorado in a really long time, if ever.  I know, I know – this is a fitness blog, not a weather blog.  But hey, the weather does in fact affect my outdoor exercise, so really, it’s relevant.  Right? 

They (the evil forecasters) are saying anywhere between 10″ and 18″ by the time it stops snowing tomorrow night.  Guess we all know what my CARDIO will be, huh?  :)

snow day

Luckily for my cousin, the snow didn’t start accumulating on the roads until she was well on her way to the airport this morning in her all-wheel-drive rental car (big yay for them giving her a Subaru!)  She is officially safely in the air on her way back home and will be stepping off the plane into 60 degree weather.  My family will never believe me again when I say that we have FABULOUS weather here in Colorado. 

OK, so enough of my boo-hooing about the snow. 

First things first, yesterday’s feat!  I did IRON YOGA again!  It felt so great the first time, that I was actually kind of ‘craving‘ it!  Hmmm, this could be the start of a new trend for me!  Afterward, Lisa and I each had double green smoothies. 

img 467

OK, green smoothies and YELLOW smoothies might be more like it.  ;)

We hit up a local coffee shop later in the morning for some ‘quiet time’, then on to Whole Foods for lunch at their mix-n-match hot-n-cold bar.  I had a BUBBLY for the road.

img 471

For dinner, I was feeling like some ITALIANO.  For me, I tried a recipe for Raw Marinara Sauce from Raw Foods Made Easy for 1 or 2 People.  I added it to a pile of raw zucchini ribbons and some baked spaghetti squash and kalamata olives.  For MSP, I made whole wheat penne pasta with meat sauce. 

img 474

img 478

My dinner was veggie-licious!  

***

I was reading an article this morning about families making changes to their holiday habits to make things less stressful and it got me thinking about today’s FitFeature.

Every transformation (whether it be for your physique, health, finances, anything) starts with the first step.  Then taking ONE more step.  Add those steps together and you have yourself a journey.  If they are all POSITIVE steps, then you have yourself a SUCCESSFUL journey!

Today I’d like to challenge you to note ONE THING you can do to improve upon yesterday or to maybe get you started on a journey you’ve been meaning to start but haven’t. 

I’ll go first:  since it’s been unseasonably cold and snowy, I’m finding that I am not drinking the amount of water I normally would.  Sometimes water is the last thing I want when I’m feeling chilled.  It’s easy for me to gravitate toward an extra cup of decaf coffee, which is acidic and will dehydrate me further.  Now I’m noticing that not only is my SKIN feeling dry, but even my eyes are.  So today, I’m going to drink more room temperature water and also add in a couple cups of hot herbal (and naturally caffeine free) tea to boost my hydration. 

Hydration in cold weather is just as important as it is in hot weather.  The body produces more urine when cold, so dehydration can occur more quickly than it would on a mild weather day.  (Keep that in mind if you participate in cold-weather outdoor activities, like running, skiiing, etc.)

What is your ONE thing that you can do today?  Share with us in the comment section.

I’ll leave you with this fun little ‘story’ below that I used to keep posted in my previous personal training studio, in hopes of reminding clients that before you can lose 5, 10, 20 lbs you must lose ONE.  Much the same way that before you can change multiple bad habits into good ones, you still have to change ONE. 

JUST ONE POUND

Hello, do you know me? If you don’t you should. I’m a pound of fat, and I’m the happiest pound of fat you would ever want to meet. Want to know why?  It’s because no one ever wants to lose me; I’m ONLY ONE POUND, just a pound.  Everyone wants to lose three pounds, five pounds, or fifteen pounds, but never only one, so I just stick around and happily keep you fat.  Then I add to myself ever so slyly so that you never seem to notice it, that is until I’ve grown to ten, twenty or even more pounds in weight.  Yes, it’s fun being ONLY ONE POUND of fat, left to do as I please. So, when you weigh in, keep right on saying, “Oh, I only lost one pound.” (as if that were such a terrible thing!)  For you see, if you do this you’ll encourage others to keep me around because they will think I’m not worth losing.  And I love being around you–your arms, your legs, your chin, your hips and every part of you.   Happy Days!!!  After all, I’m ONLY ONE POUND.

(Unfortunately I do not know who to give proper credit to as the author – it’s posted in many places online, but I haven’t found a name.  So for the record, I did not write this.  Some other genius did  ;) If you know who the author is feel free to let me know and I’ll update the post.)

Have a great Wednesday everyone!  I’ll see you all next time (provided I don’t get stuck in a snowdrift while shoveling!)

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes