After last week's cooking class, I headed to the local bookstore to find a decent book discussing the basics of nutrition. I didn't want at textbook and I didn't want to buy something that aligned too much with one focused diet. I ended up buying a book that I later figured out is the same person who taught Paula - the Wholesome Chef teacher! The book is called Integrative Nutrition and it is written by Joshua Rosenthal.So much of what I have been reading is the foundation of much of what Paula has been teaching us. I'm still reading it with an academic view (don't trust the assumptions without seeing the research yourself) but there is a great amount of informative information.
There is a whole section all about cravings. If you read my last post about cravings, you'll understand why this sentence was so powerful for me:
"We have been taught to believe our inability to stick with a diet is our fault, a flaw of our body and our will....To [stick with a diet] we must develop deep discipline over our natural instincts." (page 130.) And just a paragraph later "It's never the program's fault; it's always our fault. Or so we think. It never dawns on us that there's nothing wrong with us, that maybe the diet itself is flawed - that it actually sets us up to fail, and then unfairly lays the responsibility on our shoulders when we do." (p 130-131.)
"Cravings are the body's solution to underlying imbalances, and food becomes a kind of medicine to regulate our inner state." (p. 131)
Now, he goes on in some detail about what the different cravings may be signaling to you. Between the book, the discussion in the Wholesome Chef classes, and my musings, I think that my sugar cravings are a result of several things: a diet high on sugar, emotional eating (including boredom,) and habit.
While the cravings haven't disappeared since I've been making more healthy choices, they certainly have diminished in both the frequency and the intensity. I'm hoping that with my latest sweet class, I'll be able to really diminish the amount of refined sugar I eat.
One of the problems of trying to get away from sugar, your body just craves it more!! AAGGHHH... but the cookies I made are an awesome and filling way to healthily provide some food for those cravings!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Wholesome Chef Class #3 - Sugars!!
In one word, the class was amazing! It was my favorite one, mostly due to the fact that I have such a sweet tooth. But we had THE MOST AMAZING chocolate mousse. I immediately went home and remade it. Mine doesn't look as pretty but it still tastes fantastic!
Before I get started, let me go make a green smoothie so I can sip it as I write... ok, ready to type!
I want to first give a quick shot out to Paula who is the amazing teacher of these classes. If you wish you could have Paula's amazing and insightful help, you can! Virtually! Check out her program. I've met several ladies who Paula is helping and they are making great lifestyle changes.It's starting up again on February 1st!!
These were the tasty delights Paula prepared for us:
Vegan Chocolate Mousse - this was AMAZING!!!!
Sesame-Almond Cookies - making these today :)
Sweet Potato Surprise
Chocolate Smoothie Decadence
Breakfast Greens Frittata
And I'll be making ALL of them on here, so just wait :) Except for the frittata as I don't have a pan that can go in the oven. I already know what I want for my birthday!!
The first part of the class was focused on understanding how both refined sugar and artificial sweeteners can have a very negative impact on our eating and health. And the second half was all about how you can make amazingly sweet things that are HEALTHY! Without refined sugar and without artificial sweeteners. I don't want to make this a blog about all things that our wrong about the American diet, but lets just say that sugar has long been my downfall and now I'm understanding a little bit more of WHY!
Fun (and kinda sad) fact: McDonald's puts sugar in their french fry recipe!
After class, I headed to Whole Foods and once again invested a whole lot of money with the idea that this will make a big difference in the long wrong. But friends, this is expensive! Between buying all the basics like brown rice flour, chia seeds, ground chia, sesame seeds, natural cane sugar, etc... I have THE most expensive and healthiest kitchen I have ever had in my life. I ended up spending almost 5 hours in the kitchen yesterday cooking and baking for the week.
Recipe for the day: Decadent and Healthy Chocolate Chips!!
Mix in one bowl:
½ cup butter
½ cup olive oil
½ to ¾ cup brown sugar
½ to ¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
Mix in a second bowl:
¾ cup buckwheat flour
¾ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup ground flaxseed
½ cup finely ground oatmeal
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup chia seed
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
Mix it all together, add in 1 cup organic semisweet chocolate chips. Bake at 350° until medium brown.
The great thing about this recipe is that it is flexible. I used natural cane sugar in place of the brown and regular sugar. I also used steel oats instead of oatmeal and left out the flaxseed.
Before I get started, let me go make a green smoothie so I can sip it as I write... ok, ready to type!
I want to first give a quick shot out to Paula who is the amazing teacher of these classes. If you wish you could have Paula's amazing and insightful help, you can! Virtually! Check out her program. I've met several ladies who Paula is helping and they are making great lifestyle changes.It's starting up again on February 1st!!
These were the tasty delights Paula prepared for us:
Vegan Chocolate Mousse - this was AMAZING!!!!
Sesame-Almond Cookies - making these today :)
Sweet Potato Surprise
Chocolate Smoothie Decadence
Breakfast Greens Frittata
And I'll be making ALL of them on here, so just wait :) Except for the frittata as I don't have a pan that can go in the oven. I already know what I want for my birthday!!
The first part of the class was focused on understanding how both refined sugar and artificial sweeteners can have a very negative impact on our eating and health. And the second half was all about how you can make amazingly sweet things that are HEALTHY! Without refined sugar and without artificial sweeteners. I don't want to make this a blog about all things that our wrong about the American diet, but lets just say that sugar has long been my downfall and now I'm understanding a little bit more of WHY!
Fun (and kinda sad) fact: McDonald's puts sugar in their french fry recipe!
After class, I headed to Whole Foods and once again invested a whole lot of money with the idea that this will make a big difference in the long wrong. But friends, this is expensive! Between buying all the basics like brown rice flour, chia seeds, ground chia, sesame seeds, natural cane sugar, etc... I have THE most expensive and healthiest kitchen I have ever had in my life. I ended up spending almost 5 hours in the kitchen yesterday cooking and baking for the week.
 |
| They looks like regular chocolate chip cookies! |
Recipe for the day: Decadent and Healthy Chocolate Chips!!
Mix in one bowl:
½ cup butter
½ cup olive oil
½ to ¾ cup brown sugar
½ to ¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
Mix in a second bowl:
¾ cup buckwheat flour
¾ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup ground flaxseed
½ cup finely ground oatmeal
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup chia seed
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
Mix it all together, add in 1 cup organic semisweet chocolate chips. Bake at 350° until medium brown.
The great thing about this recipe is that it is flexible. I used natural cane sugar in place of the brown and regular sugar. I also used steel oats instead of oatmeal and left out the flaxseed.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Quinoa Salad
Good morning blogging world!
I am taking the dog to the vet this morning for her annual teeth cleaning and have a few minutes before I drop her off, so I'm taking advantage of the extra time and sharing the quinoa salad!
I actually made this recipe Sunday and have been eating it all week. I shared some with a co-worker yesterday who thought the salad was delicious! For those of you who haven't heard of quinoa or who haven't had much luck with quinoa, this is a great recipe to try!!
Quinoa Salad with Fennel (also called Anise) and Red Onion
1.5 cups quinoa (red and white mixed)
5 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
4 oz arugula
4 oz gouda, finely sliced (I left this out as I don't like gouda)
3 medium celery stalks, thinly sliced (did you know celery is on the dirty dozen list?)
1 large, crisp apple, diced (and so are apples! buy organic!!)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup finely diced fennel
3/4 cup dried cranberies
3 tbl red wine vinegar (or exchange this for balsamic)
sea salt (healthier than refined salt)
pepper
Directions:
1. Quinoa: rinse and drain quinoa. Add 2.5 cups water and bring to boil in saucepan. Lower heat to simmer and cook, covered, about 15 minutes. When all the water is gone, turn off heat and let it rest 5 minutes. Then fluff with work
2. While the quinoa cooks, heat 2 tbl EVOO in skillet and saute onion until tender and slightly brown. Add 2 tbl balsamic vinegar and cook until vinegar cooks away. Remove from heat.
3. In large bowl, combine cooked quinoa, onions, arugula, cheese (optional), celery, apple, walnuts, fennel, and cranberries.
4. Dressing: in a small bown, whisk 3 tbl EVOO with 3 tbl red wine vinegar (or balsamic), 1/2 t sea salt and some black pepper. Add dressing to the salad and mix. Let rest then season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
A couple of comments:
The red quinoa has a little bit nuttier flavor than the white. I really liked the mix but the salad I made was only white quinoa. For those who don't like licorice and are worried about the fennel, you don't taste the licorice, I promise. I HATE black licorice and wouldn't eat this salad if there was even a hint.
This recipe came from the Wholesome Chef class.
I am taking the dog to the vet this morning for her annual teeth cleaning and have a few minutes before I drop her off, so I'm taking advantage of the extra time and sharing the quinoa salad!
I actually made this recipe Sunday and have been eating it all week. I shared some with a co-worker yesterday who thought the salad was delicious! For those of you who haven't heard of quinoa or who haven't had much luck with quinoa, this is a great recipe to try!!
Quinoa Salad with Fennel (also called Anise) and Red Onion
1.5 cups quinoa (red and white mixed)
5 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
4 oz arugula
4 oz gouda, finely sliced (I left this out as I don't like gouda)
3 medium celery stalks, thinly sliced (did you know celery is on the dirty dozen list?)
1 large, crisp apple, diced (and so are apples! buy organic!!)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup finely diced fennel
3/4 cup dried cranberies
3 tbl red wine vinegar (or exchange this for balsamic)
sea salt (healthier than refined salt)
pepper
Directions:
1. Quinoa: rinse and drain quinoa. Add 2.5 cups water and bring to boil in saucepan. Lower heat to simmer and cook, covered, about 15 minutes. When all the water is gone, turn off heat and let it rest 5 minutes. Then fluff with work
2. While the quinoa cooks, heat 2 tbl EVOO in skillet and saute onion until tender and slightly brown. Add 2 tbl balsamic vinegar and cook until vinegar cooks away. Remove from heat.
3. In large bowl, combine cooked quinoa, onions, arugula, cheese (optional), celery, apple, walnuts, fennel, and cranberries.
4. Dressing: in a small bown, whisk 3 tbl EVOO with 3 tbl red wine vinegar (or balsamic), 1/2 t sea salt and some black pepper. Add dressing to the salad and mix. Let rest then season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
A couple of comments:
The red quinoa has a little bit nuttier flavor than the white. I really liked the mix but the salad I made was only white quinoa. For those who don't like licorice and are worried about the fennel, you don't taste the licorice, I promise. I HATE black licorice and wouldn't eat this salad if there was even a hint.
This recipe came from the Wholesome Chef class.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
What if cravings aren't bad?
In class last week, Paula made the comment that our bodies have only one way of telling us that it needs a specific food: it tells us we are hungry. Well, duh! But this week I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and had some big AHA! moments.
First let me go back and explain that I'm not sure I know what it means to be hungry. Before making all these changes in my life a couple years ago, I assumed that to be hungry was to get this hunger pang and your stomach tells you that you're hungry. I don't get that unless I haven't eaten in 24 hours. And when I do feel that way, I have a tendency to overeat. So I knew that couldn't be what people are talking about. So I've had to take a step back and relearn what hunger is - to figure out when my body is telling me it wants something.
The best I can figure what "hunger" means to me is when I start thinking about food after I haven't eaten in a few hours. There's no hunger pang. There's no stomach growling. I don't "feel" anything - I just think about food. I don't know if that's the same for everybody, but that's my "hunger."
I can't tell you how many times I've stood in front of the refrigerator completely full but still looking for something to eat - still thinking about food and still hungry. Until this week, I've assumed that this is emotional eating and I lack willpower to stop myself from eating.But what if it wasn't? What if it was simply my body telling me that I still did not provide it with the nutrition it needed?
I'm learning sooo much about nutrition and am realizing how poorly I have been fueling my body. I've even been trying to get in my fruits and vegetables, my protein, etc... on a daily basis. But I'm learning that a balanced diet doesn't necessarily mean a good diet.
This week I have had one of those "green smoothies" every morning and my eating has totally changed - without even thinking about it. The cravings are almost gone! My portion control was easier to manage and I actually forgot about eating dessert - FORGOT! I have 3 Magnum ice cream bars in my freezer right now. They have been in there untouched for 4 days. That's a record!!
So what if all this time, all I needed to do to lose weight was give my body the nutrition it needed? I'm not saying that a green smoothie is the way to fix my weight loss. That, like every other lose-weight-quickly program is too simplistic.I have years of poor eating habits to unlearn. But it'll be a lot easier to control my eating when/if my cravings are under control IF I'm right....
The goals for this week:
1. make the butternut squash casserole (made it yesterday!!)
2. make the watercress potato soup
3. make the quinoa salad
4. drink a green smoothie everyday
5. don't make a frozen meal all week!
Talk about a healthy diet week. I'll let you know what happens with my cravings and my hunger!!
First let me go back and explain that I'm not sure I know what it means to be hungry. Before making all these changes in my life a couple years ago, I assumed that to be hungry was to get this hunger pang and your stomach tells you that you're hungry. I don't get that unless I haven't eaten in 24 hours. And when I do feel that way, I have a tendency to overeat. So I knew that couldn't be what people are talking about. So I've had to take a step back and relearn what hunger is - to figure out when my body is telling me it wants something.
The best I can figure what "hunger" means to me is when I start thinking about food after I haven't eaten in a few hours. There's no hunger pang. There's no stomach growling. I don't "feel" anything - I just think about food. I don't know if that's the same for everybody, but that's my "hunger."
I can't tell you how many times I've stood in front of the refrigerator completely full but still looking for something to eat - still thinking about food and still hungry. Until this week, I've assumed that this is emotional eating and I lack willpower to stop myself from eating.But what if it wasn't? What if it was simply my body telling me that I still did not provide it with the nutrition it needed?
I'm learning sooo much about nutrition and am realizing how poorly I have been fueling my body. I've even been trying to get in my fruits and vegetables, my protein, etc... on a daily basis. But I'm learning that a balanced diet doesn't necessarily mean a good diet.
This week I have had one of those "green smoothies" every morning and my eating has totally changed - without even thinking about it. The cravings are almost gone! My portion control was easier to manage and I actually forgot about eating dessert - FORGOT! I have 3 Magnum ice cream bars in my freezer right now. They have been in there untouched for 4 days. That's a record!!
So what if all this time, all I needed to do to lose weight was give my body the nutrition it needed? I'm not saying that a green smoothie is the way to fix my weight loss. That, like every other lose-weight-quickly program is too simplistic.I have years of poor eating habits to unlearn. But it'll be a lot easier to control my eating when/if my cravings are under control IF I'm right....
The goals for this week:
1. make the butternut squash casserole (made it yesterday!!)
2. make the watercress potato soup
3. make the quinoa salad
4. drink a green smoothie everyday
5. don't make a frozen meal all week!
Talk about a healthy diet week. I'll let you know what happens with my cravings and my hunger!!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Wholesome Chef Class #2
Today was the second class at Wholesome Chef with Paula Antonini all about grains.The class, as expected, was awesome! Learned an incredible amount and got to taste some wonderful recipes!! I believe I'm going to be trying every single one of these recipes again... only maybe not all this week.
So what's the big deal about grains? They are a wonderful way to add both fiber and protein to your diet.And I'm sure there are many more reasons, but that's the start. Whole grains really stand up the hype - but sprouted grains are even better. And when looking at grains, it can get incredibly overwhelming very quickly!So Paula very smartly started with two that I had never heard about: quinoa and millet.
I think that quinoa has been getting a lot of focus lately. It's considered a "complete protein" as it contains the 9 necessary amino acids for us to live on a daily basis. Don't ask me really what that means because that's the extent of my knowledge. But I'll come back to that in a minute.Quinoa is an ancient grain in that our western world doesn't work with it much. Which also means that it hasn't be genetically mutated within an inch of its life. Also a good thing!
One of the best things about the class is that Paula makes these amazing dishes and we get to taste the potential that quinoa has. I don't think that I would have known what to do with quinoa if I had picked it up from the shelf at the grocery store. I didn't know how it tasted or with what types of food that it goes with. Thanks to Paula and the amazing recipes she had, I'm excited about quinoa rather than scared. And that's half the battle!!
I'm still not so sure what millet is other than a type of grain. It didn't have much taste by itself but as a breakfast with blueberries, maple syrup, and almonds, it was heavenly! Millet is also an "ancient grain" and another one I'll be experimenting with.
Paula also provided us with a good number of take-home reading and I haven't gone through it yet. But I'll be happy to share some of this with you as I learn more and more.
After the class, I made four stops before getting home. The first was Fresh Market where I did some basic shopping for the one recipe I knew I was definitely going to make this week: Quinoa Salad with Fennel and Red Onion. Look for the recipe when I blog about it tomorrow! I still kept on looking for watercress but no look.
Second stop: Vitamin Shoppe. They have a great variety of protein shakes and drinks. I found Nuun there which was a great surprise! I've been reading about Nuun and I'm so excited to try it. I also picked up some Hemp protein which is a vegan protein which contains all ingredients which I can read and understand.
Third stop: Joseph-Beth Bookstore. Now that I have cracked open the door and have just enough knowledge to hurt me, I want to learn more. I want to understand more. So I got a book about Nutrition. I didn't find any good books on green smoothies or leafy greens so I'll be heading to Amazon. But based on my pocket book after today, it'll still be a while!
Four stop: Whole Foods. And I found WATERCRESS!!!!!!!!! Of course it's at the last place I look :) But I'm happy to have found it and it adds another recipe on the list to do this weekend.
The butternut squash casserole is currently in the oven. Tomorrow I'll be making the quinoa salad and the Potato Watercress Soup. Paula gave me permission to share but give her some love and sign up for her newsletter. She shares great recipes in that newsletter! Better yet, sign up for one of her classes. She's a lovely person and willingly shares her knowledge (and she's got a lot.) She walks the walk and can talk the talk but she's not pushy or overbearing. She has no agenda other than to help you become more healthy.
So what's the big deal about grains? They are a wonderful way to add both fiber and protein to your diet.And I'm sure there are many more reasons, but that's the start. Whole grains really stand up the hype - but sprouted grains are even better. And when looking at grains, it can get incredibly overwhelming very quickly!So Paula very smartly started with two that I had never heard about: quinoa and millet.
I think that quinoa has been getting a lot of focus lately. It's considered a "complete protein" as it contains the 9 necessary amino acids for us to live on a daily basis. Don't ask me really what that means because that's the extent of my knowledge. But I'll come back to that in a minute.Quinoa is an ancient grain in that our western world doesn't work with it much. Which also means that it hasn't be genetically mutated within an inch of its life. Also a good thing!
One of the best things about the class is that Paula makes these amazing dishes and we get to taste the potential that quinoa has. I don't think that I would have known what to do with quinoa if I had picked it up from the shelf at the grocery store. I didn't know how it tasted or with what types of food that it goes with. Thanks to Paula and the amazing recipes she had, I'm excited about quinoa rather than scared. And that's half the battle!!
I'm still not so sure what millet is other than a type of grain. It didn't have much taste by itself but as a breakfast with blueberries, maple syrup, and almonds, it was heavenly! Millet is also an "ancient grain" and another one I'll be experimenting with.
Paula also provided us with a good number of take-home reading and I haven't gone through it yet. But I'll be happy to share some of this with you as I learn more and more.
After the class, I made four stops before getting home. The first was Fresh Market where I did some basic shopping for the one recipe I knew I was definitely going to make this week: Quinoa Salad with Fennel and Red Onion. Look for the recipe when I blog about it tomorrow! I still kept on looking for watercress but no look.
Second stop: Vitamin Shoppe. They have a great variety of protein shakes and drinks. I found Nuun there which was a great surprise! I've been reading about Nuun and I'm so excited to try it. I also picked up some Hemp protein which is a vegan protein which contains all ingredients which I can read and understand.
Third stop: Joseph-Beth Bookstore. Now that I have cracked open the door and have just enough knowledge to hurt me, I want to learn more. I want to understand more. So I got a book about Nutrition. I didn't find any good books on green smoothies or leafy greens so I'll be heading to Amazon. But based on my pocket book after today, it'll still be a while!
Four stop: Whole Foods. And I found WATERCRESS!!!!!!!!! Of course it's at the last place I look :) But I'm happy to have found it and it adds another recipe on the list to do this weekend.
The butternut squash casserole is currently in the oven. Tomorrow I'll be making the quinoa salad and the Potato Watercress Soup. Paula gave me permission to share but give her some love and sign up for her newsletter. She shares great recipes in that newsletter! Better yet, sign up for one of her classes. She's a lovely person and willingly shares her knowledge (and she's got a lot.) She walks the walk and can talk the talk but she's not pushy or overbearing. She has no agenda other than to help you become more healthy.
January Cleaning
I work with a wonderful woman (Janis - I know you really wanted to be mentioned!!) who is leaps ahead of me when it comes to cooking healthy. Twice a month, we drive out together to a small town in Kentucky which is a little more than an hour and a half away. For those three hours (there and back) we chat about everything including health. She's a wealth of information and is likely not even aware how thankful I am for our talks. Well, I guess she is now!!
This last Thursday, we were both lamenting about how small our kitchens are and how difficult it is to fit everything in it. I live in a small 740 sq foot apartment - you can imagine how small the kitchen is! And I prefer to have everything hidden behind cabinets and nothing out aside from the coffee pot. Over the past 5 years, I've accumulated so many kitchen wares that it's everywhere on the counter tops! So I decided to clean!
Last night (Friday) I came home from work and started. Two and half hours later, five garbage bags, two trips to the garbage and three trips to the grocery store (I'm telling you, it's never ending!!) - my kitchen is mostly clean! Well, organized at least.
I threw out food that has been sitting there for over a year with the idea that "maybe I'll make that next week" has never come to pass. I rearranged everything in my cabinets so that now I actually have room to grow - even with cleaning off the counter tops so most of my things are hidden.
I also decided to buy a 40-pack of Rubbermaid Tupperware. I really debated if I should go glass or plastic. Glass is healthier. I know that heating your food in plastic is not good. However, going ALL glass would be too expensive for me right now. I mean, I'm willing to pay to make this lifestyle change (oh, and I am!) but that's pushing my pocketbook. I did some research and Rubbermaid's Tupperware is all BPA free. I bought a basic set of 20 a few months ago and I've really only been using them since. With the new 40-piece set, all of my Tupperware is easily stored (including lids) and now I have plenty for all the food I'm going to make!!
I realized this morning that I need to still clean the refrigerator. UGH.
I find that the more organized I am, the better I feel like I can tackle any new obstacle. So I'm looking into buying a recipe application for the ipad/iphone. Going to so many grocery stores and forgetting my recipes in the past week has made me excited about entering everything into the ipad and available on my iphone!! We'll see... I'll keep you updated.
And here's a teaser... my second Wholesome Chef class is this afternoon!! I'm very excited and if the second class brings about as much change as the first, I'll be excited!!
This last Thursday, we were both lamenting about how small our kitchens are and how difficult it is to fit everything in it. I live in a small 740 sq foot apartment - you can imagine how small the kitchen is! And I prefer to have everything hidden behind cabinets and nothing out aside from the coffee pot. Over the past 5 years, I've accumulated so many kitchen wares that it's everywhere on the counter tops! So I decided to clean!
Last night (Friday) I came home from work and started. Two and half hours later, five garbage bags, two trips to the garbage and three trips to the grocery store (I'm telling you, it's never ending!!) - my kitchen is mostly clean! Well, organized at least.
I threw out food that has been sitting there for over a year with the idea that "maybe I'll make that next week" has never come to pass. I rearranged everything in my cabinets so that now I actually have room to grow - even with cleaning off the counter tops so most of my things are hidden.
I also decided to buy a 40-pack of Rubbermaid Tupperware. I really debated if I should go glass or plastic. Glass is healthier. I know that heating your food in plastic is not good. However, going ALL glass would be too expensive for me right now. I mean, I'm willing to pay to make this lifestyle change (oh, and I am!) but that's pushing my pocketbook. I did some research and Rubbermaid's Tupperware is all BPA free. I bought a basic set of 20 a few months ago and I've really only been using them since. With the new 40-piece set, all of my Tupperware is easily stored (including lids) and now I have plenty for all the food I'm going to make!!
 |
| All 40 Rubbermaid pieces drying in my sink. |
I realized this morning that I need to still clean the refrigerator. UGH.
I find that the more organized I am, the better I feel like I can tackle any new obstacle. So I'm looking into buying a recipe application for the ipad/iphone. Going to so many grocery stores and forgetting my recipes in the past week has made me excited about entering everything into the ipad and available on my iphone!! We'll see... I'll keep you updated.
And here's a teaser... my second Wholesome Chef class is this afternoon!! I'm very excited and if the second class brings about as much change as the first, I'll be excited!!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Progress
Nothing but good news this evening! I've successfully been making "green smoothies" as well as protein shakes with brnd new blender. The consistency is doable and I'm actually enjoying the taste. I've been playing around with what to include and I think that pears are really important!! But I'm thinking I may invest in a book on smoothies just to learn more and experiment a little. If you have any recommendations, let me know!
My workouts are going well. No treadmills were available this afternoon (damnn those New-Years-resolution-people.. Just kidding... Kinda) so I jumped on the track. Sixteen times around was a mile. Luckily I'm only getting back into running and I was only going run a mile. But I ran sooo much faster than what I set the treadmill on. It also gives me hope that with a little speed work, I could actually be faster. The Pilates reformer class has really increased in intensity and I know that I'm going to feel todays class tomorrow! My shoulder is bothering me a little butnim heading back to the pool Saturday morning. I'm slowing increasing the number of workouts so I'll be in the pool two mornings next week.
In totally unrelated news, I found the coolest sleep app for the iPhone. It's called Sleep Cyle. You put your phone on your bed and it figures out your sleep stage based on your movement in the bed. Using that information, the phone will wake you up within 30 minutes of your alarm when you are close wakefulness based on your movement. It prevents a harsh or jolting wake up. I tried it last night and it worked well. I'll try it again for a while and learn some more about my sleep patterns.
All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about my changes and efforts. I'm already planning on cleaning out my kitchen this weekend as well as trying out two recipes (I'm jonesing for the butternut squash casserole already!) Maybe three depending on how motivated I feel. I'm also going to check out books on smoothies!
My workouts are going well. No treadmills were available this afternoon (damnn those New-Years-resolution-people.. Just kidding... Kinda) so I jumped on the track. Sixteen times around was a mile. Luckily I'm only getting back into running and I was only going run a mile. But I ran sooo much faster than what I set the treadmill on. It also gives me hope that with a little speed work, I could actually be faster. The Pilates reformer class has really increased in intensity and I know that I'm going to feel todays class tomorrow! My shoulder is bothering me a little butnim heading back to the pool Saturday morning. I'm slowing increasing the number of workouts so I'll be in the pool two mornings next week.
In totally unrelated news, I found the coolest sleep app for the iPhone. It's called Sleep Cyle. You put your phone on your bed and it figures out your sleep stage based on your movement in the bed. Using that information, the phone will wake you up within 30 minutes of your alarm when you are close wakefulness based on your movement. It prevents a harsh or jolting wake up. I tried it last night and it worked well. I'll try it again for a while and learn some more about my sleep patterns.
All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about my changes and efforts. I'm already planning on cleaning out my kitchen this weekend as well as trying out two recipes (I'm jonesing for the butternut squash casserole already!) Maybe three depending on how motivated I feel. I'm also going to check out books on smoothies!
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