Simply Scrumptious Smoothie

My newest most favorite smoothie.  I got this recipe from the Zone diet.  I get soooo excited to go home and have this after Xfit, it isn't even funny.  It is cold in Michigan right now so to really want to eat something cold must mean it is DARN good!

Recipe:

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 cup milk (I drink almond/soy/coconut)

1 TBSP protein powder (I used chocolate whey, but may try something different when I run out)

1 SMALL handful of cashews

Blend and ENJOY!  This portion size is that of a "small female".  You may add more ingredients if you are making this for an athlete, large man or whatever your demographic is!

Destiny

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
  -Mahatma Gandhi

I love this quote above.  It reflects a sequence that does come to play in our everyday life.  When we think badly about ourselves it, we tend to talk badly to ourselves--which can play to selfHATE, not a good thing to be in the habit of, because our values lower and ultimately our destiny becomes depression.  Not a good place to be at all.  Next time you notice yourself thinking poorly about yourself, pause, reflect, and change that thought to something positive about yourself, because that will lead to positive self talk, leading to selfLOVE, a great feeling to have in balance, which leads to loving yourself, which leads to loving life in all aspects!  Make a mindful effort to keep your beliefs & thoughts positive, because it will lead to a positive life.  We can all use more of that!

Celebrate You & Relax!

As the holidays approach, schedules become overloaded, and my mind feels scattered--I take a moment to consider why. Then, it dawns on me! I haven't been taking enough time for myself. It's important to pamper yourself once in awhile. Taking time to just be and breathe is very beneficial to your health. Relaxing can reduce anxiety & give your body a chance to repair.  Tension can build up over time as a result of always being on the go, or a passion for fitness w/o taking rest. Yes, our strong muscles that help carry us through life need a break now and then too!

My son, Keem, and I really appreciate a good soak in the tub with bath salts that I make. Recently I dubbed them, LOV'EMs, because I bottle them with love and my nickname as well as my initials are EM. Sometimes Keem and I draw a nice foot bath and take time soaking & massaging eachother's feet. This kiddo is spoiled! I've given him the gift of massage since birth. I've also been known to give a surprise foot soak and foot massage to my preggo friends or buddies at yoga retreats. Cleaning, soaking & rubbing someone's feet can be a very humbling experience! Making other's feel good makes me smile. Plus you never know how badly they need to take a moment and slow down. Slowing down on your own can be a hard choice, but I guarantee you if you offer a loved one a foot soak or to draw them a bath it will be harder for them to turn you down!

So in the spirit of Christmas I am offering 2 give-aways at random. Two people will get a bag full of salt! I use essential oils so you will get to choose your scent for aroma therapy! The salt in this pictures is, LOV'EMs Crushed Candycane.  Scent options are: Crushed Candycane (Energizing), Luscious Lavender (Relaxing), Tea Tree, & Koala Cure (Eucalyptus & mint-good for colds). 

All you have to do is:

• Leave a comment on this blog post stating what you like to do to relax.

• Follow my blog.  
• Like me on Facebook. If you have your own Blog, and would like to offer this give-away to your followers please send me a message to let me know.  I am happy to include your followers as well.  All they have to do is follow the three steps above I will also do one random give-away per your blog. 

Tomato Soup!

My son came home and requested tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner. I was super excited because he HATES tomatoes, but I didn't have any tomato soup cans. Well low and behold you can actually make tomato soup from scratch! How stinking exciting is that? Though I must confess that I half cheated as it is winter in Michigan and all I had was canned diced tomatoes, keep in mind I do read labels closely so there is either no or low sodium, and that is it!

Recipe:
1) Chop an onion, add a bit of olive oil to a heated pot, saute onions until tender but not brown. Next time I make this I am adding in chopped garlic cloves. Then dump in 3 lbs of tomatoes or 2 heft cans of the healthiest tomatoes you can find. Cook until tomatoes have covered in their juices.
2) Remove from pot and blend/process.
3) Return to pot and heat. I topped ours w/ black pepper, sea salt, and basil that I crumbled in my hand.

4) Prepare grilled cheese w/ cooking soup. This can be as healthy as you make it. Crappy bread and "Cheese", higher fiber bread and cheddar, or maybe Ezekiel bread and goat cheese.
5) I tried to make this kid friendly and added Parmesan cheese. I should have used the real stuff I had, but as you can see in picture 6 I don't think the cheese would have made a difference because...
6) Keem STILL hates tomatoes, but he ate all I gave him and asked for a healthy dessert. This kid always surprises me!
7) Banana, Kiwi, and grapes, aka "Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy!" (Thank you Wiggles. We will forever reference that song!)

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Prepping Meals for my Meat Eaters

Chicken Breast

Per request from Scottie-A1 Steak sauce on Chicken

Let it marinate over night, and tell hubby to bake it the next night (while I teach yoga) at 350 until fully cooked (no pink)

Per Scottie's request sandwiches for lunch. I don't agree w/ the bread, but this choice is better than him eating fast food everyday. I try to buy low sodium roast beef & low sodium turkey breast for him. He loves colby jack cheese. Oh and no condiments. He eats these straight up.

So this is the prep for my boy's dinner & hubby's lunch. My son generally prefers to eat school lunch, but will request a home lunch now and again. My husband generally makes his own breakfast, and I am encouraging my son in the same direction. My lunch tends to be something I prepped on Sunday (like my Vegetarian Sausage w/ Kale & Lentils).

Vegetarian Sausage w/ Kale & Lentils

Lentils & Sausage w/ gaaaarlic, onions, & bell pepers

Added Kale to both, just to see the difference in the Kale pan fried or simmered in water.  I couldn't really tell because they had all the other items mixed in.

Simmering Kale!

Lentils & Kale

Lentils & Kale Prettied up

Lentils & Kale layered w/ Kale & Bell Peppers, Onion, Garlic, & Vegetarian Sausage.  YUM!

RECIPE:

Prep-Wash Kale & rip into pieces appropriate size for bites.  Remember it will shrink a bit.  Chop Onions, Garlic, Bell Peppers, & Vegetarian Sausage.  Rinse lentils.

Cook Lentils according to directions.  Nothing fancy.  I believe I used my Joy of Cooking book for that info.

Saute- in a bit of olive oil garlic.  Once browned add onions.  Then add sausage.  Once browned add Bell Peppers.  Once crisp add the Kale.  Stir and saute/simmer to your preferred done-ness.

Drain-lentils & place them in the bottom layer of a nice dish.

Dump the veggies & vegetarian sausage on top.  EAT or put in the fridge for later consumption and ease of meals throughout your week!

I really liked this dish.  I made it up ;-)  The vegetarian sausage was good and flavorable, but it was a bit weird for me to eat as it really seemed like meat.  I do eat fake meats from time to time, but personally I don't eat them 24/7.  That is a personal choice, and up to your discretion.

*Some of the pics may seem a little washed out w/ white.  That is the steam coming of the food.  These are ACTION shots people!  I am not a food photographer, so these pics are absolutely NOT staged or prettied up other than their natural state from my unprofessional cooking!

Confessions of a "Crossfit Novice"

As some of you know I am prepping for the Crossfit (XFit) Level 1 Instructor Certification & Test coming up in 10 days :-O  Throughout this journey I joined the local XFit gym (about a month ago), so that I would have some hands on experience rather than diving head first into a cert.  In addition to the physical aspect I have been studying in my free time the 100+ page book of information I will be tested on.  I am super thankful for my Personal Training (PT) & Yoga background, because it makes reading my XFit book easier for me to comprehend.  Granted there are vocabulary words I am not used to, & so my brain is working a tad bit harder--that challenge is welcomed!  Though in the physical aspect of XFit; PT & Yoga tend to get in the way.  I learned NOT to drop weights in PT.  In XFit that is encouraged, & man does it feel AWKWARD!  In Yoga you often stand w/ your feet hip distance, or w/ your feet touching at the toes.  In XFit you choose a stance from hip distance-shoulder distance depending on the movement.  All of these aspects mixed together can be helping or hindering to my training, but I look at it as a challenge for my brain.  It is good to have different types of exercise.  Not only does it keep your body active, it also keeps your brain active!

As part of XFit self study I have chosen to take on one of the diets that is highly encouraged from Xfit, the Zone Diet.  It is a block method, & depending on your size & sex the blocks range from 2-5.  Each block is: Protein, Carb, and Fat.  The ratio is 30% Protein, 30% Fat, 40% Carbs.  I prepped my food on Sunday (that will be another blog, promise), & chose the 2 block option for me this week.  I will adjust it if needed.  It is a bit harder for me since I follow a vegetarian diet, but I made it work.  I decided I will start posting on this from time to time to keep me honest... because yes I am a real person w/ real faults--& let me tell you, last night my faults were tootsie rolls leftover from Halloween (dumped those bad boys in the TRASH this morning).  Reporting back to you all will keep me honest, & I need that right now!

Today XFit & Meals:

5:30 am Wake up!  Yes, you too can do this at least 2 times a week!

6 am XFIT WOD: 5 Handstand Pushups, 10 Pistols (1 leg squat), & 15 Pull ups & REPEAT for time (20 minutes).  I got in 5 Rounds(5:15) almost 6 Rounds.  I blame the cold, but I am SUPER happy w/ my "score".  After all I am a Novice Crossfitter, but I was able to do probably about 20 of the Pistols unassisted & that isn't too shabby!

7:10 am Home to get ready for work

7:15 am Make Breakfast: YUMMY smoothie: 1 cup Almond Milk, 1 cup frozen Strawberries, 1 small handful Cashews, and 1 Tbsp Protein Powder (I used whey).

7:20 am walk upstairs and ponder whether I will be able to walk tomorrow after all those pistols!

7:30 am showered and ready to go, but "that darn cat" broke a lightbulb, so I got clean up duty!

7:40 am walk down the stairs and ponder whether my legs will be able to safely carry me to the bottom!!!!

8 am Black Coffee & working the dream...okay okay you caught me--working the job that I am VERY appreciative to have as an administrative assistant.

12:30 pm Lunch and typing this blog just for you!  Lunch: Lentils w/ Kale, Onions, Bell Peppers, Garlic, & vegetarian sausage.  Not sure how I feel about the sausage-its tasty, but I prefer my proteins to come from beans, and such.  I noticed the Zone diet has a lot of soy products in it & I am not sure how I feel about that.  Don't get me wrong, I do eat them-but in moderation.  I just think the more processed things are, the better I stick to whole foods.

Well, that is all I have for my schedule so far.  I am unsure about my dinner as I am going to an Honors Convocation for a good friend of mine tonight.  You can be assured I will make good choices there, or hold off until I get home.

Yours Truly,

The Crossfit Novice

Frustrated & Freebies!

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER FOR PRIZES THURSDAY 11/17 by MIDNIGHT.  DON'T FORGET TO LIKE MY FACEBOOK PAGE & POST A COMMENT(LINK BELOW).  DRAWING WILL TAKE PLACE ON FRIDAY 11/18!  GOOD LUCK!!!!

Hey there!  

Well I am yet again working on my blog for meal planning and it is not working.  I don't understand why, but I am hoping that when my stepdaughter, Christa, visits this weekend she can show me how to fix it.  My son Keem wasn't sure either.  And yes, they are 17 yrs old & nearly 8 yrs old, but kids usually know these things!

So my frustration is your FREEBIE!  I'm posting a happy fun blog, giving away freebies to change my mood (O:  I'll get back to the meal planning post later, promise!  It's been a good week of eats at our house, and I can't wait to share!

The give aways will include: Rescue Cream (paraben free), Nutritional Yeast, Braggs Amino Acid, Braggs Sprinkle Seasoning, Braggs Sea Kelp Delight, Hemp Hearts, or Toasted Hemp seeds!  

So here is the drill:

1. Follow my blog
2. Like my facebook page 
1. Leave a comment that you'd like to enter the giveaway on my blog.
3. You will be entered to win!
4. Keep in mind I will be posting more giveaways at random on my blogs, so STAY TUNED!

Meal Planning

Here are guidelines I give my PT clients (This post is a bit slippery.  The formatting is silliness, so if you get confused, just keep scrolling down:

• ·         Eat 5-6 times a day, every 2-3 hrs.

• ·         Include whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats.

• ·         One day a week you will be allotted a cheat meal.  This cheat must take place w/in 2-3 consecutive hours. 

• ·       Calculate your individual Basal Metabolic Rate, using this calculator.  This will help to determine your calorie intake.

• ·         Drink plenty of PLAIN water!  You can follow the 8 eight ounce glasses per day rule, or take your weight and divide by 2 to find out how many ounces a day you should take in.  When in doubt if you feel thirsty DRINK.  Be careful not to over drink.  Take small sips during a workout and swish it in your mouth before swallowing.  This will help prevent a sloshy stomach or nausea.  Be cautious of the weather.  If you are out in the heat, listen to your body and take care of yourself!
• A easy way to remember healthful foods is to know the Abs 12 Power Foods.

• Journal:
  ·      Journal every day.
  Include your food and drink intake as well as your workout. 
  Include your feelings.  Often times things that affect our mentality end up showing through in our physical body.  It is healthy to recognize these feelings, and acknowledge how they affect you.  We can’t always change how things happened in the past, but we can do our best to live in the present, and reach toward a positive future!

Here is a sample of what I prepped for this week's menu for myself and my family on my Sunday.  Giving you an idea of how I eat in comparison to Keem and Scott-my family (O:

Chicken Goop

Cooked and ready to eat Chicken Goop

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard w/ Brown Rice

Avocado

Avocado & Nonfat Plain Yogurt

Protein Guacomole

Celery ready and chillin' for my snacking desires.

Berries w/ Yogurt picture 2

Ginger Water

Berries before Nonfat Plain Yogurt

Michigan Grown bought at the Farmer's Market YUMMY Bell Peppers perfect to scoop up gucamole!

Green Peppers #2

Apple Spice Muffins Baking

Apple Spice Muffins Cooling

Chicken Goop: The Boys ate this until it was gone and LOVED it.  Easy for me to cook in the crockpot since I don't eat meat!
Chicken Breast
1 can Condensed Cream of Mushroom-Healthy Version
2 tbsp French Onion Seasoning (or mustard)
1 tbsp Cornstarch/Flour
1/2 cup Water

Pepper to taste, 1 tsp parsley

Place Chicken in Crockpot.  Combine soup w/ flour/cornstarch, and french onion (or mustard); add water & stir, dump in crock, sprinkle w/ pepper & parsley.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Swiss Chard & Brown Rice: My dinner.  This was inspired by Jillian Michael's pot stickers

2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp Virgin Coconut Oil

8 oz Swiss Chard Chopped

3 oz Shiitake (I used portabella since I had them) Chopped

2 Scallions/Green Onions/Onions Sliced

2 Garlic Cloves or MORE, minced

1 tsp Fresh Ginger

1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Cilantro

2 Tsp Rice Wine Vinegar (I probably used Apple Cider/Malt Vinegar)

1 Tsp Low Sodium Tamari

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
Cook Brown Rice per directions on package and spoon Swiss Chard mixture over Brown Rice, enjoy!

Protein Guacamole:

Scoop out Avocado (as much as you want to make)

Add 2 Tbsp or more Nonfat Plain Yogurt

Garlic Powder, & or Low Sodium Taco Seasoning

Lime Juice

Optional: Medium Salsa, Cilantro

Ginger Water:

Boil a piece of ginger in water on the stove OR heat a tea kettle w/ water and pour over ginger.  Steep until cool.  Pour into glass pitcher and chill in Fridge.  Enjoy straight up, in smoothies or for a get better tummy aid.

Nonfat Plain Yogurt w/ berries.  My berries differ w/ the seasons.  When they are available fresh and are good I buy them.  In the winter I do use frozen.  Sometimes I will add Agave, but the blueberries are always good w/o it.  Sometimes I top it w/ some Vanilla Almond Bear Naked Granola.

Apple Spice Muffins (from Yoga Journal): These were made so that my husband could easily feed my son breakfast 2 mornings a week while I am at Xfit.  They went over well, and the neighbor girls (who's mother is a pastry chef) smashed on them on a no school day;-)

2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 TBSP Baking Powder

1/2 TSP Salt

1 Cup Milk

2/3 Cup Sucanat/natural Sugar

2 Eggs

6 TBSP Glee, Melted (I used butter-its what I had)

1 TSP Vanilla

2 Peeled Apples, cut into bite size chunks

2 Pitted Dates, chopped (optional-but I liked them in there)

2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

Preheat Oven to 375, Oil 12 muffin tins or line w muffin tins/cups.  Combine Flour, Baking PWD, & Salt in lg bowl.  In another bowl whisk together milk, sucanat/sugar, eggs, ghee/butter, & vanilla.  Pour into dry ingredients & mix gently until evenly moistened.  In a 3rd bowl combine fruit, maple syrup, & cinnamon.  Spoon muffin batter into the prepared tins, filling only half way.  Add a heaping tbsp of fruit mixture to each cup, & then top w/ remaining batter (I forgot to top w/ remain batter-I made more muffins instead :-o) Bake for 30 minutes or until browned on top.

Intro to Kettlebells

Yesterday I was a guest teacher in a College Gym class.  It was a milestone of sorts.  Those of you that knew me well back in the day know that I used to sleep on the weight bench in gym class, hop on a piggy back ride in my personal fitness class, and would sleep in the aerobics room until the gym teacher would come to check on us... and now after a long journey, motherhood, and finding my passion here I am teaching fitness to college students.  What a shocker.  It was only slightly intimidating as my boss was the teacher of the course and she took the class as well.  However looking back on my journey I feel HIGHLY empowered and that totally trumps the intimidation I felt for half a second.

Here is the class I taught.  Feel free to give it a go.  Listen to your body.  Push yourself, and ride the wave.  At the same time keep in mind HURTING is NOT HEALING!  If you need a break take it.  If you need water, drink it--small sips swished in your mouth (no chugging the water or you may get sloshy and feel nauseous).  Post a comment about this workout, how it made you feel, what you loved, what you hated.

Intro to KBs

Joint Mobility: Turn your head left and right 10 times, bring your ear to your left/right shoulder 10 times, shoulder shrugs or arm circles 10 times in each direction, 10 hip circles in each direction, 10 knee circles in each direction, 10 wrist circles in each direction, 10 leg swings fwd and 10 side to side crossing your midline.

Dynamic warm up: ladder in in out out (or whatever variation keeps you moving), 10 squats w/ hands overhead, caterpillar walk (walk your hands out until you are in a plank, then walk your feet twds your hands trying to keep your legs straight, repeat) alternate w/ traveling lunges back to the start and repeat for a total of 3 times

10 each way: Around the World (keep your core engaged & try not to rcok back and forth), Figure 8s

Now you are warmed up and the workout begins!

10-15 Kettlebell swings

12 per side lunging row

10-15 Squat Thrusts (this video adds a swing I did not teach that, but you can if you need more of a challenge)

10-15 Chest Press w/ Tricep extension (similar to skull crusher I will need to add a video of me doing this one-ASAP)

5+ Turkish Get ups per side (I advise a lighter weight (5-10 lbs) until you master the form and can guarantee the integrity and stability of your shoulder joint)

10-15 upright rows

10-15 Burpees (these burpees include a push up)

REPEAT!  See how many rounds you can fit in your determined total amount of time (30 min-60min)

AB WORK:

15 KB Sit ups: these are laying down with the bottoms of your feet touching, knees out to the side, hold the goblet of the KB at chest level, lay down, extend the bell overhead & tap lightly on the ground, bring the bell back overhead to your chest & sit up w/o using your elbows on your sides. (I will need to add a video of me doing this one-ASAP)

Variations of planks-up up, down down; hi 5 partner planks, side planks, traditional plank (modification come to knees and forearms-keep  your butt down), kb planks.

ENJOY!

Manship Halloween

My husband, Scott & I

Sailor & Nurse 1940's

 

Trick-OR-Treating: Ghostbuster, Sailor & Rosie the Rivetor

 As you can probably tell I like classic costumes for Halloween.  Scott wasn't too excited to be a sailor this year because he'd miss out on scaring the little ToT-ers, but he agreed to dress up together for a Halloween Party.  If you'd like to learn more about the 1940's pic click on the link above.  For trick or treating I wore my Rosie costume since it is a better outdoor choice in Michigan Octobers!

Stadium KARMA (Free) Workout

We went to the stadium at 9 am on Sunday and did the track to warm up, some agility exercises, box jumps, stairs, and BLEACHERS!  My son tagged along and played follow the leader.  I had a client join us as well.  Every now and again (2-4 times a month) I will post free workout opportunities on my facebook page.  Like my page, and take advantage of FREE!

Follow the leader

Box jumps--cheerleaders
got nothin' on me!

DOWN the bleachers w/ grace!

UP the bleachers!

Terriyaki Chicken

I was at the grocery w/ Keem recently, and he was HUNGRY.  He hit up all the sample stands while were there.  One thing he LOVED was Terriyaki Chicken.  It had mushrooms and bell peppers in it.  Keem BEGGED for me to buy it.  Yes, I know I don't really eat meat anymore, but I still need to feed my boys.  And I can do Chicken and vegetables FAR better than a plastic bag in the freezer section.

 

Chicken breast, gaaaaaahlic, ginger, bell peppers (what ever color), mushrooms, onion, brown sugar, low sodium tamari (soy sauce), tequilla (optional)

 Chop it all up, dump it in.  I used 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1/4-1/2 cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp tequila, tiny piece of ginger, and prob a cup or 2 of water.  I cooked this on medium for about 6 hrs. 

 Dinner for the boys!

This was requested to be eaten w/ spaghetti noodles.  I was working when the boys ate it, and Dad had other plans.  It you like pasta, go for it.  Choose a whole grain high in fiber, or even a past made out of quinoa.  ENJOY!  And yes, they ate leftovers until it was GONE!

It's a Yoga Weekend in my Home Base!

I am SUPER geeked for this weekend.  I am teaching a hot vinyasa class tomorrow at a 11 am at Yoga in the Woods in Goodrich, MI (come one come all--$5 for students, $10 drop in OR buy the NEW student special 10 classes for $20 w/in 30 days).

Then, from 2 pm-5 pm I am going to be selling my bath salts and soaks, dubbed LOV'EMs, at Ethos DIY show in Holly, MI.  I'll be selling them for between $3- $12, and if you return the jar when you are finished for a refill you will get a dollar off your next purchase!

There will be TONS of other peeps w/ Vegan crafts and yummy treats to purchase.  At 2pm they are having a story teller for the kiddos, and there will be live music as well.

I may even get to see my new nephew, but I just asked my bro & SIL to visit this am, so I am not holding my breath on that one.  Isn't he adorable?!

And on Sunday I will be at Yoga in the Woods for the Studio Open House from 1-3pm, and after from 3-5 pm for a Teacher Training Orientation.  The open house will have refreshments, get to know the instructors, new schedule & studio.  The Teacher Training Orientation is open to anyone that has been considering furthering their yoga journey.  Learn more about the program (200, 300, & 500 RYT; Michigan Registered Proprietary School & Registered Yoga Teacher Training), talk with teachers that have completed the program (moi ::wink::), and get a 10% discount if you sign up on Sunday!

I am really looking forward to my Yoga Weekend, and hope to see your shining faces <3XO <3XO