My Whole30 Challenge

The top reason I have stayed with the same employer for over 20 years (dating myself) is that it is so great to work for a company with tremendous opportunity that encourages you to grow as a person.  Several years ago they made it even more fun to do so with the 68 Day Challenge.  Check it out here on Facebook:  The 68 Day Challenge.

The challenge I am taking on this year - the Whole30 Program.  30 days of cleaner eating for better health.  No grains, beans, dairy, added sugar, and alcohol for 30 days.  What is  attractive about this program?

Sober September

The sobering fact; I've put on 14 pounds since this time last year.

At a business meeting Friday someone said "LT you're looking thick"!  I know he meant it in a good way.  I'm sure of it.  But, for my type A self, it troubled me.

On the flip side, 14 pounds lighter, a different friend said "LT, you've got a great looking body . . . for an 8 year old boy". Ouch!

Somewhere in between "thick" and "boy body" is the answer.

Cook Chicken Once for Four Easy Meals

“I wanted to figure out why I was so busy, but I couldn't find the time to do it.” 
― Todd Stocker

Busy families like ours can still eat great with a little planning.  With one great ingredient and some creative thinking you can go far.  By pure accident I found my new favorite chicken marinade.  I was all set in my mind on how I was going to marinade chicken and at the last second my hubby cried out, "don't put an acid in the marinade". Crap!  I was going to use citrus.  What now?

I had just found a new salad dressing I had never seen before, Bolthouse Farms Cilantro Avocado Yogurt Dressing, with only 40 calories per serving.  What the heck, I thought, I might as well try it.

It's a new favorite!

At night:

What Kale? Protein Smoothie

Summer time = Breakfast?  No worries, the kids are not even awake until lunch time.
Back to school time = Breakfast?  Our daughter has the weird "B" lunch in the middle of her fourth hour class and our son has the late lunch, 4 1/2 hours after the bus picks him up in the morning. Whatever it is it must contain some protein or they just won't make it to lunch.

This smoothie tastes so good and with it's beautiful purple hue they won't even know the kale is in there.  It's the perfect way to get them off to school


What Kale? Protein Smoothie
Printable Version

From Couch to Marathon in 58 Days

Crazy?  Yes, a little.

Here's the thing.  I've fallen and I can't get up.  Running almost daily for 6 years, I haven't run regularly since June.  I've tried to get back on course, but I have failed.  I need a BIG CRAZY goal. This is my last ditch effort to get it together.

October 19th is the Detroit Marathon and I am committing today to do it.

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

Mario Andretti

Hide the Spinach

Sometimes it's not the foods our kids (and husbands) won't eat, it's the way they are prepared.  For instance, most people steam brussel sprouts. Yuck!  You can't get most people to buy in to them this way.  Try roasting them with olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and orange peel. DELICIOUS!  The same goes for asparagus.  Steamed, not so liked.  Grilled or roasted it takes on an entirely different flavor, and texture, that will get more wins and empty plates.

I find that the best way to make sure that my family gets enough vegetables is to hide them in a fruity flavored smoothie.  Sometimes I sneak a few too many veggies in there and I am busted.  Sometimes I hit a home run like with this limey flavored smoothie.

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hide the Spinach, An Antioxidant Smoothie

Breville Juicer and Vitamix

“Instead of being oppressed by the Tyranny of the OR, highly visionary companies liberate themselves with the Genius of the AND – the ability to embrace both extremes of a number of dimensions at the same time. Instead of choosing between A or B, they figure out a way to have both A AND B.” Success Built to Last,  Jim Collins

 

Having posted a lot of smoothie recipes I get asked what type of juicer I own and my answer is, it depends on what you want to do and what your tastes are.  In my case, I like delicious fruit smoothies (and these are an easier sell to the 9 year old boy) AND I like smooth fresh vegetable juice.  To have both you need different equipment.  If you want to choose between brands, like Vitamix OR Ninja then the Tyranny of the OR applies.  You do not need two machines that do the same thing.  On a side note, spend the money and get the Vitamix.  If you want smoothies AND smooth juices without pulp then Embrace the Genius of the AND and purchase both a blender and a juicer.

VITAMIX OR AND BREVILLE

Vitamix



Creates smooth, thick, recipes that depending on the ingredients, may be chewy

Best uses: soft fruit such as:

    bananas

    mangoes

    citrus

    berries

    greens

recipes that add ice or liquid

recipes that add a liquid sweetener such as agave

 

Not the best for: hard fruit and vegetables such as:

    carrots

    apples

    beets

    ginger

The powerful motor in the Vitamix will certainly handle the above items, but it makes a chewy juice that will be a difficult sell to young ones.

 

 

Indoor Cardio; Speed Intervals

Do you know which one is me?

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”  ~Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

I am going to share a secret with you....

Day 4 Losing 6 Pounds in 2 Weeks

One of the best time savers I have found is cooking once to eat many times.  Sometimes this means
making a gigantic pot of spaghetti sauce and portioning it out in tupperware to stow away in the freezer for many pasta nights to come.  Sometimes this means making simple dishes that can be spruced up or combined to make new exciting future meals in a snap.

This week I made polenta and roasted asparagus as

Day 2 - Losing 6 Pounds In 2 Weeks

Feeling good after day 1.  Celebrating the small successes help motivate you to stay the course.
"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery". ~ Enrico Fermi
Here are my measurements for Day 2 of my 14 day weight loss journey using the 4 Keys to Successful Weight Management

DAY 2

Sustenance - fuel

Breakfast -1 Greek yogurt, Fage 0% peach
Snack -2 chocolate chip cookies (I gave blood. They were my reward ?)
Lunch -mujadara (2 cup serving)
Snack -veggie sticks (2 cups carrots, celery, cucumbers)
Dinner -1 slice Hungry Howie's cheese pizza
Snack -2 pieces dark chocolate

Sweat - exercise

Day 1 - Losing 6 Pounds in 2 Weeks

They say to new moms that "it took you 9 months to put on the weight, give yourself at least that much time to take it off".  Not many women whom I know bought into that.  Most of us thinking of a much nearer birthday, or formal event that would require a slinky black dress and setting our sights on that date as the target.

I am going to use that rule to take off weight gained during business travel and log measurements that I feel are important to achieving this goal, The 4 Keys of Successful Weight Management.  2 weeks to put on the weight, 2 weeks to take it off.

“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.”  ~  H. James Harrington

DAY 1

Sustenance - fuel

6 Pounds of Chicago

My problem, when it comes to diet and exercise, isn't knowing what is right and wrong and isn't even the lack of having a good plan.  It's that I posses no discipline. Zip, zero, zilch.  Berta, the 300 pound Italian girl inside me, Berta, always wins out when there are tasty treats about.

I headed out for two weeks of business travel.  I packed up apples, halos, and granola bars.  I cut up celery sticks, cucumbers, and carrots.  My iPod was loaded with awesome workout tunes and I packed up an extra bag just for sneakers, sports bras, and running gear.

The plan: eat well, exercise daily, and use these two weeks of business travel to amp up physically.

The reality: 

Purple Power - Antioxidant Smoothie

Smoothies are an excellent way for hiding veggies from 9 year old boys who won't eat them any
other way.  The trick is keeping your smoothie recipe from turning sludgie yucky brown and looking like swamp water.  Here's a recipe that stays purple (ish) keeping the mass amounts of spinach in it your secret.

The 4 Hour Body

My friend's enthusiasm over this book, The 4 Hour Body, interested me enough to download it the same day.  He was geeked, and rightfully so.  He attributed techniques in the book to losing double digit pounds in 14 days.  For a tall and naturally thin person this is quite a feat.  As a health conscious person, always looking for ways to improve, I was intrigued.

I downloaded the book on Audible and listened to it in it's entirety in less than a day.  I was not hooked by all of the great tips that I couldn't wait to put into practice.  I was hooked by the bizarreness of it.  Much like you can't take your eyes off of a creepy movie, I listened to nearly 4 hours of weirdness.

Practices I will put into place from 4HB:

Brown Pow, Antioxidant Smoothie

I am blessed to have an artist for a husband whose creativity carries over into the kitchen.  He whipped up this amazing smoothie for us this morning.  The color was not very attractive, but if you close your eyes it's extremely yummy.  Our 9 year old won't eat most vegetables without a fight.  This recipe is great for kids, like him, who won't eat their veggies.  Even the pickiest eaters won't detect that the spinach is in there.

 Printable Version

Surf and Turf, A Delicious and Nutritious Smoothie Recipe

Our kids in the ocean with a shark, Jamaica

Spring break to Jamaica was one of my family's favorite vacations.  The weather - perfect; the pool -
perfect; the beach - rocky, but perfect; the food - amazing; swimming with the dolphins - unforgettable!  Our all inclusive resort had fresh fruit at every meal.  Dinner had a fruit carving station.

Vampire Venom, An Antioxidant Rich Smoothie

This morning we decided to create a new concoction in our Vitamix mixer.  I had the last bit of a pineapple to use, but I wanted to try something different than Kermit Juice.  I asked my 9 year old what color should it end up.  Begin with the end in mind, right?  He shouted out "red". OK, red it is.

Kermit Juice

This is a recipe for a smoothie so we use our Vitamix blender to make it.  I wanted to call it "Kermit in a Blender", but my family talked me out of it.  Just wait, when I come up with a recipe that comes out of the blender green and red it already has a name.

Farmers Market Delight, Zucchini

So much zucchini, but what to do with it?  Fried zucchini?  Delightful, but fried.  Grilled zuke? Awesome, but I am grilled out.  Zucchini fritters?  My mom makes the best so why even try to top perfection.

Here's a super easy, equally impressive zucchini recipe.
Printable Version

Fall Marathon Training Kick Off Month

This month kicks off fall marathon training.  I am going full out with a month of total fitness before tapering off cardio and adding miles.  I am following my own advice for achieving goals by posting my June calendar.

Step 1 to achieving your goal - put it in writing.
Step 2 to achieving your goal - share it with people who will support you

Link to calendar

Are you running a marathon or a 1/2 marathon this fall?  Let me know if your interested in sharing training tips.