Getting my mojo back! Quick update!

Feeling so much better already. Feeling more energized and stronger and just better. It's funny how you don't realize you weren't feeling that great until you feel better. Now if I could just get more sleep. And no, I have no one to blame but myself for that.

WORKOUTS: I've been sticking to my workouts which I'm loving of course! I mean I get to do a lot of my favorite exercises like barbell glute bridge and kettlebell full squats and of course PROWLER sprints. I was going to write about what exercises I don't like but there really aren't any I don't like. Wow! That's exciting, isn't it? No wonder I have no problem doing my workouts. Thanks again Kellie!

And for extra motivation when I was in the gym the other day there was a couple there that were impressed with my workout. They were working out well themselves but stopped to comment on what a great workout I was doing and how strong I am. Then they asked if I'm a powerlifter. I almost lied and said yes but I had to be honest and say no. At any rate it was just the motivation I needed to keep doing what I'm doing. Stay the course, ya know.


NUTRITION/FUEL: I'm still learning my nutrition but I'm doing much better with it. I've been hungrier this week but have decided that even though I love my shakes I can't always have those for breakfast because they just don't stick with me long enough. One of my favorite breakfasts is this cereal recipe I found in Brendan Brazier's Thrive book.

Banana Ginger Pear Cereal

1 banana, sliced
1 pear, cored and chopped
1 date, chopped
1/4 cup almonds
1/2 - 1 tablespoon chia seed
1 tablespoon hemp protein
1/2 tablespoon roasted carob powder
1/2 tablespoon ginger, grated

Combine all ingredients in a bowl; stir. Top with Hemp Milk or Rooibos Almond Milk.

I make my own hemp milk because it's so easy to do. I just throw 1 cup hemp seeds, 3 1/2 cups filtered water, and 1-2 tablespoons agave OR 1-2 dates in my blender. Then just let it run. I store it in my fridge for a while. Easy and healthy since I know exactly what's in it.

So I eat this often because I just love the combination of flavors. And ginger is an anti-inflammatory and that's always necessary.

I also love my creamy rice cereal. It's made with brown rice so a great alternative for all of you gluten intolerant people. It's very similar in texture to grits and has an earthier flavor. I put some nuts and/or fruit in it and it's just delish! If I don't add dates to it then I'll put in some coconut palm sugar but not much. YUM! Now I'm making myself hungry! Ha!

As for other snacks and meals, I usually have salads, rice bowls, or maybe Ezekiel tortillas with refried beans. Pretty brainless. Sometimes I make some bean patties of some sort. It just depends what I'm in the mood for. Also lentil salads are a great thing for me to have on hand. I made an amazing veggie sandwich the other day. It made me happy happy!

I had 2 slices of Silver Hills Hemptation bread lightly toasted, spread one with avocado and the other with babaganoush, added sliced tomatoes, sliced red bell peppers, green onion, and sunflower sprouts. DELISH! So yummy! I must make it again.

SLEEP: What is my problem here? I have no excuse. Why do I constantly short myself on sleep? I really must make a concerted effort to get to bed early. No excuses! That's my goal for this next week. Early to bed. I can read or journal or anything but I need to be in bed early. There! Now I must hold myself accountable! ...seriously....no, really...

MASSAGE SCHOOL: LOVING it! I just love it so much! I knew I would like it but I really didn't think that I would love it. And I ordered my massage table the other day! WOOHOO! I can't wait to get it. It's going to be awesome! I also went and bought some massage cream. I prefer it to the oil and it feels better on my skin than oil. Oh yes! So great. And I've gotten good feedback from my fellow students and instructors so that's good. Apparently I'm good at knocking people out. They keep falling asleep on my table. I guess that's good since most people go to massage to relax. It will be interesting to work on more people that aren't going to massage school or do massage for a living.

That's about it for me. The weekend's here and the weather is beautiful. Life is good. ENJOY IT!!

Hiho, hiho...it's off to the gym I go!

Yes! I'm back! Back to me and my life. My crazy month of March has ended. Let us all breathe a big sigh of relief. Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

Seriously, March was a little much for me. Just too much going on really and no time off either. As much as it's nice to be that busy I really was ready for it to end and ready to have the time and energy to get back in the gym and help myself out a little. But I had lost a lot of motivation and needed it back. I contacted Kellie at motherfitness.com. She put together a plan for me that works with my schedule. I have done two of the workouts so far. I'll be doing the other one tomorrow. And I LOVE it! So far, so awesome! I'm so glad that I was referred to her. Well, actually I knew all about her because I follow her blog but my friend Iris referred her and I emailed her ASAP. She sent me a great questionnaire that I filled out and returned. Then like magic my new workout plan appeared in my inbox. It has quite a few exercises I've never done before so that was exciting. I love that the workouts are hard but not completely draining. And of course they're hard since I've been slacking in the gym big time for the past 2-3 months. And she even put in prowler sprints since I remarked that I love the prowler. Woohoo!

For me it's really just a matter of having a program when I'm in the gym. And to be honest I just haven't had the wherewithal to put a program together for myself. I could do it but I just didn't want to. I really needed help. And I suggest that to anyone. If you're struggling with motivation, not seeing results, or really just don't know how to get the most out of your workouts, definitely look for someone that has the knowledge. It seems silly to pay someone for something you can do yourself but the truth is that if you're not doing it yourself then it's even sillier to not pay someone to do it. 

School is going along very well. We had our first "coaching" the other day where we practice massage on the instructors. That was intimidating by thought but not intimidating at all in reality. And I got great feedback. I just love that school because it's not intimidating and really provides a great learning environment. I have a couple of things to work on but my instructor is pleased with my progress. Yeah! I am loving school and loving learning about massage and anatomy. It's just cool. Oh! Speaking of anatomy, how many of you have seen this awesome site? getbodysmart.com. Very cool. It will show you the action of different muscles, tell you origin and insertion, and nerve information. Quite fascinating, especially for people that work out or do any kind of body work.

My food is off and on. Sometimes I'm better than other times. No rhyme nor reason but now that my crazy month is over I'm sure I'll do better generally speaking. I made a yummy shake this morning. Still like to have yummy shakes every once in a while. I have no idea the portions really but I'll try to remember.

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Shake

8 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/3 cup chia gel (basically 1/4-1/3 cup water and 1/2 tablespoon chia soaked overnight)

1 tablespoon hemp protein powder

small handful cashews

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3 dates, pitted

Mix all those in the blender. Add ice to texture you like (I used about 14 smallish ice cubes). Blend again. Pour into glass. Add a handful of dried mulberries and goji berries. They get a little crispy and it's so tasty. This made two glasses for me.

I look at that recipe and think it wouldn't hold me over for long but it does and did. I really wasn't hungry for a long time after eating that. It's crazy how much less food we need than we think we do.

I just finished dinner and it was so yummy that I must share. I stole this vegan pesto recipe and made it my own.

Pesto Soba with Zucchini and Tomatoes

Pesto

3/4 cup packed fresh basil

1/3 cup olive oil and pumpkin oil mixed (about half and half)

1/2 cup pine nuts

2 very large cloves garlic

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

sea salt

pepper

Mix all but salt and pepper together in a food processor. Process till combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Process again. Set aside. 

8 oz. 100% buckwheat soba noodles

2 zucchinis, very thinly sliced

2 roma tomatoes, chopped

Cook noodles till done, being careful not to overcook. Remove from pan to a colander. Add zucchini to noodle water and boil for 1-2 minutes. In the meantime rinse noodles in cold water. Drain zucchini. Add hot zucchini to bowl and add desired amount of pesto. Add noodles and chopped tomatoes and mix. Serve and enjoy!

That's about it for me. Hope you're all having a good week. I'll let you know how my last workout of the week goes. And then it's more massage school on the weekend! Wahoo!

Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet

How does that sound to you? Doesn't roll off your tongue very easily, does it? But if I had to describe myself, that is what I would say is closest to the way I am eating these days. And after this past week I would say I'm more committed to that way of eating than ever before. Let me explain.

For the past five days I've been in Portland in a hotel working on a meeting with my friend. I was really busy before I left so I really didn't have time to make a bunch of great healthy snacks to fill in the holes while my diet was going downhill fast. We stayed and worked at the Nines Hotel in Portland. It's a cool hotel in the heart of downtown Portland. They have two restaurants in the hotel, one named Departure that's Asian Fusion and the other is Urban Farmer. So, my question to you is what type of food would you expect "Urban Farmer" to serve? When you think of a "farmer" don't you think of fresh produce? Or is that just me? Well, so far I've asked four people this same question and we're all in agreement. Yet when we went there for lunch the first day we were there, what was on the menu? Mostly steak and animal protein with very little vegetables. I later looked up how they define themselves and it says "Urban Farmer redefines the modern steakhouse." So apparently urban farming now means meat farming! Ha! The joke's on me I suppose. I mean I know dairy farmers exist but in an urban setting? I don't think so. At any rate we had little extra time to really get out and enjoy the city and find great restaurants. Also my friend is not vegan at all so it's challenging to find restaurants that serve food that I can enjoy and she can too.

So I ate a lot of salads but also a lot of items that aren't really what I'm used to eating anymore. I was never a really big cheese lover. I liked and probably still do like cheese from Spain and also Gruyere is delicious. But generally speaking for me I never did eat a lot of cheese. So although I wasn't eating vegan most of the time I was eating vegetarian. Well, guess what? I'm not much of a vegetarian. I haven't eaten eggs in a long time nor any butter or dairy. And definitely not cheese. So over the week I would end up eating things like that because that's really all that was available. I did have a bag of nuts and some dried fruit to supplement what I was eating. Luckily I had that because otherwise I would have eaten even more food that really wasn't great for me.

My stomach felt bloated almost all the time. My energy wasn't what it normally is and I wasn't sleeping well. Now some of that I attribute to traveling and staying in a hotel. However, my stomach really didn't feel good. And that was the biggest thing for me. So I have decided to really keep doing what I've been doing because I know that I feel so much better eating the way I've been eating. I couldn't wait to come home and eat right for ME! So I've eaten a lot of whole foods today. The more I learn the more I love to eat this way.

It's easy on my body and easy on the environment. So although I would basically categorize my diet (in the true sense of the word - "manner of living") the same as the title of this blogpost: whole foods plant-based, I don't want to pigeonhole myself and say that's all I eat. I think it's important to everyone to eat what they want to eat but to pay attention to how different foods make you feel. If you eat animal protein and you feel great then I say go ahead and eat it. However if you are looking to feel better, try going back to basics.  When I say basics I mean just really anything that is a whole food. I think a great diet for today would be something heavily plant based but still have some meat every once in a while. This frees up some money to buy high quality meat. That's just my opinion. I'm not saying that I wouldn't eat meat but honestly, I probably wouldn't eat meat. So weird for me! Who knew? Particularly because on New Year's Day this year I had such a completely different view of animal protein.

I also continue reading The China Study and other items around the internet about different foods and how they affect you. I guess any reduction in inflammatory foods seems to be the goal. I have kind of made this my goal. Sure I would like to look better than I do but mostly I want to feel amazing so if by changing my eating (and eventually getting my workouts back to something I'm interested in!) I feel amazing and the side effect of THAT is looking better then so be it. But that is truly not my goal for now. I just love finding foods that really enhance my health and it feels good to feel good!

Hope you are all off to a great start for April! I can't wait to get back to my massage school tomorrow. I missed it while I was gone! It has such great energy! In the next couple of weeks I'm going to be getting a new workout plan so I'll let you know how that goes too. And so away we go into the FOURTH month of the year! WOW! Where does the time go?!?

Veganized Lentil Soup

Just a quick post because I have about four minutes before I have to be off my electronics. I just made this lentil soup from my other blog. But I made it vegan which was so easy to do. I forgot how delicious, quick and easy this soup is to make.

As a hint in case you're like me and don't use all your ingredients quickly. You can buy small chilies (like Thai or serrano) and freeze them. They're easy to chop that way and throw in any soup or hot dish. You can throw them in uncooked food too but the texture is a little soft. I also freeze ginger root to grate at any time I need it. It's so easy to use that way and easier to grate too.

I didn't have that many lentils so I had to do a half recipe. This is the half recipe. I would double it if you think you'll eat it a lot. And it would freeze well too.

Vegan Lentil Soup

1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed 

1 1/2 cups water

2 cups vegetable broth

1 serrano chili pepper, chopped (remove seeds for less heat) 

1 large tomato, roughly chopped 

3/4-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated 

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 

1/8 teaspoon sea salt 

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for topping 

Combine the lentils, water, and vegetable broth in a pot, cover and bring to a boil. Add the chili pepper, tomato, ginger, garlic, turmeric and sea salt. Partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until thickened, 18 to 20 minutes. Stir in the cilantro. Thin with water to desired texture. (I didn't thin it because I like it thick.)

Easy, huh? Well, I hope you enjoy. It's really delicious and takes no time at all to make. Truly. And it has that excellent vegetable protein for all of you that think you can't get enough protein with veggies. This was the perfect dish for the cold weather we're having here in L.A. I was cold all day so this was just the ticket for me.

Hope you're all doing well. School is going well. We learned a lot of different strokes in class on Saturday. I have class again tomorrow and I can't wait. LOVE my class, instructor, and environment! So awesome!

Have a great week!

Vegan Korean Food (Thanks Ani Phyo!)

Mmmmm...Korean food! That's the most Korean part of me is my love for Korean food. I love the flavor and I was missing the Korean BBQ. But thanks to finding this recipe from Ani Phyo I have found a new happiness! I made these Saturday night and they are just to die for! So delicious and EASY! It took me about 15 minutes to make total time including julienning the vegetables!




And while my food right now is mostly vegan, you could easily add some meat to this and it would be tasty as well. But the vegan version is really tasty, I think! Here's the recipe (and sub-recipes) and the links to the original.

Mushroom “Bul Go Gi” Lettuce Wraps

From Chef Ani Phyo

Makes 4 servings

 

This is a traditional style of sam, a Korean lettuce wrap recipe. The lettuce and Gochujang sauce are what tie this dish together. The lettuce wraps are filled with sliced garlic and pepper for savory flavors that pair with the sweet and salty marinade of the Mushroom “Bul Go Gi”. Cucumber and carrot add color and texture. 

Fillings

1 batch Gochujang, see recipe below

1 clove thinly sliced garlic

1 Korean pepper, or jalapeño, sliced

1 cup julienned cucumber

1 cup julienned carrot

Bul Go Gi

1 batch Mushroom “Bul Go Gi”, see recipe below

Wrappers

8 red lettuce leaves, or more

To serve, place fillings and Mushroom “Bul Go Gi” into individual bowls. Place lettuce leaves in a stack on a plate.

Allow everyone to make individual wraps by placing a lettuce in their hand and stuffing with Gochujang, fillings, and Mushroom “Bul Go Gi”. Wrap and eat immediately.

Will keep for several days in fridge when all ingredients are stored separately.

Mushroom “Bul Go Gi

Makes 4 servings

 

Bul Go Gi is all about the sweet and salty marinade. The beef recipe is popular in the West and is typically barbequed at the table in restaurants. Bul Go Gi is served with a stack of red leaf lettuce used to wrap namuls and kimchi. This wrap is called sam in Korean.

Many people have requested a raw vegan “Bul Go Gi” recipe, so I’ve created this version for them. I substitute beef with mushrooms marinated with the same traditional flavors.

My recipe calls for Asian pear, but you can use any ripe pear instead.

Use marinated Mushroom “Bul Go Gi” in lettuce or daikon wraps, on top of noodles and salads in nori rols, on its own, and as an accompaniment to any dish.

Marinade

3 tbsp Nama Shoyu or tamari

2 tbsp agave, maple, or brown rice syrup, to taste

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

½ tbsp minced garlic

½ cup Asian pear, microplaned or pureed in food processor, from about ½ medium pear

Mushrooms

4 cups sliced shiitake, miyake, oyster, or portabella mushrooms

Whisk marinade together in mixing bowl. Then, add mushrooms and massage with hands to mix well. Set aside to marinate for about 20 to 30 minutes, until softened. Squeeze liquid from mushrooms before using.

Gochujang

Makes 4 servings

Gochujang is a traditional Korean hot chile pepper paste made by adding powdered red peppers to miso soybean paste and then aging and fermenting this mixture in earthen pots outdoors under the sun.  The resulting flavor is a mix of hot, sweet, salty, savory, and sour.  Gochujang is the sauce used to tie together vegetables with rice to make Bi-Bim-Bop and is also used in noodle recipes and wraps.  My recipe keeps for weeks in the fridge, so keep extra on hand to dress up salads and lettuce wraps and to use as a dip, too.

If you have access to a Korean market, you can always buy real Gochujang, which usually contains sugar.  Or, make your own healthier version by following this easy recipe.

2 1/2 tbs unpasteurized miso, red, yellow, or brown

2 tbs toasted sesame oil

1/4 cup agave syrup

1/2 tsp Korean chile powder, or cayenne pepper powder, to taste

Place all ingredients into a small mixing bowl, and mix well.

Will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

  

These were so yummy and I liked that I had leftovers so I could eat them again during the week. Although Ani Phyo touts raw food she also talks about not being too strict with that hence the toasted sesame oil.

Well, it's official...I'm a STUDENT again! And plant-based eating!

Sorry I've been MIA for a while! For some reason I seem super busy and this month is going to be general craziness so I'll do what I can but April will be better! At any rate, last night was my first night of MASSAGE SCHOOL!!!!! And I LOVED it! It was cool and the vibe in the class is good. It's fairly small. There are only nine students, including me and one instructor plus two teacher assistants. That's a good ratio to me.

So, what did we learn last night? Well, important things like class and school conduct, how to set up a massage table, how to drape a client, and how to have them rollover without seeing their nakedness. These are all important things. I think what I like best is the way the class is taught. Sit down and learn a little then get up and move while learning more. Take a short break then back to the floor for more "book" items then maybe do some hands on, etc. That's the perfect learning environment for me. It will be different when we are on the massage table and then have to get off the massage table and practice what we're learning. But it's all good.

My friends and family are going to benefit here because I need to practice often so I'm going to need to get that practicing going. If you are my friend or family and I haven't already asked you to be my guinea pig, feel free to let me know. I need as many bodies as I can get my hands on...literally! Haha!

As for other news in the plant-based diet world, I made the yummiest meal last weekend. I'm going to do a separate post for it because it was that tasty. It was Ani Phyo's Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps. You know me. Representing! For the K's! (That means Koreans for you that aren't in the know!)

I feel like I'm finally getting in the swing of eating mostly plant-based whole foods. It's not an easy undertaking, in my opinion, but I've definitely felt better since eating this way. These are the benefits I've seen so far for me:

• Constant energy throughout the day - no afternoon lull or post-meal comas
• Deeper sleep
• Increased clarity
• Little or no sinus problems
• Cleaner feeling mouth (who knew?)
• Few to no cravings

These are what I would consider hints for introducing more plant-based meals into your life if you have any inkling to go this way:

• Start small - one meal a day (or week if day is too much) have a big salad with lots of fun seeds and/or nuts, add some brown rice or grains, and beans
• Have a "Meatless Monday" (Tuesday, Wednesday, etc) one day a week
• Find a recipe with no meat that sounds divine and make it (maybe try the Black Bean Hemp Patties by Julie Morris...they are soooo yummy!)
• Add a great dessert like Julie Morris's No-Bake Brownies
• Add a side salad to whatever your animal protein dish is and keep increasing the size of the salad and decreasing the size of animal protein

These are the challenges I've faced in this shift:

• For me it was an overnight change so that was more challenging than starting with one meal at a time
• Getting carried away with all the yummy raw vegan desserts you can make (and apparently consume in my case)
• Eating much more carbs than greens
• Eating much more fat in the way of nuts, seeds and avocados
• Eating enough - simply because I didn't know what to eat sometimes or had nothing made. It's like any other way of eating. You have to be prepared to eat right.

I'm very happy with the way I'm eating. I know it's weird to a lot of people because it's unknown and "extreme" to some. To me, the more I learn about the health benefits of whole food plant-based diets the more I never want to eat animal protein again. Some of you may be wondering what am I eating these days and/or what am I not eating. It's going something like this:

Eating: any vegetables, any fruit, any nuts and seeds, whole grains, pseudo grains, legumes, super foods, yacon syrup, agave, coconut palm sugar, whole foods

Not Eating: animal protein including fish and seafood, dairy, eggs, processed foods

So that's about it. I don't like to put myself in a category nor would I say that I will never eat meat again, but if I had to I would be leaning toward Whole Food Plant-Based. I'm not really a vegan per se because I still wear leather and such. It's also not to say that I won't at times eat cheese or butter. The biggest thing that I almost forgot to mention is that since starting this I haven't craved french fries! Those of you that know me know that this is huge! In all honesty, I haven't had much cravings for anything out of the ordinary. I haven't any huge salt OR sugar cravings. Hmmm...I should put that in my bullet list above. Let me do that now...okay...I'm back.

And as a funny note to end on, this is how focused I am on "plant-based". The other night I was playing games on my computer and I looked at my houseplant and thought, "Hm, I wonder if that would be good to eat." Hahaha! Yes, I clearly am losing it but it truly was funny to me and I truly DID have that thought.

Superfoods make me feel SUPER!

No joke! So this morning I knew I was feeling a little less than my best me. I ate my Lemon Coconut Breakfast Bars but I still felt like I needed something with a little oomph! So I checked out all my superfoods and made my own little concoction. Either it was pretty tasty or I'm getting used to the taste of earth and grass! Probably the latter to be honest! HA!

I had some leftover Synergy Guava Goddess Kombucha tea so my fancy concoction went something like this:
4 oz. Guava Goddess
1 scoop acai powder
1/2 teaspoon gelatinized maca
1/2 teaspoon chlorella
1/2 - 1 tablespoon yacon syrup
water

Shake it all up together in the blender bottle and drink. So I thought that was a good idea to get in a bunch of superfoods before my day began. But I truly didn't think it would do what it did. It's now 5:00pm and my energy is awesome! Not only that but I actually woke up early this morning. I could have gone back to sleep but I took that time to make the Lemon Coconut Bars and I'm so glad I did! YUM! LOVE those things! So anyway, it's either the superfood concoction that has me buzzing or it's my natural high. But either way I have no complaints and I'm feeling good!

I also had a great workout yesterday. I've been slacking in the strength training department. I really have no reason but sheer and utter laziness. Yep, that's my reason. But now I'm coming back and it's going to be a slow process. But I need to be okay with that. So yesterday I decided I was going to go back to basics and do an almost completely bodyweight circuit workout. It turned out to be a great workout for me and my hammies and quads are actually feeling it today. It also makes for a nice chance to really focus on form. My form is usually pretty good but I think often I'm focusing on pushing the weight over maintaining great form. Kellie Davis over at motherfitness.com wrote a post about that just today! She's reading my mind...I'm SURE of it! Below is my workout:

Lower Body Bodyweight Circuit
Prisoner Squats
Walking Lunges
Good Mornings (bar only)
Single Leg Hip Thrust
Glute Ham Raise Machine

5 rounds of 12 reps (for each leg on unilateral exercises) each exercise

The first 3 rounds I was good but the fourth was tough and the fifth was really hard for me but I pushed through and got it done! Baby steps is what it's going to be. I need to be okay with that and I almost am!

 Don't you find it hard to accept where you are? I had a hard time accepting where I was when I was super teeny for my comp. And now I'm having a hard time accepting where I am since I'm now the opposite of super teeny. But I need to accept. And be grateful for what I have and all that functions well. Yep, I definitely need to start from a place of gratitude on this one. And so I am and will.

That's about it for now. I'm ready for the weekend. And it's less than 2 weeks till I start massage school! Can't wait! Wahoo!!!!