Friday, December 14, 2012

Late night comfort food.

In the bottom pot: mushrooms, tomatoes, coconut oil, garlic powder and a bit of salt. 

Ingredients for tomorrow's lunch: tempeh, bag of athlete's greens, tomato, orange pepper,  half a jar of curry sauce. And some water.

Post yoga very late night snack. I know I'm not supposed to eat late at night but I figured if I'm going to it might as well have very few carbs.

While i was eating this just simmered for about 10 mins. Not to long, because I don't want all the nutrients changed and enzymes killed off. 

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Day 3 and 4

I meditated yesterday but I think too late at night because the bell woke me up, actually it scared me silly.  Today is a bit earlier than yesterday (mind you not by much) but I just could not focus on meditating.  I tried,at one point I was breathing in (saying the mantra) and exhaling (saying the mantra) and even though I know I was mentally thinking the mantra, I was still caught up in my brain drama.  Something happened today, a negative experience, and even though I was trying not to perseverate on it, it kept creeping in my thoughts.  Sort of like an annoying bug bite.  Little and itchy.  So then I thought, this has got to stop.  Obviously I'm not able to chant the mantra, I may as well throw in that towel and try to think about something that might cause me to have more positive experiences at work.  I was thinking of ways that I could help others.  Since it is clear I cannot change some peoples negative energy, I can at least try to attract more joy into mine by spreading it! Which happen to be Day 3's

Centering Thought:
“Today, I focus on what I want to attract into my life.”
 
 

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Day 2: The source of all abundance

Today was such a busy day, full day of teaching, more work in my new portable (setting it up), writting out 3 unit tests and study notes... and the list goes on.  After school I was so happy to be able to sneak out to do a 1 hour hot yoga class at PYC.  I kept trying to remind myself that abundance is everywhere, joy, love... Basically people have so much to give I just need to be open to it.  Especially kids... I feel bad because I didn't get to see my kids very much today because after yoga I had to run back out to do the baptism prep course at the church.  I tucked them in and had a short cuddle with each. 

But thinking about something this powerful, is hard. I mean thinking about anything other than "what has to happen next" is hard.  I find myself spinning my wheel most of the time, trying to get things done, thinking about what has to be done next, what I've already done - was it good enough, what can I do better next time... Sheesh... Rarely do I stop and just be present and mindful of the fact that the world will just continue on whether I finish the task or not.  The task will still get done, but I can at least be more aware that positive energy is around me...

I think that is what today's message what basically about... The infinite source of abundance is everywhere, it is the energy, the higher power, everything is made from the same "stuff".... I just need to tap into it to receive it.  Like having a big fat "smell the roses" moment... But more often and to open up the passageway to receiving the abundance that I want.   He asked us today to think of what we want more of in our life... I think I want more joy.... I did briefly think of money... but nope I just want to have more moments of joy. I want to feel happy, and experience it as often as possible.  I get so caught up in my own spinning wheels and drama that I forget how much "awesomeness" is in my life.  My kids, my family, my friends, my yoga community, and me.  (ok that last one was a conscious effort to acknowledge that I'm not so bad myself).  I don't do that very well or very often.  I'm sure having post partum depression has not helped this fact either.  If you know me very very well you know that I harbour a deep secret.  Well here it is, I have little to no self esteem.  So perhaps I should try to tap into that.  His quote " Abundance, like everything else in the universe, is simply a specific arrangement of energy and information. With our intention, we can change the energy, add new information, and manifest whatever we want, need, or desire. Abundance is unlimited, unbounded, and always available." - Deepak

Monday, November 5, 2012

A New Journey.... to self transformation

Another challenge 21 days long!  But this time it's all about meditation.  I have never in my life attempted to meditate over the course of a set amount of days. Sure I've done it at the end of my yoga practises. And I partially think that I can meditate because I'm too physically exhausted to "twitch or move", so I can just STAY and BE PRESENT and MINDFUL. 


 
 
Here is the link, I'm not sure if it's too late to sign up. I am very blessed to have a close friend who literally reminded me 5 times to sign up, and then she checked in today to make sure I got the first email!  Thank goodness for a friend who shares her abundance with me. Her love and caring is contagious.... Now I'm going to share with you what I learned... or what I will learn throughout this process. 
 
 
Today I followed along, once the kitchen was clean, my school work was done and I could just sit on my bed and feel like nothing pressing needed to get done! I clicked on the play button and wow... I felt so completely relaxed by the end that part way through the meditation (Sooooo Hummmm, Sooooo-breath in-----Hummm-breath out---sooooo hummmm... ) I found my chin resting on my chest... whoa how did that happen.  I actually got so into my "mindful presence" that I didn't notice my body totally relaxing that much. So tomorrow I will lie on my back to meditate (the way we do after yoga).
 
The message for today was to behold the abundance that surrounds us... I will keep reflecting on this tomorrow as I go through my busiest day at school and I'm hoping that I can remember and catch myself "acknowledging" or being "open" to the abundance that others have to offer.  

Monday, October 22, 2012

Day 14 - The End

Well this is it for my valiant attempt at a vegan cooler 1.  Instead of drinking the big glass of red wine that I've been craving,  I went shopping today for some new clothes.  And I fully intend on getting rid of the two pairs of pre-baby jeans that I just can't fit into.  For now I'll just be "good"!  I'm happy with my job, I'm happy with Mark being home, I'm happy with my life!  Joy is a choice and I'm choosing it! 


Breakfast -oatmeal and a smoothie

1/2 cup GF oats
1/2 apple
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp almond butter
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with soy

1 banana
3 tbsp natural peanut butter
1 scoop unsweetened protein powder
ice
unsweetened almond milk

Lunch - salad

2/3 can of Eden chickpeas
1 tomato -diced
1/2 orange pepper-cut
2 leaves of kale - finely chopped
(dressing of olive oil/ balsamic/apple cider vinegar/1tsp honey mustard)
basil

1/4 of an english cucumber
apple
water

snack-
roasted chestnuts (about 5)

Diner - lazy tuna casserole

can of tuna (low sodium)
3tbsp salsa
2 cups steamed broccoli
1 orange pepper
olive oil
couple sundried tomatoes
water

snack - popcorn and tea

1/3cup corn kernels
1.5tbsp coconut oil
chili powder
sesame+nutritional yeast (blended in bullet mix)

rooibos and herbal tea mix with almond milk

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Day 12 and 13- It's not a faillure if you forgive yourself!

 I could try really really hard to remember what I ate over the last 2 days. But come on it's Sunday night and I just did 2 hot yoga classes!  It was mostly cooler 1 (except for the bowl of popcorn I had with butter- I know can you believe it!!!) Me either!  I told myself only a few of the kernels that missed the butter, but OMG my hand picked up a buttered popcorn and I ate it! Let me tell you the neurosensors in my brain went ballistic!
                        <<<Beep beep!!! endorphins, brain lighting up!!! Weeeooouuu weeeooouuu!!!!!! animal fat and salt! Do not stop eating, this is the most amazing thing you have ever tasted and your life depends on it's ability to store fat in case of famine!!! SOOO EATTTTT the popcorn! >>>

So yes! I am a human being, with a brain genetically programed to "enjoy" food that really isn't good for it, but food that would stick to my hips, and provide extra "cushioning" when lean times were to arise. Which obviously doesn't happen in this culture!

I ate the popcorn! It had butter, and yup my eczema flared up!  But while doing a double yoga class today, I forgave myself this treat!  It doesn't mean I'm weak, which is what I thought, it doesn't mean I've failed cooler 1... I just means that I'm normal!  I also know that I should probably keep staying clear of animal fats and salt since I clearly have no ability to restrain myself. Better for me to just substituted something healthier!

The next treat I've found and this time it actually would fit in the clean diet (not cooler 1, but probably cooler 2) is a banana and peanut butter smoothie!  I'm not sure if it's because my palate has rebooted since laying off the sugar these past two weeks but this smoothie is heaven!!!  

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

one banana
2 or 3 tbsp of natural peanut butter
scoop of protein powder (unsweetened)
ice
unsweetened vanilla almond milk

So simple but sooo bloody delicious!  (I had one tonight after my classes) and half of one yesterday after my combat workout.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Day 11...getting there!

Friday's as we know are tough! But I'm surviving... I really did eat alot today! But still better than I would be eating if it wasn't for "trying"( being the key word here) to stick to cooler 1.

Breakfast:
same as every day
water
decaf with soy milk

snack:
serving of sweet potato lentil greens shepards pie
1/4 cucumber
water

lunch:
1.5cups tomato tempeh soup
1/4 pomegranate
water

snack:
handful of veggi chips
cucumber
couple tbsp salsa
water

diner
8 vegetarian California rolls (rice and veggies)
2 salmon sushi
2 tuna sushi
water
decaf ice coffee with unsweetened almond milk

snack
can of tuna
1/2 cup salsa
2tbsp olive oil
2 cups shredded broccoli (that salad kind you buy pre-shredded)
decaf tea with almond milk
a square of dark chocolate (non dairy)

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Day 10- Reinventing Shepard's pie

 


So this was my version of tonight's diner!  Vegan, clean, veggiful and colourful!




As you can see my hungry family chowing down on "regular Shepard's" pie, or as it's known in our house as paté chinois. This is how I made my vegan clean friendly version.



 
 
This is lentils, garlic, onions and tempeh mixed with some chili seasoning (I know it's weird, but it's what our family is used too, because I refuse to allow Mark to use the packages for Shepard's pie or even use gravy since it has too much salt) mixed with the water from the boiled sweet potatoes.
 
 
 
Mashed sweet potatoes with just some of the water and some onions.
 
 
Athletes (Cooking Greens) mixed with a bit of frozen corn.
 

 
Assemble and bake at 375F for 30mins (or so).
 
 
 
Enjoy!
Today's eats:
 
Breakfast (same as yesterday)
 
snack
1.5 cups of tomato tempeh soup
water
decaf tea with unsweetened almond milk
 
Lunch
can of low sodium tuna
a head of romaine lettuce
1/4 cup salsa sauce
1/4 cucumber
2 tbsp olive oil
water
 
snack
 
a large handful of veggie chips (the ones from bulk barn with probably too much oil)
water
about 3 sun dried tomatoes in olive oil (while I was making my diner)
 
Diner


a serving of my version of Shepard's pie
water
 
After diner snack...
 
a pot of herbal tea  (Caramel Almond Amaretti) and some vanilla almond milk (yes I know the sweetened kind... ) But this is desert!!!
 
 
 





Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Day 9- The best part of cooler 1 in the fall is the SOUP!!!

Well I am happy to report that apparently ranting to the universe pays off because this morning when I got on my scale FINALLY I lost some weight! Thus began a great day :)  Well pretty much nothing can tarnish Wednesdays in my view since I only teach 2 periods in the morning (yes I am only 68%) so that means I do have time off school.  Today after school I rushed to the yoga studio and did a hot class, then browsed the Chapters looking for some cute Halloween books for my kids, then it was back home for some lunch. After a very late lunch I got to go on a fantastic bike ride because the weather was absolutely perfect for it!  I rode up North of my place and the fall leaves are just stunning, yes the route north is uphill, but damn if it isn't worth the ride to see the sights. Plus what goes up must come down, my ride back home was easy-peasy.  Did I mention the temp was in the 20's!!!! So yes today was awesome!  So anyway here are my eats...

Breakfast
1/2 cup GF oats
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1tbps almond butter
1 tbsp ground flax
4 strawberries
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with soy milk (because that's what they have at Strabucks- I know I'm working towards quitting)

Snack
3/4 of an orange pepper
2 cups of carrot ginger chick pea soup
water

Lunch: (this was slightly warmed up)
can of tuna (low sodium)
1/2 cup of salsa
1 large tomato diced
water
decaf coffee with unsweetened almond milk

snack (before bike ride)
brown rice cake (lundenburg)
water

Diner:
tomato tempeh soup drizzled with olive oil
green juice (collards, zucchini, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 apple, 2 carrots, 3 green tomatoes and mint)
water
tea with almond milk


Ok so yes tomato soup with tempeh is strange... but it worked because it's all blended up together!  And come on who doesn't like, tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil???? 

I sort of just threw a bunch of tomatoes from our garden about 7 or 8 in a pot
with a jar of Mark's tomato's sauce
lots of garlic
1 onion
1 carrot
some broccoli stems
about 2/3 of a pack of tempeh (plain, no salt, no flavour)
some dried basil and parsley
a dash of cinnamon
water


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Day 7 meet Day 8! (with bonus rants)

I'm getting a little behind because I'm getting behind in everything around here.  Yesterday Mark was fixing our dishwasher so the whole kitchen/dining room area looked like a tornado hit it, I barely managed to squeeze in the fridge to get my soup out to eat.  So anyway, yesterday was in fact a lovely day!  I had my Monday morning free from school, so I went to the gym and did a body pump class (and yes as I am writing this now, a day latter) I ponder the wisdom of that decision, as I can barely lower myself down unto a chair..  actually chair is fine because I can brace along the back part... the toilet bowl... omg that is agony...  It's like squatting while someone is running daggers through my quads. ) and wow that was a tangent.  Back to awesome morning, after pump I had a massage, then home for some lunch.  Then it was off to school.  Short and sweet :) I love my Mondays! 

So here are my Monday's eats:

Breakfast
1/2 GF oats
1 scoop veg. protein powder
3 strawberries
1 tbsp chia seeds
unsweetened almond milk
water

snack:
 1.5 cups carrot ginger chick pea soup
decaf coffee
water

lunch:
1/2 cup sweet potato humus
7 stalks of celery
water

snack:
pack of seaweed paper
1/2 apple

Diner:
-serving of tempeh (about 80gs)
- 1.5 cup athletes mix
-1/4 cup of the curry sauce
served with a scoop of sweet potato humus on top
water
decaf tea (a couple of ounces of the vanilla almond milk - yes it was sweeter)



Today I had a full schedule at school, so I packed my "cooler" but I'm wondering if I didn't eat enough at school today for the amount of running around I did?  Could be.  But again NOTHING off the scale this morning (however I've been reminded my a friend that weights are great for weight loss but terrible for water retention).  And more or less to torture myself I made myself wear the jeans that "used to fit"... well that was just mean and cruel, because even by day 8, not enough changes have happened... not exactly a muffin top, but a little too tight for comfort. However I did receive complements on them??? So is it that uncomfortable jeans are the more flattering ones? Can someone please post the brand of jeans that will make my parts look amazing!  Trying to fit into 3 year old jeans is getting silly!  

Breakfast:
1/2cup GF oats
3tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp raw almond butter
3 strawberries
1 tbsp chia seeds
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee

I did have a few artichoke hearts (perserved in vinegar and olive oil) this morning when I was waiting for my decaf, they were imported from Italy and used in the panini sandwiches at the Longo's kitchen.  My buddy Tony is very italian and he is always getting me to taste only the best condiments used in his signature sandwiches... Last week he opened up a 12$ can of Italian sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs.... ahhhh mazing...  I've never really been into antipasto... but I can always be converted :)

snack:
sweet potato curri hummus
broccoli and tomatoes
water

Lunch:
carrot ginger chick pea soup with about 3/4 cup athletes mix (mixed in while it was hot)
water
decaf tea

snack: (when I got home from school today I was dizzy and disoriented, I kind of felt drunk and this scared me so I decided to have some fruit with my protein and also some carbs in the form of popcorn with salt - I've had blood pressure issues in the past, my BP gets too low and I need a little extra salt to stop getting so dizzy) this is new from the summer time training...
-protein smoothy: veg.protein powder, frozen raspberries, ice, wheat grass, coconut water and a scoop of almond butter
-1/2 cup of air pop popcorn with about 1-2 tbsp of melted "Earth Balance" a vegan butter alternative

I did feel much better so I went to the gym for a combat class. drank lots of water again.

Diner:

BBQed Salmon with sun dried tomatoes
some broccoli and orange pepper
water
lots of decaf tea in the evening

Last rant for the day! 

I know I'm not adhering to the cooler plan as strictly as I used to in the past, but I also can't believe how slow the weight loss is that this point.  I am only down 1 pound!!!  I still am literally 5 lbs away from pre-baby.  Truly you see what I eat... what else should I do? more exercise? weights? This is really hard!  I want to quit because I'm not seeing any changes in the numbers, and I guess I'm not sick anymore so that's a plus, but I just want to lose those last few... For goodness sake at the rate I'm going I'll have to keep doing this for another 3 weeks!!!  ugh or more!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Day 6- really that's it?

Honestly I feel like I haven't had a refined carb in sooo long! I miss the crunch of rice chips, the warm crust on my little GF vegan diner rolls...umm with their soft chewy centers...ahhhhh  Oh and scoops of natural peanut butter right out of the jar...ohhhh  And the worst part is I think I'm not going to lose any weight!  This morning the scale told me I went up???  really!! Come on... I've only been cheating a bit, but I wonder if because I'm feeling so hungry I'm in fact eating more calories? sigh** I guess I'll keep going and give it a few more days before actually throwing my hands up in defeat.  So here's what I had to eat today! 

Breakfast:
1/2cup GF oats
4 strawberries
1 tbsp raw almond butter
3tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with soy milk (I know..I know I have to give this up!)

snack:
- 1 cup of sweet potato curry humus
- 5-6 stalks of celery
-1/3 cucumber
- 1 roma tomato
-water

Lunch:
-pack of Norri (seaweed paper)
- med. apple
- cup of carrot/chick pea ginger soup (see pic)
- decaf tea and water

snack: (or second lunch)
- 4 kale leaves (chopped)
- 4 romaine leaves (chopped)
- 1/4 cup salsa sauce
- can of tuna
- 2 tbsp of humus
-decaf tea and water

Diner: (see pics)
- asparagus stalks (about 8)
- broccoli florets (about 5)
- small onion
- garlic
- 3 slices of tempeh
-sauce made of 2 tbsp carrot soup and 2 tbsp humus
-decaf tea and water

So here are the pics for the carrot ginger chick pea soup...
 
Just your basic carrot soup recipe: simmer till soft then add chick peas and ginger and blend!
1.5 lbs of carrots
couple of stalks of celery
an onion
a clove or two of garlic
1/2 sweet potato
1/4 zucchini (bc it was left over from the other day)

These aren't organic and they probably have BPA in them but they have no salt and were available in a pinch!


The chick peas make this soups so thick!  It's amazing.
 
 It was amazing outside today so I had this on the back deck, with my book and hot tea!







And for diner because I'm obsessed with this humus and can't stop eating it with nearly every meal, I found a way to add it to my soup and used it as a sauce for my "power bowl" 



 








Saturday, October 13, 2012

Sweet day 5!

Today I overslept and woke up to a panicked house getting ready for swimming lessons.  So all I had time to do was make a smoothy for my breakfast.  Then the rest of the day I just felt kind of off. I missed my oatmeal, I was starving by 10, and had my leftover curried apple stir fry, but then I felt so tired!!!  so I had a nap, then back up to bring Annaliese to her gymnastics.  I ate a bag of sweet potato chips, 1 once, ha ha... I had to laugh at that!  But they said they were kettle cooked.  What does that mean? I'll have to look it up later. Anyway, decaf coffee in hand I enjoyed my time "watching" ie. reading most of the hour and half.  Then back home to chaos and cleaning!  Thus is my Saturday.. fun stuff isn't it! But you'll notice the theme of today's food was "sweet" because I just felt so much better after having a bit of "allowable" sugar.

Breakfast:
- 1/2cup frozen strawberries
- scoop veg. protein powder
- acidopholus/bifidus powder
- wheat grass powder
-ice
- tbsp raw almond butter
-unsweetened almond milk

Snack:
leftover apple curry (that had tempeh and athletes mix, tomatoes and onion)
water
decaf coffee with some soy
(a bit later- my sweet potato chips)

Lunch:
1/2 cucumber
can of tuna with olive oil
veggie chips
water

Diner:
a nice big serving of sweet potato curry humus
7 or 8 celery stalks
1/3 cucumber
1/4 of a sweet potato made into chips
1/2 a giant apple
2 big mugs of decaf rooibos tea with unsweetened almond milk

Pics!

This sweet potato  humus is amazing!  The secret is to warm up the chick peas before adding them to the food processor. 
- 1 can of washed and drained (no salt added) chick peas
- a smallish or medium sized sweet potato (cooked and soft)
- 2 tbsp tahini
- curry powder to taste (add as little or much as you would like)
- a sprinkle of garlic powder (probably not necessary, but I like it to offset the lack of salt)
- add the water leftover from heating(boiling) your sweet potato


sweet potato chips used to scoop up the dip!

After all that humus I only had room for 1/2 this apple. 
My kids absolutely love this humus!  I was hoping for some leftovers for tomorrow... no such luck!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Day 4... the day I cheated.. or treated myself...

Friday are never easy when you are on a strict diet plan.  I figured if I could just make it till night time and then I would reward myself with a small treat.  I wasn't sure what I was planning yet but I did manage well all day! 

Breakfast
1/2 cup GF oats
1/3 cup strawberries
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp raw almond butter
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with unsweetened almond milk

snack
leftover homemade hummus
orange pepper
cucumbers
sundried tomatoes in olive oil
water
decaf tea with unsweetened almond milk

lunch
2 cup spinach leaves
can of tuna
1 tbsp olive oil
1tsp apple cider vinegar
garden tomato
raw zucchini
water
decaf tea with unsweetened almond milk

snack:
couple handfuls of dried peas
a small handful of dried veggies
protein shake:unsweetened almond milk, handful of strawberries, veg.protein powder, wheat grass powder, 1000mg vitamin C, probiotics (acidopholous) and ice

diner (apple curry stir fry)
athletes mix (about 1 cup)
serving of tempeh (is about 18g of protein)
curry sauce
an onion
a garden tomato (fist size)
an apple diced (actually made this really savory)
water
decaf pumpkin spice tea with almond milk

My reward for making it till today! 
 a grande decaf soy misto with a pump of pumpkin spice!  (Mark bought it for me as a "romantic gesture") I couldn't possibly tell him to bring me home a bunch of asparagus. 

So I'm not really expecting much from the scale tomorrow.  I was happy with what I did read today, so yes partially I'm doing this to lose the last couple of lbs, but I am doing this because I just needed to force a REBOOT!  You know, I was feeling sick and frumpy!  I'm already feeling much better. Headaches are gone, I'm not feeling nearly as sick as I was and no dizzyness or shaky feeling today! However that could be because I added strawberries this morning (extra sugar) and clearly ate more!


Thursday, October 11, 2012

Day 3: surviving...

The third day of any cleans always seems to suck, it's the day that I try to drink more water.  My headache wasn't as bad but I did notice that I got shaky a couple of hours after eating breakfast, so that was my cue to eat asap.  So anyway here are my eats.  No gym today for me!  I am going to bed super duper early because I still want too fend off this cold that is plaguing me.

Breakfast

1/2 cup GF oats
1tbps chia seeds
1/4 cup strawberries
unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp bee pollen
water

scoop vegetarian protein powder
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
ice
unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp wheat grass powder

decaf americano with some soy milk

First lunch

1.5 cups of athletes mix
serving of tempeh
1/4 cup curry sauce
water

Second lunch

mug of roasted red pepper soup
3 tbsp of hemp hearts
water

pre-diner snack

a couple of handfuls of roasted peas (from bulk barn) and a few dehydrated veggie chips

Diner

homemade humus (chick peas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic powder and a bit of basil)
kale leaves
sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
yellow pepper
water

evening tea... I found a decaf pumpkin spice black tea at Bulk barn by Stash.  I'm on my second mug!!!

Well as you know, or not, meh either way.... Tosca Reno does not include humus in her cooler 1 plan, however since I didn't eat any sweet potato today I thought I would get my starch-like carbs and protein from chick peas! 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Second day of cooler1- a la GF sort of vegan style

Day 2 of post thanksgiving detox.  No dizziness, at least, but a faint annoying headache all day.  I managed to get more protein in today. Tomorrow I still need more.  I had a funny teaching day, it is Wednesday but I had my Monday schedule so I didn't start teaching until 1:55 in the afternoon.  So I had a lovely morning.  I had my breakfast, then went to the gym for a 30min CXworks class (I didn't think I would be ready for a double just yet).  I surprised myself because I wasn't as out of shape as I thought I was.  Anyway after that I stopped at the grocery store to pick up my coffee and some produce to get me through the day. Then I met with Mark at one of the early years centres to play with kid #3 and kid #4 (aka, Patrick and Ellie-Lynne).  Then home, lunch, cooking food and off to work!  Here are my eats.

Breakfast:
1/2 GF oats
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp raw almond butter
1 tbps chia seeds
2 tbps apple sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
unsweetened almond milk poured over
water

snack:
field cucumber
decaf americano with a bit of soy milk(I'm trying to cut it out, I only had about an inch today)

Lunch:
zucchini noodles(most of a small zucchini)  - see pic bellow
a cup of homemade pasta sauce
tempeh (about the size of a deck of cards)
water

snack:
1.5 cups of homemade roasted red pepper (rrp) soup - see pic bellow
3 tbps hemp hearts
decaf coffee with unsweetened almond milk

Diner:
a can of tuna with olive oil drizzled over it
a mug of rrp soup
water

rooibos tea with unsweetened almond milk



Sliced zucchini so it has the look of pasta! I kept it raw.

Tempeh cooked in the pasta sauce Mark made for me last month!

Soup:
3 red peppers roasted on BBQ - skin peeled off (or most of it)
1 onion
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
1 small sweet potato
1 tetra pack of no salt added veg broth
a bit of chili pepper to flavour


After attacking it with my hand blender!

 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Post Thanksgiving DETOX!!! Ouch...

Oy!!!!  So game on.  I had my fun, ate my gluten free diner rolls, had perhaps too much apple cider (the alcoholic kind) and red wine.  I indulged in sweet salad dressings, had syrup added to my decaf americano's,  and overall let my "white poison" philosophy slide a bit!  Ok well alot... I haven't actually gained any weight (well nothing significant) about a pound or two. But I feel terrible!!!  I've been sick for a week and a bit now, I haven't workout nearly enough and I feel frumpy! And so let the cleansing begin. 

Day 1:   headaches, shaking, foggy mind, I just felt crappy all day but... I did a 90 minute deep flow hot yoga class and then felt much better!

Breakfast:
1/2 cup GF oats
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp raw almond butter
1/4 cup strawberries (I know not really cooler 1)
with unsweetened almond milk poured over
water

Lunch:
can of tuna with olive oil
a tomato from my garden
1 cup of athletes mix with some tomato/onion curry sauce - see picture below(athletes mix has mostly greens, a bit of red pepper and a bit of white beans) - see picture below
water

Snack:
pear

Diner: (this was eaten in 2 phases - part at 4:30 and the rest at 6:00)
a can of salmon with flax seed oil
2 cups of athlete mix
a giant tomato diced
1/4 cup of the tomato/onion curry sauce
1 cup of mixed string beans 
(the above 4 ingredients were heated with extra water and were like a soup)
water

rooibos tea with unsweetened almond milk



No I don't use it on chicken, but I'm sure it would be good! I buy it at Longo's it's about 5$ for the jar.  But  check out these ingredients and nutrition label.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Sometimes all I want is cookie dough!

And so I make it and eat it..


With these 6 ingredients. 

1 cup soaked dates
1 cup of natural peanut butter
a can of chick peas
a cup of oats (more if you need to thicken it up)
a couple of tbsp of chia seeds (for nutrients and to lower the GI of this treat)
a dash of cinnnamon
and a few drops of water if your food processor can't cope with the above 3 ingredients.

Process... and process... and process....

 And then eat!  Nom nom nom... and of course you can always bake them into cookies if you can part with the dough.

Bake at 350F for aprox 18 minutes or until bottoms are golden and tops are getting crispy.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who enjoys a good batch of cookie dough from time to stressful time.  I can't say I'm exactly stressed but my life is certainly different.  I'm a working mom, my handy fix it husband keeps taking on projects in our house (because now he is the stay at home parent) BUT... the casualties of his "handyness" is a persitant messy house.  I'm also struggling with getting to the gym as much.  When I was home with the kids full time it was easy to run out the door when Mark got home to workout, but now I'm suffering from  severe mommy guilt when I leave the house in the evenings.  And I have never been a morning person, but that is nothing but a big fat excuse and I will have to start working out in the AM before school.  Wish me luck!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Three weeks in summary...

Ok let me see where to start. (In point form)
- I am still vegan and going strong (I did however enjoy some fish a couple of times in the last month though)! Meh.  I'm only vegan to feel good and be healthy, and I feel good and healthy when I eat fish!
- I've created all sorts of fun new things, like chili cheese popcorn and cashew cheese.
-I stopped drinking caffeine before my last race and just haven't drank it since, only decaf and the occasional green tea. Mostly rooibos or herbal.
- We went to Sudbury for a week and I did some extreme open water swimming with my brother Ian (the varsity swimmer), mostly extreme for me because the waves were probably 40-50cm high.
-My knee has been seizing up and causing me a ridiculous amount of pain, so I had to cut back on my running to counter that issue.  More biking and swimming to make up for that.
- This past week I have been in my school getting set up in my new office because I don't have a classroom, which I am very happy about!
- Not so happy to find out that my teaching assignment is literally to split grades the whole week. Get this I am teaching science (in french) to : a 2/3split, a 3/4 split, a 4/5 split and a 5/6 split. Yay me!~
But once I got my head around the copious amounts of science units I need to know (20 in total), at least only 5 at a time :)  ha ha I got kind of excited because I get to teach the fun stuff.  You know the outdoor lessons, the experiments, the field trips, the scientist/dorky stuff!  And because I'm me, I'm starting with the units that I love the most, plants, ecosystems, habits and human body.  I am going to have a blast this term.  I selfishly choose these units because they are by far way up my alley and they will allow me to gain my teaching confidence back.  Geeze it's been almost 5 years since I worked in a school.

- Topic change!  I just made a butternut squash soup (squash, a few stalks of celery, 1 onion, 1 large carrot, a sweet potato and a handful of garden herbs -thyme, savory and sage) and the coup de resistance was that I added some coconut oil to it and some cremed coconut at the end, just a tbsp or so.  And WOW!   sooooo creamy and good!

-Topic change AGAIN! My big race! The culminating event of my entire summer's worth of training....was this Sunday and it wasn't what I was prepared for or anticipated. At all.  The evening before the event they sent out an email telling us that we couldn't swim in the water due to bacteria levels, so they were changing the triathlon to a duathlon.  So that meant I would run 2.5k, bike 20k then run another 5k.  I was really upset when I found this out because I am a strong swimmer and between swimming and my fast biking I would have a good enough advantage to possibly place.  The other thing that I found out was that most super fast runners are terrible swimmers (grrr) so I lost my advantage while the runners gained theirs.  The day was hot (in the 30s) and it was a bit windy (not too bad).  All in all I did ok.  I placced 7th, the bike portion was amazing.  I was flying and feeling really good.  The first run part was awful, I felt like garbage, and the transition from run to bike was really sloppy (since I had never done it before).  And the second run was better than the first, in fact I think I got negative splits (go figure, I gues it takes my body a while to get used to the idea of running).. Anyway, Mark and the kids tried to cheer me but they missed most of it because they didn't have an attention span long enough to stay in one spot.  They saw me off. and that was about it.  They missed the finish because I arrived before the mc was even calling out ppls names... ( I guess that was a good sign).   But I now know that duathlon is not for me,  7th out of 49 I think.  The other thing I figure is if I had done the shorter distance, based on my times from the last tri/and yesterdays times I would have come in either 2nd or 3rd!  So all in all not a bad race day!

So that pretty much sums it up.  My first day of work in 5 years starts tomorrow, Mark is home full time with the kids (the two that aren't in school full time) and I will be getting back into some type of gym routine again! With the addition of swimming, spinning and running at least once a week.  OH that reminds me, my knee is much better since a week ago someone pointed out to me that runner's are in fact supposed to land on the balls of their feet NOT their heals... like I was.  Duh I wonder if that was causing my knee pain.  Well I worked on that and didn't feel a single twinge during my run on Sunday.

This is a picture from the Niagara race.  For this race I got Scott from Rock and Road cycle to put red tape on my handle bars! (they have magic I've been told) Placebo or not, I loved the bike portion of the race!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Appreciation.... Motivation...Inspiration

I finished my race! sigh... I finished it, but it was just the first step on my journey.  I'll get to that later in the post though.  First and foremost I want to say a huge and resounding THANK YOU!!!!  To everyone that supported me and cheered me on, and sent me special little surprises in the mail.  (you know who you are)  I can't beleive how many people are behind me on this goal.  Unbelievable, you know... you don't need to be an Olympic athlete to feel the love and support, I felt it!  Folks I didn't even know were cheering me on at the race, me (not the person behind me) but ME!  How cool is that, strangers cheering me on!  And all of you who sent me support via fb or in person, I used it, it drove me!  I was racing for all of you! 

Tonight I was chatting with a friend about motivation to exercise (she is pregnant and still given'er at the gym - can I hear a "woot woot"), and I think neither one of us actually wanted to come out and say it but we do it to inspire and we use that positive energy for ourselves, to drive us!  Does that make sense? At first when I was working out the idea of motivating others, to motivate myself, I thought it made me sound full of myself, or full of pride... But that's not the case.  I am fueling myself on the positive energy that I put out! And others are also benefiting.  Either way it's a win-win.  I keep going full tilt knowing that people are looking to me as an inspiration, but it's not stressful because I can go full tilt knowing everyone has my back with their love and support.  Sheesh this is confusing, does it make sense to you?

 Here is an example of when I was pregnant how I was driven by everyone's compliments: complete strangers would come up to me and give me sincere props for working out at the gym being massively pregnant, this made me feel good, so I would go back the next time.  (I'm kind of an endorphin junky as well but anyway...)  My close friends would "oohh and aaahh" at my strength and stamina, so I kind of used that as fuel/positive energy to get me through the tough stuff, knowing that I was also setting an example that "if I can do it, so can you!" But it's the feedback that felt really good, because fellow gym-bums would tell me how I inspired them to do more.  Probably some type of positive feedback loop stuff (out of my realm of phych knowledge).  

So back to appreciation, I want to show you a picture of what I keep in my kitchen in my most used cupboard (spices and tea)...  These are little messages of inspiration that friends and family have given me over the last little while.  (Not included are obviously all the emails and msg from family and friends),,, I should print them though!



Now onto the race.  I did amazing (I'm waiting for the pictures from the race photographers) but here are a few silly shots from the transition area.


I didn't wear the purple MIM (Mommy's in Motion) purple shirt while racing. I just had my tri suit on. I opted for the shorter race, partially because I'm a wimp and was too scared to attempt the unknown with a bigger than usual sprint distance (it was like 3/4 of the Olympic distance), and I wanted to test the waters out on a race that I knew I could accomplish physically.  I estimated that I would place something like 7th, based on previous results and my approximate times.  But I did much better than that.  I placed 4th out of a huge age group (women 30-39) 72 people! I placed 31st over all out of like 300.  My swim time was a bit slower than I anticipated (because I didn't know they count the run out of the water to the transition as part of the overall swim time), but my bike time was faster than I had estimated, and the run was in fact a bit faster than I had estimated.  I figured I would do a 6min swim/20min bike/15min run/and I figured about 4 minutes in transitions. So my estimation was 45minutes to do the super sprint triathlon.  If you care here are the official results.

Place: 31/325
Official chip time: 42:39.7
Category: F30-39
Category place: 4/72
Gender place: 9/203
Swim time: 7:45
Bike: 18:52
Run: 14:01
T1 (first transition, swim to bike): 1:13
T2 (second, bike to run): 0:51
























Just for interest sake, I studied the top athletes and my transition times are very much within the range of top 10 (overall), and in fact my bike time would have placed me 13th!  (cool- yay to super fast new bike)!  Anyway I'm sure I've lost some of you to all these stats, but I care because in 3 weeks I will be doubling my distance at the Women's Milton Triathlon.  And I want a shot at some hardware! Or at least a good time with a good story!  I will be training really hard for the next 2 weeks.  Yesterday was my triathlon and today I already went out to train and did a 7k run. (I noticed my right knee is getting sharp pain so I will investigate strengthening my gluts to support my knee).  Tomorrow is my hot yoga in the AM and 2 hour Tri-practise with MIM (Mommy's in Motion/Babe's in Motion) group.

 So please keep sending me your love because sometimes I need it!  Some days I don't want to train, but knowing that I've got all of you sending your positive energy and motivation, it is what inspires me to push out of my "comfort zone" and go full tilt.  I am blessed to have the opportunity to train, I have an amazing husband who takes care of the kids, so when I leave the house with either my bike, running shoes or bathing suit (or all of the above) I work hard knowing that my time is precious! I appreciate so much what everyone has done so far! And I hope in turn I can motivate you, through my journey (mom of 4, returning to work after being home for 5 years with the kids) and my story!

Thank you!!!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Triathlon in T-2 days!

Hear me out now... Fair warning... This is a bit of stream of thought... Well yesterday I got reprimanded by both my husband and our marriage counselor about being to hard on myself and setting unrealistic goals.  She told me I had to change my attitude before my triathlon or it would be a complete flop!   Blah :p What's the point of applying yourself to something this time consuming and not set high goals?

Ok so maybe I looked at the results posted from last year!  So? I just wanted to know what type of competition I'm up against? Nothing wrong with that right?  And so what if I noticed I'm in the top 3 for swim/bike but my run I drop down to 7th or 8th.  Did I mention I hate running and will only do it fast to end it sooner!  (eyup great attitude I know)... I'm kind of annoyed with myself for not being able to run faster.

Yaaaa so perhaps the counselor and Mark have a point!  I should celebrate the fact that I am actually doing a triathlon (please note I am not doing an Olympic distance race this Sunday, only a 1/4 of the real thing).  My next one will be 1/2 the Olympic distance.  Anyway I actually find it really really hard not to be hard on myself? Is that a type A thing?  I also feel that since I've spent so much time away from my family and had to rely on Mark to pick up the extra slack that I want to "show" them that it was worth it.  You know... that their toil wasn't in vain!  I've been struggling with feeling guilty about doing this triathlon... and wanting to do it again next year.  In fact I've got my heart set on looking for sponsors in late fall... Because the costs are so high and I don't want it to burden my family any more.  But again more stress... I want to have a good "story" to sell right? 

"Mom of 4 does her first ever triathlon and takes home hardware!!!!"  How super awesome would that be!  Mom of 4 does her first ever triathlon and places 7th...just doesn't have the same... You know "Omph" to it!  Again I think I'm being hard on myself, but truly I want to rock this so that it's been worth all the effort, I want to rock this so that I can have an awesome story so that I can have some free equipment... I am totally fine being a walking advertisement for a company if it means I didn't have to spend the 60$-100$ on the bike jersey or shorts! 

So here I am 2 days before the race, today I got in the pool and timed some of my splits!  I am happy with the pace that I was swimming and the times I was making.  Tomorrow I have a massage/ART (active release techniques) and I'm bringing my bike for a pre-race tune up! Saturday I plan on just chilling and getting lots of sleep and eating lots of healthy food.  (well actually I've been eating super healthy food all week, plus added an iron supplement and cut out caffeine).  My plan is to have a kick ass strong yerba mate tea a half hour before my race and hopefully enjoy the benefits!  Ok I won't lie to you, it has sucked not having caffeine, for 2 days now I've been dealing with headaches, but I think tomorrow will be better.  Wow that stuff is addictive!  But I don't think I'll give it up, just try to minimize it near races dates!

Ok rant complete!  I just felt like I had to share my stress with everyone!  And I feel better now!

 Thank you!!!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Pina Colada... vega good!

Vega style!
About 1/4 pineapple, 1/2 can coconut milk, vega smoothy pack, and ice.  Blend!

Serve and Enjoy!!!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Vegan Update

In 2 days I will have been vegan for two full weeks.  I think I passed the ultimate test this past week.  Saying no to both bacon and GF non-vegan treats.  Actually I truly don't miss the meat.  I've been eating so many new dishes because I'm being forced out of my comfort zone.  I realized that if I really wanted bacon, I could make it from young coconut.  Or just go to the Naked Sprout, they have a vegan BLT!

 Anyway I wanted to share with you that being vegan in a house of meat eaters isn't that hard.  Last night I made nacho's for 5 of us.  Mine was vegan, Patrick's was dairy free, Luke's didn't have tomatoes, Mark's had no peppers... you get the point right.  Everyone likes their food just a little different from the other.  Sooo this is what it looks like in my kitchen on a typical diner!

Right: ground chicken with garlic and chili powder... Left can of aduki beans, mushrooms, chili powder and garlic

I heated it until the mushrooms wilted and turned dark.

The assembly station. 

In the oven at 350F for 20 minutes. 
So just for the record, I didn't go vegan because I have any animal right's issues.  I've gone vegan to try to clean out my system.  I want my body to run as efficiently as possible and from everything I read meat as a source of protein just isn't what I want.  I am amazed at how much my training has improved over these last few weeks.  In fact I can't even remember the last day that I took off training.  I've done something every single day and doing it well at that.  I biked 52km yesterday and today ran 7km.  Tomorrow I've got a 25k planned and a short run. Tuesday is power yoga and tri-training with the club, Wednesday is swim/bike....you get the picture!

 I'm eating tons of seasonal fruit (I love that I can do that) I am not hungry because I eat often and really well, my body is shedding the extra weight it gained in July, I am able to run further, bike further/faster, swim faster, with less rest needed between, and all while keeping a lower heart rate!  All in all, not to bad.  I've also been reading Brandon Brazier's The Thrive Diet book and learning tons of fun new tips.  Like how yummy nutritional yeast is, but to boost it's already awesome nutritional content, put it in the coffee grinder with raw sesame seeds, place in a shaker and add as a "cheesy" topping!

 Tonight I made air popcorn, melted coconut butter over it, and used my new topping (plus a dash of salt)... wow it was amazing! I also put a bit of chili powder on it to see if I would like them together... Duh! of course they went well together, chili cheese popcorn!  Clean and healthy!