The Brain is Connected to the Back Bone 03/27/14

Let’s be honest, this injury isn’t my first rodeo. If I inherited anything from my father, I inherited the bull in him. I’m heavy handed, hard on my body and when I decide I want something, I put 700% of myself into that thing – sometimes to a fault – all leaving me with a pretty hefty tolerance for pain. I’ve had two knee surgeries leaving me with two screws in my right knee, one shoulder surgery, a broken ankle, countless strains and sprains and more cuts, burns and bruises than I would ever care to count. However, this injury is different. All of my prior incidents have had an end in sight and I’ve understood the injured mechanism and knew how to work around it. Sure, I still have days where my knee bothers me or I may sleep funny and leave my shoulder sore, but I know that it is temporary and I’ll be back to me shortly. This one is different.

This injury has proven to be so much more than just physical. The first week of March was the absolute worst week I have ever had in my life. Simple movements would leave me shivering and sobbing in pain; I couldn’t walk without crutches and even with them I was still sobbing harder with every step. My mom had to pull up my pants for me in the bathroom because I couldn’t bend down to do it – and I could rarely even use the restroom once I got in there because the pain of sitting upright was so immense that the rest of my body just shut down. I remember lying on the couch thinking that my life was over. I couldn’t even fathom getting back to any form of normalcy considering how terrible the pain was… how much my body wasn’t working – or how much it was working against me.

Things have improved considerably over the past two weeks in regards to my physical condition, but my mind is still struggling. Before hurting my back, my body was so fucking strong. I was doing awesome at work, I could lift more than a lot of guys at my gym and I had a desire to be so much more and so much better than I was. Now all of that – everything that meant SO MUCH to me – seems so far out of reach. I cry because I feel like I’ve lost my identity. Other than Nora, my entire life was work and working out… and now I can’t do either of those things, or even pick up my baby girl. I’ve spent the last three weeks on the couch while lives are happening all around me. I slept upstairs in my bed for the first time last night with Nora and she woke up in the middle of the night screaming and crying because she wanted to sleep with my mom… because she’s slept with her for the last three weeks. I just feel pretty useless right now. My chiropractor warned that it was easy to get depressed with injuries like this because it can be so frustrating and feel so hopeless – and it effects every part of the body. He keeps stressing how important it is to stay positive and hopeful so the negativity doesn’t cause regression with the recovery process… but that is far easier said than done. As I still struggle to walk at times, I have a hard time imagining my life or my body ever being back to normal. I fear that I won’t be able to run again. I fear that I won’t be able to go hiking with Nora. I fear that I will have to change my career. I fear that a simple movement will throw me back into the excruciating pain I experienced just two weeks ago. I have never been one to let the challenges of my body hold me back from doing anything, and I feel like I’m succumbing to the fear of the pain.

Despite all of the negative aspects of this injury, I have discovered some positive to hold onto. Never in my life have I been so appreciative of the simple things. The ability to walk, to drive, to stand, to bend, to run, to jump, to dance. Never again will I take for granted the ability to function without pain. Never again will I waste a day of physical freedom by sitting lazily. It has certainly put things into perspective and I find myself getting annoyed much easier when I hear people complain about silly things or see people lamenting about insignificant things on Facebook. I can’t help but want to say to them, “Yes, but can you walk? Okay, shut the fuck up.”

I know it will get better and I’m on the path to recovery… I’m just waiting for that light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Confined to Recline 03/18/14

Well, here I am… on the couch. The last two weeks of my life have been confined to a reclined position. As many of my followers know, I have been having back issues since an injury in October, 2013: I was doing deadlifts at the gym and in standing up on one of my reps, I felt a very sharp pain in my lower back. I immediately racked the bar, and stepped away, as I knew something wasn’t right. I went over to the dumbbell rack and attempted to do bent over delt flyes, but didn’t last through more than two reps without severe pain. At that point, I gave up. Not knowing what was happening with my back or really what to do to help it, I decided to sit in the sauna for 30 minutes – thinking that would help to loosen things up and I could just stretch it out and be good as new. Boy was I wrong. I got out of the sauna, took a shower and got dressed... and at that point I knew something was really wrong. I limped out of the gym, went to my house and immediately lay on the floor and started sobbing. That day, I ended up going to the chiropractor and spending the rest of the day laying on ice packs and taking copious amounts of ibuprofen, ginger and turmeric. After about two weeks of rest and eventually getting back to my workouts, I ran the Tough Mudder race.

Over the course of the next few months, I experienced similar experiences two more times; once while doing squats and another while doing bent barbell rows. Neither of these occasions was as severe as the first, but still put me out of commission for a bit. Growing very frustrated, and with the advice of my training partner, I eventually decided to give my body a rest. Beginning on a Tuesday, I vowed to take 6 weeks off of lifting and just work to strengthen that which was ailing me – my back (and also my hip – due to my back). That Saturday, I woke up for the first time in a long time with almost no pain at all! I felt awesome! I went to work, worked in the kitchen all day and then worked a party that night. The next morning, I woke up in quite a lot of pain… and pissed off. I went to The Arnold that day so I drove up to Columbus, went to the expo and drove home. The next morning I woke up super stiff and in more pain. I worked for a few hours then went to the chiropractor for an adjustment… then Tuesday happened. I woke up Tuesday morning in excruciating pain, unable to stand up or walk without sobbing and crying. My mom took me to the ER where I was examined by a doctor and had an x-ray. After reviewing the x-rays, the ER doctor then recommended that I go see a spine doctor ASAP as it appeared as if I had significant damage via herniated disc(s) and some other wear-and-tear. I left the hospital with Percocet, an anti-inflammatory and steroids. The next few days were absolutely horrendous – the most intense and severe pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. A trip to and from the bathroom (on crutches) would leave me sobbing and shaking in pain.

I got in to see the doctor that week and had an MRI. Turns out, I have two herniated discs – one of which is “pretty massive,” according to my doctor. I had one steroid injection into my spine and have since been doing decompression therapy with a chiropractor. Unfortunately, I’m not noticing much of a difference. I’m still on crutches, still can’t sleep. I would say that some of the inflammation has gone down as the pain isn’t as severe as it was (I can usually get to the bathroom without tears) – but a lot of that is my figuring out the appropriate Percocet schedule to keep me comfortable.

So what does this mean for my life? Honestly, I’m not sure. The ER doctor suggested that I would have to give up heavy weightlifting forever. That hurt to hear. I know that this is going to be something I will have to be mindful of for the rest of my life – but I do hope to get back into my training at some point.

My goal for right now is to get the problem resolved and regain the strength in my back. Having a young and strong body going into the injury should work to my benefit in regards to recovery… I’m just ready to get to recovering already!

 

So what does it feel like? I have a dull aching in my lower back with a pinpoint pain at the spot of the herniation… however, the real pain is in my right leg. I have constant pain radiating all through my leg. Debilitating pain. It goes from my hip all the way down the front of my leg to my ankle, and sometimes the top of my foot. The constant pain feels like a strong ache, and then I have waves of shooting/burning pains that are typically focused in my shin and ankle. The last couple of days I’ve gotten a new one where there’s a huge amount of pain focused directly around my ankle and it seriously just feels like my ankle is broken. But again, this all comes in waves… so the intense pains will last for 5-10 minutes and then it goes back to the regular ache. One thing I can say for sure – I have had multiple muscle issues… torn meniscus, stretched shoulder capsule, strains and sprains etc as well as broken bones… but NOTHING compares to the pain of a damaged nerve. This shit is serious.

 

So how can you keep your back safe? There are a few things I’ve picked up over the last few months that I will most certainly be continuing to practice for the rest of my life:

1. Stretch! It is so important to be flexible. If you don’t maintain flexibility in your muscles and spine, you become far more susceptible to injury! A stiff body is more easily damaged. So do some yoga or at the very least, make sure that you are working in the time to each workout for a warm-up and a pre and post workout stretch!

2. Be Mindful that your back is there! After my injury, I started paying much closer attention to my back and spine and how I was treating it... and I noticed that I was really just ignoring it. Pay attention to your posture, whether you’re sitting or standing, moving or still. Always keep your tail bone tucked under and your core engaged, putting your spine in a neutral position and creating a trunk of strength to support any movement you attempt. Always squat, rather than bend at the waist and when you’re standing up, push through your heels to engage your hamstrings/butt more than your lower back. Practice by standing still and tucking your hips under… feel the difference in your spine! It takes practice and you’ll have to think about it but it is so worth it!

3. Strengthen your core! The best support system for your back is your core muscles! If your core is weak, your back will have to compensate and can easily be damaged. Remember to work all parts of your core doing exercises targeting upper and lower abdominals as well as your obliques.

 

Well, it’s about lunch time here in couch land, so I’m going to wrap this up. Thanks for reading and continuing to support me. As I lay here with all of this extra time on my hands, feel free to ask any questions or suggest any blog topics about which you would like to read!

 

Keep it happy and healthy, folks! Until next time…

Update :) 6/25/13

Oh heeey! I know it's been a long time since my last post but I'll tell ya, it's hard out here for a pimp! Not really, I'm just busy :) As I mentioned in my previous post, I started a new job at a fantastic catering company and working there on top of school plus spending the time that I can with Nora and everything else in life has me pretty well occupied! I just happen to have a spare 40 minutes or so, so I thought I'd throw an update together!

I've gotten myself into a really great routine with my workouts! I was going strong for a solid month without missing a workout and even getting in a few 2-a-days when time permitted but, alas, the week of my birthday I slacked a bit and missed quite a lot. I was disappointed with myself for that but it also gave me an opportunity to take a step back, look at my goals and what I was doing and create a new workout plan. So I did! My new schedule is as follows:
Monday: Biceps/Triceps/Shoulders
Tuesday: Quads/Glutes
Wednesday: Chest/Shoulders
Thursday: Back
Friday: Hamstrings/Calves

I had my Monday workout yesterday (obviously) and did today's workout and dammit I feel AWESOME! I pushed really hard and I'm really proud of myself. I love waking up in the morning and being sore, knowing that that soreness is progress. I'm still struggling a bit with cardio, but I know I am just going to have to force myself into it. I just love lifting so much! But I'll never get this layer of fat off of my beautifully developing muscles if I don't do it, so I'm going to get back into a solid cardio routine. At least it's nice outside so I can go run! As I'm sure you've all seen, I've gotten into the habit of posting all of my workouts on Facebook and Instagram - not just for me to 'show off' but to use as a source of accountability for myself and hopefully motivation for someone else. :)
Nutrition has also continued to be a point of difficulty. The summer months always present so much temptation with all of the cookouts and delicious cocktails and I would be lying if I said I haven't given in to the temptations around me a few times. I am an avid believer of enjoying your life as you go on your journey to health/fitness... but I may be taking advantage of that belief a bit too much :/ which is also on my list of things to work on. My biggest issue right now is my schedule... Being in the culinary industry, we don't get standard breaks while working or whatever and I spend the majority of my time in a kitchen.. so I end up just snacking on whatever I'm cooking (leftovers, etc) when I'm at work, and it's not always the best option. I'm working on something to try to make the best of the situation but it's still a struggle at this point. I think it's mostly in my brain... I just need to lock it up.

Here's a current photo:

Anywho, it's about time for me to run to class! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.. I don't have any specific recipes on hand to share BUT if anyone has any recipe requests or questions about anything, feel free to email me at thelosingpath@hotmail.com or via Facebook at Ali's Losing Path!

Thanks for stopping by! Be happy and healthy, my friends! :)

A Faster Way 4/29/13

Hey there, hi there, ho there! Happy Monday, ya’ll. People get so upset when Monday comes but, for the most part, I love it! The start of a new week presents an opportunity to start a new routine, a new challenge, a new anything! I love it. J And, what do you know? I have some new things starting this week! I start a new (awesome!) job with a great catering company, a new fasting plan (I’ll go into further detail in a minute) and I’m preparing for a new semester at school (starting next week)! My body feels great, my brain (though slightly tired) feels great – and it feels great.

Let’s talk fasting, shall we? Intermittent Fasting (IF), to be specific. Basically, the idea behind IF is that for a period of time, rather than feeding your body energy through food, you force your body to utilize the energy that it is storing, thus burning glycogen, fat etc. The idea is that it will help you slim down and/or maintain leanness. A friend of mine does a 24 hour fast once every two weeks, so I gave it a shot. I did my first fast this past Wednesday and, well, I lived. Apparently I was pretty mean towards the end of the day (I have a hard time remembering?) and I know I was miserable. However, I woke up the next morning, ate ½ of a banana and then went and had a great workout! My body felt great, my brain felt great and I was in a fantastic mood! Furthermore, even after only one round of fasting, I looked at food differently… almost more as a privilege than anything else, thus making me be more conscious of and respect what I was putting into my body even more than normal. Since the first round, I’ve done more reading on the subject. I’ve seen various suggestions and timing plans that people have used and I have decided to try a different approach. For the time being, I will be fasting for 16 hours twice per week and 24 hours once every two weeks. So – on Sunday and Thursday, I will stop eating at 4pm and not start again until 8am. Then, once every two weeks I will go a full 24 hours without food. Within this time frame I drink a detox water (see below) and additional plain water. Some people call me crazy, (well, a lot of people call me crazy) but for some reason I enjoy the restriction and the challenge to my mind and my body. I’m also hoping that by training my brain to see the fasting as a benefit, it will help to curb my tendency to over eat and to actually STOP eating when I know that I need to. Only time will tell. J

Detox Water

6 lemons, sliced

½ cucumber, sliced

Handful of mint leaves

1 gallon of water

In a pitcher, combine all of these things and put in the fridge overnight. Drink this throughout the day to help clean out your body during the fast, in addition to regular water… and don’t choke on the mint leaves J

Seeing as how today is Monday, that means yesterday was Meal Prep Sunday! I took about three hours (I was taking my time) and prepped my meals for this week. Here’s the menu:

Breakfast:

½ c cooked quinoa w/ 1tbs raisins and pinch cinnamon. Microwave for 1-2 minutes then add 1tbs of fresh berries.

1 sprouted grain tortilla, 1 banana and 1-2 tbs PB2. Spread the PB2, lay down the banana and wrap. Then eat.

Lunch/Dinner:

Quinoa and Grilled Veg

½ c cooked Quinoa, 2 portabello mushroom caps (medium, ribs, stem and skin removed) and broccoli grilled with onion and blackberries. Seriously. Delish.

Mexi Salad

Handful of Mixed Spring Greens, ½ c black beans, 1/2 – 3/4c grilled tomato/onion/mushroom/bell pepper/poblano pepper with 2tbs pico de gallo

Tempeh and Chickpeas

1 c sautéed tempeh and chickpeas with ½ c tomato and cucumber salad and 2tbs homemade hummus

Snacks:

Snap Peas w/ hummus

Cucumber Sticks w/ Hummus

Sliced apple (skinless) with almond butter

Oh it’s gonna be a yummy week!

I’ve noticed my body starting to change again and I am PUMPED! I feel like it’s getting back to progressing toward a more firm and attractive shell, and that makes me feel great. I may or may not have been checking out my butt in the reflection of a window as I was walking down a hallway at school today and dammit if it didn’t look good! I’ve been lifting a lot but I’m trying to add more cardio back into my life. I know I need to cardio, I would just rather lift.. like all the time. So I’m trying to focus more on the HIIT cardio that I’ve mentioned previously. Today, I did the stair mill: 1 minute at level 15 and 2 minutes at level 3, repeating for 15 minutes. I’m not going to lie, I almost threw up. BUT I loved the burn and I’ll be doing it 2-3 times per week so I can get better and decrease the amount of down time J

Anyway, I’m going to keep on keepin on with my goals and my mission of developing the best me I can be! Thanks again for either continuing to follow me or making the decision to read for the first time, it’s certainly appreciated!!

Keep it fresh, keep it healthy, keep it clean. J

Until next time, folks!

 

Getting Summer Ready! 4/25/13

So, a few weeks ago, the beautiful miss Akilah posed a very good question: what do we need to do to get our bodies right for the summer?

While I’m a firm believer that there is no healthy or permanent ‘quick fix’ for any physical aesthetic issues we may have and also that one should maintain a healthy body year round, I know that this is a question that comes to the majority of women this time of year.  

First and foremost, I’d like to reiterate what I’ve already said about nutrition – it is single-handedly the most important part! You can go to the gym and sweat your ass off for two hours a day but if you come home and eat like crap, your body will still look like crap. Here are a few easy changes to make:

Sodium: Watch out for it! Sodium (salt) will make you retain water and look/feel bloated. You’ll find a load of this stuff in any pre-packaged or processed foods. This includes soups, instant pasta dishes, frozen meals, pre-mixed spices (aside from those made without salt), sodas etc. I don’t have to mention chips and stuff, right? Just don’t do it. Dining out can also be a big issue. There are tons of hidden calories and sodium in restaurant food… just think of where the food is coming from when the restaurant prepares it – are they using fresh ingredients or are they taking things from a can/bag/box and mixing them together? My rule of thumb for dining out? Don’t. While I love enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant just as much as the next foodie, it’s much easier to control what goes into your body when you are preparing the food.

Carbs: Oh, the dreaded carbs. While carbohydrates are absolutely essential for a healthy life – be mindful of how much you’re eating and where they’re coming from! Simple carbs like white rice, white flour, white potatoes (are you seeing a trend here? [hint – white]) basically turn to sugar when they process in the body and, when not burned, sugar turns to fat. Yuck, right? SO when you’re eating your carbs make sure that they are complex carbs and as whole as possible! I love to use quinoa (a complete protein as well as complex carb), brown or black rice on the occasion (black rice is a super food and is delicious!), and beans (I prefer black, again a great protein as well). Aside from the issue of simple carbs eventually turning to fat in the body, they will also make you bloat and retain water if eating too much. I like to keep my carbs at about ¼ of my total food intake. This is lower than the official suggestion of 60%, but with my goals, 25% or less works for me.

Fats: Okay, let’s get something straight – fat is not all bad. There are good fats and there are bad fats, we obviously want to stick with the good ones. Good fats can be found in extra virgin olive oil (make sure it’s extra virgin and of good quality!!), nuts (almonds, walnuts etc – be cautious of cashews, they’re like the French fries of nuts), good quality fish (if you eat it) like salmon, avocado etc. Stay away from anything that is ‘Fat-Free’ when shopping for foods. When they take out the fats, they supplement with extra sugar (in most cases) and you certainly don’t want that. Go for ‘Low-Fat’ instead although, honestly, I haven’t bought anything that needed to be ‘low-fat’ in QUITE a while. I’ll speak more on this in a minute.

Sugar: Stay the hell away. White sugar is the devil. It turns to fat and has been proven to cause cancer. Need I say more? While some foods (most fruits, for example) have natural sugars, you want to avoid added sugars. If an ingredient list reads any of the following: sugar, sucrose, corn syrup, glucose etc – don’t buy it. Especially if it’s one of the first things listed. Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that food packaging lists ingredients in order of proportion. So if sugar is the first thing listed, that means that that food item is mostly sugar. And you don’t want it. Also try to avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible! That’s just like throwing a bunch of chemicals down your throat. If I absolutely need a sweetener for something, I go for raw agave nectar or brown rice syrup or something along those lines. Again, I avoid it like the plague but if I’m going to use it, it’s going to be from a whole, natural source.

Water: Drink the hell out of it! Seriously. Just don’t stop drinking it.

In general: I always always always recommend that you keep with a natural, whole diet. Eat as many fresh (organic, if possible) veggies and fruits as possible! Fill up on these naturally low-fat and low-sugar foods, then get your energy from whole and healthy carbs and proteins like quinoa, black rice, beans, or fish, lean poultry and egg whites if you eat it. When I said before that I haven’t had to buy anything ‘low-fat’ in a long time it’s this simple: the majority of the food that I purchase doesn’t have a nutrition label. If you were to see my grocery cart, you would see that it is 85% fresh produce. Aside from that, you’ll find beans, quinoa, sprouted grain tortillas, nuts, etc. Fresh, whole, healthy. J

OKAY – I’ll get off of my nutritional soapbox now and move on to fitness! There’s a common misconception that if you just go run for an hour, you’ll lose weight. Studies have proven that shorter bursts of higher-intensity cardio sessions will burn fat much faster than longer, lower-intensity sessions of cardio. This is called High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT. I absolutely LOVE this kind of training. Is it hard? Yes. But it works. Not to mention the fact that your cardio sessions are much shorter, and who doesn’t love that? I’m certainly not saying to NOT go take a long walk or a jog  or bike ride or whatever your pleasure may be – I’m saying to add-in some HIIT to ramp-up the fat-burning. A good addition to a routine is a Tabata. Tabatas are only 4 minutes in length – 20 seconds at max intensity, 10 seconds rest for a total of 4 minutes. Who doesn’t have an extra 4 minutes? Take caution though, it may sound easy enough but it is difficult and I recommend that you do some research before trying. J

In addition to cardio, you’re going to want to do some sculpting. There’s no reason that you have to go to the gym for this, you have your own weights between your face and your feet! Bodyweight resistance can be just as effective when your goal is to tone what you have. Here’s a sample circuit:

10 pushups

20 crunches

30 second plank

30 second wall sit

10 tricep dips

20 squats

10 lunges each leg

Repeat 3x

This shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes or so and can easily be done anywhere!

 

If you know that you have trouble areas that you want to focus on for the summer, then go for it. Worried about your arms? Start doing pushups, tricep dips and planks. Legs? Squat and lunge it out, girl. Abs? Planks, crunches, high-knees, leg raises etc. (all of this in addition to cardio – cardio burns the fat off so the toned muscles can be seen J)

 

I know this is a lot of information but what it all boils down to:

Eat healthy

Drink Water

Move your body

 

Really, it’s that simple. Any questions? Just ask. J

 

It Feels Good to Feel Good! 4/2/13

Hello there! Man, today was a good day. I stuck to my nutrition yesterday and woke up and had a great workout (see below) and another great day with my nutrition!

Very exciting to report the following news: When I weighed in over the past week, I’ve been averaging around 240 – and even hit 244 during one weigh-in. After only 48ish hours of well-planned and disciplined nutrition, I weighed-in this morning (pre workout) at 234.6!! Oh HI 5ish pound loss! I’ll take that! I was beyond thrilled to see that number and actually stepped off and back on the scale to make sure that it was correct. J This just goes to show, AGAIN, how incredibly important nutrition is!! I have been preaching that for quite some time and it feels so good to finally be ‘practicing what I’m preaching’ again!

Here is my workout this morning:

Bent Over Row (barbell) 2x20x50lbs & 2x15x60lbs

Dumbbell Delt Flye 4x20x15lbs

Dead Lift 4x10x115lbs

Straight Bar Cable Pull Down 4x20x35lbs

Single-arm Cable Lateral Raise 4x10x10lbs

Delt/Lat Hammer Pulldown 4x15x55lbs

Treadmill: Run/Walk total of about 16 minutes… I got a bad cramp and had to stop L

Abs:

Dumbbell Side Bends 2x20x40lbs

Decline Bench Cross-punch 2x20x5lbs

 

Overall I felt great after my workout! I even took some flex pictures when I got home J See…

 

And on the menu today:

1 scoop protein w/ water immediately following workout

Breakfast:

2 scoops protein w/ 8oz coffee & 8oz water

1c cooked oatmeal w/ cinnamon and 1tbs raisins

Lunch:

Black bean burger patty w/ scratch-made pico de gallo, roasted asparagus and quinoa with hot sauce and chopped greens (spinach and various spring lettuces)

Snack:

½ banana w/ almond butter

Snack:

4oz roasted veg w/ 1tbs hummus and hot sauce

Dinner:

Roasted cauliflower steak w/ smokey tomato sauce, roasted asparagus and quinoa mixed with chopped greens and salsa

 

The whole day was quite nutritious and very delicious!! I have found (especially during downtime at work) that I am still snacky. Where I would normally grab shitty food (at work… pub chips, etc) I am instead taking a slice of cucumber and pouring some salsa on top. It’s tasty and basically free (nutritionally)! I am hoping that over the next week of being on my nutrition plan that my stomach will shrink down a bit so I don’t feel hungry all the time. I’m trying to also drink as much water as possible so that I feel fuller and don’t want the food. It’s not that I’m starving myself or anything, I just know that I feel mentally hungry more so than physically hunger far too often… and I’m trying not to feed that mental hunger. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I have a food addiction, and discovered that the best way for me to handle it is through restriction. I don’t know how to ‘just have a taste’ or have ‘only one’ of anything, to be honest. So, if I don’t think I should be eating it, I have to cut it out of my diet completely. And so I have. J Sugar is gone, fried foods are gone, breads and pastas are gone. Only nutritious and lean whole foods shall be passing my lips. Actually, I've taken on a 30 day sobriety challenge, as well! And I tell ya what, I’m loving it!

 

Let’s talk meal prep! Total time to get everything together was about 3 hours or so, which I didn’t think was bad considering I was cooking meals for an entire week. I didn’t do the different sauces as I indicated in my last post. I made the first Smoky Tomato Sauce and I ended up making enough for everything that I needed so I didn’t see a point in making another. Here’s a breakdown:

Item 1:

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

I took one large head of cauliflower, removed the leaves and sliced it through the stem into approx 1” steaks. I then poured enough low-sodium vegetable stock in the bottom of a baking dish to coat the bottom (with a little extra), placed the cauli steaks in the broth and sprinkled minced garlic over top. I covered the dish with foil and roasted at 375-400 for about 45 minutes, until the stock was dry. (I ate this dish tonight and the cauliflower was GREAT!) There will be excess cauliflower after getting the steaks (I got 3 steaks out of my head) and you can use the excess for roasted veggies!

 

Item 2:

Roasted Veggies

In addition to the cauliflower (broken down/chopped to appropriate-size pieces), I chopped red bell pepper, red onion and zucchini. As with the cauliflower, I poured low-sodium veg stock in a baking dish and poured the veggies in the stock (a bit more than cauliflower). I then seasoned the veg with cumin, minced garlic and smoked paprika, tossed it all together to coat, covered with foil and roasted alongside the cauliflower steaks, stirring occasionally.

 

Item 3:

Roasted Endive

I took four Belgian Endive heads, quartered them and then roasted them on the same baking sheet as my asparagus, tossed in the excess oil left from the asparagus. Roasted at 400 for about 10 minutes, turned and roasted for another 5-10 (tender-crisp).

 

Item 4:

Quinoa. SO simple! One part quinoa to two parts water, add in a cold pan together and bring to boil Once boiling, reduce to slow simmer and cover with lid. Simmer until liquid is absorbed, fluff with a fork and it’s ready!

 

Sauce:

Smoky Tomato Sauce

1can Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1tsp Agave nectar

1tbs Garlic, minced

1tbs Smoked Paprika

1tbs EVOO

½ small red onion, diced

Squeeze lemon juice

Blend everything together in blender, strain into saucepan and simmer over low/medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Taste to adjust seasonings.

 

For the asparagus, I roasted as indicated in my previous post. (EVOO, salt and pepper, 400 degrees, 20 minutes)

 

And that’s it! Nothing was overly complicated or time-consuming… but it’s all delicious! I portioned ½ cup quinoa with every dish as well as the accompanying vegetables/sauce.  Here’s my finished result:

 

 

Great, right?! I love it and can't wait to do it all again on Sunday!!

Alright kids, my bed time has come and gone and I am sreeeeeepy! Good night!! Here's to health and happiness. :)

 

Whirlwind Workout

Hello world!  Happy Thursday!  It's almost Friday, which means it's almost Saturday!  I love the weekends, especially when I have NOTHING planned!  (that rarely ever happens)
I woke up bright and early at 4:30am and made it to the gym by 5:06am.  Getting there took some talking into..  I was up a few times with Nora last night and I was just drained when I woke up.  I kept trying to make excuses for not going from the moment I woke up.. I went to the bathroom and I said "if Branden didn't get the laundry last night, I'm not going".. but Branden did get the laundry and it was folded neatly on my couch.  Then I said "if I can't find his car keys, I'm not going".. but they were sitting in plain sight.  So then I said to myself "get your ass to the gym."  So I got my ass to the gym.  I figured any workout is better than none!  Unfortunately, my lack of energy effected my 'Cardio Killa' motivation, so I did more weight training today.  I'm not necessarily saying that it's a bad thing, considering I've really neglected it so far this week.  I was a little all over the place but my workout went as follows:

TIME	EXERCISE	REPS	LBS	SETS
2 MIN	TREADMILL	WALK
3MIN	TREADMILL	JOG
	DUMBBELL HIGH PULLS	15	10	3
	TRICEP EXTENSIONS	7.5	15	3
	TRICEP DIPS	10	BODY	3
	ONE LEG BICYCLES	15 EA SIDE	N/A	3
	6 INCH KILLERS	10	N/A	2
	TWISTING BICEP CURLS	15	10	2
	CROSS BODY BICEP CURLS	15	10	2
10MIN	ELLIPTICAL	MEDIUM
2MIN	TREADMILL	WALK
3MIN	TREADMILL	JOG

I'm super proud of myself for doing 2 sets of the treadmill this morning!  Even if it's only 3min sets of jogging, I'm doing it!  I decided I'm going to jog for 3min per day for the next week or so and then steadily increase it by 1 minute every week or every other week, depending on how my endurance builds. 

Dinner last night was NOT the most healthy.  We have a freezer full of meat at my house and Branden said that he wanted me to cook through what we had, rather than buying new/different proteins every week - which is what I was doing.  His mother gave us 2 bags of chicken leg quarters (3 in each bag) so I made one of the bags last night.  I baked it with a little S&P and Granulated Garlic for 1 hour, then put a touch of BBQ sauce on top of each and baked for an additional 15 minutes.  I also served roasted eggplant (recipe below) and brown rice w/ garlic and lemon juice. I really do not advocate bone-in, skin-on chicken as the fat content is MUCH higher than boneless/skinless.. but I was just following orders :)  Of course, we both pulled off the skin and cut around the fat on our chicken.
Roasted Eggplant Recipe: (serves 2-3)
1 Eggplant, peeled and sliced into 1/2" rounds
Fat Free Feta Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Non-Stick Spray
Minced Garlic

Pre-heat oven to 375
-Line cookie sheet with foil and spray generously with non-stick spray
-Spray each side of eggplant slices with non-stick spray and season with S&P
-Roast for 15 minutes
-Remove from oven, flip eggplant to opposite side and sprinkle garlic and feta
-Roast for additional 15 minutes

It was pretty yummy!  Anything with Feta cheese gets my approval :)  The original recipe did not include the garlic but I know adding it will make it much better, as I found it a bit bland.

Food Today:
Breakfast
Choc Protein shake w/ Skim Milk
1egg white with a little skim mozzarella cheese

Snack:
Tuna w/ 1tbs Miracle Whip, 1tsp Mustard and diced Pickles

Lunch:
Chick Pea salad over baby spinach (LAST day of this!  I finally ran out lol)

Snack:
Cytomax
12 raw organic almonds

Dinner:
Taco Salad

I'm cooking a big healthy taco salad at mom's tonight!  I'm excited :)  More details about it tomorrow!

Well I think that's all I have for now!  30 days until my birthday! Whoop whoop!

Adios!