My Macro Meals

              Homemade miso soup

        

                         Miso soup 

    Carrot, avocado, brown rice sushi roll

 

Sweet potato, adzuki and red beans, and broccoli bowl with cashew cheez drizzled

Chickpea flour pancake with red pepper and green onion with cashew cheez and kalamata olives

I did not eat the meals above in one day, but over a few days last week. The rest of the days were filled with green mega smoothies, and vegan tofu and noodle soup, and the occassional pb chocolate chip cookie. 

I am posting this from my phone so I will update the links for the recipes soon. 

Be inspired and try a new recipe this week! 

Macro Meals and January Goals

The macrobiotic diet was first introduced to me when I read Alicia Silvestone's "The Kind Diet" in 2011. It is a lifestyle diet that is rooted in Japanese cuisine. Simple whole food meals that utilize the benefits of fermented foods and sea vegetables to maximize the nutritional profile of grain, tofu/bean, vegetable dishes. Miso soup is a part of most meals, fruit is an accent to dishes, and most important for me is that all the recipes I have come across are really easy to put together. 

For quite some time, I have wanted to move towards eating more sea vegetables. Think: wakame, hijika, nori, kombu seaweeds. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, tempeh, miso paste are also staples in a macro diet. I have been a little distracted in incorporating those foods in my diet again as I have been baking cookies. Eating large quantities of cookies and candies have led to more poor eating habits. Moderation in indulgent eating is something that remains a mystery to me. 

Feeling lethargic is not something that I am used to but when I eat a lot of sugar and white flour containing foods, that is what happens to me. I have felt truely unmotivated to do even the basic of tasks. >>> I have a mountain of laundry that is not going to put itself away. <<<

So this is me creating a end of December  and January goal for myself: 

1. Get back to eating more Macro Meals! 

I need to replenish the dwindling supply of healthy gut bacteria by eating more fermented foods. 

As for eating more sea vegetables, I have a healthy supply of wakame, nori, kombu, and hijika in my cupboard so no need to buy any right now. I just have to USE IT! 

My workouts have been so-so, this past week fairly non existent but the week before I did 4 workouts. It is hard to have the desire to workout after eating 2 dozen cookies in 3 days. I know that once I COMPLETELY removed the sugar and white flour from my diet, my desire to workout will return. For now I will not make any sweeping exercise goals and just focus on eating more whole foods again. 

This is me at around 165lbs. If I was eating healthier around this weight I would not be so concerned; that is not the case. My weight has plateaued here for the past few months because of poor food choices; therefore, I am looking forward to recommitting myself to healthy eating habits again. 

Are there any dietary goals that you are looking forward to accomplishing in the near future? 

Day 30 of Bodyrock.tv Challenge and Losing Motivation to Workout and Eat Healthy

Last week was the end of the the bodyrock.tv challenge.  I fell behind a little bit so I am really on day 24, which is not a big deal as of all the gains I have made in strength and agility since the start of the challenge.  I have re-learned that pushing myself out of my fitness-comfort zone is much more important than I make it.

Two weeks ago, I had a major hissy fit with myself fitness and dietary-wise.  During the last week if October, in terms of diet, I  purposefully ate large quantities of Halloween candy and Earth Balance slathered whole wheat toast, and lots of apples and bananas.  I am not even sure that I made a proper dinner that week. Fortunately I had the maternal instinct to feed my little guys sensible and nutritious food even it I did not for myself.  As for my workouts', and the challenge I did 20 minutes of the 1 hour 15 minute workout on that Monday and did not do another thing until Friday when I took the boys for a 40 minute walk.  I just did not want to put any effort into what I was feeding my body and strengthening my body.  This happens and it is not the end of the world, it just makes for some low energy levels and constipation. I saw this meme on Bodyrock.tv one day and saved it because it is so very true. For example: puffy belly- too much sugar and wheat in your diet.

That next Monday, I added back fruit and greens smoothies and made a homemade red lentil and butternut squash soup that is so dreamy and scrumptious that I will be making again very soon. Around Thursday as if to rebel again I bought ice cream, chocolate cookies, tortilla chips, a bag of frozen French fries, and candy bars. This is me is full food rebellion stage. I KNOW my body needs greens, fruits, legumes, seeds, and filling starches for optimal performance. the problem is I am a little afraid to give up those sweets and treats again. I was not miserable without them, I am miserable with them. This past Sunday my dietary habits began returning back to normalcy and today I am back into full fledge plant -strong vegan meals and snacks. The game plan this Friday is to make a giant soup full of vegetables, a pan of roasted vegetaes, and black bean, quinoa, sweet potato patties. Along with a fruit and vegetable smoothie and a lovely bowl of oatmeal or chia pudding I should've go off the dietary deep end.

A wonderful romaine salad I had with roasted sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, and almond butter Thai dressing. 

Indian chickpea flour and vegetable pancakes with steamed green and onions. This looks messy but was so delicious. 

Those pictures hopefully with remind me of the nourishing and energy giving power whole foods have for me. 

Here's to staying consistent with healthy eating habits and exercise! 

Bodyrock.tv Challenge 1/3 of the way through!

It is Day 10 of the bodyrock.tv challenge and I am still going strong. I am seeing some noticeable difference in my energy levels as I am working out, and all other times. Something else that is noticeable is that fact that I am much stronger than I previously thought and it shows. Really starting to see the muscular definition throughout my body and less cellulite on the back of my hips and bum (three loud huzzah's for that one)!

Running is still a priority for me as I have cut a couple challenge workouts short, knowing that I needed to run later on that day.  I know I could probably do both the runs and the challenge a few times a week, but since the cardio component of the bodyrock.tv HIIT challenge is so predominant I am cautious to not overuse those muscles.  My knees and ankles have always been susceptible to injuries because of overuse.  As I get older, I am highly aware of the damage I did in during my high school athletic days and do not want to worsen those injuries.  This is working so far for me.

Eating nutrient-dense meals are very important for my to maintain energy levels and produce nutritious breast milk for my little guy.  Somedays I feel that my diet is higher in fat than it might be if I was not breastfeeding. Since the fats that I eat are whole food sources like nuts and seeds, I feel that I am truly providing my baby with milk filled with essential fatty acids for healthy brain development.  Dark, leafy greens, beans, and lentils also make up a a fair portion of my daily meals.

My favorite seeds to eat currently are hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and pumpkin seeds.  I am planning on making a hemp seed salad dressing once my almond butter dressing runs out in a few days.  My husband and I get all of our hard to find foods like hemp seeds and chia seeds from Vitacost, which sells those items as well as gluten free items, athletic supplements, protein powders, ect.  Check them out as some of their items are really inexpensive compared to buying it at the store.  For example chia seeds are $8.99-10.99 a pound on Vitacost; whereas at out local WinCo, chia seeds are $13.49  per pound.

That is it for now, eat healthy foods and exercise often even if it is walking around your neighborhood.

Preparing Meals in Advance: Snack and Lunch Edition. Links to the foods that I made this past week

Back when I was commuting to school and gone from my house for 5-7 hours, 5 days a week, preparing my meals in advance always worked in my favor. Now that I am a stay-at-home parent, preparing meals in advance, although a little chaotic on the day(s) of preparation is wonderful for the next 3-6 days when food is just a few minutes away from being done and most important eaten.

This past week, I was heavily inspired by the Angela's OhSheGlows blog and made many of her recipes.  They all turned out so well as usual!

I made the following meals/snacks from the OhSheGlows blog:

PB banana bars

7 vegetable cheez soup

Chia bread

I did not take any picture of the food I made, so definitely click on the links to check out her amazing recipes!!

I also made this meal which were inspired from both Susan V's Fatfreevegan blog and Gina's Choosing Raw blog:

Chickpea salad (like a chicken/tuna salad) which I wrapped in raw collard leaves (this is the tutorial on how to use raw collard leaves as wraps.

Finally I made 3 salads in a jar which I was inspired by Kathy's Health Happy Life vegan food blog. My salads were very simple: orgainc romaine lettuce, purple cabbage shredded, edamama, homemade miso orange tahini dressing, and quinoa.

This week coming up I will make recipes from the blogs: Peas and Thank You and Heathy Happy Life and My Vegan Cookbook.

I hope that this blog post has introduced you to some of my favorite vegan food blogs and will also inspire you make some delicious vegan food!

Day 3 of BodyRockTv Challenge

This is Day 3 of the BodyrockTv 30 day Challenge and I am sore! Not crippling sore, but my muscles have definitely let me know that they have been working HARD these three days.  Well, really four days-I did a workout also on Sunday before the challenge started!

Recently my workout's have occurred in the AM rather than the afternoons like previously.  I am finding that working out within an hour of waking up ensures that my workout is complete and I can run errands, play with my children, clean, make lunch, dinner, snacks without worrying about when I will fit my workout in during the day. Today I was decided to do 1/3 of the workout from the challenge. This was 20 minutes of spider push-ups, squat and press, core work, step ups, clean and press (my favorite exercise currently), a lot of jumping rope, and lunges.  The workout was split into three parts 20 minute circuits and I was only able to complete the first 20 minutes before Rocket woke up from sleeping.  Once Rocket was awake I was more than sufficiently warmed up and pumped up from the HIIT workout to do a 25-30 minute run. I had a feeling that I should get my run in before the day truly began because there was a good chance that I would convince myself that I could put the run off until Thursday. My short run turned into a 55 minute run/walk. My total mileage was 4 miles--which is pretty awesome.  My average mile per hour was 13:45. I included a couple of walking breaks as I realized that once I had run 20 minutes that I wanted to run a long run.  As this run has been the farthest and longest I have run for, I knew that I should not push myself to hard so I walked .2 miles per 1 mile.

To fuel both workouts I juiced half a cucumber, 5 beet greens, 2 celery stalks, 1 apple, 1 beet, 2 carrots. I drank half before my HIIT workout and the other half before my run. Total I drank about 15 ounces. A little sweet so next time I will use half an apple. 

Below is a picture of the weights I am currently using while doing the challenge. I forgot to take a picture of one of my dinning room chairs as I also use that for step ups and tricep dips. I added a picture of Lex above since I sometimes use him as a weight as well

 ;-)

30 Day Challenge and Creating a Mindset for Success

Okay, last post I mentioned that I wanted to set goals for October and I was racking my head on what I wanted to accomplish this month. While I was on Pinterest I was looking through my HIIT (high intensity interval training) board and came across a pin from BodyRockTv that I have been eyeing to do. Once I viewed the video I was like "heck yes I will do this workout". 12 minutes later I was done and the workout was killer. 

After my workout I started looking through their current post and saw that they had a 30 day real time challenge starting October 7th. I read the instructions and thought to myself why not, this sounds like it would be really intense but I can do it! 

This morning after I drank a small glass of freshly pressed carrot, kale, orange, cucumber juice; set the boys up to be distracted (toys, puzzles, and some learning tv) and begun my workout. 43 minutes later I was exhilarated and pushed harder than I have been in awhile. Towards the end of my workout Lex had gotten restless so I picked him up and used him as a weight. He had fun and I continued my workout. He is nearly 25lbs now at 8 months!!!

As the day progressed, my shoulders, glutes, abs, quads began getting sore and I thought maybe I would do the 30 day challenge every other day. Finally it hit me that being pushed each day for 4 weeks WILL only get me STRONGER. Lisa the creator of the BodyRockTv 30 day challenge pointed out that their will be active rest days, yoga days so I am confident that although I will be pushed to my limits somedays, I will not injure myself. 

Likewise I remember that in basic training I was constantly being pushed beyond my limits sometimes and I was fine. The only injury I sustained was spraining my ankle which was because of rucking on uneven terrain. That will not be the case this time as my workouts will be done in my home or the gym. 

Running is still a priority for me. This months goal is to slowly get up to running 5 miles for my long run. Currently I am at 3.25. No need to rush increasing my mileage as the half marathon is not until March. Walking is completely permitted as my time on the road increases.

This week I am looking forward to doing a long walk/jog for an hour. 

Tomorrow will be an intense 50 minute HIIT workout. 

I last ran on Sunday for 25 minutes so Wednesday no matter what the challenge workout is I am running. I can already anticipate the sore body I will have. Sore muscles means stronger body. 

If there are any days that I have to miss because those things happen, I know it will be okay. 

Ready! Set! Success! 

(Adding links and pictures tomorrow)