Tag: Running

Eating vs. Exercise

I’m off the next two weeks and already realize on day two that if I had more time, I’d likely be in better health.  This morning, I got up and went to my usual 5:00 AM class at the gym.  I figured it would be better to do this run based workout session during vampire hours than in the hot sun.  I was the last to finish the six rounds, which consisted of running, jumprope and hang power cleans, but I did them all.  I’ve been working hard at the gym trying to get myself on track again, yet each morning when I step on the scale the numbers are within the same range.  Thankfully, I use the scale daily to ensure I’m not creeping up; but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed I’m not trending down rapidly for all the work I’m doing.

I’ve written and reflected on this before, but it’s definitely time to go there again.  While I am seeing some gains in my running pace and measurements, I am not seeing huge gains on the scale.  If I am honest with myself, I need to look to my nutrition because I know that you can’t out exercise a bad diet.  In fact, research shows that about 70% of weight loss actually comes from your dietary choices and only 30% from exercise.  I actually believe that for me exercise matters more than 30%, but there is no denying the impact eating clean has on my weight.  Here is a video that demonstrates this 70/30 theory, but I definitely don’t agree with his statement that “cardio is a joke”.   Cardio to me is an essential component in a balanced workout routine.   – Eating vs Exercise

My food choices really haven’t been too bad, so it’s not totally that, but it is summer and we have been on vacation so there definitely are extra calories being taken in through my beverage choices.  Sorry, but who doesn’t love a nice cold glass of sangria, beer or vodka on a nice hot day.   I’ve also had a hard time maintaining a schedule since we got back from the beach and have hardly been cooking.  I’m not saying we are eating out every day, I wish that were the case, but my intake hasn’t been the most balanced and I’ve not said no to fresh ice cream when offered.

I know what to do and funny, now that I’m off already have the motivation to cook – maybe I need to retire to get healthy.   I love to cook, I just lack motivation when I’m at work all day and I’m tired of spending my entire Sunday in the house meal prepping.  There has to be a better way.  I’ve been researching meal planning options for meals that take 30 minutes or less to cook.  I found many on the Paleo Grubs site and planned my week with easy, healthy meals –  Keep it simple silly is my new mantra.

Today after my workout, I knew I needed a nice healthy breakfast so I came home and cooked a recipe I love.  It’s super easy and super delicious and really hit the spot.  Here’s the link to this delicious breakfast, which I would never have time to make on a work day.  It could be a wonderful weekend treat after a tough workout for you though, so I hope you give it a try.

Sweet Potato Hash & Eggs

I generally follow the recipe as written, but I used white, sweet potatoes just because if it’s orange I think it tastes different.  I know it doesn’t, but since they were available I used the white ones.  Carmelizing the onions is a MUST as it truly enhances the flavor so much and I added a bit of red pepper to the process.  I used hot turkey sausage and boy did they add a nice kick to this mix.  I definitely did not eat all that food, I shared with my husband, the recipe is for two (2).

I’ve written on this topic before as my life seems to keep cycling through the same mess.  If you have time, please read – You Can’t Out Exercise a Bad Diet

I’d love to hear how it’s going for you this summer.  Drop me a line below and please, if you have any quick, easy meals, include a recipe.

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Mindset Moves

Long term readers of my blog know that I’ve worked hard to have a positive mindset about myself and my abilities to reclaim my health.  I’ve read and learned a lot and really strive to live mindfully, despite serious injuries and setbacks along the way.  I’ve rebuilt my base more than I care to think about, yet here I am rebuilding it once again.  It’s just the cycle of my life, which flows in ebbs and tides and I’ve learned to ride the waves.

Along this journey, I’ve shared many of my mindset struggles – negative self talk, wallowing in pity following injury, why me mentality, and the list goes on and on.  It’s once again time to pull myself up by my bootstraps and get focused on what I am trying to accomplish.  It has been a life goal to complete the NYC Marathon and I am once again working towards this goal.  I am way behind where I was this time last year in my training, but my mindset is in a good space.  I am most definitely NOT pushing myself to do more than my body is ready for and will NOT suffer another injury doing so.  I will admit to thinking about how I should be running longer by now, but won’t allow myself to go there.  I know that my body is NOT ready for the work and if I push beyond my ability right now I will get injured again.  I also know that my goal is to finish the marathon, no matter how long it takes!

I’ve dialed in my nutrition and really taken the time to learn about the role nutrition plays in reclaiming my health.  I’ve taken an online course to learn about different types of eating (tracking macros, KETO, plant based) to see which best meets my body’s current needs and my goals.   I highly recommend going through this online course at least one time to experiment and track your body’s responses.  I learned a lot about myself in the process and not only related to diet.  Here is the link to this community for anyone interested in learning more – One 3 One  Now that I’ve cycled through this course twice, I am moving on to my next steps.  I signed up for a cooking course to learn how to cook more plant based dishes.  As you know, I love to cook but have been a self proclaimed vegetable hater for far too long.  I hope to learn more  about cooking plant based meals to expand my menu planning.  Here is the link to this online platform – Rouxbe Online Platform   You will find many options there for cooking courses that may appeal more to you.  I signed up for the Rouxbe Membership which will allow me to work through these courses at my own pace.

Working at my own pace is where I’d like to end today.  As an educator, I know that children come to us at all different stages of development.  I know that there are modifications available to meet the needs of each of them.  I also know that sometimes people have implicit bias that shape how they plan and react to certain individuals.  Sometimes, as educators, we offer modifications before we allow students to try the unmodified task.  Sometimes we predetermine and decide that the student needs the modification.  What that does, in my humble opinion, is send the message that we don’t believe in their ability to complete the task as is.  What that does is take away the opportunity for the student to engage in the given task with feedback and modification AS NEEDED along the way.  Truly, it’s the same thing when we engage in exercise.  As a middle aged woman, I know that I am not seen as someone who can do most athletic challenges and I likely can’t at this point in time.  But, there is nothing more disheartening than someone else predetermining that you can’t, before you even try.  I’d like to publicly thank my CrossFit Freshkills coaches, for believing in me and not making me ever feel like I can’t.  Today I’d like to thank Coach Libby Elias, a fellow educator, for her belief that I could indeed complete the four rounds required without a modification.  Her belief was inspirational as I worked through the tough workout.  So, in the spirit of mindset moves, I’d like to ask that we all adopt the mindset of “maybe they can” and not rush to provide a modification before allowing them to try.  Perhaps our students, including middle aged women like me, might just surprise you.  What we say and do matter so much and can have lasting implications on other people’s mindsets, so let’s try to be more mindful of that.

Here’s the link to a few posts I’ve written on this topic:

Mindset Matters

There’s Always Tomorrow

Want to Know a Truth…

On the Road Again

Always happy to connect with readers, so feel free to drop me a line in the comments below.

 

Try Something New

If you want a different result, try something new.  What have you got to lose?  These are the thoughts that were swimming around in my head as I began this marathon training cycle yet again.  This is my third attempt at making it to the starting line of the NYC Marathon.  Last year, I made it all the way up to two weeks before the race when I fell at work and broke 3 toes.  It didn’t really matter though, as I also was diagnosed with a second femoral stress fracture ending my hopes of running.  The toes were literally the final straw that made me defer my race to November 2018.ef56444d-d07e-4014-b44b-08dabcb5fdfc.png

As I begin training again, I am cautiously optimistic that this time will be the time I make it to the starting line.  I have learned from my mistakes and am trying to get my training plan right.  I’m working hard to improve my functional strength through more cross training.  I’ve returned to yoga class and can already feel a difference in my legs when I run.

My first order of business must be to get this extra weight I’m carrying off.  I have been taking nutritional courses and learning about how to best fuel my body for running.  I learned so much about the foods that support and don’t support my goals.  As I experimented with different types of eating, I opened myself up to trying new foods that I usually avoid and have come to find I actually enjoy them.  I decided to apply this open mindedness to my exercise selection as well.  Rather than doing the same things over and over again, I decided to try different types of exercise and see what works best for my body and life.  It’s interesting to see how my tastes in exercise have started to shift as well. Running has always been my first choice of exercise since I was young.  I’ve significantly modified my running this spring and have been using intervals to build my stamina back up slowly.  I truly feel the time goes by faster when I run intervals and it is a great workout.  When I finish a long interval run, I’m not totally exhausted and still have energy to go about my day.  I’m super excited to feel like I WILL complete this marathon using this strategy.

Since I cut down on the amount of time I spend running, I knew I needed to cross train with intentionality.  I began looking around for something that would both strengthen and build my stamina.  I kept thinking about trying Crossfit but had some serious fear of walking in issues.  Friends of mine go to a local Crossfit and kept encouraging me to try a class.  They’d send me selfies in the morning from the class and finally I decided to take the plunge.50A50725-0939-43AC-88CC-19D1B25CE577.jpeg

I’m not going to lie and say it’s an easy workout, because it most definitely is not.  But, I am going to say that I believe it may help me finish this marathon.  The class is well organized and all moves can be done on some level. There are modifications available to make this practice available to all fitness levels.  I feel these workouts could help me develop the strength, stamina and mental toughness I will need to run 26.2 miles.  I leave this class dripping with sweat, yet invigorated and looking forward to the next.  I’m going to continue to go to the classes three times a week and cut my running down to twice a week for now.  Seriously, what have I got to lose except perhaps an injury and some pounds.

When you find yourself in a rut and can’t seem to snap out of it, try something new.  Step outside your comfort zone and you may be surprised by how it rekindles your workout motivation.  I felt better this week than I have in a long while.  I think it’s the combination of trying new things and being around people.  I am looking forward to this week’s workouts and will continue my climb back from the long winter of broken bones.

What have you done this week to step outside your comfort zone?  How has it helped rekindle your motivation?  Be sure to leave your comments below.  I look forward to reading them.

 

Community

Days like today remind me of all that is good and right in my Staten Island community.  So many runners turned out today to support the family of a young man lost in Afghanistan when he was just 24 years old.  Looking around at the runners today, I noticed so many groups running together.  There was my school’s group of runners, my yoga studio team and several other groups from local clubs and businesses.   Watching the early finishers go by on the other side early in the run is always impressive.  How do they run so darn fast and make it look easy?  What’s even more impressive to me though, is how they stick around to cheer all of us back of the packers in.  The running community is one of the most supportive and welcoming groups around.

Listening to this Gold Star family speak about their son today was such an emotional experience.  They were clearly overwhelmed by the large turnout for this 2nd annual memorial run.  They said it gave them hope that they will be able to give back to other families, but beyond that they said their biggest nightmare is that their son will be forgotten.  Judging by the turnout and many things said about their son today, I don’t think that will happen anytime soon.  Staten Island will soon be naming a ferry boat after SSG Michael Ollis.  Should you wish to learn about Michael and donate to the SSG Michael Ollis foundation, please visit their website.

http://www.ssgollis.org/

Tomorrow I start my second plant based cycle of eating.  I’m excited to experiment with some new recipes.   Knowing this, today we decided to have a juicy, grilled hamburger for dinner.  I know it’s very carnivore like to eat this as my last meal before heading into the cycle, but it really did hit the spot today.  We just grilled them up super quick and ate with a side of salad and roasted vegetables.  Easy cook and cleanup post run and now I’ve got an appointment with some reading material.

Roasted Peppers, Potatoes & Onion

Ingredients:

    • 1 bag of mini red, yellow, orange peppers
    • 1/2 medium onion sliced
    • 2 medium red potatoes
    • olive oil
    • Everything but the Bagel Sesame spice

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Slice potatoes into slices that resemble french fries
  3. Thin slice the peppers
  4. Slice onion and break into rings
  5. Combine all in a large bowl and toss with olive oil
  6. Pour onto foil lined sheet tray and sprinkle with Everything but the bagel spice.
  7. Cook for 20 minutes or to desired consistency
  8. Serve immediately

The salad was simply romaine lettuce, fresh organic strawberries sliced and some shredded cabbage.  This was topped with olive oil and Carter & Cavero Pear & Cranberry condiment.

 

What are some of your favorite plant based meals?  Please share with me for a future blog, or even just in the comments.  I’m going to need lots of ideas.

Did You Eat Your Vegetables Today?

I am a self proclaimed veggie hater, always have been.  Imagine me now in my nutrition class, the research staring back at me saying how important those pesky vegetables really are.  So important, that my plate right now should hold about 75% vegetables and 25% lean protein.  That’s a tall order for me.  My breakfast plate should also be about 50% vegetables and my lunch plate 75%.  I can almost see my mother laughing at me and saying, “Really, did you think I made this stuff up?”2bm_sgg_dinner-plate-1.png

When I was a young girl, I blatantly refused to eat any vegetable other than corn, which isn’t even a vegetable.  Thankfully, I had a dog named Pierre who loved vegetables and would eat them fast when my mother turned her back.  When I was a teenager, my mother gave up fighting with me about eating vegetables.  It was I’ll admit, quite the fight and one I was not planning to lose.  When I moved out and was fully in charge of my eating, vegetables were never on my shopping list.  I was very thin and lived happily on my diet of Entemann’s cake, deli sandwiches and lunch from the Morgan Stanley cafeteria.   As a young mother, I made valiant attempts to get my children to eat vegetables.  My children all ate home cooked baby food.  I lovingly purchased fresh vegetables and fruits to cook and puree for each of them.  When they were young toddlers and began to fight with me about eating certain foods, I realized how hard it likely was for my mother.

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The dogs of 72nd St. Rusty, Rumple & Pierre

The past few months as I moved back into running training again, I’ve cleaned up my eating substantially.  I signed up for nutrition classes to learn how to better fuel my body and offset any genetic flaws.  What I did not do though is increase my vegetable intake to the level of 75% of my plate!  Clearly, I still have some work to do here!

Three years ago, when my mother was placed full time in a care center, I vowed to not go down the same path.  I knew first hand what this disease had done to my family and did not want my children to face a similar fate as my husband and I age.  Alzheimer’s robs you of your precious memories and the ability to care for yourself.  It is quite painful to watch helplessly as your loved one fades away.  I did not want this burden for my three children and hoped to find a way to prevent, or delay it.

I’ve spent three years reading any research I can get my hands on and changing my lifestyle.  It has not been an easy journey, as it is hard work.  My why has kept me pushing forward, even on days where motivation is low.  I’ve had my setbacks along the way with injuries, but the push forward has continued.  This winter, I decided to stop spending so much money on nutritionists and put that money to use in educating myself.  I’m in the middle of my second nutrition course and hope to attend IIN Nutrition in the fall.  I am more convinced than ever, that the answer to my quest to prevent Alzheimer’s does indeed rely heavily on the foods I am eating.  I know that my best hope to ensure brain health is to change the way we eat and continue to move my body.  It’s an exciting journey and one that I truly hope I will get to share with my grandchildren and great grandchildren someday.

Today, my husband brought home a beautiful piece of ham for Sunday dinner.  He shops early in the morning on the way home from the gym and was quite excited about his purchase.  I had a 5K race this morning at 10:00 AM, so was less than excited about his purchase.  When in the world did he think we’d be cooking and preparing this ham?  He had this all planned out and brought in the Crockpot from the garage.  He said that he heard we could set it up in the Crockpot and it would be ready later in the day. Since my options were limited, I went along with his plan.  I literally washed the ham and placed it in the pot with some water.  That’s it!  I set it to 8 hours on low and got ready to leave for the race.

When we returned from the race the house smelled heavenly.  I forgot how nice it was to come home to a meal in the Crockpot.  I was able to shower, relax and unwind from my morning without worrying about preparing dinner.  When we were ready, I took the meat out of the pot and sliced it up to eat.  It was soft, juicy and delicious.  I plated it with some shredded cabbage mixed with kale and baby spinach.  I prefer my vegetables raw, so a side salad of this was just perfect for me.  If you have a Crockpot collecting dust in your garage, I recommend you pull it out, wash it up and get it going again.  It was wonderful not to have to turn on the oven today.

I’d love to hear what your favorite Crockpot recipes are.  Please leave me a message below.

The book I just finished in my course was –

 

It was very helpful to read about how certain foods that I thought were healthy are not in fact healthy for me.  Interesting read, especially if like me, you have inflammation. If you read it, please leave me a comment.

 

Stuffed Eggplant & Meatballs

When I was younger, I worked at Morgan Stanley in midtown Manhattan.  I had just graduated high school and had been working there part time my last year in school.  I was offered and decided to take the job, as they had a program that would pay for me to get my undergraduate degree.  I remember telling my parents that I’d be moving out at the end of the month.  Both were shocked, as I was only 18 years old and had just graduated high school.  I remember my mom freaking out that I was leaving the house at such a young age.  I remember my aunt asking me how I could possibly do this to my parents.  Truly, my only initial supporter in this move was my grandmother.  She reminded me how proud she was of me that I was so independent.  She reminded me that being a strong, independent woman who could take care of herself was a good thing.  I wonder now if she saw some of herself in me.  I wonder now if she wished her life had turned out differently, as she had married at the age of 16 and had two children by the age of 18.  Maybe she wished she’d been just that much more independent in her time.

During my years at Morgan Stanley, I reconnected with running.  I had a group of friends at work that liked to run after work in Central Park.   When we signed up for some races, I knew I’d have to be more consistent with my training.  I grew up across from a beautiful park in Middle Village, NY – Juniper Valley Park.  When I was running at Juniper Park, I much preferred running on the track.  It was soft and flat and I had no trouble guessing how far I’d run.  Remember, those were the days before technology kept track of your distance.   Since there was really no place to run, that I felt comfortable running alone, near my new apartment I drove back to Juniper Park to run.

Every year on Memorial Day there was a fun run in our neighborhood.  My dad and I would run this race together, though he was always much faster than me. He still tells the story of how some friends of mine came upon him out on the course and asked if I had left him behind.  Nope, he had left me behind likely in the first mile.  I’m now the age he was then and gone are the days of running together.  Memories of those runs linger with me still.  Each Memorial Day as I stand at the starting line, I feel his presence and chuckle at his much told story of being that much faster than me.img_1255

Four years ago, we started a Biggest Loser competition at my school and I decided to start running again.  When I saw a Memorial Day fun run in the neighborhood, I signed up immediately.  I posted on my school’s communication board that I was running the race and hoped someone would join me.  A few teachers did sign up and we had a great day.  We still run this race together each year to kick off the running season.  Through the years people have come and gone, but there’s still a core group of us that show up each year.  The course is flat and fast, but we don’t really care.  We just really go to honor those who have given their lives to ensure our safety.  We run to spend time together as a team.  We run to kick off the summer season with a great after race party.

 

 

 

 

 

Today, as we prepare for the holiday, it rained all day.  I went early this morning to a yoga class to begin my day.  Then I went to the market to pick up some fresh vegetables for meals this week.  They had some beautiful eggplants out, so I picked one up to cook today.  My husband really wanted Sunday sauce, but I really wanted to keep it light if possible.   I decided to cut back on the cheese and avoid breading, or frying the eggplant.  I only used two slices of mozzarella in the entire recipe.  I decided to skip the eggplant parmesan and make stuffed eggplant instead.  This would enable my husband to have sauce and meatballs and me to avoid the extras I didn’t want.  It was a delicious and filling meal.  We split one half of the eggplant and have another left over for another meal during the week.  We chose not to have any pasta and plated the eggplant with a nice arugula salad.  The recipe for my sauce can be found here – Sunday Gravy

Stuffed Eggplant

Ingredients:

  • Chopped sirloin (1/2 pound – use the other 1/2 for meatballs)
  • small onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • olive oil
  • 1 medium eggplant
  • Tomato sauce (Sunday Sauce, or marinara)
  • 1/4 c breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 c parmesan cheese
  • Mozzarella (2 slices)

Directions:

  1. Cut the top off the eggplant and then slice in half lengthwise.
  2. Scoop out the eggplant leaving enough meat to hold the shape when baked.FEBFD2C1-4CA9-41D9-A782-FA85AF1CB565
  3. Cut up the inside of the eggplant you scooped out into small pieces.
  4. Boil the cut up eggplant meat in water for 10 minutes.
  5. Brown the onion in olive oil in skillet. (4 minutes)
  6. Add the garlic and saute. (1-2 minutes)
  7. Add chopmeat to the pan and brown until cooked through.
  8. Add the drained, cooked eggplant meat
  9. Add scoop of Sunday sauce, or marinara sauce and stir.00EEE540-66C4-4CF1-80CD-F65209AB6FFD.jpeg
  10. Remove from heat.
  11. Add 1/4 c breadcrumbs and one egg and stir to combine all
  12. Scoop meat mixture into the insides of the two eggplant halves
  13. Cook on baking sheet for 50 minutes at 350 degrees

We ate our meal without pasta, but you can certainly serve this over rice or pasta.  We had a meatball on the side and some arugula salad and topped all with some parmesan cheese.   This picture is one half of the eggplant, which you can see is large enough for two.CE34CAAE-34DC-48CE-A8FD-718E48C9944E.jpeg

Turkey London Broil

This weekend was opening day for my running group.  Our first meeting of the season and our first run together in my favorite place – Central Park.  I have such a long history of going to Central Park and whenever I return after an absence, it feels as if I’ve come home.  I wandered those rocks, tunnels and paths as a child and teenager.  I spent countless days discussing life on those rocks, as we sunned ourselves and laughed the day away.  When I was 13, my friends Stacey, Michele and I used to ride the train from school to the park and hang out.  We spent so many days just wandering around and I remember how grown up I felt to be there.  We spent a lot of time at the zoo and just enjoying being in the city.  There’s really not a better park in New York City that I know of and none that holds so many of my memories.  Forty years later, as I run past those rocks, I find myself glancing up hoping to catch a glimpse of my younger self as we were back then.  Oh, if only for a day…

StaceyCentralPark
Will look for photos from our middle school Central Park days. This is Stacey, front and center, circa 1979 in Central Park.

This weekend, my running group met at the YMCA on 63rd Street and proceeded to walk over to the park together.  We did our loop of the park and then returned to the YMCA for a breakfast meeting with Olympian, Jeff Galloway.   This run was my first run since that fateful injury in late October, just two short weeks before the NYC marathon.  I must admit I was slightly nervous, but knew I had worked hard on my functional strength over the long winter.  I’m not at my running weight yet, but my legs are strong and ready to begin again.  Thankfully, the first run is just one quick loop around the park.  Anyone who actually enjoys running knows what I mean when I say how good it felt to be able to run again.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I had my friend Helen by my side.  My husband and dog were hanging out in the park, waiting for me at the finish.  Life doesn’t get any better than that.

This is the group entering the park at Columbus Circle.  You can’t see me, but I see Helen’s blue shirt.  We are in the middle front, behind the woman in the pink jacket.

Today, I am happy to say my glutes felt like they were used on the run.  I woke with slight muscle soreness and was so excited that it wasn’t in my quads, or feet, where it normally lands.  The training is working and I will continue to strengthen my core and glutes. This morning, I went for a 90 minute yoga class which ended up being a beautiful mix of flow and stretch, ending in a wonderful restorative resting pose.  It was exactly what my body and mind needed.  When I got home, my husband showed me a beautiful Turkey London Broil he had purchased.  I’ll admit I wasn’t as excited as he was, but quickly set out to prepare for our Sunday meal.

As I stared at the beautiful turkey meat, I dreamed of making a rolled and stuffed turkey meal.  Oh how great would mushroom bread stuffing be on this cloudy day.  I also thought about making a lovely mushroom pan gravy to eat over the meat.  Then, I remembered that I’ve got a goal ahead of me and my husband really wanted it grilled.  I mixed up a quick marinade and put the turkey in to sit for about 3-4 hours, turning once midway through.  I then spent the day relaxing, what a difference from the endless meal prepping I used to do on Sunday’s.  I love cooking, but not cooking all my meals for the week opens up the day to do anything I wish.  Plant based meals are generally super easy to prepare and can be cooked in 30 minutes.  This allows me time to make a quick, fresh and delicious meal when I get home from work.

Ironically, my husband has lost a ton of weight eating what I’m eating.  He didn’t even need to lose any weight, as he was already at a very healthy weight.  Isn’t it the way?  Of course he would lose more weight than me and fast too.  He’s so excited about it too and keeps telling me how good he feels.  Me, I’ve lost 10 pounds so far and have more to go to get back to a comfortable running weight.  The next phase of my online course will reintroduce foods that were eliminated to see how my body responds to them.  This will be done slowly, over the course of the next 3 weeks.  I’m truly not craving anything and eating intuitively has allowed me to eat what I need.  I haven’t been stress eating and mostly eat my meals and no snacks.  It’s been a great learning experience and I’ve decided to continue with the plant based meals, as I feel they are fueling me better and I just plain feel better.  I’m going to cycle through the online course again as it was a lot to process the first time through.

Turkey London Broil & Chopped Salad

Marinade Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp ginger
  • 1 Tbsp organic raw honey
  • 1 scallion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic chopped
  • 1 tsp rosemary
  • 1/4 tsp thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste

Marinade Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Whisk together to combine.
  3. Place Turkey London Broil into the marinade and turn over to coat both sides.
  4. Cover bowl and place in refrigerator for 3-4 hours, turning once.5150C680-BD2A-4453-AF25-86CD7B62F4B3.jpeg

Turkey Cooking Directions:

  1. Take turkey out of marinade and discard the marinade.
  2. Salt turkey on both sides lightly
  3. Place on hot grill and cook about 8 minutes on each side.  (I use a T-fal grill so no need to turn.  This grill has a sensor and tells you when the food is ready.  It comes completely apart when cooled and goes right in the dishwasher.  I’ve had it for years now and it was the best investment ever!)
  4. Let turkey rest for about 5 minutes before carving.
  5. Slice to desired thickness.

Leftovers can be used in salads or sandwiches all week.  It was a delicious, light meal which we plated with a hearty chopped kale, broccoli slaw salad.

This is the grill I use. Click on the picture to see further information.

Shrimp & Sausage Skillet

They say the third time is a charm.  I sure hope that’s true as I’m starting my marathon training for a third time next Saturday.  I hope that this time I can make it to the starting and finish lines.  I’ve been working hard on my functional strength training to avoid injury and on my nutrition.  I am full of optimism but won’t lie that my nerves are getting the best of me most days.  I’ve lost ten pounds to date, but need to lose a bit more to be back at my comfortable running weight.  I’ve been taking an online nutrition course and have been learning a lot about how my body responds to certain foods.  These past two weeks of eating plant based meals, with one to two animal based protein choices, has been interesting to say the least.  The one thing I’ve enjoyed most is learning how to cook new meals and the fact that the plant based versions take far less time to prepare than my normal fare.

Today is Sunday and generally we eat Sunday Sauce in one of its many versions.  Since I haven’t had any animal based protein today, I decided to have a shrimp dish I found on a paleo recipe site.  I’m super excited that I have all the ingredients and am ready to cook without a trip to the market.  Today’s Sunday dinner is just for my husband and I, as we saw the family yesterday at my future daughter in law’s birthday party.  Gracie and my son Stephen have known each other since they were freshmen in high school.  When he first brought her home back then, I knew she was the perfect girl for him.  She has those qualities our family looks for – funny, kind, down to earth and honest.  She’s also a great match for my son Stephen. We are more than thrilled that they were engaged at Christmas and are looking forward to a May 2019 wedding.A3ECB322-39C1-4651-83DB-7170B9B8DA5F.jpeg

I found several keto and paleo recipe websites and I’ve been selecting things that I want to cook.  Today’s recipe is a paleo based recipe I found at paleonewbie.com, but I modified it to fit the ingredients I had on hand in my home as tomorrow is my shopping day.  It had a great flavor and one of the spices is a favorite – Old Bay.   In under 30 minutes I had dinner on the table.  That is so far removed from the hours I generally spend on Sunday gravy. Most meals so far have been so easy and quick, that I don’t need to spend my Sundays meal prepping.  Maybe we will go for a nice walk outside today with the time saved.  (Disclaimer here – I still love my Sunday sauce recipe found here – Sunday Gravy )  I’ve just learned that I can eat a variety of other foods that may better fuel my training right now.

Shrimp & Sausage Skillet

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of medium or large shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 6 oz of Hot Italian turkey sausage, sliced
  • 2 sliced red bell peppers
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup artichoke hearts
  • 2 garlic cloves, diced
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
  • Olive oil or unsalted butter

Directions:

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with some olive oil or unsalted butter
  2. Season shrimp with Old Bay SeasoningC1EABF88-31F8-4959-8C94-CF215439F957.jpeg
  3. Cook shrimp about 3-4 minutes until opaque – remove and set aside
  4. Cook onions and bell peppers in skillet with 2 Tbsp of olive oil or unsalted butter for about 4 minutes418C087F-4295-42B3-82F0-160592401093.jpeg
  5. Add sausage and zucchini to the skillet, cook another 5 minutes
  6. Put cooked shrimp back into skillet along with the garlic, and cook everything for about 5 minutes
  7. Pour chicken stock into pan and mix through
  8. Add salt, ground pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
  9. Serve immediately

We ate ours plain, but you could serve this over salad, or zucchini squash.  It has a beautiful flavor and I bet will taste delicious tomorrow for lunch.67F21806-9752-42ED-AD56-4FD29BE52F43.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

Resolutions are not Realistic

We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential. – Ellen Goodman

Every January, I hear people talking about their resolutions for living a healthy lifestyle in the new year.  They will exercise more, eat better, stop drinking and the list goes on and on.  But, resolutions are not always realistic.  They are a promise you make to do things differently, but most times they are never fully carried out.

Every January, gyms are overcrowded with people who have made these resolutions.  They vow to come every day and start off strong, but inevitably they can’t maintain this pace because it’s not realistic.  You can’t go from not working out to working out every single day without some soreness, or loss of motivation.  I don’t set resolutions, I make plans.  They often say goals (insert resolutions) are dreams without plans.  I can’t agree more.  So, this year, instead of making a resolution to do a list of things, spend time planning for your success.  Buy a calendar and plan your weeks for healthier living – when will you workout, what will you eat.  This simple change could put you on the road to success.  Now that I’m close to being cleared to return to full activity, that is exactly my plan for this weekend.

Happy Holidays and New Year to all my readers.  I’d love to hear what your plans are for 2018.  Leave me a message below.

Click this link  –  New Year, New You!  to enjoy my New Year’s column to help you get started on your plans for 2018!

 

 

Highlight Reels

When you are recovering, or rebuilding your strength following an injury social media can be tough to view.  Each day my feed is full of photographs from my running friends who are sharing their successes. Most weekdays I wake to photographs of beautiful scenery from their runs.  Weekends are full of race medals, smiling faces and finish line celebrations.  Sure, I am happy for all my running friends who are continuing their journey.  Sure, I celebrate all their accomplishments, support and congratulate them – and I mean it.  But, that doesn’t mean it’s not hard for me and that I don’t feel like time is passing me by.  I miss my runs, I miss my races and I miss my running friends.

Recently, I went on Twitter and noticed a photo of a group having a meet up run.  I must admit I felt left out to not have even known about it.  It’s not that they didn’t tell me they were meeting, it’s that I wasn’t able to be there to run.  This run happens every year, I just wasn’t watching the run group calendar of events as I am currently on break.  I had that FOMO moment and really started feeling sorry for myself.   I got that nagging, whiny feeling of – “Why me?”  “Why is everyone else able to run without any injury and I get injured when I think about running.”   Then I reminded myself, that these photographs come from the “highlight reel” of their lives.  Every runner struggles with injury, aches and pain because running is hard work.  For every smiling photograph on social media, there are many other not so pretty moments on the journey.

This time of year can be especially hard on many people and social media can heighten these feelings.  If you are feeling overwhelmed, it may be a good time to take a break from it.  Get involved in something else to occupy the time you normally spend on social media.  I have been walking instead and to stay motivated I joined a Fitbit Challenge called the Workweek Hustle.  My work friend has been pushing me to walk more each day by upping her steps in this friendly competition.  The walking has helped me to clear my mind and spend less time on the computer.  That’s a win win for me on this recovery journey.  I hope you consider doing the same.

Last year around this time I wrote a blog about similar feelings that you may find interesting.

Me, Myself and I

Knowing you are not alone in the struggle can often lift you up.  Drop me a line and let me know how you’re doing.  Your notes of encouragement lift me up and often put a smile on my face.  Thanks to all who take time to comment each week, I greatly appreciate your thoughts.

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