It has been a week since my last post! I have even very busy with work and this weekend was my long time best friends birthday! We celebrated in San Diego and in Newport Beach, it was so fun! This is going to be a long blog since it has been a week so I am going to try not to wait this long again.
Something exciting that happened for me, the omelet recipe I posted on my previous blog got published online in Tasty25 magazine! It is my first publication of any sort and I could not be more proud of myself. Cooking, clean eating, and fitness are my passions and to have something like this happen for me is a big deal! :) I also want to thank everyone that has been giving me such positive feed back, it has been inspiring, motivating and helpful!
Mid week I did a small store run! I have found that mid week there can be some great deals going on. I was able to get a dozen eggs for .88 cents each, raspberries for .99 cents each, and from Sprouts I got each chicken breast for about $2 each and the New York steak for about $3. The Lara bars were on sale for $1.50 each, and I was recommended to try these for a good paleo snack bar!
I got three different flavors, each one was delicious in my eyes, and the ingredients were:
1. Apple Pie: dates, almonds, unsweetened apples, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon
2. Banana Bread: almonds, dates, unsweetened bananas
3. Coconut Cream Pie: dates, unsweetened coconut, almonds, cashews, extra virgin coconut oil
These flavors sound dangerous but in fact they are all clean paleo eats!
Good news! This is week 2 of my 30 days 100 miles challenge and my Map My Run App tells me I am at a little over 60! I want to start strong this week and even run on the 4th.
I wasn't as successful with my gallon of water a day challenge, BUT I can say for sure that even challenging myself I have been increasing the amount of water I intake which is still a positive. I am still carrying around the big gallon jug and refilling it every night!
My new challenge for this week is 500 Abs-A-Day! I got a belated birthday present of a big stability ball and so I am hoping I can get in some good at home ab workouts with it! I will try to write and take pictures of some of the different ab work I do.
As you can see, I have two ongoing "challenges" and one new challenge this week. I have been having success with making new daily challenges at the beginning of each week. It's important, at least for me, to set these challenges and goals for success because it is motivating on a daily basis once you complete your goal!
My uncle got me some great groceries this week! 3 lbs of strawberries, blueberries, spinach, bananas, walnuts & cottage cheese! He also surprised me with a new book! It's called "Vegan's Daily Companion" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. It's 365 days of inspiration for cooking, eating and living compassionately. I am on page 40 and I like it a lot! The first page was on Kale and the benefits of eating this super food! One recipe idea I really thought sounded delicious was steamed kale with chopped apples, balsamic vinegar, and chopped walnuts! Also there was a recipe for a massaged kale salad with avocado, onions, and more! I plan on making it this week, and I will substitute hemp seeds for quinoa in order to make it paleo; i will post the recipe this week for everyone! I am so excited to keep reading and learning more about food and animals.
I am sure many of you have the general idea of how to make roasted veggies (if not I have a previous blog with a bunch of roasted veggie recipes!) This week I did a mixture of everything I had in my kitchen! And it turned out so good.
Rosemary Roasted Veggie Mix!
(Large side dish serving of 2-3):
Ingredients:
• 2 small red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes (sometimes I cut smaller, you want them to cook evenly with other veggies)
• 1/2 large zucchini or 1 whole small zucchini, quartered length wise, then chopped into 1 inch cubes
• 1 small head broccoli, broccoli florets cut off stem into large bite size pieces
• 1/2 onion, quartered
• 5 asparagus spears, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 tbsp dried marjoram
• Fresh ground lemon pepper
• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves or 1 tbsp garlic powder
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven 400 deg F
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and make sure to saturate all veggies with seasonings and oil.
3. Put all vegetables on a large baking sheet
4. Roast in oven for 15-20 minutes, until all veggies are cooked evenly & browning.
5. Serve & Enjoy!
Today, July 2, was an all liquid day along with my gallon of water. Here are my shakes I made! I made sure to include healthy fat (nuts & seeds), carbs (vegetables & fruit), and protein (nuts, seeds & protein powder) in each one! Along with calcium from the almond milk.
Meal 1:
Strawberry-Mango-Spinach Shake:
7 Large strawberries, stems removed
1 mango, peeled & chopped
1 cup spinach
1 tbsp chia seeds (plus extra for topping)
1 scoop vanilla protein
1 cup almond milk
*Blend and top with
extra chia seeds
Meal 2:
Antioxidant Madness!
1 apple, chopped
1/2 cup blueberries
1 cup kale
1/4 cup walnuts (extra for topping)
1/2 scoop vanilla protein
1 cup almond milk
* Blend and top with extra chopped walnuts
Meal 3:
Green Mean Fighting Machine!
1 Kiwi, keep skin on and slice
1 cup spinach
1/4 cup cucumber
1 tbsp flaxseeds (plus extra for toppig)
1/2 scoop vanilla protein
1 cup almond milk
Ice
*Blend and top with extra flaxseeds!
(My first time adding cucumber to a smoothie! This could be dangerous, I may start adding anything! Haha)
Basic Paleo Meal Plan for this week 7/3-7/8:
*Every morning when I wake up:
8oz water + 1 TBSP Raw apple cider vinegar
Meal 1: 3 egg white vegetable omelet + 1/2 cup avocado+ 1/2 cup fruit
(Chocolate protein pancakes may be on the menu one of these days! A mid week clean healthy treat is a must!)
Snack: 1 green apple sliced
Meal 2: Large kale salad/ Kale slaw/ Tomato-cucumber salad/ Rustic vegetable salad
Snack: 1 green bell pepper or homemade zucchini chips
Meal 3: 5oz meat (chicken breast, turkey breast, tilapia, shrimp, salmon, lean pork chops, lean steak) + 2 cups vegetables (steamed, roasted, or sauteed in light oil)
Pre Workout: 1/2 scoop nano vapor + 8 oz water
Post Workout: Protein Shake + supplements (fish oil omega 3s + glucosamine + spirulina)
I need to get a good multivitamin to take as well! Nature's Fuel is a powdered multi vitamin that you can add to juice, or shakes, or even just with water! I was recommended this as a good multi vitamin source since powders can be more quickly and easily digestible by our bodies then capsule form.
On Apple Cider Vinegar...
Drinking splash of raw apple cider vinegar with your water is suppose to be a natural remedy for healing the body. I found that drinking RAW apple cider vinegar is a natural remedy for heartburn, help removes toxins from your body, helps lower the rise in glucose levels in the blood (good for diabetes), and can is alkaline so can aid in the pH level of your blood. A recipe I found for a good apple cider vinegar drink is 1 gallon of water, 2 TBSP raw apple cider vinegar, and agave nectar (to suit your taste), and powercakes.net has a great apple cider vinegar drink, add to a water bottle: 1 tbsp ACV, 1 tsp cinnamon and 10-20 drops of stevia.
I may try adding this to my gallon of water a day! Check out these two websites for more information Global Healing Center and WebMD.
Other Clean Eats of the Week:
3 egg white omelet loaded with spinach, green onion, tomato and garlic, topped with homemade guacamole (1/2 avocado, chopped red onion, chopped cilantro, lime juice, lemon pepper and garlic power) with one sliced banana and a cup of Yerba Mate tea. This is a great way to start any day, healthy, clean and satisfying.
Lunch: Spinach salad with 3 cups fresh spinach, 1 large kiwi chopped, 1 tbsp chopped red onion, and dressing (1 TBSP lemon juice, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon organic agave) and I also had my Brazil nut paleo bar.
3 egg white frittata with zucchini, tomato, green onion, white onion, spinach and garlic topped with fresh green onions and a side of homemade guacamole.
Grilled chicken, seasoned with lemon pepper and garlic with a huge side serving of roasted mix veggies (recipe above)
Post workout meal: After a long 8 mile run, I was so HUNGRY and ready to REFUEL with chocolate almond protein pancakes topped with raw coconut butter, raspberries, hemp seeds, and unsweetened coconut threads (full recipe on previous blog), AND a 3 egg white frittata with squash, tomato, onion, garlic and kale, AND a fruit salad with banana, kiwi, and nectarine.
Yes I was HUNGRY!! :)
Dinner: Spinach salad topped with 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 chopped peach, 1 tbsp flax seeds, and 5 oz. grilled Tilapia (seasoned with lemon pepper, garlic, & fresh oregano). For dressing, I used 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Tilapia is a great source of protein while being low in fat and low in carbohydrates! It is a great protein source if you are trying to get lean muscle.
Spicy Omelet: I use to never like spicy food, and I mean NEVER, but since I have been trying to cut out salt from my diet, spicy food seems to be my new addiction. It is a great substitute to salt if you ask me, I add red pepper flakes on top of my eggs, cayenne pepper on top of my roasted veggies and black pepper to anything! This omelet has 3 egg whites with steamed spinach and tomato, topped with red pepper flakes and Trader Joe's chili sauce (no preservatives, no additives) and a nectarine! With my gallon of water at the table too :)
Paleo Snack: RAW Revolution Bar, coconut delight. These bars are all organic, gluten free, peanut free, kosher and vegan with no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, no refined sugars or proteins. The ingredients consist of cashews, dates, sunflower seeds, agave, coconut, almonds, and sprouted flax seeds.
Chocolate dessert anyone?! One that is RAW and PALEO?! Almond Butter Cacao Truffle. And it only has 3 ingredients: cacao, almonds, and salt. These little truffles are gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, no preservatives, no additives, and no artificial ingredients. It tasted great while satisfying my chocolate craving.
Mothers Market Brunch Date:
Fruit Salad with blueberries, grapes, mango, pear, black berries and strawberries
Kale salad with olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, raisins, and sliced almonds
Raw tomato and cucumber salad with olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar, pepper, fresh dill and fresh parsley
Something to brighten your day:
I made this picture here for the background of my phone and I thought to share it! The beautiful pink roses are from a house behind my work and the quote of from the other book I am reading called "Bright Side Up" by Amy Spencer. This book has been very beneficial to me and I am not even half way done! I highlight motivating quotes so I can look back and reread these whenever I am down or need a little boost. I believe self motivating yourself is a key to success and I am working hard on this.
I hope this makes you smile,
and remember it throughout your day! :)
