Fighting the CSA - Taking down the Spinach, Herbs and Zucchini

I am into Week 3 of my half share CSA and although I love the fresh produce it is a battle to keep up with everything that I get. This week the box seemed to be getting bigger and I am getting scared, but I spent today fighting hard trying to take it down.

Breakfast - Most days I start out with my Shakeology. It is easy to fix and I love that I can throw in some spinach to add to the nutritional value. Green is the new Pink. Handful of Spinach Blended. Boom!

Breakfast #2 - What can I say I like to eat. I usually have a bigger snack/ second breakfast in the morning to keep me going. Today it was an omelet with sautéed zucchini, garlic scrapes and spinach. 3 down. Bam, Bam, Bam!




Baking Time - I had time today to bake some things while I worked from home so I gave these 2 recipes a try. Muffins came out awesome, the chocolate bread a little dry. Zucchini shredded and taken down!

Zucchini Muffins

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Lunch - A little later than usually because I may have done a little too much taste testing with my baked goods : ). I had some left over spaghetti squash so I made up some pesto using the huge bag of basil leaves and topped it with Mahi-Mahi.

Paleo Pesto (I used Walnuts)

Dinner - Really wanted Homemade Chicken nuggets. Paired it with a spinach salad and these zucchini parmesan fries. Also roasted up the beets I got to use on salads and for my famous beet berry smoothie (you either love it or hate it).

Zucchini Parmesan Fries

Beet Berry Spinach Smoothie

At the end of the day I am feeling full and happy but face more challenges in the days ahead. My fridge is busting at the seems with lettuce, dill and peas so I will continue on my journey until every vegetable is taken down!

Joining the CSA – Dare to be Adventurous

I have been thinking about joining a CSA for a while now but just couldn’t get myself to sign up. Since this year my life is focusing around the one Word CHANGE, I decided this summer it was time to take the leap of faith and give it a try. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. A farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

 Here are the reasons I wanted to give it a try:

Fresh Produce
Let’s face it, it doesn’t get much fresher then right from the farm. Since I was born with a black thumb and lack of patience to grow my own garden this seems to be a good answer. I also have found it very confusing to find the right from the farm products at grocery stores and produce stands now. You really have to ask questions to make sure it is right from the farm or if it was trucked in from somewhere else.

Food Adventure
With a CSA you have an idea of what is going to be available that week but you don’t know exactly what you get until you get it. It sounded like a great way to force me to try some new veggies and ways to cook up my old favorites since I will be eating them a lot.

Forced to Eat my Veggies
Because I am also super cheap I am hoping that instead of letting my veggies go bad each week I will be forced to eat them. Eating more veggies can only be a good thing.

For my CSA this year I have loved what I have gotten so far. I am making a lot of salads, omelets and smoothies to use up the amble supplies of vegetables I am given each week. It has given a little more structure to my weekly meal plans because I plan our meals around what we are given.

Ideally you want to start a CSA at the beginning of a growing season (Spring, Summer or Winter) but many farms let you sign up during the season for a prorated fee. I encourage you to give it a try for one season and see if it changes your eating and shopping habits. 

Raise Your Glass to Good Health with Water

There are a lot of diet or lifestyle eating choices out there. Sometimes it is hard to tell what will work or not.  I would challenge you to find one healthy way of eating that does not center around drinking water. It sounds so simple but drinking water has so many benefits to making you feel great. Here are some of my favorite benefits:

• Lose weight: Drinking water helps you lose weight because it flushes down the by-products of fat breakdown. Drinking water reduces hunger, it’s an effective appetite suppressant so you’ll eat less. Plus, water has zero calories and it is FREE!

• Healthy Skin: Water helps to replenish skin tissues, moisturizes skin and increases skin elasticity.

• Better Exercise: Drinking water regulates your body temperature. That means you’ll feel more energetic when doing exercises. Water also helps to fuel your muscle.

• Better Digestion and Constipation: Fiber and water goes hand in hand so that you can have your daily bowel movement.

• Relieves Fatigue: Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products from the body. If your body lacks of water, your heart, for instance, needs to work harder to pump out the oxygenated blood to all cells, so are the rest of the vital organs, your organs will be exhausted and so will you.

Staying Hydrated is KEY to a great day. For most people that is drinking ½ of your body weight each day in water. A good way to check is to make sure your urine is pale yellow or clear in color. You can get creative with your water and flavor it with fruit or vegetables (raspberries and cucumbers are my favorite) or make it fun with special water bottles (I have some with photos of my kids). You can also set up a challenge with family and friends or join the Lifestyle Forward Drink Water challenge in July (Check www.facebook.com/lifestyleforward for details)

Start today and raise your glass of water to toast a great summer!

3 Day Refresh Adventure

I decided to give the 3 Day Refresh Program a try because I have been hearing great stories about it and I got to a place where I really needed some extra help trying to reach my goal weight and just get back on track with my eating habits. I normally don't like the all shake approach as I know I can't stay on that long since I love food WAY too much but I figured 3 days wouldn't be too much to commit to.

Cucumber Salad

Day 1: Excited and ready to start. Got on the scale, took photos and knew I was really ready to start. My stress eating had crept up on me! Had my water then Shakeology and strawberries for breakfast. Lunch was Red peppers, almond butter and my Vanilla Fresh shake with an orange, snack was carrots and almond butter, Dinner was Cucumber salad with tomatoes and a shake with cinnamon. I drank my tea and the Fiber sweep in the morning. It doesn’t look good looking but it actually tasted good and you drink it pretty quick. I did some walking today but tried to keep it low key. Went to bed feeling good.

So Much Green it has to be Good!

Day 2: Woke up to my water, Shakeology with dark cherries and a healthy #2 so I know things are working. It was a busy day so I made sure I had my eating/drinking times in my phone calendar so it would tell me what was next. I had planned a run today with a friend so I was feeling a little more on the hungry side but stuck with it. I kept telling myself it is only 3 days! Lunch was Spinach salad with red peppers and olive oil, shake and 1/2 apple. Snack was celery with almond butter. Dinner was roasted asparagus with almonds and the shake.

Flavor your shakes to change them up!

Day 3: Ok I am ready for some real food but I am staying strong. Water, them Shakeology with 1/2 apple this morning. Got my fiber drink a little late because of a social event that I really didn't feel like whipping out my unflattering looking drink at. Lunch was cucumber salad with olive oil and oregano and shake with an orange again. Snack was celery with almond butter. Dinner was Spinach salad with asparagus and pumpkin seeds. Then I went to bed and was done.

Morning of Day 4 I weighed in…..5 Pounds lost! Now I know that some of that is water weight but you know what I don’t care. I found that the 3 day program was just what I needed to get me back on track and help me lose that bloated feeling. I didn't experience any yucky side effects like extra gas or bowel movements (TMI?)

 

 

A few key things that worked for me:

• 

  Favorite Tea on Ice!

  Having a great flavored tea made it a treat to look forward too. I changed it up each time for something different. Some cold and some hot too.

• Keeping busy. It helped that I planned activities to keep my mind of food but not too much so it was a pain to always be at home to make my shakes.

• Mix up your foods. Having something different everyday gave me something to look forward to.

If you are looking for help to lose a few pounds or to get your eating habits back on track, Email me at sarah@lifestyleforward.com and I will support you for YOUR 3 Days!

Let's Get Running

When people hear the word running they either groan or yell with glee. I have a love/hate relationship with running so I do a little of both. I used to be made to run in high school for sports. Then I took a long resting period. After my second son was born and I decided to stay home with him, I needed something to fill in our times together and long walks soon turned into runs. Running became my escape in the day. While my son was exploring the world from his strapped in seat, I was lost with my thoughts. I soon discovered that without the stroller I could go even faster and my competitive streak took over. Today I never thought I would be one of those people that look forward to races and training with friends. During a race I always tell myself never again and then I cross the finish line and can’t wait to sign up for my next one.

Here are some things I learned along my running journey that may help spark yours.

Low Equipment Investment
Sure there are a lot of things out there that are promoted to help you run longer or faster but in the end you only need a good pair of shoes (and some would even agree you could run barefoot). I always invest in a quality pair of shoes from a place that will fit me to the type I need at least twice during the running season. Your feet will thank you.

Mix it up
I found I enjoy my runs the best when I discover new places or terrains. Have a couple of known areas and paths that you can go to but don’t be afraid to try out new towns or change it up from inside to outside. I found that my love of running is much greater if I don’t do it all the time. Cross train with strength training and weights, core exercises and flexibility moves to make sure your body is using all of its muscles.

Set a Goal
When you start to run figure out your WHY behind doing it. Are you trying to get to a certain distance, have a weight loss goal or want to get faster in races? Once you know your WHY, set a goal to work towards it.

Get Support
I like to run alone with my own thoughts but I get pretty boring to myself after a while. Running is a great way to meet new people and learn new ideas. Join a running group or online support group to share your ups and downs of running.

If you are looking to get off the couch and get walking or running this spring I would love to help you. Connect with me at sarah@lifestyleforward.com to learn more about local resources and support groups that can help you along your running journey. Together we can change your hate of running to be a love (or maybe at least a like).

Why I went Paleo

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes with Nuts and Bacon, Oh My!

Normally I am not a big fan of fad or extreme diets. I like to stick to clean eating and portion control to keep my body in check. But recently talk of the paleo diet as occurred between friends and family and I decided I would give it a go. My usual diet is pretty close to it anyways but I was finding lately it has been more dirty than clean. I set up a 21 day challenge group and recruited a mix of paleo virgins and more experienced players to the group. It was fun to learn from each other and I know the challenge setup would keep me honest.

The first few days went pretty well. I kept to the basic rules and even gave up coffee. I wasn't hungry because I let myself eat whoever I wanted as long as it was paleo. The key was planning ahead and trying some new dishes to keep things interesting like:
Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Butternut Squash Soup
Almond Milk

The hardest part for me was the coffee. I was feeling tired and sluggish. By day seven I caved and I felt so much better with my first sip.

Week two went pretty well except I felt myself slowly getting thicker. Lack of portion control and too many paleo treats did it. Also I was eating too many nuts and bacon.  Some of the treats included:
Almond Butter Banana Muffins
Paleo Granola
Date Bars
Chia seed pudding

By week three I had enough. The lack of variety and my sugar cravings got ahold of me. I ended the challenge weighing the same and not feeling any different. In the end I felt that the diet has some good key features for people to help focus on the clean eating but not enough variety for me.

Unbury Your Fitness Routines

Let’s face it, New Englanders experienced a hard winter this year. Record high snow levels, brutal cold temperatures and long dark days. Add to that flu, cold or just the general seasonal depression and it is no wonder people get off track from their fitness routines. We tend to have less days we get to the gym and more days that we grab the warm comfort food then healthy salads. But the snow is melting, the sun is shining and it is time to get back on track so our bodies and minds are ready for when spring and summer finally do arrive. Here are some ways to get back into a routine starting today!

Change it up

Get your heart pumping again with change! Try a new workout routine or class. If you always use dumbbells change it up to the machines or with body weight exercises. Try at least one new healthy food a week. Use the excitement of a change to give you that extra boost forward.

Start Small

You didn’t lose your mojo overnight so it will take small steps to get back to the level you were at. If you haven’t moved in a while start by telling yourself you will commit to 5 minutes a day, then gradually move up to 30-60 minutes a day. Commit to yourself to make at least one meal a day healthy or give up one food that you know is not healthy (like soda, candy or chips). Over time add more time or foods until you are back at your pre-winter level of fitness.

Get Support

Nothing beats the buddy system to keep you accountable. Find a support person or group with similar exercise goals to work together. There are a lot of online groups that can help or ask around your current family, friends or co-workers to see if they want to work with you.

So take off the boots and grab your sneakers, throw away the turtleneck sweater and grab your workout t-shirts. Now is the time to get recommitted to your fitness goals and to move forward to a better you.