The Assembler

As a woman who can’t eat dairy or gluten, there are a lot of foods that are off limits. And as I have learned to come to terms with what I can and can’t have, I have begun to broaden my horizons.

… we should probably use the phrase “come to terms” loosely. I very recently (last night) had a melt down when I realized I couldn’t have any stuffed crust pizza during the Super Bowl, but I digress.

In the past couple of weeks I started investigating. Every time the hubby and I visited the grocery store I bought at least one new thing, took it home, and incorporated it into a meal.

My findings included dates, tofu, spaghetti squash, mangos, black beans, canned pumpkin, and smoked salmon.

Now to save you the trial and error of what to do with these delicious breakthroughs in the kitchen, I thought I’d share my newest refrigerator staple, and today’s lunch, with you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Smoked Salmon, sliced and ready-to-eat. It fits into my anti-cook/pro-assemble lifestyle very well.

You see, as much as I love a delicious, wholesome meal, I’m not that interested in waiting longer than 15 minutes to make it.

Feel free to blame the generation I grew up in and/or my inability to gage how hungry I am until I’ve reached a state of famishment.

Whichever may be the case, with my impatient stomach leading the way, I have become quite the assembler.

Assembler (n): One who puts together foods that re already prepared together to create a dish or meal, but does little to no cooking of ingredients involved.

Today’s lunch can act as a prime example of my assembling skills and how I incorporate smoked salmon into a fun, simple, and healthy meal.

Smoked Salmon Salad

Ingredients:

Lettuce Mix (Spinach, Kale, Arugula)

2 thin slices of Smoked Salmon

½ of a Honey Crisp apple diced

5 Green Grapes cut in half

1 handful of Walnuts

1 handful of Cranberries

1 teaspoon of Chia Seeds

The combination of ingredients serves as a nutritious lunch without boring your palates.

This salad is full of flavor, filling from the protein in the walnuts, salmon, and chia seeds, and delicious. The walnuts add the perfect amount of crunch, while the fruit combines with the smoked flavor of the salmon scrumptiously.

The best part is how simple it is to toss together the night before work, and take with you (as long as you have a refrigerator to store it in until lunch time). I had mine all packed, ready to go, until I found out it was a snow day…

Happy Monday (:

My Partner In Crime

The ups and downs of a healthy lifestyle can be are exhausting.

One week you feel like you have mastered it all. You have managed to squeeze in every work out all while happily drinking your green smoothies, ignoring your coworker’s take out as you eat your homemade, pre-packed lunch at work, and consistently getting eight hours of sleep.

The next week you can’t stop hitting snooze, waking up with just enough time to throw up your hair and dust on some blush. Spinach sounds revolting. Who drinks their breakfast anyways? And you know what… today walking Apollo in negative degree weather counts as a workout.

Now, I like to think I speak for more than just myself when I say it’s hard to keep track of what level of “healthy-living” I’m currently pursuing. And as draining as it is for me, I can’t even imagine how draining it is for my partner in crime.

My husband and I moved in together in June 2014, almost eight months ago.

Now, keep in mind we were dating for years before hand, but living together takes absorbing one another’s lifestyles to a different extreme, and therefore I’m going to focus on the last 8 months.

Here’s a list of my health and fitness pursuits/ongoing habits since June:

1. Processed Food is the Devil. – Chemicals are ruining society, and I am going to pave the way to change! I am only going to eat food from the local farmer’s market, and anything that comes in a package simply isn’t for me. We should throw away all of the packaged food in the house.
2. Everyone should be a Runner. – If there’s a race, I’m running it. No, it doesn’t matter that I have a 14 mile training run the following day. Who needs sleep? I’ll just wake up at 4am and run the first 12 miles, and you can meet up with me for the last two at 6am!
3. Chewing is overrated. – I just signed up for Meal Replacement Shakes! No really, chemicals and processed food are OKAY. Just in this context. I’m just going to sip on two meals a day for over a month. And I swear I’m only cranky from lack of sleep, not from a lack of proper nutrients.
4. Two-a-Days Evvvvrrryyday. – Let’s go to the gym. No, running is the worst. C’mon, C’mon, C’mon no sleeping in on the weekends we gotta be swolemates <3.
5. Hydrate or Die. – Is it weird to carry around a one-gallon jug of water? God, this thing is heavy. Do you think my end of the day water bloat is cute?

I honestly do love trying new things, challenging myself, and adapting new fitness behaviors into my everyday routine. And in the past eight months there have been habits that have stuck with me, and the hubby (although he would deny it), that are completely for the better.

But it takes some trial and error to figure out works best! And he championed through it all.

My then-fiancé, now- husband picked me up from every single training run with dry clothes, snacks, and an overenthusiastic puppy. He didn’t bat an eyelash when I sat down and consumed a small village’s worth of food after my marathon. And he never let me throw away my running shoes, no matter how hard I tried, when I decided I was never running again.

He never complained on Wednesday’s when I woke up at the crack of dawn to go to the Farmer’s Market, and amused me as I made him look at how “cute” carrots look straight from the ground. Not to mention, the number of passages he listened to from Eat Real Food by Michael Pollan.

Or more importantly, he sat me down telling me I wasn’t a “fad diet” kinda girl, making me read all of the chemicals in my meal replacement devil shakes.

My partner in crime even encouraged me, slightly out of humor, to bring my one-gallon water jug into our favorite bar.

If you guessed that I sat down with my water jug beside me among our friends and strangers, you’d be 100% right.

Through the ups and downs of my never-ending “lifestyle” of healthy living he’s been there. Never once putting me down, but letting me decide what’s best for me, cheering me on. And for a man who doesn’t care what chemicals are in his lunch, he does one hell of a job making sure mine don’t have any.

Breakfast of Champions

Yesterday, while taking a much too long study break from learning the muscles of the upper body, I was perusing a handful of my favorite blogs.

During my study break I was inspired to prepare some scrumptious overnight oats after reading Leanne’s Overnight Oats on fitandflowyoga.com!

In the past I would whip up overnight oats for a great breakfast on the go, and reading Leanne’s post yesterday made me want nothing more than to wake up to a cool refreshing breakfast.

The recipe on my soon-to-be sister’s blog (Check out Leanne’s blog for more great recipes, yoga tips, and health and wellness inspiration) is paired with pictures that will make you hungry, just a fair warning 🙂 .

I followed her go-to breakfast as a guideline with just a few adjustments! Here is what I came up with

 

 

¼ cup Quaker Quick Oats

½ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 Tbsp. Chia Seeds

 

1 Tbsp. crushed almonds

1Tbsp. pure maple syrup

I banana sliced

4 strawberries sliced

1 pinch of shredded coconut 

 

First I put the oats, almond milk, and chia seeds in a nearly empty jar of cocoa almond butter, and stuck it in the fridge. Overnight the oats and chia seeds expanded while absorbing the delicious flavor of the spread and almond milk.

In the morning, after my five mile run, (cheers for completing part of goal #1 I posted about yesterday!! Visit yesterdays post: There’s Something About Mondays to get the inside scoop.) I topped my creation with a pinch of shredded coconut, crushed almonds, maple syrup, banana slices, and strawberries slices.

Delicious!

If you are interested in any more scrumptious recipes yogi fuel, healthy living tips, kids yoga, or reading a fantastic blog go check out fitandflowyoga.com 🙂  

#TheRestaurantProblem

Working in a restaurant takes eating well on the job to a whole different level of difficult. I’ve been in the restaurant business since I was 16 (first as a hostess and then as a waitress), and after five years I still finding eating well at work a challenge.

 As a server, you are on your feet for hours, running to and from tables, and burning about 1,400 calories per eight hour shift (statistics based on a 140 lb person in Calories Burned by Occupation – How Many Calories does My Job Burn? by Fitness Blender). In general, this element of the job is an awesome perk! I love being on my feet, interacting with customers, and time flying by in a fast paced environment, but it also means I work up an appetite whenever I’m waitressing.

Which causes a reoccurring problem when I am surrounded by fatty, cholesterol packed, calorie loaded food. I don’t normally crave the food that I eat at work, or order it when I go out to eat. I’m indifferent to ribs, loaded baked potatoes, fries, or other fried foods (my weakness is actually dessert), but when I’m hungry without a way to get to something healthy as quickly and easily as I can a fry, I end up eating the fry… and snacking adds up.

Luckily, I really dislike any sodas, teas, or sugary drinks. I’m a water and coffee girl through and through, so the unlimited soda does not entice me, but I’m mindful of others in the restaurant business that find it to be a temptation.

Now it’s important to note that servers don’t get “lunch” breaks while working. There is time when the restaurant isn’t as busy as the dinner rush, but that doesn’t mean anyone gets to sit down and enjoy a well-balanced meal. In my experience, you eat when you have time, if you have time.

Just because I have my salad, sandwich, or go-to snacks all packed up doesn’t mean I get to them when I need them… which is at 930PM when I realize I haven’t stopped to use the restroom, take a sip of water, or slowed down for the past three hours. If the restaurant is busy, then I can’t stop to eat, but I can snack on the food that’s within arms reach, that I wouldn’t eat otherwise. 

That being said, I still try my hardest. There is never an excuse to not making healthy choices, and there are ways to set myself up for success.

I never go to work hungry, always show up with a healthy snack or meal in tow, and a lug around a huge liter water bottle already filled up. I’d say about 75% of the time I can make it through a shift without touching anything and rely on carrots, bananas, and Quest Bars to tie me over until I can get home to make a nutritious dinner.

As I move forward with my marathon training I’m making a conscious effort to focus on avoiding snacking on unhealthy food at work, and instead eating what I bring.

I want to have the best performance possible during training, and that means fueling up on the most nutritional, performance enhancing food.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions or ideas to avoid the most frustrating #TheRestaurantProblem