Yoga and Chard

Today was one of those days where I got a lot done - except for the most important, time-sensitive stuff (aka Homework). This weekend was filled with friend/social activities - which I am glad about since I am just now seeing friends I haven't seen for almost four months. I believe that nourishment comes in many forms - food, drink, relationships, intellectual stimulation, exercise, and so on. This weekend, I nourished my relationships and social needs. Now time to focus on a big week ahead...

I've been pretty good about working out, and the eating out has been kept to somewhat of a minimum...had a great 7 mile walk around Sawyer Trail with Burn Fitness on Saturday, and a great Vinyasa Flow class tonight at Equinox. I have been staring at this amazing stalk of swiss chard that I have had in my fridge for a week. I swore to myself I could not let this go bad! So I looked up a new recipe, as per my new "one new recipe per week" rule, and came upon this recipe for Whole Wheat Pasta with Rainbow Chard and White Beans. I am enjoying it as I type - very proud of myself for not only taking the time and effort to prepare this delicious dish - but for holding myself accountable in so many ways, despite not doing the plan perfectly this weekend - I am starting the week off strong, focused, and very proud of my Yoga and Chard evening ;-)

Channeling Mercado San Pedro

I think last night I had a dream about Mercado San Pedro...one of my very favorite parts of Cusco that I miss terribly. Mercado San Pedro is more than a locals market - it contains anything you could possibly need to survive, and at ridiculously cheap prices. There are different sections for fresh juice, cooked food, produce, dry goods, meats, artisan goods, and any service you can imagine. I got my backpack stitched up there for the equivalent of $1. The tradition of San Pedro is of course, JUGO (juice). There are several rows of juice ladies - all smiling down at you from their elevated platforms, smiling in an attempt to seduce you to their booth. Each one has their own special blend of fresh fruits, vegetables and secret ingredients - but my favorite gal was #56: Rina. Rina was the cutest little woman ever, and she always made way too much juice for any one person to be able to drink in one sitting, so I would usually share one with a friend - usually Aiden or Lulue.

Popping in for a jugo at Sen Pedro is one of the things I just can't seem to replace here in the states. I woke up and was delighted to discover the Papaya I had purchased last weekend in my fridge. So I decided to try to satisfy my San Pedro craving here at home. The result was a very inspired, delicious, and very nutritious breakfast.

My juice included:

1/2 Med. Papaya
6 Strawberries
1 Med. Banana
1 Tbsp. Raw Honey
1/2 C. Cultured Coconut Milk (Plain)



I am drinking my last few sips and tempted to make another batch...Mercado San Pedro it is not, but I got to nourish my soul, heart and body by preparing myself such a healthy meal, and giving myself a chance to reflect on such a beautiful part of my experience in Peru...more to come...

xo

Homecoming

I know, I know...it's been awhile...

I won't bore you with excuses - truth is sometimes even the best intentions in life get sidetracked. So, I will just say that it has been a very full year and a half since my last post ;-) In that time, I was laid off from my job, traveled to Europe for the first time on a 10 day tour of Paris, started back at SF State to finish my B.A. in Marketing Communications, and I have been working on my own as a Marketing/Communications/Social Media consultant. For the past year, I have also served on the board of directors of Casa de Milagros, an orphanage in Cusco, Peru. As a result, I had the opportunity to travel back to Cusco two more times - this past January for one month, and recently for a three month trip that I just returned from in August. I am currently taking 5 classes at SFSU in an attempt to graduate (once and for all) this December...

Whew! I felt exhausted just writing all that down! ;-) It has also helped me again realize that - while I have yet to meet my fitness goals that I set out to accomplish at the onset of this blog - I have indeed been moving forward in other important areas of my life, and I am ok with that. However...since being back from Peru - I have to admit that I let my "vacation mode" go on a little too long, and as a result, have a few extra pounds to show for it. The challenges of traveling are many, and I know all too well the amount of physical, emotional and mental stress I have been through the last few months.

I am ready to reset, recharge, and regenerate!

This past week I have finally felt "settled", and more grounded than I have felt in months. I have reinstated some wonderful habits such as cooking at home, working out on a daily/regular basis, and clearing my calendar so that I can spend some time at home. I was also able to get in a couple of yoga classes - which truly are invaluable.

The thing I missed the most and which affected my nutrition greatly was not having my own kitchen and not being able to cook for myself for three months. So, yesterday I went shopping for some amazing organic produce, and last night I tried an amazing new recipe: Quinoa Carrot Zucchini Casserole It turned out so good that I am making a double batch again today so I can stock it and have it on hand for the week ;-) So much healthier, tastier, and cheaper than anything I could have eaten at a restaurant...

So - I AM BACK! ;-) Looking forward to wrapping up 2010 with a bang - stronger, wiser, and inspired from the lessons and experiences of the past year, and ready to kick my butt into shape!!

Kale Salad Recipe I Made Today!

Got this from the Whole Foods website - used some amazingly fresh organic Kale from my trip to Rainbow Grocery Wed night, and added some chopped organic gala apple and raw pine nuts...in the fridge cooling as I type - can't wait to enjoy!!

Serves 6
The key to this salad is finely chopping the kale leaves. The finer they are, the more they will absorb the dressing and the easier they will be to eat. This salad is a great opportunity to practice good knife skills.

Ingredients
2 bunches kale leaves, stems and tough ribs removed, leaves very finely chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Method
Place kale leaves in a serving bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, chili powder and salt. Pour over kale and toss to combine well. Taste and add more salt or chili powder if desired.

Nutrition
Per serving (about 4oz/110g-wt.): 130 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 240mg sodium, 10g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 0g sugar), 3g protein

Journaling Day 13 - Sunday 6/8/09

Took supplements at 8:15 AM w/ 20 oz. of water

Breakfast (9:45):
* 5 Organic Strawberries
* Same Breakfast Burrito as yesterday (see Journaling Day 12)

Lunch (1:30):
* Coconut Curry Veggies & Tofu
* Sauteed Green Beens
* 1/2 c Brown Rice
* 2 Arnold Palmers

Snack (5:00):
* Soaked Raw Almonds w/ Cinammon & Stevia
* Organic Braeburn Apple

Decided to stay at office until late since I got there late, so I worked until 7:00, and then decided to take a walk through beautiful Palo Alto and enjoy the rest of the day's sun. Walked for about 30 minutes - then went into Whole Foods to see what was on sale. Picked up some organic red leaf lettuce, red chard, dry black beans, salmon, and a few other misc. items. I also picked up a new Greends powder since I am running out of the one I had been having - here's the one I bought: http://www.amazinggrass.com/berry-green-superfood.html. I also got some Goji Berries, a new brand as well: http://www.himalania.com/index2.html#loadsite

Walked the 10 mins back to the office, worked for another hour, and left around 9:00PM. I drank another 20 or so oz. of water. Normally I don't like staying at the office that late - but I got a lot done, and I knew I would be working virtually most of the week, so I was ok with it. Got home and I wasn't super hungry, so I decided to have a lighter dinner and prepared a yummy smoothie with a packet of this greens/chocolate protein meal drink I found at Whole Foods.

Dinner (9:30):
* 5 raw cashews
* Smoothie:
** 4 oz unsweetened soymilk
** 4 oz almond milk
** 1/2 banana
** 1 Tsp. Sprouted Flax Seeds
** 1 Tbsp Almond Butter
** 1 packet Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion (see nutrition breakdown below)



Took supplements at midnight, and heading to bed now...a little later than I wanted to, but get to sleep in a bit tomorrow...

Journaling Day 12 - Sunday 6/7/09

Lots of yoga - body is weary but so so happy ;-) Lots of wonderful philosophy and tantric study as well...so enlightening. Got sun today! Made myself a healthy lunch and enjoyed it outside with my new "Kula" friends...2 Glasses of wine - but would have normally had more...I planned to have two and that's all I had. That is a win for me!

Journaling Day 11 - Saturday 6/6/09

Today was a beautiful day ;-) This weekend is the second of 6 Anusara yoga immersion weekends - 9 hours of Anusara yoga practice and philosophy/spirituality study. This morning I was slightly nervous - since the last weekend we had done a 5-6 hour practice each day that was incredibly challenging and left me sore for a few days after...but thankfully today started with a half day of philosophy and spirituality study - so we didn't get to the asana practice until the afternoon - and I felt challenged, but safe and totally competent...

I woke up and took my supplements with 20 oz. of water. I knew I would need some energy today, so I decided to add some grains to my diet.

Breakfast (9:30):
* Power Smoothie
* 1/2 c Steel Cut Oatmeal
* 5 Blackberries
* Splash of Soymilk

I packed a power salad and some sprouted almonds (raw almonds soaked in water, stevia, cinammon adn orgnic vanilla extract). We had a break around 12:00 and had a snack:

Morning Snack (12:00):
* half the bag of almonds (about 15 almonds)
* 1 cup of caffeine free orange spice tea

Had 16 oz of water throughout the morning session. Decided to go to the Organic Thai place downstairs for a delicious lunch and save my salad for an afternoon snack.

Lunch (2:15):
* Green Curry Vegetables
* Brown Rice
* Plain Iced Tea

Afternoon Snack (7:30)
* Remainder of the Almonds (about 15 almonds)

I ate the almonds as soon as we got out of class - to tied me over until I got home to make dinner. On my way home, I stopped and went shopping to Trader Joe's - got some produce, nuts, gluten-free granola and a couple of other staples. I decided I would have the portobellos I had bought earlier in the week, and decided to accompany it with some sweet potatoes ;-) I was really proud of myself - as soon as I got home, I got to prepping dinner, and while the mushrooms and sweet potatoes cooked, I lit some candles and took a wonderful epsom salt bath to relax my muscles...felt wonderful!

Dinner (9:30):
* Baked Sweet Potato spears w/ olive oil, celtic sea salt & pepper
* 2 Med. Portobello mushrooms w/ olive oil, celtic sea salt, pepper & splash balsamic
* Power salad (the one I had packed in the morning)
* 1 oz. herb goat cheese
* 10 Multi-seed crackers (gluten free)
* 1 Glass Sangiovese red wine

I ate dinner and am now just watching TV - about to head to bed...plan on waking up around 8:00 and reading for about an hour then heading out around 9:45 for day 4 of the immersion...so excited!! ;-) I didn't get much sun - a few minutes at lunch time - but I will definitely do that tomorrow - I plan on taking a walk at lunch...Just had 16 oz. water and heading to bed. good night!