Day 14: Live the moment…

“You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.” -Michelle Obama

I love Sundays.  I love waking on my own without the aid of an alarm. It’s usually quite early, and since Andrew is still asleep, I sit in silence enjoying my morning coffee, browsing the internet, reading a book, or even just looking out the window. It’s completely serene.

I typically look forward to Sundays because it also means spin class! There are 2 back to back classes at 9 and 10 am and I do both of them. I am technically supposed to do abs as well, but I always skip them (oops) and get groceries instead. I don’t do both spin classes because I want to ‘earn’ treat meals later in the day, nor do I do them because I feel guilty about last night. I do them because I truly enjoy them. The regular instructor is great, she always picks good music, her energy is contagious, and honestly it just sets the tone for the rest of the day and week.

Today’s class was fantastic, hot, but fantastic.

But first, let me take a selfie.

If you’ve ever done a spin class, or any class such as yoga, body pump, etc. you probably know what I mean when I say ‘sometimes I get caught up in my thoughts’. I am trying to remain focused on the instructor and the rhythm, but i’m tired, i’m gasping for breath, and there it is…those random idle thoughts filling up my head. Sometimes it’s about that chore I still haven’t done, other times it will be some revelation about my life, eating, etc. that apparently can only come about when i’m covered in sweat and don’t have a pen handy. Either way, I will at least once per class be standing when I should be sitting, be slowly pedaling when I should be racing, etc and all because I have zoned out and haven’t heard the cues.

Most of the time it only lasts a few moments and I quickly catch up, but I often wonder if I have a dazed look on my face, if I drool slightly (just kidding), or if I think out loud. Oh god, have you ever zoned out on a bus and then when you realize what you were doing everyone was looking at you and you can’t be quite certain if you said something? No? Only me…  well that’s obviously an issue for another day.

Today, like any other day, I found my mind wandering on a million other things at once and then it happened. I made a conscious decision to stop them; to be fully present in the moment—enjoying the pain slowly creeping into my quads and glutes thanks to built up lactic acid.

I want to be fully ‘there’ in all situations. I think i’ve mentioned before that I usually have several “to do” lists going at the same time, and i’m working on learning to chill out, but it’s a work in progress. I set my intentions for the remainder of the class, enjoyed every moment of actively participating, and it was so nice to workout without thinking of everything else that usually crowds my mind. I can’t say i’ll never get distracted or sidetracked, but I have made it my mission to focus on what i’m doing and enjoy being in the moment WHILE i’m in the moment; to be fully present in all situations. As should you.

Namaste.

June is for Lovers! Well technically, Virginia is for lovers…

I apologize for being away for the past 2 weeks and essentially missing the last 2 weeks of my 6 week personal challenge. I didn’t quit the challenge, but it’s a long story so I will write a post specifically focused on that later in the week but for today it’s all about JUNE and what I have planned. (Please note, I’ve literally tried to post this for the past 3 days, but if I include any photos in the post it will fail, so let’s pretend there are photos AND that today is May 31st and not June 2nd…)

June Challenge! My goals for the month:

1. Building Muscle. I’m not sure if I mentioned this in my last post before disappearing for 2 weeks, but I discovered a beach body weight training series called BODY BEAST that I LOVE. I have been doing it consistently for 2 weeks now. So as you can probably guess, I will be continuing this program during the month. The program is 90 days, and i’m 16 days in. There is a long time to go yet, but i’m already noticing a change in my body, and I can’t wait to see myself at the 30, 60, and finally 90 day mark.

2. Focusing on my abs. Planks, Planks, and more planks! I completed the 5 minute plank challenge last month, and i’m aiming for 8 minutes this month! Additionally, i’ll be incorporating good old fashioned clean, nutritious foods (upping protein intake), plenty of ab exercises, and some cardio. I’ll have them popping before you know it.

3. Stretching/Yin Yoga. With all of this added weight training I’ve been a ball of knots. Seriously there have been days that my hip flexors have been SCREAMING at me. I am not forsaking my headstand/inversion love, but for now my focus will be on stretching and rebuilding rather than if I can get into a crazy yoga pose. (Though i’m sure i’ll attempt a few).

4. Eating clean. During my 6 week personal challenge I attempted to eat completely raw and didn’t really consider any alternatives until I HAD to start eating cooked food. This month, I want to eat as clean as possible to fuel my body so it can be the best it can be, but my own rule is NO RESTRICTION. I will eat raw foods, cooked foods, fruit, veggies, beans, etc. and as long as they’re clean ingredients THAT is my main focus.

4. Learn to Relax. Exactly what it sounds like–just going to take time this month to breathe, take long walks, bubble baths, and honestly just enjoy life. With work, my exercise routine, and all the little things life throws our way it’s so easy to let stress take over. Unfortunately for me that is exactly what has been happening the past 2 weeks, it’s started to affect my sleep which is affecting everything else. So, this month, no matter what is thrown my way I am going to take a deep breath, relax, and let it roll off my back like rain droplets. (I have a post coming soon about how stress has been wreaking havoc on me).

5. FOCUS. I tend to be the type of person who wants a million different things at once. I want to walk in 6 inch heels, but not have sore feet, to be a yogi, lift weights like a beast, run a marathon, get another degree, move up at work, travel more, eat better, cook more, read more, learn to roller blade etc. As you can see it’s hard to fit EVERYTHING I want into 1 day, and my problem is I often try. The problem with trying to do everything at once is you’re not really completing anything because it’s taking twice as long since there’s less time to devote to a certain item. This month, i’m choosing a few things and hoping to see better results rather than spreading myself thin among 100 different things.

In case you didn’t notice there is a bit of a trend going on this month– I need to focus my attention on a few things at a time, and learn to relax when I can’t get to everything.

Here is a general idea of what a typical week will look like for the next 30 (technically 28) days.

1. Exercise: Will focus on  Body Beast workouts 5-6 days per week, 2-3 Insanity workouts each week, and 1 or 2 days of spinning (what can I say, I love spinning), as well as planks, ab work, and restorative yoga.
2. Food: I’ll be eating lots of veggies, salads, fruit, smoothies, and just doing whatever makes my body feel good. I am also going to add more protein to my diet, I really have noticed how much better i’ve been feeling with extra protein.
3. And finally the resting phase: This will include foam rolling, yin yoga, chats with my mom and sisters, bubble baths, walks with my husband, and maybe even a few massages. Basically anything that puts my mind at ease.

And before I go, prepare yourself for several blog posts that I am working on for this week.

1. Things I loved in May. (Products, foods, music, etc.) I plan to write one of these at the end of each month just to give a little review of things I fell in love with for the month some new, some oldies but goodies.

2. My 6 week personal challenge recap. What I learned, what I liked, what I didn’t, etc.

3. A recipe. It’s a surprise, so I’m not going to tell you what it is…but if you follow me on instagram you’ll probably be able to guess. Ps. My instagram is @regarae.

Have a wonderful rest of the day, and here’s to a wonderful week and month ahead!

*Namaste*

Spin-a-Thon and Treasure Maps…

Ahhh Monday morning. I don’t have a gym membership until February 1st (It’s a long story, but ultimately I forgot to reapply even tho I got daily reminders for 9 days leading up to the deadline)so I found myself hitting snooze an extra time this morning, and why not, I have time….

Crap! Nope, I definitely don’t have time. Fast forward to 20 minutes until my bus comes. I have to shower, make a smoothie, do my hair, grab lunch, get dressed….did I forget anything? Keys? Check. Work pass. Check? Mascara? Check Check. Okay…let’s do this. As I run down the stairs on my way to catch the bus I realize my lunch is sitting on the counter. Do I go back for it and catch the next bus or press on? Without really thinking about it, I push open the back door of my condo stepping outside– at the same time thinking “Take a deep breath, you’re on time, you can raid your emergency cupboard at work and walk to the grocery store for a salad if you’re hungry”. And I do just that, I take a deep breath and immediately choke as the air burns my throat and lungs. It is a frigid -27 degrees outside and my lungs are protesting-Big time.

I make it to the bus. I sit down. And I laugh… there is no one else on the bus as this is the first stop, so I don’t seem completely insane, tho it’s possible the bus driver was a little worried for his safety. I might starve to death today because I forgot most of my food at home, but I remembered mascara and lip gloss. Apparently I have a fight, flight, or fashion disaster response and it’s obvious which one took precedence this morning. Oops.

None of that had anything to do with my REAL reason for this blog post tonight, but if you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you know I enjoy a good ramble.

Onward to the good stuff—Goodlife is hosting a Spin 4 Kids event on MARCH 2nd to raise awareness for child obesity and encourage youth to get more active. 7 of my friends and I are doing this because it’s an opportunity to spend time together and workout as a group–nothing like a little friendly competition to encourage you to peddle a little harder and faster–while showing support for a great cause.

So many children are overweight and obese; it’s an epidemic that is slowly turning into the norm, and it’s killing our nation. Children who should find it easy to run around outside struggle to walk up and down a single flight of stairs without getting out of breath. It breaks my heart to stand in line behind a family where the 8 year old child is 20 lbs heavier than me. Of course the parents need to make better choices, but if kids have role models to look up to, and see exercise and activity as fun (much like video games appeal to them) I think we can help get them more active.  As with all events of this nature we are required to raise money for the cause, and I am coming to you–dear reader–with a request and a promise. I promise to spin my absolute hardest if you will sponsor me. Actually, I promise to spin my hardest anyway because this is a cause I feel very strongly about…but i’d also really appreciate it if you donate.

To donate to me Click HERE

To Donate to my Team Click HERE (We’re team honey badger because we’re badass)

This season of The Biggest Loser has also taken the idea of child obesity pretty seriously. They have 3 child ambassadors on the show in hopes of appealing to a younger audience. I can’t remember the exact quote, but Bob Harper said that in order to get youth interested in exercise we have to choose activities that can be made fun. Did I play Nintendo as a child? I sure did, but did I also climb trees (or rather fall out of trees), run around with my dog, and spend hours outside usually searching for buried treasure? Uh…Yeah. You should know my parents would create weird fake treasure maps and give them to my sisters and I. The first one to find the treasure got a prize (actually we all got a prize but the winner got to pick theirs first). As a child–and a nerdy child at that–the idea that I could read an extra 30 minutes (my ultimate prize) ensured I ran around like a crazy person trying to figure out where the flag was buried before my sisters could find it. Now obviously my parents kicked us outside to get a break from the whining and fighting, but they also did us a favour by choosing an activity that appealed to us AND ensured we got lots of exercise. Brilliant.

Today’s post has been brought to you by nostalgia, a love for spinning, and a nerdy childhood fascination with ‘The hardy boys’. If you feel strongly about educating parents on the importance of exercise for their kids, getting youth involved with fun activities, AND want an epic blog post recounting the events of March 2nd –the day my butt dies– then please take the time to follow the link and donate! If you decide to donate, please drop me a line so that I can stop by your blog (if you have one) and thank you. I appreciate any and all support.

Yoga and Juicing Challenge Update

Ever have one of those days where you plan to workout AFTER work–You wake up excited to workout, get to work and still want to workout, have your lunch and can’t wait to workout, sit through afternoon meetings and ALL you can think about is working out, then 4pm rolls around and the only thing on your mind is a plate of fruit while you watch Vampire diaries (Insert your own guilty pleasure tv show here) and relax.

You haven’t? Well you’re a better person than I. However, if you’re reading this as what I would consider to be a ‘normal’ human being, chances are you’ve felt like skipping a workout at least once or twice in your life to sleep/eat/shop, etc. Well that is exactly how I felt last Thursday. However, I had already messed up on the first day of the detox and I was NOT about to admit defeat in this challenge, so I sucked it up and headed to the gym. Truthfully? Even after I got to the gym I wanted to go home. I knew that I wanted to do a yoga class, so I pulled out a mat and left my jacket on it so i’d HAVE to go after spin class. Yep…nothing like a little self inflicted mind game to keep you motivated.

I did an hour spin class, followed by yoga–pretty much had to or risk losing a sweater. I nearly fell asleep in the final minutes of yoga, but I felt so energized and uplifted. I felt so good following my workout (even tho I was tired) that I went home, repacked my gym bag, and did the same thing again Friday morning at 6am! I think I just needed that 1 right choice to get me back on track. I consider January 3rd to be the start date of the challenge (since the 2nd was a total write off) and I have been killing it ever since!

I have been faithfully juicing. Tonight was a wonderful pineapple, celery, spinach, medley that went down so incredibly smooth. I am still keeping it rather simple with my juices but i’m slowly getting more adventurous.

I have completed a yoga session each day as well. I have gone to as many classes as possible, but whenever I have not been able to attend class I have done DVD’s at home.

If you’re looking to sweat and really challenge yourself check out the following DVD’s. I recently purchased the Vinyasa Yoga DVD and absolutely love Ichih’s energy. I also discovered that she teaches at a studio near my work, so I am going to sign up and try her class in person. It’s hot yoga, so i’m slightly terrified (hated it the only 2 times i’ve gone–several years ago), but this is a year for challenging myself–SO here’s to pulling up the big girl socks and doing it!

Vinyasa Yoga with Ichih Wang

 

Power Yoga: Mind, Body, Warrior. By Mark Laham.  (I also have his Yin Yoga DVD)

One of the things about Mark Laham’s DVD that I absolutely love is that you are able to do the sun salutations on their own. I don’t always have time in the morning to complete an entire 60 minute session, but can often squeeze in the 20 minutes required for the sun salutation.

I realize it’s still relatively early in the challenge, but I am feeling confident in my ability to see this through.  Of course I want to finish the challenge and be able to say that I did not slip up once–hey! I’m competitive even if it is just with myself. No slip ups would be great, but the longer this challenge continues I am quickly realizing that is really not where my focus should be. I have embarked on this journey to cleanse my mind and body over the course of 30 days, and hopefully move into the TERRIFYING slightly intimidating world of Raw Veganism. It may only be a few days in, but I feel great. Each morning I wake feeling better than the day before will motivate me to push that much harder.

This week if you find yourself desperate to skip a workout, go anyway. After your workout take a few minutes to thank yourself for putting your mental and physical health at the forefront. If you attend a yoga class allow yourself to draw energy from others around you, and take deep breaths and calm your mind until you’re giving off the type of energy you’d like to be drawing in.

Namaste.

What do you mean I like cherries?

*On the phone with my mother earlier tonight*

Mom: What else did you buy?
Me: To juice? Well I got beets, and cherries…
Mom: Oh, so you like cherries now?
Me: No, I still hate cherries but someone told me they taste amazing with beet juice and figured I would try something   new.
Mom: You realize you’re being ridiculous right? Cherries are delicious, I can’t believe you’ve fought it this long, just bite one?
Me: No thanks…they’re gross–but maybe the juice tastes okay?
Mom: Just bite one, right now…
Me: Ugh…okay fine…hold on, i’ll bite one.
30 seconds later…
Mom: You’re chewing so much, is it that bad?
Me: Confession time? I am on my 3rd cherry…these are soooo good!! How is this possible?

So as you can probably gather from my rather interesting conversation with my mom, I discovered tonight that I love cherries. This blows my mind for a multitude of reasons, but the main one is that almost any time someone asks me a food I dislike I say cherries or avocado. As far as I was concerned I didn’t  like raw cherries, candied cherries, cherry scented things, cherry flavoured things, nothing. How exactly did this happen? No idea…but, I should probably give avocado another chance too.

Now that I think about it, I disliked mushrooms, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, and raspberries as a child but LOVE all of these things now so it only  makes sense that my taste has developed over the years. Being a foodie, I periodically try foods I grew up hating to see if maybe I like them now but have never done that with cherries. I was just so sure I hated them. Weird. Oh, and for the record…I still hate brussels sprouts prepared the way she did them, so that was definitely part of the problem then–Sorry mama.

I love trying new flavours, textures, dishes, etc. I love food. Not everything I try is a success…I have some pretty major issues with texture so I think maybe anytime i’ve ever had cherries they were soft and mushy and that turned me off OR maybe I was just insane. who knows really.

I love fruit, so it’s not like i’ve been suffering from a lack of variation, but now that I know I love cherries i’m going to be adding those to the list of treats. So thank you mom for making me try one tonight. Oh, and why was I going to put cherry juice with beet juice if I hate it? Well, like I said…I like to experiment so I was hoping the 2 together would be a success. (I’m not sure if I even like beet juice).

Well i’m off to bed. There is a 2 hour spinning session in my future tomorrow morning, and I need lots of sleep to be mentally and physically prepared for it. It’s been a few days since i’ve posted regarding January’s juicing, raw vegan, yoga challenge…I will be posting updates tomorrow so stay tuned. Have a great night and if you learned anything from today’s post–give something you don’t like a try, you might surprise yourself (or you might gag but it’s worth a shot).

Great Canadian Winter 1/Regena 0

Last night:
Energetic Regena: You know what? I think i’m going to go to the gym in the morning. I know it’s late, I should have gone to bed hours ago, so i’ll probably be tired, but its vacation so I don’t have an excuse not to.
Pack up my gym bag. Set my alarm for 5:15. I’m Definitely going to the gym in the morning…
This Morning:
5:15 AM. !!Beep Beep Beep!!
Half Asleep Regena: Ugh, I don’t feel like going to the gym, but I suppose I should… *Flip back douvet* Brrrrr…..It’s so warm under the covers tho, and so cold out there. Nope. Not happening, i’ll go to the gym later.

And this my friends is a constant battle Canadians face each morning. It’s -20 outside (or colder), everything is covered in snow and ice, the house is warm, and you find yourself envying the animals that grow a thicker coat of fur. (That last thought is a fleeting one tho, no woman in her right mind wants to have to wax legs covered in a special winter hair…OUCH!!). 95% of the time, the fitness fanatic in me jumps out of bed before my brain has time to say “DON’T DO IT”, but other mornings like today…I am content to reset my alarm, flip over, and snuggle with my furnace of a husband.

In my defence, in the 20 seconds it took me to decide getting out of bed was not going to happen, I remembered that the gym offers a noon spinning class and could just go to that class instead.  Since i’ve never gone (because I work) I didn’t realize there isn’t a class on Friday at 12. ooops. To make up for the lack of spinning yesterday and today (actually it’s been a few days) I am joining several of my girlfriends for a spin-a-thon tomorrow! Okay it’s not really a spin-a-thon but we’re doing 2 back to back classes tomorrow morning. (I’m supposed to do the same thing on Sunday, but I think that’s a little too adventurous for my poor hip flexors).

Since I was not able to go to spinning today I decided to do a 1000 Rep workout. Everyone is doing them these days so clearly that means I should too! This is what I did: 10 Reps 10 Rounds. I am ashamed to say that I only made it to 7 rounds. I’ll do better next time. It takes about 3:30 to complete a round maybe if i’d gone a little slower I would have been able to complete 3 more.

10 Burpees
10 Squats
10 Toe touch sit ups
10 Pushups
10 Jump squats
10 Reverse lunges
10 Plank Jacks
10 Mountain Climbers
10 Split jumps
10 Leg raise with reverse crunch

After the workout, I refuelled with a Green Smoothie.

 

I forgot to mention BUT my husband ordered me a juicer on Boxing Day SOOOOO I am going to be able to make my own orange juice very soon! I get giddy thinking up the different juice blends i’ll be able to make!! I have never been one for vegetable juice so it will take time to find my perfect balance, but i’m sure I can do it. I will make a post about my new toy as soon as I get it.

And finally…I tried out the Ciate Sequined manicure kit!

I love the way it looks, but my love pretty much ends there. They’re messy (all over my bathroom counter), snag on everything, and chip off easily–but I was willing to overlook that because they reflect the light beautifully, have received a ton of compliments, and well…they look pretty. However, I could not overlook the giant scratch/cut/welts on my sides, legs, and arm from them. Getting dressed, changing clothes, etc they are sharp and unless I put on 5 coats of nail polish the edges are quite jagged. So let me be a cautionary tale, they do scratch. I also got a sequin in my eye this morning. It popped off while I was putting on eye cream and wedged itself in my eye. I was worried it would cut me and i’d go blind (obviously not panicked at all) but I got it out before it could do any noticeable damage.

So verdict at first glance–> They’re really pretty, but they’re a hassle to clean up AND are jagged enough to scratch you. I want to wear them for New Years Eve…but I think the length of time it takes me to remove them tomorrow will determine if I wear sequins on Monday or not. I will probably just do 1 accent nail. But then I have been known to do foolish things for beauty, so who knows…maybe i’ll do my toes too.

Green Smoothie Challenge Wrap up

Where has the time gone? I feel like I just started this challenge a day or 2 ago and it’s already over. When I started, I had a few people tell me that I would be hungry the entire time, weak, moody, etc and it’s been the opposite. I’ve felt full (other than before meal time), had tons of energy, and other than work stress, have been relatively calm.

 1. I read on several other blogs that it’s normal to experience headaches, a coated tongue, phlegm, break outs, and other symptoms and expected some of those, but other than a headache on day 3 and 4 (which went away with 1.5 litres of water) I didn’t have any real negative side effects.

2. Another thing I’ve read is that people tend to lose their cravings. I think it would have to go for longer than 10 days. I didn’t have any sugar cravings that were so bad I HAD to have a cookie that very moment, but the cravings definitely came periodically and haven’t really gone away. They just happen to be mild. That being said…I devoured a 1/2 pint of blackberries last night. Oops.

3. I’ve felt light, slim, and have had VERY LITTLE bloating. I don’t eat much salt, but do eat beans/lentils daily and no matter how I prepare them, I always get a certain amount of bloating. I ate very few of them this week and I could tell the difference.

4. I didn’t weigh or measure myself prior to starting the challenge, and I don’t think I’ve lost any weight, but I feel great. My stomach appears flatter, but I think that’s because I haven’t been bloated at all or retaining any water.

Overall, this was a great challenge. I am glad I did it and will probably do a similar ‘detox’ several times during the year. And for those of you who may be nervous…it’s only 10 days!! (and it’s not ONLY green smoothies, you are eating food–veggies and nuts are very filling).

There were a few other issues I was going to talk about in tonight’s post, but didn’t get to. However, tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I get the feeling, my co-workers will be hovering over boxes of chocolates so i’ll save my commentary of holiday eating til then.

Finally, remember yesterday when I bragged about doubling up on my spin classes this morning? Yeah, that didn’t happen.

What I forgot to factor into the equation was the fact that I did an insane amount of squats and lunges yesterday. My quads, hamstrings, and glutes were NOT happy with me today. Energy wise, I could have done another class but I was so sore and tight that decided it wasn’t worth torturing myself. It’s also important to note that I have bad knees and although spinning doesn’t usually irritate them, when my hip flexors and IT band are tight, I end up limping for days.

When I was getting ready for class, something sparkly caught my eye…yep, definitely nail polish. 😀

Green Smoothie Challenge Day 9 & A night of glitter…everywhere!

Today I decided to organize my bathroom. It began with a well thought out plan to move my nail polish from the drawer they’re currently sliding around in, to a shelf where i’d be able to display them (therefore remembering that I actually DO have 10+ purple shades and should probably stop buying more) and get to them easier. And then THIS happened…the incident was so gruesome I am still in shock. A girl is allowed to be dramatic in this sort of a situation…

This happens to be Essie “Set in Stones” luxeffects polish. I didn’t buy it when it first came out and many months later when I decided I need it in my life it was sold out everywhere. I JUST got this polish from a friend on my birthday less than 2 months ago. WHY would this have to be the polish that bit the dust!?!?

Not to brag or anything, but I have dropped COUNTLESS several bottles of nail polish before and this has never happened.

While I wept and cleaned up polish, I realized it wasn’t all bad. As a matter of fact, the look of my bathroom floor has greatly improved–there are now tons of pretty reflective glitter pieces all over it.

I so very badly considered soothing my pain with a large glass of Pinot Noir, but other than a nice warm hug (which almost made it worth it), it only would have added to the dismay. A glass of wine would mean i’d feel not only distraught over the loss of a beautiful polish but also guilty for cheating and breaking the challenge 1 day before it’s over. And I didn’t make it this far to do that.

This morning I went to the market with hubby and picked up some beautiful greens. I cleaned, chopped, and packaged them up to make it more convenient for early morning blending.

Baby Spinach, Green and Black kale, and Collards! Yum!!

How delicious does this look? Although tomorrow is the last day of the green smoothie challenge, I am going to continue having green  smoothies throughout the holidays.  Christmas and Boxing Day I am going to let my hair down and indulge (within reason of course), then it’s back to responsibility-ville with me!  Typically, I treat myself just a little every day between Christmas and New Years Eve. Sometimes it’s something as simple as a cookie or 1/2 cup coconut ice cream with peanut butter drizzle. It’s my way of not going crazy and using “it’s Christmas” as an excuse. (More about that tomorrow). However,  this year is going to be different–I promised to go green December 27-30. It’s only 4 days, but i’m nervous. I like solid food, i’m not 4 months old. However, I don’t tend to back down from a challenge either so it’s on.

Tomorrow is the final day of the Green Smoothie Challenge, so I will consider all parts of the past 10 days and discuss my feelings about this challenge–but it’s pretty obvious they’re mostly positive. I plan to also examine  the classic “Oh have another, it’s Christmas” logic/excuse that I have heard many times a day EVERYDAY for the past 2 weeks, as well as, share my non traditional Christmas meal plan! I know you can’t wait!

I plan to do back to back Spin classes tomorrow morning…I should probably get some sleep. Who knows, tomorrow’s blog post, might be about the day I finally throw up at the gym. Let’s hope not. Good Night!

Green Smoothie Challenge Day 3 & Warm Mushroom Salad with Cashews

I conned one of my friends into joining me for spin class this morning. If memory serves me correctly, my butt hurt so badly the night after my first spin class I could barely walk, stand, sit, or lie down without grimacing. I also swore to never go to another class. (Luckily I enjoy torturing myself and decided to give it another shot and have been hooked ever since). Hopefully she’s doing better than my first day.

I hurried home after class dreaming of green smoothie and salad, but since it’s so ridiculously cold outside I couldn’t settle for a simple ‘cold’ salad, so I decided to make one of my FAVOURITE salads–warm mushroom salad. I had to make a few adjustments to make it smoothie challenge acceptable, but it was incredible. Exactly what I needed.

Make the dressing before starting the salad

Chop mushrooms, shallot, and rosemary

Did I mention I love mushrooms? Especially portabello and shitakes. Oooh, all this talk of mushrooms makes me crave mushroom soup.

Throw everything in a pan and let the magic happen.

 

Chop cashews and assemble salad. Combine salad and dressing, plate, top with mushrooms and shallots and finish off by sprinkling cashews on top!

 Warm Mushroom Salad with Cashews

1 large portebello mushroom cap
6 shitake mushrooms
1 shallot
¾ tsp fresh rosemary
½ tsp chilli flakes (I like heat, use less if you do not)
¼ tsp pepper
pinch of salt
2 cups romaine lettuce (Note: I typically use spinach or arugula but I’m in a romaine mood as of late)
¼ cup grated carrot
¼ cup julienned cabbage
¼ cup chopped cucumber
8 grape tomatoes, halved
6 cashews, roughly chopped

Dressing:
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
½ tsp grated ginger
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Lemon, Juiced
Orange, juiced
¼ tsp each dried oregano, basil, garlic powder
2 tbsp sesame oil –
Salt and pepper to taste

Before beginning the salad, make the dressing and set aside to allow flavours to marry. (Note: I typically use 1 Tbsp maple syrup and 2-3 tbsp olive or sesame oil but these ingredients are not green smoothie challenge acceptable but definitely use these if you’re not doing the challenge).

Slice mushrooms and shallot and saute with rosemary, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. While the mushrooms and shallots cook, assemble the salad. Toss the dressing and salad together, top with cooked mushrooms and chopped cashews.

Green Egg–no ham. Green smoothie challenge Day 2!

7am – Make an amazing green smoothie with spinach, mango, pineapple, strawberries, carrot juice and flax. I made a large batch so I could have some later in the day as well.

12pm – Finished spin class. Feeling kind of hungry…might as well finish up that green smoothie.

“What the heck!? It’s congealed!!”    …oh right, I put a ton of flax in there. For all of my vegan bakers out there, you know that ground flax mixed with water = flax egg. A smoothie with the texture of an egg…not cool.

So I learned something today. No flax in the smoothie until I’m about to drink it! Or else it turns to pudding haha. I know there are a lot of people who make overnight oats with chia seeds and WANT that gel texture but I’m weird when it comes to texture and this one was NOT doing it for me.

I’m SUPER mildly excited for tomorrow’s green smoothie. I am going to spinning tomorrow morning, so I prepped all of the fruit and veggies tonight to make it easier. I even decided to buy some bananas and freeze them in chunks to see if I can tolerate that in a smoothie. (Cross your fingers for me!)

juicy kiwi!

Drool! This is going to be so good in tomorrow’s smoothie!