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Showing posts from October 23, 2011

You are what you eat

Although my recent education involved nutrition/dietetics, I come from a background of exercise. I will never loose sight of my primary passion which is exercise physiology and understanding the what's, why's and how's of the body during exercise. I think we'd all agree that exercise and nutrition fit so nicely together. For both are important in living a quality life, while reducing your risk for disease. In regard to nutrition, there's so much chatter in our current society that it is almost overwhelming to hear another research study, "expert" opinion, philosophy, thought or ground-breaking fact in terms of good/bad food, diets and health. Having said that, I do appreciate you continuing to read my blog (and LIKING my FACEBOOK page) in an effort to learn how to develop a healthy relationship with food and make the most out of your fitness/athletic journey. Understanding that we are all on our own personal mission of health, wellness, nutrition and fitne

Grilled Eggplant Salad

Over the weekend, I picked out a few yummy finds including sand pears, collard greens (thanks Doris for sharing your bunch!) and purple eggplant. The sand pears were new to my taste buds but I absolutely LOVE them. If I could describe them, they taste like an apple jolly rancher mixed with a little pear taste. So sweet and crunchy. I have not yet learned to appreciate eggplant yet, except for eggplant on pizza, so I rubbed a little olive oil on sliced eggplant (eggplant loves to soak up oil!), sprinkled it with no salt seasoning, sliced a little garlic for on top and grilled it in the oven for until it was slightly brown. I set the oven at 450 degrees and it took around 10-15 minutes. While the eggplant was cooking, I heated up some whole grain wild rice. Karel just loves rice so since I believe that families/couples/friends, etc. should eat similar "healthy" foods but in different quantities, I served myself a nice portion of whole grains (I aim to eat 3-servings of whole gr

This week....

Happy 3-year wedding anniversary to my wonderful hubby Karel. When we were dating back in 2006, I would always tell Karel that we made the best teammates. Fast forward to 2011 (almost 2012!) and I couldn't agree more. What's great about teammates is that they have each others back. They are there for one another when times get tough and they create memories when life seems oh-so-wonderful. You want to be sure your teammate recognizes your strengths and you don't get upset when your teammate tells you your weaknesses. For you know that the best teammates only want to make you better. They are not selfish and want more for you, than they do for themselves. It's funny how in life you can learn so much from someone else, without recognizing it (at the time) that they are only making you a BETTER you for the future. What I love the most about Karel is his willingness to go out of his way for anyone. I am not sure if it is love, or just Karel, but he has a w

dark green OVERLOAD!!

...is never a bad thing so long as we focus on nutritional balance to meet our individual health, lifestyle and performance goals. I suppose I was incredibly inspired by FOOD DAY! I can't describe my excitement when I started my latest creation in my kitchen. Always with a vision and a primary ingredient, but never with a plan. Although I know the many benefits of Kale - which is now the "superman" of dark greens" - I continue to say "I haven't yet learned to appreciate it". When I traveled abroad to Japan in 7th grade, I was told by my teacher that we should try new things but if we don't like what we try, to say "I haven't yet learned to appreciate it" rather than "I don't like it". Perhaps the former saying, rather than later, gives us some accountability that eventually we WILL like what we are trying. I find it incredibly important to be creative in your kitchen when trying new foods. Certain ingredients may over pow

HOT PRESS!!

I have way too much to blog about..which I hope is a good thing! I hope you had a fantastic FOOD DAY!! I am super excited to share my morning, which involved speaking to over 300 school kids about the importance of adding more COLOR to their diet. I also had the kids try NEW foods like fresh cilantro (pic below) as well as quinoa, edamame, greek yogurt, raisins (a sweet alternative to candy) and wheat thins (a whole grain alternative to chips). I was so inspired by Food Day that I couldn't wait to make dinner. When my tri-season comes to an end, I gladly welcome the cooler temperatures as well as my ability to try new foods and get more creative in the kitchen. Whereas I LOVE summer fruits, I absolutely LOVE the flavors that come from fall/winter foods. For I am on a journey, just like you, in appreciating the goodness of wholesome foods and because I have no "rules" in my diet, I believe in following the same advice that I give to others. I believe that falling in love

Happy Food Day!!

I invite you to try a full day of REAL food. One day to put away/pass on the bars, frozen lunches, fast-food meals and heavily processed foods and to spend today appreciating the food that you put into your body. A few tips or helpful starters: emphasize foods with little to no ingredients (aim for 5 or less ingredients - all ingredients that you can pronounce and are found in nature), turn 1 "meal" into a "salad", start your day with a satisfying breakfast, eat a piece of whole fruit between meals and eat balanced meals comprised of whole grains or high fiber carbohydrates, lean/low fat protein and healthy unsaturated fats along with fruits and veggies. Enjoy this designated one day of emphasizing real food as possibly the start of learning how to create plant based meals to fuel your active lifestyle and exercise/training routine. Here's a few tips from Women's Health magazine (online) published October 21st: 4 Ways YOU Can Help EAT REAL this FOOD DAY • R