Confirmed IRONWOMAN.: March 2012

Going back to my roots

After a fairly long hiatus, I'm back. Nothing all that exciting to share about (although I do have something in the works I will eventually share about). This past week left me completely drained, exhausted, achy, lethargic, etc. I'm not sure what it was but it was one of those weeks... well, maybe I should say one of those couple/few weeks. After a good weekend of rest and getting food back on track I am glad to say I am feeling better. I was able to get back to running also, I did a short run yesterday (~30mins). I told a friend of mine it wasn't exactly a 'graceful' run but I was glad to say I got out and did it. Especially because the weather was crap yesterday. It's amazing how quickly your workouts can feel so hard after some time away. I seriously felt like a hippo escaping from captivity thudding down the street. My ankles felt like cheap toothpicks about to snap in half. It's best to face these realizations head on, I need to be more consistent. A little weight loss wouldn't hurt either.

Now onto food. I am going back to my roots. I really enjoy what I would call "healthy hippie food". This is how I used to eat all the time, until I moved to SpoCompton. I was a vegetarian for a while, and spent the other majority of my time as a 'flexitarian' eating primarily vegetarian but occasionally including fish and chicken. I'm not going back to vegetarian, at least not now anyway but I am in need of eating more plant based foods. So I made several salads that I could munch on over the next several days. Below is a sampler plate of the items. I have more of each of these in the fridge for quick eats this week.

OMG, my mouth is watering just looking at this picture. This is the type of stuff you see at your co-op delis, for fancy pants grab and go places in town. This is the type of eating I absolutely LOVE but sometimes get too lazy to prepare. So what is all of that stuff?! Well, allow me to explain... (listed from the bottom left, moving clockwise)

1. Golden beet salad with roasted walnuts and Gorgonzola (my favorite item on the plate)

2. Orzo salad with Mediterranean olives, fresh cherry tomatoes, feta and fig balsamic vinegar

3. Organic bamboo pearl rice with mung bean sprouts, green cabbage and sauteed baby bella mushrooms (sprayed with Liquid Aminos... taste like soy sauce... sooooo good)

4. Tri-color quinoa with cucumber, red pepper, red onion, carrots, avocado and honey ginger dressing

5. Red and green cabbage slaw with shredded carrots, celery seed apple cider vinaigrette

Whew... that was a mouthful (no pun intended). I have more where this came from this week. A chickpea salad and a navy bean salad too. I am cooking the beans in the crockpot currently. I'll post the picks when completed!

Adrenal fatigue and other ramblings

I have been convinced that I am dealing with adrenal fatigue these days. Adrenal fatigue is actually quite common with Americans because of 1) our stressful lives 2) the crap we eat 3) we are constantly overstimulated and over medicated. It can present itself in a variety of ways. I think that perhaps I may have come back to work too soon from the accident and haven't had enough time to reduce the stress that has been in my life the last 7 or so months. I have decided to take an adrenal support supplement. Below is the supplement I chose. I have just started this supplement in the last 4 days, and already I seem to feel some difference. I will continue to take it and share my experience with it. I have posted the nutritional info below, for those of you who are all worked up reading this and want to know what is in it.

Supplement Facts

Serving Size: Three (3) Tablets

Amount Per Serving

% Daily Value

Vitamin C (as Calcium Ascorbate)	500 mg	667%
Folic Acid (as Folacin)	600 mcg	150%
Vitamin B-12 (as Cobalamin)	500 mcg	8333%
Pantothenic Acid (as Calcium Pantothenate)	1500 mg	15,000%

Proprietary Blend		650 mg*
Ashwaganda Root (Withania somnifera), Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract (3% rosavins), Rhodiola Rosea Root, Licorice Root (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

* Daily value not established

OTHER INGREDIENTS: Microcrystalline Cellulose, Dicalcium Phosphate, Modified Cellulose Gum, Silicon Dioxide, Stearic Acid, Vegetable Magnesium Stearate & Hydroxypropylmethyl Cellulose.

Made in a GMP facility that processes egg, fish, milk, peanut, shellfish, soy, tree nut & wheat products.

Highway to the veggie zone

Well, I have to first start out my post by saying that I am in serious need of some motivation. Not only for workouts but for eating too. I have been good off and on but I just don't feel energized. I am trying Operation Eat Green Veggies but I'm not sure I can say I have been successful at this point. Before I get into some food sharing I thought I'd share this picture I took the other day from our living room window, it was such a beautiful morning - I couldn't resist snapping a shot. My camera crapped out so I didn't even get to take the other view shot which was even better.

Although the eating has been touch and go like a small cessna, I did have a bomba$$ dinner the other night (yes, I did just type bomba$$ like its 1998 again). I made some edamame, which I had been burnt out on for quite some time. I have really been avoiding soy for the past couple of years because I don't think most sources are all that good for you. I was sure to by non-GMO edamame, that made me feel better. I have a new way of cooking my edamame too! I steam it as you usually would and then I put it in a hot pan with a touch of toasted sesame oil and sautee it. After that I add sea salt and sesame seed - yum!

This was accompanied by one of my new favorite salad combos... it has roasted chickpeas, dried apricots/apricot preserves and gorgonzola cheese. I drizzle the salad in a homemade dressing, creamy cumin dressing. Soooooo goooooddddd!

PS Don't ask me why the text looks so weird in the middle of this post... I can't figure out how to undo whatever it is that I did to make it that way.