You're not human if you've never experienced days, weeks, months or even years where the edges of the world seem to be folding in on you. Times when there seems to be no hope and certainly no happiness. I can confidently say that everyone has had periods of frustration and anger that no breathing technique, no quiet space, and no shoulder of a friend will ease. You've had them and will undoubtedly have more. This bleak and dark truth is not pointed out to ruin anyone's day, but rather to be recognized and embraced. The reason is because I feel I have a different kind of proverbial shoulder to cry on in the future for you all. This shoulder comes in the form of running.
My whole body shook last Thursday night I was so upset. Anyone in my way would have been better coming across Stephen King's 'Cujo' than the likes of my foaming of the mouth. I bundled up my confused 4 yr old (Mama's usually a cool cucumber at night due to general fatigue from a 3am daily start) and tried not to literally throw him in our running stroller. I had no Garmin, the wrong shoes, and no fuel other than my emotions and a stale snack for Luke.
Within minutes the rotation of the earth had changed. I was on the mend. I screamed at the world and no one answered except the road. Or in my case a hilly Boulder City path wrapped it's inclines around and over me and told me all was ok. With my head cool enough at that point I was able to contemplate how I was once again comforted by running. Why?! Running didn't have any real answers to my problems conveniently layed out on the path. Running didn't sit me on a couch and listen to my childhood growing pains. And how insane the irony of running being one of the greatest physical stresses on the body, it's also the most emotionally rehabilitative. These truths move me (no pun intended) to such a degree it's safe to say I could make this all a religion.
There will come another rough day for everyone. This will be the day when we must surrender to the urge to literally run away from it all. Once on the road to a better attitude, keep in mind some of these additional positives from running on emotions:
- You're getting more oxygen to your brain which provokes clarity and ideas. This may help to remedy your original stressed disposition (I often solve the world's problems on a run).
- You're creating more and more good mood endorphins with every step.
- Your heart is getting stronger.
- Your legs are getting stronger.
- Upon completion, you can whole heartedly remind yourself that your strength moved you forward during a time you wanted to disappear and cry. Or give up. But you didn't.
Then you get to tell yourself....
"If I can get through this period with this level of tenacity, I can get through anything."
Allow your legs to do the screaming your heart and soul cannot express. Place one foot in front of the other at all costs. Emerge on the other side stronger than ever.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Breakfast Quinoa! Bet you've NEVER thought to try quinoa like this!
FYI Quinoa is a perfect protein. And it's delicious. What is it exactly? I have no idea. Some sort of grain maybe. That's not my field. My field is in eating it (fueling). And quinoa fits the fuel bill being both great carb and perfect protein. Try this recipe from awesome Lululemon clothing rep, Melissa, and you will never look back at your boring oatmeal.
1/3 cup quinoa
1/3 cup water
Boil the water add the quinoa and reduce to simmer
Cook about 15 min until all the water is absorbed
Fluff with a fork
This is where the fun begins:
I add whatever I've got or what I'm in the mood for
-raw honey & a little soy milk
-fresh berries
- 1/3 cup trail mix - my favorite one is from Whole Foods it has nuts, dried fruits, & a little dark chocolate, the perfect combo :-)
Enjoy!!
1/3 cup quinoa
1/3 cup water
Boil the water add the quinoa and reduce to simmer
Cook about 15 min until all the water is absorbed
Fluff with a fork
This is where the fun begins:
I add whatever I've got or what I'm in the mood for
-raw honey & a little soy milk
-fresh berries
- 1/3 cup trail mix - my favorite one is from Whole Foods it has nuts, dried fruits, & a little dark chocolate, the perfect combo :-)
Enjoy!!
Friday, February 18, 2011
A note from a hot Fireman boyfriend on Mental Toughness...
So first let me say Hi to all of you in blogger nation, this is Nancy's boyfriend Mickey coming to you all with a very important training tool for you to use EVERYDAY. The subject I asked Nancy if I could write about is training your mind to have and be MENTALLY TOUGH for not only your workouts and races but for everyday life.
We all have diffucluties in life whether it be at work, gym or at home with family. I, like Nancy, like to train for and do well in triathlons which takes a tremendous amount of MENTAL TOUGHNESS when times get tough on that never ending swim, longer than life hill climb, or the last 5 miles of the run.
I was on the treadmill today after being sick for the past week (like half of Vegas) and had a hard workout to do not above my ability but just one of those workouts where they are just TOUGH and you don't want to do it let alone be at the gym. That's when the light bulb popped up in my head to write about this subject. In my training and my work profession I have had to really on MENTAL TOUGHNESS a lot. I never really gave it much thought until I read an article about training your mind like you train your body to go above and beyond what your body feels and or what your body can do. It has been proven that you can train your mind like we all train or body's with great success. For example the NAVY SEALS training program. They put these guys through HELL we can't imagine, but the strong minded people make it through the process (must be super fit as well) but mind power plays a HUGE role.
I have been working on my mental toughness ever since I read that article. It has become my 4th discipline even before my nutrition which is my 5th discipline now (swim, bike, and run being the first 3 in my world. May be something else in yours). At times it can be tough and other times it's easy, hard times are running that extra half mile at race pace because YOU CAN, or riding that extra 15 min on the bike because YOU CAN, and not to mention those calls at my work (firefighter engineer) every hour on the hour after midnight with no sleep, and coming home to well we all love her NANCY and sometimes the LUKIFER, and EASY is well EASY.
Hey I'm here to tell you I am no expert at any of this stuff but I do know one thing I have become a better athlete and person through training my mind to be tough when the tough gets going. It can be as simple as biting your tongue at work, or not laying on the horn when you get cut off in traffic. Most of use don't want to deal with the gym, family, and work but we have to so why not approach it at a better angle than before with working out not just your muscles but your MIND as well.
Everyone will have there own way of training their mind I have no training plan to give you but all I can say it's as easy as going that little or a lot extra in everyday living. I will say one thing I can guarantee that ALL of you will remember the extra you did during the day, it's never your planned stuff you remember or that regular 8 hour work day, it's the EXTRA time you spent at the gym running that extra 5 min on the treadmill or bike, the EXTRA time at Work, or maybe the EXTRA patience with your family life. Believe you me that's what you remember. I just wanted to say that if you train your mind right when things get tough you and your body will respond with great results and success. You WILL be able to do things you NEVER thought you could, so in everyday life do alittle EXTRA it will pay you back tons in the end. Thank you for your time in this matter please respond whether you like my subject or not so Nancy knows.
We all have diffucluties in life whether it be at work, gym or at home with family. I, like Nancy, like to train for and do well in triathlons which takes a tremendous amount of MENTAL TOUGHNESS when times get tough on that never ending swim, longer than life hill climb, or the last 5 miles of the run.
I was on the treadmill today after being sick for the past week (like half of Vegas) and had a hard workout to do not above my ability but just one of those workouts where they are just TOUGH and you don't want to do it let alone be at the gym. That's when the light bulb popped up in my head to write about this subject. In my training and my work profession I have had to really on MENTAL TOUGHNESS a lot. I never really gave it much thought until I read an article about training your mind like you train your body to go above and beyond what your body feels and or what your body can do. It has been proven that you can train your mind like we all train or body's with great success. For example the NAVY SEALS training program. They put these guys through HELL we can't imagine, but the strong minded people make it through the process (must be super fit as well) but mind power plays a HUGE role.
I have been working on my mental toughness ever since I read that article. It has become my 4th discipline even before my nutrition which is my 5th discipline now (swim, bike, and run being the first 3 in my world. May be something else in yours). At times it can be tough and other times it's easy, hard times are running that extra half mile at race pace because YOU CAN, or riding that extra 15 min on the bike because YOU CAN, and not to mention those calls at my work (firefighter engineer) every hour on the hour after midnight with no sleep, and coming home to well we all love her NANCY and sometimes the LUKIFER, and EASY is well EASY.
Hey I'm here to tell you I am no expert at any of this stuff but I do know one thing I have become a better athlete and person through training my mind to be tough when the tough gets going. It can be as simple as biting your tongue at work, or not laying on the horn when you get cut off in traffic. Most of use don't want to deal with the gym, family, and work but we have to so why not approach it at a better angle than before with working out not just your muscles but your MIND as well.
Everyone will have there own way of training their mind I have no training plan to give you but all I can say it's as easy as going that little or a lot extra in everyday living. I will say one thing I can guarantee that ALL of you will remember the extra you did during the day, it's never your planned stuff you remember or that regular 8 hour work day, it's the EXTRA time you spent at the gym running that extra 5 min on the treadmill or bike, the EXTRA time at Work, or maybe the EXTRA patience with your family life. Believe you me that's what you remember. I just wanted to say that if you train your mind right when things get tough you and your body will respond with great results and success. You WILL be able to do things you NEVER thought you could, so in everyday life do alittle EXTRA it will pay you back tons in the end. Thank you for your time in this matter please respond whether you like my subject or not so Nancy knows.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
More on nutrition- thinking of food as 'fuel'
Food is fuel. Once you embrace that concept, eating becomes purposeful and functional (and perhaps at times, boring). What do you eat before a workout? Why? Here's some notes I've regularly given to my run clients as well as general fitness gurus and goofs.
IT IS NOT WITH TRAINING THAT
> > YOU BUILD YOUR BODY UP, BUT RATHER THAT'S WHEN IT'S BROKEN DOWN. YOU BUILD
> > YOUR BODY WITH PROPER STRENGTH/LONGEVITY WITH NUTRITION. In my goal of
> > which to get all of you thinking and training like athletes, it's also a
> > main focus of mine to get you eating like an athlete. Not for weight loss.
> > Not for body building. Not for cleansing. Not for fad diets. For FUELING!
> >
> > Remember FOOD IS FUEL. Fuel in the training world serves a purpose.
> > Fueling properly for running is not geared around calorie counting, carb
> > aversion, or deprevity. Fueling is all about categorizing what forms of
> > fuel do what, and how they're going to help you. Here's a very short list
> > of the categories we spoke about and why you need them:
> >
> > Carbohydrates- Energy! Keep glycogen stores in your muscles. Sluggish
> > days and/or injuries are byproducts of low glycogen stores. Sweet potatoes,
> > oatmeal, brown rice, fruit, whole grain bread are a few good sources. Eat
> > before and after workout! Get minimum of 3-4 grams of carbs per lb of body
> > weight.
> >
> > Proteins- Make up your muscles. You beat up your muscles running so you
> > MUST eat lots and lots of protein. Add Branch Chain Amino Acids to a
> > protein shake that enters blood stream quickly and that will help convert
> > glycogen stores into energy. Obvious sources of protein are beef, poultry,
> > fish; less obvious are beans, nuts, quinoa, soy beans just to name a few.
> > .55-.75 grams of protein per lb body weight is standard, however, I feel
> > athletes need much more. Eat after your workout for sure!
> >
> > Veggies- Go crazy and eat a ton. While these alone may not be an ideal
> > meal pre-training, they MUST be consumed in mass amounts daily. All colors
> > to provide the most antioxidants possible. Us exercise addicts are more
> > susceptible to free radicals than anyone and we need to protect ourselves
> > naturally with antioxidants via food. All dark green veggies and the
> > brightest colors possible. Keep your fiber up! For a simple, delicious way
> > to make veggies, check out my previous blog post
> >
> > Fats- "Non fat" and "low fat" is such diet media propaganda. Ignore
> > that. We need fat. But stay totally clear of transfat and saturated fats
> > unless you want a heart attack. We need monounsaturated fats such as olive
> > oil, avocado, and nuts to keep our bad cholesterol down. We also need
> > polyunsaturated fats such as Omega fatty acids, fish, flax oil, sesame,
> > sunflower to keep us away from high blood pressure and blood clotting.
> >
> > Again, the fuel consumed pre-workout is an experiment, but you MUST eat.
> > Try a few different things. Remember is you want more closely analyzed fuel
> > habits, start writing everything down; what you ate and at what time. We
> > can compare this to your adjacent workouts.
IT IS NOT WITH TRAINING THAT
> > YOU BUILD YOUR BODY UP, BUT RATHER THAT'S WHEN IT'S BROKEN DOWN. YOU BUILD
> > YOUR BODY WITH PROPER STRENGTH/LONGEVITY WITH NUTRITION. In my goal of
> > which to get all of you thinking and training like athletes, it's also a
> > main focus of mine to get you eating like an athlete. Not for weight loss.
> > Not for body building. Not for cleansing. Not for fad diets. For FUELING!
> >
> > Remember FOOD IS FUEL. Fuel in the training world serves a purpose.
> > Fueling properly for running is not geared around calorie counting, carb
> > aversion, or deprevity. Fueling is all about categorizing what forms of
> > fuel do what, and how they're going to help you. Here's a very short list
> > of the categories we spoke about and why you need them:
> >
> > Carbohydrates- Energy! Keep glycogen stores in your muscles. Sluggish
> > days and/or injuries are byproducts of low glycogen stores. Sweet potatoes,
> > oatmeal, brown rice, fruit, whole grain bread are a few good sources. Eat
> > before and after workout! Get minimum of 3-4 grams of carbs per lb of body
> > weight.
> >
> > Proteins- Make up your muscles. You beat up your muscles running so you
> > MUST eat lots and lots of protein. Add Branch Chain Amino Acids to a
> > protein shake that enters blood stream quickly and that will help convert
> > glycogen stores into energy. Obvious sources of protein are beef, poultry,
> > fish; less obvious are beans, nuts, quinoa, soy beans just to name a few.
> > .55-.75 grams of protein per lb body weight is standard, however, I feel
> > athletes need much more. Eat after your workout for sure!
> >
> > Veggies- Go crazy and eat a ton. While these alone may not be an ideal
> > meal pre-training, they MUST be consumed in mass amounts daily. All colors
> > to provide the most antioxidants possible. Us exercise addicts are more
> > susceptible to free radicals than anyone and we need to protect ourselves
> > naturally with antioxidants via food. All dark green veggies and the
> > brightest colors possible. Keep your fiber up! For a simple, delicious way
> > to make veggies, check out my previous blog post
> >
> > Fats- "Non fat" and "low fat" is such diet media propaganda. Ignore
> > that. We need fat. But stay totally clear of transfat and saturated fats
> > unless you want a heart attack. We need monounsaturated fats such as olive
> > oil, avocado, and nuts to keep our bad cholesterol down. We also need
> > polyunsaturated fats such as Omega fatty acids, fish, flax oil, sesame,
> > sunflower to keep us away from high blood pressure and blood clotting.
> >
> > Again, the fuel consumed pre-workout is an experiment, but you MUST eat.
> > Try a few different things. Remember is you want more closely analyzed fuel
> > habits, start writing everything down; what you ate and at what time. We
> > can compare this to your adjacent workouts.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
How to get your veggies in and stop making it a big deal...
I live a life where the time to cook does not exist. I have to make the time and I hate it. I love good, healthy, diverse food, but cooking can be a hassle amidst an already insane schedule. Especially cooking vegetables!
So here's a solution I've found to simplify my love/hate relationship with veggies and its all love now.
First we make the cooking medium easy. Roasting. Plan on one pan, one oven, one temperature of 350. Then go to grocery store and go nuts buying all sorts of different colored veggies (onions and garlic make anything taste better, hint).
Chop veggies sloppy and don't take more than 4 min because that's more time than we have in this life for this stuff. Then mix in large bowl with seasoning, olive oil, and whatever else you feel necessary.
Put beautiful, fresh, multicolored veggie mixture in a casserole dish and roast at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 min. If you like, 10 min into roasting, sprinkle in some feta cheese.
Make a ton of this. Keep it as a staple in your fridge at all times. Add it to a burger, brown rice and ideally some quinoa (perfect protein). You can also eat it cold having thrown on a little balsamic and oil as a delicious, easy leftover dish.
This has been my base for so many meals. I also often soften some sweet potato chunks then add that to the mix before roasting.
Perfect food. Easy. Satisfying. Healthy. Fuel. Do it and stop making a big deal out of cooking veggies!
So here's a solution I've found to simplify my love/hate relationship with veggies and its all love now.
First we make the cooking medium easy. Roasting. Plan on one pan, one oven, one temperature of 350. Then go to grocery store and go nuts buying all sorts of different colored veggies (onions and garlic make anything taste better, hint).
Chop veggies sloppy and don't take more than 4 min because that's more time than we have in this life for this stuff. Then mix in large bowl with seasoning, olive oil, and whatever else you feel necessary.
Put beautiful, fresh, multicolored veggie mixture in a casserole dish and roast at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 min. If you like, 10 min into roasting, sprinkle in some feta cheese.
Make a ton of this. Keep it as a staple in your fridge at all times. Add it to a burger, brown rice and ideally some quinoa (perfect protein). You can also eat it cold having thrown on a little balsamic and oil as a delicious, easy leftover dish.
This has been my base for so many meals. I also often soften some sweet potato chunks then add that to the mix before roasting.
Perfect food. Easy. Satisfying. Healthy. Fuel. Do it and stop making a big deal out of cooking veggies!
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Saturday, February 5, 2011
Kharizmatic Kathy's Curried Red Lentil Soup
I have a feeling Kathy's home looks like it should have cooking shows filmed there. I've seen photos of her beautiful food complimented by a beautiful kitchen background we could only dream about. Great thing is Kathy's food isn't all for looks. She's very aware of the actual nutrition behind delicious food and she shared this little bit with us. I can't wait to make this! Thanks Kathy!
Curried Red Lentil Soup
Curried Red Lentil Soup
From Kathy Gold Fox
Makes 6 cups
Takes about 45 minutes from start to finish
1 T canola or olive oil
2/3 C finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 C RED lentils, rinsed *
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 C chicken stock or vegetable stock (low sodium)
2 1/2 C water
2/3 C chopped drained canned tomatoes
2 C chopped spinach or kale
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Heat oil in 4 qt. heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally,
until lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and Ginger and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add curry powder and cumin and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.
Add lentils, stock, tomatoes and water and salt and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until lentils are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Stir in spinach and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes.
Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
*Red lentils are necessary because they cook down so quickly and create a wonderful creamy texture.
They are available at Whole Foods in the open bins or packaged.
NOTES- Health Magazine selected lentils as one of the 5 healthiest foods. Lentils are often mixed with grains such as rice, for a complete protein dish. They are also a very good vegetable source of iron.
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