Breakfast, Lunch, Where is dinner?

It is pretty safe to say my Friday this week was tinged with some Monday highlights. WOW! I thought I'd get in some simple tasks, a few big meals, and some nice craftitng. What I ended up with was plenty of simple tasks, a few larger tasks, and some unexpected add on bonus events. Meals were small and I missed one somehow. Crafting? There was some of that cardio-knitting stuff and some evening catch up knitting on a pair of socks. The cardio-knitting progress was small. Not enough to see a big difference. Just a few rounds walking back and forth to the gym. The second sock however is quite obvious. I was 2 inches from the heel turn yesterday morning. I finished up the gusset, turned the heel and made it through an inch of the leg.

Breakfast was fast. I had errands to run before heading out to the gym. Grilled pattypan squash and chicken sausage. 

Morning snack was 1/8 of a fresh cantaloupe and 1/2 ounce of cheese. Lunch was late. Remember I had a few added tasks. I sauteed pattypan squash, roasted a chicken breast and had arugula salad with it. I decided to have some gluten free blue cheese dressing with it because the meal was lacking in healthy fats. 

And this is where the day fell apart. I needed to move forward and plan dinner. I needed to get on with meal prep instead of get caught up in miscellaneous stuff that didn't progress my day. There was an apple and a few nuts. Then at 9:30 I realized I was hungry. Not the kind of hungry that is really thirsty. No I realized I forgot about dinner. YIKES!! I really wanted a salad and a bit of protein. Yes. I am one of the weird people in the world that craves salad and can be happy with one for breakfast or for a late night snack. I didn't have salad. There is another story explaining why I had not purchased groceries. I'll save that one for tomorrow. What did I do? I had purchased shrimp from the coast. I steamed it up with Old Bay seasoning. We ate peel and eat shrimp at 10 pm. It tasted wonderful. It was lacking the cold beer that came with late night peel and eat shrimp in my early 30s. 

The moral here? Plan meals and eat meals. Be flexible in your day so you have food available when last minute or forgotten appointments change your meal plan. 

Kettle Bells Rock

I started my workouts with my son again. He is a fantastic trainer. We are doing what we refer to as a Power Half Hour Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Boy was yesterday morning a powerful workout! He is working out with me. Pretty fun to do a mother son workout. We used kettle bells for our cardio bursts. Body weight rows with the TRX got the back. Battling ropes hit the shoulders and arms while providing extra cardio. Finally he had us do some chest using the cable cross overs. After a half hour I was ready to quit! I pushed hard. I think I pushed extra hard because I don't want to seem weak. I what to be able to do whatever he says. It could be a bit crazy to compare my 49 year old body's abilities to his 30 year old abilities. I'm not really. Not the weights I'm moving just the endurance. Still crazy.

I needed more food for recovery than I ate. I struggle with getting enough meals and big enough meals. That is one reason I'm challenging myself to share it with the world. Or at least the portion of the world that is interested in reading. For those in the know you will notice I needed another cup of veggies with my breakfast. The gluten free chicken Italian sausage had 18 grams of protein. It was enough for the meal. I had baked the sweet potato while I was at the gym. They were perfectly soft and piping hot when I returned home. Yes, that is butter on the sweet potato. It is real butter and whipped so it looks like lots when it is indeed just a bit.

I repeated my lack of green veggies at lunch. Again not a good plan. Why did I do this? I'm claiming burn out. I was just not interested in cooking more food. Some how I reasoned with myself that chicken and sweet potato would be enough to see me through. Could be that snack I had late morning. There was an apple and peanut butter that somehow managed to get into my belly without having its portrait taken. 

Before going into the gym for my evening clients I had early dinner. Another chicken breast, roasted sliced cabbage and a roasted zucchini. It was yummy but not enough food to take me through the entire evening. I was done with clients at 8:30 pm and famished again. I'm blaming the kettle bells.

What did I do? I heated up gluten free chicken meat balls and sauteed some spinach. The radish garnish was tasty but not really much additional nutrition. 

I followed this with a pear and the last few table spoons of yogurt topped off with walnuts.

Knitting? I started another sock! This is the Stitch Surfer sock from Knitty.com. What a fun concept! Intarsia knit in the round that fades one direction and another. The appearance of surfing from side to side is intensified by the stripe contrasted with the tonal variegation. I think these socks are going to be a fast knit. I'm pretty happy about that.

What happened Friday??

Oh yes. Friday. That would be the day I somehow forgot to take pictures of some of the meals. Then there was Saturday when I was to write about Friday. Well...Friday I started a headache that has not yet gone away. Headaches don't put you in to mood for writing and tend to take away some of the spontaneous memory abilities. Yeah. Long drawn out excuse which really means...I forgot.

On with Friday! The meal I forgot to take a picture of was breakfast. It wasn't that exciting. Bacon (yes I'm often get into that turkey bacon at breakfast rut), eggs and greens. If you are curious what that looks like just refer to Thursday's breakfast. It was very much the same.

Snack time though. That is something new and different. I had a friend drop off some grape sized plums. They are very cute. They taste just like a normal plum and have a pit in the center. The difference? They fit in your mouth in one bite. I also had a protein bar. I'm not a big fan of the average protein bar. I don't like the taste of them and they often use ingredients that I can't digest. A client shared Epic bars with us. They remind me of my dad. He loved Slim Jims. They are not high on the food quality list but they were his favorite treat and every time I see them I think of him. Epic bars are made from high quality ingredients. They come in a variety of flavors. As with all food items I think the flavor you like is a matter of personal taste.

I had an acupuncture appointment in the middle of the day. My hope was it would take away the itch and knock my headache back to a dull hum. The itching was better for a bit but the headache just climbed. I knew it was going to be one of those weekends. To make my life easier and be sure there was plenty of food on hand I stopped off at Whole Foods on my way home. I picked up clean meats, fresh corn from South Georgia, and some beautiful red cherries. Lunch was simple assembly since I also bought chicken salad. Chicken salad is easy enough to make and I make it in a way I enjoy eating. That will happen soon. Maybe next weekend since we have a three day weekend coming up. 

My afternoon snack was roasted chickpeas. They are one of my go to foods. I rolled these in a bit of that coconut oil since it is liquid right now I'm enjoying using it. I then added sea salt and garlic powder. I was in a hurry. I waited too long for snack time so I just put them under the broiler to crisp up a bit. A fast 5 minute snack! I use a full can of chickpeas but only ate half. 

Dinner was fun. We have someone local that brings fresh sea food from the coast on Thursdays. I bought sushi grade fish so we could have sushi at home. Salmon and tuna on arugula with water chestnuts and wheat free tamari. Don't worry. There was plenty of food. Seconds and a small bowl of cherries helped to fill me up. 

Now for the knitting progress. I started the second lace sock. The cuff takes forever. Not the plain knitting around and around. That is pretty simple. Even the knit two together and yarn over round that forms the ridges of the picot edge is pretty easy. It is the picking up the cast on edge to make the folded hem that takes a long time. I did find a trick that cut the time somewhat. I used a single double pointed needle the next size down to pick up the stitches. Not all of them that would be silly. Just a few at a time. Then I made it through a couple of repeats of the lace chart. Pretty good progress when you realize I had a full day with errands, appointments, and clients. 

Can we just REST now?

I can honestly say I have been pushing hard. There were plenty of coaching hours logged in the last two weeks. In that time Kam and I lead a weekend long TLS Weight Loss Training where we trained close to 20 new weight loss coaches, we hosted a business presentation, and we lead a three and a half hour training for new business owners. When I woke on Saturday I was ready for a rest. Instead of lounging around I ate a hearty detox breakfast and headed to the gym to lead two group training classes.

Breakfast was another version of salad. Crunchy, sweet, and a bit of greenery. It was all raw too. Cauliflower, jicama, green apple, and lettuce a nice plate full of food.

After the training I was needing a snack. Since crunchy kale is seems to be the go to right now that is what I did. I used balsamic vinegar instead of the tamari though. It was delicious. 

For lunch I went with leftover jicama salad and steamed broccoli. It really was a keep it simple kind of day. 

Dinner was more of the same...veggies. Go figure. In this case it was beets, steam sauteed bok choy, and fresh carrots. The bok choy was pretty easy to cook. By heating to almost boiling vegetable broth you can add in diced onion and keep it simmering until the onions are clear. Then add the chopped bok choy and some more broth and tamari. Keep stirring and cooking until the bok choy is tender. Why do the beats look so washed out? They were candy cane beets. They are really pink when they are cooked. 

Knitting progress? I did take some rest and recover time. It was important. I finished up those socks from Friday and then cast on a new pair. It would be a shame to let the needles get too cold! The finished pair...

and the newly started pair...

I'm hoping for some speed knitting on the new ones. Maybe even get them done by the end of the week. Who knows. Life can be exciting and push sock knitting to the back burner. 

Feeding the Soul

There are days that are meant for feeding the soul. Today was one of those days. I went out for a 5.7 mile hike with 3 other women today. What a moving experience it was! We started mid-morning when the chill had not yet left the forest. The first 1/2 mile was straight up hill and before we reached the top, well the place where it leveled off into a more gentle switchback climb, I had shed one of my layers. We walked through shade and sun. We felt pockets of heat coming up from the valley below and chilly winds that whipped over the mountain top. It was 4 hours of change. It was 4 hours of physical challenge. It was 4 hours of wonder and joy.

Hiking in these mountains is always amazing. The ecosystems change as you ascend. At one point I looked out over a cove of trees with moss covered boulders at their bases. On the next turn there were lush ferns covering the ground. Much of the hike was technical and strenuous. Technical in that we had rocks in the path and roots to avoid tripping on. Strenuous in that we were climbing up about 80% of the time. It was so worth the climb. We reached a few pinnacles where the view was unobstructed. On this clear day I felt like I was seeing the end of the Blue Ridge Mountains off in the distance.

As we hiked we talked. We enjoyed each other's company. The dogs that accompanied us ran and played. At the 3/4 mark as if there was some unspoken agreement we walked in silence. It was peaceful. We were on a ridge with views and drop offs to either side of the single track path. My thoughts fell into place. My heart filled with joy and love. My creative spirit yearned to express itself. My soul filled and was fed by the beauty of the undisturbed wilderness around us. It was a glorious day in the woods!

As we say goodbye to the deep greens of summer I thought I'd honor that change with a French Lentil Salad. Each of the greens in this salad have a distinctly different flavor. I hope you enjoy it!

French Lentil Salad

1 pound dry lentils, cooked and drained
1/2 cup finely sliced scallions
1/2-1 cup chopped Italian parsley
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup olive oil

Boil the lentils over medium to low heat for 30-45 minutes or until soft. Drain and rinse them. While the lentils are cooking chop the other ingredients and combine in a bowl. Add the lentils and mix through. This can be eaten right away or served once the flavors have had time to mingle deeply.

Patience

Yesterday I started a new hat. I've been saving a yarn that I spun for a year now. The yarn was spun from Blue Faced Leicester wool. It has a slight shine to it and feels springy as it flows through my hands. This hat has been a lesson in patience for me. I started the cast on the designer recommended. I was not pleased with how it looked as a beginning. I ripped it out. I tried the alternative cast on. It took me a bit to get the hang of what she was telling me to do and even then I was not certain it would be right. I knit one round. I found my stitch count was off. I ripped it out and started over. This last cast on worked. I had the right number of stitches. I was ready to begin a ribbed cuff. I thought that was it. Good to go. No more worries. Just knit it up. Time for joy and celebration. Yes, only 8 rounds into the hat and feeling like the celebration of a completed hat was due.

I completed the cuff and began the cabled design that would be the hat. After 4 rounds of the design I thought it would never work. The yarn was too busy. The pattern didn't show. I was convinced I'd have to rip out and pick a new yarn. Fortunately for me I chose to put it down for the night and wait until morning. Giving it a fair chance I picked it up again today. I decided I'd put so much effort into it already I might as well give it another couple of rounds. Six rounds later I'm pleased with the hat again. I'm happy with the yarn choice. I like the way the pattern is forming. I love the way the designer has written up the pattern. She was smart enough to write a pattern that someone on a detox can understand.

There are so many times in our lives that we give up too soon. I see people giving up on themselves and their goals just before they are about to reach them. It saddens me to watch this happen. Like my hat, these people were just a few steps from seeing their progress. Just a few short steps from reaching a milestone that would fuel them on in their journey.

Body transformation is a slow and steady process. The body requires good fuel and proper exercise just as much as it requires sleep and an environment that encourages peace and calm. As a personal trainer and a TLS coach I can provide wonderful fun workouts and education on proper food choices. I can assist many of my clients in accumulating moments of peace and joy in their lives. I can even make them so tired they sleep well. I cannot walk the path for them. I can and do walk beside them.

Today I've learned that I may need to provide guidance in patience. I may need to point out more of the milestones as they are achieved. I also learned that I may need to have more faith in my own milestones and achievements.

As for food, today is day 6 on my detox. I'm feeling great. I'm super happy today. I'm appreciating the beautiful Fall day and kale is the veggie in abundance. I'm majoring in greens this week. Greens are nutrient dense and fill the body with fiber. There are only so many steamed greens a person can eat though. As I'm tiring of them I decided to make some crispy kale. Ironically crispy kale is a lesson in kitchen patience.

Crispy Kale
1 bunch kale cut in small pieces woody stems removed
Bragg's Liquid Aminos or soy sauce to taste
Garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 375. Lay the kale on a baking sheet in a single layer. Spray with aminos or soy sauce. Sprinkle garlic powder over. Bake for 10-15 minutes watching so the kale just gets crispy but does not burn.  Before and after baking: