Our Philadelphia trip was canceled due to the hurricane so the Hubz and I decided to take a mini day trip that turned into an overnight trip to Manchester VT and Northampton MA. We started our trip with a little outlet shopping in Manchester and lunch at The Spiral Press Cafe. Lunch was good but the wrap really needed a vinaigrette or simply a little salt and pepper.
Iced Coffee and Avocado Hummus Wrap
After lunch we decided to extended our adventure and head a few more hours south to Northampton MA. Northampton is one of my favorite spots to wonder, shop and enjoy a beer.
After wondering around Northampton we stopped into Target to pick up bathing suites (i.e. gym clothes we can wear into the pool) and then checked into the hotel. We decided to get in a quick pool workout since we didn’t pack running clothes for our spontaneous trip. After a hard pool workout we got dressed and headed out to dinner at Fresh Side in Amherst.
After a beautiful weekend that took us through Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire we are experiencing extreme devastation thanks to Irene.
Beautiful Weather Friday and Saturday
I’ve spent my birthday inside flipping between episodes of Gilmore Girls and the news while following saddening tweets about the destruction throughout Vermont:
I hope that everyone affected by the hurricane/tropical storm are staying safe.
Today marks the start of my 26th year and just like last year I have set goals for my 26th year. Instead of doing 26 in my 26 I decided to focus on things that I am either not doing right now or things that will improve my quality of life, my health coaching and my blogging careers.
My goals for my 26th year are:
Attend one blogger conference (Fitbloggin, Healthy Living Summit, ect.).
Attend one health coaching conference/event.
Eat out no more than once per week.
Run a 10k.
Run a 1/2 Marathon.
Write one new e-book.
Read 10 new books.
Do yoga at least once per week.
Commit to daily blogging with high quality posts.
Improve my blog (quality of posts, photos, layout, appearance)
Find time each week to unplug (literally)
Work on improving my time management.
Do you set goals? How do you keep yourself on track?
Last year I did a 25 in 25 and honestly they were obnoxiously ridiculous. I’m actually embarrassed to review them because I don’t know what I was thinking or where the money to fund a million trips was coming from. But here they are:
Work on my writing skills. – Completed- however still a work in progress
Get all the stamps in my VT Brewers Passport Stamped
Go to a driving range and hit some balls – Completed-
Read 10 new books. – Completed- I re-read Harry Potter Books 3-5, I read all three “The Girl” books, I read all three Hunger Games books and I read Michael Pollan’s Food Rules; I may have read other books I just didn’t keep track. Most of my reading between September-February were handouts for school.
Update my blog with a new fun look – Completed-however still a work in progress
Neil and I spent the last weekend in July enjoying an outdoor concert, a trip to the pool and working. Yes, working. We have been gone almost every weekend this summer and August looks like it will be that way too so we tried to catch up on a number of different projects. I was going to take the weekend off from blogging but then I remembered that I needed to write my Thrive in 30 post, so that went up yesterday. Although we did work a bunch this weekend, we did find time to relax and enjoy ourselves since it was the weekend.
Friday: Coffee, Coffehouse Games & Live Music
Beautiful Coffee.
Game- Barista. Even though I worked a summer as a Barista, I failed horribly at this game.
Bright Eyes & The Mountain Goats at Shelburne Museum Concert on The Green
Saturday: Pool Party and A New Beverage
Relaxing by the Burlington Tennis Club Pool
New Beverage. It was meh okay, not great.
Sunday: Work Day, Raw Muesli & Iced Tea
Homemade Raw Muesli. It was good until I put a gross almond milk on it (different brand than I usually buy).
Yummy Iced Tea. I made two other flavors too.
How did you spend your last weekend of July 2011?
Now it’s August and I have been thinking about goals.
My August 2011 Goals:
1. Stick to Pre-Training Plan. Two 30-45 minute runs and one mileage run per week PLUS two-three days of strength training and at least one day of yoga.
2. Meal Plan. I have been really thrown off lately with our schedules and our CSA when it comes to meal planning and I want to get back on track. I do so much better when our meals are planned out ahead of time.
3. Organize my kitchen. I love to create recipes but lately it’s been difficult because I feel like our kitchen is so unorganized. It’s time to go through and reorganize and purge. I should rather say just get organized in general because I need to organize all the rooms in our house and my personal, blog and health coaching things.
4. Early to bed, Early to Rise. I would like to be in bed by 9pm to read and lights out by 10pm. I would like to be up and out of bed by 5am. I used to be in bed by 8:30p and up by 4:30/5a most mornings but since we have become more social I’ve been going to bed too late and getting up too late. I am so much more productive in the morning too.
5. Read two books. This one goes with goal number four.
Thirteen days ago I signed up for the Thrive in 30 program, a 30 day program with Brendan Brazier that provides you with the tips and tools to achieve optimum health and vitality. The Thrive in 30 program teaches you:
How to combat stress using whole, plant-based foods and high net-gain nutrition
The whole food truth about protein, fats and carbs— and how balancing your diet will help you build a younger body
How you can alkalize your body’s pH to combat disease, improve sleep and lose weight
What superfoods to use to balance hormones, detoxify body or lower cholesterol
How to identify common foods that cause unexplained, mystery illnesses
How to use nutrition to strategically fuel your body so you’ll have greater endurance, maximize the return from your workouts and recover faster
Why nutrition, exercise and sleep are the secret to empowered mental health
Long-term strategies that will help you transform your health for life
The first task is to Examine your current diet (I did wrote this on July 18, 2011- my start date) and write a list of all the things you eat that you think might be taking away from your energy or aren’t supporting your health and fitness goals. Mine are as follows:
Wheat/Gluten. I am a huge bread lover. I could easily sit and eat a whole loaf by myself (don’t worry I don’t) but I also know I don’t feel great after I do. This is a challenge for me but I know if I was to reduce the amount of bread, crackers, pasta, ect. that I eat I would feel better.
Soy. I actually don’t eat nearly as much soy as I once did but lately I find it sneaking into our grocery cart more often. As much as I love soy products and tofu my stomach doesn’t agree.
Alcohol. I am a huge beer lover. I notice a big difference in my energy and body in the morning even after only having one beer. I have been doing pretty well at staying at a two beer max, usually only having one beer, but still more per week than I’d like. My goal here is to not drink at all on nights before runs because that is when I feel like it effects me the most so that would limit consumption down to 3-5 alcoholic drinks max per week.
In addition to breaking these habits/crowding them out of my diet. Thrive in 30 suggests the following five tools to make the most of this program (I’m not going to reveal everything so you’ll have to sign up yourself to find out more):
Eat throughout the day
Drink a nutritious smoothie each day
Eat a big green salad every day
Eat a raw energy bar every day
Eat a substantial, balanced afternoon snack
As part of the Thrive in 30 you receive an email every few days with a lesson filled with important information, tips and tools on how to make achieve optimal health. I just received lesson 7 of 12 and so far I have found the lessons informative and helpful.
Each lesson has a specific topic that is covers and a short video clip featuring an informative video lesson by Brendan Brazier. Below the video there is information regarding the topic followed by take-away points and finally how you can take action. Since starting this program I have:
Lesson 1: Stress & Diet
I have reduced my intake of processed and convenience foods by eating more fruit and vegetable snacks.
I have reduced stimulants such as coffee by reducing the amount of coffee I drink to 3-5 cups per week.
Lesson 2: High Net-Gain Nutrition
I have added even more high net-gain foods (whole foods, raw foods, superfoods, alkaline forming foods) to my already highly nutritious diet by adding blueberries to my oatmeal, taking a chlorella supplement and adding sea vegetables to my salad.
Lesson 3: Myth-Busting
I didn’t get as much out of this lesson because I am vegan, I add flax to my oatmeal, I bake with natural sweeteners and whole wheat flours and I love to top by salad with hemp seeds and flax (all suggestions in lesson 3).
Lesson 4: Alkaline v. Acid
In this lesson you are to rate the amount of alkaline versus acidic foods that you are eating. I found that I regularly eat 25 out of the 32 alkaline-forming foods listed and 3 (coffee, peanuts, chocolate) out of the 21 acid-forming foods. The other suggestion is to be more active which I feel that I can always be a little more but I am fairly active running on average 8-12 miles per week as well as doing cross training 2-3 times per week.
Lesson 5: Digestion
In this lesson it is suggested that you regularly eat high fiber foods, which as a vegan I eat tons high fiber foods such as leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes. The other action that is suggested is to take a probiotic. This I actually do not take a vegan-friendly probiotic supplement but I do often use brown rice miso (a whole food source probiotic) and Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer in my smoothies.
Lesson 6: Superfoods
I include a number of superfoods in my diet including maca, chlorella, hemp, flax, dark leafy greens, quinoa, sprouts and coconut.
Lesson 7: Food Sensitivities
I have reduced my soy, gluten and wheat intake after noticing the negative affects on my digestion. As a vegan I already don’t eat dairy so I can cross that allergen off my list. I have not yet removed corn or yeast but besides nutritional yeast I do not eat much else.
Overall I think that this program is great for those who are looking to jump start a healthy lifestyle. The tips and lessons are laid out in a way that is easy to follow. The program is great for different learners as well because it has a visual element, written and then action to help implement the tips and tools suggested. As a vegan who tries to live a healthy lifestyle already I found that many of the actions where things that I already do, however there is always room for improvement. As a health coach I found that most of the information is similar to what I discuss with my own clients and has provided me with some new ways of approaching various topics. So far I am finding Thrive in 30 to be a great resource filled with great tips and tools to jump start a healthy lifestyle.
Nicole tagged me in the 7 Links post that has been a trending post on a number of blogs. Now it’s my turn to share with you posts from each category and then tag 5 other bloggers. I was really excited to get tagged to do this post but when it came down to actually doing it I was surprised at how hard it was to choose posts for each category. Here is what I came up with:
Tamales and a Sunset. Over the past few months this has been a really popular post, is it my most popular? I am not really sure. It is a yummy recipe that you should try and there is as beautiful sunset photo and a nice photo of Neil and I. Other popular posts: Vegan “Lobster” Roll and Bagel (no)Lox
Most Emotional:
Dealing with a loss. This post briefly discusses my husband and I’s experience with our second miscarriage. It was one of the most emotional posts to write and I honestly was unable to write everything I was feeling at the time because it was just too hard. Maybe one day.
Surprisingly Successful:
Kimchi Fried Brown Rice. I wrote this post a few years ago and yet it is still bringing people to the blog. I think it’s time to go back and remake this recipe and take a better photo because this two year old photo is awful.
Most Controversial:
Restaurant Review: The Pulse Café- Somerville MA. This post received a lot of backlash after I wrote it. I was really surprised but everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine was based on my particularly horrible experience.
Not Enough Success:
Groove Yoga. I was a little disappointed that this post didn’t receive more action. I thought it might spark some discussion but oh well. I also don’t think my Italian Almond Tart got enough attention either; one of my favorite recipes I have ever made so check it out.
Most Helpful:
My About page. I know that it isn’t exactly a blog post but it I think it is one of the most helpful posts I have ever written. It took a lot for me to write my story from being overweight to where I am now and I hope that it was, is and will continue to be helpful for others.
Most Proud of:
Old Port 5k Recap. I am most proud of this because I am really proud of myself that I accomplished a long time goal.
