30 Day Challenge Update and Poll

Happy summer!

We are now entering the final week of the 30 Day Challenge!!! I have a couple of confessions to make this week....

First, I'm down 2 practices in my challenge. There came a couple of days when I simply could not for the life of me fit a yoga practice into my day. We are allowed to do doubles (practice twice in one day) to make up for a missed day. If I can do them in the next 5 days, then I will. If not, I'll live :)

Second, I've been doing awesome with the lack of caffeine (caffeine free for 24 days!), but I briefly broke the alcohol ban. My family and I signed up for the Twenty Valley Wine Country Run, a 4k walk in Niagara through wine country which includes wine tastings along the way. Of course, I signed up for this not realizing that it was smack in the middle of the 30 Day Challenge. Since I'd paid for it already, I decided to lift the ban for the day. In total I probably drank the equivalent of one glass of wine, so it wasn't the end of the world I guess...

Confessions over! Other than these two things, I'm still doing great. Eating vegetarian meals, no caffeine, journalling my experiences every day and sweating A LOT!!! Let me tell you - there's a lot of laundry involved in 30 days of hot yoga. Last night I did a huge load of laundry (because I hadn't done it almost all week and was completely out of clothes to wear). My laundry hanging thing was completely covered in sticky towels, shorts, shirts, and other yoga class paraphrenalia!
The 30 Day Challenge officially ends on Wednesday the 23rd with a vegetarian potluck party at the studio.

• (Shameless promotion: this is also the same day as the Weight Watchers Walk It Challenge with the Running Room! I'll be doing that first, THEN partying!)

So, I will be bringing a dish to the potluck and I haven't decided what to bring yet. So far, most people appear to be bringing desserts because they're easy (brownies, cupcakes, fruit tray, etc), or things with dip (pumpernickel and spinach dip, veggies and hummus). In past potluck parties at the studio, I've made things like:

• stuffed mushroom caps
• chocolate covered strawberries
• couscous salad
• pasta salad
• pineapple-angel food cake (it was the studio's 2nd birthday party, and was decorated accordingly)

I'm not sure what I'd like to make this time. The mushroom caps were an enormous hit the last time I made them, and ran out within about 30 seconds of hitting the table.

Enter: a poll!

What should I bring to the potluck? Here are a few options that I've thought of, but feel free to comment and suggest your own. Whichever idea wins is the one I will make, and I promise to post the recipe and photos when I make it on Tuesday/Wednesday. Some of these are simple suggestions (e.g. pasta salad), so if you have specific ideas of things to go into the recipe, add that with your vote!

• Mushroom caps
• Bean salad
• Lentil salad (recipe in the previous thread)
• Pasta salad
• Vegetable curry

Go!

*post edit* Since no one commented (*feels shame*), I made the lentil salad from the previous thread. It turned out to be a hit :)!

30 Day Challenge: Vegetarian Diet and Protein

Hey everyone!

We are now more than halfway through the 30 Day Challenge! Wooooooo!

Being that this is now week 3 of the Challenge, I am still caffeine-free and alcohol-free, and have started adding vegetarian meals to my life. I'm not a very picky vegetarian though - if someone gives me rice that was cooked in chicken broth instead of veggie, I'm not going to freak out over it. I'm still eating eggs and drinking milk, just cutting out meats and fish - basically anything that bled at some point in it's life.

This week's goal was to eat full days of vegetarian meals 3x during the week, but I've already exceeded that :) Sunday, we went to my mom's place for dinner and she served tilapia (mmmm), so there was one day gone. Wednesday night Ed and I went out for sushi (also mmm). But every other day (Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri) have been full on vegetarian dishes. Woooooo!

I've been experimenting with fun sources of protein, trying to gets lots of variety in plant proteins.

Nutrition Lesson!
There are 22 amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. Proteins make things like muscles, enzymes, hormones and other great things your body needs. The body can piece together some proteins on it's own (non-essential), but there are 8 amino acids that the body cannot synthesize (essential amino acids). These amino acids must be obtained through food. It is very important to eat a variety of protein sources to ensure that you're getting an adequate amount of each of these essential amino acids.
Meat eaters typically don't need to worry much about this, as meat products tend to be rich in essential amino acids. For vegetarians and those who don't eat a huge variety of meat products though, you need to explore new protein sources to get the full range of essential amino acids. For example, if you eat no source other than wheat, you will be deficient in some amino acids -- lysine is found in very small quantities in wheat and rice. You need to balance it out with other sources, like legumes, seeds, beans, soy, etc. Chickpeas and beans are fantastic sources of protein, as is quinoa, which contains ALL of the essential amino acids!!!

Neat, huh???

So, here are some examples of the foods I've been gobbling this week in an effort to get lots of good plant proteins:

• Quinoa --- I use it either as an alternative to rice when making stir-fries, or make a quinoa salad by mixing it up with veggies (tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, etc) and herbs (cilantro, parsley, etc).
• Chickpeas, and other beans --- love them!!! I put them on my salads a lot, and make a lot of hummus and black bean dip to dip my veggies. They're also great in vegetarian chili!
• Edamame and tofu --- I bought a huge bag of frozen shelled edamame, and just take a cup out, microwave it for a minute, and poof! Steamed edamame! It's great sprinkled on salads, or just lightly salted (sea salt is best) and eat as a snack. As for tofu, I haven't gotten into it yet as a dessert or in smoothies (silken tofu), but I do make a lot of stir fries. I do try to limit my tofu intake though, as there have been some reports about fermented soy products and links to breast cancer. Whether the rumours are true or not, I'd still like to experiment with other protein sources first than eat nothing but tofu all the time.
• Lentils --- I'm addicted to lentil soup.
• Nuts, seeds and peanut butter --- mmmmm.... nuts are dangerous territory for me. I could scarf down a whole bag of cashews like THAT *snaps fingers dramatically*. But portioned out properly, nuts can be a great protein source. I sprinkle a tablespoon of walnuts on salads, or just eat walnut halves or almonds with dried apricots as a snack. I've gotten big on pumpkin seeds lately as well (because I bought a box thinking that they looked neat, having no idea what to do with them. So I'm experimenting). Peanut butter, again, is a bit of a trigger food for me, but I eat it sparingly. One tablespoon on my toast or in my oatmeal is all I need to feel peanut buttery goodness and satisfy the craving for the day :)

So since we're talking so much about protein, let's talk about recipes that can help you get them in! I've listed here one recipe using eggs (for those of us who eat them), and one with only plant-based protein.

Southwestern Egg Salad

Giving credit where it is due, I got this recipe from the Weight Watchers website. But I made a couple of small alterations to their recipe, so hopefully I won't get sued for it or something.

3 hard boiled eggs (whole eggs - you could use 2 eggs and 2 egg whites to cut some fat/points)1/2 bell pepper, chopped finely
2 whole red bell peppers
2 tbsp onion chopped finely
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp salsa
1/2 jalapeno pepper, chopped finely (don't touch your eyes!!!!!!!)
1/8c reduced calorie or fat-free mayonnaise. I only had reduced-calorie in the house, so unfortunately, my points value is increased. Fat free would cut the points down :)
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel your hard boiled eggs and place in a large bowl. Mash them up with a fork.

Add all your chopped veggies into the bowl, and the mayo, salsa, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix it all together till it's well blended.

You can eat this on it's own, in a sandwich, or my preferred way, inside those 2 whole bell peppers! STUFFED EGG SALAD PEPPERS!!!!!

With my reduced-cal mayo, this worked out to 5 points per serving. You can get about a 1/2 cup per serving, so this recipe makes 2 servings (about 1.5 eggs per serving). Great for lunch!

Roasted Pepper, Feta and Lentil Salad

Giving credit again, this recipe also came from the Weight Watchers site. Except for the making your own peppers part -- that was all me :)

1.5c dry lentils, picked over to remove the gross stuff
6 cups of water
1/4c balsamic vinegar
1/2c roasted red peppers (canned in water) diced, or make your own ***
1/3 fresh chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste
2tsp olive oil
1/4 crumbled feta cheese

Place your lentils in a saucepan and pour in water. Set it over high heat to boil. When it's rolling, reduce the heat to simmer, covered, for about a 1/2 hour till the lentils are tender.

Drain the lentils and transfer to a large bowl. Add the balsamic vinegar and oil, toss it around to mix. Add your roasted peppers and basil, toss again. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve in 4 bowls, each sprinkled with about 1tbsp of feta cheese. This can be served either warm or cold, and gives about 3/4 cup per serving for 5 Points!

*** Making your own roasted red peppers

Brush the entire pepper with vegetable oil. Note, I learned the hard way (i.e. when the security guard came to make sure I hadn't set the apartment on fire) that extra virgin olive oil should be avoided. It has a very low smoke point, and it will BURN. It doesn't make the veggies taste any different, but it makes a lot of smoke, and makes for a very embarassing situation when you have to explain that your cooking set off the fire alarm.

Turn on the broiler. Put your peppers on a cookie sheet and pop 'em in on the top shelf of the oven close to the heat. Keep a close eye on them --- when you see dark splotches show up, take the sheet out, turn your peppers over (use tongs if you value your fingers, they're very hot), and put them back in.

When they start to get brown again, take them out. Put your peppers into a bowl that can stand the heat and cover with plastic wrap. The heat will move around in the bowl and steam your peppers, allowing the skin to loosen. Leave them alone for 15-20 minutes.

When the peppers are cool enough to touch, pull the stems off. Hold the pepper down and peel the skin off (should come off fairly easily). You can then squeeze out the pulp and seeds, cut them open, and voila! Roasted peppers, ready to use in your lentil salad above, or on sandwiches, salads, bruschetta, etc!

What are some of your favourite ways to get protein into your diet?

30 Day Challenge Update and Breakfast on the Go

Hello again!

I've officially completed my first full week of the 30 Day Challenge! Whooooooo :D Practices are still going great, and I'm still doing mostly early morning classes. A couple of days I slept in accidentally (boo), but still practiced either later in the day or on my balcony! Who says that you need to dress in Lulu gear and go to a specific space to practice yoga? Why can't I wear pajamas on my balcony and get the same benefit??

This week also marks the first week of challenge eliminations. I've started to eliminate caffeine from my diet (NOOOO!!!!), reducing it down to 3x per week this week, and then zero from June 6 onward. On Sunday I went to work and stopped by my regular coffee place on the way. Figuring that I was sooooo smart, I ordered tea instead of coffee. I chose chai tea thinking that it was herbal, therefore decaf. Um, no. Turns out that chai tea is actually black tea. Dammit, one day gone. Yesterday, I went out for an iced latte with work friends and forgot until the last possible second to ask for decaf. I have no idea if they gave me decaf or caffeinated, so to err on the side of caution, I'm calling it day 2 of caffeine consumption. One day remains for the week...

From my early morning practices, I've learned the extreme importance of planning ahead. A couple of times, I've been completely unprepared for the next day, and end up scrambling around at 5:45am to feed the cat and scoop her poo box, get my yoga clothes packed, get work clothes ready, change, find a lunch (because of course I didn't pack that the night before either), eat something for breakfast and/or get a breakfast to go for after class, etc. It wasn't pretty, and I was damn cranky. I've since learned that lunches should be packed the night before, yoga clothes should be washed and ready to go, and that breakfast can be made super quickly!

Let's talk food. Practicing yoga early in the morning can be challenging for breakfast lovers like myself. I need to eat before going to work out, or I will eat my own arms, and the rumbling of my stomach will disrupt everyone who is meditating (not kidding, it's loud :S). I will usually eat something small (small yogurt with berries, a banana, or a small bowl of cereal) before leaving in the morning just to get going, and then eat a bigger, more satisfying breakfast afterward. I'm fortunate enough to live about 10 minutes away from my home yoga studio, so I get to come home after practice to eat breakfast before going to work. But for those who are less fortunate than I, I present:

Satisfying Breakfasts on the Go

OMG recipes!!!

I'm really into eggs lately, especially those awesome Egg Beater cartons. They're just so freaking convenient! So, here are some egg-related recipes, and some other breakfast ideas!

The Fastest Egg McMuffin Ever

1/4c Egg Beaters (whatever flavour you like - all flavours other than Cheese & Chive count as filling foods!)
1 English muffin
Toppings of your choosing (I like tomatoes and/or salsa, and maybe some cheese)
non-stick cooking spray
a coffee mug

Squirt a little bit of cooking spray into your mug so that the eggs don't stick. Pour in egg whites. Pop the mug in the microwave and cook on high for a minute (if they're still a little runny, an extra 20-30 seconds). Meanwhile, if desired, toast your english muffin and put your toppings on. Plop your cooked egg onto the muffin, put the top on, and consume.

Super easy! Lots of protein and very satisfying, for the low low price of 3 Points (more if you're using cheese, sausage, bacon, etc). You can make it in a minute, wrap it up in tin foil, and there you have it - toasty warm breakfast to go! You could totally make this at work too to ensure full warming goodness, just take the eggs with you and hope that no one at the office steals them.

Veggie and Feta Frittata

I make this ahead of time, and it keeps me fed with breakfasts for SEVERAL DAYS! You can use whatever veggies you like, but here are some of my favourites for this recipe (add more of these measurements if your tray is big or you're making lots):

1c Egg Beaters
1/2c zucchini, chopped up
mushrooms, chopped up
1/4 bell pepper, chopped up
1/4c cherry tomatoes, chopped up
1Tbsp feta cheese crumbled
non-stick cooking spray

Spray a small glass pan with the non-stick spray. I have a bitty glass baking dish that I use, OR you could use a muffin tray!
In a bowl, combine your eggs, veggies and cheese. Pour into the baking dish.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until the mixture is firm.

You're done!

To eat over several days, keep it covered in the fridge. You can take off a slice when you're ready, heat it up in the microwave for 30s-1minute, plop it on a piece of toast or English muffin (or just eat it by itself, maybe with some salsa!), and munch munch munch! For point values, it really depends on how big of a slice you're taking (how many servings you get). I usually take about 1/4 of my mini pan, so it's a mere ONE POINT for a protein-and-veggie packed slice, add more for toast/English muffins when applicable.

Other favourite breakfast-on-the-go ideas that I love:

• Oatmeal, either the instant packaged kind, or make your own the night before. Top with whatever you like (e.g. PB and banana, apples and cinnamon, dried apricots and walnuts, raisins/dried cranberries, etc!)
• Yogurt parfait with lots of fruit (strawberries, blueberries, grapes, apricots, peaches, whatever) and a sprinkle of granola. I also like to drizzle a bit of honey on top :)
• Smoothies, which you can blend sans ice the night before, and just blenderize it with ice cubes to froth it up in the morning when you're ready to go
  

WOW!!! Breakfast is AWESOME!

Next week will start the complete elimination of caffeine, and start eating more vegetarian dishes! More recipes will come as I experiment!