Sometimes I say I don’t have time to read, but that’s such an excuse, ya know? We each get the same 24 hours/day, but we choose to use that time differently. Saying “I don’t have time to <insert activity of choice>” is one of the most cringe-worthy excuses in my mind, though I do find myself saying it from time to time. *sigh* I always remind myself about the “same 24 hours” idea, though…it helps keep me in check.

Anywho, I’m hoping to start making some time at least once a week to start reading again. I also have some vacation coming up, and I’m taking one whole week off of work. Woohoo! So, I’m hoping to enjoy some relaxing downtime and get some reading QT into the agenda (or non-agenda depending on how the vacay goes).

As most of you guys probably already know, I’m much better at starting things than finishing them. Here are some books I’ve started and would like to finish sometime soon:

My Life in France

The Happiness Project

Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office

Finding Your Own North Star

The Art of Racing in the Rain – I actually haven’t started this book. I don’t even know what it’s about. My sister bought it for me for Christmas, and I trust her judgement in selecting some quality reading material. I’m actually kind of excited to read a book that I don’t know much about.

I know some of you have requested I post more of my daily eat photos, but they are truly so boring, you really don’t want to see them. I’ve been eating a whole lot of sandwiches and noodle bowls, including the above meal from the other day. I had a turkey/havarti sandwich with sliced bell pepper (the vegetable side of choice for the lazy/busy girl).

And tonight, I had to eat dinner solo, so I picked up a white wine rotisserie chicken breast at The Fresh Market, which I had with sauteed kale and leftover farro. By the way, not sure if you guys have tried the farro recipe I posted the other day, but you know how I don’t like leftovers? This stuff tastes better re-heated! Yes, it’s a leftover I love! I put mine in a small pot with a splash of vegetable broth to keep it from sticking. Yum! I also morphed some of the leftovers into a breakfast dish (recipe on the way).

Thanks for reading!

Reader questions: What books have you read recently and loved? Are you better at starting things or finishing things?

Do you ever take the time to un-plug? I mean…do you ever step away from the internet, computer, cell phone, and other modern technologies? I wasn’t expecting to stay away from the blog as long as I did (not that it was that long), but since I was on vacation, I decided to just do whatever I felt like doing. And what I felt like doing was enjoy the beautiful nature around, take in the peace and quiet, and do some old-fashioned things like read a book.

I came well-equipped for some quality reading time with 3 magazines and 3 books.

And over breakfast on our first (and only) full day at the lake, I dug into one – Finding Your Own North Star. I found out about this book from The Fitnessista who is always reading fun, inspirational books. This book, by Martha Beck, is about figuring out your path to happiness by finding your own “North Star.” Just like explorers use the North Star in the sky to determine which way they’re going, by figuring out your “North Star”, you can better navigate your way to your ideal life.

Here’s a great snippet from the book:

Right in the middle of my life, I realized that I wasn’t where I wanted to be. It was like I’d wandered off the right path into a very, very bad neighborhood. I don’t even want to remember how scary that space was – makes me feel like I’m gonna die or something. I’m only telling you about it because a lot of good came of it in the long run. So anyway, I don’t even know how I ended up so far off course. I felt like I’d been sleepwalking.” – Dan, age 41

If you can relate to that paragraph, then you just may get some good use out of this book. As for me, since I’m such an analytical person, I’m constantly evaluating things, my life included. Sometimes I wonder where I’m going. Am I doing what I’m meant to do? Could I be doing more to help more people? I don’t have the answers, and I’m not sure I ever will, not all of them at least. But, I think life is more about evaluation and re-evaluation and less about getting every single last life-question answered. I think the process of thinking through deep questions has the power to open your eyes and make you a better person. And this book definitely has me thinking.

Besides spending a few glorious hours poring through my new book, I also snapped these funny photos of Bailey just after he got out of the lake from his first swim of this trip.

His fur always looks so funny after it gets wet!

Later in the day, I offered to make one of the family meals of the vacation.

Since hubby’s sister’s family is mostly vegetarian, we decided on a spinach-ricotta lasagna.

Family dining at the table.

The lasagna was a hit…especially served with with yummy Great Harvest Virginia rolls. Nommm!

And post dinner, we played a new card game with wine and chocolate chip dough balls.

Hubby’s sister’s fam brought the card game – Dixit. The game is a lot like Apples to Apples, except it’s more for the creative/artistic soul since you use art work instead of words. This game is also great for younger kids since it’s completely visual – no words required! Fear not adults, the game is fun for grown-ups, too. I had a blast playing it!

Wow, what an “old-fashioned” day! We:

• Read books
• Ate dinner at the dinner table
• Played board games

I had a great day un-plugged from the rest of the world.

***

Next time on TCL, wait till you see the photos of Bailey on his first boat outing!

***

Do you like to un-plug when you go on vacation? What about during regular weeks?

There are many things that I procrastinate doing, and they’re not all bad.

Take, for example, finishing Water for Elephants. Sure, I could have finished the book weeks ago. But instead…

…instead, I folded a corner near one of the final chapters down and decided to wait. I guess I didn’t actually decide to wait, I just never decided to finish the book. I just don’t want the story to end. The last couple chapters are becoming precious pages of reading material that must only be enjoyed on special occasion. Part of me knows how silly this is, and yet part of me wants Mr. Jankowski (the young and old versions) to live on in page after page of typed black letters and heart-wrenching stories.

After waiting several weeks, I think I’m finally to finish reading the last couple chapters…just maybe.

On Sunday, I woke up wanting to do something fun and new with the blueberries I picked up at the farmer’s market the day before.

In my head, I envisioned something like an individual berry breakfast crisp, but with the oat topping mixed throughout the berries. But, I also wanted to mix an egg into the batter for protein (to keep you full!), and I figured that would throw the proportions off, making more of an individual breakfast cake.

I think the end result wasn’t far from a cake. It’s either cake or muffin like. I’m thinking of calling it an Individual Blueberry Breakfast Scoop-Cake, since you eat it with a spoon. It’s also a new Not So Sweet recipe, and a cinch to whip up. I think you guys will like it! I’ll be sharing the recipe some time this week.

Although we did great picking up produce at the market yesterday, we didn’t get any proteins.

So, I just whipped up a noodle bowl, Italian-themed this time, for a quick lunch. I used frozen onions, pasta water, organic cherry tomatoes, fresh basil from my herb garden, and bread crumbs. Pasta water helped make the sauce. It was simple, tasty, and made the house smell amazing!

Another thing I procrastinate doing is responding to blog comments. Oops. I don’t know why I procrastinate this since reading and responding to blog comments is one of my absolutely favorite parts of blogging! Seriously you guys, I read each and every comment you all post. They make me smile, laugh, think, and overall feel good. They are wonderful, so please, keep em coming.

And if you saw a slew of comment responses hit your email inbox on Sunday, that’s because I like to set aside some time to reply to comments to make it even extra special. Lately, I’ve been hitting up local coffee shops, finding a nice quiet table, and sipping on some sort of flavored latte whilst reading and responding to you all. It is one of my favorite things to do on the weekend!

I also brought some reading material to the coffee shop – Well Being Journal, Summer Entertaining, and Clean Eating magazine – the 3 purchases I made at the book shop the night before.

And even hubby and Bailey made the trip to FABO. I love how they let you bring your pets inside! And being surrounded by so much beautiful, locally made art helps fuel my creative spirit.

After the coffee shop, Megan came over for dinner.

Hubby and I made grilled chicken breasts and grilled potatoes – both with a lemon/rosemary vinaigrette with rosemary from our backyard. I also made steamed cabbage (from the market!) and carrots.

And for dessert…

…a little something I’ve been missing – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (click for recipe)!

After watching the Food TV show (several weeks ago) where Annie the Baker showed the audience how to make her sugar cookie dough balls, I was inspired to try a new preparation method. It worked…and was actually one of the methods I utilized when I went through my trial batch period perfecting my own version of the “dough ball.” I’m thinking the method will mean having dough balls at your beckoning call, which means you guys will flip! Or maybe it’s just me flipping…because I’d have just cause to procrastinate baking them? You’ll see…

***

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Reader Question #1: What are you guilty of procrastinating?

Reader Question #2: Did you ever delay finishing a book because you don’t want the story to end? Which book was it?

Thursday… the first day of the end of the week. lol. I think of Wednesday as the middle and Thursday the beginning of the end. A sign that we’re closer to 2 days of freedom. Yesssssss!

The work day was incredibly hectic, but luckily, I had Zumba to save me later. I taught a small but mighty class. So fun!

My favorite songs of the night:

• Hella Decale
• Diva
• Right Round

As sun was setting, I headed out with some friends from class for dinner.

I only had my iPhone, so I just snapped a couple photos from the restaurant of the evening – Dish. A local favorite with some of the friendliest staff I’ve seen in a restaurant.

My friends (Shamecia, Talicha, and Sarah) and I went family style for dinner, sharing 1 appetizer and 3 entrees:

• Nachos
• Blacked Tuna, collard greens, mac and cheese
• Pecan Chicken with honey butter, mashed potatoes, and extra deviled eggs (the eggs are a key feature of the restaurant)
• Cajun meatloaf with extra mashed potatoes and extra collard greens

After a few minutes of divvying up food (without contamination for me – the sole germiphobe of the table), we were ready to eat. And eat we did. The food was fabulous, as always! I just love this place.

Upon getting home, I decided to try something new. The house was quiet, as hubby had already gone to bed. Instead of downloading photos to my computer, blogging, or turning on the TV, I changed, made hot tea, and got cozy on the couch with Bailey.

I spent 45 glorious minutes doing something I haven’t done in ages – reading. My book of choice – Water for Elephants. I bought it because the trailer for the movie looked really interesting, and I figured the book would better.

So far, so good. It’s quite the page turner. It’s not so much an exciting or thrilling story where you have to know what happens next. But the author, Sara Gruen, does a fantastic job of pulling you right into the story.

I can’t wait to read more. It feels good to be reading again. To lose yourself in a story completely different than your every day life.

I know it sounds silly to not really spend time reading books, but when you get into the crazy schedule of a working life, sometimes things you enjoy doing get pushed aside for must-dos or other hobbies. When I was a kid, I would spend days upon days just reading books. One of my favorite childhood authors was Christopher Pike. I blogged about his book series before and was happy to read that many of my readers are also fans. And for one of my all-time favorite books – Interview with a Vampire. Maybe it was because I saw the movie and thought Brad Pitt was a smokin hot vampire. But, I credit the fantastic storyline and writing style of Anne Rice. I read that book 3 times, and I would happily read it again. In fact, I probably should. It’s been about 10 years since I last read it.

What’s your favorite book of all time?

So, I guess I owe you guys a story about deep-fried shrimp heads. Sure, I could save it for another day, but why not go ahead and tell the tale.

I Shall Try Anything Once

When I was in college, I went out with some friends to a local sushi restaurant for a evening of delicious eats. I expected fun times, but I didn’t expect a dare so shocking that it would shake up my entire outlook on trying new foods. You see…somewhere in my early twenties I decided that life was too short to not try new things – namely in the food department. I thought I should be adventurous! My eats-motto became: I shall try anything once. As it turns out, this motto can take you on quite an adventure…especially at a sushi restaurant! I’d tried some pretty interesting things over the years: from pheasant to rattlesnake. But on this night at the local sushi restaurant semi-awkwardly located in the deep south (South Carolina), my motto turned against me.

I was out with some co-workers from Macaroni Grill and the rowdy bunch were all about having a good time and getting a little crazy. Things started out ok with the usual suspects – edamame, hot tea, and maki rolls. But things took a turn for the worse when the topic of crazy sushi-restaurant appetizers came up, and one of my co-workers/friends raved about the deep-fried shrimp heads. “They taste like buttered popcorn!” he exclaimed. My friends and I looked around with much skepticism and plenty of raised eye brows. We didn’t believe him. Maybe it was his spikey hair? Maybe it was his tilted grin. But, when he ordered said deep fried shrimp heads, none of us wanted to taste the things to validate his claim. That was…until he dared us to try them with dessert being the prize for successful downing the bizarre appetizer. He turned to the only two girls at the table and bargained with us, “If you and Anne share this deep-fried shrimp head, I will buy you both dessert!”

Remember now, I’m a waitress in college. Read – I’m broke. Free dessert sounded pretty awesome. I always wanted dessert, but I didn’t always want to pay for it. Plus the boys at the table were looking at us like they didn’t think we could do it, and I just had to prove them wrong! So Anne and I looked at each other, and with a shoulder shrug, decided what the heck. Let’s go for it. I mean…I said I would try anything for once, and that should mean anything, right? Riiiiiiiight? I remember looking at that giant bowl of shrimp heads with their deep-fried-golden-brown coating and crispy looking whiskers pointing tauntingly at me and thinking…how bad can it be? Anne and I slowly picked up one of the shrimp heads and started to pull it into two pieces so we could share. *Warning stop reading if you’re squeamish* I was actually looking forward to trying the shrimp head and all it’s “buttered popcorn” goodness until just as the shrimp head was almost in two pieces, a tiny black mound fell out and onto the plate below. “It’s the brain!” shouted the boys at the table. As I stared at the tiny black “brain” of the shrimp, I could feel my desire for not only the shrimp head, but also for dessert slowly drifting away.

But whether I actually wanted dessert or not, at this point I was committed to the dare. We said we’d eat that shrimp head and by goodness, we’d do it! I gathered all the courage I could and placed the golden brown shrimp head in my mouth. *crunch crunch crunch* And the flavor? Did it taste like buttered popcorn? I certainly didn’t think so. I think I was still too freaked out by the “brain” to think much of the shrimp head. I chewed as quickly as I could and gagged the shrimp head down. I did it! I ate the shrimp head! I sat back, smiled at the boys like “I told you we could do it!” and admired my bravery. Anne and I looked knowingly at each other. We sure proved those boys wrong! I was proud…and yet…also slightly disgusted. What had I just done? I’d just eaten a freakin shrimp head!

And although I wasn’t really feeling hungry any more at this point, we went ahead and cashed in our on free desserts. Anne and I suffered our way through bowls of green tea ice cream with confused half-grins and turning stomachs.

We may have lost our appetite for dessert, but at least we’d gained the pride of successfully completing our deep-fried shrimp head dare.

***

Moving on to a more fun topic – I got a new oatmeal bowl!

Ok, it’s a mug from Anthropologie, but eating oatmeal in mugs is the cool thing to do, ya know?!

I had rice milk oatmeal with chia seeds. On top – sliced banana, coconut flakes and some of my homemade Honey Roasted Cinnamon Wink Almond Butter.

Have you made this almond butter yet? It’s aaaaamazing! Do it!

***

I taught my second Zumba class at my new class location on Wednesday. It was so wonderful! I had 53 people in my first class, but that one was free. I wasn’t sure how many would actually want to come back for round 2. I’m happy to report I had a stunning 27! Hazzah! I couldn’t have been happier. We have a lot of new participants in class, so I’m looking forward to getting to know them more. So far, I’m seeing lots of smiling faces and that is wonderful!

After teaching Zumba and then going to “secret dance class”, I went out to dinner with my friend Sarah at Hawthorne’s Pizza.

Sarah

Moi

And instead of blogging, I decided to take some me-time and relax on the couch with Bailey, hot tea, and a book.

I’m reading First Things First by Stephen Covey. I’ve heard great things about this book over the years and actually started to read it several years ago. I’m excited about picking it back up. I hope to learn some good time management skills.

Reader Question: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten? Was it for a dare or just for fun?

It’s that time of year again!

The time when things both speed up and slow down. The holidays are in full effect!

I professed my love of staying up late (or inability to go to bed early) to my Facebook friends a few days ago. My new focus for December is to attempt to get things done at a more reasonable hour so I have more me-time and can go to bed sooner.

Besides more sleep and more time to read, I’d also like to work on picking up some forgotten craft projects, like this crocheted ripple blanket I started roughly 2 years ago (whoa…has it really been that long?!).

I managed to work on it some Tuesday night, though I had to review my crochet books to ensure I was doing the stitches properly. It’s really been too long since I’ve crocheted!

I’m also taking some time to pull out some holiday-related decoration and craft books to generate some ideas…should I have enough free time to work on some other projects.

The holidays also mean baking for me. I know I’ve been baking up a storm with the dough balls and all, but I’d also like to work on developing some good old fashioned cookies.

I am close to a great regular chocolate chip (something thicker than this thin and chewy one), but I also want to figure out a good oatmeal chocolate chip.

These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from yesterday were pretty good.

I actually had made a batch the night before that came out waaay too cakey for my liking.

These were much closer to what I’m looking for, but are not quite right yet.

A few more batches and we should be there. Hopefully, I don’t have to do 7 batches again, though.

And for a random note, I’m really excited to check out this ball whisk by WMF – a freebie I got in my Foodbuzz swag bag.

On to lunch. The bag of brussels sprouts hubby picked up was bigger than I thought. I’ve now gotten 3 meals out of it – 2 shared with hubby and the last one solo.

For the second meal, I just did a quick saute on shredded brussels sprouts. We had this with Annie’s mac and cheese. It was a pretty light lunch, but very tasty.

Simple Sauteed Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Serves 2

I’ve seen shredded brussels sprouts in a few places, including in a Martha Stewart cous cous salad and (I believe) once in a reader comment. I was considering making roasted brussels sprouts on this day, but I didn’t want to wait very long to eat. Sauteed brussels sprouts are just as tasty as roasted brussels sprouts, but much faster.

Skip the butter or sub Earth Balance to make this vegan

Ingredients:

• 10 brussels sprouts, cleaned, outer leaves removed, shredded
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 tsp butter
• salt, pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat EVOO in a medium saute pan over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and shredded brussels sprouts and saute till leaves are tender, about 2-3 minutes. Stir frequently so leaves don’t burn.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. When brussels sprouts are cooked through, add butter to pan, stir as it melts to coat brussels sprouts.
5. Enjoy!

Next up…Christmas tree shopping!

Sis and I had plans to make Chic Bars first thing this morning.

So we threw a batch together. Easy-peesy.

Mom went out for a bagel run and came home with 2 dozen of these delicious rye bagels that I adore. I thought she was just getting some for breakfast (though I was hopeful she’d get extra so I could bring some home), but I was really (happily) surprised to see TWO dozen! We obviously can’t eat all of these, but they freeze quite nicely and will be sure to serve as delicious breakfasts for many upcoming mornings.

My parents have had this mug since I can remember. All these years I thought the graphic on the mug was grapes.

Guess I never paid much attention where it clearly says “Coffea”. Doh!

There’s even a story about the origin of coffee on the back of the mug. heehee…guess I know better now! I read the story for the first time today.

Since we had fresh-baked bagels in the house, still warm from baking this morning, we made breakfast around them.

Eggs and cheese plus bacon.

All together now.

***

Before we knew it, it was time to eat again

We had another feast!

Breaded chicken tenders, leftover mac and cheese (Dad-style) and steamed green beans (from their garden).

Plus a nice, sizeable salad with romaine, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and carrot.

By the time lunch was over, the Chic Bars were cool and ready to be cut.

I of course had to sample to verify tastiness. Approved!

Check out what Dad dug out while we were home – Let’s Eat RIght to Keep Fit by Adelle Davis. This is one of the first books on nutrition…by Adelle, who was quite the pioneer in the nutrition industry. As I’ve mentioned before, Dad is quite the health nut and even carried this exact book with him in college!

I read through a few pages and turns out a lot of the info is still relevant today! The saddest thing was that she seemed to talk a lot about areas where we needed to improve the country’s nutrition (school lunches anyone?) that it seems haven’t moved much since she first made her suggestions. Oh well, maybe one day “healthy” will be the prevalent?

Soon enough it was time to get back on the road to head home. Luckily, Sis sent us home with 4 granola bars, which we munched on during our car ride.

Did you know yesterday was National Cheese Pizza day?! Too bad I was too busy stuffing my face with delicious Indian food with Sis to notice. So, today hubby and I celebrated a day late with hot pizza from our fave pizza joint.

We also had salads with baby spinach, baby carrots, sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast (which I got hubby to eat by saying it tasted like parmesan…hey, that’s what I heard for real!).

And post dinner, it was time to head to Caitlin and Kristien’s place for football, friends (Kelly, Brad, and Nicole)…

…more Darn-Good-Chocolate Cake…

…and VINO!

Thanks Caitlin and Kristien for having us over!

What a fabulous end to a fabulous weekend! I can’t believe tomorrow is Tuesday already!

What did you do this past weekend?

I’m obsessed.

No, not with this delicious Don Pablo coffee….

…with those cursedly delicious Great Harvest cinnamon rolls. Gah!

My parents know this is nothing new.

Even as a child, I had a tendency to latch onto a food once in awhile and eat it till I was sick of it. I did that with macaroni and cheese and even raisins. Mac and cheese I still love but I must have eaten a whole heck of a lot of those raisins because I still dislike them. Ahh c’est la vie. Plus, it could be worse…I could be eaten processed “baked goods” out of a vending machine. Blech!

A cage-free fried egg helped keep me full till lunch. The only thing missing was the smoothie that I wasn’t quite hungry for until later in the day.

I got a package!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t my new zumba shoes (that hole is driving me crazy!), but it was pretty cool!

I got Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Operation Beautiful!

Can’t wait to dig into these.

I’d say the bread book would make for a great weekend project, but I’m going to be in Chicago! Woot woot!

Lunch was a chicken melt on Dakota with a very GREEN salad.

It looks like just lettuce, but there’s a lot of good stuff in there:

• organic romaine leaves
• organic green bell pepper
• organic celery
• green zebra tomatoes (from my Garden)
• sunflower seeds
• rosemary balsamic dressing

And later… since I’m not sick of it – some Annie’s instant mac and cheese.

Have you ever eaten something so much you made yourself sick of it? What was it?

Though I had a blast this weekend with fitness training and visiting my fam, I didn’t make it to the grocery store! No groceries means no food in the house!! Ok, no fresh fruits and veggies. Lucky for me my pantry is well-stocked.

So, though I was out of oatmeal (can you believe it!?), I was able to throw together this mixed berry (but mostly blueberries) smoothie with a 5/8 full scoop of Vanilla Chai Vega health optimizer, topped with some Galaxy Granola (*). I also had a mug of coffee, not pictured.

I normally don’t like smoothies in the mornings because I prefer hot stuff, but I really enjoyed my smoothie this AM. It was very filling, too!

I made sure to celebrate Starbucks Monday today with a grande vanilla soy latte. Yummers!

One of my meetings was cancelled today, so I was able to do an impromptu lunch with my friends Megan and Alex. So adult-y!

We met up at Capital Grille. I haven’t been here in years!

Interesting bread basket. There were rolls under the napkin.

I had a couple bites of calamari to start.

I got the citrus glazed salmon with the veggie of the day – a mixture of different veggies and mushrooms. Though it was quite tasty, I only managed to finish half my plate. That was a HUGE piece of fish!

Megan even had an impromptu gift for me – a juicing book!!! Aww…she knows me so well! I’ve been wanting a juicing book! I can’t wait to scope out the recipes so I know better things to order at the juice bar. And the pictures inside of gorgeous and so colorful! The book is called Super Juicer and it’s by Christine France.

Thanks Megan!!! xoxo

I had a Cherry Pie Larabar for a pre-workout snack. I read in Thrive that dates are a good pre-workout snack, and dates are also typically the primary ingredient in Larabars. Guess that makes Larabars a pretty good snack! I thought so today at least.

I had a fabulous hour long workout tonight and even got to lead the first song in class – Hips Don’t Lie (Bambo version) by Shakira. I was so nervous, though! I hadn’t led that song since instructor auditions. You’d think you wouldn’t be nervous doing a song you’ve done countless times before and practiced relentlessly, but…I was! Luckily, it went just fine. Phew!

I grabbed a quick dinner on my way home – Chipotle.

I got the barbacoa beef burrito bowl (with lots of veggies) with a tortilla on the side (I like to break up small pieces and eat bites of tortilla/meat/veggies with a fork), plus chips and guac. Remember all that cheese dip I used to eat? I knew it was terrible for me, but it just tasted so darn good! Well, I’ve transitioned to a better dip – guacamole! I know some people avoid guac because of the fatty avocados, but they have a good kind of fat! Anywho, I’m sure I’ll still get cheese dip once in awhile, but it’s nice to enjoy healthier options.

I only managed to eat about half of my dinner, but luckily hubby helped me finish the burrito part.

I had a little piece of Theo Orange Dark Chocolate for dessert. I didn’t want a lot – just a touch of sweetness.

What are your favorite burrito fillings?

So, about two weeks ago, I went with some friends to see Brendan Brazier, a vegan ironman, author of Thrive (The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life) and Thrive Fitness (The Vegan-Based Training Program for Maximum Strength, Health, and Fitness) and formulator of Vega products. Based on the information about the session, I was pretty interested to hear what Brendan had to say, even though I’m not vegan, but I was surprised at how much I learned.

I thought that Brendan’s session would be more geared towards the vegan lifestyle, but there were many things that I learned that I think could be applied to any lifestyle: vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, or any other eating style.

Here are some of my favorite lessons learned from Brendan’s presentation:

• Energy by conservation: You can get energy by conservation by consuming foods that don’t take too much energy to assimilate. For example, gluten is actually hard to digest and can rob your body of energy. If your body has to put more energy towards digesting gluten, then it can’t put that energy towards your workout, etc.
• Same stresses: Stresses are the same no matter the source. Even exercise can be a form of stress on your body.
• Stressed too far: When you’re stressed, your cortisol levels are raised and can lead to adrenal burn out.
• Stress and Weight Loss: When cortisol levels are elevated it can be hard for you to lose fat or gain muscle.
• Stress Symptoms: Raised cortisol levels can cause trouble sleeping, sugar cravings, muscle tone not getting where you want it, etc. These symptoms are actually a good thing because they tell you something is wrong.
• Treating the Symptom vs the Cause: The common problem today is that people mask their body’s red flags. People treat the symptom (often via stimulants), not the cause. People drink coffee because they’re tired instead of just getting more rest/sleep. Brendan had a good example – if you’re driving and your check engine light comes on you can put a sticker over it to make the light go away, but that’s not really helping the root cause (which will eventually become a problem is left untreated).
• Alkaline-Forming Foods Are Good: Alkaline-forming foods are the cornerstone of good health. Greens are the most Alkaline-forming foods. These foods are good for: immune health, prevent osteoporosis, reduce inflammation, increase muscle functionality.
• Isolates Are Acidic: Whey protein isolate, soy protein isolate, etc. are acidic (you want to avoid acidic foods).
• Veg for B12: Good vegetarian sources of B12 are chlorella and nutritional yeast.

I think I really felt a connection with Brendan’s lessons because both he and I share a common interest: what food does for you. In fact, when I spoke with him to get his autograph (yep, totally bought the book after the presentation) and was talking about how I liked his lecture, we totally jinxed by saying at the same time that it was interesting “what food can do for you.”

I left thinking that my adrenals are probably completely burned out at the moment but most importantly I left with a newly refreshed curiosity to research what foods can do for me.

My main takeaways:

• Eat more alkaline-forming foods
• Work on better pre and post workout snacks. For pre, look for foods that are easier to digest. For post, look for good sources of protein that are not isolates
• Treat the cause, not the symptom – I think I’ve been working my way towards this approach over the last couple years, but it’s good to reinforce the idea
• Stock up pantry so I can try some Thrive recipes
• Experiment more with food – learn what works for me
• Continue to be curious about food and learn what they can do for me

I’ve been reading through Thrive for the last couple weeks and I really love it so far. I think the lessons are a little harder to apply to an omnivore’s lifestyle (than a vegan’s) and there are some obscure ingredients utilized in many of the recipes (though I’d like to add them to my pantry), but I’d really like to work on incorporating a bit more Thrive Diet into my lifestyle. In fact, at some point, I’ll be signing up for Thrive in 30. Can’t wait!

Reader Question: Do you treat the symptom or the cause?