Month: August 2008

Running is SO Easy!

1 Comment
Treadmill Trainer Volume 2

Treadmill Trainer Volume 2

I just got in from an accidental run that turned out to be my fastest, happiest run to date!

Sitting at my computer enjoying some raw chocolate pudding and a fabulous green juice, I simply had too much energy to sit still.  So I got out my ipod, downloaded Treadmill Trainer Volume 2 onto it, and set out for the boardwalk.

This is the first time I’ve finished the entire workout, and I seriously had a smile on my face the whole time!  There are 2 spots where Yuri says you can stop, and I’ve taken him up on his offer times before, but I was in the zone and feeling like I could just kill the workout.  And I did!  I even ran home after I finished stretching!

I love his workouts and the way he talks to you as if he’s right there beside you.  I even talk back to him and answer all of his questions out loud!  For example, when the workout was over he asks: “How are you feeling right now?” Amazing!  “How did you feel 10 minutes ago?”  Amazing!  “How did you feel when you woke up this morning?”  Umm…not this good…no.  (I had to talk myself into going to yoga this morning)  Then I patted myself on the back (because he told me to) and congratulated myself on running 10 k in approximately 45 minutes…and I’m not a runner!  For comparison, I ran a 5k in April and my time was 29:41…and I was dead tired and wanted to throw up…a lot.  What a difference!

I just recently started running, and I’ve only run two 10 k’s before tonight.  I usually just do 5 k’s because I get bored of running after 30 minutes.  But since I signed up for a half marathon 5 months ago, and put off training until pretty much right now, it’s time to get serious…hence the Treadmill Trainer series of workouts being downloaded to my ipod.  After tonight I feel certain I am going to have a competitive time in the run, and I really can’t wait to do it!  I think I’m going to do intervals during the run.  I’ll just listen to the Treadmill Trainers even then.  That would be funny.  The motivation he gives during the workouts is priceless.  I’m seriously going to listen to the training audio when I run the race.

I should definitely add:  I highly recommend Volumes 2 and 3 plus all the hill running stuff, but only get Volume 1 if you are JUST starting out.  It involves walking and running, perfect for beginners, but you may find it too slow if you have any experience.  That being said, Volume 2 will kick your a** no matter what level of runner you are!  If you disagree and think you’re some big time runner, then you HAVE to try it.  It’ll step up your game so much and you’ll be thankful for the challenge!!!  Happy running 🙂

Durian – Best Fruit Ever.

2 Comments

Durian Pudding

I fell in love with the durian about a year ago.  You never forget your first.  I brought it home from china town and plopped it on the kitchen table.  The next day, our whole house smelled literally like crap, and I hadn’t even opened it yet!  I’m pretty sure our house smelled bad for an entire week.  Lesson learned.  Now when we bring home durians – they sleep outside!

I just made what I call Durian Pudding – quite possibly my favourite food in the entire world.  And all it simply is, is durian fruit mixed with a spoonful of raw almond butter!

 

Durian Pudding

1 cup durian fruit
2 tbsp raw almond butter

Just throw the ingredients in a bowl and mix it up with a fork!  Instant custardy goodness.

 

Since some people find the smell so offensive, durian isn’t allowed on public transportation in some areas!  Hilarious and weird, because I don’t mind the smell anymore – I guess it’s because I know how yummy it is!

It may take you a few tries at eating it before you like it, and no two durian fruit taste the same, so I suggest you give it a few tries.  I never knew when I first tried it that I would ever declare it my favourite food ever, so you just never know how you’ll react!

Raw Enchiladas!

1 Comment

raw-6059

Last night we had the best dinner, and in spite of what you may think it was incredibly easy to put together – but, a dehydrator is a necessity. So if you don’t have one…it’s time to invest in one!  Honestly though, if you don’t have a dehydrator you could just throw the ingredients (plus some fresh corn kernels) in a bowl and have an enchilada salad! 

Easy Raw Corn Tortillas

  • 3 cups of fresh corn kernels
  • 1 cup milled flax seeds
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 zucchini, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups water

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined.  Then mix until smooth.

Spread thin on a dehydrator sheet in whatever shape you desire and dehydrate at 110 F for 4-5 hours or until no longer doughy on top.  Flip and dehydrate another 3-4 hours.

Guacamole

  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 small tomato, chopped
  • 1/4 small red onion, minced
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 3 avocados, mashed with a fork
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • optional: 1 handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

Mash avocados with a fork and then add the rest of the ingredients.  If it doesn’t taste amazing, then there are 2 things you have to play with: the amount of sea salt and the amount of lime juice.  Play with these until this is the best guacamole you’ve ever tasted.

Easy Raw Tomato Sauce

  • 1 cup tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
  • 1 red pepper
  • dash cayenne

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency is reached.

Raw Cashew Cheese Sauce – Seriously the best ever!

  • 1 cup cashews
  • 1/2 yellow pepper
  • 2 tbsp wheat-free tamari
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 clove garlic
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined, slowly adding water until the consistency you desire is reached, keeping in mind that it will get thicker as it sits and the cashews have a chance to absorb the water.  Alternatively you can also blend in a high speed blender to get a velvet smooth consistency.

 

To assemble the enchilada I just chopped up some lettuce and tossed it on the corn tortilla, layered it with guacamole and rolled it up.  We splashed on the tomato and cheese sauces and quickly took a picture (which is obviously not too artistic) just before our ravenous stomachs got a hold of it!

Fighting the Dairy Advocates.

Leave a comment

Being one who tries desperately to avoid dairy products, it is unfathomable that others would even consider drinking a glass of milk. There are so many reasons to avoid it that there isn’t a chance I can share all of my reasons why right now…you’re going to have to wait for the book to hit store shelves!

I am currently doing research for the aformentioned book and I stumbled across a study done at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, which is just an example of all the ridiculous studies out there that are so horribly designed that they’re just wasting time and money that could be put to much better use!

This particular study looked at the effects of drinking milk on exercise, which could have yielded some terrific results had it been designed correctly. The researchers had its participants drink either water, a sports drink, 1% milk, or 1% milk with added sugar before and every 10 minutes during exercise. They concluded, and I quote “exercise time to exhaustion was not significantly influenced by the drink ingested but there was a tendency for subjects to exercise longer when the carbohydrate-electrolyte, milk, or milk plus glucose was ingested compared with water.”  No kidding geniuses!

Their bodies are already swimming in crap associated with all the milk and ice cream, etc. over the past few days. A better study would have lasted weeks and had the participants eliminate all dairy from their diets, look at exercise with glucose and water, and then introduce dairy over a few days and look at exercise again with dairy and glucose.  The re-introduction of dairy would probably make them too ill to exercise!

It’s so frustrating when most studies are designed by people backed by the dairy industry…of course they’re not going to design a study that sheds the light on its horrendous effects on the human body!