WIAW: Running on Empty

I started working out at the YMCA again this week.

Last month, I stopped going, instead focusing on Bs sleep, making sure he slept at least an hour for each nap. Sleeping longer during the day isn't helping him sleep better at night.  Actually, he now can't sleep without me for more than 20 minutes.

So, I decided to start going to the YMCA this week.

My husband (who rarely exercises), has been talking about training for a 5K.  I printed off the plan and we went on Monday.  On Tuesday, he was too sore, but I went and trained even a little harder.

The only time I will go to the gym is in the morning, because I don't like to eat before working out. I always grew up hearing that breakfast was the most important meal of the day and to NEVER skip breakfast.  However, I find I have a lot more energy when I skip breakfast on days I go to the gym.  Since my body isn't busy digesting food, I can put more effort into my exercise.

Of course, I am hungry when I get home and I fill up on a big protein shake, followed by fruit.

Here is what I ate, in no particular order.

• chocolate cherry protein shake (recipe here)
• romaine lettuce salad with Annie's Goddess Dressing, dried cherries, and mushrooms
• 3 Tb. Justin's Maple Almond Butter (SO GOOD! I'm going to sell it at the Farmers Market this year.)
• Green Giant Valley Steamers with cauliflower, carrots, snap peas, and dried cranberries
• Peach sherbet I made with frozen peaches, almond milk, cinnamon, and 1 Tb. agave nectar
• Amy's Bistro Burgers with lettuce, tomato, and olive oil mayo on Ezekiel buns (thinking of selling these, too) and home-baked sweet potato chips
• Sliced organic Fuji apples with cinnamon (MY NEW FAVORITE SNACK!)

I definitely wasn't on empty by the end of the day!

Thanks for your comments!  "Reply" wasn't working last time I posted.

Do you like to eat before you exercise?

What I Ate Wednesday: Sugar Detox

jeffk/flickr.com

I don't know about you, but Easter candy gets me even more than Halloween.

Cadbury Creme Eggs are the best or the worst, depending on how you look at things.

I unwrap the egg before leaving the store parking lot, peeling back the green, blue, red, and yellow foil wrapper with my fingernails. I take a bite into the firm chocolate and am rewarded with creamy, yellow and white sugary goodness in the center. 

Each time I see them at the store, I now buy two, instead of just one.

These little eggs led me down the crystal path of sugar addiction.

It didn't take long for me to start eating sugary foods all day.  First came the late night candy bars I sent my husband to pick up when he was craving chocolate, too.  Then, I was buying chocolate-covered almonds with the intention of eating them "after supper," but instead ate them all during the afternoon.  Finally, I moved on to eating white pasta and bread for lunch and a snack, which are both easily broken down into sugar in the body. There have been days when I didn't even look at a piece of fruit or veggie before supper.

So, I've been working to break my sugar addiction.

After the first few days without sugar, my headaches have went away.  I have more energy. I feel better. I'm still eating more grains than before, but now I'm making sure they are full of fiber, slowing down the breakdown into sugar and filling me up.

Here is what I ate on one of my sugar detox days.

What I ate, in no particular order:

1.  Two homemade protein shakes with spinach
2.  Salted mixed nuts
3.  A bowl of Nature's Path Flax Plus cereal with almond milk
4.  A bag of frozen mixed fruit
5.  Romaine salad with Annie's Goddess organic salad dressing
6.  Quinoa with black beans, diced tomatoes, and green chilis and cooked carrots

Is there any candy that you find irresistible?

RECIPE: Onion-Mushroom Gravy (Vegan)

[Print this Recipe]

Pull the pop top and out slides grayish glop into a bowl.  Add a little milk and I have quick mushroom gravy, good for topping meat, potatoes, and even vegetables.

Condensed cream of mushroom soup was once my quick gravy recipe. 

Then, I started reading ingredients:

Water, Mushrooms, Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, Contains Less Than 2% of: Salt, Cream, Dried Whey, Monosodium Glutamate, Soy Protein Concentrate, Yeast Extract, Spice Extract, Dehydrated Garlic, Vegetable Oil: Corn, Cottonseed, Canola and, or Soybean.

Half of the calories per 1/2 cup also come from fat (50 of the 100 total).

Here is my healthier version.  I served it with cubed pieces of Amy's California Burgers.

[Print this Recipe]

ONION-MUSHROOM GRAVY

Ingredients:

*1 Tb. vegetable oil

*3/4 c. diced onion

*2 c. chopped fresh white mushrooms

*1 c. water

*3 1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk

*1/2 tsp. celery salt

*2/3 c. unbleached white flour

*2 tsp. nutritional yeast flakes

*2 tsp. beef-style seasoning

Directions:

1.  In large saucepan, saute onions in oil until translucent.  Add mushrooms and water.  Simmer until mushrooms are tender.  Remove from heat.

2.  In blender, combine almond milk, flour, celery salt, flour, nutritional yeast, and onions and mushrooms.  Blend slightly on low speed.

3.  Return blended ingredients to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened.

Do you use condensed soups?

Sofa Sleeper

I haven't posted in nearly a month.  I blame my husband.

For the past eight months, my husband has been a sofa sleeper.  Baby Benjamin goes to bed with me and Mike takes the couch.  When the baby wakes, I wake.  When the baby needs fed, I can nurse him  without waking the whole house up.  Most of the time, I don't completely wake up.  Perfect arrangement.

My "sofa sleeper"

Except for one thing: I miss sleeping with my husband.

So, I started working on Benjamin's sleeping habits this month. 

First, I stopped nursing Benjamin to sleep. Now, I'm working on keeping him to sleep more than 20 minutes at a time.  Unfortunately, this requires him sleeping in my arms.

Although things are progressing well with the baby, this has led to one big problem:

no blog posts!

Since Benjamin was born, I have done most of my writing while nursing him to sleep or letting him sleep on my lap. Now that I rock him to sleep and rock him back to sleep when he wakes up, my hands are busy and I can't type.

So, until we get this sleeping thing worked out, I will do my best to get posts done.  They will not be as frequent as they were before, but I will make a better effort at writing when the baby isn't in my arms.

Here's to getting rid of the "sofa sleeper" and getting my husband back in bed with me soon!