Superfoods!

Kenny and I are in PEI today visiting my brother and sister in law and kiddos - we went sledding today. I'll do up a post about our trip tomorrow!

Superfoods. I try to eat these when I can, there is something about eating one food that has so many different benefits to it. I researched a few of my favorite superfoods to find out more about them. I will confess, swiss chard is not one of my favorites, but it is super healthy so I might pick it up next time I am grocery shopping.


Chia Seeds- these little grey seeds used to be known mostly for their role in Chia Pets. I remember Kenny's mom introduced them to me and I never looked back. At first I was a little thrown off by the gel that forms around them, but now I love their texture and add them to oatmeal, yogurt and even chocolate pudding!

Just 3 and a half ounces contains:

• as much omega-3 fatty acids 
• as 28 ounces of salmon
• as much calcium as 3 cups of milk
• and as much fibre
• as 1 1/4 cups of all bran cereal
• as much iron as 5 cups of spinach
• as much vegetable protein as as 1 1/2 cups of black beans
• as much potassium as 1 1/2 bananas
• as much Vitamin-C as 7 oranges

That is a super food! 

Chia Seeds
source

Hemp Seeds- These little guys boast the perfect ratio of omega-3 to omega-6. Hemp seeds have a full amino acid spectrum, which means it provides a well balanced, complete protein source (amino acids are important for our growth body tissue maintenance). Good news - Hemp seed is easily digested!

Some ways to eat hemp seeds:

• blending into smoothies
• tossing them over salads
• any other way you would use a seed 

Hemp Seed Hearts
source

Goji Berries- Sources state that gram for gram, goji berries contain more vitamin-c than oranges and more beta-carotene than carrots.

Goji berries are good in your oatmeal or mixed in with a trail mix

Goji Berry Energy Bars
recipe + source

Swiss Chard- A great source of chlorophyll (which are nutrients that may help prevent cancer) and a source of lutein (which plays a huge role in preventing age related macular degneration)

This is pretty simple to prepare- Seperate the stems and leaves, saute the stems and then add in the leaves at the very end to avoid wilting

Sauteed Swiss Chard
source + recipe

Black Beans- One of my all time favorite foods. They have an almost perfect balance of protein and complex carbohydrates. They're low glycemic and and high in soluble fibre (which helps to lower cholesterol and protect our hearts. Along with regular bathroom visits) and rich in vitamin-B which helps conver the carbs to energy.

Black Bean Burgers
source + recipe

                                              Do you have a favorite superfood?
                           Any recipes you have for the superfoods I mentioned?

and Spring Break starts.now.

Today is the last day of school before my study break. The best part? There will be no studying involved, no exams Monday morning at 8am this year! Not to mention I get to see 3 cute little blonde boys in PEI for a couple of days next week:)

Last night I made Pad Thai and topped it with bean sprouts and crushed cashews. Mmm, what is it about thai food? I can't ever seem to stop eating it.

I went for a quick workout. Started off with 10 minutes on the rower machine, tricep/bicep/deltoid exercies and a 20 minute sprint interval on the treadmill. My ice bath helped a little the other night, I noticed I wasn't as sore as I have been in the past. I need to use more ice than a tray of ice next time to get the whole effect, but it was still a benefit to me.

Tonight Kenny and I are heading to a company party at an up-scale hotel. I love outings like this because the food is always good and it's a fun little date with some co-workers. I have a little time to spare between clinic and when the party starts so I'm going to go window shopping for a bit until Kenny meets me downtown. 5:00 tonight=spring break!

I want to do this run someday- the Empire State Run-up.

source

source

Have a good Friday night- Any plans?

Cryotherapy

It was +9 today! I got off school at 1:30 and planned to go to the gym, but when I realized how mild and springy it was out I decided I should get my butt out on the road for a run. Since I couldn't go for my long run on Sunday because of the ice I wanted to take advantage of the weather.

I came home and ate 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter + sunflower seed butter with banana slices so I'd have some fuel for my run. I even drank some water! I am really trying to be a better water drinker.

I mentioned to Kenny the other day I was getting tired of the same running routes because we have lived here for 3 years now. I thought maybe I could drive somewhere and go from there just to get some new scenery, but he suggested a new route for me. There is a new road in the city here so I incorporated that into my run. It was great to have something new to look at, even if it involved some unexpected hills;)

I set out to run 15km, but it was a painless run - the weather was perfect and I just kept going. I ended up going an extra km so that's always a bonus.

I have been seeing ice baths all over fitness blogs. If you know me at all you'll know I really don't like the cold, but I thought I'd try it. Here's what Runner's World says about it:
Cryotherapy ("cold therapy") constricts blood vessels and decreases metabolic activity, which reduces swelling and tissue breakdown. Once the skin is no longer in contact with the cold source, the underlying tissues warm up, causing a return of faster blood flow, which helps return the byproducts of cellular breakdown to the lymph system for efficient recycling by the body. "Ice baths don't only suppress inflammation, but help to flush harmful metabolic debris out of your muscles," says David Terry, M.D., an ultrarunner who has finished both the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and the Wasatch Front 100-Mile Endurance Run 10 consecutive times. source


I didn't have 3 bags of ice, but the water was freeezzzing cold and I used a tray of ice cubes. Haha, hey, it was cold enough for me and I felt it was a good introduction to the ice bath thing. For my next run I will get some ice bags and get the full effect. It's amazing how quickly my body adjusted! Here's to hoping it helps me recover quickly from my run. 


Oscar was very curious so he came over to the tub and hung out with me and batted around some ice cubes. 

eating helped to distract me:)

and a little friend always helps too!

Speaking of little friends, here's an update on how the felines are getting along. They're curious and following each other around, but Maggie is sure to keep her distance while Oscar simply just wants to be friends. It's very entertaining to watch and we all think they'll be friends within a few days. For now, Maggie is the one who is putting their friendship on hold;)

this happens all day. 

the toy they're both after is in the middle

                             *Check out my Valentine Day update, just below this post!*                                                     


                                                     Have you ever tried an ice bath? 
                                                     How do you recover from longer runs?

Date Day

Happy Valentines Day- yesterday! I hope you had a good day, attached or not.

Kenny picked me up from school (the bus strike is still going on) at 11:00 am. Did I mention I am loving this semester?? I gave him a little treat bag our class was selling as a fundraiser and he told me he made me something. We went out to our favorite sushi place for lunch, I got a big plate that included tempura shrimp roll, spicy tuna, spicy salmon and chicken teriaki. It also came with a salad with ginger dressing and a spicy miso soup. It was the perfect lunch, all of my favorite sushi types on one plate. Kenny got a plate with california roll and vegetable rolls.

all mine

ok, I shared one piece.

From sushi we went home until our movie, The Vow. When I got home there was a plate of pretty Valentine cupcakes made by the one and only Kenny. Red velvet with french vanilla icing and some Valentine candy - they are so good! Cupcakes beat red roses any day!

:)

We went to the early show to beat the movie traffic later on. I brought our own popcorn (Kenny thought this was kind of ghetto) and pop to the movie. I'm not into paying $6? for popcorn. Just saying. The Vow was very cute, and so is Channing Tatum. Did you know it is based on a true story? Ahh.

source

After the movie we were driving home and pulled into A&W for a burger. I don't know why, but I just can't seem to enjoy a burger at a fast food joint. I wasn't allowed to complain about how bad it was for us, so I enjoyed our fun little impromptu supper. After that we watched Property Virgins and had some wine and cheese with apple slices. It was a fun date for sure!

                                           Did you do anything fun for Valentines Day? 
                                                  Do you prefer something rather than flowers?

busy busy week

source 

Whew. If I made it through last week I can make it through anything!

Michelle and I placed fourth in our big project. Apparently people are very interested in the effects of omega-3 fish oil on dental health! It was a fun, but tiring evening. We presented from 5:00 to 8:00 and following that was a wine + cheese gathering upstairs before awards were announced. We won a monetary prize, a small amount of $75, but it covered the costs of our project so that is always a plus:)

Kenny showed up, I was so excited because I wanted someone I knew to pop in and see our hard work! He snapped a picture of us by our board, but it is still on his phone so I will post it later tonight.

I had planned on doing a 15 km run on Sunday morning (thanks to Rach for giving me a kick-in-the-butt on that one!) but I woke up to Kenny telling me I would fall and die. Haha! It was freeezing and beyond icy. It seems as though I have only been running in icy conditions this winter, but this was not safe to run in. I ended up staying in the entire day! I was excited to go to church, but with summer tires on (they're coming off on Tuesday. I know, we are so ahead of the game!) I decided it was rather unsafe to head out.

Kind of big news in our house- Beth Adam and Oscar moved in last Thursday! They're here until their house is built. We spent most of the past few days organizing and getting things back to normal. The cats, Maggie and Oscar still have some friend-making to do. I am looking forward ot having B&A here, they'll be great company and they're fun too!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! The last few years Kenny and I have boy-cotted this Holiday thinking it is kind of cheesy. We're due for a date night though so we're, get ready for some cheesy-ness, heading to see The Vow. Yup! Haha! It's cheap day at the movies, $4.99 each all day so we're doing that and then we're heading to happy hour at our favorite Sushi joint. Talk about a discounted Valentines date!

Kenny is a super-star. I literally have no patients to call (I think this happens every year this time) so I am calling on my friends and family to come in for a very inexpensive dental cleaning. Kenny agreed so I now I have a patient (with all their teeth, imagine! ;) ) I think I will owe him big time for this, hahaha!

Off to class!

core strength

I found a great tutorial video on Runner's World that helps with strengthening the core. These exercises are pilate-based which helps in elongating and leaning the muscles. I'm sold! Core Competency Video

One of the workouts, The Hundred
source

I came across a budget food blog this morning and ta-da! Banana Bread Oatmeal. Yup. Yum! The blog I got it from is Budget Bytes and this dish will cost you only $3.67 and only $0.46 per serving!

Banana Bread Oatmeal
source

I am thinking a cinnamon bun oatmeal dish would be delicious...

weekend? recap

Hello again! I haven't had the chance to update in a few days. Here is what's been going on. 

Saturday- I went for a 12km run and it was freezing. I stood in the foyer and tried to motivate myself to just step outside. When I was stretching a lady was coming in and told me my lungs would get an awful shock when the cold hit them. Bahh, I went anyway and funny enough, by the end of it I was actually pretty comfortable temperature wise. I'm not going to lie, by the end of 12 km I was pretty happy. 

I relaxed for the rest of the day and then went out with 2 of my sister-in-laws, Beth and Chloe for their birthdays. We went to an up-scale pizza shop which I have been dying to try and then we went to our friends cheesecakery and split a maple pumpkin cheesecake. Yeah, it was delicious.

 Sunday- Went to Church and then to visit Nanny in the hospital. We were hosting a SuperBowl party in the evening so we were busy cleaning and getting food for it. Chloe pretty much owned the food by making delicious chili and garlicky guacamole. There was lots of bad food to go around. 

Monday-We presented our projects to another group of students and they gave us suggestions for ours. I had clinic from 2:00-9:00 and that pretty much sums up my Monday!

Tuesday- School. Michelle and I went to teach seniors at a home which was fun! They were sweet and told us we had a very informative presentation and they learned lots. 

It was of course grocery day today so Kenny and I went out after I got back from school. I bought more sunflower seed butter, I was seriously obsessed with that stuff!

I went out for a run and it was so nice and mild I ended up going for 10km. I feel like this is one of the ice-ist (is that a word?) winters because the sidewalks still have very random thin patches of ice. It was a good run!

I made us homemade egg mcmuffins and then we went out to see our newest little friend, Lincoln! He is a very sweet little 8 lb happy little guy. It's safe to say I am in love already!

I want to read Rules of Civility. It is set in the 1920s-30s in NY and sounds similar to The Great Gatsby, so I'm sold! Have you read it? Thoughts?

And that's that, I need to go do some school work and then its off to bed. 

Food Linkage

Here are some delicious and interesting recipes I've come across this week.
Enjoy!

Oh my goodness! Cake Batter Pancakes!!
Kenny, watch out, these are coming your way
on May 12;)
source

Double Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies
source

Reece's PB Oatmeal
source

Lavender Hot Cocoa, reminds me of my Mom.
It'd be fun to drinks these and chat:)
source

Sweet Potato + Kale Pizza
source

no school today!

hot chocolate from last weekend,
it didn't show up when I posted it before.
Isn't it the prettiest?

A day off school! It's tradition at our University to have the first Friday in February off and it sure is great. It's called Munro Day because Munro was a generous man who donated a significant amount of money to our school. Thank you, Munro!

Last night I tackled yet another slippery and cold run. I did 10km and 50 sprints to finish it off. I ended up slipping on my second last sprint which probably looked pretty funny:) I wanted to go before dark because I feel I see the glossy ice patches better in daylight. I need to pick up the distance, I've been slacking in long distances lately and my fellow May half marathoner partners are up to 14km so I better get my butt in gear! ;)

I made my protein oats for after my run/supper (scoop of vanilla protein powder, 1/2 cups of oats, 1tsp of chia seeds and almond milk. Delicious.)

protein oats:)

This morning I slept in until 7 (Maggie is my alarm clock after 5:30am) and I headed to the gym. I started with 10 minutes on the rower machine because I read if you're doing upper body strength it is better to start with the rower than a treadmill or elliptical warm-up. I like the fish game on the rower- your main objective is to avoid getting eaten by the big black fish so you end up rowing your heart out to avoid getting snatched up and this of course, helps your score. Before you know it, you're game is over and so is your rowing! I did upper body workouts and abs and then finished with my 20-minute treadmill sprint. I was pretty sweaty by the end of it so I was happy.

better than McDonald's
obviously ;)

I came home and quickly did the cleaning duties for the building and then made my homemade egg McMuffin and it was delicious!

Now I am relaxing and doing absolutely nothing and loving it. Later on tonight after Kenny heads to work I'll tackle a few small projects due next week and continue memorizing our script for our big Omega-3 project. This time next week we will be presenting it!

Saturday night I am heading out with two of my sister-in-laws for their birthday celebrations. We're heading downtown to a dessert cafe for a treat. I love birthday celebrations:)

                                                   Any plans for the weekend? 

9 fitness tips

Since I am a little frugal and don't buy magazines, I always read them online (or wait for my stocking at Christmas) ;) Womens Health Magazine would be one of my top choices for sure.

I was reading it this morning and came across 9 Fitness Tips for a Killer Body. Here is what they had to say and here is the direct link!

• Do it in threes- "Any workout has three variables: weights, intensity, and volume," Hood says. To keep your body guessing, focus on one variable per workout: Increase the weight but lower the number of reps one day; lower your standard weight but add a set the next; use your standard weight but do more reps faster on another"

• Don't give up on the pullup- "Pullups, which strengthen the lats, biceps, middle back, and shoulders, are an effective upper-body exercise. Can't squeeze one out? Hood suggests doing plank pulls: Lie with your chest under a weight bar set to knee height on a squatting rack. Grab the bar with an overhand grip and, keeping your body in one line, bend your elbows and pull your chest toward the bar. Lower back to start; do 10 reps"

Umm, I can only do 2 of these, but I'm working on them!
source

• Row your Boat- "Before you strength train, spend 10 minutes on a rowing machine to get blood flowing to all the muscles and joints in your body. "It's better than a treadmill or a stationary bike because it engages your upper body and core, not just your legs," 

• Short Circuit your routine- "Blast fat with a circuit that includes strength training and cardio: Do a set of push-ups, jump rope for a minute, do a set of squats, jump rope again; continue to alternate strength and cardio. "You're building muscle while keeping your heart rate high"

• Minimize refined carbs- "Most breads, cookies, chocolate, white rice, nearly every cereal, honey, and anything with corn syrup or sugar. "As soon as you swallow a refined carb, it starts to spike your blood sugar, which produces excess insulin, a hormone that can be responsible for holding on to fat stores," Hood says.

• Eat 5 times a day- "That means three meals and two snacks: one between breakfast and lunch, and one between lunch and dinner. "You'll have a steady stream of energy; plus, less food more often isn't as taxing on your digestive system as three big meals," explains Hood, adding that five daily feedings stabilizes your blood sugar, so you won't have crazy mood swings or hunger pangs"

• Up your Protein- "A balance of protein, complex carbs, and fat in every meal and snack--to protect against insulin overload. The benefit of high-quality protein, like chicken, turkey, and low-fat Greek yogurt: It contains amino acids, which help muscles recover after workouts"

• Limit Liquids- "Ditch juices, vanilla lattes, and sodas--all have unneeded sugar and calories. "You drink for three reasons," Hood says: "If you're thirsty, drink water. If you need stimulation, drink black coffee" This means diet sodas too! "The sweeteners may elicit an insulin spike or, at the very least, psychologically prepare you for something sweet, but there are no calories to back the signal," Hood says. 

                                                Hopefully this was some help to you!