My Top 5 Healthy Fall Recipes

As we're approaching Thanksgiving, and the fall season will soon be winding down, I wanted to post my list of my favorite healthy fall foods! I did this for summer as well, so I figured it was worth putting a fall list together too.Some of these are tried and true over the past few years; others are new for me this season (thanks Pinterest!).

1. Pumkin Pancakes. A lot of people assume that pancakes aren't healthy, but it really depends on what kind of toppings you use (i.e. a lot of butter and syrup will start tipping the scale to "unhealthy.") Pancakes themselves normally only have a little bit of brown sugar, and I try to sub in ingredients like skim milk, egg beaters and whole wheat flour when I have them available. Since I love both pumpkin and pancakes, it's no surprise these are on the list.

2. Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal. Again, surprised? This was a good change of pace for fall from my typical banana or blueberry oatmeal. I used pumpkin pie spice instead of dealing with all of the separate ingredients it calls for (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.). It definitely made me excited to get out of bed and make breakfast!

3. Rachael Ray's Chili for Veg Heads. I've been making this recipe since college.The chili is so rich and tasty that half the people I make it for don't realize it has no meat! Aside from the broth/beer, everything that goes into it is either a vegetable or a bean. I mix in a little bit of light sour cream to complement the southwest flavor.

4. White Chicken Chili. This is what I've been eating for lunch this past week. It wins the award for the easiest recipe on this list--dump it all in a crockpot and come back 8 hours later. This doesn't include any cream-based soups in the ingredients, just cream cheese--and I use the light version.

5. Warm Black Bean and Corn Salsa. I make this often for parties or football games--definitely a favorite among my friends. Here's the recipe:

-2 cans black beans

-2 cans white corn

-1 medium jar of salsa

-1/2 packet of taco seasoning or just a hefty sprinkling of cumin

-1 to1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (optional--I used to always include cheese in the mix, but to be honest, it tastes the same to me either way, so lately, I leave the cheese out to save calories.)

Put everything in a crock-pot and heat on low for 3-4 hours. Serve with tortilla chips.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I'm thankful for the people who take the time to read the little thoughts I have during the day!

Stop pinning and start DOING!

I admit: I'm a Pinterest addict like the rest of us. But seriously people....stop pinning and start DOING! Do your Pinterest boards look a little like this?

 

Well, don't be ashamed, because these were taken directly off of my own boards. A lot of people say it's ironic that we all pin workout ideas follwed immediately by a recipe for "oreo cookie dough stuffed brownies." I don't....because life is all about moderation. I workout 5-6 days per week, so on occassion, I will make a fantastic dessert and not feel shy about getting seconds.

HOWEVER:

If you are just pinning great workout ideas (or any ideas for that matter....food, crafts, fashion, etc.) and not doing them, it doesn't count! I think Pinterest gives us this reality world where if we've got it on our board, it basically counts as doing it. You can take pride in how many great things you've pinned...but until you've tried at least 25% of what you pin, you're fooling yourself. I can proudly say that out of my boards, I've tried 6 recipes, copied 5 fashion ideas and made 10 crafts--if you don't believe me, come to my house.

Pinterest should be more than just satisfying our visual fixation. I know...it takes time to do any of it. But if everyone spent as much time exercising as they do pinning workout ideas, motivational phrases and pictures of ripped bodies, we would be one healthy group of people. Food for thought.

A Fall of 5K's

I know....it's been awhile. October 13-14 marked the first weekend since July that I wasn't out of town or insanely busy. So, I'm finally finding time to do more enjoyable things...like blogging.

Not many new things have happened in my world of fitness; I ran two 5K's, which I'll talk about more below, but otherwise have been maintaining my normal workout routine. I was asked to be a pace group leader for NIFS' Mini-Marathon training this winter/spring, so at some point I will need to step up my runs before training kicks off. But for now, I'm just enjoying a season off from any kind of long-distance race. On several occassions, I almost signed up for one of the fall half-marathons, but I just had to be "ok" with sitting this one out. I need the mental break more than the physical one-- having free weekends now that aren't taken up with training feels so good. Fall is by FAR my favorite season anyway, so to be able to slow down, enjoy fall walks with Charlie, and try every pumpkin recipe out there has been so refreshing.

Most of you know that Corporate Challenge is my biggest work event of the year. As the team captain for Dow AgroSciences, I spend the entire months of August and September gearing up for it. This year we had a lot of fun, perfect weather and plenty of new people participating. Our team ranked 14 out of 22 in our division, so we definitely have room for improvement, but it's always a fun day nonetheless. This year, I ran the 5K along with one of my personal training clients. Here's a picture of the sun rising over IUPUI's Carroll Stadium that morning and then a shot of me, my co-worker and our intern after a day that went off without a hitch.

And now...my favorite 5K ever: Wine at the Line. This year for my birthday, I told my husband that the only thing I wanted was for him to train for this 5K and run it with me (it fell on October 6th, just two days after my birthday). If you know Chad, you know running is not his thing. Even if he was being chased, I think he would take his chance and stay and fight rather than run. While he did procrastinate a bit (he started an 8-week training program precisely 8 weeks prior to the race), he successfully completed the Couch to 5K program. This meant that even during our Florida vacation over Labor Day weekend, he was running. I couldn't believe it! He finished the race without stopping to walk at all (I captured his finish on video!), but what I was more excited about was seeing how proud he was of himself. Until his traning, he had never run further than the required mile in gym class--so with each run that he completed, 1.5 miles, 2 miles, 2.5 miles, he was so ecstatic and couldn't stop talking to me about all the details of his run after he got home each time. The fact that we could share a hobby for 8 weeks and that he would do something he hated only because it was important to me was more special than anything he could have bought for my birthday.

Here are some pictures from the race. It was by far the most scenic 5K I've ever run....beatiful farmland in Bargersville, IN. Plus you literally get wine and a commemorative wine glass after you cross the finish line.....score.

All for now!

Conclusion of 100 Push-Ups Challenge

Our 100 Push-Ups Challenge at work is DONE! No more having to do push-ups until fatigue (or rather, muscle failure) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week! So, on our final day where everyone showed up to see the results of our training, my grand total was....75 consecutive push-ups (then 25 modified to get to 100). 60-80 seemed to be about the range that most people were getting into. There were two men in class who did get to the full hundred...actually they both did 101, just for bragging rights, probably.

I knew going into today that it probably wasn't physically possible for me to get to 100. When I got to 75, I was almost tempted to try to get to 80, but I'm not sure I could have even done 76 without face-planting, so I stopped with a nice number of 75. On one hand, it's disappointing to not reach the end goal of a training program, but on the other hand, who would have thought that I could have done 75 consecutive push-ups in my life?!

My thoughts on the 100 Push-Ups training program are that it makes significant changes in your upper body strength and makes a regular set of push-ups seem like a total piece of cake. I still don't see how someone can be expected to get to 100 after only have gone up to 60 push-ups in the training program. That seemed to be the consensus of the class participants when I polled them today: that the program was great and hugely enhanced their upper body strength and push-up ability (the attendance in the class alone spoke to that), but they didn't see how in just 8 weeks of training they could be expected to pull off 100 push-ups. I would really be curious to see if someone kept repeating the last few weeks of the program, could they ultimately get to 100?

When I asked participants for their feedback on the program, another big comment I saw was that people were shocked that push-ups alone could tone their arms as much as they do and build up that much strength in a short time period. Yep, that's the beauty and benefit of body weight workouts--they're tough, they're multi-joint exercises, and they get the entire body involved. We know push-ups most obviously work the chest, triceps and shoulders, but whoever says they don't work everything from your back, to your core, to your legs, clearly hasn't done this program!

I recorded everyone's initial push-up test numbers and then everyone's final number today. Here's the breakdown:

Participant average of initial push-ups on 7/11/12: 33
Participant average of final push-ups on 8/29/12: 71

I would say that's a program success!!! Most people doubled their total number of push-ups...which, if you take into consideration that this was only in an 8 week time frame, that's incredible!!

On that note, I'm off to bed....we have to leave our house to catch our flight to Florida in 5 hours...yep 4am. Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!

100 Push-up Challenge this week!!

(Thanks to my husband for his mad photoshop skills.)

Eight weeks ago, we kicked off the "100 Push-ups Challenge" class at work. Last Friday marked the end of the training program. We did 8 sets of push-ups that day, according to the training program by Steve Speirs: 20-20-22-22-18-18-18-60. Yep. We ended with SIXTY push-ups. After having already done 138. Surprisingly, we all made it through. I have to admit that on those last mega sets, I purposely start out going a little less far down to the floor--it's like with a long training run where you take off slower than normal in order to make it to the end. Trust me though, my muscles will still tell you that it felt like they were going all the way to the floor.

So, this Wednesday is where we all get together one last time to do the actual challenge. The last time we did one set of as many consecutive push-ups as we could was at the very beginning of the 8-week program. There's been no real test since then as to how far we can go for just one set of push-ups. We shall find out on Wednesday!

I said from the beginning that just by looking at the last week's training schedule, if you can make it through that, than surely you could do just one set of 100 push-ups. But I don't know if I feel any more prepared now. At the end of the day, it's all about improving the number that YOU started with. To go from 25 to 50 push-ups would be incredible for someone, so I'm super excited to see the difference between everyone's initial test and their push-ups on Wednesday!

My Top 10 Healthy Summer Recipes

As summer is winding down, here is a list of my top 10 favorite summer recipes--all mostly healthy too! After #1, they are in no particular order. If you have variations of these recipes, feel free to post those! (Click on the food names to be directed to the websites for those that have actual recipes.)

1. Carrot Cake Protein Pancakes These are seriously un-freakin-believable. I love both carrot cake, pancakes and cream cheese, so put it all together in this recipe and WOW! This is a flour-less recipe with plenty of healthy things packed in: oats, low-fat yogurt, whey protein and tons of carrots obviously. It's very low-fat and low-sugar. These are at my #1 spot for a reason!

2. Lemony Fusilli with Chicken, Zuchinni and Pine Nuts The combination of lemon, basil, zuchinni, pine nuts and a dash of crushed red pepper make a real flavor explosion! I use whole grain pasta.

3. Strawberry Salad with Strawberry-Tarragon Dressing I don't make my own salad dressings very often, but this one is super easy and it makes TONS. I didn't use the exact recipe found here, but it's close enough-- the variation I use is from the book "Forks Over Knives". They have pages of oil-free dressings that still taste very flavorful. You can add chicken or shrimp to this salad if you want some added protein. Blueberries, almonds or red onion make nice additions too.

4. Baked Sweet Potato Fries Who doesn't love these? This recipe is one of the best I've found. Make sure you follow her directions of spacing the sweet potato slices on the cookie sheet without touching, rather than in a pile, otherwise they don't crisp up. (My dog also loves these!)

5. Grilled Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple This is one of my favorite dinner meals of all time. My husband is a master griller, so any of these recipes that involve grilling are his specialty. Just douse chicken breast and pineapple with your favorite teriyaki sauce and put on the grill. I also grill red bell peppers with it. Serve with brown rice, or even mix it all together with the rice.

6. Grilled Chicken and Zucchini. I didn't include a link, because there are many ways you could go with this one. Grill some chicken with your favorite sauce or seasonings. Some of my favorites are fat-free Italian dressing; apple cider vinegar with garlic and other seasonings; or Scotty's Brewhouse MoFo Mustard--just be careful with this one because it is a creamy sauce and heavier on the fat content. As for the zucchini, I toss it with parmesan cheese and I Can't Believe it's Not Butter spray, then put it on the grill. My favorite sides to include with this meal are bi-color corn-on-the-cob and watermelon.

7. Blackberry Oatmeal. This is a simple twist to my normal morning oatmeal. I always use plain oats with water and mix in 1 packet of Splenda rather than using packaged oatmeal---WAY better for you without the added sugar and sodium. In fact, once you get used to plain oats, you will be amazed at how sugary and salty the packets taste when you try them again! For this variation, I mix in fresh blackberries (straight from my Grandma's garden!) and slivered almonds. I like my oatmeal pretty thick, so this ends up tasting just like blackberry cobbler! Perfect comfort food for the morning while still using fresh summer produce.

8. Shrimp Spinach Salad. So many variations for this one. I use fresh spinach, shrimp sauteed with olive oil, garlic and basil, any number of other vegetables and balsamic vinaigrette. Some of my favorite summer vegetables to include in salads are bell peppers, cucumbers and black cherry tomatoes--if you've never tried this version, look for some at your local farmer's market!

9. Fajitas. Enough said. Mexican food is my favorite, so I'm a little biased, but fajitas really are such a great summer recipe and these can always be super-healthy. You can put either chicken or lean skirt steak on the grill to make it the healthiest. It's always best with a sprinkle of cilantro and fresh lime. My favorite salsa for the summer is black bean and corn varieties. Margaritas optional (but highly suggested!) :)

10. Italian Grilled Cheese Now this one is also a great comfort food recipe for winter when you need something warm and gooey. But, the fresh basil and tomato always remind me of summer anytime of the year. To make this healthier, you could use whole grain bread, but honestly, it tastes better with crusty French-style bread. This recipe recommends grilling, but keep in mind that if your bread is really thick, you might want to just stick it all in the oven--otherwise the bread will burn before the cheese and tomato get warm.

Bon appetit!

The Most Important Lesson of the 2012 Olympics

What has been your most inspirational moment so far in the 2012 Olympics? We've certainly had some awe-inspiring stories from the American athletes so far: Michael Phelps beating the record for the most overall medals; Rebecca Soni breaking the 2:20 time barrier for the women's 200m breast stroke; and of course Gabby Douglas--love that girl! But, the first Olympic moment to bring tears to my eyes this year was quite the opposite of a gold medal or shattering another world record.

If you haven't heard the story already, Liu Xiang was the Chinese superstar equivalent to Michael Phelps, but in the 100m hurdles. He missed qualifying for the Beijing Olympics completely, so this was his year to rightfully earn his medal--except he didn't. He tripped after the first hurdle due to an old injury and just like that, his Olympic career was over. But this race wasn't finished yet. He picks himself off the ground and hops, single-foot, to the last hurdle where he gives it a symbolic farewell kiss.

That's perhaps the most important lesson from the Olympics this year and for any race or fitness endeavor of yours. Finish what you start. Crawl, hop, claw your way to the finish line. If you're going out, go out admirably.