26.2

I don't think I could possibly be more proud of Zach, who completed his first marathon yesterday in 3:50:55. I'm in awe!

Special thanks to his training buddy Mark, who put in many hours and miles with Zach leading up to the race. If it weren't for him Zach may have tried to make me do the marathon, and then our kids would have been marathon training orphans.

And a special shout out to our trooper kids, who kept up as we raced through Dallas to see Dad on the course three times, and endured my insane dash uptown to get change for a $20 bill so that we could park and get there in time to see him cross the finish line.

Zach is doing fairly well today, mostly due to the fact that he subjects himself to a 20 minute ice bath after long runs. (Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. And Ouch.)

According to Nike Plus he burned 3300 calories on the run. We had a nice spread for dinner last night -- steak, roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar, pureed coconut butternut squash, and zucchini cashew soup. And then, cake.

I still can't believe he did it!

Drew's sour face is because "Dad is smelly."

Amazing job. Amazing.

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Workout of the Day

Insanity: Asylum: Strength

The challenge for me for the next week to 10 days is working out by myself while Zach recovers! This is not generally a big deal, but it becomes a bigger deal when it is 20 degrees outside and I really don't want to get out of bed. This year's "fall" has been unbelievably mild, and up until yesterday I was running around in a cut-off shirt and shorts. No more! Back to sweats and sweatshirts for a while.

Clean eating for your skin!

I have a soft spot in my heart for entrepreneurs. People who have the creativity, desire, and guts to create something out of nothing. People who have the discipline to be their own boss.

Opening your own business (particularly a brick and mortar with overhead, employees, and inventory) has to be one of the most terrifying, exhilarating things a person can do. To take a passion and create a business is, in my opinion, one of the most awesome things a person can do.

(Shameless plug alert: I'm so super proud of my entrepreneur friends Lisa and Wendy, who own two of the cutest nail salon and boutiques in Austin, Embellish...the only place I ever get my nails done. If you're in Austin and haven't gone to Embellish yet, go make an appointment. Today!)

A few weeks ago my friend Kara invited me to her house to hear a presentation by her friend Keri, who started her own business creating hand-crafted, organic skin care products. A cosmetologist by trade, Keri's business began when she became disillusioned with the skin exfoliants and moisturizers in the market that contained petroleum and artificial abrasives. As an alternative, Keri started creating natural sugar scrubs for her clients. Eventually the scrubs became so popular that Savvy Boheme was born.

Clean eating is all about giving your body nutrient-rich food it recognizes and can properly process. I think many of the problems we face today with food is that the chemicals and additives are foreign to our bodies and we cannot process them. Eating chemical-laden food results in inflammation, digestive issues, obesity, and who knows what else.

Keri explained that our skin works the same way. When we pelt it with harsh chemicals and strip it of its natural oils, skin can't function properly. She said that your "face is structured like a brick wall, composed of brick (layers of dead skin) and mortar (oxidized oil). The bricks and mortar need to turn over regularly to promote a beautiful complexion."

To remove the bricks and mortar, you need oil, an exfoliant, and a moisture barrier -- just like what's included in the Savvy Boheme Facial Trivium:

Those squares are what's called African Black Soap, then the black container is the raw coffee sugar scrub, and the Raven's Balm moisturizer.

I've admitted previously that I know nothing about skin, and up until this point my facial regimen has consisted of cutting Olay Daily facials into quarters, scrubbing the makeup off, and slapping on a little moisturizer. Couple my amateur facial regimen with a wicked "picking" habit and for the past few months I've looked like a teenager in the midst of a acne breakout. Not to mention my skin tone was just kind of...dingy.

I came home from Kara's Savvy Boheme house party and broke into my Facial Trivium set. You're supposed to use the African Black Soap in combination with the sugar scrub, and then you dot some of the Raven's Balm moisturizer on afterward.

Y'all, this regimen has totally spruced up my face! First of all, I love that coffee sugar scrub so much. It smells delicious (when I remarked at the party that it smelled so good I could eat it, Keri told me that technically you could because it's food grade), and the pleasant little scrubbing it gives my face feels fantastic. That moisturizer smells great, too, and it's a weird combination of thick but light on your skin. Hard to describe!

For quite awhile now I've been getting the dreaded "volcano zits," you know the ones that you want to squeeze so bad even though you know you shouldn't, and then you do and nothing comes out and then you just end up with a 10-day struggle with a nasty looking zit on your face? Well I haven't had any of those in three weeks. If I do have the start of a zit, it's not big and when I squeeze it (I KNOW I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO SQUEEZE IT!) it comes out easily.

I know it sounds crazy but I look forward to cleaning my face. It's fun! And isn't it nice when the things in life that you just have to do end up being fun?

Volcanoes belong in Hawaii, not on your face! 

And since you know I'm super cost-conscious, you'll be happy to know that the Facial Trivium gift set (pictured above, minus one square of soap) was just $20. Super affordable! I think that this set will last me well over three months or more. I've got my Shakeology for my insides and my Savvy Boheme for my outsides. Clean eating all around!

Keri is so knowledgeable about skin and I completely related to her passion for all things natural. Her business is going really well, and it's easy to see why: she is an awesome lady, a great business person, and her products are fantastic. I want to see her business thrive and grow, and I know that she will continue to have great success.

If you're local, Keri is coming to my house on Dec. 13 so I can help her spread the word even more about her awesome products. Let me know if you want to join us! Check out her website to read more about her company and products and order your own coffee sugar scrub or Facial Trivium set. (Or any of her other stuff! I can't wait to try more!)

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Workout of the Day

P90X2: Plyocide

My lower back is cooperating and I'm back to the grind, workout-wise. Feeling really good! Zach's marathon is 6 days away so he will be taking it easy this week. I'm looking forward to Les Mills Combat, which is scheduled to ship this week. In the meantime I'm mixing up some Les Mills Pump, P90X2, Asylum, and any other workout that floats my boat. 

Slow Cooker Cranberry Applesauce

If you've never fixed homemade applesauce in a slow cooker, get out your "To-Do" list and jot it down right now. The toughest thing about homemade applesauce is peeling and coring the apples, and heck, that ain't so hard. And the payoff of that warm, sweet, chunky applesauce more than makes up for a few minutes peeling some apples.

I'll give you my basic applesauce recipe below, but what I really want to show you is a twist on homemade applesauce that I made a few weeks ago: Slow Cooker Cranberry Applesauce.

One of my happiest days of the year is the day that cranberries show up at the grocery store, and we usually have a bowl of fresh cranberry sauce in our fridge from November through February (cranberries freeze beautifully, so I stock up). I eat it as a side to the Thanksgiving turkey, of course, but also on top of yogurt or with some granola sprinkled on top. (Find my recipe for cranberry sauce here.)

About a month ago when the grocery store was overflowing with fall apples, I decided to make applesauce. It was tremendous, but I had a nagging thought that it was missing something. Something like cranberries!

A quick Internet search turned up several cranberry applesauce variations, but I chose to stick close to my original recipe with cranberries added in.

Here's the recipe to use for basic applesauce, and if you want to add some cranberries, then just throw some in!

Ingredients: 

8 medium apples (Use a combination of Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Fuji, Gala, etc.)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice 

1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

3 inch cinnamon stick or about 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

5 tsp light brown sugar (unpacked) - or agave

(Optional) 1 cup of fresh cranberries

1.  Peel, core and chop the apples.

2.  Add the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and cinnamon stick, and cranberries, if using.

3.  Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours. Stir apples occasionally, apples will slowly become a delicious applesauce. 

Remove cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender or potato masher to blend until smooth or if you prefer a chunky sauce, leave sauce intact. 

So good! Try it this weekend as your after-dinner, cozy-up-with-a-movie snack.

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Workout of the Day
Still nursing the sore lower back, so na-da. Things better shape up soon, because I've got to be in tip-top shape to tackle Asylum 2 as soon as Zach is done with his marathon in a few weeks!

How to Get Soap Scum Off Your Shower

It's time for another installment of "Clean Cleaning," sponsored by Pinterest.

This one's all about the nasty soap scum in your shower. Don't you hate it? I've used all kinds of cleaners on my shower, and none of them seem to do much of anything. I scrub and scrub, and that nasty layer of brown scum remains.

So a few days ago I saw a pin that talked about using a solution of vinegar and Dawn soap on your shower to dissolve the soap scum. Upon further Internet investigation, I found sites affirming the method.

Here's what you do:

Measure 1/2 cup (the recipe actually called for a full cup, but my shower isn't that big) of vinegar and heat it for a couple minutes in the microwave.

Then pour the hot vinegar into a sprayer and add 1/2 cup Dawn soap. Shake it up a bit (it foams a lot!), and then spray it all over your shower. It makes a foamy paste that sticks to the walls pretty well.

Let the solution sit for about 1.5-2 hours. Then hop in the shower and scrub it down with a sponge or scrub brush. (It's always nice if you can combine an actual shower with shower cleaning, since then you don't have to worry about getting your clothes all wet, etc.)

I wish I had taken a before and after pic, but, quite frankly, I was pretty embarrassed about the state of my shower. We're talking pink and brown gunk and a very cloudy door.

But here's an "after":

Big whoop, you say? Well you can actually SEE inside the shower, right? This is a major improvement, trust me.

Aside from the fact that this little vinegar and Dawn solution worked famously, the best part of the whole thing is that it probably cost, what, like 75 cents maybe? A little vinegar, a little Dawn...voila! A clean shower without stinky, scary chemicals. Hooray! Try it out!

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And now another Public Service Announcement:

While we all know it is good to ice sore muscles, please don't overdo it.

Saturday morning I threw my lower back out of whack, which was really depressing to me because I haven't had lower back issues in more than a year. Not sure exactly what did it, but it was some combination of Vertical Plyo, a TurboFire Core 20 workout, and scrubbing the bathroom floor with yet another Pinterest cleaning solution (water, vinegar, baking soda, and ammonia...worked well!). 

I knew that I'd done something to it on Saturday, but Sunday is when it really seized up. It's the worst! Sorry to be graphic, but I could hardly wipe my own butt. I considered asking for assistance, but I thought that might put my husband completely over the edge, so I took care of the situation. 

Unfortunately I'm well aware of what to do when my back locks up, which is an all-day regimen of ice, heat, and Advil. But I fell victim to a flawed sense of reasoning in that if icing for 20 minute increments is good, 40 minutes must be better. It's not better, it's frostbite:

OUCH! Get me some Neosporin, stat! I didn't even know I had done that to myself until this morning when I was trying to do some light stretching and scratched it with that tag on my pants. Shoot, man...what am I supposed to do now? My back is still sore, but I sure don't want to put any ice on it! 

It's funny, I'm almost more wimpy about the skin than I am about the back muscles. I think because I can actually see the hurt skin whereas the muscles are buried under my frostbitten skin. 

(P.S., don't email or comment to tell me that it's not really frostbite...I know because I can't unsee the images I saw when I typed frostbite into Google. More likely it's frostnip, which comes before frostbite. Wikipedia told me that!)

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Workout of the Day

Getting out of bed. No workouts for me till these back muscles quit barking at me!

Edamame Hummus

We're some serious hummus connoisseurs over here. Well, maybe not connoisseurs -- I wouldn't say we're snobby about it, or anything. I guess we're more like serious hummus consumers. We eat a lot of the stuff. I make at least one batch per week, sometimes more, and I feel a little guilty if I fall down on the job and don't have any in the fridge.

I've experimented with several variations on traditional hummus, which is made with chickpeas (garbanzo beans). I've done roasted red pepper hummus, black bean hummus...even peanut butter hummus (thumbs down). But none have stacked up to the original, until now. Edamame hummus was so good it could compete for the title as #1 hummus in the house.

The only reason the chickpea version might edge out the edamame is because chickpeas are cheaper (of course, I love the cheaper option) and faster, because you have to cook the edamame for a few minutes.

But this is a great "treat" hummus, and it even looks green and ghoulish in honor of Halloween today!

Here's the recipe (shout out to my Mom who told me about it!):

Ingredients:
1.5 cups frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 TB olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
(note: adjust seasonings as desired -- I added a little more cumin, plus some Tabasco and my customary 1 dollop of plain yogurt for creaminess)

Directions
1. Place edamame in pot and cover with salted water. Place over medium-low heat, bring to a simmer, and cook till tender; about 5 minutes. Drain.
2. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Workout of the Day
Les Mills PUMP: Pump & Shred

Y'all, Zach is still training for the upcoming Dallas marathon, and I am just so thankful that I got out of the running business in time for the weather to turn cooler! I am a fair weather exerciser...heck, I am a fair weather HUMAN, and do not operate well in temperatures below...uhhh, let's say 76. That's a pretty optimal temperature, in my book. He's doing really well, though, and completed 20 miles last Saturday. Looking forward to cheering him on at the race on December 7!

Clean Cleaning

When it comes to my two most dominant personality traits -- 1) frugality and 2) a desire to be fit, healthy, and as "natural" as possible* -- it's hard to say which trait is stronger.

So when I find tips and tricks that serve both masters, I'm a pretty happy camper.

The other day while perusing Pinterest (it's grown on me in the past year -- I don't check it daily, but a few times a week I scroll through and repin some things that interest me...and sometimes I actually FIX the recipes I pin. Novel!), I saw a pin about Natural Cleaning Tips and Products. It linked to this blog telling about "Eight Ways to Ease into a Natural Home."

Katie outlines some facts about cleaning products, including the one that there is no Federal regulation for cleaning products and that bleach, when mixed with other cleaning agents, releases a poisonous gas. (And which "other" cleaning agents are they, I always wonder? That's had me scared straight for years--I never mix bleach with anything.)

So I was pretty interested in learning all those little tidbits, but then Katie says she's going to show us some  natural products that work just as well and...it will be cheaper too! Smack me sideways...you had me at "cheaper."

I'll let you read Katie's blog for the whole story, but here's the gist:

For pretty much any kind of clean up you need, you can turn to one of four products that you probably already have in your house:

• White vinegar
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Baking soda
• Rubbing alcohol

(And I'll add two of my own that I've used in the past: lemon juice and salt -- they make an excellent scrubbing agent.)

For counters and floors you've got your vinegar and water mixture (4 TB vinegar to 3 cups of water). For mirrors and windows you've got your hydrogen peroxide:

Look at that! I love how you just stick the spray nozzle straight onto the peroxide bottle. I went to The Walmarts this weekend and picked up two empty spray bottles (98 cents each) and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (52 cents). I stuck the sprayer in the peroxide bottle (apparently it's important to keep peroxide in the dark bottle), and cleaned the yuckiest of yucky mirrors -- the sweat-stained one in our gym. It worked great! 

Like she mentions in the blog, I'm going to have to wean myself from my view that bleach smell = clean. But if I can get things reasonably sparkly with those few easy "ingredients," I'm happy to comply with Katie's wish that we would "Get rid of the toxic stuff."

Try it and let me know how it works at your house!

* I have to admit that my desire for non-toxic things abruptly fell by the wayside the minute I had an ant problem in my kitchen, at which point I wanted to lay down a chemical storm the likes of which those ants had never seen. I didn't end up unleashing it full force, but it seems to be enough to have stopped the problem for now. I wonder if ants hate vinegar?

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Workout of the Day

Insanity: Pure Cardio

Love this one! It's brutal, but it's over quickly.

Why Tony Horton is Still the Man

While I may have broadened my horizons and moved on to some new workouts, Tony Horton is still the man. And Facebook posts like this show why:

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Do You Believe In The Truth?

The truth is that thing that is happening to you right now, not that enhanced fantasy version you use to protect your vulnerabilities. People can't move forward in life because they hold too tightly to the past. We also get lost in concepts and beliefs that might have worked for our parents and friends but don't apply to us anymore; which can make it confusing when it comes to making decisions to improve our lives.

If you look closely at my first 30 to 35 years on earth you would have bet big bucks on a inept outcome. Bad student, bad athlete, no discipline, poor confidence, lousy work ethic, speech impediment, low self esteem and the biggest procrastinator on earth. What changed?

I began accepting reality. I stopped lying to myself and the people around me. I searched for second and third opinions. I stopped hanging around people with bad attitudes and no ambition. I stopped using the word "party" as a verb and grew up. I signed up for seminars and yoga retreats and saved up for ski camps, so that I could meet people who were curious, outside of my circle and who were kicking ass.

My persona to the world as a young man was just big talk and hyperbole because I didn't have the guts to get in the game and step up to the plate. It was a safe and easy way to exist but it made me sick. I slowly began to force myself to do things that scared the hell out of me. Every single experience built my confidence and improved my life, so I kept going no matter how many times I fell flat on my face.

If you want to believe in the truth then you need to follow some simple life altering steps. Exercise 5 to 6 days a week for the rest of your life. Eat whole foods more often than not, for the rest of your life. Allow your mind, body and spirit to heal with patience, curiosity and plenty of rock solid sleep. Figure out what you love and put as much time and energy as you can, into that. Then share what you've learned with people who ask for your help.


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Workout of the Day
Les Mills Pump Extreme

I survived a half marathon!

We survived!

Or maybe it should be "I" survived, as the matter of survival was more questionable for me than it was for Zach. He considered the half marathon on Sunday a training run, while I put it all on the table as possibly the furthest and fastest I will ever run.

Our goal was to finish in under two hours, and the sub-goal was to be done with seven miles by the time we'd been running for an hour. We met the sub-goal, which made the ultimate goal more attainable. Zach finished 13.3 miles in 1 hour and 51 minutes (according to his Nike Plus app), while I finished in 1 hour 53 minutes. I was extremely happy with my run.

I've mentioned that we had an unorthodox training plan for this half marathon. While most people train for a run by...running, we chose a plan that minimized running and instead focused on cross training. I believe that our plan reduced 1) my boredom with running and 2) the chances that my knees, feet, ankles (or all three) would experience some kind of repetitive motion injury.

We used a combination of Les Mills Pump for muscular endurance and strength training, Insanity for interval cardiovascular work, P90X yoga for flexibility, and two days a week of running. Here's the schedule:

Monday: Pump Extreme
Tuesday: Insanity workout (we went through the eight cardio workouts in order, skipping the recovery week DVDs)
Wednesday: Yoga
Thursday: Tempo run of 4-5 miles (one mile warm up, two to three miles at faster than half-marathon pace, one mile cool down)
Friday: Pump Revolution
Saturday or Sunday: Long runs of 8-13 miles (added a mile each week)

I could not have been happier with how that training plan prepared me for the half-marathon. I felt strong cardiovascularly throughout the entire race. My knees started giving me trouble in mile 10, but I think that was due to the amount of running downhill I had done throughout the race.

Zach and I kept up a good 8:20-8:40 per mile pace until mile 10 where I "slowed down" (according to my husband...and, OK, according to me), and he took off ahead. But by that time I was mentally prepared to push to the finish and was able to cruise to the end with relatively few problems...except for those two killer hills at the very end!

Zach is moving on to bigger and better races over the next few months, and I'm moving on to the sidelines to cheer him on. If there's one thing I learned in this training process is that I love my convenient, relatively short, intense, at-home workouts that have me done by 6am. I'm ready to hop on board with the new programs Beachbody has coming up like Asylum 2 (available Oct. 11!) and Les Mills Combat (available for pre-order now at SmellsLikeFitness.com)!

So, an English major walks into an Anatomy class...

Should I pursue my personal trainer certification?

PROS:
- Greater confidence in my knowledge level
- I'm interested in learning more about the mechanics of training
- Others will have greater confidence in my knowledge
- Possibility of training out of our home
- Possibility of earning other certifications
- I have the time to pursue it now that kids are in school

CONS:
- It's gonna take a lot of time to study
- It costs a few hundred dollars to do it.
- The test is probably kinda hard

People, it's my personal belief that time, money, and a "hard test" are invalid reasons not to pursue something that will make you better, more knowledgeable, and more marketable. So a couple weeks ago I pulled the trigger on becoming an ACE Certified Personal Trainer.

Ever since then I've been awash in pictures like these:

And dreaming about terms such as iliotibial band, flexion, extension, appendicular skeleton and on and on.

As an English major who shunned science classes like the black plague, am I a little nervous about all this anatomy and physiology? Yes. Am I enjoying this new adventure? Yes.

I've got about 12 weeks to master this material...20 if I get scared and want to stretch it out a bit. But the plan is to take the test at the end of the year and have my personal training certification to start 2013.

If you need me between then and now, I'll be studying the difference between fibrous, cartilaginous, and synovial joints. Wish me luck!

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Workout of the Day

P90X Core Syergistics

T minus 6 days till the Tyler Half Marathon!

The friends who we are staying with the night before kindly offered to fix chicken fried deer steak the night before the race. I politely declined saying that I was concerned about the welfare of the course should I run it mere hours after eating chicken fried venison. Maybe after the race when I'm nice and close to a bathroom...

Spaghetti and Zucchini Pancakes

Yeah...Spaghetti and Zucchini Pancakes. Does that not sound like the most bizarre thing ever?

I cut this recipe out of a Real Simple magazine sometime last year. It was part of a spaghetti featurette they had with all these different ways of doing spaghetti. I've flipped by the recipe umpteen times, and last week I got a wild hair to finally try it out. Zach was gone, so Drew and I were the guinea pigs.

You guys, I know I always say it: these are soooo good! They look completely creepy, but Drew and I mopped these up, and he loved the leftovers next day!

You cook the noodles in a pot, and in another pan you saute grated zucchini and onion. Then you put them both in a mixing bowl with some egg, salt, and some cheese (I used Parmesan although the recipe calls for pecorino...I don't know what pecorino is). Then you scoop out about a half cup's worth of the mixture and fry it like a pancake.

The result is like a spaghetti omelette, of sorts. For the marinara I just sauteed some onion and garlic and threw in a can of diced tomatoes and a handful of basil.

Such a neat twist on spaghetti...and pancakes!

Here's the recipe:

Spaghetti and Zucchini Pancakes

• 8  ounces  spaghetti (1/2 box)

• 1/4  cup  plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1  onion, chopped

• 1  zucchini, grated

• 2  eggs, beaten

• 3/4  cup  grated pecorino (3 ounces)

• kosher salt

• 1  cup  marinara sauce

Directions

1. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions.

1. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and zucchini and cook until soft, 6 to 8 minutes.

1. Add the vegetables with the spaghetti, eggs, and pecorino. Season with ½ teaspoon salt.

1. Heat the remaining ¼ cup of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, cook ½ cup portions of the spaghetti mixture until golden and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve with the marinara sauce.

Workout of the Day
P90X Plus: Total Body Plus
Having Tony withdrawals, so we mixed it up today with some P90X Plus. It was great to get back to some push ups and pull ups! Two weeks till the half.

Lentil Lime Salad

It's been more than three months since Zach and I finished the Beachbody Ultimate Reset, and I have not stopped fixing recipes from the plan yet!

Lentil lime salad is a dish that I was not crazy about the first time around, but something about it made me want to fix it again. I knew that with a few tweaks it could be great, and now it's a staple for lunches around here!

The key with lentils is to cook them to the texture that you like. It's a fine line between al dente (to borrow a pasta term) and mush, and the first time I cooked lentils I crossed over into mush. It wasn't pretty. But now I know that the correct amount of water is 1.5 cups to one cup of dried lentils, and the time is about 20 minutes. I sample the lentils before I take them off the stove just to be sure they're the right texture, and then when they're done I don't let them sit on the stove for long.

I'm such a fan of the flavors of lime and cumin mixed together, and this dish makes use of both. Throw in cilantro and Bragg's Liquid Aminos and I could eat the whole bowl in one serving.

Lentil Lime Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked green lentils
• ½ cup grated raw carrot
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1½ tsp. sesame oil (or more, to taste)
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (or more, to taste)
• Bragg® Liquid Aminos or Himalayan salt (to taste)
• ¼ tsp. ground cumin (or more, to taste)
• Herbal seasoning (to taste; optional)

Directions

Cook lentils until tender, but don't overcook. (Or use low-sodium canned lentils.) Add carrots and stir. Stir oil, lime juice, salt, and spices together in a small bowl, then gently stir into the lentil mixture. Let sit, covered, in refrigerator for 2 hours. Adjust seasonings if needed. Even better the next day! Serves 1.

Nutrition

• 320 calories
• 8 g fat
• 1 g saturated fat
• 0 mg cholesterol
• 50 mg sodium
• 48 g carbohydrate
• 17 g fiber
• 19 g protein
• 944 mg potassium

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Workout of the Day

Les Mills Pump: Pump and Shred

Y'all, I ran 13.1 miles this weekend! I was not planning on running a half-marathon distance before my actual half marathon on Oct. 7, but this weekend down at the land when I was faced with turning around at mile 6 for a "down and back" run vs. just running a full loop, I chose the full loop. And I was pooped afterward! I was pretty much done the whole day after that. But we had run on an empty stomach with nothing but water to drink, so I'm confident that on race day I will have energy to spare. We'll wake up early and eat breakfast, and then drink some E&E, which makes a world of difference for me. Just 3 weeks to go!

Fear and Loathing...

Let's face it: women are naturally judgmental. We size up our neighbors, our co-workers, our family members, and virtually anyone else who comes in our path. It takes about 0.2 seconds and we hardly even notice that we're doing it. It's ingrained.

"Bless her heart," a southern lady might think to herself. "She has really gained some weight in the last few months."

"Oh no. That hair is NOT working."

"Does she think she's 16? Why is she wearing pants that tight? / a skirt that short? / a top that does not cover up those giant (fake) boobs?"

We are hard on people! Unforgiving. Ruthless. Catty.

But I've noticed something else lately. As hard as we are on other people, women are even harder on themselves. Brutal, even. When it comes to looks, weight, and bodies, I know some women who would be hard-pressed to find anything good to say about themselves.

Maybe we feel okay about ourselves in our 20s. Then we get married, have a baby, and put ourselves on the back burner while we care for a newborn, a toddler, a pre-schooler. Then it's back to work and the schedule gets even crazier. Drive thrus become a food group. And all the while the negative voices are getting louder and louder.

"I cannot believe I gained 10 pounds this year."

"Look at that belly. It's disgusting."

"Why did I eat that cake? It's only going to make me fatter than I already am."

Then it gets personal.

"Why would anyone even want to be with me?"

"I will never be able to change the way I look."

"I am just gross."

We belittle ourselves so much and so often that it becomes our own personal truth. It's a merry-go-round of self-loathing, fear, and lies that keeps us from taking charge and making change.

It has to STOP.

We are more than our body. We are more than the way we look.

Our body is a miracle. It brought forth children and it's the place where we live for as long as we're on earth. We have to stop punishing ourselves for the past and start acknowledging that we are in control of our own future.

We can change our habits. We can start thinking about food as fuel, and giving our bodies the type of fuel needed to operate at peak performance. We can make movement and exercise an enjoyable part of our daily routine. We CAN.

Our brain, like any other muscle, can be trained out of a negative thought cycle. Just like any other exercise,  though, it's hard work and takes time. You have to start by recognizing the fact that you're having negative thoughts, checking yourself, and then reframing that negative thought into a positive one.

If it takes wearing a rubber band on your wrist and snapping yourself every time you have a negative thought, then do it.

Don't make perfect the enemy of good. Celebrate and acknowledge the small steps. Don't be attached to the outcome. Enjoy the journey. Be nice to yourself. Get your swagger back.

Can you do that?

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Workout of the Day

P90X Yoga

Quick, Easy Lunch

I am completely obsessed with roasted red peppers in a jar lately.

Have you had these before? They are one of those things that I must have walked by 678 times in the grocery store and never gave them a thought. I happened to pick some up to make the recipe below, and all of a sudden I'm finding any and all opportunity to use them: on salad, on pizza, in wraps...wherever I need a shot of flavor and some pretty red color.

This recipe (if you can even call it that) is courtesy of Chalene Johnson's book PUSH, which is a great read. You should pick it up for some valuable advice on fitness and setting goals for yourself!

Roasted Red Pepper and Hummus Wrap

Ingredients:
- Whole wheat tortilla
- Hummus
- Roasted red peppers
- Feta cheese

Take your tortilla, smear it with some hummus, sprinkle it with feta, and slap one of those gorgeous roasted red peppers on there. Roll it up, add a few baby carrots and celery, and there's your delicious, healthy lunch!

If you want to get fancy with it, add 1/2 an avocado and some spinach. Super fancy? Buy some of that garlic herb feta. That stuff is the bomb!

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Half-marathon training update:

The training schedule is going really well. It's kind of cool that each weekend I run a new personal "furthest." This weekend was 11 miles, which I ran at a 9:15 average pace. If I want to keep up with Zach on race day it will need to be more like 9:00 average, and I'm hopeful that I can do that. 

On race day we will wake up early and eat something, plus have some Energy and Endurance beforehand, which always juices me up. Combine those two things with the excitement of race day, and I should be able to knock some time off my average. Right now I'm not eating anything before the long run and only drinking water, and I have been finishing just fine. And surprisingly I haven't felt terribly sore on days after long runs, either. I think saving my running legs by doing PUMP and Insanity is going to work in my favor. 

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Les Mills Combat

My love of the Les Mills PUMP program is well documented, so I'm excited that a new version of the program is going to be available for pre-order starting Oct. 1. It's Les Mills Combat, hosted by Dan and Rachel, the trainers from the UK. Here's Rachel in all her awesomeness in Pump & Shred:

I'm guessing delivery of the program will be around Christmas, so make sure you get the pre-order in so that you don't miss out! Here's a preview:

Workout of the Day

Les Mills Pump & Shred

3-mile run with a friend in the beautiful 65-degree weather! Hello Autumn!

Owning It

Last week summer wrapped up and I sent my little whippersnappers off to school.

It was at this point in my life where I had planned to go back into the workforce. Or, the workforce as I traditionally thought of it when I was a kid. You know...8 to 5, sitting in a cube waiting for lunch, then sitting back down for a few hours more till it was time to go. Answering some calls...writing some copy. At least that was my "workforce" experience.

Instead, I made a commitment a year ago to give Team Beachbody a go and try to bring home a decent income while working from home.

Goal #5: Earn $800-$1,000/month through BB

Zach and I agreed that considering his busy schedule and my ability to keep our family on track, if I could earn just $1,000 per month with Beachbody that it would be worth it for me to stay home and not get a "day job."

I looked at the goal every day.

Last month through Team Beachbody we brought in $1,960. Plus a few hundred extra through my contract job.

But this is not a post about setting and attaining goals, and it's not a post about joining my team (although I think both are fabulous things to do).

This is a post to question my commitment to this business.

I have almost doubled my anticipated monthly income with Team Beachbody. Thanks to my own contacts and through the customer lead program I have several hundred customers on my customer list. So why is it, then, when people ask me what I'm doing now that my kids are in school, my response is inevitably:

"Oh, I do some contract work for a company I used to work for. And also Zach and I have a fitness coaching business on the side, so I do that, too."

My contract work makes up less than half of my income. I don't particularly enjoy the contract work, while I absolutely love my Team Beachbody business and talking to people about being healthy and fit.

Why am I belittling my own business by not giving it top billing?

Is it because of the stigma of network marketing? Is it because I'm "selling something"? Is it because I have a college degree that isn't in business, and now I'm off trying to run my own little business? Is it because some people wouldn't even call this a business?

I don't know, but it bothers me. Because you can't tell me that $2,000 a month isn't a business. Is it buying me a Ferrari next month? No. But I'm not shaking a stick at two grand a month. And find somebody who's NOT selling something, right?

Maybe it's because I can't believe that we are turning something that we like to do into a home business. It sounds so cliched, or something.

And the funny thing is I'm not alone in being coy when it comes to talking about home businesses. A few weeks ago we met with some friends that we haven't seen in a long time. Since we'd last met, the wife, who was a teacher, had gone back home to stay with her kids, and didn't go back when they went to school. When we asked what she was doing, she said she was just staying at home. But later I found out she's working their small network marketing business from home. Why wouldn't she just tell us about it? Why didn't I tell her what I was doing?

So in the final quarter of 2012 I am adding a bonus goal to my list:

OWN this business. Talk about it, give it top billing. Make people understand that I make money by selling them fitness products and then coaching them through incorporating those products into their life. That is my job. When my kids are at school, I talk to people about how to live fit and healthy lives. I encourage them. I offer them recipes and tips. I read. I become a better leader so that I can show other people how to lead their own fitness and financial transformations.

My guess is when I start taking this business as seriously in public as I do at my desk every day, then other people will take it seriously, too.

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Workout of the Day

Insanity: Pure Cardio

Chipotle and Lime Roasted Potatoes

I fixed these potatoes last night, and they rocked the house!

I found the recipe on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen blog, but it originated from another lady named Meredith who has a blog entitled "In Sock Monkey Slippers."

Before I get into the recipe, a confession:

I am generally too cheap and lazy to buy fresh lemons and limes. I buy a bottle of each at the store and keep them in my fridge to use "whenever." But my last veggie co-op delivery included about eight limes, and man, am I some kind of stupid for not regularly buying fresh lemons and limes. What a difference!

It's kind of like how I try to convince myself that green peppers "don't taste that different" than red or orange peppers because green peppers are 75 cents each and red peppers are $1.60 each. Each time I splurge and get the red pepper I remember: there is a difference.

When I was squeezing the limes for this dish and my hands and kitchen had such a pleasant, citrus-y smell, I vowed that I would get fresh lemons and limes more often in the coming months. I'll probably pick some up this week, since I'm going to be making these potatoes again pretty quick.

The pairing of the smoky chipotle chiles in adobo with the lime and the cilantro...wow. The dressing had some kick to it, so I pulled some of the plain roasted potatoes out to give to the kids since they don't "do" spicy.

One other question before I post the recipe. What's with zesting? This recipe calls for a full tablespoon of lime zest. First of all, it would take, like, 16 limes to get a full tablespoon of lime zest. And does it make that big of a difference? I zested one lime, got maybe .0008 of a teaspoon of shavings, and called it a day. Can anybody tell me what all that zest does for you? Maybe I just don't have the right tool for zesting? Currently I use the small hole side of my cheese grater.

Regardless, these potatoes are the bomb. Fix 'em for your upcoming Labor Day picnic!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Small New Potatoes
• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 1 whole Chipotle Pepper Packed In Adobo Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Adobo Sauce
• 1 clove Garlic
• 1 Tablespoon Grated Lime Zest
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
• 2 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Chopped Cilantro 

Preparation Instructions
Note: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce can be found canned in most major grocery stores (typically in the Mexican food section).

• 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. With a knife, slice the potatoes in half. Place the halved potatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the potatoes. Add salt and toss with your hands until the potatoes are thoroughly coated with oil and salt. Place in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring once, until golden and the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.
  
  2. While the potatoes are cooking: Remove one chipotle pepper from the can and mince it (chop into small pieces). Place it in a large bowl. Using the adobo sauce that the peppers are packaged in, add 2 teaspoons of sauce to the minced pepper in the bowl.
  
  3. Peel and mince the garlic clove. Add it to the bowl as well.
  
  4. Next, add the lime zest, lime juice and 2 teaspoons of olive oil.
  
  5. Whisk everything together until combined.
  
  6. Once the potatoes are done and still hot, pour them into the chipotle lime dressing. Add cilantro and gently stir to combine, making sure every potato is covered. Plate and serve.
  
   

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Workout of the Day

Insanity: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Here we go! One Insanity workout per week for the next seven weeks. First one is checked off, and it wasn't too bad. I was scared, but the way to get over fear is to just do it. So we did! And you know what? It wasn't that bad.

 

 

 

Beet Chips

I don't buy chips much anymore, but if I do, they are usually Terra Chips.

Have you had these before? They are super good! There are different flavors, but I like the "Sweets & Beets," which are thinly sliced sweet potato and beet chips. Although Terra likes to boast that you get a full serving of veggies when you eat these chips...don't kid yourself. They're still chips. You still get a lot of sodium and oil along with that serving of veggies.

Anyhow, although we eat raw beets all the time, it didn't occur to me that I could make homemade beet chips until I picked up the latest issue of Sunflower Market's August 2012 newsletter. (Side note: my beloved Sunflower Market has now merged with Sprouts. The store seems largely the same, but I really hope they continue to produce their little magazine thing. It always has great recipes in it and good stories, too.)

On page 6 they show you how to make kale, beet, and sweet potato chips. There's not even a recipe, really; you just slice them nice and thin (or in the case of kale, tear the leaves up a bit, see post here), coat thinly with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, dried thyme and oregano. Bake them at 325 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. I flipped them partway through to encourage them to crisp up but not burn.

Here's what they looked like before they went in the oven:

And before I show you the "after" photo, I'll let George Costanza tell you about a little phenomenon called "shrinkage."

 "I don't know how you walk around with those things." Best. Line. Ever.

 I sliced all those beets, and here's what came out of the oven:

Sorry...for some reason this photo would not rotate.

Geez! I would have to slice about nine beets to get enough beet chips to feed a crowd. Shrinkage aside, though, these were really delicious! They tasted just like the Terra chips. Pleasantly salty and crispy with a sweet taste. I really liked them, and so did the kids.

I'm not sure I'll be making beet chips on a regular basis, but it's always fun to experiment to see if you can re-create something you usually buy at the store.

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Workout of the Day

P90X2 Core - Recovery week! I need it.

Something in the water

Our neighborhood has a Facebook page that the neighbors use to keep up with each other. Usually posts involve questions about which roofer to use or to report a coyote sighting, but the other day someone posted about a concern he had about our town's water.

He has a reverse osmosis system, which (according to Wikipedia) is "a membrane-technology filtration method that removes many types of large molecules and ions from solutions by applying pressure to the solution when it is on one side of a selective membrane."

Our neighbor said he has had a reverse osmosis system for several years, and for the first two years he changed the filters only once. They were slightly discolored, but nothing too alarming. But lately he has had to change filters every three months, and when he does so, the filter looks like this:

Wow. As a person who advocates drinking tap water and not much else, that picture is pretty alarming. What is that black stuff? Our body has a filter, too; is that what my liver looks like after filtering that water?

About three and a half minutes later we were on our way to Lowe's to be a reverse osmosis system for our sink.

It cost about $150 and took about an hour and a half to install. And the difference in the water is very noticeable. For one, it tastes nice and plain. And to me, it's...softer, or something. I swallow it easier. (For the record, my six-year-old son says that's "just me".)

If you need visual proof, check out the difference between the ice cubes made with unfiltered water by the ice maker, and the new "clean" ice cubes made in ice trays.

I like the crystal clear sparkly ice cube much better. According to the specs this system filters out sediment, chlorine taste and odor, lead, cysts, chemicals and total dissolved solids. It also reduces select contaminates such as arsenic, cysts, lead, radium and turbidity.

The other thing reverse osmosis systems filter out is fluoride, which initially caused me to pause. But just yesterday Darin Olien drew attention to this article stating that the EPA has changed its mind about the safety and validity of adding fluoride to municipal water supplies, saying that growing evidence suggests that excess fluoride can result in the breakdown of tooth enamel, pitting, and discoloration. "In addition, other studies have found excessive ingestion of fluoride capable of increasing the risk of brittle bones leading to fractures and debilitating bone abnormalities."

I didn't feel too bad about eliminating the fluoride after that. They get fluoride through their toothpaste and regular visits to the dentist.

From my perspective the bottom line is this: Brita filters only filter out the yucky taste, not metals or chemicals. Bottled water is basically filtered tap water that you pay for, and the plastic bottles are clogging our landfills. Reverse osmosis systems give you the next best thing to distilled water for about eight cents a gallon. I know from going through the Ultimate Reset that distilled water (the cleanest of clean water -- it's distilled to only the hydrogen and oxygen molecules) costs 88 cents a gallon.

More than 60% of our bodies are made of water, so why not make sure you're getting the best?

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Workout of the Day

Insanity Cardio Core and Balance

Tony Horton Kitchen

Tony Horton has a brand new venture called Tony Horton Kitchen, which offers "delicious, nutrient-rich meals delivered to your door" each week for about $245.

You guys know that I'm a huge fan of Tony, and I have no doubt that the food from his kitchen is delicious, particularly if Missy Costello of Karma Chow is involved (I can't tell if she is). But I'm a little conflicted about this.

On one hand, America obviously has a huge food problem. Most people see the inside of a restaurant more often than a grocery store, and when they're in the grocery store they hang out in Death Valley, a.k.a. the center aisles. On the off chance that a vegetable is purchased, many have no idea how to prepare it besides frying it beyond recognition.So in that vein, Tony Horton Kitchen is solving a problem.

But on the other hand, relying on prepared food (no matter how healthy) is not teaching you anything about how to identify and prepare your own food. Is self-reliance in the grocery store and kitchen not a popular goal anymore?

To many people cooking is something you watch on T.V., not something you actually perform on a regular basis. I worry that this generation of children will have no idea that the kitchen is supposed to be used for anything other than holding take-out containers and heating up leftovers from the doggy bag.

I know, I know. I'm a stereotypical stay-at-home-mom who likes to cook and has all kinds of time on her hands. I'm beyond blessed, I know. But I want my kids to know that the best food doesn't come in a box, and it's rarely delivered to your front door. In fact, it doesn't even come in a container. It doesn't have a label, and it's really colorful.

That's why I like the Ultimate Reset so much. It's one part cleanse and nine parts crash course in healthy cooking. It teaches you how to go in the grocery store, find healthy ingredients, and prepare them into some of the most delicious dishes you've ever whipped up. It makes you appreciate the time, effort, and care that cooking requires.

If cooking is going out of style, at least organizations like Tony's are providing a healthy option. I just sincerely hope that we haven't completely given up on using the kitchen ourselves.

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Workout of the Day
Insanity: Fast and Furious and Asylum: Relief

This was a rest day from P90X2's P.A.P. workouts, and I needed it! Those workouts are so brutal. I am glad we've only planned to do two weeks of phase three before moving on to the marathon training schedule.

Beachbody: Makin' you pretty inside and out!

And now for something I know absolutely nothing about: Skin Care!

So apparently Beachbody has this whole other side of its business that has to do with beauty products, and they have decided to allow Beachbody Coaches to sell the skin care line, which is called Derm Exclusive.

Full disclosure: Pretty much the only thing I do to my face is wash it with Olay Daily Facial pads and put some off-brand Olay moisturizer on afterward.

Super-duper full disclosure: you know what I do with those Olay Daily Facial pads? I cut them into fourths so the package will last longer! 

All that disclosure to say: I am no expert in skin care products.

Luckily I have a good friend and coach, Sandi, who DOES know something about skin care and is doing a 30-day trial so that she can give it her honest opinion. When she came to work out at our house the other day her skin was as smooth as a baby's bottom!

Cute, cute Minnie Driver is in the infomercial. Check out a clip!



Even in my limited expertise I know that skin care creams can be cuh-razey expensive, so I'm pleased to report that Derm Exclusive really does seem to be a good value. The whole system can be had for $39.95 per month. ($29 for coaches!)

Check out all you get here.

I'll keep y'all posted on Sandi's experience and will be back with a full review once she's completed a full month with Derm Exclusive.

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Workout of the Day

P90X2 Core

Guys, I'm kind of in a workout funk. I'm still doing them, but it's not with much enthusiasm. I've got a half marathon staring me in the face and I'm just not really looking forward to training for it! I need an attitude adjustment, most likely. After this week we're going to move into just two weeks of the third phase of P90X2, then a recovery week, then seven weeks of training leading up to the half. We're going to use Les Mills Pump three times a week and run the other three days a week, with one rest day.