Farmer's market finds

This past weekend, my husband and I stopped by the local winter farmer's market and did most of our grocery shopping there.  It's the first time we've ever bought the majority of our groceries at a place that's not an industrial supermarket.

Why we decided to go:
- I believe that buying local is healthier for our bodies; especially for buying meat.  I don't want to eat meat that has been pumped with corn, soy, antibiotics, and other junk that make us sick;
- I want to see my food in it's most natural form possible;
- Buying local, of course, keeps fuel costs down and consumes less resources;
- It's the way we were intended to eat.  Nothing genetically engineered; nothing sprayed with pesticides.  Glorious.
- I love the idea of supporting people in my community.  Local business, I feel, keeps an area thriving, and creates wonderful inter-personal relationships, and gives an area a certain character and elan.  Really, local goodies make life more interesting.

Our buys, for just over $50:

Our full bounty, which consisted of grass fed ground beef, grass fed pork, two gluten-free muffins for a treat, butternut squash, sweet onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, kale, turnips, whole seed honey mustard, rutabaga, and granola for my husband.

 Our grass fed ground beef, from Chestnut Farms.

Close up!  I especially love seeing the dirt on the vegetables -- I feel in touch with Mother Nature a bit more!  The irregular shape of the carrots was also refreshing.

What I loved about the Winter Farmers Market:

- The friendliness of all the vendors.  They were happy to discuss their products in great detail, they were emphatic about their products, and happy to endure my endless questions about their farms and businesses.

- The calmness.  Often in the grocery store, I feel like I'm being herded like cattle and rushed to and fro.  Plus, there's often a long line at the check out, which just adds to my stress.  Here, I was able to meander, relax, and enjoy my time perusing all the goodies.  It's especially nice since you pay the vendor individually, so there's no wait to "check out" somewhere.

- The quality of the food.  So far, we've consumed the butternut squash, some of the kale, a sweet potato, some garlic, and an onion -- all of which were very tasty.  There's nothing worse than buying a bad piece of produce, and I've enjoyed everything I've consumed so far.

- I admit, we didn't get all of our groceries at the Farmers Market for the week, but we spent less money at the market than I thought we would.  With our market buys supplemented with some other groceries (mainly eggs, yogurt, apples, and berries), our bill was actually under what we normally spend in a week.  Disclaimer: I will be buying more yogurt, milk, and a couple more vegetables tomorrow.  Also, eggs were sold out at the farmers market, but I'll be buying them from either the FM or a local farm stand from now on.

The biggest kicker, however, was the expense of grass fed meat.  We spent nearly $20 on two pounds of meat, which at first, was hard to swallow.  But now, I see it as a blessing in disguise.   We'll still buy meat, but we'll consume less of it, and up our veggie intake to compensate.  So far, it's worked well, and I'm probably eating better meat portion sizes.  And ultimately, I believe that a diversity of foods is key to healthy living, and buying what's available forces me to experiment with new foods and be more creative with my cooking. (I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do with the bone in pork).  Tomorrow, I'll post more about the meals I've cooked with our market bargains.  The last Winter Farmers Market is this Saturday, so if you're local, stop by!

Any suggestions on how I should prepare my grass-fed pork?  Or any new foods or finds you've tried lately?  Any vegetable that you're currently addicted to?

My beef with gluten (recipe included)

Trying to figure out what to eat is a daunting process.  As Americans, we are constantly flooded with messages regarding what's appropriate (and what's not appropriate) to consume.  Swap whole fat yogurt for low-fat.  Substitute butter for margarine, or is it margarine for butter, or is it I Can't Believe It's Not Butter? High carb is the way to go.  Lay off the meat.  Actually, it's Weight Watchers/Jenny Craig (depending on the celebrity spokeswoman of the weekend).  Perhaps eating Subway sandwiches will bring the key to being healthy.  Acai is definitely the only way to get a flatter belly.  Without a doubt, we are a nation of fads, willing to pay lots of money to put in as little effort as possible when it comes to health.  If we don't lose ten pounds in the first two weeks, magazines send messages that we are failures at being fit and thin, and we quickly fall of the wagon.  It's all quite disheartening and confusing.

For the past several months, I've been trying to define what health and healthy eating means.  And I am starting to realize that eating food in it's most natural state is the best way to go, but I don't think it's always easy to understand why or to always follow through with it.  Part of the problem stems from the fact that (and I speak for my 20-something generation) we've had pretty bad information about healthy eating.  What has been defined as 'healthy' has been designated by companies with clever marketing campaigns.  Counting calories as a means to weight loss and health was always the (most recent) preferred method to measure health success, and it was easy for companies to exploit the calorie outlet.  100 Calorie Packs -- you little demons.  For years, you convinced me to eat a pack or two of you a day.  I greedily scarfed down those buttery Lorna Doones and those Mister Salty chocolate covered pretzels.  Chocolate + salt + carb = magic, I thought.  These little guys were the key to my health and happiness, and would make me thin.  It was the best of both worlds -- I could eat crap and still look great!  Blessed Nabisco for such a great product. 

Gosh, I was so ignorant and ill-informed.  I counted calories, bought packaged products, trusted things like Smart Choices labels, believed I was doing the "right thing," and never saw much permanent change in my body.  And I certainly didn't feel any different.  Check out the nutrition information for Lorna Doones here.  Quite honestly, I'm not really sure I know what's in Lorna Doones, but I still ate them.  Was I healthy?  What does healthy mean?

Through everything I now read (I owe everyone some major Michael Pollan blogging!) and the more time I spend musing about my health, it's clear to me that humans are intended to eat foods found in nature.  Wonder Bread came into existence in 1924 and Lucky Charms was first marketed in 1964, and while I might not have my dates right, it seems like people were able to eat before the inception of such food products.  Like, a long, long time before.  So, why should I think there is something wrong with the foods that people ate earlier, before the creation of McDonalds?  Why should I get my vitamins and minerals from fortified Lucky Charms when I could get it from something like, I don't know, spinach and apples?

When I decided to attempt to cut gluten out of my life, I really don't know if I could tell you why I did it. And yes, there are days when I think I want nothing more than a fudgy brownie.  But should I replace processed gluten-filled foods with processed non-gluten foods?  I really don't think that's the best answer.  I think my beef with gluten is less about gluten than it is about processed foods.  And let's face it, most foods with gluten are highly, highly processed (and yes, pasta counts as highly processed).  And right now, I don't feel a need to eat barley and oats.  It's getting off the Oreos that's hard, but not impossible, and actually quite rewarding.  Study after study proves that no matter how you package it or size it, processed foods are not the answer to health.  So, that takes me back to my original point: getting to be healthy is about eating food that looks and tastes like natural food.  And that's my goal.

(recipe for this butternut squash is below!)

And with that said, the more and more I think about food, the more my perspective on what constitutes good, delicious food had changed.  I am forced to consider food purchasing and preparation more carefully and have had to broaden my food horizons to keep my taste buds interested.  And through all of it, I find that I'm definitely more of a foodie than just someone who eats Hot Pockets because it's the convenient package in the freezer.  I'm redefining "fast food."  And, through it all, I'm starting to enjoy food a whole lot more.  But more on this to come.

Musings:  check out this link from the Summer Tomato about Whole Grains vs. Intact Grains.  I found it informative and helpful, and it solidifies my belief that processed foods are no good for our us.

Secondly, my husband and I have finally decided to make eating grass-fed meats and farmers' markets produce a part of our food lives and are musing with the idea of starting our own herb and vegetable garden.  More to come!

And finally, this new lifestyle has forced me to be much more creative.  Last night, I made butternut squash that we had purchased at the Winter Farmers Market.  To make it, I used what I had on hand: olive oil, sea salt, ginger, and cinnamon.  After peeling and dicing the squash, I put it in a bowl, coated it with olive oil, sprinkled on cinnamon and ginger (mostly cinnamon, although I wish I had had more ginger), popped it on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes, took it out, sprinkled it with sea salt, and voila!  Veggies for dinner were done.  

Alright, I've been mostly known to kill plants, not get them to grow.  But what foods and herbs should my husband and I try to grow in our tiny backyard garden?

A travel WOD of sorts

This past week, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a quick West Coast vacation in the Bay Area.  I knew I still wanted (correction: had) to get in at least a few workouts, and to make sure I was fully prepared, I brought a jump rope, my journal to record my exercise, a list of travel workouts, and two sets of workout clothes.

Why the preparedness, you may wonder.  Simple, really: if I didn't make a plan to exercise, I could find it all too easy and convenient to forgo much needed physical activity.  Plus, hotel gyms tend to be pretty abysmal, and I did not want to leave any room for excuses for either skipping a workout or just piddling around on the elliptical for a few minutes.

After our early morning flight, my husband and I walked around the beautiful (and steep) hills of San Francisco, and meandered up to Coit Tower to catch the views of the city.  That night, in the comfort of our hotel room, I broke into three rounds of sit ups, push ups, and squats at 10 o'clock at night, Pacific Time.  I felt like a champion.

The next morning, I decided to investigate the hotel gym.  With my jump rope and water bottle in hand, the exercise facilities were even more disappointing than I had expected -- a tiny room with a few free weights, a handful of treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes, and some weight machines.  I did my best to clear some space to practice double unders.  Double unders are a CrossFit creation, and are currently the bane of my existence.  For a "double under," the jump rope goes underfoot twice instead of once.  As a child, I was never too fond of jumping rope (I think I was too uncoordinated and lacked the necessary drive to practice said jump rope rotations, but I enjoyed singing "Cinderella/dress in yella/went downtown to kiss her fella" and cheering on my classmates).  I digress.  CrossFt has brought me back to the playground, but this time, it has given me the added challenge of trying to get two rotations of rope under my feet instead of just one.  As someone who has trouble jumping rope in succession, I often find myself tripping over the rope like a toddler first learning to waddle around.  My double unders are awkward, and I imagine I look more like a horse kicking its legs against a post than a graceful athlete who makes all  motions and movements look effortless.  I guess, however, that practice makes perfect, and I am determined to conquer the cursed double unders.
After twenty minutes of fumbling with the jump rope and taking frequent water breaks (my favorite stalling tactic), I decided that enough was enough, and it was time to get a WOD going.
My second vacation workout of the day was:

Four rounds of

1/4 mile run on treadmill, 1 percent incline
10 burpees

I forgot to time my workout, but it was fun.  I was even asked what sport I played by another gym goer.  My goodness, did my ego swell!  As the child who hid in the back of gym class praying the teacher would ignore my existence, it was flattering to be called "athletic."

The next day, I practiced handstand push ups.  I placed two towels on the ground, moved equipment out of the way, and went to town.  Next, I wanted to conquer this CrossFit workout.  But, my pull ups are still non-existent, and even though I could benefit from pull up practice, my infinitesimal hotel gym lacked proper pull up equipment; mainly, a pull up bar.  So, I modified it to fit my available resources.

I came up with:

1 mi run (1 percent incline)
100 push ups
200 sit ups
300 squats (broken into ten rounds of 10 push ups, 20 sit ups, and 30 squats)
1 mi run;

all in 40 minutes and 58 seconds.  My mile pace averaged 8:19.  The slowest part for me?  Sit ups.  I don't understand why.  But, it was a wonderful WOD, and I highly recommend it.  Modify it as needed -- switch up the exercises, cut everything in half, but try it out.  After this work out, I was asked if I was interval training to run a marathon, and was complimented on my push ups by a personal trainer who also happened to be weightlifting at the same time.  My goodness, I couldn't stop smiling.

The point of this blog post?  Even when traveling, you can still make exercise a priority.  My recommendations:

1.  Plan ahead.  Think about the workouts you want to try and pack any gear (like a jump rope, frisbee, etc.,.) to help you meet that goal.  Make a list of WODs ahead of time.  Bring a book to record your workouts so you can hold yourself accountable.
2.  Think bodyweight.  While traveling, workout equipment will obviously be limited, but you can run, walk, or do sit ups, push ups, handstands, squats, jumping jacks, burpees, planks, etc.,. anywhere.
3. Be creative.  Travel WODs can be monotonous.  Shake things up by playing outside if possible.  My husband and I turned park benches into box jumps and hiked up and down hills through park grounds.  Check out this link of travel WODs to get some creative juices flowing!

Weekend Musings

For all those who say they don't have time to cook from scratch: a recent article in the LA Times informs us that buying prepackaged, pre-washed, or pre-cut food doesn't actually save us any time cooking dinner.  The study came out of UCLA.  You can find the article here.  While it does mention that buying prepackaged goods may save you more time buying groceries, I think we should ultimately be encouraged to cook from scratch -- it doesn't have to be creative or fancy to be convenient, healthy, and tasty.

The other day, as I was out shopping, I stumbled upon the Women's Health Kettlebell, which was available in your choice of five pounds or 10 pounds.  When I saw this, it made me incredibly angry.  Why?  I think it insinuates that women can't be strong.  It's the message that I've received my entire life from different gym and media outlets: use the three or five pounds dumbbells, because that's all women can and should handle, especially if they are afraid of "bulking up."  It's just ludicrous.  Since I began weight lifting, I can bench press 110 pounds, and I've lost inches off my arm.  I'm strong, and I'm physically fitter and tinier than I've ever been, with the muscle to prove it.  I look a lot better than I did this summer.  But I still question and doubt my own strength.  I constantly feel like I'm fighting against the message that women cannot and should not be strong.  It's a stigma, an oddity for a woman to deadlift and front squat more than 45 pounds.  But it's a stigma that I will continue to fight.

No matter how hard I exercise, it will never make up for a bad diet, which is clearly a problem for many Americans.  Check out this scary chart on obesity in the United States:

Even scarier?  In 1991, no state had an obesity rate higher than 20 percent (find the information here).

And last, we shouldn't underestimate the power that reading can have over our health: check out this article from Mark's Daily Apple on Bibliotherapy.  In short, reading (and writing) can be therapeutic for our mental health.  And on that note, I'm off to finish reading Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin.   

A Deck o' WOD

Today, I went to CrossFit to do some WODing with the lovely CRCF owners, Erik and Melissa.  For a long time, I had wanted to try a WOD I had seen on Mark's Daily Apple, which he dubbed Primal Poker.  The premise: take a deck of cards and assign each suit an exercise.  Then, pick a card and complete the number of reps on the card (as determined by the suit).  Grab a new card and repeat until the deck is finished.

After debating what exercises to do, we settled on kettlebell swings, wall ball shots, box jumps, and push ups.  We even convinced (or coerced, depending on your perspective) Grant, a junior CrossFitter, to join us.

Then we realized that no one had a deck of cards.  No problem: Melissa googled "deck of cards";

printed them out, and we made our own!

Blurry, but it's our bag o' cards.

Next, we had to figure out the "terms" of the workout.  What suit should each exercise be?  What rep number do you assign to an Ace? Jack? Queen? King? We finally settled on:

Hearts: Kettlebell Swings (1 pood for myself and Melissa, which is 16 kg, or 35 pounds; I didn't pay attention to what the boys did, but 1.5 pood is always a good standard)

Spades: Wall Ball Shots (14 pound wall ball for the ladies, 20 pound wall ball for the guys)

Clubs: Box Jumps (20 inch for the ladies, 24 inch for the guys)

Diamonds: Push Ups

Ace counted for one, Jacks for 12, Queens for 14, and Kings for 16.

So, if we pulled a 6 of hearts, we did six kettlebell swings.

Then, we set up:

My 20 inch box and my kettlebell;

Wall balls, ready to rock and roll!

We also set up a system: unused cards went in the blue plastic cup, used cards into the translucent cup, aptly labeled "DONE."

This system was brilliant -- it was a fool proof way to keep track of progress and not get used and unused cards confused.  Next to the cups was our cheat sheet of the exercises each suit was assigned to, as well as the card values for non-numbered cards.  Without that piece of paper, this workout would have never happened.

Goodness, this work out was a killer, but so worth it.  The first card pulled was the King of Hearts, so we started off the WOD with 16 kettlebell swings.  It was great to get some of the hardest cards out of the way.  But, since this workout is so randomized, the first half of the workout seemed to be dominated by box jumps and wall balls, and the second by the kettlebell swings and push ups.  Often, we'd get the same suit a few times in a row, which was especially a pain for the push ups.  We also made it a rule that if you finished the set of reps first, you pulled the next card.  And we didn't start the next set of reps until everyone was finished.  I liked that it was spontaneous, varied, and surprisingly quick-paced.  Luckily, we were pretty much on the same pace for most of the reps, and finished just short of 30 minutes, at 29:58.  I wanted to quit a few times, but working out with everyone gave much needed momentum to keep going.   I'm so lucky to have such a great CrossFit family.

And just in case you were wondering, we did each exercise 97 times, for a total of 388 reps.  

The beauty of this workout is that you can change it as you see fit.  Can't do a wall ball?  Do squats instead!  No access to kettlebells? Do sit ups or burpees.  Try double unders or regular jump ropes (just triple the value on the card).  Let your imagination run wild here!  I think this is definitely worthy of being a once-a-month WOD.

My post-WOD celebration?  A KIND bar and a pedicure!

I bought these two at Starbucks today, and ate the Cranberry Almond -- it was very tasty! I definitely recommend them (although the $1.95 price tag is a bit steep, so I may start ordering them online).  

Have you tried something new this week?  Or had a new exercise experience?

Current (Food-Related) Obsessions

On my quest to kick the dirty gluten habit, I've decided to post on my current food obsessions.  I hope this gives you some new culinary ideas (and in turn, your validation of my sustenance will keep me on track!)

337 Wine

Okay, okay, my first food pick is technically a drink, but this is my current foodie obsession.  I randomly picked it up from a display in the liquor store, and I was intrigued by the "mocha" flavors in the description.  I love chocolate, so why not try it?  For $12 a bottle, this wine is delicious!  I am hardly a wine connoisseur, and I truly wish I could tell you all about the flavors so I could more persuasively convince you to purchase it.  But, it's definitely smooth, flavorful, and according to the woman who owns the liquor store, the grapes used for the California wine come from France.  Sounds pretty fancy to me!

Laurel Hill Foods Chocolate Mountain Mix

A mix of raisins, cashews, almonds, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds (or pepitas), this is my latest decadent indulgent treat.  It's from a local farm in Massachusetts, so I feel even better for purchasing it.  And yes, I know the chocolate chips have traces of soy lecithin, but it's still totally worth it.  It's a great way to get some nuts and seeds in my diet.

Eggplant

For the past couple weeks, eggplant is all I've wanted to eat at dinner.  Quick and easy way to make it -- preheat oven to 350 degrees, slice eggplant thinly, put it in a pyrex, drizzle it with some EVOO, sprinkle with some sea salt and black pepper if you wish, bake for 25 - 30 minutes, and pronto -- you've got a flavorful and scrumptious veggie side dish.

Meatballs

I am on the current quest of finding the best way to perfect meatballs sans gluten.  Here's what I've come up with so far:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees

1 1/2 lb ground beef (usually 85 percent lean; grass fed is best)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add a bit more if you want it spicy!)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3 cloves garlic; finely chopped (or use a garlic press)

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

2 eggs

1 tablespoon ground mustard

2 tablespoons almond meal

Mix together in large mixing bowl.  Make small meatballs (1-1 1/2 inch diameter or so) and place on cookie sheet.  Bake for 25 minutes; flip meatballs once.

For sauce:

1 can tomato sauce (organic preferred)

1/2 can tomato paste

1/3 cup sweet onions; finely chopped

4 garlic cloves; finely chopped

2 tablespoons EVOO

1 tablespoon oregano

1 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Heat olive oil on stove top in sauce pan.  Add onions; saute for 3 minutes.  Add garlic; saute two minutes.  Add sauce, paste, oregano, Italian seasoning, parsley, and sea salt (all to taste).  Mix until thoroughly heated; about 10 minutes.  Add fresh basil at end.  I clearly like a lot of seasoning in my sauce -- feel free to modify to your individual palate preference!

Haddock

My husband made haddock for dinner the other night, and I actually liked it!  He covered 1 pound of fish with the juice from 1/2 lemon, sprinkled it generously with paprika and fresh thyme (chopped), and topped off the haddock with a dash of sea salt and pepper.  He baked it at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.  And I happily ate it.  

And I can't really add this to my list since I haven't tried them yet, but I'm really intrigued by Kind Bars.  If you've eaten them, let me know!  I think I may buy a few to try -- I'll pass the word along if I think they're tasty!

What are your current food (or drink) obsessions?

A little massage therapy eases the body

Getting a massage is something I rarely do, even though I absolutely love it.  Part of the problem I had had for a long time was finding the right place to go.  For years, I bounced around to various salons and spas, mostly to be disappointed with a lackluster massage that neglected to address any real back tension I had.
Then, my sister introduced me to the Boston Bodyworker, a wonderful, no frills, clinical massage facility in downtown Boston where the massage therapists provided wonderful deep tissue massages and helped address a lot of my shoulder and lower back pains.  But since I moved out to the 'burbs, I haven't managed to motivate myself to take the time to haul downtown for a massage.  (The proof lies in the fact that I've been carrying around a gift certificate to the Boston Bodyworker in my wallet since June, and I still have yet to make an appointment). And I've been hesitant to try and find a massage therapist at a local spa in my area; I'm just not willing to drop $75 or $100 on a massage where the therapist is hesitant to truly work out the knots in my back.

So, you can imagine my excitement when Melissa asked me if I thought it would be a good idea to offer massage therapy/clinical body work at CRCF.  But, since I am wary of any massage therapist, I demanded to know the intimate details of who Melissa would bring in.  I quickly learned that David, the masseuse she had in mind, had once worked at the Boston Bodyworker.  I now had the impetus necessary to schedule an appointment.  Plus, my shoulders have been bothering me lately and I've had a horrible time with my cleans, and my lower back and IT bands have been acting up.

Of course, I was running a little late, and made it to my appointment on the dot.  Flustered and slightly disconcerted, I ran into CRCF like a bat out of hell, and David was so kind, polite, and reassuring that I was, in fact, right on time.  Thank goodness.  After our quick introductions, David asked me if there were any problem areas, and I explained to him that my lower back, IT bands, and shoulders were literally being large pains.  

There were several things that I really liked about David.  First, he played music during the massage.  Not the obnoxious "relaxation healing" music where you listen to thunder and waves crashing on the sand set to Yanni or Peruvian windpipes; he gets major kudos for playing awesome artists like Elton John, Alanis Morissette, and Madonna.  (I would honestly love it if, for once, a massage therapist played Beethoven's Sixth or some Chopin nocturnes, but I'm a bit of a classical music brat, and regardless of my musical relaxation preferences, I enjoyed the nice mix of music on his ipod).  The second thing that I really liked about David is that he started with my lower back and my legs, since I had complained about them the most. (O.M.G, I knew my glutes were tight, but I didn't realize that they were that tight!)  Next, David was great about checking in on me to make sure I was feeling okay, wasn't afraid to apply a lot of pressure, but knew when to back off.  He pointed out some differences between the left and the right side muscles of my body (I didn't realize how much tighter my left side was when compare to my right). We chatted on and off occasionally throughout the hour session, but he didn't talk too much (there's nothing worse than a massage therapist who talks the entire time).  He normally only spoke to me if I asked a question. (I like to ask a lot of specific questions).  He was great about explaining where my muscles were tight, made suggestions as to why said muscles were tight, recommended that I use a tennis ball to massage my glutes and my traps and explained how to do that. 

When he got to my neck, the pain really began.  I had no idea that I had so much tension in there!  While massaging my neck, he began to ask me specific questions about my headache history, my caffeine consumption, and if I ate carbs, sugar, or drank.  (Sort of to the headaches, yes to the caffeine, somewhat to the carbs, a big fat yes! to the sugar, and a sometimes to drinking).  Long story short: he informed me that based on the tension in my neck, I clench or grind my teeth, which often happens as a result of eating carbs or sugar.  Goodness, could he read my mind about my major food addictions?  I will have to investigate these issues deeper for a future blog, but I am impressed that he managed to figure this out!

I was shocked when the hour was over -- it went by far too quickly, and I wished I could have had more time.  I was quite envious of his next client.  

While I truly heart the Boston Bodyworker, I'm a lazy individual, and I don't really want to go into downtown Boston if I don't have to.  David gave a great massage, and I recommend him to anyone in the 'burbs who's looking for thorough deep tissue therapy at crazy reasonable prices.  When can I get my next appointment?

This massage also reminded me about the importance of stretching and showed me some problem areas that if I hopefully stretch out, it will eliminate the pain and problems I've had with some of my olympic lifts.  I'm looking forward to another massage in the not-so-distance future!

Why?

Confession of the day: today, I had a donut at work.  Specifically, this guy: the chocolate glazed donut from Dunkin' Donuts:

(from grubgrade.com)

I could try and justify why I ate this delectable delight (which it seemed at the time).  But, it doesn't change the fact that I willingly and happily put it in my body.  Let's just be clear: they were brought into work.  The chocolate glazed looked sooooo good, and as you all know, I love chocolate.  So, I ate it.  And for the first fifteen minutes or so, it seemed like a fine idea, even if it wasn't clean or Paleo, or Primal, or whatever.  I mean, everyone needs a cheat, right?

The problems began soon after: upset, sour stomach, feeling bloated, sluggish, and all around crummy.  The stuffy nose and sniffles began to develop, too.  If I were to put it in a visual it would be something like this:

This:

(steveklotz.com)

And I'm not gonna lie, I kind of wanted to do this:

(ehow,com)

But I didn't.  Instead, I dragged my sorry self to CrossFit, forced my body through a WOD, and I still feel horrible.  I feel like my WOD could have been better, and I'm going to blame the donut for it.  Donut, you caused a lot of pain.  I don't like you right now.  Irony of the moment: the donut couldn't care less.  So why did I let it have so much control over my life?

Clearly, I am losing my tolerance for junk food.  Processed food and I are not friends.  I know this.  So why do I keep eating it?  Weekly, I insist on putting something in my body that I know will not agree with me.  Saturday, it was part of a scone; today, it was a donut.  Most of the time, I don't feel guilty about it (although admittedly, sometimes I do).  It's not until after I've eaten it that I feel that twinge of remorse, which is typically based on how my body reacts to it.  Or sometimes, as I eat said junk food, I realize that it doesn't taste as as delicious as it used to, and then I get the "why did I even bother eating that garbage?" thoughts.

So, do I get myself off the junk?  How?  Or do I allow these "cheats" and deal with the consequences?  Can I learn to quit the processed food and eat clean?  What's the best way to hold myself accountable to quit crappy food?

Do you eat clean?  Any tips or advice?  Or, are you struggling with quitting processed food?  How do you handle these vices?

A handy visual for grocery shopping!

My new favorite website is Summer Tomato.  I stumbled upon it when Melissa sent me this awesome graphic:

I think it's a fabulous and hysterical way to keep in mind what I should (and should not) buy in the grocery store.  The most important concept I can take away from Darya Pino's website and flow chart is that we have the individual power to buy and consume fresh and natural foods, the way humans were meant to.  I like that she cautions us when buying foods that make health claims on the label, and that processed food is mostly junk and crap that our bodies shouldn't have.

Any tips for shopping for or consuming healthy food?

An easy (and tasty) fish dish!

So, my friends, I am venturing out into the world of eating fish.  It has actually been quite exciting.

My husband and I agreed that he would be the one to prepare the fish and I would be the official taste tester.  (I think it's a great arrangement, if I do say so myself).

Last week, we went to our local Roche Bros. and spoke to the nice man at the seafood counter.  After explaining to him that I am terrified of seafood, he recommended tilapia.  He wrapped up three small fillets and we headed home.

Since I knew I would beat my husband home, I decided to put some acorn squash in the oven.  I had a brief crisis moment, however, because I usually pour brown sugar over acorn squash and bake it.  After several minutes of contemplation and panic, I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, put a pat of butter in each, and sprinkled cinnamon and and ground ginger on each half.  I baked at 400 degrees for almost 50 minutes in a pyrex dish with about 1/3 an inch of water in it.  End result:

OMG -- it was, by far, the best acorn squash I've ever had.  Ever.  The whole house had an aroma that smelled like holiday baking.  Delicious.

For our tilapia, my husband mixed:

-1/4 cup dijon mustard

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 teaspoon powdered thyme

-1 1/2 tablespoon capers (drained and rinsed)

-1/2 fresh lemon, squeezed

-dash of sea salt

-4 Backyard Farms tomatoes, cut into wedges

and poured it all over the fish (which he cooked in a CorningWare dish at 425 for almost 20 minutes). Make sure you check the fish as it cooks, because I don't think it's supposed to take that long, but for some reason, in our oven, it did. 

End result:

Quite tasty.  While I still have an inclination toward my beef and chicken, it had a great flavor and did not taste "like fish."  Tilapia is pretty moist, and honestly, I think the dijon mustard, capers, and lemon offered a strong enough flavor so it didn't seem like I was eating fish.  Brilliant!

Any new foods that you've tried lately and enjoyed?