Cultivating my "fit chick" persona

Okay, I've often said that I am not a sporty person by nature. I danced, did gymnastics and played field hockey as a kid, but I can't really say that it was part of my being like my sister or others I know. However, I'm really going for it: I want to cultivate my inner "fit chick".

So here's where I'm at: I am registered in two weekly courses- a hip hop dance class Tuesday night, and my usual Zumba class on Fridays. In addition, I've started running. I downloaded a "couch to 5K" app for my iPod and I've completed the first 5 runs of the program. To further inspire myself, I've signed up for my first official race- 5k (I know, a whoooole 5k!) and I'm going to rock it. Even if I have to roll/slither/fall over the finish line.

I am hoping that I can keep the momentum going and really give 'er. I have concerns that if I take a day off I'll start to slack and lose my oomph, but I am pretty committed and my poor hubby is trying to take my new-found enthusiasm in stride (not literally of course, as he's even less of a natural "fittie" than I am).

So this is week two...and I'm making it public to encourage me to avoid future humiliation. :)

You may now shower me with encouragement and praise...no really...go ahead...

Or you could just share what active things YOU do to keep fit and happy. Your turn!

Cultivating my "fit chick" persona

Gluten free caribbean vacation: El Dorado Royale, Mexico

So recently, after painstakingly searching through website after website, trying desperately to find the perfect place, we booked our spot at El Dorado Royale in the Mayan Riviera in Mexico. To find our ideal place, we had the following search criteria:

1) Right timeframe (when we could get care for the kids)
2) Price range
3) Preferably adults only
4) At least 4 star
5) Able to accommodate all my food issues to a "reasonable" extent.

Lo and behold, the stars aligned and we found El Dorado Royale- one of a chain of resorts- that best fit all our criteria....so of COURSE we booked. :)

Having recently had a terrible buffet experience where I received as a take-home present, my first official "accidental glutening", I was hesitant and expected to be stuck eating raw food bars, fruit and salad all week. However, Mr. Pick it Up and I have been together for 10 years and we figured it was time for celebration, so I was totally prepared to suck it up.

1) Travel : We had a 3 hour delay due to the charter having some kind of problem and them having to re-route one from another airport. Not the end of the world. They served a hot meal that hubby was able to eat, and gave us all free wine and headsets. Good enough. :) The transfer from the airport was quick and we made it to the hotel in no time (we had to stop to drop someone else, but it would have been a 25 minute drive if we hadn't).

2) Check in and bellhop service: Beautiful. It was 12:00am local time and we were greeted with champagne. I could have kissed that poor man. I may have seen him recoil slightly at the blonde 6' tall woman lunging for his tray.
Here's the lobby:

And from out back of the lobby the next morning...

3) Room: The room was super clean, had a lovely, comfortable bed, and an amazing view.

There was a jacuzzi tub in the corner overlooking the breathtaking ocean view. Everything was super clean, shower was super powerful with never-ending hot water.

Here's the view in the morning from our "ocean front" room (worth the small amount for the upgrade). You could select the regular room, the ocean view, ocean front, swim up rooms with a "moat" behind them that led to the pool, or the "casitas" section, which to me, wasn't worth it...unless you're the kind of person who would prefer to spend lots of time in your room.

4) Climate: It was hot the whole time we were there. There were two small rainshowers, but it was usually 27-28 Celsius with humidity on top of that. Here's the thing though: the wind is crazy. You never feel the stifling heat (which is a RELIEF), and at night when it's 23-25 degrees, it can be pretty chilly near the water. Ladies- bring your long flowy pants, and long-sleeved shirts (or slinky dresses and lots of shawls). 

You're wondering about the food, aren't you?? I'm regaling you with details from the whole resort...be patient, people!! ;)...next...

5) Facilities: Fitness buffs- this is the place for you. Work out in a top quality gym, hire a personal trainer if you're really motivated, run along the beach, borrow a bike and tour around the complex, swim laps in one of the bazillion pools, do yoga at 7am to greet the sun, "agua aerobics", water polo, volleyball (pool or beach) and more. Don't worry though- there were plenty of non-fit people who spent their days reading in the shade, and taking naps on these:

No. I'm not kidding. Gigantic beds all around the resort- by the pools and on the sandy beach- were readily available for everyone. And yes, some people do "claim" their chairs or beds, but for the most part, there are always lots around. 

There are bars everywhere (swim up and regular) and several pools- two larger ones and several smaller ones- all over the resort. 

This is the pool/bar where we spent most of our time with a LOVELY couple we met from eastern Canada (yeah, you know who you are...we adore you but I fear for my liver if you lived closer ;)

The beach isn't great for swimming. There are large sandbags in the water (look like beached whales) to break the crazy waves, but while we were there, it still looked CRAZY wavy. I'm not really a beach person though so I wasn't bothered.

6) Entertainment: Okay, there were nightly shows, some of them "kitschy" but all of them fun. There were also activities (sports and other) by the staff each day. They were kind of repetitive with one "special event" each day. Most days you'd get all the sports mentioned above and then a "name that tune" game, and a few others.

7) Clientele: This is not a resort for 21 year old kids going on spring break. It's really not going to be what you're after. Most folks were probably in the 30-50 range, but there were plenty of seniors too. About half of them were super fit, half of them not, and for country of origin, I'd estimate 30% American, 30% Canadian, 10% British, and the remainder mixed. 

8) Spa: We had a couples' massage up here. 'Nuff said. 

8) FOOD...okay, here it is: 5 star dining ALL...THE...TIME. From the 24 hour room service, to the 6 a la carte restaurants, I think 5 snack type places, etc. it was RIDICULOUS. You know when you eat somewhere fancy and they plate everything so beautifully? Try every meal like that for a week. Except maybe breakfast where you could eat buffet (now, I say buffet, but there wasn't a sloppy, fried, half-cold pan of ANYTHING to be found). Here's the kicker: with the exception of one incident I had involving a stray penne noodle that found its way into my dish (Jojos - the caribbean snack bar- was the site of that crime) every waiter knew exactly what gluten was, what dish it was in, and when they weren't 100% sure, they created special dishes for me just to be safe. Now, just in case you don't know, I'm not a diagnosed Celiac, but I do have the gene and I have isolated gluten as a major illness-inducer for me. The only time I felt ill was after I found that pasta on my plate, and I didn't swallow it (spat it out actually once I realized) so I was minimally ill - though definitely affected. My husband was ill however, after eating beef carpaccio twice (ps- don't eat raw beef in Mexico...just don't do it) at the Italian restaurant. 

At home, I can barely go to a restaurant and get a gluten free equivalent to anything. Our city sucks for specialty restaurants so I just can't get it- all I can eat is food that is naturally gluten free (veg/fruit/meat/fish/rice) but never bread, etc. Well, I was given gluten free buns to start, I had gluten free pasta, and GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE. I never EVER have dessert anywhere because I eat neither dairy nor gluten. There just isn't anything else available! What an absolute dream. There was definitely milk in the chocolate frosting, but likely pretty minimal as I did quite well on it. :) Quite well indeed. YUM. Oscar our waiter was also the nicest, most knowledgeable waiter I've ever had- he knew exactly what ingredients were in each dish. How often does that happen!??! AMAZING. He was so eager to please us. What a great guy. 

There was even a smoothie bar where I could get a rockin' green smoothie every morning. No, you didn't hear that incorrectly.

So, all of this to say: DO IT. Book it. Try booking on a Thursday for a cheaper vacation, and go get a few new bikinis. ;)

PS- I'm SO inspired by this place that I started running when I got back. I'm two days in...shins are killing me. I hope I can keep it up and maintain it like my friend Aly at Proud to be a fit mom and the lovely Angela at www.ohsheglows.com who posted my vegan, gluten free samosa recipe last week. THANKS AGAIN!!!

Gluten free caribbean vacation: El Dorado Royale, Mexico

Getting ready with pre-made meals

Okay. So, we are blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity to get away for a week. My in-laws are going to come and visit and take care of the kids while the husband and I enjoy a full week of honeymoon-rekindling. Pure bliss.

In any event, I am trying to come up with a bunch of meals I can make in advance then they can simply thaw and reheat for dinners. So far I've made a pot of vegan spaghetti sauce with eggplant, peppers, artichoke hearts and lentils. It's really yummy. Next I was thinking probably chili would be a good choice, but then what? What can a GF dairy-free mama make for use my the fam?

Please folks- for all of you who regularly cruise by but don't comment, I'm begging you on this one: need some ideas for pre-cooked frozen meals for the 'rents.

Let's have 'em!!!
Humbly thanking you...
Kirsten ;)

Getting ready with pre-made meals

For anyone looking for friends or family affected by the earthquake in Japan

I am so sorry for all the people of Japan and those they love and who love them. This is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions. From where I sit, warm, safe and dry in Canada, I desperately want to help. Perhaps someone might see this message and it might help even one person out.

My thoughts are with you.

Kirsten

For anyone looking for friends or family affected by the earthquake in Japan

Part 2 of 2: Is juice healthy,even if it's 100% fruit? Answer: not by my standards

Okay. I promised I'd talk more about enzymes in part 2. Following part 1 where I broke down simple volume issues; namely, a large glass of OJ is like eating 3-4 oranges, but without the fiber and other nutrients to slow the release into the blood stream- as you would have if you simply ate the fruit).

I'll get to the pasteurization/enzyme question shortly, but first I wanted to point something out. Take for instance a popular bottled "mango smoothie" that has the following ingredients in it:

Mango puree (company claims that one entire mango is present per bottle), apple juice, water, orange juice, banana puree, coconut and lemon juice.

The bottle is 450mL. The serving size on the side of the bottle is almost 1/2 that- 250mL.

Now. Let's look at the nutritional info.

Serving size	Calories	Protein	Sugar	Fiber	Vitamin C	Vitamin A	Iron	Calcium
240mL	150	1g	30g	0g	O%	0%	2%	2%
450mL	281	1.8g	56g	0g	0%	0%	3.75%	3.75%

So what would happen if we simply blended the raw ingredients together?

Ingredient	Calories	Protein	Sugar	Fiber	Vitamin C	Vitamin A	Iron	Calcium
1 mango	107	1g	24g	3g	76%	25%	1%	2%
¼ orange	17.5	¼ g	4g	1g	32%	2%	¼%	2%
¼ banana	25	0g	3g	1g	4%	3%	3%	1%
1 wedge lemon	1	0g	0g	0g	4%	0%	0%	0%
½  oz coconut	50	1/2g	1g	1.5g	2%	0%	2%	0%
Totals:	200	1.75g	32g	6.5g	118%	30%	6%	5%

You'll notice I've bolded both the 250mL serving size and my calculated "smoothie" to illustrate a point, while trying to compare as closely as possible, the servings. Calories are roughly the same, sugars are roughly the same, but what do you notice in the other columns??? Where did the fiber go? In the trash. Where the heck did all the vitamins go????? I have a theory...

Pasteurization, my friends.

Okay. So as I mentioned yesterday, when you heat food (fruit, veggies, nuts, oils) you change them. The longer and hotter you cook something, the less will remain of the nutrients. Anything over 118 degrees Fahrenheit will cause damage to existing nutrients. Does this mean you should become a raw foodist and never cook anything again? Depends- does that appeal to you? If it doesn't, you may fit into my camp where I recognize that raw is the optimal way to go, and as a result I incorporate TONS of raw fruit and veggies into my diet (usually breakfast and lunch) but I still have cooked veggies at dinner...because come on- roasted brussel's sprouts are the best side dish ever invented. Period. Hands down. Full stop.

That being said however, recognize that when you heat your food, you will lose nutrients, so do so lightly (and for goodness sake don't microwave your food), and make up for it with raw at other points throughout the day.

In addition to the loss of vitamins and nutrients in pasteurized juice, there's this pesky thing about enzymes. Now, for any moms out there who have either breastfed or read up on it, EVERY available information source (WITHOUT EXCEPTION) will tell you not to microwave breast milk. The reason is that microwaving, or heating excessively (anything more than plopping the bottle into a bowl of warm water) will damage the incredible properties such as the immune boosters, vitamins/minerals and...wait for it...digestive enzymes. Breast milk isn't the only food that has naturally occurring enzymes- in fact, I'd be hard pressed to find a single living thing that did NOT have them.

So what the heck IS an enzyme? Please bare with me while I try to explain how I understand all this...I expect that if I've got this all turned around someone will jump in.

Let's go back to grade 9 science, shall we? An enzyme is a facilitator for all kinds of chemical reactions which enables the reaction to happen faster and more efficiently (requiring less energy). Enzymes are responsible for anything from the transformation of milk to cheese, to the transformation of barley to beer. There are also thousands of enzymes involved in the digestive process (ones that our body produces) as there are also thousands of enzymes that facilitate the chemical processes for any living thing we eat, to have grown and been alive. In other words, all living things produce their own enzymes. When you eat food that is alive, you ingest those enzymes also, which further ease your own digestion. When you cook your food, you are ingesting food that does not bring its own digestive powers, so you're on the hook for the whole enchilada (literally or figuratively...).

Again, I'm sorry to all the hard-core raw foodies out there, but I like warm food. I can't see myself as a hard-core raw foodist. However, we can minimize the detrimental effects of heat on our food by doing so minimally, or doing so with gusto recognizing that cooked and pasteurized food is lacking, and having a healthy balance of raw produce (for both the vitamins and minerals, as well as the healthy balance of enzymes). You might also try tricks like adding slivered veggies to warm broth or sauce rather than cooking chunks of veggies to soften them.

As I have said over and over: I am all about balance. I continue to have my little daily dose of dark chocolate, my plain potato chips and my roasted brussel's sprouts a few times a week because I don't ever want to feel deprived. And I don't. Feed your body well; crunch on raw veggies and fruit as much as you can, and pepper the rest of your diet with the other things you enjoy. Oh, and if you want juice, put fruit and ice in your blender. Your body will thank you.

Part 2 of 2: Is juice healthy,even if it's 100% fruit? Answer: not by my standards