Zumba Check-in

I know! It has been over a week since I introduced this months challenge.  Zumba is a ton of fun and boy does it cause the sweat to run.  The hardest part after a long day at work is waiting to eat dinner till after I press play; doing a Zumba workout on a full stomach highly NOT recommended.   The only benefit to this intense heat/sweat producing dance workout is that the weather here in the Upper Midwest has taken a turn for the cooler -a little earlier than usual but I'm not going to complain just yet.

August -Zumba Anyone?!

Zumba!  It was seen on the last season of "Biggest Loser," discussed on CNN as a way to get children motivated into being more active i.e. Exercise Can Be FUN!  So what is Zumba?  Well, it is a Latin inspired dance-fitness program.  Unlike other group fitness or group dance-fitness crazes Zumba is a different kind of Hot Colombian import that combines the cha-cha with funky Latin beats created by the celebrity fitness trainer Alberto "Beto" Perez.

So why am I talking about Zumba?  Well, I decided that this will be my August Challenge.  20-30 minutes of Zumba daily using my Wii Zumba fitness "game."  

Let the Latin Rhythms Begin!

For more information about Zumba please go to www.healthisspiritual.blogspot.com for a complete look.

My Week of Vacation

I know it has been a while since I have written; but as I warned in my last post, I was on vacation with family.  I am so glad that I made it easier on myself and allowed for slips as the very first meal I was served was penne-pasta.  I didn't take much, but I could tell almost immediately how it made me feel.  While I overloaded on the very fresh tomato sauce and the side salad that consisted mainly of iceberg (a lettuce that is considered a dirty word in my household) I just felt sluggish from the highly processes white pasta.  The rest of the week went a little better as far as meal choices.  Eating out made things really simple where I could ask for wheat and dairy to be removed and load up on the vegetables and protein.

Now that I am home again and finally made it the grocery store to restock my supply of Whole30 diet approved foods, I'm already starting to feel lighter.  I guess I never really noticed how "heavy" wheat products made me feel.  I know I promised myself and all of you that I would supplement my 1 week off with another 2 weeks on, but I have a feeling that this might become a more permanent part of my diet, with the exception that I will be adding in legumes (love me some legumes).

Polling For new ideas

For those of you who follow along I am taking a poll for my August challenge on Facebook.  Look me up and cast your vote or add your own.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-is-Spiritual/153755798060524

Missing Yogurt

The one thing that I really have truly missed on this month's challenge is yogurt.  Whole fat Greek yogurt.  There is nothing so satisfying.  To trick myself a bit I decided to make a Whole30 version. I know the diet explicitly states don't make allowable versions of off-limit foods, but I had to try.

My non-yogurt-yogurt
2 tablespoons raw walnuts
4 ounces Almond milk
1 scoop of an allowable protein drink mix
Blend together and pour over fruit.

Absolutely wonderful!  I would have taken a picture, but I ate it all before the thought even crossed my mind.

Week 2

I realized something today; where in the first week and a half eating a high protein breakfast left me feeling hungry within an hour, my body has adjusted to the change so that now that nutrient balance is actually sustainable almost to lunch time.  This week has been interesting with the bout of insomnia and it being employee appreciation week at work (I cheated -I had 1/2 a bagel -and yes it tasted good).  Now the insomnia is over -thanks in part to the demonstration guinea-pig role I played for an acupuncturist- but I am exhausted before the day is even through.  Today especially I just wanted to put my head down on the desk and snooze.  Trying to focus on the computer?  That was an almost impossible task; yet I managed to somehow make it home in once piece and write my blog for this week.  As far as any physical changes that may have or are currently occurring with this change in diet, I can't say that I've really noticed anything thus far.  Starting Saturday I will be on vacation with family -I have debated how to handle vacation, family, and the Whole30.  The only truly successful solution that I can think of is to put the diet on hold for those 8 days and tack on an extra week in August to make up for it, so in reality it will end up being more than 30 days.  I'm not saying that I'm going to go on an 8 day binge and eat all the bread and potatoes that I have not been able to eat, I will still attempt to stick closely to the guidelines, I'm just not going to make meal time difficult for myself or for my family.

Chia Seeds! Power packed into a little Package

As this image below shows, this is one of the reasons I eat Chia seeds.  They have a slight nutty flavor, but otherwise like rice or couscous they tend to take on the flavor of whatever they are mixed with.  This is the base of my Chia pudding.  To make Chia Pudding take an amount of Chia seeds and soak in double that amount of water.  Let soak for 10 minutes, stir to break up any clumps and let sit for another 10 or until all the water is gone -this is called Chia gel and can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.  All that's left is to mix in whatever you want, berries, almond milk, regular milk, some seasonings like cinnamon and or vanilla.  All that's left is to enjoy!

Reference:

YummyMummyKitchen (2012). Chia Seeds. [Image] found on 12 July 2012 @

http://www.yummymummykitchen.com/2012/06/bikini-ready-tropical-chia-smoothie.html