Love yo body

image from here

Spinach Smoothies

For the past year or so, I've been making a green smoothie a part of my normal morning routine. I love being able to get a serving of vegetables for breakfast! There is a surprising range of flavors you can get depending on what you pair with the spinach.

There are three parts:
- Spinach, a couple large handfuls
- Fruit, to your liking. (I do two pieces, like an orange and a pear.)
- A liquid (I use soy milk or almond milk. Juice is yummy, too, but adds a lot of sugar)

Plus any extras, to give it more flavor, texture, or make it more filling:
- Protein powder
- Oats
- Granola or cereal like Grape Nuts
- Nuts or nut butter
- Ginger root
- Cocoa powder
- Cinnamon

There's no right or wrong way to make this- just throw everything in a blender (or better yet, use an immersion blender!) and blend to your desired consistency. Too thick? Add more liquid! Not sweet enough? Add fruit or juice.

It's fun to see what different flavors go well together. I was surprised at how well cantoloupe goes with my chocolate protein powder. And grapefruit? Uh, yuck. I love grapfruit, but somehow putting it into a smoothie makes the whole thing really nasty. Bananas are one of the most versatile ingredients, but unfortunately for me, I have a banana intolerance and don't get to reap the benefits of this inexpensive and portable fruit.

To see more recipes and pretty photos, check out this blogger's master green smoothie list!

PS- Apparently, smoothies are better when they are consumed through a straw, out of a mason jar or other unique glass, and/or with a pretty cloth napkin. Food blogs just kill me.

Stuff I Dig: Immersion Blenders

For Christmas, my mom got us an immersion blender from Costco. We love it! As an avid spinach smoothie drinker, this is the perfect kitchen tool. Regular blenders are hard to use for a single serving smoothie and require more cleanup. Those little smoothie blenders just don't work very well. But this immersion blender, or hand blender, is perfect.

Cuisinart Hand Blender

 

We use this for spinach smoothies, pureeing soups (this roasted acron squash recipe is my favorite!), and the food processor attachment for quick jobs when we don't want to get the big food processor out. I hate chopping onions, so this little tool is awesome. Clean up is a cinch because the wand detaches from the base with a quick press of a button, and after a rinse in the sink it's ready to go again.

When the subject of immersion blenders first came up between Beau and I, I was describing it and he said, "Yeah, a milkshake maker." Depends on your perspective, right? Green smoothie maker... milkshake maker... whatever your heart desires.

 

Want to jump on the green smoothie bandwagon, but not sure where to start? This week I'll post on how to make a great spinach breakfast. I'll give you a hint: you need a bunch of spinach, some fruit, and it's super easy.

Fit-tastic Friday Links

1. Love this article from Runner's World about thinking while running. One of my favorite things about running is the forced alone time. What do you think about when you're running?

2. I don't even know what to say about this. In college, I focused a lot of my research papers on body image and the influence of the media. Even after pages and pages read and written on this subject, why do I still not have an answer?

3. Active.com has some really good articles, like this one titled "What Happens to Your Body During a 30 Minute Run".

4. I cannot get enough of this no sugar banana cranberry bread! I've made it 3 times in the past several weeks.... it freezes well and makes a great snack.

We're off to the hills this weekend for an overnighter on the AT. Happy Friday!

preventing running injuries

I love running. I really really do. I can't believe I can truthfully say that! For the longest time I hated it, and while I haven't been able to come up with a magical formula that will turn a hater into a believer, I did attempt to provide a few ways to make yourself like running.

So here I am, a self proclaimed lover of running, and I did a silly thing called sign up for a marathon. It wasn't until I did my 20 mile run last weekend that I felt like I was really getting prepared. One thing I have been ultra paranoid about as I ramp up the mileage is preventing injuries.

Here are some tips:

1) Streeeeeetch. Taking a few minutes before and after runs can make a huge difference. If you're pressed for time like me, at least focus on your personal problem areas. Forward seated fold for hamstrings, pigeon pose for the IT band, and calf stretches are some common runner tight spots. Bonus points for doing yoga a couple days a week and, of course, the foam roller is your friend!


pigeon pose, for the IT band: photo from here

2) Ice. Even when nothing hurts. After my long Saturday morning runs, I'm icing all weekend on various parts that are sore or stiff. Shins, ankles, feet, anything! My coworkers are getting used to seeing ice packs strapped to my legs after my mid week runs. It's amazing how well this works! When I was thru hiking the Appalachian Trail, I "iced" my feet in springs and creeks each night and had ZERO feet issues, even though I was very aggressive with my mileage- covering 120 miles per week.

3) Are you taking it too fast? Doing too much too fast is pretty much the most common way to getting an injury. Plan out your weekly mileage to make sure you're not increasing more than your body is ready for. A good rule of thumb is the 10% rule: Never increase your mileage or intensity by more than 10% per week. Maybe you've been running 10 miles per week and want to increase- the next week, just try 11. If that's fine, the next week try 12. It seems really slow, but your body will thank you for it. I'm finding with my marathon training that I'm having to actually reduce the number of days I run. Normally, I run 2-3 times during the week, and then a long Saturday run of 13-15 miles. My weekly total is between 32-38 miles. For marathon training, my long runs are much higher, between 16-20. In order to keep my legs happy, I'm running twice mid week, plus my long Saturday run, making my weekly mileage total between 36-40. My weekly mileage is just a tad higher, so increasing my fitness level, but not over training and hurting myself. If you do find that you're having some pain...

4) Take off when you need it. Nothing makes me crankier than taking unplanned days off of running. Switching up your workouts with cycling, weight training, or classes at the gym can ease up your achey runner joints.  If you're injured more than just what a few days will heal, maybe an extended break is needed.

5) Evaluate shoes or gait. If all of the above isn't working, maybe you need a different or better pair of running shoes. A good running store will have experienced employees who will put you on their in-store treadmill to evaluate your running style and match you to a good shoe. Or, maybe you have issues with your form that's causing you trouble.



Brooks PureConnect 2: image from here

Of course, any prolonged pain or discomfort should be addressed by your doctor. But hopefully, by following these steps you can avoid injury and run with happy legs and feet!

the previously undiscovered wonderful world of cabbage

So there's this awesome inexpensive grocery store near us, Aldi. It's very... minimalistic. To cut expenses, they don't have bags- you have to bring your own or use extra boxes they have. You put in a quarter to get you cart, and you get it back when you put the cart back in the corral, so they don't hire people to collect the carts or have to pay to replace as many stolen carts. They don't do fancy displays or carry most name brands. They also don't accept coupons, but their regular and sale prices are so good it's still less money for some items than couponing at other stores.

A few weeks ago I was going for my usual produce run: celery for 79 cents, carrots for 69 cents, caulifower for a dollar, avodacos for 69 cents, etc. (Did I say how much I love Aldi?)

Not sure how I mixed this up, but I accidentally grabbed a head of cauliflower and a head of green cabbage instead of two heads of cauliflower. What was I going to do with cabbage? Cole slaw? Cabbage was something I'd always passed by in the produce aisle.

image from here

So, of course, I turned to Google. Barfoot Contessa is pretty legit, so I decided I'd follow this recipe. Dice finely (like you if you were making cole slaw), throw in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Seems easy enough....

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME HOW AMAZING CABBAGE IS. Seriously guys, it's now one of the have-to-have-in-the-fridge-at-all-times veggies. Raw, sauted, whatever. Hm, I've only got carrots and broccoli for my salad... put some cabbage in it! I'm making soup and looking for stuff to throw in.... put some cabbage in it! Quinoa stir fry? Put some cabbage in it! I feel like I've been deceived, going all this time not knowing there is a staple veggie I've been missing.

This also makes me think- what other produce items am I living without? Please let me in on your secrets and give me some more that I can incorporate into my repetoire.

body image and thru hiking the Appalachian Trail

My friend Dana runs a wonderful collaborative blog discussing body image, eating disorders, personal stories, and more. A while back we were talking about my Appalachian Trail thru hike and she invited me to share on her blog.

I had a really hard time putting all my thoughts into words and really, this only covers a fraction of what I could cover about body image if I were a more prolific writer. But it will have to do for now.

Check it out: emBody: Thru Hiking the Appalachian Trail