Get in a Healthy Halloween Spirit!

Is it me, or is October flying by?! Just 9 days until Halloween. Are you dressing up? I will be masquerading as Elastigirl, so eating clean will be key to looking my best in spandex!

Before I share some spooky recipe ideas, I wanted to remind you that Tony Horton's latest program, P90 is now available with discounted pricing through the end of October. Beachbody is also donating $5 from every P90 Challenge Pack sold in October to Wounded Warrior. For more info on P90 click here: P90 Info

Feel free to email me with any questions about the program before ordering. I want you to have the program that fits YOU.

Please check out my Facebook page for recipes, nutrition & health tips every day, too!  www.facebook.com/FitFanGurl

Now, how are you going to get into the "spirit" of Halloween without blowing your nutrition? Here are some fun ideas.

Banana ghosts with mini chocolate chip eyes and chocolate chip mouths (or carob) and peeled mandarins as pumpkins with celery stems. This is a bootiful idea for a snack or potluck tray.

Here's a yummy lentil Shepherds Pie recipe. Mound your mash into ghost shapes and use peas for eyes, and voila! Your baking dish is transformed into a graveyard. http://www.forksoverknives.com/lentil-shepherds-pie-with-rustic-parsnip-crust/












And how about some Cheesy Witch Fingers from One Green Planet? Now these are creepy! Here is the spell...Umm, I mean recipe:

These cheesy fingers may look really scary, but don’t worry, they are also really yummy. They are just cheese crackers with a chilling “handmade” touch. Combine 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. paprika, ½ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. cayenne pepper in a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix everything together. Add 1 cup room-temperature vegan butter and 1 cup vegan cheddar cheese shreds and process until everything is well-combined. Sprinkle some flour on a work surface. Remove the mixture from the food processor and shape into a tube. Divide the tube into 2-inch pieces. If you want to make witch toes, make 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece into a thin tube, pinching the tube slightly in the middle to make it look like a finger. Look at your own fingers for a guide but pretend you are a hundred years old – no smooth skin here. Using a toothpick or a fork tine, draw on knuckle lines. On the end of each tube, add a raw, skinless almond slice, pointy side up so that it looks like a fingernail. Arrange the fingers on a baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Be careful when you’re eating these – keep track of whose fingers you’re chewing on.

Whatever you have planned for All Hallows' Eve, make sure you give that trick or treat candy to the Great Pumpkin and stay on track. Holiday parties are just around the corner, and you'll want to look and feel your best in your fancy party clothes! Have a howlin' good time!

Have you missed me?!!

I've been crazy busy, and spread thin online, too. My Instagram (@fitfangurl) and Facebook (Facebook) have been busy, I've been making a few videos for the You Toobs (YouTube),  but I've not been too active on Twitter (@FitFanGurl) and this blog has been neglected!
I aim to remedy that! I hope to be able to post at least weekly now.

So, to catch you up on the last six weeks:

     I'm in Physical Therapy for my knee. I had a Synvisc-1 injection, which was a waste of money, because my problem is really not in the joint space. It's a functional issue.  Evidently, my Vastus lateralis,  (the big outer quad muscle) is quite tight and my Vastus medialis (the small quad muscle toward the inside of the thigh) is quite atrophied. This causes my knee cap to be pulled toward the outside and because that tracking is off, I have pain in the kneecap and the tendon in which it is situated.
     The VMO muscle is hard to isolate. I've been put on restriction--no riding my bikes (wah!!) and no regular workouts. I can do upper body and core, but no squats, lunges, cardio, etc. It sucks. I have certain rehab exercises to do 2-3 times a day and I am supposed to ice 5 times a day, in addition to my twice weekly appointments with the therapist. Can you say TIME SUCK?

     The bad news, is that it's not working! My V. lateralis is tightening up worse and giving me pain, and my VMO is not growing, and my knee pain is not improving. Even the therapist is getting disappointed. I have a couple more visits before I see my Orthopedic doc again, and then I suppose we'll have to make a new plan.
     In the meantime, I'm feeling the effects of not getting my cardio fix. It's odd, but when I work out more, I actually eat less. I have been eating clean, but eating more, and I have been struggling with too many grains. This is ending TODAY. I am spanking myself and getting back on track.
   
     Besides the knee issues, other things going on that have been keeping me super busy are mostly kid-related.  My daughter is now in Middle School and she landed a big role in the upcoming musical production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She is a Narrator with lots of stage time and solos! I'm very proud of her, but between rehearsals, taekwando, ASB, and her regular workload (she homeschools 2 days a week but 1 of those days she has a 5 hour rehearsal!), her schedule is HECTIC.

   





We went to Long Beach Comic Con this past Saturday and cosplayed together as Elastigirl and Violet from the Incredibles. It was a long day and a long drive, but fun!










     My best friend, Melissa, and I started a local social group for Star Trek fans.  We've had a few Away Missions, and hope to increase attendance at these. We went to the local Renaissance Faire last week in uniform, and to a Sky Show with telescope viewing at the Science Center last night. If you are in the greater San Diego area, check out our group page on Facebook! San Diego Away Team


     There is also a lot going on in my business. I'm blessed to have an amazing team of business partners and coaches to work with. The are positive, supportive and smart! We've also got some of the best world-class training and great programs to offer our clients. Even though I'm benched right now, I am still helping others change their lives, and that is a great feeling.

Where do you get your protein?

Many of you may know that I am a mostly-vegan. I occasionally have dairy, but only when I'm not home and the “vegetarian” choices are limiting.

The most common question asked of us vegans is, “Where do you get your protein?”

Protein is easy! You don't have to eat flesh or eggs to get enough a protein, as many vegan athletes can attest! As a matter of fact, the developers of Shakeology, Isabel Daikeler and Darin Olien, are vegans!

But before I go on, let's decide how much protein we need. In essence, the more you exercise, the greater your protein needs will be.

How to Calculate Your Protein Needs:

1. Weight in pounds divided by 2.2 = weight in kg
2. Weight in kg x 0.8-1.8 gm/kg = protein gm.

Use a lower number if you are in good health and are sedentary (i.e., 0.8). Use a higher number (between 1 and 1.8) if you are under stress, are pregnant, are recovering from an illness, or if you are involved in consistent and intense weight or endurance training.

Example:

154 lb male who is a regular exerciser and lifts weights
154 lbs/2.2 = 70kg
70kg x 1.5 = 105 gm protein/day

Another (easier) way to calculate how much protein you need is by using daily calorie intake and the percentage of calories that will come from protein. The percentage you choose will be based on your goals, fitness level, age, body type and metabolic rate. Most experts recommend that your protein intake be somewhere between 15 and 30%.

Example:
For a 140lb female, calorie intake=1800 calories, protein=20%:
1800 x .20 = 360 calories from protein. Since 1 gram of protein = 4 calories, divide protein calories by four:
360/4 = 90 grams of protein per day.

My foremost source of protein is my daily Vegan Shakeology. It provides me with 16 grams of plant-based protein. Sometimes I add some PB2, which boosts the protein count by 5 grams.

The highest sources of vegan protein are tempeh and seitan. Tempeh has 31 grams per cup, and seitan has 21 grams per 3 ounces—almost double the amount in beef!

Us vegans eat a lot of beans and lentils. Yes, they contain carbohydrates along with their proteins, but they also provide fiber and are so versatile! Lentils provide 18 grams per cup, and depending on the type of beans, 12-15 grams per cup. I use lentils to make tacos, and shepherd's pie, and lentil bread, among other things. Beans can be found in my homemade veggie burgers, hummus, soups, salads, and more!

Quinoa (9 grams/cup of COMPLETE protein), oats, nut butters, leafy greens (especially kale!) and broccoli all are great sources of protein.

Just look at how the protein stacks up in this sample vegan day:

Meal           Food                Protein     Calories

Breakfast: 1 cup oatmeal        6g          158

              1 T almond butter     3.5g       100

             1 sliced peach            1.5g         59

             ½ C almond milk        .5 g        15

Snack: Vegan Shakeology      16g         170

Lunch:

         3 cups mixed greens        3g           25

         1 oz pepitas                     5g           126

        1 cup sweet potato cubes 2 g           114

        ½ cup chickpeas               8g           134

        2 T tahini dressing            6g           178

Snack: 

             Apple                            .5g          90

            1 T peanut butter            4g          94

Dinner:

            ½ C tempeh                 15.5g        160

           1 C broccoli                   2.5g           31

             ½ C quinoa                   4.5g         111

Oh my gosh, that's 1565 calories and 78.5 grams of protein about 20%)! Without any animal products.

I won $1000 just for getting healthy!

After I completed my first Beachbody program, Focus T25, I was down about 13 pounds, but 19 inches overall. My coach encouraged me to enter the Beachbody Challenge, but I never got around to it. 
Fast forward 7 months. I am now a Beachbody coach, myself, and I went to the Coach Summit in June. It is the annual convention where we go for training workshops, recognition, and corporate launch news. 

The official opening of Summit was on a Thursday afternoon, but our large team had a Summit of it's own during the day. I was asked to be the opening speaker and spend 5 minutes talking about my fitness journey. You can view that talk here: My Story

At Summit, the Beachbody Challenge Contest finalists were on stage. There was a male and female from each of the age categories. A snazzy video presentation for each of them was played for the 9000 coaches in attendance. The videos were emotional! Each person's story was compelling and special. Their lives were transformed on many levels. This isn't just about losing weight, it's about changing lives.  There were "before" photos of the contestants and they each spoke about how they felt and what struggles they had before the challenge. They discussed what programs they did and how their lives had changed. Each one of them brought tears to my eyes. They were all amazing and dramatic transformations: one woman's husband didn't recognize her when he returned from deployment!

The winner of the Challenge lost 203 pounds in 9 months! WUT!! You can read his story Bradley J
Bradley won $100,000 in addition to his monthly and quarterly prizes! WOW! The "runners up" had to settle for only $25,000 each. However, even if they never got a penny, they were all winners, because they got their health back. They got their lives back!

My teammates, after seeing the inspirational stories, and hearing mine, encouraged me to submit my photos and story, so when I did I got online and finally did it. Then I promptly forgot about it.

Three weeks later I opened up my email and saw this: 

      Congratulations! You've won $1,000 in The Beachbody Challenge!

Thank you so much for sharing your incredible, life-changing transformation story with us. Helping people achieve their goals to lead healthy, fulfilling lives is our mission in life, and YOUR story is a shining example of the success that real, honest people can achieve with Beachbody® programs. Thousands of Beachbody customers submitted their results to The Beachbody Challenge last month, and YOUR story scored the highest from your respective age and gender group. As one of our monthly winners, it's an honor to offer you a prize of $1,000. You've EARNED IT!

Wow! What a nice surprise that was! So, I submitted my paperwork and spoke to a nice man named Arte on the phone on Monday. He told me that my story is very unusual for someone "in my age group" and that results were great. He said I am automatically entered in the Quarterly Contest at the end of July and it would be up to the Internet to vote for me, but if I win that I'll get $5000 more! Wheee!  He also told me that no matter what happens then, I am eligible to compete for the Grand Prize next June. They will send me a reminder, ask for fresh pictures with a dated newspaper, and I could very well be one of those people on stage at Summit next summer! 

So, here is my story, on the Beachbody Challenge website: BB Challenge Monthly Winner Christine R

Do you know what I am most excited about? My mission as a Team Beachbody Coach is to Inspire and help others to get healthier. By winning this contest, and moving ahead to the next stage, my story is getting seen by thousands of people that would not otherwise have seen it. I hope that it will be inspiring and motivating to some of them!

Our Veggies Aren't Vegan!

I am a subscriber of J.R. Organics CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Being a subscriber means that I pick up a box of fresh, organic produce at my local Farmers Market biweekly. 

I look forward to my box, and feel great knowing we are eating clean, chemical-free food and supporting a local family business. 

Today we took part in a farm tour.  The Rodriguez family has been farming in Southern California for 6 decades. Three generations work the business and live on the property. The proprietor, Joe gave us a a little history, and walked us through some of the property. He told us that they used to do conventional farming, but years ago he got sick from the chemical pesticides on the farm and learned organic practices and got certified organic as a result of that. 

We saw the greenhouses where tender seedlings are started in cooler months, shaded germinated areas, fields of squash, beans, tomatoes, kale, cauliflower, and more. We learned about crop rotation and pest control. We saw the washing and packing area where the various farmers' market orders are prepared

. Then we had a long walk to the strawberry field where we each got to pick a basketful to take home. 

A huge buffet awaited us after our time in the fields. There was strawberry lemonade and cucumber lemonade (so yum!), fresh guacamole & chips, rice, beans, turkey meatloaf (us vegetarians skipped that) squash soup, mixed steamed veggies, sautéed chard and at least 7 kinds of salads. I loved the spinach and strawberry salad and the kale salad. My overflowing plate of greenery was more than enough to satisfy. I skipped the strawberries and cream for dessert. 

It was a lovely outing, however there was a huge snag!

My eleven year old daughter is a 90% vegan/10% vegetarian, mostly for reasons of animal rights and not wanting to kill or abuse animals for food. While I support those reasons, I also value the health and environmental benefits of a plant-based diet just as much. 

At one point Joe spoke about fertilizer for his farm. He said that they use, among other things, chicken manure, bone meal, blood meal, and fish emulsion. (He also mentioned trapping and drowning squirrels). Well none of that sat very well with the kid.  She is very bothered that dead animals' parts are used to grow her food. She sent me these two texts from across the table: 

        Mom -.- this isn't even VEGETARIAN

        BONES? LIKE NO THANKS BRO✋

So what now? My kid can't eat anything? She'll starve herself? One could drive oneself mad over this stuff. Even the certified organic chicken manure could come from chickens being kept in crowded poultry buildings on factory-chicken ranches. Ugh. 

I spoke with Joe and he basically told me that these fertilizers are standard organic farming practice. Yikes. Even my veggies aren't vegan!

I seem to have convinced my daughter that we could go to grocer & buy organic veggies and fruits and they would all have similar fertilizers. She's a bit resigned to this, but I've promised to research organic VEGAN fertilizers, at least to use in my own home garden. At least that is some mitigation of her concerns. 

I love her heart and passion. I've learned a lot because of it. But man, ignorance is bliss!

My Reset Bloodwork Results are AMAZING

I'm so excited to report the results of my lipid panel after doing the Ultimate Reset!

I've struggled with high blood lipids my entire life. At one point my triglycerides were as high as 575! (normal is <150)
I can't remember ever having a normal cholesterol profile. Well I'm here to tell you that I've now got the best numbers of my entire 53 years!

Here are my before and after the Ultimate Reset numbers:

Total Cholesterol      218      185        Normal <200
HDL                         40          40        Normal >39
LDL                         151      123         Normal <99
Triglycerides            137      111         Normal <150

Let me do the math for you: my total cholesterol dropped 33 points, LDL (the BAD cholesterol) is down 28 points, and triglycerides are down 26 points. My HDL (good cholesterol) held steady.
I'd still love to see my HDL creep up a bit and my LDL go down, but my doctor no longer threatens me with statin drugs (I will NEVER take them), and my heart disease and diabetes risk are low.

My commitment to regular exercise and a clean eating program has lowered my lipid profile significantly over the last two years. In March of 2013 my total cholesterol was 278 and in March of 2012 my triglycerides were at 316! My HDL was only 30 and my LDL was at 194. Not a healthy lipid profile, at all.

When did you last have your labs done? It's great to assess your complete health profile, including fitness tests, cancer screenings and bloodwork, on at least an annual basis. Go call your doctor for an appointment now!

Need help getting started on a good fitness and meal plan? Message me at crideoutfit@gmail.com and I'll share some program options with you. My coaching group has a new 21 day challenge starting June 2nd!

My Ultimate Reset Part 3--I'm Smaller and My Head Is Clearer

Yay! I'm on the last day of the Ultimate Reset. I did it! 21 Days of structured eating and supplements...and NO exercise! Here's how my week went down:

So week three is the "Reclaim" phase, where the Detox supplement is replaced by the Restore supplement, which is probiotics. The Alkalinize, Optimize and Soothe supplements are continued.

The major change this week is dietary. Veggies and fruits and a bit of oil, and THAT'S IT. No grains, no nuts, no beans, no legumes. The portions are huge, though, and the only time I felt hungry was at about 10 a.m. every morning, which is normal for me. My body still wants a midmorning snack, but I just drank 2 big glasses of water with my supplements and held out until lunch.

Each morning's breakfast consisted of about 4 cups of fresh fruit. Thankfully there are some amazing fruits in season now at Farmer's Market. I enjoyed white peaches, apricots, blueberries, blackberries, mulberries, raspberries, strawberries, mango, papaya, tangelo, and grapefruit--all organic and fresh! It was delicious, but I am looking forward to some oatmeal tomorrow.

Lunches were always a ginormous salad, sometimes with something on the side, like a sweet potato or some avocado. Some days I got roasted pumpkin seeds. I joked that I've eaten more pumpkin seeds in the last three weeks than in my entire life, but guess what I made more of last night for the coming week? Yup, roasted pumpkin seeds for my salads! I love them, and they are so full of protein, good fats, and minerals.

Dinners were always too much. For example, one night it was whole head of broccoli with 15 asparagus spears and a roasted fennel bulb. All of the dinners were delicious, and consisted of nothing but veggies, and a little coconut or olive oil.

Snacks were either a half a scoop of Shakeology with fruit and coconut water or some raw veggies or and apple and some blueberries.

The first half of the week I was moody and my energy level was much lower than last week. I perked up midweek and felt pretty normal. My "regularity" suffered a bit in the beginning of the week, but this was a big dietary shift.

All in all, I made the program work, even on days I couldn't be home much, by planning ahead. I packed salads for lunches and took extra mineralized water and my supplements with me in a small cooler. At the movies I took raw veggie sticks to munch on instead of chemical-laden, greasy and oversalted popcorn. It didn't even smell good to me! I swapped dinner meals one night for one that had less cook time and prep when I knew I'd be home late.

I feel great, and I'm definitely smaller! Are you ready for my stats? Here goes:
Day 21:
Down 10 pounds
Body fat down 2 percent
BMI down 2 points
7 total inches lost
 I am having a lipid panel drawn tomorrow. I'm excited to get the results of my triglycerides and cholesterol and I'll post them when I get them.

For more info on the Ultimate Reset click here

And now, for my before and after pics. I had a very hard time posting this because I'm still not where I want to be and I don't like the pics. I'm looking forward to working out again and getting rid of the last of that belly fat! ::deep breath:: Here goes!