A Climb Up Sweet Potato Mountain

Apparently my body was even more excited about Body Pump at 5:45 on Monday morning than I was… hence waking up 15 minutes before my 4:45 alarm.

Body Pump is no walk in the park.  It challenges every part of me. During the class I feel the glory of muscle burn, and the angst of muscle fatigue.  Some songs I feel strong, like when we are doing squats or biceps.  Other songs bring me face-to-face with my areas of weakness, (hello planks, lunges, and push-ups!). But, by the end of the class, I am a sweaty mess and I love that!  I know I have given my all for 60 straight minutes and I really love that!

I put on the clothes I laid out the night before and ate 1 piece of toast with a little pb and half of a banana. Out the door was I and on an elliptical by 5:17.  I spent 23 minutes warming up and then in cardio mode.

By the time I went into the group exercise room I realized how many people already had their equipment set up.  I was farther away than I wanted to be.  I like to be able to see the teacher easily.

Up arriving home, I took some tofu out to press before I went up to shower.  I had seen a few recipes for Tofu Scramble, which is really just a meatless version of scrambled eggs with vegetables.

After consulting 3 recipes, I opted for Mama Pea’s because she is a trustworthy resource of recipes for plant-based food.  I sauteed onion, frozen pepper mix, mushrooms, and some spinach before adding the tofu.

I am from Texas, so I made my tofu scramble into a Tofu Taquito by putting it on an Ezekiel tortilla and adding some salsa (check the back of your salsa jar and make sure it doesn’t have anything crazy in it like preservatives or sugar).

Breakfast complete with iced coffee con soy creamer.

This was an such an easy recipe to make.  The tofu scrambles up in no more time than it takes to cook an egg!

Yesterday morning around 10, I had the thought, “It’s already 10 and I have gotten nothing done!” Then the wonderful Holy Spirit nudged my heart with truth.

I had already exercised for 1:23.  I had cooked breakfast, which includes dirtying and cleaning the kitchen. I had posted 2 blogs. I had read and commented on blogs (which sounds like playing, but is kind of a necessary part of blogging).  I was in the midst of spending time in the Word.

That was a lie, from the devil, to discourage me and make me feel frustrated and down.  Well, it did not work this time.  I took that thought and shoved it far away and replaced it with truth.  I am so grateful for that revelation of truth!

Early to rise, means early to lunch… I put a couple sweet potatoes in the oven around 10:30, knowing that they would take around an hour.

If you normally “bake” sweet potatoes in the microwave, you are doing yourself a disservice and minimizing that little orange guy’s potential. (Wash the skin, mist with olive oil, bake in oven at 400 for approximately 45min-1 hr 15 min)

Ever since I saw Heather, over at Kiss My Broccoli, make a sweet potatoes volcano, I have been dreaming of the right time to make this.

I promise it is not unhealthy, but it sure does look like it would be. This is a small sweet potato with 1/2 banana (sliced), 1 T unsweetened shredded coconut, a couple walnuts (chopped), and about 1 T melted peanut butter.

This was a-ma-zing.  After it’s photo shoot, aka when I could wait no longer, I took a fork and mashed all that goodness together and ate it sloooowwly.  I wanted to savor each bite.  Try this. Please. For yourself. For me.

Since, I do not have a car right now, I spent some time looking online at cars.  I have no idea when I will be able to go look at cars.

Both of the resident car men in my family will be very occupied moving the Krannons this weekend. I am so excited to have Leila, the Sugar Bear, so much closer! (I can feel my productivity level lowering…)

Early to rise, early to lunch, early to snack…

Just a ramekin-ful of fruit salad composed of apple, clemen”tiny, grapes, and strawberries. It’s hard to make fruit salad for one person, so this bowl had a twin, which patiently awaited the Veggie Burger’s homecoming.

Early to rise, early to lunch, early to snack, and naturally, early to supper.

A salad of spinach, red onion, sunflower seeds, roasted edamame, tomatoes, a few chia seeds, and 3 crushed blue corn tortilla chips drizzled with white balsamic vinegar and misted with olive oil.

I follow Jason, over at Cook, Train, Eat, Race on Twitter.  Yesterday he put forth the challenge to chew each bite of food at least 25 times and then put down your fork for 30 seconds.

I have heard this many times before, but I am such a speedy eater.  Maybe it stems from my two years as an elementary school teacher.   Sometimes, I do not even enjoy what I am eating because I have eaten it so quickly.

I put thought into what I cook.  As I cook I think about combining both taste and texture, but then I speedily devour it without enjoying the experience that I just took time to create.

I’m glad Jason reminded me to take time while eating to actually enjoy the food, think about the taste and texture, put down my fork, and give my stomach a chance to register the presence of food.

This practice will cause me to avoid eating unneeded food because I will know when I am full.  It will also make me feel more satisfied with what I have eaten, because I will have consciously eaten instead of just emptying my plate.

Furthermore, (as I taught my 2nd graders) digestion begins in our mouths.  Saliva contains enzymes which begin the work of digestion before our food is swallowed.  If we are swallowing poorly chewed food, our entire digestive system is having to work harder than necessary to break down food and extract nutrients.

That is the point of eating after all… nutrients… fuel… to build, repair, replace, and energize our bodies to do what we are asking it to do.  So, if I am going to haul my body out of bed and make it work hard at 5:45 in the morning and then expect it to work efficiently and with energy for the rest of the day, then I have to feed it accordingly.

So, I want to pass that challenge along to you as well… we can do it together really.  Let’s chew our food (at least 25 times) and put our fork down in between bites. 

Your digestive tract will thank you… and maybe your waist line too.

Oh, and lest you think I eat all my food out of fancy bowls…

… an after work snack of cereal, in the measuring cup that I measured the cereal in. I’m classy earth friendly like that.