Vegan | Fit and Fortysomething

Pizza Pizza and a 5K

March 7, 2010 25 Comments

Yesterday Bill made pizza dough during the day.

The kitchen was his laboratory:

He has been experimenting with different dough recipes and I have been the lucky recipient : )

Look at that dough:We ended up making his and hers pizza slices last night while watching Dexter.

His:Hers:

And then just to make sure I was fueled properly for my 5K we had dessert pizza:

I cannot even tell you how good this was!

Bill melted vegan chocolate chips and spread them on already cooked slices of dough.

Here is my piece with almond butter for dipping:

That was a “foodgasm” as The Fitnessista would say!

I think the pizza-pizza really did fuel me properly. Because I awoke this morning ready to tackle my first race in a little less than a year.

Unfortunately my partner in crime was not quite ready. Her friends surprised her with a day of wine tasting yesterday and she was not feeling the 5K today but she did it anyway and she did great!

It was a bit chilly but perfect for running. The course was flat and was an out and back. I felt really good and even felt good at the beginning which I don’t normally do.

We have no official results but I think I came in a round 25 minutes (which is pretty fast for me!) and Khrystle came in under 24 minutes. I will post the results when I get them.

We had an awesome time!

Khrystle and I

Khrystle sporting her race number

The girls with the race director, Josh Spyker

We love our shirts!

The food was great too:

I am so glad I got up and out of bed to do this 5K.

Thank you to all of my bloggy friends and Khrystle for motivating me!

It was definitely the highlight of my weekend!

What was your “highlight?”

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Fun 25 Comments

Raw Delights

March 3, 2010 12 Comments

This week I never got around to making any homemade energy bars and knew we needed something.

A few days ago my friend Khrystle had posted a great recipe for Raw Almond Balls on her ActiveVentura Site. I knew tonight was the night to make them!

Assembled all of the ingredients:

Almond butter, Almonds, Chocolate chips, Coconut, Vanilla, Agave, and Dates

Blended 1/4 cup almonds in food processor

Added 1/2 cup dates-about 6 pitted:

Already looks good!

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp almond butter

2 tbsp agave (the recipe called for 1)

My additions were: 1/4 coconut and 1/4 vegan chocolate chips

Process all together:

Roll into balls and freeze:

Can’t wait to try these babies!

I wanted to eat every single one of them last night but I refrained. Just licked the food processor clean……HEE! HEE!

On to my other Raw Delight:

I received these products in the mail yesterday and knew I had to try them ASAP:

Apparently all of their products are:

Free of synthetic chemicals
All natural preservative system (no parabens)
Low temperature process to retain vitamins, minerals and nutrients
Raw ingredients are easily recognized, absorbed, and used by the skin.
Enriched with powerful antioxidants
Cruelty free – not tested on animals
Certified Raw

I tried all the products last night!

So far I like how the facial wash worked. Made my skin feel really clean.

I liked the lotions because they were more like creams-rich and creamy.

The scrub was pretty good too-need another test run.

They all have a weird lemony smell though-not sure how I feel about it yet.

Have you tried any new favorite lotions, cosmetics, or face products lately?

Do you prefer to use natural products?

Have a great Hump Day!

This week is flying by………

Filed Under: Food 12 Comments

The China Study

February 17, 2010 15 Comments

Last week I borrowed The China Study from my friend Sara.

I was super excited to read it since I have seen it floating around the blog world for a while.

And since I had been laying low due to my love-sickness (hee hee), I took the opportunity to read it cover to cover last Friday.

The China Study is “The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health.”

That definitely got my interest!

This is Amazon.com’s description of the book:

”Referred to as the “Grand Prix of epidemiology” by The New York Times, this study examines more than 350 variables of health and nutrition with surveys from 6,500 adults in more than 2,500 counties across China and Taiwan, and conclusively demonstrates the link between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. While revealing that proper nutrition can have a dramatic effect on reducing and reversing these ailments as well as curbing obesity, this text calls into question the practices of many of the current dietary programs, such as the Atkins diet, that are widely popular in the West. The politics of nutrition and the impact of special interest groups in the creation and dissemination of public information are also discussed.”

Basically, the author explains how important diet is in preventing and curing all forms of cancer, diabetes, clogged arteries, and autoimmune diseases.

The healthful diet he promotes is a vegan diet.

I am not surprised. Are you?

Lately it seems I have been bombarded with the idea that a diet high in vegetables, grains, legumes and fruits can prevent, treat and sometimes cure cancer as well as other diseases.

My husband and I have watched a few Netflix movies on The Gerson Therapy which emphasizes a vegan diet as well.

Have you read the book?

What do you think?

I personally do not think it is as simple as just diet. I think what we put into our bodies is a huge factor in wellness for sure but believe there is more to it. I believe genetics, environment, stress levels, and fitness play a part in our overall health and contribute to wellness over time.

Hope you are having a great day.

It is all good over here!

I am off to do a bit of yoga.

Filed Under: Food 15 Comments