Sprouted and Spelted

The sprout growing project is coming along well. My alfala sprouts are growing out of the jar (day #4! those things don't mess around!) and look ready to eat. Yummy! Now that I know how to do it, I'll foray into broccoli sprouts which I've already purchased and, after that, watch out seeds -- I'm a sprouting fool! A little FYI: Plants in the sprout stage have 300 (!) times more nutritional value than at any other time in their life cycle. Talk about a powerhouse food. I like to eat my sprouts "straight up" or in salads. I remember begging my mom to buy me alfalfa sprouts in the grocery store when I was a kid. A weird kid, obviously.

In spelt bread news... I finally made a loaf today with a bread machine recipe I found. The bread machine actually just went off, so the spelt bread verdict is TBA. I can tell you it smells darn good, but I think it got a little overbaked... totally my fault since I halved the recipe because I didn't have enough spelt flour to make the bigger loaf. We'll see. Maybe I could have a tomato, sprout, spelt bread sandwich. Mmmm -- sounds like a plan to me!

I took a little trip to Raisin Rack this morning. Raisin Rack is an amazing health food store that I have about a mile from my house. I was on a mission for brown rice protein powder, but - of course - came out with much more than that.

In other news, a core class on Saturday pretty much whipped me. I was begging for mercy by the end of that session and I am still mega sore today! Love it!

Let's Start At The Very Beginning...

I became particularly interested in fitness and nutrition after having my first son in 2004. I was quickly wooed by the "when you're pregnant, you eat what you want" philosophy and didn't really think past the pregnancy part. I ate enough food for two or three hungry, grown men and really enjoyed it. Ha. Fast forward to February. I delivered a 6 pound, 11 ounce baby and came home weighing about five pounds less than when I went in. Really? How does that even compute? At any rate, I had about 50 pounds to lose. People told me that it would melt off because I was breastfeeding. Um... yeah. Not so much. When baby turned one and I started nursing him less, I knew the time had come to get serious about my body. I refused to be a woman who became a mom and let myself go. I started controlling my portions, making healthier food choices, and exercising at Curves for Women three times a week. In turn, I began to see how the body responds when you give it what it needs. I steadily lost about 10 pounds per month and, by June 2005, was back to my pre-pregnancy weight and size, but with more muscle tone than I started with.

Since then, my journey has just evolved. At first my objective was just to lose weight and look good in my clothes. Now my goal is health. I have learned that when you nourish and respect your body the way it was intended to be, not only will you settle in at the weight you are intended to be, but you feel awesome!

In other news, on this week's agenda:

- Try out a bread machine recipe for spelt bread

- Figure out something I can do with the almond pulp I saved after making almond milk (it just seemed wrong to throw all that protein-y goodness down the drain, so it's sitting in refrigerator limbo at the moment)

- Start growing sprouts - I have broccoli and alfalfa seeds just waiting for me to get my hands on them... I don't know why I haven't forayed into this before!

- Hit up Whole Foods for some brown rice protein powder... I'm trying to gravitate away from so much soy and I've been mainly dairy-free for several weeks now, so whey protein is out too

- Get back on my regular gym schedule - I have a kid who just started first grade and I've been feeling under the weather, so things are all kinds of screwed up in that department

Peace out for now!

Hi, My Name Is...

I've been tossing around the idea for awhile now of starting a blog about fitness and nutrition. This is something that's become a big passion of mine in the last several years. I've experienced firsthand the effects of treating my body like I should. I love the ongoing effects of what is, essentially, a journey. I never have to reach a point in my fitness regimen or wellness plan where I say, "Okay, that's good enough." I love pushing my limits, meeting my goals and then setting even higher ones. In general, I'm not a picture of health. I have many medical issues that just seem to be a part of my genetics. However, staying active and eating well is doing my part to control what I can and give my body the biggest advantage possible.

I like to think of myself as a down-to-earth person with a realistic approach to leading a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise. Do I work out every single day? Nope. Do I live on celery and salads and always shun dessert? Heck no. Do I have a perfect body? *snort* I'm all about balance (and Reese's peanut butter cups, but that's a topic for another day) and finding a happy medium between perfection and neglect. I've come to love exercise and clean eating because it's what the body responds to positively. When I treat it right, I see results and feel great. While I love the science behind fitness and nutrition, I love feeling fantastic even more. I love seeing what the human body is capable of when trained and nourished the way it was intended to be.

So... wherever you are on your own wellness journey, feel free to jump in and join me on mine. I hope that you'll find lots of motivation, encouragement, and humor (!) from my own experiences. I'm building a body to last a lifetime and I hope you'll join me.