Campaign 4 Personal Power
Week 2 – Tricks of the Trade (Behind the Scenes Pass)
I won’t lie; the first week back to work was tough. I had forgotten how poorly accessible the city of Toronto is for those with mobility challenges or strollers. (It is a world-class nightmare if you ask me – my first meeting of the week had me carrying a stroller and the 4 bags below down two flights of stairs so that I could access the building’s elevator!?) Overall it has been a challenge to remain focused and present with such little sleep and I am haunted by an endless fear of being crushed by the hundreds of balls I have thrown in the air. All of that being said, I awoke each morning delighted to start the day, hit the ground running and engage in my life’s work. I figure if nothing else, being excited to head to work is a major achievement in my quest to design a tailored life.
Hitting my goals in week 1 felt like a MAJOR achievement and I thought I would share some of my inside scoop on the tools and tricks that kept my head above water for the past 7days.
Food
I focused on two main things this week: making breakfast a significant opportunity to gain nutrient density and to pack a healthy lunch each day.Breakfast: I would not be able to eat in the morning, or at least not as healthily, without the aid of my blender. There are many options on the market when it comes to blenders of every size and price range. For beginner blenders, I am a big fan of the Magic Bullet. It blends most things in individual serving sized portions and it is perfect for single people on the go. That being said, blenders are a little like diamonds in that once you move to a larger size, it is really difficult to go back. I discovered this recently when I was given a Vitamix (Kind of like an ND’s version of a big, gorgeous, non-conflict diamond). For those of you who have a life outside of food blogs, the Vitamix is essentially the queen bee of blenders. As per the infomercial and my personal series of Vitamix experiments, this machine can blend just about anything. From avocado pits and kale to frozen berries and nuts, this machine will liquefy anything you send its way. I have recently transitioned from juicing to blending in an attempt to capture the fiberous component of my fruits and vegetables. We blend nearly every day, combining frozen berries and green leafy vegetables into delicious smoothies and popsicles. It is a perfect way of hitting your daily requirement for greens and is an especially amazing way of getting kids to consume vegetable they would otherwise ignore (ergo kale, broccoli and cucumber).
My favourite combo: Raspberries, cucumber, coriander, hemp seeds, banana, protein powder and water. Mmmm-azing! (Play around with the ratios to find your desired flavor and texture.)
Packing my lunch: Although I tell my patients that the more variable you can be with your meals the better – I have eaten the same thing everyday this week for lunch. That being said, it was easy and healthy.
Lemon Lunch Chick Pea Salad
1 can of organic chickpeas (rinsed)
1 handful of washed, chopped coriander (cut with kitchen scissors to make this step even faster)
1 grated carrot
1 handful of kale
1 chopped red pepper
Juice of 1 Lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
Herbemare and pepper to taste
Mix the ingredient together and enjoy. It keeps in the refrigerator up to 4 days. It gets better everyday.
My Goals for the week of July 8th
Food & Nutrients
Continue to Pack my lunch, add a new salad with a focus on protein and calcium. Refine and commit to taking my new supplement regime. After sticking to a distinct plan during my pregnancy, I am looking to scale back slightly (yes, even I get sick of taking supplements). Tired of popping an abundance of pills, I designed a new line of supplements that go right into your smoothie. Curious? I’ll share more next week.
Exercise
Joga x 3
Play x 2 – this can be Frisbee, running around at the park with my kids, swimming at the cottage, it really doesn’t matter. The goal is to increase my heart rate for at least 20 minutes while having fun.
Body Composition & Strength Goals
I am happy to report that I am down 3lbs since last week! Keeping busy has kept me from snacking. I suspect that this trend will slow down as I get into a new routine. That being said, it was a nice surprise.
Current weight: 159lbs (Whoa, still scary to share)
Motivation
Last week I introduced you to Ms. Danielle Laporte. Rather than posing a question on week 2, I thought I would show you one of her reels… this one gets me super pumped every time. A Credo for Making it Happen.
Follow along for recipes, photos, the good and the bad through Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to share your goals and recipes using the hashtag #c4pp
Best of luck this week and I look forward to seeing you online.
