Hotel Breakfast

I recently met up with some aunts and a cousin to do the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. While we had a phenomenal time, it meant overcoming some challenges that come with being out of town and away from your own kitchen. Luckily, our hotel was just down the street from a very well stocked grocery store. This was a lifesaver! I immediately bought a small jar of plain almond butter, some rice cakes, fruit, sunflower seeds, and some carrots. This would become my little hotel food supply to help prevent snacking on things I shouldn't while out touring the city.

My favorite breakfast...almond buttered rice cakes with dragon fruit. Mmmmmm!!!!

The day after the running event, one of my aunts and I decided to do some travel WODs in our hotel's gym. I had picked up a deck of cards that morning, so we did "Deck of Death", followed by 10 rounds of: 10 jump and touches, while the other partner does 4 (alternate each arm) 35lb dumbbell snatches. As soon as we finished, a really fit looking lady in her 40's came into the gym and must have seen how pooped we looked. She asked us what we had done, and after explaining it to her, she had this very interested look on her face. I told her that we would do it again with her, and she was totally game! So in the end, we did 2 Deck of Deaths, and 2 of the other WOD. It was so much fun and I loved how into it this total stranger was. She was asking lots of questions about CrossFit, which was great for me, because I love talking about it :) I'm quite confident that she'll be looking up a box to join when she gets home!

Spring Challenge

Yesterday marked the last day of our Spring Challenge. Every Fall and Spring, our box holds a 3 month-long competition to see which member has had the most overall improvement. Everyone who wants to be a part of the Challenge puts 10 bucks into the pot, and we start the Challenge by completing a series of WODs that we'll each do again after 3 months. Along with our WOD improvement, the coaches look at things like body fat percentage, weight gain/loss, PRs, and attendance. It was my first time being able to participate since joining CF, and I quite enjoyed it! We have a lot of very dedicated and competitive members, which made it that much more motivating to try and do our best.

Coincidentally, I decided to cut gluten from my diet the day before the Challenge started. This couldn't have been better timing, as I immediately noticed huge improvements in my overall health and athletic performance. Within a week, my long run performance improved by 25 seconds/mile, and I never got that feeling of fatigue and nutrient depletion that I would normally get. I have low blood pressure, and would often get light headed when getting up quickly from a seated/lying position, or if I was doing lots of things like burpees or GHD extensions. I actually had to stop mid-WOD during the CrossFit Open competition at our box, because I felt like I was going to faint during the 7 minute burpees. This was not something I wanted to happen again, but I just attributed it to my low blood pressure and lack of proper hydration. Ever since cutting out gluten, I have had no problems with orthostatic blood pressure, and feel like I have significantly improved my digestion and absorption of nutrients. I had myself tested for Celiac (even though I was quite sure I didn't have it), and it turns out I just have a gluten sensitivity (which is extremely common, but a lot of people never figure it out!).

On that note, I knew that my shopping habits would really need to change if I was going to keep up this new gluten-free lifestyle. I mentioned in an earlier post that I discovered "Whenever Bars". The Copycat Whenever Bars turned out amazing, but I wanted to try and make a paleo-friendly version so that I could share it with my fellow CrossFitters. I made some last night, and I think they turned out fairly well. I definitely need to play around a bit with the ingredients, but I'll share my first draft for now :)

Paleo Whenever Bars

Ingredients:

- 3 cups almond meal
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp Chia seeds
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (more or less, depending on your sweetness preferences!)
- 1 tbsp gluten-free vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put coconut oil in a heat safe bowl and place on middle of stove to melt while walnuts and coconut flakes are toasting.
3. Place walnuts and coconut flakes on a cookie sheet and toast for 3 minutes until starting to brown. Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the coconut oil and maple sugar until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla.
6. Add the egg mixture to the maple/coconut oil mixture, and beat to thoroughly combine.
7. In another separate bowl (I know, so many bowls to clean, but it’s worth it!), combine the almond meal, coconut & tapioca flour, Chia seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda, and salt.
8. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and mix until well combined.
9. Add the blueberries, walnut, and coconut flakes and fold in until well combined.
10. On a greased cookie sheet (or parchment paper lined), form batter into small rectangles (about 2" by 3-4").
11. Place 2″ apart.
12. Bake about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned (see photo below).

You know you're addicted when...

...you're excited for the next day's WOD to be posted, even though you can't do it because you'll be working. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that counts as addiction. Back when I went to an unnamed Globo gym, I NEVER got excited about going. It was always this feeling of dread; a chore I was procrastinating to complete. To be honest, I don't even consider CF a gym; it's a lifestyle for me, and something I am completely hooked on. Even on a (usually forced) rest day, I have these feelings of withdrawal and emptiness. I get a bit envious seeing everyone else's posts in our facebook group talking about how much fun they had during the WOD, or even if they hated it and talked about how much it killed them. Gahhhhhhh! I want to go!! Once you take your first drink of the CF Kool-Aid, you're hooked!  The only thing that saved me today was running into a fellow CF'er while grocery shopping after work. She admitted to me that she was checking out our cart to inspect what goods we were going to consume. Was it paleo?! Luckily we had a cart full of (mostly) healthy options. Phewf! We then later ran into each other in the carb aisle, which only brought on carb jokes and how we were there because of some other healthy reasons: her daughter, and our....dogs! Yeah. The dogs wanted it.

Tonight I'm making one of my favorite dishes. It's quick, requires very little cooking (only the quinoa), and makes for great leftovers for many days to come. The other good thing is that you eat it cold, so no re-heating is required in the nutrient-killing microwave! This is also a great dish to keep in a cooler on long car rides, so you don't feel tempted to stop at a restaurant you will regret afterward!

I call this...

Qurazy Quinoa Salad

Ingredients: 

- 2 cups quinoa

- 4 cups water

- 1 red bell pepper (diced)

- 3 green onions (bottom portion) or 1/4 white onion (chopped)

- 1 mango (shredded or diced)

- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (shredded)

- 1/2 of a chopped avocado (optional - we are experimenting with this for the first time tonight)

- 1/4 cup sliced almonds or walnut pieces (I prefer walnuts in this recipe)

- juice from 1 lime (or lemon)

 - 1 pinch salt (optional)

- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

- 3-5 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I use closer to 5)

- pinch of black pepper to taste

-1/2 cup shelled edamame (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cook quinoa how you normally would and then cool in the fridge for 30 minutes (or until cool)
2. Stir in the ingredients and let cool again for a bit
3. Serve cold and enjoy!!

Paleo dessert attempt #1

After such a success with the Copycat Whenever Bars, I felt inspired to try and make my next recipe a bit more Paleo friendly. I don't own any Paleo books, so I had to look up a few questionable ingredients. It felt weird to type that having just been at the box; that's like a church-goer saying they don't own a bible! OK, so I'm exaggerating. Our box is extremely non-judgmental about non-paleolithics out there. One of the many reasons I love everyone there so much!

I found mixed responses when searching if tapioca flour and pure maple syrup are Paleo. It sounds to me like it all depends on how strict you are (correct me if I'm wrong!).

I'm going to call these...

Maple Walnut Balls!

Ingredients:

- 3 C almond meal/flour (I prefer meal)
- 1/2 C tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I use a bit more cinnamon and nutmeg)
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 C Coconut oil (or a bit more)
- 2-3 tbsp agave nectar or honey
- A hint of pure maple syrup (I probably added a wee bit more than a cave woman would have...but I also would have had more cave woman friends because of it!)
- 1 Tbsp. gluten free vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup raw organic walnut pieces
- 1/2 cup raw unsweetened organic coconut flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place walnuts and coconut flakes on a cookie sheet and toast for 3 minutes. Set aside.
3. Put coconut oil in a heat safe bowl and place on stove to melt while nuts and coconut are toasting.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the coconut oil and maple sugar until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, agave, and vanilla.
6. Add the egg mixture to the maple/coconut oil mixture, and beat to thoroughly combine.
7. In another separate bowl, combine the almond meal, tapioca flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda, and salt.
8. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and mix until well combined.
9. Add the walnut and coconut flakes and fold in until well combined.
10. On a greased cookie sheet (or parchment paper lined), form batter into balls about 2" wide (smaller or bigger, depending on your self-control on what a real 'serving size' should be!)
11. Place about 2" apart.
12. Bake about 9 minutes, or until lightly browned (see photo below).
13. Find a nice spot on the couch, cuddle up with your puppies, and enjoy!

*I found these to be a bit dry, so I am going to continue experimenting and will keep you posted. Feel free to send suggestions!

"Copycat Whenever Bars"

Ever since going gluten-free a few months ago, I have begun a new obsession with two things: almond butter on rice cakes and "Pamela's Whenever Bars". Both are extremely awesome, but one is significantly tougher on the wallet than the other. I have yet to find the bars for less than 5$ a box, with each box only containing 6 very small (what I would call senior citizen-sized!) bars. But OHHH are they ever good! I'm especially fond of the Oatmeal Raisin Walnut flavor. Last week (and 4 years later than when we should have first realized this), my partner and I decided that we have been spending way too much on groceries. Aside from our CSA, we buy almost everything from Trader Joe's or Market of Choice. It is crazy to think of how much we spend. Anyway, long story short, we have decided to make a much more conscious effort to be smarter shoppers. Right away I knew this would mean no more Whenever Bars. This made me sad. Thankfully, I found an AMAZING recipe after doing a quick google search, and will forever be thankful to the author of this blog.

I made a few changes to the recipe (as this was the lemon blueberry version), and instead used:
- almond meal instead of almond flour (this was purely based on what I had available)
- a bit more cinnamon and nutmeg
- no lemon juice
- Earth Balance 'butter' (and yes, it does work!)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (they tasted sweet enough to me)
- walnut pieces instead of almonds (figured there were enough almonds in the almond meal)
- I did not add raisins to try and make it like the type I buy, because I am trying to limit my sugar intake. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that adding raisins to this recipe would dramatically add to the already present awesomeness.

I made these last night for the first time. Dave (my partner) and I were very excited to find out how they would turn out. I think we both checked in on them a couple times each (during the short 12-15 mins baking time). When I first put the globs of goo onto the cookie sheet, I was a bit worried at how they appeared. It was a bit hard to keep them in any specific shape, and I definitely made them bigger than I should have. There were certainly no senior citizen portion sizes going on in our kitchen!

The recipe says 9-12 minutes, but after 12 minutes, they looked like they needed a bit longer. In total I'm guessing I had them in for about 15-16 minutes. They were getting a nice brown color, but were still pseudo-mushy when I took them out. As soon as they cooled (and by cooled, I mean a safe enough temperature that we could each inhale our first bite without getting severely burned), we both entered food heaven. They turned out much better than I expected them to.

Today I am going to try making them with coconut flakes, vegan chocolate chips, and walnuts. I'll keep you guys posted on how they turn out :)

What DO you eat?

This is usually one of the first questions I get when people learn about my dietary lifestyle. I work with a lot of people who grew up on meat and potatoes, have little experience with ethnic foods, and are often sitting around our lunch room table with processed foods from the cafeteria. I find it ironic that they think I'm the weird one for eating the foods that I do, when they're the ones putting harmful chemicals and low-nutrient foods into their bodies on a very regular basis. My coworkers and CrossFit family are two very different groups of people. While my coworkers' food often makes me cringe when I see them shoveling it into their mouths, I have much more respect for my paleo pals. We actually eat a lot more similarly than they might think. We both avoid processed foods, dairy, and gluten. We both think of food as fuel for our body, and therefore choose nutritionally dense foods whenever possible. Now to be clear, my diet is far from perfect. I have cheat meals. I bring microwavable meals to work on occasion. That being said, I try to eat clean at least 85% of the time. Could I improve? Most definitely. But I feel healthy, I'm performing and recovering well as a CrossFitter, and my blood work and yearly physicals are in excellent condition.

A typical food day for me: (not including my Vega protein shakes after a WOD)

0730: Breakfast #1 (yes, I eat more than one!):
- Black coffee on days off work, loose-leaf Yerba Mate tea on work days
- 2 rice cakes with a very thin layer of raw and unsalted almond butter (this stuff is addicting...I think I need some right now!)

0930: Breakfast #2
- organic carrot with the peel on (1 large or 2 smaller)
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- coconut milk yogurt or homemade gluten/dairy-free breakfast bars (I'll include a recipe later).

1130: Lunch
- leftovers from the night before (we often make lots for dinner so we have enough for both of our lunches)
- piece of fruit (usually a banana)
- more Yerba Mate tea    

1500: Afternoon break
- usually a pear or small mixed greens salad

1730: Dinner
- Usually quinoa or rice/rice noodle-based
- Large serving of green vegetables
- tofu
- Most of our entrees start with a stiryfry-type sauteing of onions, garlic, red peppers

1900: Snack time!
*Note: I do not think late night snacking is smart/beneficial to your health. BUT, I find that if I don't eat again after dinner, that I wake up with a very hungry stomach. I could make lots of improvements on this portion of the day, but at this time, I am letting myself indulge :)
- Air pop popcorn
- Red wine 

Tree hugging, for time.

My name is Krista, and I'm a vegetarian.

Until recently, I had always tried to keep that information to myself while at the box. Except for those who knew me prior to joining CrossFit, not many knew about my little non-paleo secret.

We have a facebook group that a majority of our box belongs to where we post funny and informative comments/photos/advice. Someone recently asked if anybody at the box was vegetarian *gasp!* because their friend was vegan and was thinking about joining. The responses (while mostly in good nature) included "gross" and "impossible!". These made me laugh, but at the same time reminded me why I hadn't 'come out' as a vegetarian to the group. Words cannot express how friendly, encouraging, and accepting our box is, but it is also a group of almost 200 passionate bacon-eating individuals. I get enough (usually ignorant) questions and friendly harassment from coworkers and extended family members, so was quite enjoying not hearing it from my other family - the box!
I recently reached my 6 month CF anniversary, and have started to take my health even more seriously now that this amazing cult has taken over my life (and I am SO happy that it has!). I've been having a hard time finding any information for vegetarian CrossFitters, so thought I'd create a place for us to share our stories, recipes, and advice.

Welcome to Veggie Rx!