The move to Texas, getting the kids in school, looking for a job, and dealing with the husband’s new job have made dealing with a blog seem near impossible, but as things get easier, I am able to get back to the computer. So, on with the posts!
There is no doubt that my husband and I are very active people – I’ve taught group fitness for four years and yoga for the past two, and we are both distance runners (although his cheetah speed bests me any day). So, imagine my surprise when I had some suspect bloodwork when I got my new internist in Texas! There is no way I could have any problems, right? I had started training for a marathon and was doing my physical practice of yoga on a daily basis, so what had happened? Oh yeah…my diet. You see, every time we move, the move inevitably includes a roadtrip where every lunch is whatever we can find and every dinner is treated like a date. I mean, the kids are at their grandparents’, so shouldn’t I enjoy an appetizer, a main, and a dessert as well as a glass or two of wine? Yes, but not on a five day roadtrip, and then there’s the unpacking the house diet which means eating out because you have no time to cook. That would have probably been fine (moving doesn’t last forever) had it not been the middle of summer and had I not begged the husband to make tons of guacamole and grill steaks on a continuous basis. I mean that’s what you do during summer, isn’t it? All of this came rushing back to me as I pondered my health and fitness.
But regardless of whether the bloodwork was correct, it was clear I needed a bit of a diet clean up. Out went the indulgent, mid afternoon snacks. Out went the home dinners that were more akin to those of date nights. In came grocery carts with 80% produce. In came tons more water or La Croix (for the times I was in the mood for tastier water).
The household was rolling along on a better diet, and I was feeling more cheerful and a lot less sluggish. And before I knew it, it was marathon season once again. The husband has been working on speed and stronger marathon finishes and asked if we could further curb our diet by reducing red meat. What?! No grilling?! I mean, we had already reduced our red meat consumption by A LOT. (This is the part where you find out that not every yoga teacher is a vegetarian or started out as a vegetarian.) Right, let’s reduce it even more.
I’ve always loved cookbooks and cooking blogs, but this time I went a bit nuts. I mean, there is so much out there. A vegan, teacher friend of mine often posts recipes she has tried on her family. I tend to ignore them, assuming that they won’t be a good fit for my crew, but one day, a few months ago when I was charged with a week of pre-race meals, she posted one that caught my eye. Green rice, the kind they make at Freebirds and Chipotle, with black beans, roasted sweet potatoes and fried plantain? Sign me up please! Since then, our household has largely been vegetarian! We’re keeping the chicken for the time being because it fuels our distance running, and the fish won’t leave the menu because the boy says it is important “brain food” for his math tests. But I can already tell it has made a big difference to everyone’s mood, fitness, etc. The next blood test? It’s in two weeks, and I can’t imagine that I won’t rock it.
Need that recipe? Here it is, http://cookieandkate.com/2015/vegan-sweet-potato-green-rice-burrito-bowls/