Green Dreams of Kale Smoothies

Yesterday I took a special trip out to Decatur for the grand opening of Kale Me Crazy.

Kale Me Crazy is a juice and smoothie bar that also offers healthy catering. You can find them at 3 locations around Atlanta. Their new Decatur store is their 3rd location.

I love Kale and I love freebies, so I decided to drive down and get a taste of Kale Me Crazy.

There was a long line when I arrived, but it moved pretty quickly. People in line were browsing the brown paper menus, I already knew exactly what I wanted. I was going to get the Green Dream. A blend of Kale, spinach, pineapple, mint leaves, and coconut water.

As I waited they were passing out samples and I was able to get a taste of the Tropical Trippin and Super Matcha. Both were very tasty. 

The Trop Trippin is a blend of orange, mango, pineapple, coconut yogurt, and coconut milk.

The Super Matcha is a blend of matcha tea, blueberries, banana, spinach, chia seeds, agave, and almond milk.

After a short wait my smoothie arrived!

It was very tasty. Semisweet with a hint of mint. It was a very hearty smoothie. It felt like a meal. 3 hours later I was still full. Not bad for a free meal.

Have you tried kalemecrazy yet? What is your favorite green smoothie?

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It was fun trying something new and I always enjoy supporting local businesses.

Looking forward to sampling more healthy eats around the city.

Health and Happiness,

L

32 Years

On April 24th I celebrated my 32nd year outside of the womb. Whooohoo!

Here is this year's birthday workout!

Back when my Dad owned a Crossfit he would create Birthday workouts for me and my sister. Now I carry on the tradition and create my own birthday workout every year. A gift I can share with my fitfam ;-)

If you were wondering if I ate cake on my birthday, the answer is yes! But, not just cake, a bacon caramel doughnut cake from Revolution Doughnuts.

Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds! If you don't think it sounds awesome you'd be WRONG. Revolution makes some of the best specialty doughnuts I have ever tasted. They are not on my side of town, but totally worth the drive and the calories when you're in the city.

Later that night Anthony made us a delicious dinner. He even bought a cast iron skillet to try a new method of cooking the steak. He cooked it to perfection. Brown on the outside, pink and juicy on the inside, and perfectly season. He went the extra mile and made his first attempts at baked sweet potatoes and sautéed asparagus. 

Clearly my husband has learned the way to my heart is doughnuts and a perfectly prepared steak.

My sister cam over Saturday for DVR and bad movies. This weekend's random pick was Paranormal Activity 4, they should have stopped at 2. She also came baring gifts! 

We both love Mindy and her book will be a nice change from all the research based reading I usually do. Super excited to use my whole food gift card there are bags of 365 quinoa and  bacon waiting for me. 

Then we wrapped up the weekend with brunch out at West Egg in the city. My mom and sister have been frequenting this spot without me. For my birthday I was able to convince them to include me. I love breakfast food so I always say yes to an invite to Sunday brunch.

So much good food. 

I ordered the Peachtree Plate and it was so good. The the tart fried green tomatoes paired well with the creamy cheesy pimento grits. The maple bacon was the highlight of my meal not too salty, not too sweet, perfectly balanced. Mmmmm drooling just thinking about it.

I had a great weekend with the fam and I appreciated all of the messages from everyone.

Cheers to another year of health and happiness!

Larissa

Fitness Assessments with GT Employee Health Fair

Today I spent my afternoon meeting with employees and providing free fitness assessments at the Georgia Tech Employee Health Fair.

The health fair included about a dozen vendors covering the wellness spectrum including nutrition, dental, mental, and physical health booths. The Campus Recreation Center was well represented with an info booth, fitness demos, and a health assessment booth. I had a nice corner booth with a giant privacy curtain to conduct assessments.

The fitness assessments included a weigh-in and a body composition assessment.  There are a variety of ways to measure body fat, I usually use the skinfold method. Skinfold assessment measure the subcutaneous fat(fat just below the skin) and these measurements are directly proportionate to the total amount of body fat. The assessments can vary in number of sites and site location but all involve grasping folds of skin and using the calipers to measure the thickness of the fold. Skinfold assessments were my favorite part of our practical labs at GSU so I always sign up for opportunities to do assessments.

I used the Lange Caliper for today's assessments. The Lange manual recommended a 4 site skin fold assessment:

• Biceps
• Triceps
• Subscapular
• Suprailiac

2 other common assessment methods are the 3-site or 7-site method.

3 site skin folds
Male

• Chest
• Abdomen
• Thigh

Female

• Triceps
• Suprailiac
• Thigh

7 site skin folds

• Triceps
• Chest/Pectoral
• Midaxillary
• Subscapular
• Suprailiac
• Abdomen
• Thigh

Choice of sites may vary based on the results chart you are using and your overall fitness goals and assessment needs. Just be sure to use the correct sites based on the chart or formula you choose. At the CRC you can sign up for a fitness assessment  that includes body composition, resting heart rate, blood pressure, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility. Or you can book an onsite assessment with me if you are not part of the Georgia Tech community.

The health fair is the kickoff for next month's National Employee Health and Fitness FREE events:

• Yoga for EveryBody - Monday, April 27th, 12-1PM, Peachtree Room, Student Center
• The Buzz on Health Technology - Friday, May 1st, 12-1PM, Room 301, Student Center
• President's Campus Walk - Tuesday, May 12th, 5:30pm, Meet at the CRC
• Be Well "Nutriton-Healthy Eating on the Cheap" - Wednesday, MAy 6th, 12-1PM, Room 320, Student Center
• Be Well "Tips for Health Eyes" - Wednesday, May 20th, 12-1PM, Room 320, Student Center
• Meditation Sessions - Thursday, May 28th, 12:15-12:45PM, CRC, Studio A

Do you have any special events lined up for Employee Health and Fitness Month?

Comment below with your wellness event! I would love to hear how you're keeping your worksite healthy. I'll be posting tips to help make your worksite healthier throughout the month of May!

Health and Happiness,

Larissa

References:

Ehrman, J.K.(ed) (2010). ACSM’s Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (6^th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins.

Thompson, W.R.(ed) (2010). ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (8^th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins.

What's on My Plate: Plated Peppercorn Pork and Chicken Tikka

Another Plated delivery arrived.

This time I chose Pink Peppercorn Pork and Polenta for meal 1 and Chicken Tikka Masala for meal 2. Chicken Tikka is one of my favorite Indian dishes, full of flavor but not overly spicy. Indian dishes always seem so complex I thought using Plated would be a great way to take some of the complexity out of it. The great thing about Plated is having all of the ingredients portioned and prepped for me without any extra trips to the grocery store or farmers market.

Meal 1: Pink Peppercorn-Crusted Pork Chops with Pearl Onions and Polenta

The prep for this one was super easy. The hardest part was the grinding of the peppercorn blend. I don't have a pepper grinder or mortar and pestal so I just used a heavy pot for the grinding. Other than that I just had to peel and halve the onions. Everything else just had to be mixed or cooked.

Mmmmm, another great meal. I pan roasted the pork and it came out tender and juicy. The pink peppercorn blend gave the pork so much flavor and the white wine reduction made for a tasty sauce. This was my first time preparing polenta, but it was the perfect pairing for the pork. Polenta is a corn based dish similar in texture and preparation to grits but made with an Italian corn. Our reciep served it with goat cheese and milk. But it can also be served as a kind of fried cake. All the seasoning made for a very fragrant kitchen. Approximately 710 calories.

Meal 2: Chicken Tikka Masala

Another fairly easy prep. I cut the chicken then minced the garlic and ginger. I have never used yogurt as a marinade, but from what I read it serves as a natural meat tenderizer. All of the other spices were pre blended so all I needed to do was add them to the marinade and sauce. The scents of cloves, cumin, and cinnamon were filled our home. While the chicken roasted I prepped the sauce. I prepped the main part of the meal on Thursday. Then, Friday night I heated the meal on the stove top and after a quick saute' of the spinach and toasting of the naan and we were ready to go.

This was our Friday night dinner date. This is one of my favorite Indian dishes, it was fun trying to recreate it at home.  I forgot to add salt during the broiling of the chicken, so at first it did not quite taste right. A pinch of sea salt after really helped to bring out all of the flavors. Just the right amount of spice and loaded with flavor. Approximately 660 calories.

Have you tried Plated or any other meal delivery system? Use this link to checkout the current menu and if they deliver to your area: Plated .

I enjoy eating high quality foods and trying new recipes. If you do too, you should try Plated. Let me know what you think.

Disclosure: This blog includes a referral link to plated. If you chose to buy a Plated box using this link you will recieve a 2 plate discount on your first order and I receive a discount on future Plated orders.

Health and Happiness,
Larissa

Peachtree Prep: Week 1

I have 13 weeks to prepare for the Peachtree! I spent the last week putting together my training schedule. I have scheduled 3 days of moderate/vigorous cardio, 2 days of moderate cardio, 1 day of moderate/light cardio, and 3 days of strength training with 1 full day of rest. This is a method I have used in the past that has allowed me to maintain my muscular conditioning while improving my cardiovascular fitness. As my training progress I will make adjustments as needed.

Increasing My Cardio
So, I do not get in very much cardio these days, with the exceptions of FlirtyGirl and Just Dance. So my goal for the 1st 4 weeks is to at least meet the ACSM recommendations of 150 minutes per week. I am estimating my long runs will take a minimum of 12 minutes. So then I just need to space out my cardio appropriately the other days of the week. I am going to try the Jeff Galloway Run/Walk/Run method this time, so I will need to complete my "magic mile" run test this weekend.

Changing Up My Weight Training Focus
I'll be transitioning from strength based to more endurance based training. For me that means I'll be switching over to higher reps and shorter rest periods. I'll also be incorporating high intensity circuit training because it incorporates both of those elements. I have already created a kettlebell circuit that I'll be doing every Monday. I am so excited to program kettlebells back into my personal workouts.

I Need Shoes
After putting together my master schedule I realized I don't own any running shoes. I own a pair of minimalist cross trainers and my chuck's for lifting. I ran in the minimalist last year, and I am just not conditioned well enough to run in them this year without potentially injuring myself again. Have you ever tried running in chuck's? They are heavy and clunky, not great for run training. Previously, my best races were run in New Balance trainers. So, I think I am going back to New Balance. I am between the 711 Heathered and the 711 Print. I'll be breaking in my new running shoes this weekend for my mile run.

Are you currently in training for a run?
How is your training going?

See you on the track!

Health and Happiness,
Larissa