Eatin’ Raw–Tuesday and Wednesday

Posted on May 16, 2012 by phyllinphat

Here’s the food situation for the last two days:

Tuesday Breakfast: I gave into a bagel temptations and indulged in half a bagel with cream cheese. My scrumptious two minutes of carb-heaven was followed by four hours of bloat and stomach cramps. Oh carbs, I love you, but I hate you.

Tuesday Lunch: Just like the Marine Corp, I leave no man behind. I still had a half a container of Greek salad dressing at work, so I topped my salad with the green goodness, put a fork in it, and devoured my salad.

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Tuesday Dinner: My ode to Tabouleh

  • Dice up 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, 1/2 of a cucumber, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1 scallion

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  • To diced veggies add 1/2 cup of minced mint, 1/2 cup minced parsley, 1/2 jalapeno diced, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 teaspoon of minced ginger, 1/2 juice of a lemon, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of Bragg’s liquid aminos, and Himalayan salt and cracked pepper to taste. IMG_0602
  • Refrigerate for at least an hour, but it is even better the next day!

Wednesday – Rinse and Repeat above. Again, no veggie is left behind!

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Categories: Food, Grocery, Nutrition, Raw, Recipes | 2 Comments

Eatin’ Raw–Monday

Posted on May 14, 2012 by phyllinphat

Workout: P90X Chest and Back

Since starting my journey into raw food, I’ve been consistently asked…”So, what do you actually eat? No, really..what the f**k do you eat?”. ; So, for the next week I’m going to document what I actually eat.

Breakfast: Apple and Banana, Warm water with Lemon (not sure of the exact temp, so this may not be so raw).

Lunch: Raw Caesar Salad. Here’s the recipe:

- Make salad base of romaine, spinach, arugula, sun dried tomatoes, diced red bell peppers, basil, carrots, fresh ground pepper.

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- In food processer, blend four celery stalks, 1/4 cup of cold pressed olive oil, 1/4 cup of Bragg’s liquid aminos, 1 garlic clove, half the juice of a lemon, dash of pink Himalayan salt, fresh ground pepper. Add water if the dressing gets too thick. You can also add dates for more flavor. ; The dressing keeps for 4 days in the fridge.

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-Pour over salad and enjoy!

Snack: entire container of Strawberries

Dinner: I’m not that hunger, so I’m going to make some guacamole with carrot sticks.

Question- What are you having for dinner?

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Categories: Food, Getting to Known Me, Nutrition, Raw, Recipes | 4 Comments

Friday Fixation– One Ingredient Ice Cream

Posted on May 11, 2012 by phyllinphat

It’s starting to get smokin’ hot in Phoenix.

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So I have been buying up bananas to make my favorite summer treat – Raw Soft Serve Banana Ice Cream. After you make it once, you too will become obsessed with this easypeasey, raw treat.

What you’ll need: Ripe Bananas (with little black marks) and a little  bit of water (just incase it gets too thick for your liking)

 

Directions:

  • Dice bananas into small pieces and put in the freezer until they are just frozen (so if you squeeze them you can make a slight little indent in the naner).

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  • Place banana slices in food processer and process until smoothIMG_0583
  • If the ice cream get too thick, just add a little bit of water.

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  • ENJOY! You can get really crazy and put cocoa nibs or fresh fruit on top. IMG_0585

MMMMM.. I’m going to go make a bowl now!

QUESTION – What do you do to beat the summer heat?

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Categories: Food, Nutrition, Raw, Recipes | 2 Comments

Eating Raw – Ambrosia Salad

Posted on April 30, 2012 by phyllinphat

One week in and I’m feeling great on my raw food journey. I allowed myself one cheat meal of a large salad with roasted chicken, but other than that – I’ve been 100% raw.

 

Since starting this “diet”, I’ve grown accustom to the “What the hell do eat then?” queries. Well, I’ve been chowing down on extra-large veggies salads with raw dressing, nuts, and loads of veggies and fruit. I haven’t gotten sick of the same old food yet, mostly because I’ve been mixing up different salad dressings and dips, but I assume I’ll grow real sick of the lack of heat soon. 

So, I’ve signed up for a raw cooking class and am trying to start “cooking” some food in my dehydrator. I’ll keep putting up some of the better recipes I try, but for today, this recipe has been a serious staple in my diet for the past week. If you’re a busy body like me, this recipe is SUPER easy and still crazy good! Hope you enjoy it!

 

Ambrosia Salad

  • Mix salad base of spinach and romaine salad

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  • Dice cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, walnuts, cranberries, mint leaves, basil leaves, and a little bit of cilantro. Obviously, you can add/remove any veggie or raw goodie that you like.

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  • In separate container, mix juice of half a lemon, diced ginger per your taste, one tablespoon of liquid aminos, one tablespoon of raw honey, and 1/4-1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (cold pressed).

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  • Combine everything and VIOLA! DINNER IS SERVED!

 

Quick thank you to everyone that has sent me recipes to try!! I plan on trying a new reader recipe each week and I’ll review here.

Question – What’s for dinner?

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Lazy Sunday

Posted on April 29, 2012 by phyllinphat

Workout: 5 mile bike ride, P90X

Here’s how the day went down (Photo only blog, make your own captions):

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Fixation Friday

Posted on April 27, 2012 by phyllinphat

I would like to present my new weekly update of things I’m obsessed with….I’m obsessed with a lot of stuff, so this might turn into a three-part weekly series.

This week- Cheribundi

The beginning of the obsession: Amidst the chaos of the Rock N’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon Expo, there was one place of refuge…the Cheribundi booth. I typically don’t try drinks out expos, something about germs and too many people grabbing at the tiny cups, but when I saw this fresh cherry drink I had to stop. Thank God I did, because even as I was clubbing it up at the Wynn the next night, I caught myself dreaming about the cherry goodness of the Cheribundi drink.

Cheribundi tastes like a bundle of cherries (hence the name) freshly squeezed in your mouth. It’s tart, yet sweet, and satisfies any sugar cravings you are having. As soon as I got back to the Valley of the Sun, I scoured the valley searching for the drink with no success. I finally broke down and ordered a case off the Cheribundi website to satisfy my cravings.

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The obsession still continues to this day. I buy these on a regular basis, have sent cases to friends, and wake up in the middle of the night for a quick chug of cherry goodness. I even made martinis with Cheribundi during Christmas time!

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Product Details: 

  • Five different flavors (Regular, Skinny Version, Ginger, Chocolate, and Protein spiked)
  • The regular Cheribundi is a mixture of pressed cherries and apple juice (not from concentrate). So it’s 100% juice!

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  • The skinny version is 65% juice with water and stevia included.

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  • There are approximately 50 cherries per 8 fluid ounces in the regular Cheribundi.
  • Move over pomegranate, Cherry is the next super fruit.  Research shows that cherries can help you recover from exercise faster, sleep better, have anti-inflammatory benefits, can reduce pain from arthritis, and are heart health. Don’t believe me? Click here to read more about cherries.
  • Are available at Sprouts, Safeway, Whole Foods, and other local vendors. I finally have found this ruby gems at my local Safeway for $2.50 a bottle (occasionally on sale for $1).

Question – What are you obsessed with right now?

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Categories: Food, friday fixation, Grocery, Juice, Nutrition, obsession, Raw food | 2 Comments

The Raw Deal

Posted on April 25, 2012 by phyllinphat

Workout: P90X Chest and Shoulders, 30 minute bike ride on my trainer

So, I’ve been researching alternative medicine and small changes that I can make to my daily habits to improve health issues. For the past year I’ve gone on  2-3 week juice-only cleanses and always felt like it gave me intense mental clarity, increased energy, and improved my mood. However, one can not live on juice alone.

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Through all my juice recipe Google searches, over and over I would read about the amazing benefits of a raw diet. Since the only thing I actually missed when I juiced was crunchy food and the motion of putting forks in my mouth (FREAK!), I felt like this might be the next logical step for me.

In January I started really researching the raw food craze. After a few weeks of just browsing through information, I started resembling Claire from Let’s Go on a Living Spree, with my piles of books, scratched filled notebook, and endless internet searches.

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So here I am, on day five of starting my journey into rawism (is that even a word?). Eating raw is a simple concept:

  • emphasizes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains
  • all foods can not be heated above 115 degrees

Rawist believe that heating food above 115 degrees kills enzymes that aid in digestion; therefore, your body has to work harder to process and digest the food (making you feel tired and heavy). Now if you really want to get crazy, raw foodist often believe that heating up food destroys the life force of the food, so essentially you are just eating dead food. 

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So, after much debate and a whole lot of reading, I’ve decided to give it a shot. I’m currently five days in and feeling great. I must emphasize that I’m not doing this for weight loss, but more for health (who am I kidding, any weight lost would be a serious added benefit). Since I’m only trying it for health reasons, I’ve decided that I’m not going to be hard on myself if I occasionally have a piece of toast or some steam veggies (oh the shame!).

I’ll start posting some of my uber-delish raw food recipes I’ve collected so everyone can start incorporating raw concepts in their daily life. Aren’t you excited?

 

Question – On stringent diets or lifestyle changes, what are the hardest habits/foods to give up?

  • Mine is chocolate…I’m a late night binger and my binge of choice is anything chocolate related. Last week I had the score of the century – found a bag of Christmas Hershey kisses in the closet, unopened and so delish.

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Categories: Food, Getting to Known Me, Goals, Raw food | 4 Comments

Back From the Dead

Posted on April 23, 2012 by phyllinphat

Disclaimer: This is a sympathy free blog – please do not “ahh” or say “poor thing”.  I started this blog to be completely honest about myself, and this is about as honest as I can be. As much as I detest and hide this side of my life, it has made me the cynical (yet optimistic) person that I am.

 

If you’ve halfway followed my blog over the months, you’ve probably noticed I’ve lots of really great excuses for my lack of exercising and blogging. I come with you know, though, with a legitimate, honest betrayal of my whereabouts.

Many moons ago I briefly touched on my often ongoing battle with myasthenia gravis. Although I don’t typically feel 100% (I aim for 90%), my MG has reared its ugly head and has put me down faster than Urkele in a one-on-one match with Mike Tyson.

Since November I have been increasingly feeling worse and only starting really feeling better this week (but sadly still not great). MG is a strange disease; to the outsider you look pretty normal  (other than what looks like a lazy eye from your muscles being tired) but internally your immune system is at war with your muscles. At my recent worst, I could barely walk up a small flight of stairs and I struggled to open a jam-packed clothes rack at Banana Republic while finding my size.

Due to my weakened body I haven’t been able to be very active and self-conscious 13-year old Phyllis has overtaken my mindset. If you’ve ever had any issues or problems in your life, I’m sure you’ve probably experienced a “woe is me” moment. Well…I’ve been deep in this slump and haven’t felt motivated to log into the blog, read other blogs, or even walk around the block.

To combat my symptoms, I have been overdosing on doctor appointments and performing top secret IV treatments and at-home therapies. So twice a week I give myself a subcutaneous injection of immune globulin (solution of antibodies made from donated plasma). The treatments really aren’t a big deal…but I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster since starting them.

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Although there have been times in my life that I’ve been extremely sick from MG, I have never felt more “sick” than the day I had to put up a Sharps container next to my coffee maker. There is something very unnatural about having a closet full of medical supplies and a half-filled refrigerator of medicine. On the positive side, these geriatric home accessories have helped me grow into not-so-young name, Phyllis.

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Even though my body’s strength can get worst within a day, it’s a long, slow progression to getting healthy. Right now, I don’t think I could even run a mile….but all in due time I’ll be back in shape.  After months of these at-home treatments and a couple of IV treatments, I’ve finally starting feeling like I can start getting active again. However, this time I’m going to try something different.

From one treatment I acquired aseptic meningitis and decided that I can’t spend the rest of my life injecting foreign substances into my body (besides, there isn’t even room in my fridge for a thanksgiving bird from all the meds!! Priorities people!).  So, since November I have been researching some alternative medicine and am developing some ideas on changing my daily habits (I’ll keep you posted as I do them).

So, I apologize immensely to the few people that follow me…I hope you understand that I’ve been trying to deal with crap and my crappy attitude.

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Categories: Getting to Known Me, Makeover, Myasthenia Gravis | 12 Comments

Under the Weather

Posted on February 21, 2012 by phyllinphat

The entire phatty household is sick.. Be back tomorrow with blog updates

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11 Things Tag

Posted on February 20, 2012 by phyllinphat

If you follow any blogs out there, you’ve probably seen this recent “Tag you’re It” thing going around. Well, like the basketball team in middle school, I was finally picked to participate (I’m going to say second to last, not last this time). Thanks, Diana, I was crying myself to sleep every night.

1. What is your favorite healthy recipe that you like to make?
Definitely my lemon green beans, because it’s easy, cheap, and delish.

2. Coffee: black, cream and sugar, just cream, or just sugar?
I prefer tea, but if I’m drinking Coffee I prefer cream and a bit of splendid (plus a shot of Jameson)

3. What is your favorite time of the day to run or exercise?
First thing in the morning, if I do anything else first I won’t workout. So basically, in the morning, I change and leave.

4. What is your favorite thing about the city or state you live in?
Everything you’ll ever need is within 30 minutes. Yah, sure, and the weather is okay….I mean, take today for instance, it’s the middle of February, sunny, mid 70s…not too shabby.

5. What is the funniest, craziest story from your college days that you can remember?
Yah, I plead the fifth of this one. Lets just say I went to Arizona State University, I’m sure you can come up with some ideas of what I did.

6. Do you have a dog? If so, name, breed, etc.
Vegas, my puppy, is highly offended and disgusted by this question, he says, “Obviously, mama, I’m not spotlighted enough in your blog….I’m SHOCKED people don’t know about me.”

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7. What are your top 3 favorite pieces of workout or running clothing?
My staple is a pair of black Under Armor capris, a teal Nike Sports Tank, and a black pair of running shorts from 26.2 Apparel (which are the most comfortable shorts I’ve ever owned).

8. What is your holy grail running shoe?
Have I ever told you have a flintstone feet? I have SUPER small wide feet, so it’s REALLY hard for me to find shoes that fit. Lately I’ve been wearing Brooks Ravennas, but I think I might try something new next time I need some new runners.

 

9. What kind of ailments have you battled that are related to running or
working out? A serious case of fatassitis

9b. How do you deal with those ailment(s)? Put down the ding dongs and run around the block.

10. Name 5 workout songs that are an absolute must-have for a playlist?

  • Anything with Pitbull
  • Proud Mary – Ike and Tina (but let’s face it, it’s basically just Tina)
  • Cold Hearted Snake – Paula Abdul
  • So What – Pink
  • My current obsession Swagger Jagger by Cheryl Lloyd

 

11. What kind of mind games do you play with yourself to get yourself through a wall or a tough time in a run? So, totally embarrassing, but to pass time I like to think I’m a rockstar and picture myself on stage singing the songs in my ipod (FREAK!)…when I hit a wall I picture myself kicking ass in the race and Joe at the end cheering me on.

 

Instead of tagging someone, I’ll leave these questions open to everyone..pick-on and leave your answer in the comments…So, TAG, you are all it.

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