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Showing posts from December 1, 2009

Eating for health

There's been a lot of napping here lately. Karel is sick. I thought we were indestructible with our super healthy eating habits but I guess not. Unfortunately, Karel came down with a bad cough and a horrible head cold. He's avoided a fever but has no energy. This is day 3 of the sickness and I'm hoping this is the end. Although healthy eating can't ward off the common cold...it can sure help. Karel has not been sick since 2005. I think that 3+ years of no virus is an excellent record. Since we met in 2006, I'd like to think that our enjoyment for healthy nutrients has helped us stay cold-free. No missed days of work and pure enjoyment for life and our training. The last time I was sick was in June 2007, after I returned from Las Vegas for a conference. I guess when it rains it pours because when I got sick...I was out for a few days. Maybe it isn't certain that we can prevent cancer with healthy eating, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I know I can't preven

Baked Vegetarian Casserole

For many people free time is a thing of the past. If only there were 30 hours in the day, we could exercise at any time of the day and sleep wasn't necessary. Especially for athletes and fitness enthusiasts, who try to squeeze in a healthy 6-15 hours of training/exercise per week, meal planning is easier said than done. I realize that a lot of my recipes on my blog involve a little prep. However, I try to keep my meals easy to prepare and yummy to eat. Because of my grocery budget, it is likely that my ingredient list for my recipes will be small. And, because I am a vegetarian, you will see a lot of the same foods which I often rely on to meet my protein needs. I am at a point in my life where I have a bit of time to prepare meals. Lucky for me, it is also my passion and hopefully a future career. However, I understand that not everyone has the time to prepare meals every day of the week and one day, I'm sure I will miss days of an extra hour or two to dream up, and prepare, m

Vegetarian meal planning

I think the biggest fear for soon-to-be athlete vegetarians, or people seeking a semi-vegetarian eating routine, is the worry about getting enough protein. One of the main reasons people turn to vegetarianism is the desire to add more fruits, veggies and non-meat protein in the diet, in replacement for higher calorie and fat foods. However, I find that many people quit the meat-free lifestyle just when they are learning to enjoy the addition of fruits, veggies and non-meat protein because they are constantly hungry. First off, when a large amount of calories are cut out from the diet, it is likely that you will feel hungry and your body will ask for more food. The trick to eating vegetarian is to well, eat more vegetarian-friendly food. Now, just because a food doesn't have meat in it, doesn't mean that you can eat as much as you want of it. For a good part of my vegetarian life, I lived off cheese, cheese and more cheese. Cheese on anything and everything because I don't e

Gotta love animals

Sometimes I have my bad days but usually I have good days. I always wake up happy, say something good about the day and look forward to crossing items off my to-do list. But then there are days when I wake up and think about the future and wish it would come a bit quicker. I guess there are times in our life when we can't rush the days and have to stay busy to pass the time. My bucket list of my nutrition-related books, videos, shows (I'd love to have a show on the food network), articles and so much more, grows every day. My head is filled with a gazzillion ideas but not until I get that RD behind my name will I pursue my big dreams. For now, I'm enjoying helping as many people as I can through my articles on beginnertriathlete.com and irongirl.com, in addition to my blog. My life is very routine. Wake up around 5-6am, workout, stay busy all day, cook a Marni-creation for dinner, watch TV and hang with Karel in the evening and go to bed around 9:30pm. Although I really lov

How dense are your snacks?

One of the biggest successes in my quest of living a healthy and balanced life has been my density approach to meal and snack planning. Especially around the holidays, I find that many people struggle with eating (especially unplanned eating) due to the high amount of processed foods, in addition to sweet treats which consume the work office, grocery store, friend's houses and well, your own house. It's as if people who attempt to diet during the holidays feel hungry 24/7 and then go overboard when the big eating day comes, all because of poor meal and snack planning. But then, on the other hand, there are so many people who feel stuffed, bloated, gross and out-of-control from late November until Jan 1st, due to the high quantity of high fat/high sugar food associated with the holidays. Although there are many people who stick to a healthy diet and exercise routine and enjoy a little sweet treat every now and then throughout the year, many people struggle with the concept of he