Workout Of The Day: Take It To The Track

Tired of running on a treadmill? If you aren't, you should be! C'mon that gets SUPER boring!

Take your workout outside, and hit up your local track!

Try a dynamic warm-up before your workout!
- high knees
- butt kickers
- walking lunges
- lateral lunges
- walk on toes
- walk on heels
- leg swings

ARE YOU READY TO RUN?

400m sprint (1 lap)
rest 1 minute
200m sprint (1/2 lap)
rest 2 minute
100 m sprint (1/4 lap)
rest 3 minutes
Repeat 3 more times! Should total to 4 rounds of each!

This is quick, and HIGH INTENSITY! Get out there and burn some calories outside!

Thea's Coffee Sweet Treat

I am a girl who loves ending the night with something sweet! Since I shouldn't eat sweets all the time or drink a sugary shake I make this when I need to kick the craving!

1 scoop raw cacao powder
1 scoop instant coffee
1 scoop stevia
A cup full of hot water
A little bit of unsweetened almond milk

1. Mix all ingredients in to a mug of hot water!
Delicious!!!! 15 calories and 0 sugar!!!

What You Can Do To Avoid Sugar!

"IT'S IN EVERYTHING! "

I have people coming up to me all the time shocked that when they tried to cut out sugar, they accidentally were still eating lots of it!

What this means, is you need to start reading labels on everything you buy! Throw out the junk, and bring in the real food!

When you read the ingredients make sure there are NONE of these if you don't want sugar:

• Brown sugar
• Barley Malt Syrup 
  
• Cane crystals
• Cane sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Crystalline fructose
• Dextrin 
  
• Dextrose
• Evaporated cane juice
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrates
• Glucose
• aspertame
  
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Malt syrup
• Maltodextrin
  
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Sucrose
• Sugar
• Syrup
• Saccharose  
• Treacle
• Turbinado Sugar
• Xylose

Thea approved:

• Agave Nectar
• Dates or date paste
  
• Sucanant
  
• Stevia
• Honey
• Unsweetened apple sauce
• Coconut sugar

Thea's Summer Meatless Ceviche

Nothing more refreshing than sitting outside on a summer day eating some refreshing ceviche! I decided to try something new today, after busting up a coconut and drinking the water. I wanted to make a new recipe w the coconut meat! I looked at what I got at the farmers market and make up something new and quite tasty!

Ingredients:
1 coconut
1/2 large mango
1/2 avocado
1/2 grapefruit

1. First you'll need a big knife to but open your coconut!! You want to make a big rectangle or square shaped hole so you can fit a spoon in.
2. Once the coconut is busted open you need to drink the coconut water, or pour it in a jar and store it.
3. Scrape out the coconut meat in to a bowl.
4. Add 1/2 diced avocado to the bowl.
5. Add 1/2 Of a sliced mango in to the bowl.
6. Cut open a grapefruit and squeeze the juice atop of the bowl.
7. Serve and enjoy!

Thea's Coconut Blueberry Paleo Scramble

I like the idea of trying out new things. If something is clean eating, I am most likely willing to try it!

I wanted my normal protein pancakes for breakfast, but wanted to try it without oats.... Which lead me to making paleo pancakes (which turned in to a scramble with my bad pancake flipping skills).

Ingredients:

1/4 C. Coconut Flour
2 Tbsp. Coconut flakes or shreds.
4 egg whites
1 whole egg
1/3 C. Blueberries
Cinnamon
Unsweetened Almond milk
Stevia to taste

1. Heat pan on med-hi heat and spray w/ non-stick spray.

2. In a large bowl crack 4 egg whites and add one whole egg, and 2 tbsp. almond milk then stir.
2. Stir in coconut flour, and cinnamon.
3. Add in blueberries.
4. Pour mixture on to heated pan.
5. When you see little bubbles, flip!
6. When done, plate up and add stevia/coconut flakes.

My Weekend With CrossFit NorCal

Have you ever heard that Crossfit is a crazy cult of people on this crazy paleo diet? Well, ......You're right!

I went in to the Crossfit level 1 certification this weekend thinking the same thing. Although those statements are true there is more to the story, and you need to read this to see why you have got to see(try) it for yourself!

Coming in to this weekend, let's just say I wasn't all that impressed with crossfit. I felt like this "cult" was unwelcoming and involved dangerous workouts. Being very in to health and fitness means to me that I always need to try something before placing judgement.

I went in to Crossfit norcal and opened my ears and my mind. Listened close, questioned a lot, and worked hard. I was thoroughly impressed with the people and personalities of each athlete or trainer. I was also impressed with how inviting and humble everyone was! I learned new exercises, proper technique, as well as A SENSE OF COMMUNITY. People you've never met were next to your disgusting sweaty self rooting you for one more rep. This is where I think I became a fan.

Unlike a conventional gym, you have a team. Crossfitters want the best for you even if they are competing against you. You are able to have better workouts(more intense), and when you feel like you can't push any harder there is someone there to reiterate in your mind why you can!

No- Crossfit isn't easy. Not one bit! Once you feel like you are good at something, something else is thrown your way. It's frustrating and annoying, but as an athlete that's what you need to find the motivation to get better. It's like trying to ride a bike, you see everyone who can do it and you become envious. Then you yank on your parents arm asking them if you can get a bike for Christmas and you finally learn. You fall 1,000 times, but who remembers that? No one! You remember succeeding and riding that damn bike!

Crossfit teaches you to succeed in every level of fitness. Run, bike, weightlift, Short sprints, log sprints, pull ups, thrusters, the list goes on. You excel in all aspects of physical conditioning whether you'd planned to or not.

Crossfitters to many of us come off pretty elite and sometimes arrogant, but this judgement you may have can be diffused by simply asking them a question... Why do you crossfit? You will then see how this sport has effected a large part of their life and they will light up!

Moral of my little review is, try not to judge until you have tried. It's an amazing sport that will challenge every part of you and in a sense kick your ass but make you feel like a million bucks at the same time. TRY IT, if you love the conventional gym I am not saying don't go. I am saying switch it up every once in a while!

Thanks NorCal crossfit!!!!

Dairy: The Deets & Why You Should Reconsider

Milk, Cheese, Yogurt, Cream, Whey, and Butter are all a dairy

We are told and encouraged all our lives to consume dairy, by who other than the dairy council. I was a HUGE milk drinker growing up, most likely drank 4 glasses a day!!!! Everyday I see a milk add on my drive to work!
 

Why you should reconsider consuming dairy:

Regular grocery bought milk is a very poor choice. The cows probably ate a diet of corn and soy while confined in a very tight environment. 
Most people are allergic, maybe not lactose intolerant, but simply become bloated when consumed.
MILK DOESN'T ENHANCE SPORTS PERFORMANCE, and takes a lot of energy to digest.
Milk irritates Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
The majority of humans (~75%) naturally stop producing significant amounts of lactase - the enzyme needed to properly metabolize lactose, the sugar in milk by age 5.

Tips:
Get your calcium from food. These include dark green leafy vegetables, sesame tahini, sea vegetables, and salmon.
Unsweetened almond milk has no dairy and 2x the calcium of milk at half the calories!!!
Another substitute could be coconut milk, hemp milk, rice milk, or another nut milk.


If you can't give up dairy-Use raw, organic dairy products. Try unsweetened yogurt and kefir, occasionally.

Restaurant Review: Cafe Gratitude

Wow!!

Ok, as most of you know from reading my posts I am a food lover! A REAL food lover, eating is AWESOME! At the same time I care about the food that goes in my body as should everyone. This is why I often love going to vegan restaurants. Not because I'm vegan, but for the fact that most vegan restaurants go above and beyond to make great food, make it fresh to order, get it locally, and often organic.

Cafe gratitude in San Rafael looked like a place I had to go when I searched online. Tons of options, variety, raw options, and cooked vegan options. I told my sister we had to go for brunch when she mentioned she'd like to go somewhere healthy ( I thought, DUH, I only do healthy), but I made sure to go above and beyond and show her somewhere über healthy!

The restaurant looked closed, until we twisted the door and saw an empty place with a few ladies working. I mentioned how excited I was and they sat us.
We both ordered the maca latte, mine with fresh hazelnut milk and my sisters with almond milk.

The menu was huge but we were starved so decided to start with the raw nachos! Oh man they were tasty and included sprouted chips, sunflower seed paste, salsa fresco,guacamole, and raw cashew sour cream. We devoured it even though we thought we would need a box before digging in.

We then each ordered our brunch. I ordered the live sesame onion bagel w/ cashew cream cheese, nori lox, tomato ,red onion, and capers. This was absolutely tasty! I loved how flavorful it was and I also liked that it was open-faced.

My sister ordered a sweet bowl of steamed quinoa, seasonal fruit,cinnamon, pecans, almond milk, and agave nectar.

We wanted to get dessert, but we were too full, so we drove to Berkeley to play and shop.. Who knew we would find another cafe gratitude and go in to order late lunch/early dinner.

This shop in Berkeley was much different than San Rafael, but just as cute! I we ordered "I am fulfilled" with a yummy fig dressing and split it.

I then ordered the best drink I think I've ever had in my life the "I am grace" smoothie with Young coconut milk, almond butter, date and vanilla bean.

 My sister ordered a green juice. And of course we ordered deserts to go. Holy moly we got the coconut cacao mousse cake, and an almond chocolate mousse cake. Those were so decadent, we took bites throughout the week to hit our sweet tooth. FYI they were made with great ingredients and no sugar just agave!

My new fave bay area restaurant! Thanks cafe gratitude for having the most delicious, fresh, and healthy food around!!!!