Inspiration

This woman inspires me in my yoga teaching. Check it out! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/nyregion/23stretch.html?_r=4&scp=1&sq=tara+stiles&st=cse

Technology inspiring you to get fit!

I recently down loaded a great new app for my iphone called RunKeeper. It maps your route, as well as giving you updates on time, speed and distance. My favorite feature is that can access your camera within the app to snap pics along your run!

Here are some fun photos Mark and I took on our foggy run yesterday morning -








This app is free for the month of January. After that is will cost you some $$

My Favorite Things

Most things I love focus on family, fitness and food!

New favorite workout: Spinning! You get crazy sweaty! I have been going 2-3 times a week

Favorite yoga pose: Dancer...great balance of stability and strech

Favorite workout gear: Lululemon...but you gotta hit the sales rack!

Current favorite band: Florence and the Machine

Favorite blogs: Eat like an RD, Anthony Bourdain, Nutrition unplugged, Skinny in the City, GOOP, Lululemon

Favorite TV shows: Desperate Housewives, Weeds, Modern Family, Biggest Loser, Jamie Oliver

Favorite Kitchen inspirations: On the food network I like the 5 ingredient fix - perfect for weeknight cooking, also the Barefoot Contessa makes delicious recipes, Recently I have been into Jessica Seinfeld's cook books

Favorite way to unwind: cooking, followed by a long walk with the dog followed by settling in on the couch with my husband and a glass of wine

So what's up with Nightshades anyway?

In yesterday's post I commented on how I had already cheated on my elimination diet by eating tomato. Tomatoes are part of the night shade family and are not included in an elimination diet. Why would a food as healthy as a tomato be eliminated from a diet you ask? Tomatoes are classified as nightshade foods. A particular group of substances in these foods, called alkaloids, can impact nerve-muscle function and digestive function in animals and humans, and may also be able to compromise joint function. Because the amount of alkaloids is very low in nightshade foods when compared with other nightshade plants, health problems from nightshade foods may only occur in individuals who are especially sensitive to these alkaloid substances. You can lower the alkaloid content of foods 40-50% by cooking them. For individuals who are not sensitive to these foods I would recommend keeping them in your diet as they are low in calories and high in nutrients.

Here's a list of common night shade foods
- potatoes
- tomatoes
- many sweet and hot peppers
- egg plant
- cherries
- tomatillos
- garden huckleberry
- pimentos
- paprika
- red pepper
- cayenne

2011 Resolutions

I have many resolutions for 2011, goals for both my personal life and work life. One of my resolutions is to follow a detox/elimination diet for 21 days. In general this entails cutting out gluten, dairy, soy, coffee, alcohol, red meat, members of the nighshade family and chocolate and adding in lots of fruits, vegetables, brown rice, chicken and fish.

My typical day will look a lot like this:
AM: get up and have green tea
Breakfast: smoothie: almond milk, brown rice protein powder, handful of fruit; multivitamin and probiotic
Snack: nuts (excluding peanuts, pistachios, and macadamias) and fruit
Lunch: any combonation of lean white meat/fish, vegetable, grain such as brown rice or quinoa
Snack: carrots and hummus or celery and sunflower butter
Dinner: Another smoothie

for more information on this check out The Clean Program website

I predicted that giving up coffee would be the most difficult part for me, however I am on day 2 the substitution of green tea has been a great stand in so far. I have cheated already though! I had some tomato salsa, which is not allowed! Oh well, not the worst cheat I could have made. More to come on my progress...