M.I.A., Work LIfe Balance

I have been missing in action for about a week and a half and frankly beating myself up a bit each night that I flop into bed too exhausted to post to Fitness & The Foodie.  Work and all the obligations that go along with being passionately and purposefully focused on our business' growth has, unfortunately, resulted in any spare time sucked into a vortex of dinners, sponsor events, and long hours at the office.

The little voice inside my head sometimes screams a bit too loudly that I should be able to juggle it all...fitness, 12-hour workdays, time with friends, my husband, my dog and home, post and keep up with projects for Fitness & The Foodie, make time for hobbies and learning, eat right, make healthy meals five times a day, keep my closet organized, my car clean, my nails polished, my garden green and beautiful.

I've told her to shut up, the voice in my head.  I've gagged her and put her in my closet for a time out and may not open the door for her for awhile, if ever. 

So while she sits in my closet and thinks about her behavior, I'm going to do my best to post as often as I can with information I think is relevant, interesting and useful.  Please forgive me if I miss a night, or two and on rare occasion a bit longer.

Rather than go on and on with my own rant about balance, I thought I'd try to find a good piece on the subject and came across this article on 10 Principles for Successful Work-Life Balance which contains some great tips! Since I LOVE my work and have great fun while doing it the line is often blurred, causing my plate and my cup to runneth over. 

What tips do you have for work-life balance?  Email me and I'll share with F&TF readers!

My Boogie Shoes

Bootcamp on Saturday has been starting at 8:00 so that we escape the heat, somebody I think forgot to tell the sun that.  We roasted last Saturday but had a great workout with back-to-back drills working everything!

Mike's wife Norma is one of my fitness inspirations.  One of these days, my legs will look like that!

My bootcamp teammates indulged me in a photo op after the workout.  Man we were beat!

After bootcamp, I headed for an iced latte and got a little life affirmation along the way.  I'm always snapping pictures of bumper stickers, funny signs, cool billboards, and could not resist this.  I know I should not have been doing this while driving but I could not help it!

It is way past time for new running shoes.  This trusty pair has taken me through two 1/2 marathons, endless runs with Becki, and more workouts with Mike than I can imagine.

 
I finally broke down and headed to RoadRunner Sports to find my new boogie shoes.

I'm SUCH an easy target.  The minute I walked in a very enthusiastic salesperson started talking to me about the ShoeDog adventure.  An analysis of my run, the arch of my foot, and the way I place weight on my feet to customize my new shoe insole, all designed of course for my optimal comfort and foot health.  I took the bait...Hook, Line, and Sinker.

I started by standing on a cushy platform that showed my weight distribution on my feet, or, as they say, the 3D Paw Reading:

Which gave them this view of my tootsies.  I guess I was pretty clueless over the fact that I have a high arch.

After that, I hopped on the treadmill and ran barefoot for a bit so that Tony could see if I pronated my knees and ankles.  Fortunately, he said I had a pretty normal stride.

After a few measurements, Tony custom molded my new insoles and recommended I stick with the neutral line of running shoes.  Even with narrowing it all down, I still had a ton of options.

But finally got down to my top three picks of Nikes, Mizuno and Saucony.  Roadrunner has a 60 day return policy, which takes the guess work out of the purchase.  I took the Mizunos and the Nikes, will try them out and if either don't work, I can bring them back!

So far, the Mizunos have been great and after a couple of runs have made a HUGE difference in my knee pain. 

Roadrunner Sports
5553 Copley Drive
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 974-4455

The Red Door

Recently Becki, Jolee and I met up for dinner at the Red Door in Mission Hills.  The restaurant has been around for almost a year now and it has taken me way too long to get in to meet with Chef Brian Johnston.

The girls ordered one of the Chef's famous flatbreads and of course, I had to have a tiny sliver...just to taste!  Barbecue chicken, goat cheese, and I think pancetta if I remember right, topped with a little cilantro.  I managed to stop myself at just one piece, my trainer does read this after all.  He has a way of making me pay later!

The Red Door's wine list focuses on small production wines from around the world which proved to be a fun test of my new WSET knowledge.  I had the Chateau des Gravieres Bordeaux Blanc which is a blend of sauvignon blanc and semillion. 

The chef's cuisine is comfort classics at their best and since the girls and I could not make up our minds we decided to split a few of the chef's favorites.  The "Surf & Cheeky Turf" came with sauteed sea scallops, braised pork cheek, roasted garlic jus, fresh vegetables and crispy polenta.  HEAVEN!

We also shared Manila Clams and Chorizo with garlic, white wine, tomato and parsley

Becki LOVES short ribs and its rumored that the Red Door serves some of the best.  The boneless Meyer all-natural beef short ribs were braised in red wine and veal stock and served with Yukon mashed potatoes, onion straws, veggies and Cabernet sauce.  I did not get a picture, probably because it was gone before I realized I had not taken one.

And for dessert, the lemon curd with fresh berries in a caramelized phyllo cup.  I think that's Jolee's spoon in the photo, she could not wait for me to snap the picture!

The Red Door
741 West Washington Street
San Diego, CA 92103-1937
(619) 295-6000

Superman Row, Overnight Oats, Tortilla Stratta

This morning I got up ready to hit my workout hard with Mike (my Evil Training Monster) knowing full well that my arms would feel like jello after an hour of punishment.  Today's featured "move" from Mike is the Superman Row.

This exercise is for active strengthening of the upper back muscles, lats, rhomboids, and trapezius while simultaneously work the core muscle of the lower back, pectorals, abdomen, glutes and engaging the muscles of the legs, hamstrings and quadriceps.  The move is moderate to advanced.  A good starting point for those just starting out is to do the move without weights (pictured below).

  Mike Rouillard

Superior Personal Fitness

Okay, that's a whole lot of words to say that this move works!  It has really helped me develop overall upper body strength.

If weights are too much for right now, try the move without.  Still a pretty hard workout!

After my workout with Mike I was STARVING and happy to have a bowl of Overnight Oats waiting for me at home.  Today's oat mixture contained:

• Steel Cut Oats
• Quinoa
• Dried Sour Cherries
• Wheatberries
• Almond milk
• Organic Peanut Butter

We spent the day in Los Angeles at the Western Foodservice Expo looking for companies that might be a fit for our upcoming San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival and The Gourmet Experience events.  Needless to say five hours of walking in 31/2 inch heels can wear a girl out.

I knew it would be a hectic day so last night I used up a bunch of leftovers to make a tortilla stratta.   Have I ever said how much I love breakfast for dinner?  I'll post the recipe tomorrow (I sort of made it up so I need to put it all down for you), but in the mix is:

• Ground Turkey, cooked and seasoned with cumin, oregano and red pepper
• 1/2 cup of onion, cooked with turkey
• stone ground corn tortillas
• black beans
• jalapenos
• zucchini
• lowfat cheddar cheese
• egg whites
• lowfat milk
• cilantro
• green onion

SO good! 

Bice!

The other night I finally had the chance to visit Bice, an Italian restaurant in downtown San Diego with origins dating back to the first Bice Trattoria in Milan in 1926.  The restaurant now has multiple locations in the states with San Diego's owned and operated independently by Chef Mario Cassineri, Managing Partner Rinaldo Colantoni, and General Partner Trevor Sacco.

Right away I noticed the the amazing display of imported Italian cheeses.  Although we were not there for happy hour, this is a spot I will be coming back to for a glass of Nebbiolo and cheese!

(source)

We couldn't resist the cheese and decided this is how the meal should start!  We asked for their in house expert to select his favorites for us to try.  We had everything from a creamy Burrata to Pecorino and Gargonzola Dolce.  They make their own preserves in house that I'm still drooling over.

After the cheese I had the lnsalata di Lenticchie di Castelluccio con Barbabietole e Caprino all' Aceto Balsamico....or, a salad of Castelluccio Lentils with fresh Chino beets, crumbled goat cheese and balsamic dressing:

For my Primi Piatti (Insert Italian Accent Here), I went with our server's recommendation of the Pappardelle al Telefono con Pomodor, Mozzarella e Basilico which was Pappardelle with Mozzarella Cheese and Fresh Basil in Pink Tomato Sauce.  This was a splurge for me but tonight I had a total "When In Rome" moment and jumped face first into this creamy bowl of carb filled pasta.  I only ate about half which still took incredible restraint considering I killed myself on cheese.

The chef treated us to one of his signature desserts, which unfortunately I did not get the name of.  It reminded me of a Zabaglione which is a custard traditionally from Northern Italy made of egg yolks, sugar and dessert wine.  It was served over fresh berries and with a bite of Biscotti.

Can't wait to go back!

Bice San Diego
425 Island Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101-8609
(619) 239-2423

Push Up To Ball Roll

I get a lot of questions about my training with Mike and most are about the equipment we work with or the torture exercises he puts me through.  Each week, we will highlight one exercise and Mike will give me details about it to share with you.  Here's this week's Push Up To A Ball Roll which we did in Monday morning's session.

The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen and build the upper back, chest, shoulder and arm muscles while engaging the core muscles of the lower back, abdominal wall, the glutes and hamstring complex.  This exercise challenges the whole body as well as working our stabilizers for balance.  This is a moderate to advanced exercise but can be modified for beginners.

Mike Rouillard

Superior Personal Fitness

Start with your hands on the ground, feet on the ball, in a plank position:

Bend arms so you move down into a push up

As you push up, bring your knees in so you get a little abdominal crunch

Push legs back out until you are back in a plank position, repeat!

Or, if you want more of a challenge, you can add a Bosu to this move:

Overnight Oats, Where Have You Been My Whole Life?

I recently found out about Overnight Oats, and feel just a little more nutritionally enlightened because of it.  I'm always on the hunt for good-for-you foods that smack of decadence and I gotta' tellya, Overnight Oats are G- double O-D.

I need to work on making this look as tasty as it is.  For those of you who are Overnight Oats newbies like me, the OO's are basically oats that are soaked in all kinds of good stuff overnight so by morning, you get a chewy, crunchy, yummy bowl of raw goodness.  Here's how I did my first attempt:

• 1/4 cup of steel cut oats
• 1 tbsp of Quinoa
• 1 tbsp of Wheatberries
• 1 tbsp of dried cherries
• 1/2 cup of nonfat milk (switching over to Almond Milk now though)
• tiny dash of cinnamon and vanilla (careful with the cinnamon, it can really overpower!)
• 1 tsp of slivered almonds
• 1 tbsp of peanut butter

Combine ingredients (I put the PB in the mix in the morning), and stick in the fridge overnight.

Careful on the calories with this though.  Oats and grains, while great for you, can get high in calories, not to mention the peanut butter.  I did this on a very intense workout day.  Future combos will be a little more calorie friendly (maybe I'll omit the PB for a bit of Flax Oil instead.)

We Made The Buzz!

Hooray and thank you!  Fitness & The Foodie has officially been picked up by FoodBuzz!  I am now a featured publisher on their site, thanks to you!

In the past few months, I have heard from many of you who have found information I share including fitness tips and new goodies for foodie helpful.  Please feel free to share Fitness & The Foodie with your friends and, if you have not done so already, encourage them to visit the site and subscribe or become a follower.

Thank you again!

Michelle

Puppy Love

Right now I am absolutely puppy obsessed. I finally have convinced Michael to bring in a companion for Hunter (okay, for me!!) and now need to make up my mind on what breed to go with.  Help me decide!  If you go to my website at Fitness & The Foodie (just click on the words or visit http://www.fitnessandthefoodie.blogspot.com), you can enter your selection in the poll.

Here are my choices, look at how adorable they all are?  You can understand my dilemma, right?  Let me know what you think!

Boston Terrier

Pug (a face only a mother could love!!)

King Charles Cavalier

French Bulldog

Cairn Terrier

Pass the Peas, Please!

There is a produce distributor in San Diego that allows public access during select hours and, so we had been told, is like a candy store for food geeks like me.  So, on Sunday Jolee and I took a trip to the Specialty Produce warehouse to look around.  My looking turned into $60 worth of beautiful vegetables, new artisan salts, oats, and fruit.

 Oh, and did I mention fresh peas?

I found a great source on Green Peas from the World's Healthiest Foods:

When purchasing garden peas, look for ones whose pods are firm, velvety and smooth. Their color should be a lively medium green. Those whose green color is especially light or dark, or those that are yellow, whitish or are speckled with gray, should be avoided. Additionally, do not choose pods that are puffy, water soaked or have mildew residue. The pods should contain peas of sufficient number and size that there is not much empty room in the pod. You can tell this by gently shaking the pod and noticing whether there is a slight rattling sound. All varieties of fresh peas should be displayed in a refrigerated case since heat will hasten the conversion of their sugar content into starch.

Aside from being just simply sweet and delicious, fresh green peas are a nutritional powerhouse.  The are packed full of 8 vitamins and 7 minerals, dietary fiber and minerals.  They also promote bone health with vitamin K which we convert to help maintain our levels of a chemical called osteocalin which in turn makes sure that bone mineralization is not impaired.  Peas also supply a good amount of folic acid and B6 which helps reduce homocystein, a molecule that contributes to osteoporosis.

After shelling my new fresh peas, I dusted two Ono fillets with a bit of yellow curry, coriander, and Thai ginger sea salt.

I sauteed the peas with basil, cilantro, garlic and onion and added a tiny bit of vegetable stock.  Add whole grain brown rice and YUM!