Testa's on Thursday

The essence of my night last night:


Dinner with my roommate at Testa's Restaurant on Palm Beach Island.

It was divine! Testa's was celebrating their 90th year anniversary so they were offering a 3-course Sunset Menu. We even sat on the patio over-looking the sidewalk and caught a glimpse of the sunset ;-)

I ordered the Wild Alaskan Glazed-Salmon with Steamed Broccoli.

Dessert was light and perfect- a fresh fruit bowl with citrus, melon, berries, mango, and pineapple. I LOVE summer fruits!

After dinner, I baked fruit pizzas at the condo while listening to Frank Sinatra.

Ahh, he always puts me in the best mood! I even lit a candle while baking and enjoyed the smells of Cinnamon and vanilla cookies!

All-in-all- it was a pleasant evening and extremely spontaneous!

My Run in the Morning:

Miles: 5

Time: 41

Weather: Air conditioned ;-)

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Whole Foods

I read a health food article in Natural Health Magazine* this past weekend while lounging by the pool at my parents. The article mentioned the percentage of Alkaline foods the average American gets in comparison to Acidic foods. Basically its all about maintaining the body's PH-balances for energy. The "good guys" are Alkaline foods, the "bad guys" are Acidic foods, according to the article.

In the standard American diet, the typical ratio of acidic to alkaline foods is about 80/20. Ideally, you want to have between 60 percent to 80 percent of your foods coming from the alkaline side—and only 20 percent to 40 percent coming from the acidic side. To help you make better choices, hang this handy list on your fridge or stash it in your bag so you make smarter choices at the supermarket. *

The article provided a list of top alkaline and acidic foods and I found it fascinating that all the Alkaline foods were "Daniel Fast"- friendly whereas most of the Acidic foods where foods that were forbidden on the fast.

I am now done with the fast but finding my body is still craving fresh foods as opposed to processed. I also have noticed I feel so much better staying away from coffee and red meat for now.

For your enjoyment I decided to list the Alkaline and Acidic foods below. It included a lot of foods that I never have even thought of buying- such as millet, buckwheat, and kale. Here you go:

Top alkaline foods
Alkaline water
Almonds, Brazil nuts, sesame seeds, flax seeds
Avocados
Cold-pressed oils such as hemp, flax, borage seed
Grains such as quinoa, wild rice, millet, amaranth, buckwheat
Grasses, especially wheatgrass
Green vegetables, especially kale, spinach, lettuces, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, cabbage and endives
Lemons, limes, grapefruits
Lentils and other beans
Miso
Oil-cured olives
Raw tomatoes (cooked tomatoes are acidic)
Root veggies, such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, jicama, daikon
Seaweed
Sprouts
Stevia

The acidic rundown
Alcohol
Animal protein (red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, dairy)
Chemicals, drugs, cigs, heavy metals, pesticides, preservatives
Coffee (even decaf)
Black tea
Heavily processed foods, no matter their ingredients
Honey, corn syrup, brown sugar, fructose
Ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard
Some legumes, such as chickpeas, black beans and soybeans
Processed soy products
MSG
Processed oils such as margarine, fake fats, trans fats and refined vegetable oils
Refined grains, wheat and oats
Soda, energy drinks, sport drinks
Table salt (sea salt is a better choice, in moderation)
Salted and roasted nuts
White sugar and sugar substitutes
Yeast and vinegar (with the exception of raw apple cider vinegar)
Soy sauce (use sparingly and choose low-sodium tamari)

I have never tried Stevia but am interested. Artificial sweeteners are not going well with my system after cutting them out for 21 days. I get head aches and get bloated right away... hmmmm- they must be bad! haha. For now I'll just stick to natural sugar.

Workout Today:

Distance: 5 miles

Time: 42min
Weather: Humid, Sunny, Windy (I did a few miles inside on the treadmill)

Question: Do you eat many of the Alkaline foods mentioned above?

*Source

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Go PRE

Last night was one of style, fashion, inspiration, relaxation, and motivation.

After a stop by the salon to get my hair highlighted for summer with my favorite stylist- Nicole (my stylist for over a year), I headed down the street from Bryan's place for dinner and a movie.

He knows how much I love running- how much I live and breathe running practically! How its one of the first things on my mind when I start my day and plan my route for work. How I can't wait to throw on my Adidas Superglide shoes (with custom orthodics) and hit the pavement after a long day of work. How I love to enjoy the sun, enjoy the fresh air, enjoy the people out biking, waliking and jogging, enjoy the sweat, enjoy clearing my head, and enjoy being alive.

Needless to say, he knows I love that.... so he dvr-ed Prefontaine, a movie about the life of the athlete that helped develope Nike. The movie was so insiring. Steve Prefontaine trained with passion and left all he had on the track at every race. At one point in the movie, he had just gotten 10 stitches in his foot and still ran a sweaty bloody victory race. That is dedication! One of his quotes that stuck with me is:

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." ~Steve Prefontaine

The movie made me think about my life. About my priorities and how much drive I devote to each area. I decided to list out my top five priorities to help me access my dedication to each.

Priorities:

1. God, my faith

2. Family and friends

3. Health, lifestyle, exercise

4. Serving others

5. Future, job, career

I realized I don't want to make any decisions that will hinder these 5 areas. If the decision goes against these 5, then it is most likely a bad choice. I want to devote time to each one witht he same passion the was portrayed in the movie last night. In the movie, he ran to the point of tears.

Question:

Have you seen any inspirational films lately? I am on an inspirational movie kick and would ideas ;-)

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Easter Weekend

My Easter weekend involved...

a slice of this.

Here.

With these people.

After arriving in Orlando Saturday morning with Bryan, my family treated us to brunch at the cutest sidewalk cafe "The Briar Patch" in Winter Park. I ordered the egg white veggie fritatta- DELICIOUS!

We then spent the afternoon strolling down Park Ave, window shopping, and touring Rollins college.

Later that day, we lounged by the pool, sipped lemonade, and went on a group run. It was a run down memory lane- I took Bryan along the trails and neighborhoods I used to run in highschool.

Run: 5 Miles

Time: 43min

Weather: Hot and Sunny!

After a 5 mile run...
a refreshing dip in the pool...

and a huge homecooked italian dinner...

we went put put golfing downtown.

Here. (Congo River)

Sunday:
Sunday was spent going to church, playing games while sipping Starbucks, and awaiting my mom's amazing Easter meal:

Roasted red potatoes w sea salt

Fresh string beans

Corn

Honey-glazed ham

Rosated Turkey

Almond citris spinach salad

Whole grain crousant rolls

Peas

Fresh strawberry shortcake

All in all, Easter was a great time to reflect on the joy we have because Christ is Risen! I hope everyone had a great Easter :)

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Farmer's Markets + Boutique Shopping

This weekend, Bryan was out of town so I decided to have a "me" day on Saturday. After the Relay for Life ended, I got up and ran 5 miles along the waterway, passing the green market. It always is so inspiring to see others out and about during my runs.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 43min
Weather: Sunny and Breezy


Post-run, I made a refreshing smoothie of berries and flax meal and headed out for some shopping. First stop was the Farmers Market.

I was amazed by how much money I saved. I am now a Farmers Market addict and will try to always buy produce there. I just love how fresh everything is!

I filled my cart to the brim and walked out paying $24! I would have spent twice or even three times that much at the local grocer!

I bought Sprouts, Avocado, Pineapple, Apples, Mango, Raw Peanuts, Pears, Sweet Peppers, Carrots, Fresh Cilantro, Melon, Watermelon, Spinach, All Natural Rice cakes, Sweet potatoes, and more- just what I need to last me through the last week of the Daniel Fast :)

After getting my produce fix- I went to meet a girlfriend at the WPB outdoor shopping district- CityPlace- for some much needed lattes and boutique shopping ;-)

Between Apricot Lane, Francesca's Collections, and Macy's- I came home with 2 adorable dresses! I love sun dresses and think I will be wearing them all summer.

Farmers Market Source Farmers Market Source2 Cityplace Avocados Pinneapple

Coconut Cupcakes

With several events this weekend, I decided to make a few batches of tropically inspired cupcakes.

Butter Pecan cupcakes with Vanilla Coconut Frosting

Milk Chocolate cupcakes with Buttercream Coconut Frosting

I sold half of them last night at my Relay for Life event downtown.

I was so excited to have raised a total of $500 for the American Cancer Society with my team (part of them pictured below)

Tonight I am bringing more to my friend Jessica for her 23rd birthday celebration! Hope she likes them ;-)

Question: Have you ever heard of Relay for Life?

I do it every year and found out about it 3 years ago.

Daniel Fast

So today is my third day on the Daniel fast. So far I feel good and full of energy! I started the day by drinking a huge glass of water and taking a multi-vitamin before breakfast. The multi-vitamin is still making me a little nauseous since I have gone most of my life without taking one. Likewise, it is also making this fast bearable.

I have learned so much on this fast so far. Everytime I have a craving for meat/sweets I turn my focus to why I am fasting and the craving goes away. (and peanut butter helps too!) I am fasting to devote more attention to prayer and not take things for granted in my life. Also, there are so many health benefits to eating natural foods, just the way God created them for us to eat.

This morning I chopped up a huge bowl of fruit, sprinkled with flax seeds. It was delicious! Last night I made a Thai Peanut dish with firm tofu, sliced ginger, soy, all-natural crunchy peanut butter, flax seeds, and snow peas served in lettuce wraps. \

Not only has my cravings for sugar and meat diminished greatly, but I have found that I have much more time to devote to prayer when food is within limitations. It is simple to decide what to eat when the options are simple. Protein: beans, or tofu. /Fat: nuts, PB /Carbs: brown rice, veggies, and fruits.... I can try new variations of the foundational foods and still have a balanced diet.

I have also noticed that I am more dependent on God which is the way I hope to always be.

The harder times will be when I am in groups- like going out with friends and ordering iced tea. I am just thankful to be able to change my diet so easily. In so many third world countries people don't even have that option! They have to eat whatever they can get their hands on to survive. Here, I am able to go to the grocery store/green market and buy any fruit I want. I am so blessed! The fast reminds me of that and reminds me to pray for the harsh poverty found in so many parts of the world.

Question: Have you ever tried the Daniel Fast? Why did you try it? I am doing it to inspire my prayer life, to improve my health, and to cleanse my body for 21 days.