A Fabulous Thanksgiving Day!!!

Hello Everyone! I hope you are all warm and cozy – wherever you are!!!

I’m thankful for each and every one of you out there!  I hope you all enjoyed your day – whatever you chose to do!!!

My “taste-tester” and I decided to take a few friends out to a Vegan Thanksgiving Tasting!  The restaurant was located in the heart of Little Tokyo – Downtown Los Angeles.  The name of the restaurant was called Shojin.  They are known for Vegan Organic Japanese Cuisine!  Since they are a pretty new restaurant, we felt it was time to try their food!

We all arrived at the same time and walked in together.  As we headed up the escalator, there were all sorts of traditional Japanese Restaurants located in this building.  Quite honestly, I have been going to Downtown Los Angeles for almost 10 yrs on business related matters.  Now mind you, I am in the area of this restaurant about 4 – 6 times a week!  I never noticed this building!  What a nice surprise!

Upon being seated we were served some HOT TEA!

Jasmine Tea!

We ordered a Carrot Detox Drink and a Lemon Mint Detox Mojito.

Carrot Detox - Carrot Juice, Ginger, Cayenne

This was pleasent to the palate!  A very nice addition to the meal!  It also felt really good in my tummy!!! 

Lemon Detox Mojito - Mint, Ginger Lemon, Cayenne

Both of our drinks prepared our palates for wonderful flavor!!! They were really great drinks.  They almost seemed like great recovery drinks after an extreme amount of activity!! (Note to self!!!)

It was time for FOOD!!! Delicious Vegan Food!!!

Appetizer

Spicy Green Beans - Jalepeno Pepper, Soy Sauce, Oil, Red Bell pepper & Candied Almonds

This was a nice and tantalizing beginning!  The green beans had been marinated and left RAW!   So the amount of flavor along with the crunch was superb!

Soup

Butternut Soup with Cashew Cream

This was so wonderful!  The soup was left in it’s orginal state of flavor.  No additions of salt, or cinammon as I thought might be the case.  Perfect and Clean!!!

Salad

Organic Greens with Cashew Dressing

This salad was great!  Fresh and Flavorful!  The dressing reminded me of a Thousand Island Dressing made out of Cashews I had experimented with last year!  Very Nice!! Again and all RAW dish!!!

Main Course

Stuffted Seitan with Gravy, Cranberry Sauce & Roasted Veggies!

Another View!

Look at all of those delicious mushrooms!!!

By this time everyone was so happy and content with the service and the food! :) We were so involved in our conversation we had forgotton about the final course! 

In fact it was really nice to hear about our friends experiences from their childhood.  Everyone at the table has been a vegetarian for a long time EXCEPT our friend Ignacio!  He was so funny!  He cleaned his plate and knew that he would like to go to another tasting again!   Very postitive!  He recently did some security work at the local meat market and was horrified by the animals being killed and dying in the manner in which they did!  YIKES!  After that particular “gig” he stopped eating meat.  It has been over 3 months since then!  He will be going back to Argentina for Christmas, so hopefully I will be able to find some great recipes for him prior to his trip!

Our other friend is a popular DJ on the radio and an MC at many of the Reggae shows we go to.  Music! Sweet Music!  During our meal, we heard some splendid JAZZ music!  Quite a wonderful ambience in the restaurant!

It was time for out final course -

Desert

Pomegranite Mousse Cake w/ Rasberry Coulis & Rosemary Crackers

This was a nice meal with great friends and will leave us with “Delicious” Memories!  Thanksgiving 2010!!! Thank you readers for reading this post.  Thank you for your life and wonderful energy you add to our earth each day!!!   For love, life and FOOD – I am thankful!!!

 

No running, just relaxing! I was able to have a nice relaxing day with my “taste-tester” and a wonderful evening with friends!!!

Just a few more days until the Free Raffle Giveaway is over!  Join the raffle for a chance to win a 1 yr subsription to Running World Magazine, or 1 yr subscription to Yoga Journal -or- THRIVE by Brendan Brazier!

You can find the posting on that here!

 

Namaste

 

General Veg888 Adventures!

Inhale! Exhale! AAhhh!

Hello All!

I hope you are all doing well on this fine day!

I am quite pleased with my running and biking at the moment.  I finally have many of the computer issues solved.  I was even able to install the Garmin software onto my computer!  That made me really happy! 

Although I received the Garmin Forerunner last week, I waited to use it until I understood a bit more about it.  I took it for a test run yesterday and I was quite pleased! It told me calorie count, the GPS tracked my run, It gave me the pace, and the miles set.  I will be working with it more and more!  After the run I connected the Forerunner to my computer with a USB cable and the watch sent all of my info to the computer.  Just one of the wonderful advantages to this great little device.  Technology!  Don’t you just love it sometimes??? 

Logging the information will allow me to see the changes in my workouts.  I will increase the RAW food intake and see how this fares.  I will also be biking more and more during the next few weeks.  I looked at my pace…a sad 14 minute mile and remembered the elite women are running a little over a 4 minute mile! Can u believe that?  Crazy. 

My run was a nice one.  For the first time in a long time I began thinking about all of the things I need to get done.  I also was feeling positive about the next few months to come.  More food posts, more excercise and MORE LAUGHTER.

After my run I enjoyed a wonderful smoothie!!!

Here it is! Delicious! (For the most part! More on that in a moment!)

This one was a good one! 

BLUEBERRY PINEAPPLE VEGA SMOOTHIE

1 cup frozen blueberries

1/4 cup pineapple

1 scoop Vega *

1 tbl. Udo’s Oil

1 Banana

1 1/2 cups PH water

Blend and Drink!

Top Shot!

About the Vega Health Food Optimizer.  What is Vega you ask?  Well Vega is a supplement by Brendan Brazier.  (Psst…the Author of one of the FREE GIVEAWAYS!!!  You have until November 30th 2010!!) It’s a raw food smoothie supplement to be used after activity or meal replacement.

I have found the supplement to work.  At least in the sense that I am not sore after running/cycling if I drink this 10-12 minutes after activity.  I just find the sweetness to be a bit off!  There are tons of wonderful ingredients in this supplement, however!  Here is the ingredients list!

Features & Benefits
Formulated by Brendan Brazier, vegan, professional Ironman triathlete and best-selling author on performance nutrition, Vega is made exclusively from natural plant-based whole foods.

A synergistic collection of Brendan’s favorite plant-based superfoods, Vega is not only a complete meal replacement, but also an ideal daily health-optimizing supplement.

High in fiber, protein and essential fatty acids, Vega is naturally filling and satisfying, helping to reduce appetite and cravings. Each serving of Vega supplies:

26g of Broad Spectrum Protein

• 40% of calories from protein, with all essential amino acids in ideal balance
• Alkaline forming, 35% raw protein with enzymes intact
• Protein sourced from hemp, yellow pea, brown rice, flax and chlorella

6g of Essential Fatty Acids

• 30% of calories from naturally occurring fats from whole foods
• EFAs mostly in the form of hard to get Omega 3s and zero trans fats
• EFAs sourced from whole flax seed (not flax meal), hemp and chlorella

17g of Quality Carbohydrates

• 30% of calories from naturally occurring complex carbohydrates; no maltodextrin
• Naturally low glycemic index and no sugars or sugar derivatives added
• Carbohydrates sourced from hemp, flax, brown rice and maca

15g of Fabulous Fiber

• Contains both soluble and insoluble fiber
• Helps balance blood sugar, reduce insulin, improve elimination
• Fiber sourced from hemp, flax, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and chlorella

Full Serving of ChlorEssence (High CGF Chlorella)

• Rich in protein, chlorophyll and nucleic acids DNA & RNA
• Cleanse, nourish, rejuvenate cells and activate, support immune system
• Special cell wall fiber binds to and removes heavy metals and other toxins from the body

Full Serving of MacaSure (Organic Gelatinized Maca)

• Rich in alkaloids, glucosinolates, minerals and sterols
• Increase energy, reduce stress, balance hormones, improve libido
• Gelatinization enhances potency and ease of digestion/absorption

Mixed Berry Complex (ORAC 800 blend)

• Great source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals
• Helps defend against free radical damage

Probiotics (Dairy-free)

• Beneficial form of bacteria
• Helps maintains healthy intestinal flora

Digestive Enzymes

• Facilitates breakdown of food to improve absorption
• Helps reduce nutritional stress digestion places on the body

100% Recommended Daily Intake of Vitamins & Minerals

• All essential minerals present in easily absorbable form
• All essential vitamins present in natural form

With just 220 calories and 2g of net carbs per serving (natural flavor), Vega is an excellent choice for those on a calorie-reduced diet. High in fiber, protein and essential fats, Vega is naturally filling and satisfying, helping to suppress appetite and cravings.

Easily digested, alkaline and great-tasting, Vega is clean and green, containing no animal products, corn, dairy, egg, fillers, gluten, soy, sugar, wheat or yeast. Absolutely no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or sweeteners and GMO and pesticide-free.

Vega is available in wholesome and delicious Natural, Berry, Vanilla Chai and Chocolate flavors, in three sizes: individual 30g Snack Packs, small bottles containing 7-8 servings and large bottles containing 15-17 servings. One serving of Vega is a complete meal, exceeding all meal replacement requirements, but people with smaller appetites may find half a serving sufficiently satiating.

Each serving of Vega contains a full dose of MacaSure and ChlorEssence!

At the moment I have the Vanilla Chai.  The chocolate is good.  I don’t like the Berry so much. 

After my run I cycled for 33 min and rode approx 3 more miles.  A total of 6 miles last night!  I just need to keep up with the training schedule I have.  (Fingers Crossed)

I need to plan some runs in the area of 5 – 7 miles for Sunday.  Stay tuned!!!

A really GREAT & INFORMATIVE movie I saw this weekend was called FOODMATTERS! Has anyone seen this movie? Comment and join the FREE RAFFLE GIVEAWAY! -or- Just comment about your thoughts on this I would be very pleased! Nutritional Therapy sure sounds better than Chemotherapy!!!

Thanks for reading!

Namaste!

Hugs & Yoga

Hello everyone! How are you today?  Well?  I hope so!  For those of you who need it – I send you a healing hug!!!   And for those of you feeling pretty good today – tell someone that you love them.  Loving is a healing emotion. 

I thought I would explain and delve deeper into CHATURANGA DANDASANA.

Chaturanga = Four Limbs / Danda = staff (refers to the spine which is considered the support “staff” of the body.)

While in this pose it works your abdomen, upper arms, shoulders and back.  This pose is an extreme intensive pose when held for longer than 30 seconds. Trust me!! It is one of the poses used in the sequence of the Sun Salutation.  I have explained and written about the Sun Salutations here and here.

Benefits of Chaturanga Dandasana

• Strengthens the arms and wrists
• Tones the abdomen

Why is it important to have a strong core?

1. Having a strong core helps improve running performance. 
2. A strong core helps alleviate the pressure on the lower back by stabilizing the mid-section of your body. 
3. Having strong oblique muscles (the ones that are responsible for twisting and transverse plane movements) helps to isometrically hold the body in a forward position so that you don’t waste energy moving from side to side and
4. Strong core muscles aids in keeping the spine erect and supported during high impact activities such as running.

There are many more poses I will add to my workout.  However, I would like to hold this pose for more than 3 minutes.  We’ll see how successful I am in the coming weeks. Whew!  Try holding this pose and you will soon find out what I am talking about!!!

Remember to…

ENTER THE

FREE RAFFLE GIVEAWAY!!!

Rules and Prizes are HERE.

Forging Ahead!!

I am definitly forging ahead! I WILL NOT GIVE UP FITNESS!  It is quite an experience attempting to add fitness back into my life!  I think the hardest part is the time issue!  An attempt to budget my time a bit better is the most important!  Once I get back into the groove of TIME I should be just fine!!!  I usually don’t look at the time or even care what time it is.  Does that sound crazy?  I used to think that was such a AGE DEFYING trick.   Not paying attention to how many birthdays, what time I needed to be where, etc.  BUT when you decide you are going to run, and when you decide you are going to run a 5k, 10k or more – TIME MATTERS!

So, I will be taking the plunge and start timing myself more.  The pace and overall fitness level will have to increase in order for me to be able to compete in any type of organized running event.

This blog has been a food and yoga blog, but there is a new addition to this family…RUNNING!!!  So I will continue to cover all of these interests in my life and I hope you will come along and ENJOY THE RIDE!!!

TIME FOR A GIVEAWAY EVERYONE!!! 

I am offering a 1 year subscription to:

~or~

or

FREE copy of the Brendan Brazier book THRIVE!!!

I have read the Thrive book a few times.  I really enjoyed the information and the breakdown of the various foods available to vegan/vegetarians while they are training and working out!  Professional Athletes and Non-Professional athletes alike!  Very positive book to add to your collection!

To ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY you must:

1) Leave a comment about your fitness desires, challenges from today Nov. 9, 2010 until the deadline Nov. 30, 2010!

2) Share a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon story from your life

3) Share your favorite Yoga Pose and why it is your favorite pose

4) Subscribe to this blog!!!

That’s it!!!   Easy enough huh? 

I hope you are all doing well!  Stay positive!  The answer is just around the corner!!!  

Namaste!

Workout:

35 Minutes on the bike

Chattaranga for 2 minutes – OUCH!!! (3x) – My stomach is SORE!!!

20 Minute walk