Getting my Veggies

One of my goals this month was getting a full 5 servings of vegetables every day. This has been suprisingly easier than I thought.



For instance, 10 baby carrots = 1 serving of veggies. 1 Small bag of baby carrots = 5 servings of veggies (no, I did not individually count the carrots - it's usually on the bag).

So, while at my desk, instead of chowing down on a bag of peanut M+Ms, I replaced it with carrots, mmmm, sweet and juicy carrots.

And guess what! It's a veggie!

As dinner is usually our biggest meal, I like to find recipes that are packed with veggies, so if for whatever reason, life has got in the way of eating the greens throughout the day, I know I can make it up at the end of the day.

My favorite recipe - quinoa salad. Adding a little citrus, this is a fresh, protein and veggie packed salad that's perfect before or after the workout, when the last thing you want is something heavy. Can you spot the vegetables?

Now, this obviously requires a bunch of chopping, and you just can't get away from it. So I chop everything for the week on Sunday, then I don't even have to worry about it after that. Put on a fave podcast, tunes, or TV show and just go.

It feels really good to have your fridge stocked with good stuff, but if you haven't prepped it in advance, usually, it just goes to waste. All the work that is between you and stuffing your face with beets for example, is all done and you can just stuff your face!


The possibilities are endless to add veggies - we do tortillas or tacos, where I substitute lettuce for spinach, add in green, red, yellow peppers, lots of fresh tomato. Mmmm, I kinda want veggies for breakfast right now!

A shockingly tasty recipe I found the other day was this Pear and Prosciutto Pizza with Parmesan and Argula Pesto Pizza.

The recipe calls for using 4 cups of arugula, aka a WHOLE BOX of the stuff. It condenses down in the glorious blender to about 2 cups worth with the olive oil and almonds and garlic. It's this brilliant green - gorgeous and so fresh.

But, go to taste it, and it is one spicy arugula pesto!!! Was not sure about this recipe at that point.

Instead of the mini buns, we used a seedy whole wheat awesome large pizza crust already cooked from Save-On.

You then get to add pear and cheese and prosciutto (Andrew's fave) , and this is what you get:

With the sweetness of the pear, the salty of the parm (as my foodie friend Steve likes to call it) and prosciutto, it balances out the arugula perfectly. We also had enough pesto leftover for a pizza later that week. MMMMM check it out!

After finding these recipes in magazines, online, it makes me inspired to go check out more. If I am going to eat 5 servings of veggies a day, I need to make this as exciting as possible. Top 2 recipes I can't wait to try:



1) These egg muffin things on FLIP's blog and newsletter this month. They just add red pepper, but I think you can add so many more veggies!




2) The Very Full Tart from Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty (a veggie chef from Britain). Look how great it looks!

As it's holiday season, FLIP threw a great Christmas party as a client appreciation event. What, do you ask, would be the food selection at a party hosted by 3 personal trainers?

Surprise!! It's veggies!!! And some other great recipes with, you guessed it, veggies!


Also, I have found a great solution to get my veggies in while eating out: the amazing yam and avacado sushi roll - no raw fish here! Usually served warm, these are smooth and sweet and a delicious treat. I have found that about 90% of the sushi restaurants have it if you just ask. Tokyo One Sushi on West 10th (next to Urban Yarns knitting store) is the best that I've tried so far.

Now, if you have no other reason to eat veggies, maybe this will be it:

"I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli." ~ George W. Bush

Support - The Team Behind the Machine

I am SO lucky to have so many supportive people in my life - my family and friends and co-workers who understand when I say "my hips don't want your cookies" (even when I totally want them myself and they look gorgeously delicious). In this fitness journey of mine, there are two very special people who are my top supporters:


#1: Emilia D'Aversa with FLIP Training - My Personal Trainer!!!



Not only is she hip and cool, her background in martial arts makes me a little scared of her, so I keep showing up for my training sessions.

When you have an appointment booked with someone, you don't want to miss it. If you just are going to the gym by yourself, if you don't have anyone to meet, it's amazing how many excuses can come up to not go to the gym.

Emilia is always trying new varieties of exercises (she knows I get bored of the same old, same old), but at the same time they are familiar so I can work on the basics and recognize the exercises enough that I can feel strong that I have advanced.

She has been a great motivation every step of the way, and I am so glad she is my trainer. Her value far exceeds what I pay her. She is friendly, always has a smile on her face (mostly when my face is red and she knows my muscles will be hurting the next day). As with all the FLIP ladies, she is fun to hang out with, concerned with making sure I have proper form to prevent injuries, and she listens to any complaints I may have calmly and provide additional motivation to help me get through when I need it.

Call her up - it's worth it. I know myself, and even though I know all the exercises and what to do, those additional appointments are what gets me motivated to work out.

#2: My Boyfriend Andrew



Andrew has been an AMAZING support in this journey.



We make our shopping list each week, he agrees with having the most amount of veggies possible, trying new ones like kale (which, by the way, is worth trying fried up a little with lemon (my fave) or balsamic vinegar (his fave)). He now loves kale. I'm not quite there yet, but it's pretty good.

I like to call Andrew the Hoover (as in, the vaccum). I am a slow eater by nature, and he has an inner sense that watches me a like a hawk as I eat, and as I start to slow down, he moves in for the kill, asking if I need help.

Also, there are times Andrew wants to "share" something. "Sharing" does not mean 50/50, oh no - see, Andrew is a faster eater, so I will have 2 bites usually, and he gets the rest.

We hosted a rockin' cookie exchange party this past weekend, and I only survived with a plan. The plan was: pick my favorites, and "Share" each cookie - aka I get a bite, and he gets the rest.

Although a little annoyed that I couldn't eat the whole cookie, I was very greatful after, as it just isn't worth it.  We had some cookies left over after our house, after forcing everyone else to take the rest. I told Andrew: let's share one last cookie, then throw out the rest. And instead of being annoyed, he gave me a high five (we're very romantic). And we never did have that "last cookie".

Also, he likes to help me by after work, laying out what I need to help me get out the door faster. He writes little notes too.

Here are two examples from the last week:

Note #1:

(he actually does know how to spell beef, just saying)

Note #2:

 (couple miscommunication - Ashley's interpretation: "empty dishwater = dishwasher needs to be emptied" - Andrew's meaning - "empty dishwasher = dishwasher is empty, what a great b/f I am!!")
Andrew and Emilia both give me that extra push when I'm tired, grumpy, annoyed, and the excuses in my head are just taking over.

I love my team, thank you!!!!

Good support is like a weight bench, it supports you at all times, but it's up to you to do the work.