Sweet Carrot Ginger Quinoa

Amie Valpone, HHC, AADP is the Editor-in-Chief of www.TheHealthyApple.com; she is a Manhattan based Personal Chef, Culinary Nutritionist, Professional Recipe Developer, Food Photographer and Writer specializing in simple gluten-free and dairy-free ‘Clean’ recipes for the home cook. Amie recently healed herself from six years of chronic pain, exhausting every doctor in the country and Mayo Clinic; she shares her story of how Clean Eating saved her life and inspires you to Clean up your food, too. 

Amie lives in Manhattan, NYC where she cooks for a variety of clients including celebrities and people with busy lifestyles who enjoy healthy, fresh food.

Amie’s work appears on Martha Stewart, Fox News Health, WebMD, The Huffington Post, The Food Network, Glamour Magazine, Clean Eating Magazine, SHAPE Magazine, Prevention Magazine and many others. Visit Amie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus and Pinterest.

Here’s a simple recipe that’s perfect for spring or summer. It’s free of gluten, dairy, nuts and soy so you can feel good about serving this dish to your family and friends. Fresh parsley and lemon zest bring out the flavors of great food and this quinoa recipe is soaring with flavor and protein to keep your family full and satisfied all night long. Leftovers taste great the next day for lunch, too!

Sweet Carrot Ginger Quinoa

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free, Vegetarian and Vegan

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin oil
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, puree carrots, red onion, ginger and vinegar in a food processor until smooth, approximately 4-5 minutes. With machine running, slowly pour in extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and water.
3. Transfer to a large serving bowl; season with salt and pepper.  Garnish with fresh parsley and lemon zest. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The post Sweet Carrot Ginger Quinoa (Guest Post) by @TheHealthyApple appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

it’s all about your frame of mind.

I think Mondays get a bum rap.

They seem to need a large dose of motivation and caffeine. But really isn’t it all how you view it?

I truly believe our thoughts can manifest into feelings. Starting a week with positive thoughts can manifest into good feelings right? And having positive thoughts and feelings (and hopefully lots of laughing) is a great way to start a week of healthy.

That’s why I’m happy to announce the Up by Jawbone giveaway winner today on a Monday!

Congrats to Lucrecer Braxton! 

A big thank you to all who participated! Look for another cool giveaway soon!

***Winner was chosen using a random number generator.

*** I’m a #VZWbuzz team member and compensated. Verizon gave me an UP by Jawbone and one to giveaway for this blog post. My opinions are always my own.

The post Healthy Start Monday: Up by Jawbone Giveaway Winner appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

I’m giving this one away!

***This giveaway has ended. Winner will be announced 4/29/2013.

As  far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be outside instead of inside. That’s why I was super stoked to take on a more outdoor, sustainable lifestyle.  Our lifestyle transition Goodbye Convenience, Hello Homestead, has been a perfect, smooth, and easy transition.

No it hasn’t.

It’s been all kinds of awesome and challenging all at the same time. It’s like being back in school, just with more dirt and yard clean-up. Thankfully the awesome part seriously overshadows the challenging part.

One of those awesome things is that the whole family is definitely more active. We spend hours and hours outside doing all kinds of work and fun activities. There’s always something to do that involves the physical.

Funny thing about activity. The more you do the more you want to do. You would think if you sat in a chair for hours, you’d have lots of energy when you got up because you’d essentially been at rest the whole time, right? Nope. It doesn’t work like that. In fact the more you sit, the less energy you’ll have.

We all have 24 hours in a day. Approximately 16 are spent awake. Even if we spend an hour at the gym, that leaves 15 hours. Thinking of this made me take a look at not just my gym time, but also my living time. For me, healthy living has to be holistic and include all aspects of our lives – the whole 24-hour cycle.

So the timing couldn’t have been more perfect when recently Verizon sent me an UP by Jawbone to try.  Personally, this is the first fitness gadget I’ve found that gives me feedback on my whole day (and night) instead of just the small window of time I’m actually doing one specific activity.

There’s a whole bunch of reasons I love this wrist band, but the fact that I can set an Idle Alert is HUGE to me. I set mine to 30 minutes; the band senses I’ve been idling and vibrates on my wrist to let me know. It really is shocking how quickly a half hour goes by when you’re on the computer! Yikes!

Although I don’t focus on measurements like the scale or how wide my hips are, I love how it tracked my steps. I find it fun to sync the band on my phone and try to guess the number of steps I’ve walked. Or halfway through the day I check to see where I am for the number I’ve set as a goal. I liked having that accountability and the access to the info instantly.

Another favorite feature is the sleep tracking. It’s cool to view how much of your sleep was light, deep, and how many times you woke up. I also love that you set an alarm and the band vibrates. Nice to not be awakened by an obnoxious alarm. The Viking also is appreciative of that perk.

Since there’s so many features I love (like food tracking and being able to shower in it), here’s an  overview of the UP by Jawbone.

So overall what did I think? After 10 days of use, I have to say the UP positively motivated me all day - not just during the one hour of gym time. And it’s fun to use. Really, if it sucks to use or if it’s especially difficult to figure out, most of us will say forget it. The fact that non-techy me could figure it out was a big plus indeed.

Now the really fun part for me — Verizon gave me an UP to give away to one of you (they’re super cool like that).

All you need to do is comment on this post to be  entered. How easy is that?!

Giveaway ends Friday 4/26/2013 11:59 pm [US only]

*** I’m a #VZWbuzz team member and compensated. Verizon gave me an UP by Jawbone and one to giveaway for this blog post. My opinions are always my own. 

The post Time to Get UP and Get off Your Butt: UP by Jawbone Giveaway appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

If you’ve happened to have read (for which I’m oh so thankful) my last post Trading in Car Horns for Crickets, you know we’ve made a major lifestyle change. We’ve left the suburbs and city life and found some open space, perfect for pursuing our love of nature, growing our own food, and raising our kids and possibly some critters that produce eggs.

So we packed up all our crap. You never realize how much useless crap you’ve collected till you start packing it in boxes and then load it AND unload it. Total wake-up call.

I’m looking forward to planning the garden, finding a composting spot, and building a chicken coop. Plenty of tasks ahead. But for now we’re meeting new friends, reconnecting with some old ones, and settling in for a new season.

Loading and unloading (aka Viking Appreciation Day).

We were greeted by some of our friendly new neighbors.

The dogs have had a tough time adjusting as you can see.

The ponder spot (as in 2 days of where the hell did I put my computer power cord).

The day starts early around here.

The “gym” — metal, rugged, and raw. Perfect. All I need is a giant tire.

This desk view is for writing. In reality, I’ll probably just pay bills and watch birds.

Best thing of all. Family time together stargazing.

The post Goodbye Convenience, Hello Homestead appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

I’m thinking this is where the garden will live

I haven’t merely put off blogging from sheer laziness. Mostly it’s due to an exciting lifestyle change that my family unit has been undertaking.

When taking inner inventory of our health, relationships, or jobs, it feels easier to just stay put in our comfortable place.  It takes effort to make a major change.

A crap load of effort.

But the alternative is staying where we are and doing the same things day in and day out. Which is really just existing.

So our family has set out on an adventure. We felt the call to get back to the earth, breathe in cleaner air, and hear the sounds of horses, cows, and crickets.

Or as my friend @Blogomomma put it — it’s like living in a See ‘n Say!

We’re not rich or privileged by any stretch of the imagination. We just did it all the old-fashioned way. We worked and waited till the timing was right for our family.

As we make the transition, I know the adventure is really just beginning. I realize there will be challenges and frustrations along the way.  But the alternative of doing nothing is much more scary to me.

What about this place called to us?

It’s a place where your neighbors wave at you from across their field. Where you look out for one another and lend a helping hand. A place we hope to grow some organic food and share the bounty. There will definitely be chickens at some point and maybe even cooking and recipes!

The Viking doesn’t know it yet but I’ve also been reading about goats, sheep, and llamas. There’s also a long winding road perfect for longboard skateboarding, biking, and running. Complete heaven to this outdoorsy girl. Even my pair of Dobermans seem to sense the happiness.

End of the day prize

As the Viking and I are about to hit the big 20 year wedding anniversary on February 28th, we celebrate another phase of life together.

We’ll always be weight-lifters and the weights already have their spot.  But now there will be much more outside fitness.

Not since Maui have we been where we felt we truly fit. We look forward to getting our hands dirty together again.

So begins the string of successes and failures. I hope to learn from all of you and your experiences and knowledge. I know I have so much to learn. But I’m looking forward to the challenge.

So my question to you dear reader is …

Is there something in your heart, a passion you have, but you hesitate to pursue it? If you have made a major change in your life, what would you share to encourage someone else to pursue theirs?

The post Nature’s Gym: Trading in Car Horns for Crickets appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

finding my zen

Resolutions.

They make us gag think of positive changes and newfound happiness. A sort of rebirth dance we do each year. A restart for our lives.

We tend to make the goals lofty like “I’m going to be organized this year” or “I’m going to get in the best shape of my life.”

Awesome goals of course.

But each year many of us tend to start there, and end up at “I cleaned out my linen closet” and “I bought a new workout outfit.”

I like the whole resolution idea, even if it is often more symbolic than realistic. I’ve made many typical resolutions over the years, but this year I started thinking more of inward ones: ones that I can’t post on Instagram or Pinterest or Facebook or Twitter and can’t really prove to anyone but myself.

Over the last few months, and especially the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that I’ve been feeling an unrest and lack of peace in my life. Workouts definitely help with anxiousness or worry. It makes use of hormones your body produces and suppresses to deal with stress. Super. I’m a fan of the the destress-with-activity idea.

But after the workout is over, and I’m left alone with myself, I realize something’s not right. I’m not going to share my personal faith – although I do have my own beliefs – but I know that when you keep coming back to the same issue, there has to be a root. Otherwise you’re just temporarily removing  it by the stems and it grows back with a vengeance, annoying the crap out of you and robbing you of your peace.

I did some inward inventory and I uncovered that for me, the source of my unrest is worry. Worry schmurry! All I need to do is STOP worrying right? It must be true because I read that in a quote on Twitter. In fact, I might have even tweeted it myself. But as it is with all things, it’s easier said than done.

So as boring as it sounds, my resolution this year is simply to get a handle on worry.

I could organize my stuff, start a new workout program, eat super clean, tell you 50 ways I gave back, how I’m going to be a better wife, mother, and friend, and post it for all to see; but I think I’ll just quietly work through stuff and hopefully become a better human being. Don’t get me wrong, I’m inspired by the success of others, but this one time, keeping it more on the down-low felt more appropriate. Except for right now when I’m telling you about it.

What I’d love to know is if you, dear reader, have inner resolutions that you quietly (aka don’t post and mostly keep to yourself ) have made and found success. Did working on it all by yourself, in your own time, prove successful? Or have you found that you like/need/want the outside encouragement and feel that’s the only way to success?

The post Why This Fitness Freak Doesn’t Have Fitness on Her Resolution List appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

Xbox 360 Kinect Family Bundle in glossy white

Technology now touches almost every aspect of our lives. Kids are growing up with tablets, smartphones, and around the clock internet access available to them at home, as well as in classrooms.

Although I believe technology is the bee’s knees, as a parent I’m concerned with my kids becoming increasingly inactive as more of their free time is spent using gadgets. Years ago parents were concerned with what kids watched on TV at home or at a friend’s house, but now we’ve moved into the gaming era. I was someone who thought that all a video game meant was sitting around on a couch eating crappy food and being completely inactive. The Xbox 360 with Kinect has totally changed my mind.

Our Christmas day was spent inside due to horrendous weather conditions, including tornado watches. But thanks to the Xbox 360 Kinect we had a blast playing games like Kinect Adventures and Sonic Free Riders. I’m really excited about these interactive games that encourage movement and physical challenges. Since our kids are growing up with technology being part of their normal day, I feel my choice as parent lies with choosing what kind games can be a healthy alternative to games that require no physical interaction aside from your thumbs.

Kinect for Xbox 360 is full-body gaming and is controller-free so you get to jump, kick, dance, and use your whole body to play. After playing, my older daughter noticed she really felt that her legs got a good workout, and the younger daughter said she needed to take a break and rest.

Music to this mom’s ears.

Save $50 on the Xbox 360 250 GB Kinect Holiday Bundle

*offer ends January 5th, 2013.

*Disclosure: I was compensated for this post. My opinions are always my own whether I’m compensated or not.

The post Off the Couch and Into the Game: Xbox 360 + Kinect appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

Santa gets extra kisses this year!

I was excited to receive the Nokia Lumia 822 from the awesome people at Verizon. I’d not yet experienced a Windows phone but I’d heard so much about them.

I’m going to make a disclaimer right away here and tell you I’m far from gadget savvy, although I do love me a shiny new gadget.

What makes a gadget appeal to me personally is not so much all the techy stuff that I might not ever use for lack of the savvy, but how it fits into my life and helps me accomplish what I want and need to do beyond making a phone call or checking my email.

While I’m still in the learning phase with my Lumia 822, I picked a few features I’m loving so far.

Love the fitness selections!

Workout Music

I fell in love with the Lumia’s music options. I haven’t connected to the Xbox Music Store yet to add my own music, but I love the unlimited free music mixes that were available on the phone right out of the box.

You can listen to music online or off. Best part – no ads! I especially love that the mix radio had a fitness genre with different workout music choices — including yoga.

The Camera

Backyard beauty – No filter.

I walked in my backyard and took this pic. No filter. I found the 8 MP camera easy to use and easily posted it to Facebook. Simple.

I love simple.

You can download Nokia Lenses like Panorama and Smart Shoot plus others from the Windows Store for more fun photo options. It also has 1080P HD video for those possible upcoming vlogs I might one day attempt. Ok, who am I kidding?

Kid Corner

Being a mom of two, I have to say this was one of my favorite features. Kid’s Corner gives your child a start screen of their own and access to videos, games, apps, and music you choose to add, but there’s no access to your stuff. It’s opened by a left swipe from the lock screen.

Lots of color!

The Experience 

I always wanted a white phone, so I’m stoked about the color! I know this might seem completely unimportant in picking a smartphone but I also find the Lumia 822 a blast to play with. It’s colorful and a completely different experience from other smartphones I’ve tried. I also loved how it felt in my hand.

*The fine folks at Verizon were kind enough to provide me with this awesome smartphone. They rock! Want to know all the 822 can do and if it fits YOU?

Read all about the 4GLTE Nokia Lumia 822 for Verizon.

The post The Nokia Lumia 822: The Freaking Fun and Friendly Phone appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

The Bumble was obsessed with red noses. This in turn got him pushed over a cliff. There’s a lesson here.

This year I was too lazy chose not to do a post on how to avoid a pig-out on Thanksgiving day. I really wanted to focus on being thankful.

This doesn’t always come naturally for me.

Also I was busy cooking a crap-load of food, so that was the other reason. This left me with a crap-load of tasty leftovers.

With all the posts about Thanksgiving Day, it seemed that one day was going to destroy every day prior you’ve invested in working out and eating clean. That’s kind of misleading.

One day of bingeing is not going to cause you to gain any significant amount of weight. Very likely the increase on the scale the next morning was from high-sodium holiday food.

There’s more than 30 days till we’re in 2013. Between now and then is when you’ll likely gain that extra 10 lbs. Out of the 30-something days there’s only a few actual, official holiday days. It’s not those days that need to be the focus. It’s all the days in between that are the real problem.

The Never-Ending Feast

Mindless eating is exactly that: eating without using your mind. But everyone’s mind is different. What works for one person  might not work for another. You have to find what speaks to you.

Here’s my tips that work for me, but don’t hesitate to tweak these ideas to fit your life and personality.

1. Designate a shelf or shelves in the fridge

Make a shelf (hopefully more than one) in the fridge as your go-to shelf to grab something healthy. If you have to dig through the not-so-good stuff to find a piece of fruit or a Greek yogurt, you’ll likely be tempted to eat what  you see and touch first. By making one shelf “the good shelf” you automatically know where to find healthy eats. This is especially handy for all the leftovers. Hide them from yourself. I know I am a very visual person; if I see it, I’m more likely to eat it. This idea works for the cabinets and pantry too.

2. Never go to any place serving or selling food while you’re hungry

This one works for everyone! It’s a good idea to keep a quick healthy snack on hand like nuts, a protein bar, or a shake to grab when you find yourself hungry and headed to a place that serves or sells food. Hunger is powerful! You know this is true if you’ve ever watched Bear Gryllis scarf down a caterpillar.

3. Never cook hungry

There’s a theme here. Never do anything hungry. Always have something healthy within reach to at least take the edge off enough to get you to the next full meal.

4. Say no to food gifts

A tricky one if your Nana makes you her famous fudge each year. Luckily for me, the Viking is more than willing to save me from such goodies. If every year you receive a food gift, it’s ok to tell someone you’re trying to watch what you eat. If you still receive such a gift, share it with someone who isn’t watching their weight. And please, don’t donate it to the office fridge at work. Very likely they’re trying to avoid the weight-gain too! If you have to, toss it!

5. Don’t be a food pervert

I confess to an occasional bout of obsessing. Usually it’s about small things I think are going to grow into monster problems. Sometimes my family informs me that I need to chill, and almost always they’re right. Except that one time when everyone ignored my warnings about the strange noise my daughter’s truck was making and then a head gasket blew – but I digress.

Obsessing has a tendency to suck the very life out of the moment and magically give power to the very thing we’re focused on. I think that’s especially true of food. Avoiding food can be as unhealthy as seeking it out. Both can create an unhealthy pattern. Food thoughts shouldn’t dominate your thinking.

What about you?

These are some of my healthy life rules that have worked for me. But you are YOU! What tips have you found to help you through a season of feasts and baked goodies? 

The post 5 Ways to Avoid Being an Abominable Holiday Eating Machine appeared first on Freaking Fitness.

Multitasking – MizFit style

One of the biggest struggles I hear from folks is lack of free time to fit in exercise.

For many people with an already packed schedule, squeezing in one more thing can feel overwhelming.

I realize that for some, it’s an excuse to not workout and cocktail hour is more important. I’m speaking to those single-parent, two-job kind of busy people.

1. Keep exercise expectations realistic

I’ve found I’m setting myself up for failure by taking on a new program that requires me to give a huge chunk of time, if I know at this point in my life it’s just not going to happen.

I learned this after trying it over and over. Since we tend to go through phases in our life, we have to adjust accordingly. Fitness has to fit the phase we’re in, because you shouldn’t have to sacrifice time with your family or job to get healthy.

Knowing your limits frees you up to make good choices when it comes to your health instead of choosing unhealthy things like crash diets.

2. Budget your time

Start by looking at your day and writing down your hourly schedule. You’re trying to find only an extra 30 minutes for exercise. Like you do when you budget your money, look for something unnecessary to get rid of. Are you investing a couple of hours of your time watching TV in the evening or spending time on Facebook? Those would be things in your “budget” to rethink.

3. Make it convenient

Years ago the Viking and I used to go to the gym everyday. We’d be there probably about two hours. That’s not counting the time getting ready and driving there.

Then we had kids, and that came to a screeching halt.

So we started collecting equipment for home, checking out garage sales and looking for used stuff in the newspaper. We now have a squat rack, an olympic bar, weights, a pulley-type machine, dumbbells, kettlebells, jumprope, a stationary bike, weighted balls, exercise DVD’s, and few other toys. It’s really all we need to workout. As long as you can do compound movements with your set up, you’re golden. Here are some of the exercises I consider to be the backbone of my fitness:

Deadlift

Squats

Stiff legged deadlift

Bench press

Incline press

Military press

Barbell rows

Kettlebell swings

4. Make nutrition a priority

Basically, it takes the same amount of time to eat healthy as it does to eat crappy. In this area, time isn’t an issue. If you can make fried chicken you can make baked chicken. Although I’m not encouraging it, when you do decide to grab fast food, you can choose a salad with chicken over a cheeseburger and fries.

5. Take advantage of the weekend 

If your job and family obligations keep you super busy during the week, take advantage of the two days you have on the weekend. Instead of making one a rest day, use a weekday for a day off from exercise. If you take the typical living hours of 7am to 9pm for example, you have 4,200 minutes from Monday to Friday. Out of that you just need to find 90 minutes for three 30 minute sessions. You can even split a 30 minute session into two 15 minute sessions.

6. Find what you love OUTSIDE the gym

This is where you can get the family involved too. There’s running, hiking, walking, playing Frisbee, playing tag football, shooting hoops, water sports of all kinds, skiing, tennis, and so on. By doing a variety of things you’re likely to stumble upon something you’ll love and have a passion for. That sets you up for a healthy lifestyle.

Don’t allow time to steal a healthy life from you. The time is there, you just have to do a bit of digging for it and be a little creative. Once you find it and start consistently exercising, it will become a part of your life and you’ll be hooked.

How have you made time for exercise? Did you give something up? Is time still an obstacle to your health? 

The post 6 Ways to Overcome the “No Time for Exercise” Excuse appeared first on Freaking Fitness.