Happy Healthy Long Life

The Perfect Quick Pre-Work-Out Breakfast - Sonya O'Donnell's Chocolate Banana Chia Power Pudding - Followed by the Healthy Librarian's Favorite Friday Morning Work-Out

2012-02-03T11:41:20-08:00

Sonya O'Donnell's Power Chia Banana Pudding

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Lucky me--I don't work on Friday's.

But, no matter how late I get home on Thursday nights, without fail, I wake up early on Friday morning so I can get to my favorite workout: Caroline's 30 minutes of spinning, followed by 30 minutes of weight-training intervals that keep the heart pumping.

There usually isn't much time for breakfast--and don't tell anyone--but, sometimes I leave the house without even brushing my teeth--until I get home! Shhh!

Last week when I spotted Sonya O'Donnell's Quick Banana Chocolate Chia Pudding, I decided I had to give it a try. I'm a sucker for pudding, chocolate, and chia.

Nothing could have been easier to whip up! I added my secret ingredient--1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder to give it a touch of sophistication--and a little caffeine.

Let me tell you--this pudding is THE PERFECT PRE or POST WORKOUT fuel. It even has champion tri-athlete Brendan Brazier's perfect workout fuel or recovery ratio: 3-4 grams of carbohydrates to 1 gram of protein for post recovery.

It's a perfect nutritional powerhouse, with protein from the soy milk, hemp seeds, & chia--potassium from the banana--polyphenols & antioxidants from the cocoa--and carbohydrates, fiber, & antioxidants from the dates--and, it's loaded with omega-3s from the chia & hemp. Oh baby. Plus, it tastes delicious!

Making the Power Pudding--It's as Easy as Pie

Easy Ingredients--Non-Dairy Milk, Chia, Hulled Hemp Seeds, Banana, Dates, Vanilla, & Cinnamon

Here's Sonya's recipe, with my modifications of espresso powder & soy milk:

"Chia seeds are one of the oldest cultivated plants known to man. They are loaded with antioxidants, essential fatty acids (3 and 6), vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Chia seeds maintain blood sugar levels as they slow our bodies conversion of carbohydrates into simple sugars. They are great for an athletic person as they can effectively replenish minerals lost in sweat.

Chia seeds can also help in weight loss as they swell up to 10 times their size, which prevents absorption of some calories we eat. Chia puddings are great for breakfast as they will provide you with ample energy throughout the day."

Read more about the benefits of cocoa and chia here and here and here.

For a copy of the recipe on one page, click here

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

1½ cups EdenSoy Extra (it's fortified with calcium, B-12, & vitamin D, etc.) Or use the non-dairy milk of your choice. Sonya's recipe uses almond milk
1 organic banana
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder or Penzey's non-Dutched cocoa (my fave), or any non-Dutched cocoa
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chia seeds
2 medjool dates, pitted
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp instant espresso powder

Preparation:

Place the chia seeds in a medium sized mixing bowl.
Blend soy milk, banana, hemp seeds, cacao or cocoa, salt, dates, vanilla, espresso powder and cinnamon in a high speed blender.
Blend on high until a chocolate shake consistency is achieved.
Add wet ingredients to chia seeds and mix thoroughly.
Let stand for at least 20 minutes while chia seeds swell and become gel like.
Serve with a few goji berries as garnish.
Pudding will last in refrigerator, covered for a few days.

Nutrition Facts

Sonya O'Donnell
Chia Chocolate Banana Power Breakfast Pudding

Serving Size: 1 serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories

200

Total Fat

Saturated Fat

0.7g

Trans Fat

Cholesterol

0mg

Sodium

180mg

Carbohydrate

28g

Dietary Fiber

7.1g

Sugars

14.3g

Protein

7.5g

Vitamin A 12%	Vitamin C 5%
Calcium 9%	Iron 9%

The Workout I Don't Ever Want to Miss

The No-Frills Spin "Studio" at My Neighborhood Fitness Co-op

That's Me--Enjoying the 30 Minute Weight Work-Out after 30 Minutes of Spinning

My idea of a perfect workout:

30 minutes of spinning to get my heart rate thumping--in the company of a fun group of 20-somethings through 60-somethings (namely me--& my friend Janet whose almost 60)
30 minutes of non-stop complex weight-training moves that simultaneously use the upper body & lower body to keep the heart rate up. Think squats, lunges, push-ups, planks, abs, & working every possible upper body muscle group. Always different, with a mixture of light & heavy weights, bands, & even paper plates!

Did the Power Pudding keep me fueled?

Absolutely!! And I followed it up with some Green Smoothie & Chocolate Oatmeal with Berries when I got home. I've got energy to spare! And yes, I brushed my teeth right after that second breakfast!

What's your favorite pre or post workout meal?

What's your favorite work-out?

Happy Groundhog Day! The Bill Murray Movie, the Punxsutawney, PA Celebration, and Ellen Goodman's 1993 Meditation on Middle Age

2012-02-02T04:52:07-08:00

Making the best of what we have....is not second best. It is rather, a demand for active engagement in caring for what and whom we value. That is what's touching about Groundhog Day.

-Ellen Goodman-

Happy 126th Groundhog Day!

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links.

If this post looks familiar to you--it's not because you're suddenly trapped in a some cosmic Bill Murray-like Groundhog Day Life--stuck seeing the same HHLL post every morning! Although, I'm guessing it must seem like that for some of you.

No, it's just my not-so-annual Groundhog Day post--that I first wrote in 2008 and reposted in 2009 and I'm now reposting it in 2012!

Living the Groundhog Day Life

I love Bill Murray's 1993 movie, Groundhog Day! It's my favorite kind of film---funny with a profound message. We can get stuck in the same place, doing the same thing, every last day of our lives, until we finally get it right. Until we change ourselves.

Phil Connors is an arrogant, cynical, sarcastic weatherman who has come to Punxsutawney, PA on February 2 to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebration.

He's the kind of guy who no one can stand--and he could care less! To Phil this is a backwater town, and the assignment is beneath him. And to make matters worse, he discovers he's in the middle of huge cosmic joke that condemns him to living the same day, February 2 over and over again.

Every blessed morning he wakes up to Sonny & Cher singing, "It Ain't Me Babe". Eats the same breakfast & covers the same Groundhog Day festival, sees the same annoying people.....until he gets it right!

Before I saw Groundhog Day I had read Ellen Goodman's column about the movie. Now, nineteen years later I still think about what the movie meant to her and I just have to share her Zen-like meditation on middle-age:

In the middle of the movie Phil says in utter despair to a man sitting next to him at a bar:

"What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was the same and nothing mattered?"

Here's what Ellen Goodman had to say back in 1993:

"What would you do if you woke up in the same place and every day was the same?

For most people, middle age is a little bit like that. It's long past the time of life when most of us were building our careers, beginning our families and nesting.

It's the maintenance stage when an extraordinary amount of energy is going to upkeep - keeping up the commitments you have. One morning inevitably looks a lot like the one before it.....

But in real life, those of us who do not want to start over in the middle face a different test of renewal. Daily renewal. Getting up in the same place, doing the same things - only making it matter.

So we have to figure out how to make the best of what we have.

Making the best of what we have....is not second best. It is rather, a demand for active engagement in caring for what and whom we value.

That is what's touching about Groundhog Day. Our trapped weatherman has to learn this the hard way. His life is reduced to one inescapable day. It's the entire deck he's been dealt, the allotment of flowers he can arrange, the cast of characters in his life.

He goes through stages of feeling trapped, depressed, and living as if there's no tomorrow. He finally comes to the not-so-profound-but-still-pretty-rare realization that he can change his world by changing himself.

..it's about making the best of what you have...over and over. Making small repairs and improvements so that the commitments of midlife--the work you do and people you love--don't become a trap. They become and remain the town in which you choose to live even when you have options.

"Groundhog Day" is the perfect renewal movie when we're trapped in the middle of one of the coldest & snowiest winters (and the most challenging economic times) I can remember in a long time.

Note: That might have been true in 2008 & 2009. But, this winter it feels kind of nice to be trapped in the middle of one of the warmest & least snowy winters I can remember. As the for economic scene--doesn't seem like much has changed in that department.

And the Pursuit of Happiness - How About That Maira?

If you've never had the opportunity to see Maira Kalman's gorgeous artistic essay, "And the Pursuit of Happiness" in the 2/01/09 New York TImes --please take a look & say "Hallelujah!"

Feast your eyes & spirt on this! Click here! Her artistic column "And the Pursuit of Happiness," about American democracy, appeared on the last Friday of each month in 2009 in the New York Times. You will find all of Maira's pictorial essays at the bottom of the link. Enjoy!

Happy President's Day month, too!