Robbed of the rawness

*SUMMER SHAPE UP NOTE: This week, we’re repeating Week 1 of the program. You should be comfortable with all of the exercises and if the weights you’re using are too light, it’s time to push it up a little. We’re 1/3 of the way through the Shape Up (it ends July 31) and I hope you are already seeing the benefits of eating clean, doing cardio and weight training. Keep up the great work!!!!

Hey guys! Happy Monday Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I apologize for being MIA this past weekend—the pilot and I had some random adventures on Saturday and had Megan and her pilot over last night.

On Saturday, we went to Wild Adventures to meet with the owner regarding a squadron event we’re having there. After talking with him, he told us we could walk the park, so even though we didn’t ride any rides, we had to see the animals.

In the aviary, the birds came flocking to the pilot:

Bird man:

I posed by a white deer:

Elephants:

Giraffe:

Mini kangaroo things:

(the ablino one is so pretty!)

After Wild Adventures, we did something else totally random: went to Best Buy and bought a 52’’ flat screen and some Wii games. Of course, the pilot was way more excited about it than I was –I love it, but it was like Christmas for that kid- so when I could tear him away from his new love, we went and had a beautiful dinner at 306 North.

We started with the grouper ceviche with won tons. I only ate 1 won ton (but lots of the ceviche) and it was delicious! At first I thought it was an odd choice of fish for ceviche, but I really liked it.

And some lovely shiraz:

House salad with balsamic on the side:

A multigrain roll:

And for the entree, I chose the vegetable platter with no white potato mash. Check out this GORGEOUS plate of veggies!!

Sweet potato mash, asparagus, green beans, onion, tomato, peas, broccoli, carrots and spinach. A-freaking-mazing.

For dessert, we got the New York cheesecakes with blueberry and Grand Marnier sauce. I had 3 foodgasm-filled bites

I love date night

So yesterday was pretty low key- we ran errands, cleaned, went to the gym, and made some foodie for our dinner company.

I set out the usual appetizers:

Veggies

Cheese plate (dill havarti, pepper jack, so so gouda, and my new favorite cheese: goat jack cheese)

Tuscan white bean sundried tomato dip (canellini beans, plain nonfat yogurt, sundried tomatoes, olive oil, italian seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic in the food processor)

Mary’s crack and Triscuits:

And a GIANT container of Sangria (using this recipe and subbing Stevia for the sugar)

This stuff is evil…..

For our meal, we each had raw spaghetti as a side. Spriralized zucchini with raw marinara sauce (I added some nutritional yeast, lemon and italian seasoning in there), and portobello mushrooms that I marinated in olive oil, balsamic, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper and dehydrated in the trusty dehydrator.

Roasted ratatouille veggies with EVOO, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper:

Here’s my plate:

And Chicken parm for the boys:

For dessert, I had made these cookies (carob and almond butter, adapted from a recipe in Eat, Drink and Be Vegan)

And also made some vegan chocolate chip ones from the same cookbook (unpictured, oops!)

So Megan and I made some raw vanilla bean and cinnamon ice cream (adapted from a recipe in Raw Food, Real World) and crumbled the cookies on top.

Yes, by doing so, we robbed the ice cream of its rawness, but made it even more delicious

We had such a blasty and I’m definitely feeling the effects on the sangria this morning. I’m off to the post office to mail New York goodies to the familia, going to the gym for some training appts and my Shape Up group, then teaching Zumba. Hope you all have a great day!!! See ya tonight

Much love,

G

  Congrats to the Summer Shape Up girls who got more than 20 points for last week: Amisha, Ashley P., Brittany, Elizabeth D., Heather K., Katie S., Piera, Sabrina, Samantha S., Sara D., Stephanie F. and Megan R.!!!

Today’s tip: If your ever feel the sudden desire to change your fitness/eating/life habits, do it right then and there instead of waiting for an ambiguous day to do so (like a Monday or New Year’s). This takes out the added pressure of waiting for that day, and chances are you’ll be able to sick with it if you begin the second you feel motivation.