Why the title “The Humble Warrior”?

When I was trying to think of a blog name the first thing that came to my mind was the humble warrior. Now if you know anything about yoga you might know that it’s a pose, and you’re probably thinking it’s my favorite one since I named my blog after it. Well actually it’s probably my least favorite pose of all time. Something about that pose is just uncomfortable for me. If you’re not sure what humble warrior is check out this link http://leighferrarayoga.com/humble-warrior/ (This is clearly not me since I dislike this pose). So why would I name my blog after a pose that is my least favorite? Well yoga has taught me many things and one of the lessons is to embrace the things in life that are challenging. Life wouldn’t be life if everything was easy right? All sorts of crazy shit can get thrown one’s way and all one can do is learn to deal with it. Embrace the good times and endure the hard times with equal determination. Yoga has helped me endure these are times or struggles know that this is life and it will go on. So again why name my blog after a pose I don’t like?

Sometimes you just gotta do things you don’t like and honestly I hope if I practice enough maybe I will like the humble warrior pose. There is always the chance that it will be my least favorite pose forever though and I am ok with that too. Some say that the pose you like the least is the pose you need most in your life. I just gotta be okay where I am at in my practice and in my life. I truly believe it is stillness that brings great things whether it’s striving for a stress-free life or in yoga by stretch and trying to reach the fullest expression of a pose.

Now get up and try the humble warrior pose 🙂 Is it your favorite?

Whole 30 – Day 9 – Meal 3

So I’ve really been slacking on the blog but I really hadn’t made any new recipes – the last few days have been much of the same. But tonight I did try another recipe from The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook by Mickey Trescott. The recipe I made was a chicken stir fry and I must say it was the bomb. Actually it was a 2 part recipe but was really easy and let’s just say I got my fix of chinese with this stir fry.

I thawed 3 organic chicken breast and planned to cook them tonight to use for several different meals throughout the week. It’s a pretty basic recipe for shredded chicken breast.

Shredded Chicken Breast

Ingredients: 2 lbs pastured chicken breast (skin on) ( I didn’t have this type on hand so I used skinless), 1/4 salt, 2 Tbsp solid cooking fat, 1 cup bone broth (I didn’t have time to make bone broth so I used organic chicken broth).

1. Rinse the chicken breasts with cold water and pat dry. Bring to room temperature and sprinkle them with salt.

2. Heat the cooking fat in a skillet over medium heat.

3. When the fat is melted and the pan is hot, place the chicken top-side down and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until browned. Flip the chicken, add the broth, cover, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

4. Let cool and shred the meat.

Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients: 2 Tbsp solid cooking fat, 1 yellow onion (chopped), 6 cloves garlic (minced), 1 1/2 inch piece ginger (peeled and minced), 3 large carrots (thinly sliced on the diagonal), 1 lbs broccoli (chopped), 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/2 cup coconut aminos, 2 cups mushrooms (chopped), 2 cups shredded chicken breast meat, 1/2 lemon (juiced, about 1 tbsp)

1. Heat the cooking fat in a wok or a large skillet on medium heat.

2. When the fat has melted and the pan is hot, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring for another minute. Add the carrots, broccoli, salt and coconut aminos and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. The vegetables should be firm yet cooked.

3. Add the chicken and stir to heat throughout. squeeze with the lemon juice and serve warm.

 

Just a bike ride through a cemetery

Since today is America’s Birthday and everyone deserves the day off so naturally the yoga studio I go to was closed. I could have still done yoga but today I wanted to be outside and just take a bike ride. So I got up, got dressed, brushed my teeth, laced up my shoes and got on my bike. I opened the garage and realized the fog was really think this morning, kind of earie but pretty at the same time.

I didn’t really have a path or somewhere in mind. So I rode down some of the side streets in my neighborhood and made my way through the cemetery that lines the local lake. The fog was still thick, but I managed to capture a really cool picture from the cemetery overlooking the lake.

Whole 30 – Prep for Day 5

So again I am hanging with my bestie on America’s birthday so naturally we had to do some prep so we could eat good healthy food while we’re out on the boat. 

Actually the bestie made most the food and I watched but oh well. 

We made homemade burgers for grilling (I should have taken a picture). We just took ground beef and added some spices and formed them in to patties. Then to change it up we made sweet potato buns (I added the link). We also made some parsnip chips. Then I still need to make the kale salad from Day 1 – Meal 2 – it’s really good. 

http://everydaypaleo.com/dry-rub-burgers-and-sweet-potato-rounds/

 

 

Whole 30 – Day 4 – Meal 3

My bestie is also doing the Whole 30 with me and today I was going to visit her and see her new house. Which by the way I must say is fabulous. So anyways she made us a Whole 30 dinner and it was really good and something different off the beaten path and actually something that I probably wouldn’t have attempted. My bestie is a good cook and does make the best chocolate chips cookies ever. Okay I have to stop thinking about cookies and get back to the healthy yet fabulous dinner she made. 

We had crab cakes with an avocado dipping sauce and sweet potato fries. Below is the recipes she used for the crab cakes. 

http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/08/low-carb-crab-cakes-w-roasted-red.html

 

 

Whole 30 – Day 4 – Meal 2

Yep meal 2 did not happen today…Epic Fail.

Whole 30 – Day 4 – Meal 1

Because I did not eat dinner last night (I know this is not good) but I was really hungry for breakfast . So I was having a bit of a dilemma though…eggs again..ugh I am already just a little sick of them. I need to change up breakfast – but what else can I do? Then the lightbulb went off..oh yeah I made extra of those savory ground beef patties. Oh and of course I got out of bed later than planned – so it was another breakfast in my purse kind of morning. I threw the beef patties, a whole zucchini, blueberries, and an avocado in my purse and it was off to work. 

Once I got to work I reheated the ground beef patties (you can find the recipe under Day 1 – Meal 3). These were so good again reheated. I would definitely suggest trying this recipe. Anyways, I cut cut up the zucchini and had it raw with the avocado, blueberries and black coffee. 

This was an quick and easy meal and it kept me full actually all day because it was another day where I didn’t eat lunch…

Whole 30 – Day 3 – Meal 3

So I know this is terrible and I shouldn’t have done this because it’s not complaint with Whole 30 but I didn’t eat dinner last night. I went and got my hair done then stopped over a friend’s house and stayed later than expected. I was not about to eat dinner at 11pm when I know I was just going to go to bed. Honestly this is not something that I do often but it happens. I should have had a Lara bar in my purse for these types of emergency’s. 

Whole 30 – Day 3 – Meal 2

Lunch time rolls around again…it’s like an everyday occurrence. Weird how that happens. Anyways, every Wednesday at work we have lunch meetings. At first I thought that this would be an issue while on the Whole 30, so I thought that i could bring a lunch to these lunch work meeting but then I thought, yeah I am doing whole 30 but I shouldn’t have to give up everything. I just need to choose wisely and ask how the meals are prepared. 

Today’s pick was Chili’s and I choose the lunch combo fajita’s. I did have to make some adjustments, no cheese, no tortillas, not sour cream. I asked them to sautee the onions and peppers in olive oil instead of vegetable oil. Then my side salad had no croutons and no cheese. Actually it wasn’t a bad lunch and I stayed pretty Whole30 compliant. 

Whole 30 – Day 3 – Meal 1

It was another one if those mornings where I was warm and comfortable and did not want to get out if bed. This poses a problem when I’m supposed to be getting up earlier to make breakfast. But last night I made a double batch of sweet potato hash so I grabbed that with 2 hardboiled eggs and some asparagus and I was out the door.