Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Yummy hummus!

I have been talking to several clients about the importance of getting enough protein in their day and have found myself promoting hummus. It is a Meditteranean bean dip made from chick peas and olive oil. Traditional hummus has quite a bit of Olive Oil (although a healthy oil, still contains lots of calories and fat) so I found a lower-fat version that looks wonderful and simple to make. It pairs well with all sorts of fresh veggies or whole grain pita chips.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Drain black beans and garbanzo beans and reserve liquid.
  2. Rinse beans and allow to drain.
  3. Place black beans, garbanzo beans, lemon juice, oils, cumin and garlic in a blender.
  4. Cover and pulse-blend until finely chopped.
  5. Add water or the reserved bean liquid a little at a time and continue blending until smooth.
  6. Place in serving bowl and sprinkle with parsley.
  7. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.
  8. Serve with pita bread wedges or raw vegetables for dipping.

Monday, April 27, 2009

We made it through 13.1!

Success... we made it through our Nashville half-marathon. Let me tell you this, it was NOT easy. I have learned through this race that not every race is easy, nor should it be. The challenging races make the less challenging races more enjoyable!

The weather was beautifully warm (85 degrees at 9:30 am) and perfectly sunny. We had such a nice trip and I will post more about the lessons I learned... there were lots!

Friday, April 24, 2009

State of mind

What do you think about yourself? Do you think you are strong, healthy, fit, fast? Research shows that if you think you are fit, you will treat yourself as such. If you think you are a fast runner, you will become faster and approach your training runs as such. Self-confidence in any arena of your life comes from believing that you are (fill in the blank... strong, beautiful, healthy, fit, etc.) and acting upon your thoughts.

I was sharing with a client the other day why I love training for races. When I treat myself like an athlete, one who can run long distances, my whole mind set changes. My food choices change from whatever is convenient to foods that will fuel my workouts. My approach to training changes from "I have to" to "I get to challenge myself today." My thoughts wander from "I don't have time to take care of myself" to "I must treat my body as a quality machine" which encourages me to take better care of my body through stretching, rehydrating, and relaxing. When I view myself as an athlete, I treat myself as such. When I treat myself as an athlete, I perform better and can dream bigger dreams. It may sound cliche, but dreams really CAN come true. You must simply believe that you can do something great and treat yourself as someone who can achieve big dreams.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Sunday training run



Runners: Just a reminder that we will meet at 5:00 pm (changed from 4:00 pm) on Sunday at Hager Park. If you are coming from 196, the easiest way is to take exit 62 (32nd Ave) and head toward the Car dealership. Take 32nd over Chicago Drive, past Port Sheldon (it turns into 28th street at this point... not THE 28th street, Hudsonville's version!), past Rosewood, past Baldwin. You will start to see the park on the right hand side. 32nd/ 28th street ends at Bauer road, if you get to Bauer you've gone too far. Turn into the first entrance off of 28th street and take that around until you see the huge wooden play structure. We will meet right there at 5:00. If we run well, maybe we can play on the play structure afterwards! :)
Have a great couple of days and try to get out in this beautiful weather a few times! Soak it all in!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Someday soon maybe we'll get a nice, sunny day to run... until then, lace up your shoes and bring your ponchos! See you at 7pm, runners!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

See you soon!

5K training group... just a friendly reminder that we will meet at the park right by John Ball Park Zoo (between the zoo and the Coke bottling plant) at 4:00 today, yes even if it is sprinkling/ raining. Wear layers! See you in a little while!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

1st session... success!

Our training group met on Tuesday night, despite the cold and rain! They were troopers and I never even heard one complaint... good job guys and girls! It was great to get things started and we are looking forward to our first 'long run' together on Sunday. If you haven't signed up yet and would still like too, just email me at erin.bremer@yahoo.com and join us tomorrow night at 4:00 at John Ball Park Zoo. We will meet at the park between the zoo and the Coke bottling plant. Wear layers, we might get wet! :) Have a sunny Saturday!

Friday, April 10, 2009

5K Training Program

Our first training day is slowly approaching and I am getting more and more excited! Here are the details:

Tuesday nights will be our 'mid-week' run which will last between 30 minutes and 1 hour. We'll work on base fitness and slowly add in more challenges through speed work, hills, and a combination of the two (don't worry... the key is SLOWLY ADD IN). We will meet at my house and use my neighborhood and surrounding areas, we have a few great hills around here! We will meet at 7:00 and go no longer than 8:00 beginning this Tuesday, April 14. (Tuesdays are not mandatory but strongly encouraged).

Sunday evenings will be our 'long run day' in which the focus will solely be to add endurance and distance. We will be increasing the length of our workouts each week and will start with 45 minutes and work up to an hour and a half. Keep in mind that training is progressive; your body is a very efficient machine that will learn and adapt, learn and adapt, so on and so on. We will meet Sunday evenings at 4:00 at either John Ball Park Zoo (Grand Rapids) or Hager Park (Hudsonville) beginning this Sunday April 19.

In the event of rain or poor weather, please check your email and the blog for changes or cancellations. It is not too late to sign up, if you are still interested, simply email me: erin.bremer@yahoo.com. I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Success!


Well I did it, I made a... a dairy-free, gluten-free and low-fat Easter bunny cake! And best of all... it tasted great! It was so much fun to make and super easy! I got the idea from a recipe I saw in a magazine, then modified it to work for our family. I shared it with my neighbors at our Easter Egg hunt/ Barbecue and I got great feedback! I used Pamela's White Cake Mix and Pamela's White frosting mix (both are dairy, gluten, and wheat free) and really like how they turned out. I used jelly beans for the eyes and the nose and licorice (the only gluten containing component) for the whiskers and ears. I used colored marshmallows for the insides of the ears and the bow-tie.

To lower the fat content, I used 1/4 cup applesauce instead of the oil and 3 egg whites with 1 whole egg, instead of the 3 whole eggs that it called for. So, by my calculations, each (Erin-ified) 2x2 square of cake contained 225 calories and 2 grams of fat versus 395 calories and 18 grams of fat (when prepared by the direction). Not bad for an Easter treat! Enjoy!

Friday, April 3, 2009

A healthy Easter cake!




Wish me luck! I am going to take the traditional 'Bunny Cake' recipe and revamp it to make it healthier as well as dairy and gluten-free. Here's hoping! I will keep you updated on how it goes and I will try to post pictures too! I hope mine looks as cute as the one above! :)