Kombucha – Home Brewing It!
So Erin gave us a scoby, which I promptly named “Freddy.” Don’t ask me why, but I did.
Ryan on the other hand put the scoby to use. He brewed our first batch of kombucha!
Kombucha is a fermented tea that is believed to possess all of these great health benefits. Whether or not it is really THAT good for you doesn’t really matter. It isn’t bad for you and I think it is delicious. So even if it has one quarter of the health benefits people claim that it has, I’m drinking it!
Here is our recipe!
Makes 1 quart of kombucha
Ingredients:
You will need a glass jar to hold the liquid and a coffee filter or towel for a lid.
- 2 1/2 cups hot (not boiling) water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 black tea bags
- 1 green tea bag
- 1/2 cup already-made unflavored kombucha tea
- Kombucha culture (Scoby)
Heat up water to just before boiling and add sugar. Make sure it is all dissolved. Seep tea bags for 5-10 minutes in water that is hot but not boiling. Then let the tea completely cool to room temperature.
Then add tea to the scoby with starter kombucha (or already-made kombucha) in a mason jar.
Cover with a coffee filter and rubber band. Make sure nothing metal touches the kombucha or scoby. Make sure your hands are clean when handling the scoby.
Let sit for 5-30 days and enjoy!
If you choose not to follow this recipe, make sure to be careful in which one you select. Apparently you can brew a batch that is bad for you!
Breakfast is overrated
So in my opinion breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day, especially as we know it.
How about you just skip the porridge?
The worst thing you could do is force down breakfast if you aren’t hungry. The worst thing you could do is start your morning with simple sugars, a ton of carbs and gluten.
Am I saying you should skip breakfast? Yea if you want.
I’m just saying breakfast isn’t the be all and end all of meals especially as we are advised to eat by conventional wisdom.
So should you skip breakfast? And if you do eat it, what should you eat?
So I skip breakfast except on the weekends. I mostly skip it because I’m not usually hungry until about lunch time. I also skip it because it feels super unnatural to force down food at 4:30 a.m. Also, I feel too lazy most of the time to prepare breakfast food for the next day.
AND I’ve also never been a big fan of breakfast food. I love the occasional pancake binge, but other than that I’ve never LOVED breakfast.
So I only eat it on the weekends. And then I make omelets or scrambles or even some almond butter protein pancakes. I eat breakfast when I can actually sit down and enjoy it.
BUT if you are a breakfast fan or just feel like you don’t function as well if you don’t eat something in the morning, you do have options (even if none of them are cereal!).
You can make hard-boiled eggs, omelets, scrambles, hashes, protein (no gluten) pancakes. You can make steak and eggs, bacon and eggs, veggies and eggs. You can have nuts, and smoothies (delicious with frozen berries, protein and kefir!).
There is so much out there you can eat so STOP FOCUSING ON THE FOODS YOU CAN’T EAT! Shoot you can even have steak and bacon and some potatoes (if you eat them) for breakfast! Breakfast doesn’t have to be traditional breakfast food! It can be anything you love!
So once I’ve told clients they don’t HAVE to eat breakfast. And once I’ve told them all the good things they can eat that AREN’T carb-laden, they usually come back with, “But nothing is as easy to grab and go as cereal!”
Yes cereal is easy to grab and go, BUT if you make hard-boiled eggs (aka stick eggs in a pot of water for about 10ish minutes) on Sunday, you have breakfast for a few days! You can also make individual egg scrambles in the oven using a muffin tin (they can have veggies and bacon or anything else you want!). Or you can make the protein pancakes and store them in the refrigerator for breakfast or snack all week! Shoot you can even grab some macadamia nuts, fruits and some leftover meat that you made for another meal if you want! That is definitely an easy grab and go meal!
Yes most of these things do take some prep time, but they are easy to take with you once they are made and you can make enough for the entire week. PLUS THEY ARE GOOD FOR YOU!
Do you eat breakfast? And if so, what is your favorite dish!?!
The good, the bad and the simply stupid
First off, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a tenacious young woman, Fern! Happy Birthday!
Now onto the good, the bad and the simply stupid!
The Good
I LIKE IT!
- I like this quote from Michelle Obama,”You wouldn’t think of watering a plant with soda.” No you definitely wouldn’t.
- Interesting research about dietary fat and cholesterol absorption.
- I’ve discovered that I love designing workouts that ask you to do as many rounds as possible in under a certain time limit (usually 20 or 30 minutes). If you push hard for 20-30, you will probably get more out of the workout than steady-state cardio for an hour. Actually I GUARANTEE you’ll get more out of it!
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:
5 Dips
10 Inverted Rows
15 Burpees
20 Front squats with weight
Your quads definitely burn a bit between the burpees and using a challenging weight on front squats!
The Bad
- Ryan and I watched a Restaurant Impossible, in which Robert helps upgrade a community center. While they do create a garden and make the place super nice, the thing that bothered me the most was the prepackaged food the kids were being served. IT WAS ALL CARBS AND IT WAS BEING PASSED OFF AS HEALTHY! When seriously will the low-fat diet fad pass!?!
- If only they ate Primally, they wouldn’t have to suffer. They could bulk up or slim down easily and healthily! Celebrities and stupid diets…BLEH! Of course I do understand that some roles demand extremes but still…I mean especially Anne Hathaway! You want a catwoman body!?! Eat Primally!
The Simply Stupid
- Silk Pure Almond milk – According to their commercial people preferred the taste over regular milk. Of course the flavor they show in the commercial isn’t the Original, which has very little sugar – they instead show chocolate and vanilla! Of course people prefer them! They have more sugar and more CRAP in them!
- Yesterday while at the gym, there was a guy who walks in and starts doing bicep curls. He definitely looked like one of those guys who follow the Muscle and Fitness Bodybuilder workouts. He was definitely one of those guys that thought he was “big” because he had lots of muscle. He was definitely one of those guys that annoys me. BUT the best part of this story is what Ryan told me when we left, “So you know that guy who was doing all the bicep curls? I thought he was reading a Muscle and Fitness since it seemed like that is where he was drawing his workout from, but no…he wasn’t. He was reading a People magazine.”..For some reason this made me laugh…
Letting Go – Making a Change
I think the hardest thing to do is CHANGE.
Change is hard, but this quote is spot on!
It’s part of why it is hard for most women to start weight training. It is why it is hard for most people to ditch conventional wisdom and start eating Paleo/Primal.
It is why a lot of big life decisions are hard in general! To make big changes, to get big results, you can’t be afraid to let go of what you know, think or believe. You’ve got to be ready to take risks and suffer some consequences.
Below are the 10 most important “changes” you need to make to become a stronger, fitter, more empowered you. Of course this is my opinion…but then again, I’m always right, right!?! 😛
- Ditch the disbelievers. This one is first because I think this is probably the hardest thing for me. I hold onto people even when they are holding me back. If you want success though, sometimes you have to go it alone. Don’t give in and cheat on your diet just because your friends are trying to get you to eat badly. Don’t be afraid to lift those heavy weights even though your friends tell you that you will bulk up. Don’t be afraid to ditch the disbelievers and go it on your own! You can do it! You are strong enough!
- Try something outside your comfort zone. If you really want to find out what you are made of, try something new. I know it’s scary, but the only way to find out what you are truly capable of is to try something you either haven’t done or aren’t comfortable with doing!
- Keep an open mind about EVERYTHING. Be willing to try new things! Experiment! There is always new information coming out about everything. Research everything. Read different points of view or find out works by trying it on yourself! If you weren’t somewhat open-minded already, you probably wouldn’t be reading this site! 🙂
- Have confidence in yourself and try something just beyond what you KNOW you can do. While it’s nice to stick with what we know we can do, you will never find out just how truly strong you are if you don’t push beyond what you’ve already proven you can do! This doesn’t mean just lifting a heavier weight in the gym. It also means tackling an activity that you’ve maybe never done before or are unsure if you can do!
- Admit to yourself that you don’t, and can’t, ever know anything for certain. Deep huh? This one actually kind of sucks, but it’s true. I like to believe I know everything, but deep down I know I don’t. Nothing is ever set in stone. Everything can change. We are constantly learning or at least we should be. If you think you know everything, you are wrong. Be willing to change and adapt your beliefs as you learn and you will grow as a person.
- Accept that you will be wrong and enjoy your failures. This one is hard. No one ever enjoys failing. I most definitely hate it. I don’t like failing or being wrong. BUT I know that I will be at times. I know that I will fail, BUT I know that each time I get back up and try again, I become stronger. As cheesy as it sounds, look at each failure not so much as a failure, but as a learning experience. If you want to accomplish something persistence is key!
- Learn. Learn every moment of every day. Learn by doing research, experimenting, failing and achieving success. And the thing is, by doing all this learning, you will learn more about yourself. Through all of my “learning” I’ve developed a stronger identity. It may always be a slightly shifting and growing identity, but the more I learn, the clearer it becomes!
- Forget, but never forget. Learn to let go of the negative emotions surrounding a failure. Forget the emotions so that they don’t hold you back. You can’t change what happened. You can only move forward. But even though you need to release the emotions, NEVER forget how hard you worked. Never forget what the goal meant to you. KEEP PUSHING ONWARD! Change your game-plan but never give up!
- Accept your fears. This is another one that can be hard. This is a random story BUT…I’m afraid of snakes. I hate them. I have no idea why, but I really really really (I could go on with the reallys) hate them. I almost didn’t go on a hike in Red Rock Canyon because it was prime snake season. But I did go despite the fact that I was sure I was going to be bitten and die in Las Vegas. Most people fear dying in Vegas for a ton of other reasons…but not me…I was sure a snake would get me. And if I hadn’t gone on that hike…I would have missed out on one of the best memories I have during my life!
- Build a network. These 10 changes come full circle. As you develop the “new” stronger, fitter, more empowered you, you have to build a new network of people who support and push you to grow further. The “push” part of that equation is very important. You always want people around you that challenge you and motivate you to achieve your goals not just stand still! An example of a network that has helped me grow is my lifting classes. Those ladies, and my two Man Bicep Males!, have helped me grow so much. I also pride myself on believing that I’ve helped them also grow into stronger, fitter and more confident individuals!
So what changes have you made toward becoming a stronger, fitter, more empowered individual?
Some nice weekend motivation…
So one of my clients, “monkey knuckles” (she will understand this nickname), has gotten super into lifting and I’m so proud of her and all of her progress.
She sent me these pictures and said that I would like them since I “pretty much coined them.”
I do like them Monkey Knuckles! 🙂 Thank you for the weekend workout inspiration!
I wish she was lifting weights though!
THIS IS ONE GOOD REASON TO LIFT WEIGHTS!
If you need others, read some other posts on this blog! haha
I ned food.
Yes that was an intentional spelling mistake. (One of the Cave Kids’ songs is “I need food,” and the demo of this song on our computer is “I ned food.”)
Anyway, stupid joke (that only amused me and maybe Ryan).
BUT really you do actually need food.
AND I think that most of the population thinks about food (and/or consumes it) as often, if not more so, than the male supposedly thinks about sex!
So we are thinking about food a lot then! 😉
And because we are thinking about food all of the time, we tend to have lots of questions about diet.
One of the most interesting diet questions I’ve received recently was “How do you manage to stick to Primal when you are on your period and craving crap?”
I had two different answers for her.
The first one was – sometimes you just have to indulge. If I’m craving something specific and I just can’t shake the craving, I’m going to indulge. If I don’t, I’ll just end up bingeing on crap at some future date instead of having a controlled cheat.
My second answer was – if I’m not craving anything specific just something sweet/salty/flavorful, I’ll indulge in a Primal cheat. I’ll allow myself some dark chocolate on a day when I wouldn’t usually eat it. Or I’ll eat some cheese and salami, an extra piece of bacon or even some dark chocolate macadamia nut bark if we have some around!
Essentially what I told her to do was listen to her body and “measure” her cravings. Do you really want pizza or do you just want a little extra salt? Do you really want ice cream or would some frozen berries and chocolate suffice?
I find that 90% of the time, I’m super satisfied with just a Primal cheat.
The key here is to not have a ton of non Primal crap around to tempt you, but to keep some extra Primal cheats around when you know it is that time of the month. Having the Primal cheats around will keep you from going in search of something worse!
Anyway, what do you do when you are craving bad food on your period?
(P.S. You Man Bicep Males also need to read this as you are all subject to sympathy cravings! :-P)
Don’t say “I can’t” unless you’ve tried!
So today when I went to start my workout, I brought out the weight vest for one of the exercises.
Brian then goes to me, “Why don’t you wear the weight vest for the entire thing?”
I looked at him like he had two heads.
Uhm wear the weight vests for all those exercises that are already ridiculously hard without any extra weight?!?!
UHM was he crazy!?!
I just looked at him. And I said, “I can’t.”
And he gave me a look like “if you don’t do this you’re a wimp.”
So I did it. I did the entire freaking workout with a weight vest and I’ve never wanted to die more.
Actually I think it was the fact that I uttered the words “I can’t” more than his look that got me to do it and made me push all the way through.
I can’t believe I uttered those words! I’d never attempted most of those exercises with a weight vest before so how did I know I couldn’t do them!?!
I didn’t know!!!!
And that is why I hate those words!
If you haven’t tried something, you don’t KNOW if you can or can’t do it!
So don’t EVER say you can’t do something before you’ve tried it!
And the worst part about all of this is…Most of the time when you say “I can’t,” you actually CAN!
Do you really see yourself clearly?
People come to me confused about why things aren’t working. Why they aren’t losing weight. Why they aren’t gaining muscle. Why they aren’t getting stronger/fitter/faster.
The first thing I ask them is to take a closer look at what they are TRULY doing. What does your diet or workout program truly look like?
You know what I most often hear back?
Not the facts. Just excuses.
Well I had only a little bread. Oh well I couldn’t come in on Wednesday for an hour because of work. Oh I was tired. Oh I didn’t feel 100%. Oh well I was hungry. Oh well someone brought in snacks. Oh well….
Oh well nothing!
Seriously I’m sick of excuses. I’m sick of whining.
Freaking just do it people! Stick to the diet. Don’t just have a “little” bread. Stick to the workout program. Don’t go easy because you are a “little” sore or you have too much work that day.
There will always be excuses – there will always be things that can get in the way.
But if you want results, you need to work to get them.
I was inspired to write this post because of all the whining I’ve heard recently and this old Nike ad.
Next time you whine, think seriously before you do it!
The good, the bad and the simply stupid
So I’m not trying to brag, but I feel better after 16 hours of spin than I do after one of my own tough 30 minute lifts.
My taking-on-16-hours-of-spin face!
Honestly, no muscles are sore or even really tight. The ONLY pain I have besides a slightly bruised crouch is one knee that doesn’t like going up and down stairs too much.
Be it the ice bath, my diet with no gluten or my workouts (or all three combined), I feel perfectly normal today…just like I do after any other week of working out.
Anyway, all I can say is you definitely don’t need to carb load with crap gels and gluten to survive endurance cardio!
The Good
- Ice baths are amazing! They really do aid in muscle recovery. AND Tim Ferriss has done the research, and found the science to prove that ice baths may also help you lose fat!
- Get a healthy dose of Vitamin D! This just shows how important going out in the sun is! We all fear skin cancer, but some sun is good! And of course if you can’t get sun, you can always take a supplement! BUT anyone else seem to feel WAY BETTER when they’ve gotten some sun? I definitely do!
- Cool?!? Good news for me I guess! What do you think?
- I’m glad the FDA didn’t let them call high fructose corn syrup “corn sugar!”
- Thank you Therese for taking up the challenge of trying something new! Great job with the monkey bars!
-
These are not easy and Therese is killing it!
- Our Jump Rope Slide is done!
The Bad
- Caffeine is not an alternative to sleep people! I’ve seen too many people over the last couple of days guzzle down espresso shots and Red Bull rather than sleeping enough. I know it is hard to get enough sleep sometimes, but seriously nothing is more important! Your body recovers and rebuilds when you sleep!!! So stop drinking your Starbucks bazillion shot coffees and Red Bulls and instead go to bed!
The Simply Stupid
- Is this really an article on WebMD?
- There is this girl on Fiverr.com saying she can give you flat abs in 3 days. How are people this stupid!?!
- This honestly sounds like something a client has said to me at some point…
And lastly, Happy Father’s Day people! All you Dad’s out there who are reading this…you better be supporting your women and making sure they lift heavy!!!
Self-Experimentation vs. Accepting Conventional Wisdom
12 hours down, 4 more to go tomorrow.
My body actually feels pretty good aside from a very sore butt from the saddle. I do attribute it to the fact that I do weight training AND don’t eat gluten.
I’ve caused my body no additional inflammation from crap food!
My dinner tonight – Free roaming, grass-fed buffalo flank steak and “loaded” potatoes (nitrite free bacon, grass-fed cheese and a primal “ranch” sauce!
However even with the healthy eating, the joints and muscles aren’t 100% so I decided to take an ice bath today.
It couldn’t hurt right?
I mean worse case scenario I sit in frigid water for 10 minutes and it only makes everything go numb for a few minutes.
But I still got strange looks from everyone I told. Why would I ever take an ice bath?
WHY NOT!?!
It could help and if it doesn’t help, it most definitely won’t hurt! As I said above, worse case scenario I waste 10 minutes to only have the muscles go numb for a few minutes.
I must say though, it took some courage to fully submerge my lower body. I stuck one foot in and gasped. BUT everything feels pretty good right now.
We will have to see tomorrow though! (And hey, Tim Ferriss touts them for their fat loss benefits so I guess that isn’t a bad extra bonus! ;-))
Anyway, the point of all this isn’t really to talk about my ice bath, it is to pose the question: Why are people so afraid of TRYING something if conventional wisdom doesn’t tell you to do it?
I mean what really do you have to lose if you TRY something in the hopes of becoming healthier/fitter/stronger?
Some wasted time?
NOT EVEN.
Time isn’t wasted if you LEARN SOMETHING FROM IT!
So why are people so afraid to try things that aren’t approved by conventional wisdom but have studies proving their benefits while they so easily accept that eating Gatorade chews is how they should fuel for a competition just because the media tells them to!?!
Can someone please explain this to me?
Man Bicep 