Take Back

So it' the New Year!  If you are one of the millions of people across the world who - like me - is resolving to make positive changes to your health this year I have an event for you!

On Saturday, January 7, I invite you to seize the opportunity to not only kick-start your health and weight loss goals for 2012 but give back to your community at the same time!  If you're in Charlottesville join us between 1:00pm and 4:00pm at EAT! in Belmont for the Take Back 30-Day Challenge (sponsored by Tracey Webber, owner of EAT! and of Ivana Kadija, owner of Yourishment)  -  your opportunity to TAKE the weight off and give BACK to your community

You can visit the Take Back website at www.takeback.me for complete details but here's the Cliff Notes version to get you started:

Take Back is a 30-day community challenge that costs just $10 - all of which will be donated to a local charity at the end of the program. For that $10 you get an entire month of daily nutritional, exercise and motivational information on losing weight, getting healthy and - most importantly - staying healthy. This information comes from Tracey Webber  (whom you've heard me talk lots about) and Ivana Kadija, two amazing local health coaches who wanted to find a way to share their knowledge and expertise to as many people as possible this year.

And added bonus of being in the program is that you will get coupons and discounts to local businesses like Relay Foods, Belvedere Healing Arts, Clay Fitnes & Nutrition, Ragged Mountain Running Shop - and many others who are supporting this great program. So not only will you lose weight this month - you'll actually receive more than you donated! 

And...there are prizes!  You can sign up as an individual or a team.  Individuals are eligible to win great prizes and teams get the ultimate prize of choosing which non-profit receives the donation money at the end of the challenge. I've teamed up with some friends and friends of friends to be on Team Rockstar.  If you'd like to join us we'd love to have you - or we're always up for a little friendly competition.

So if you'd like to join me and many others in the community, head on over to www.takeback.me to sign up for the Challenge - and then come kick off in style with us at EAT! at 407-D Monticello Road in Belmont on Saturday, January 7.  Sponsors and participating non-profits will be on hand to provide tips, Take Back coupons, and info but mostly it will a fun and inspiring way to kick off a month of taking back your life while giving back to your community! 

*For a fabulous article on the Take Back Challenge and what it's REALLY all about visit the Relay Foods Blog - Relay Life.  

 

Clean Eating

I'll be the first to admit that my attempt to change my diet during this journey would probably best be described as "half-assed".  I have really good days, but they are easily outnumbered by my not-so-good ones, and there have definitely been a few embarrassingly horrible ones recently.  

Knowing that I've been impeding my own success (I think they call it self-sabotage) one of my New Year's Resolutions was to cook more (or maybe in my case it should be start cooking!).  So yesterday, armed with past issues of Clean Eating (from this summer when I resolved to start eating healthier!) and a few recent Real Simple Magazines I set out to make a plan for healthier, cleaner eating.  Before long I had a pile full of great, healthy and not too difficult recipes in hand and was ready to head to the store.

I absolutely love Clean Eating Magazine. The photos are beautiful (I refuse to make a recipe that I don't have a picture of), the recipes are simple enough for someone like me (and are really explanatory), their Weekly Menu Plan section includes a shopping list, and, of course, they are healthy! Admittedly there are always a few items that I've never heard of or have no desire to ever try, but for the most part it totally jazzes me up about eating healthily. 

I'll be honest and say that when the Spicy Chicken is in town I do more requesting than  cooking, but the important part is that I'm eating well, right.  We started this morning with a modified version of Clean Eating's MacK Muffin from the September/October 2010, which is a healthy twist on the Egg McMuffin.  The recipe is below (we modified with asparagus because someone forgot to buy the spinach).  

THE MacK MUFFIN (Clean Eating, September/October 2010) 

Ingredients

white vinegar, as needed

1 large egg

olive oil cooking spray

1 cup spinach

1 whole-wheat English Muffin

1 tbsp. light cream cheese

1 slice tomato

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1 tsp. hot sauce (i.e. Sriracha), optional

Instructions

1.  Bring a large, deep saucepan with 5-6 cups of water to a boil.  Add about 1 tsp. vinegar for every cup of water. (Taste to make sure vinegar is barely noticeable).  Lower heat to a slow simmer.  Carefully crack egg into a teacup or large ladle.  Lower into water and pour egg out as gently as possible, careful not to break yolk. Cook until egg white is formed and set and yolk begins to thicken but is not hard (3-4 minutes). Remove egg with slotted spoon or strainer, set aside.

2.  Heat a medium non-stick pan over medium heat and mist with cooking spray.  Once pan is hot, add spinach and saute for 1-2 minutes, until slightly wilted.  Remove spinach from pan and set aside. (if using asparagus, saute the same way).

3.  Toast English muffin.  To assemble, spread 1/2 tbsp. cream cheese on each half of English muffin.  Place spinach on bottom half of English muffin, then add poached egg and tomato. Season with salt and pepper. Finish with hot sauce, if desired, before topping with other half of English muffin.