Ramblings and Rejuvalac…

There won’t be much time for blogging after this coming Friday.

There will be a lot of running.

Then a lot of driving.

Then a lot of Fitbloggin(g).

Then back to the driving part.

Then who knows what happens after that.

My brain is sort of scattered as I force myself to slow down both emotionally and physically as the second marathon is just days away. Lots of stuff floating around in my noggin about food, going back to maintenance, eagerly waiting for my letter approving my permanent residency (and the mounting frustration at hearing nada, zilch, zip, not a damn peep), fitbloggin, the discussion group, the drive, the cost of the trip, the change in seasons fast approaching, upcoming marathon #3, and pretty much anything else…

OH LOOK A SQUIRREL!

That’s been about my attention span and as for my emotional “attention” span it goes from “oh look, a happy squishy baby and the world is right as rain” to “that dog looks just like Penny and I’m a horrible person for leaving my dogs“. I want to sit down and pound out my emotions lay some deep thoughts on this keyboard but 3 seconds after sitting down my brain is already on to another topic.

Deep breath.

Food

Meegan’s Lighten Up program is coming to a close this week. I’m pretty sure she’ll be doing a final blog post/thoughts on the entire process but because I ate pretty much everything she did for the last 6 weeks I’ve had my own “victories” and got down to the weight at which I feel most comfortable: 160. I weighed in last week at that number and am getting ready to transition back to maintenance mode as soon as this Marathon is over. I’ve been looking at my calorie intake over the last couple of weeks and I’m going to be the first to admit it was probably too low for the amount of running I’ve been doing. Not dangerously low but I can feel it catching up to me. Some days you just can’t eat 3000 calories (unless you want to take me through a drive-thru and we all know THAT’S NOT HAPPENING!) so getting a net intake of 1000 (meaning I ate close to 2500 calories but burned a shit ton running) was the secondary goal and that one I did pretty good with.

I lost a total of 11 pounds while doing the lighten up program with Meegan and will weigh in again on Monday for the final time. I will probably take a break from weighing in again so I can focus on eating well. Not much will change in the way of what we’re eating except incorporating what I liked about the food suggestions from L.U. (I really liked the smoothies/chia pudding).

Letter of Approval

As I’ve said before Nada, zilch, nothing, zip…Latest word from the office of my M.P. (member of Parliament) is that because the Buffalo office closed and everything was transferred back to Toronto, or Ottawa or wherever the C.I.C is not giving any time line on when letters can be expected. They actually said something along the lines of anywhere between July 2012 and July 2013! I’m trying not to panic but the idea of waiting another year is freaking me out a little. I’m about ready to cut out my cardboard box and sit on the corner with the words “will run for money”. I’m too afraid to work under the table for fear of being sent back to WA state and the shops in Halifax are filled with “help wanted” signs…so damn frustrating.

Fitbloggin

Cannot. Wait.

With all the frustrations happening here with money, paperwork and what not the trip will hopefully bring some much needed kinship and even much more needed time with Meegan. We have the road trip planned with a stop in Saint John for a night, Boston for two nights, Baltimore for three nights, then slowly making our way back to Halifax.

Marathon #2/#3

Right. Around. The. Corner!

Okay so now that’s all out of the way let me get to the actual reason for this blog. Part of the Lighten Up program introduced us to something called Rejuvalac (a fermented probiatic) and I thought since I don’t post many recipes on this blog I would pass along this little ditty that I’ve actually come to enjoy…

Okay Tara but what is Rejuvalac?

It’s basically making a probiotic by taking a grain (in this case we used quinoa since we don’t eat grain) and fermenting it for a few days in water. I wouldn’t recommend drinking this on it’s own (it’s a little sour) but when mixed in with smoothies it’s literally tasteless. I’ve listed some links below for you to read up on it a little more but seriously if you are eating tons of yogurt thinking you’re cleaning out your gut, this would be a better (and cheaper) way to go.

LiveStrong Article

Benefits of Rejuvalac

Rejuve…What?

What you’ll need: For this particular recipe we are suggesting quinoa but if you google the recipe you’ll see there are other options as well. You’ll also need some water and eventually a gallon jug for which to store your rejuvalac…

In a quart size jar (we found something at our local dollar store) take one cup of quinoa and enough water to submerge the quinoa. Cover with cheese cloth (if you don’t have a cheese cloth you can also use a coffee filter). Let sit over night and in the morning rinse and let sit again for another 24 hours.

You will start to notice the quinoa will sprout (the tails will shoot).

When that happens (day 2) rinse the quinoa and place into blender. Add 1 – 2 cups of water then pulse until blended. The mixture will turn milky and the bits will settle on the bottom.

Pour mixture into gallon jar and fill to top with water!

Cover top with cheese cloth (or coffee filter), place tea towel over the entire jar and let sit on counter for an additional 1-2 days.

 

You’ll know it’s done when the liquid tastes tart or “lemon-y”. 2 days is a good amount of time to let sit. Once done you can put it in the fridge to slow the fermentation process down. Instead of adding water to your smoothies, use the rejuvalac. Trust me you won’t the tartness of the liquid, just the goodness of the smoothie. You can use this multiple times a day (as we try to do) and since it’s packed with vitamin B-12 you’re gonna get that burst of energy throughout the day. Warning though as with any high amounts of vitamin B-12 source you don’t want to take too late in the afternoon so you can sleep well at night!

We’re gonna keep using this as part of our regular diet because we all know a clean gut is a happy gut!

See you guys after Fitbloggin!

(or maybe sooner)