Lovin' Summer

Wow! Two blogs in one week :o). I'm on a roll! Well, I was just so excited that I had to blog about my morning. Usually I run by myself, its sort of my time to decompress and focus on my own thoughts for a little while. However, I went out of town for a few days and I've been missing my boys so I decided to take Mike (my hubby) and Jacob (20 months) with me. We put him in the jogger and did a great run around our neighborhood. After, we decided we needed to make some smoothies so we went to the grocery store to pick up our fruit and veggies. I didn't realize that the West Annapolis Green Market was today. We happened upon the tent for Terra Joy Edible Landscapes. We bought two beautiful plants, a magnificent blueberry bush and a thornless raspberry bush! We eat a tremendous amount of blueberries and raspberries during the summer, so I thought it would be a super fun way to lower our food cost as well as have a fun activity for Jacob. We also bought some local honey from Crispens' Farms located in Millersville, Maryland (they don't have a website but if you are interested in the farm you can call 410.987.6034). Mike has terrible allergies, and something our doctor suggested to us was to try eating local honey. The pictures are of Mike and Jacob picking blueberries from our new plant as well as our delicious/nutritious after running smoothie. Its packed full of protein, fiber and good1ness!

Green Smoothie Recipe
1 avocado
1 banana
1/2 cup raspberries
1 cup kale (make sure its washed really well)
2 heaping tablespoons of raw cacao
2 heaping tablespoons of hemp protein powder
1-2 cups of liquid of choice (I like to use coconut keifer, but today I used vita-coco coconut water because it was hot and I really needed to be re-hydrated)
Blend until smooth!

(pictures are of our smoothie prior to blending and my boys picking blueberries and sharing a raw yogurt popsicle.)

The Rocky Road of Eating Raw

(Raw Chocolate Almond Milk pictured left) Well I have found both success and failure with the raw diet. During my initial raw phase, I lost 14 lbs, felt amazing, and started to look like I really wanted to look. My skin was glowing and my arms, legs and face really started to slim down. But with all diets of deprivation, its very easy to fall off the wagon. I managed to gain back 4 lbs of the weight that I lost and started to feel pretty rotten. Now I'm doing my best to find a great balance between raw and cooked food.

After we (DragonFly Dance Experiment) performed Dock Side Dance, I realized that I needed to be more conscientious about getting enough protein in my diet. Usually I would eat sprouted beans and avocado for my protein, but it really wasn't cutting it. After the performance I was terribly shaky, and my endurance while dancing left a lot to be desired. My muscles were screaming and the recovery from that show took quite a bit longer than I would have liked. I also made the decision to start running to improve my cardio vascular health and my muscular endurance. This brought me to the realization that I needed to put eggs and dairy back into my diet.

Inspired by my friend Priscilla Smith, I joined a farm coop, and decided to start purchasing raw milk, goat yogurt, cheese and farm fresh eggs for us to eat. I am happy to say that my muscles are so much happier. I was nervous, and still am to a certain extent about drinking and eating unpasturized dairy products, but I have done my research and I know that we are getting food that has been cared for lovingly and safely and we are eating nothing that these farmers wouldn't give to their own babies. I am happy to report so far so good! Here are a few recipes that we have enjoyed lately:

Raw Almond Milk (a little labor intensive and not very cost effective, but a yummy treat nonetheless)
1 cup raw almonds, soaked in filtered water for 6-8 hrs
4 cups filtered water
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
2 tbsp coconut oil (or if you can find it raw coconut butter...so delish!)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1 pinch salt

Drain soaked almonds and combine ingredients in your blender. Blend for 1-2 minutes, then strain through a cheese cloth or nutmilk bag. If you want to get fancy, throw a couple of tablespoons of raw cacao in the blender and you'll end up with some very nutritious and delicious raw chocolate almond milk.

Raw Raspberry Popsicles
1 cup raw goat yogurt
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 banana
Raw Agave Nectar (to taste)

Combine yogurt and fruit in your blender. Add the agave slowly and to taste. One of the things I've learned about agave is that its so much sweeter than sugar and its easy to overdo it. Poor mixture into your popsicle forms and freeze (usually about 4 hrs). Super yummy and healthy!

The Raw Food Buzz

Ok, I'm not a total fanatic yet, but I'm well on my way. I love raw foods. I will say it again, I LOVE raw foods! While it is hard to give up on all of the other comfort foods I usually eat and I am not always perfect at sticking to my diet, the benefits of raw foods are amazing. I honestly can say I feel a sense of euphoria while eating and afterwords as well.

Perhaps its because I've just finished the Nutriclean cleanse and my body is so clean that I'm absorbing more nutrients and now I'm introducing superfoods into my diet. But man its amazing. For example, raw chocolate (cacao). I ate my first raw chocolate bar the other night and felt like I'd drank a glass of wine. I decided to add raw cacao to a fruit smoothie today and I feel amazing. I will probably try to sweeten my smoothies a bit with some agave nectar, because the taste was just slightly bitter and I have a big sweet tooth, but it was great. Here's what I put in the smoothie:
1 banana
1/2 avocado
2 large strawberries
2 scoops (I just used a regular spoon) cacao nibs
splash of coconut keifer for liquid
Blended until smooth
It actually almost made a mousse, so I might try it with some coconut as well as the agave nectar to make desert for my hubby one night :o).

Here is the website I've been perusing while learning about the raw diet:
www.bestofrawfood.com

Spring Cleaning

"Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es." (Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are) ~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.

Spring is almost here, and my resolve to treat my body in a more healthy manor is renewed. Once the sun began to shine, its like a desire to have be more healthful awoke inside of me. Earlier this year I decided to give up meat from my diet and become a "vegetarian". I decided to take this very slowly, because I've never been successful with it before. What I really wanted to do was to try the Raw Diet, but I knew I had to move slowly into that because if I tried it outright from the diet I had maintained before, I would fail miserably.

Currently I am doing a Colon/Liver cleans called Nutriclean. A dear friend of mine Laura Garza (www.marketamerica.com/nutrigenomics) got it for me. As well as being an amazing ballet guru she works for a company that specializes in nutritional supplements and health/wellness. The cleanse consists of a fiber powder you mix with water and two kinds of herbal supplements that cleans the liver and the colon. This is the second time I have done the cleanse, however the first time I didn't really stick to the dietary guidelines as well as I am now. I definitely feel the effects of the cleans in a more intense way this time around. Basically, I have given up meat and dairy for the 7 days I am on the cleanse and am eating mostly raw vegetables, fuits, nuts as well as lots of whole grains and legumes (I did eat a hard boiled egg on my salad today as well). I also managed to find some chocolate at whole foods that had no dairy in it which is really helpful since I can't seem to go a day without chocolate. I've been drinking soy milk in my coffee in the morning, but as soon as that's gone I'm going to be switching to almond milk.

I'm on day three of the cleanse and today I feel great. I will admit the first two days and nights were a little challenging because my body was getting rid of all the junk it didn't need. I had some night sweats and spent a lot of time in the bathroom (sorry, TMI!), but over all I definitely feel my energy has increased and I am noticing that my tummy is a lot happier. I'm looking forward to the next few days to see how the cleanse affects my overall well being.

I've decided to keep going to with the diet after the cleanse is over. After all, its about to be springtime and I know my cravings for hot food will be diminishing and I'm loving the way I am starting to feel on this new diet. This May, Mike and I as well as a few friends are going to embark upon the Raw Diet and I am really excited as I do more research. I'm hoping to stick to it for 40 days, that's my goal. Wish me luck!

A few of my favorite things to eat right now:

Chocolate!

Avocados

Raw Almonds

Mixed Greens (Arugula how I love thee!)

Tomatoes

Quinoa

Black Beans

Beets

Hummos and Pita

Coconut Keifer

Kombucha

So its been a billion years

So yes, I haven't blogged in forever. Actually that's not true, I have been blogging on my website (www.dragonflydance.com) until recently when the lovely Shannon Siriano took over for me. So basically a lot has happened since my last blog, I got pregnant, had a baby, and started a company to showcase my work. So far all is going really well and other than being totally exhausted, I am very happy.

Which brings me to my next point. I am terribly exhausted and still holding onto about 5-7 lbs depending on the day. So I am on a quest this year to really get myself as healthy as possible and in terrific shape.

I take two ballet classes a week in addition to teaching as well as rehearsing. Which is a lot of movement but no longer serves to keep me in shape. I've noticed since I've had Jacob it takes SOOO much more. Hopefully once this snow melts and it gets a big warmer, I can resume walking as well to add some cardio to the mix.

So basically I am going to try to use this blog to keep a record of things I am doing with my diet and fitness that help. First up, I am trying to eat a LOT better. I'm cutting down on meat and upping veggies. Most days for lunch I eat a mixed greens salad with tomato, avacado and quinoa. I can't cut out the balsamic vinaigrette, because its too delicious. But I use the reduced fat Paul Newman brand.

I'm also drinking Mochatonix and trying to cut down on coffee. Mochatonix is AWESOME. All natural caffeine and vitamins. Mike calls it, "Mommy's little helper" because it tends to give me quite a boost. It also has a fat burner in it as well, which will hopefully help to kick start my metabolism a bit more.

Anyway, wish me luck! Hopefully I'll have that hot yoga body back soon!

I heard it on NPR

Like most DC-ites, I spend an incredible amount of time in my car. My poor car, which I love, has absolutely no bells and whistles at all. No power locks, no power windows and certain no CD player or anything like that. So when I started commuting around I listened to the radio constantly. I became an encyclopedia of pop music, and I became quickly bored. My first solution to this problem never panned out; I had intended on putting some sort of stereo in my car and it just never happened. The second solution was the IPOD. I LOVE my IPOD!!! However, I can even get bored of that, and I've listened to almost everything on there. The third solution brought me right around to the beginning and I began to listen to the radio again. This time my dial was firmly fixed to 88.5 FM, WAMU, our wonderful NPR station. I have become completely and hopelessly addicted to NPR. I find that I probably start one out of three conversations with, "I was listening to NPR...," "I heard an interview on NPR...," or "You'll never guess what I heard on NPR...,". At first I was really self conscious about this, because it seemed to me that the people I was generally having conversations with weren't quite as enthusiastic public radio listeners as I am. But slowly I realized that alas...I am not the only one. Enter Lynn Bowman, fellow BosmaDancer now grad student extraordinaire at University of Iowa. Lynn also lived on the outskirts of DC and we frequently commuted to rehearsals and performances together. I would always turn down the radio once she got in the car, but one day I was listening to something extremely fascinating as I was picking her up and I just couldn't turn off the radio. I told her that I hoped she didn't mind, but I was really into NPR. Well low and behold, she was too!!! I was thrilled. We talked about our favorite shows: All Things Considered, The Diane Rehm Show, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, The Kojo Nnamdi Show, you name it she was into it too. At last! Someone else to join in my obsession and who wouldn't judge me for starting every sentence with, "the other night, when I was listening to NPR...".

The Outskirts.

Here I am, on the outskirts of the DC dance community. Involved, but not directly integrated. I love it though, and I often wonder if there are other dancers in this community and others that choose to live the way I do. I commute into and around DC from Annapolis, teach everywhere, and rehearse everywhere. I will admit that being a "Beltway Bandit", as my grandfather used to call commuters, does have its drawbacks. The traffic and congestion are terrible, I often refer to my car as my office, and I don't feel quite as involved as I'd like. But this is what I choose, and I accept that. I don't have to be a popular or completely integrated person to feel successful or like I'm contributing. I've spent almost six years dancing in various companies around here and I definitely feel like I have left my mark.

A little bit about myself:
I have a BFA in Dance from Kent State University (graduated '02).
I have been seen with Ground Zero Dance Company, Tommy Parlon Dance Projects, Air Dance Bernasconi, and I am embarking on my third season with award winning BosmaDance.
I've also been seen in works by Alvin Mayes, Danica Kalemdaroglu and Ann Behrends.
I am on faculty at Anne Arundel Community College and at Musical Theater Center.
I am currently applying to graduate schools to pursue my MFA in Dance.
I've been happily married for over two years, and I am proud care-taker of a beautiful tank of tropical fish as well as an awesome hamster named Tallulah.

So this blog is a new project for me. I'd like to keep it as a record/documentation of this crazy time that I am experiencing in my life. I have for all intents and purposes settled into what could become a stable and successful career here in DC, however I am about to change it up completely and head off for a new adventure. Off to grad school. Where...I'm not quite sure. Right now I am applying to Temple and New York University (Tisch). Big schools for dance...I'm definitely not aiming low. So for all who may stumble upon this space, WELCOME!!! I am excited about this project and hopefully a few people will come along and we can forum together about all of these amazing experiences and crazy adventures I am about to embark on.