Grilled Halibut with Avocado and Grapefruit Salsa

Ingredients:
1 lb of halibut
1 avocado
1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 of a red bell pepper
cilantro
lemon juice
1 grapefruit
5 scoops of plain Greek yogurt

Combine in a bowl and mix until well blended: 
Avocado cut up and cubed
Jalapeno pepper cut into small pieces removing seeds
1/2 of a Red Bell pepper cut up into small pieces
Grapefruit halved and pieces cut out.  Use as much as you like.  (Mine was a bit mutilated so I think one turned into about half of a grapefruit.)
Cilantro as much or as little as you like
Lemon juice to taste
Greek yogurt

When salsa is done, prepare your halibut.  Season with pepper, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.  Wrap in tin foil and grill for about 8 minutes.

Remove fish from tin foil and top with salsa.

Makes about two meals.

Enjoy!

My New Torture Device

PVC pipe center and pressure point raised foam.  This baby isn't forgiving.  The best thing for getting those knots out of my leg muscles.  It hurts so good!

Cleanse Review

A few people have been wondering exactly what I did, so I am going to give a more detailed description.
First the basics.  The things I did not ingest: dairy, meat, sugar, alcohol, salt or any wheat products.
What I did have: fruits (before 2pm), vegetables, egg whites, quinoa (the only grain I allowed myself), and decaffeinated tea.

In the mornings I would get up and have 4 egg whites with spinach or other veggies that I had cooked up the night before.  I would top it with homemade guacamole and salsa.  I would also have a few berries.
For a snack I would have fruits like clementines, kiwi, banana, pineapple or apple.
For lunch, which would usually come after my workout, I would have another 4 egg whites with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and quinoa topped with guacamole.
For an afternoon snack I would usually have tea or cucumber slices.
For dinner I would saute up tofu, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant or other veggies.  I wold try to have dinner before 6pm.  I would have some relaxation tea later in the evening.

Some of the other meals I had for lunch or dinner were a veggie chili I made with no-salt-added tomato sauce and a black bean salad which included avocado, tomato, cilantro, and lemon juice.  I would also have a fresh salad with veggies, tofu and a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice.

For my workouts, I mixed it up.  I was working out 6 to 7 days a week, which I usually do anyway.  I would also try to burn 500 calories per workout.  I did Bikram yoga twice a week, went for runs twice a week and the other 3 days I would lift weight or do a high intensity cardio workout like tabata.

I hope this helps!

The Cleanse Day 10

It's the final day of my 10 day cleanse.  I got on the scale this morning and to my surprise l had lost 10 1/2 lbs!  I have done other cleanses before, but I have never had such good results.  This made me ask myself two things..."What the hell have I been eating?" and "What is it that is making me fat?".  Lets be honest, it could just be the booze.  I do have a bit of a wine problem, but I was only trying to drink on weekends.  Is it the gluten?  I was gluten free the whole 10 days, which I am planning on sticking with.  My best guess is that I had just been eating too much, not planning my meals and grabbing whatever was around.
Confession time.  Let's just say that I'm not perfect.  I did have a few discrepancies.  First, I was using olive oil to cook most of my veggies.  It made the meals much better.  Most of them were quite yummy.  The last two days I was feeling a bit disoriented.  Yesterday I actually went to my Bikram class at the wrong time on the wrong day.  I was having trouble with time management too.  Something was off and I wasn't ok with it.  I went and purchased some gluten free granola from Whole Foods and went to town on it.  It was a bit of a binge situation, but honestly I felt much better today.  Other than that, I stuck to the plan.
I am very happy with my results.  I am planning on sticking as close to the cleanse diet as I can.  I do plan on adding in lean meats and some complex carbs, but keeping it gluten free. I'm going to try to greatly limit my alcohol intake and dairy as well.  I still have a few more pounds to go until I get to my goal weight.  I will write up a summary of what I ate and the workouts I did during my cleanse soon.
It feels good to have made so much progress!

Pretty Colors

Three different colors of peppers, spinach, tofu, tomatoes and mushrooms....tum!

The Beauty of Yoga

I just wanted to share because I think this is so amazing!

Cleanse Update #2

So, I'm on day 5.  I hopped on the scale today, just to see how I'm doing half way through.  I was down 5 1/2 lbs!  Motivation to keep it up.  It did suck going to the movies and not having popcorn and sitting through a whole Packer game without an adult beverage and snacking on cucumber instead of chips, but it's paying off.  Just 5 more days.  No, I'm not going to go back to eating garbage and I definitely plan on curbing my drinking after this is over.  The whole point of this is to teach yourself to eat healthy again and remember how good it feels to wake up on a Sunday morning without a hangover.  I do feel really good and my skin looks great.  Your body truly is the result of the choices you make!

A Little Lunch

Spinach, eggplant, tofu, mushrooms and quinoa.  Vegetarian and gluten free!

Cleanse Update

Just a little update on how the cleanse is going.  I'm on day 4 and doing ok.  I have plenty of options for  food and meals so I'm not that hungry.  I made a veggie chili with no salt added tomato sauce and tofu.  Not as good as regular chili, but it's filling and tasty enough.  I have also been doing egg whites scrambles with veggies and homemade salsa.  Probably my favorite thing so far.  I miss coffee and wine and meat.  I really miss fish, but I'm holding strong.  My big challenge for the day is going to be no popcorn at the movies.  Sadness.  I will be strong with cucumber slices in hand.

Cleanse Time!

Once again, it's cleanse time!  After all the holiday drinking and eating, I am more than ready to be nice to my body!  I never use pills or fancy packaged cleanses for this.  I go with all natural, clean foods.  This year I am doing 10 days of only fruits, veggies, legumes and egg whites.  Why egg whites?  Because I still work out and want to maintain my muscle mass.  What I'm not going to consume is alcohol, caffeine, meat, grains, dairy and any processed foods or sugar.  The natural sugar in fruit is ok, but I will be only eating it before 2 pm.  Nuts are also out this year because of the higher fat content.  I would love anyone who wants a clean start to join me in this cleanse. You can start any time.  Just pick a day and go for it.  

A few pointers to keep in mind:

1) Workouts are going to be less intense because of the low carbohydrate consumption.

2) You have to be prepared.  Prepare and pack your meals for the day.  Otherwise you will get hungry and then it is much easier to make bad decisions when you are starving.  

3) Eat every two to three hours. You aren't going to be eating the normal amounts of protein  and grains to keep you full for long periods of time.  

4) Drink non-caffeinated tea and plenty of water.  It will keep you from thinking about food so much.

5) Don't give up and don't cheat!  What's the point of going to all the trouble of you're just going to cheat yourself.

6) If you can't do the whole cleanse because of heath issues or other reasons, do as much as you can.  Something is always going to be better than nothing.    

You know you are ready for a change.  Stop waiting for the right time.  Just go for it!