More than just Good Livin'

I wrote this last year for my previous blog, but never got around to editing it and getting it up (clllllassic Kelsey).  As we're gearing up for warmer weather and outdoor challenges, I would encourage everyone to put GORUCK on their list.  Side note, I swore I would NEVER do one again, but alas I'm signed up for one in June with some of the strongest people I know!  Heck yeah!!!

Who doesn't love the idea of 10-12 hours of "Good Livin'"?  That's what I thought when I first signed up for GORUCK.  I heard it was mostly mental and hey, I've done a tough mudder.  And a zombie run.  Plus, I don't know if you know this but I CrossFit.


Good Livin' is GORUCK's description of all of their challenge events.  So here is what our Good Livin' included: 13 miles of St. Louis terrain (some questionable) overnight while wet, cold, and hauling some form of weight.

GORUCK is not a race. The only way you win is if you finish as a group.  While trekking your city, you will complete a series of military-like training tasks.  All of this is done while wearing a ruck sack full of bricks, water, food, and dry clothes. 

The most important thing to understand about GORUCK is that while it's designed to physically and metally push you to every limit you have, you'll walk (or crawl) away stronger than you've ever been in your life.

GORUCK is lead by a Cadre who is former military, Special Ops to be specific.  I suspected (and still do) our Cadre, Jason, was a former CIA enforcer.  He did NOT mess around. All the Cadres have rules. And breaking a rule is not something anyone wants to do.

Our group, 15 total, started at the Arch grounds at 10pm one Saturday night last May.  Jason was right on time and had us line up in formation next to a duck pond.  His instructions were 'turn around and walk 5 feet into the pond.'  And our night started with an hour of PT in the pond (push-ups, mountain climbers, burpees, squats, etc)

PT in South City

I still remember the night vividly, but to spare everyone from a blow by blow playback, I'll  highlight my major lightbulb moments of the night:

1. There really is strength in numbers: We ran down by the riverfront past some suspiciously awkward activities.  I would not go near there in a million years by myself.  But hey, mess with me now.  

2. Duck ponds make you stronger: Here is how our experience with the duck pond played out:  Into the pond, back out, break a rule, back in.  Repeat. Several times.  I was positive I was going to catch a cold.  Or the Ebola virus.  Whatever.  But I finished the challenge and have yet to be checked into the hospital with a mysterious disease.

Crawl through sprinklers 10 hours in

3. Be willing to negotiate, but accept your limits when set: "You do not want to miss this time hack." When Jason would say those words, my soul would freeze.  Team checkpoints were a part of the challenge and the "time hack" was the time limit to get there.  While we could give input on the goal, the final say was Jason's.  Missing it usually meant some form of PT punishment (8 count push-ups, man-makers, etc).  But even though we missed some, we dug deep to hit others.  Life's lessons are often learned through consequences.

The group outside of the AB campus

4. Great leadership drives major accomplishments:  Enter the telephone pole.  Estimates put the weight anywhere between 700 and 1,000 lbs.  We had around 2 1/2 hours to move it 3 miles.  Our team leader managed his 14 peers not only to hit the time goal and keep the pole from touching the ground once, but also break through the biggest mental block of the challenge.  Picture the group 5 hours into the challenge: still cold from the duck pond and working through significant fatigue.  This is where no one would have blamed anyone for quitting, but everyone pushed through.

5. Never underestimate the power of dry socks: Your mom was right. That is all.

The group in the fountain across from Union Station.

6. There really is no 'I' in Team: I cannot lift a 1,000 lb telephone pole. I cannot carry six 70 lb sandbags at once.  But more importantly, I won't do PT in a duck pond, wade in a freezing cold fountain, climb walls, belly crawl through sprinklers, or sprint from one St. Louis landmark to another after 10 hours of insanity by myself.  But we did.  Maybe it's mob mentality...  Or maybe it was that we had a team of old and new friends pushing each person to be better with every step. A good team will get you through some pretty big stuff, but great team will help you crush your own demons.

Al Macinnis says "GORUCK, Eh?"

7. You can accomplish about 800x more work than you think you can: The last hour and a half of the challenge brought sprints from one landmark to another, mini challenges, and punishment for missing time hacks.  Every inch of my body was screaming.  Every step was a battle.  And I would love to tell a story about how I rose from the ashes with renewed strength.  Nope.  Not even close.  But I finished.  We all finished.  It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  And when Jason congratulated us for finishing, I almost cried.

I will cherish my GORUCK patch For. Ev. Er.  





And a special shoutout to my GORUCK teammates and lifelong BFFs for being such an amazing group: Linda, Megan, Jim, Brian, Jason, Jason, Jake, Kyle, Allen, Kurt, Matt, Nick, Ben, and John. And thanks to Cadre Jason for making this experience the real deal.

I got what I thought I would get out of this- two killer blisters on my heels, a goose egg on my shin, and an open wound on my back from where bricks scraped.

But more importantly, I got a boost to my self esteem, a new found appreciation for members of our armed forces, and different perspective on the term "Good Livin'."  GORUCK boasts that they build better Americans.  I agree 100% with that.

Photos Courtesy of Cadre Jason

-Kelsey

Food Friday: Kale

Food Friday is my weekly homage to my favorite thing on Earth- FOOD!  I haven't always felt this way.  I used to view food as the enemy.  But no longer!  I love food- it helps me meet my performance goals, nourishes my body, and most importantly keeps me healthy so I can make a difference in this crazy world.  So every Friday I will be posting about one of my favorite foods.  It may be a plant or animal, single ingredient or recipe, or whatever I feel like (hey- it's my blog afterall).

If there is a particular food you would like me to talk about, recommend it in the comments! 

 Kale

Oh Kale, glorious Kale.

First of all, I feel like Kale is VERY polarizing.  I've seen Facebook commentary that it tastes like dirt.  According to Mitchell on Modern Family, "Kale is not ready to Anchor a meal."  And really, WWRST (What Would Ron Swanson Think).

  

For anyone who knows me, it's probably borderline shocking that my first Food Friday is about a vegetable.  But Kale is probably the one green that I legitimately love.

It's so versatile: you can eat it raw in a salad, cooked in a soup, sauteed in some (sourced) bacon fat with garlic, mixed in a hash, stuffed in some Pumpkins, or baked as a chip.  

Benefits

And here is what Kale has to offer you:

• Mega Rich is Vitamins A,D,E,K and C 
• Chocked full of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory micronutrients  
• Great source of Calcium (Anyone going dairy free will inevitably hear the phrase "But where will you get your calcium?"  You can tell them "KALE YO!")
• Contains essential minerals like copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus  
• Great source of Fiber (Again, if you're giving up whole grains see the Calcium comment above.)

Shopping

Look for firm, deeply colored leaves.  I've only ever seen green Kale in my grocery store, but there are red and purple varieties as well.  And some more good news- Kale is cheap.  You can usually get one bunch of organic Kale for under $2.

Preparing

Make sure you pull the leaves off the stems.  The stems can be really chewy but they are great for compost!  And as with any other veggie, rinse well before eating!

Cooking

I think a lot of people in the health an wellness field would recommend eating Kale raw, but I have to disagree with that.  Cooking Kale will cause it to lose some of the nutrients, but if you do not have a full functioning digestive system (most people do not) digesting any raw plant can be difficult.  

I think you get the biggest bang for your buck using Kale in a soup.  Below is my very favorite Kale recipe where the Kale is cooked in the soup.  The soup will retain most of the good stuff lost in the heating process.  

Recipe

Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup with Kale

This is my FAVORITE recipe with Kale.  If you're a fan of the Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden, this is pretty darn close!

*I saved the following as a picture.  You should be able to right click and "save as" to your personal recipe folder OR print directly from the picture.*

  

How do you feel about Kale?  Love it or hate it?  If you love it, what is your favorite way to eat it?

Open For Business

I was making perfectly beautiful breaded pork chops the other day and I was suddenly overwhelmed with memories of my Grandfather.

My Grandpa Suma...  Sigh.  He was one of the kindest people in the world, the type of person that would do anything for anyone.  He always had a smile on his face, even after raising 5 daughters.  His grandkids loved him.  His granddogs adored him. And he loved him some breaded pork chops (so much so that he would gnaw on the bones until all the gristle was gone and the bones were clean).

But I was overwhelmed because it was a painful reminder that he was taken from us earlier than he should have been.  Grandpa passed from complications from diabetes at 80 years old.  Now that may seem like a full and long life and you're probably right.  But what frustrates me is that he passed from a completely preventable and manageable illness.

Diet sodas, chemical sweeteners, low fat, hydrogenated inflammatory seed oils, and overly processed "food" were the recommendations of his doctors.

This is not uncommon- at the end of a long, twisted tale of food politics and money lie the health of millions of Americans:

• Fat makes you fat
• Meat will give you Heart Disease
• Zero calories sweeteners are healthy
• Eat Margarine instead of Butter
• Lettuce might have Salmonella, so have a multivitamin instead
• Calorie restriction is the best way to lose weight and be healthy
• The American dream can only be achieved by working harder and longer hours than everyone else

Point of Clarification: This is not a "let's bash doctors" thing.  This is a "let's fundamentally challenge conventional wisdom and educate everyone regardless of title" thing.

I'm going to be quite honest friends.

This. Makes. Me. Furious.

Ok, deep breath.  1... 2... 3...

Here's what I'm going to do:

I'm going to do everything in my power to reverse this trend.  Welcome to Ignite. Nourish. Thrive. Health Coaching.  That's right friends, I'm live.  I'm taking my passion for using whole, real foods to fuel an optimal life and putting those eggs in one basket (pun intended).

What does this look like?  It looks like personally coaching people where they are, coming along side them, setting goals, and helping them understand how to make and implement long term health and lifestyle decisions based on eating whole, minimally processed, real foods that we as humans were designed to eat.

Goals may look different for each person.  It may look like fat loss, managing a chronic illness, or putting up a PR in the gym.

Honestly- the end goal is merely directional.  I believe real food helps us be the people we were meant to be.

I will be taking one-on-one or group clients effective immediately, virtual or in person.  If you are interested in working with me, please head to my website and fill out my contact form (also, find me on Facebook and Twitter @Optimize_Life).  And not to sound gimmicky, but hurry up because space will be extremely limited.

I will continue to blog (hopefully with more frequency) and be accessible.  But when it comes down to it, I want to work closely with people who are ready to commit and make changes.  And our world will  not be changed until people are educated and have personally experienced busting these myths themselves.  So if you're ready, or know someone who is....

Come On In, We're Open.

-Kelsey

How Margarine Homewrecked Our Health

In the last few weeks, I've found myself in the middle of or the observer of a lot of conversations about butter.  And to be clear, I'm not complaining.  I looooooove butter (gasp).  And ya know what?  Butter loves me back (gaaaaassssssp).

Most of these conversations revolve around someone making a statement that they love butter and someone else chiming in about hout many calories it has or how it will cause clogged arteries and heart attacks.  But butter has to be one of the most misunderstood and slandered foods in the grocery store.  To fully understand why butter is so misunderstood, it's important to understand the history of butter and why it's fallen out of good graces with most nutritionists and the FDA.

This story can be quite dry and involve lots of food politics.  I'm going to translate it into a story that most of us can understand (for illustrative purposes).  A sort of Desperate Housewives tale.... 

Sprinkle the fairy dust to transport us to a time not so long ago.  A simpler time.  A white picket fence time.  Specifically, the 1950s.

Butter is a housewife who, for as long as she and anyone in her family can remember, has been providing her family with critical calories, good quality fat, and necessary vitamins and nutrients from the milk of grass fed cows.  These nutrients include Vitamins A, D, E, K, DHA, Copper, Zinc, Chromium, Selenium, and CLA.  She also provided essential fatty acids, necessary cholesterols, and shorter chain fatty acids.  All of these kept her family strong and healthy, specifically in regards to brain health, heart disease, liver/lung/kidney function.  She also help them build a stronger immune system and stronger bodies (sort of the 1950s version of being swoll). 

Until one day.

That was the day Butter's husband, known to his friends as USDA, found a new wife named Margarine.  Sure, she appeared to have all the same qualities as Butter- a similar flavor, consistency, and a nice full body.  But unlike Butter, Margarine had a shiny new outfit, cost less to keep around the house, and had certain man-made parts.  USDA had been very happy with Butter for the longest time,  his ol' fraternity brothers, Food Scientist and Marketing Exec, convinced him that upgrading to Margarine would be more fun. 

Butter was taken completely by surprise.

Margarine took her home,

the loyalty of her betrothed,

 her dignity,

and most importantly her family. 

A few of the neighbors questioned USDA's decision to replace Butter with Margarine.  So USDA's ol' buddy, Marketing Exec (who had experience with this), helped him spread rumors about Butter.  Soon enough, all of the neighbors were fond of Margarine as well.

But over time, it was obvious that Margarine wasn't all she was seemed.  Her addiction to man made enhancements grew worse.  She started to rely on government support to keep her home.  And worst of all, her family started to become less nourished and crave love and affection elsewhere. 

You see, Margerine was a deciever.  Promising a more healthy life, but all the while seeking attention and growth for herself.  She is the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing.

The good news is that Butter is still around.  She's quietly biding her time for her family to come back. She now goes by different names such as Kerry Gold

or Organic Valley.

You'll still find her in the dairy section of most grocery stores, but for sure at the health food stores.  She'll be there as quite and humble as ever, no flashy dress promising heart health or superior taste (she doesn't need to promise something that is a part of who she is).

So what are you waiting for?  Welcome Butter back into your life. 

Cheers-

Kelsey

...Someone Has a Case of the Resolutions

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face."

                                                   -Mike Tyson

I don't know if anyone else notices, but this time of year the number of Weight Watchers, Gold's Gym, and Match.com commercials increase what feels like a million fold.  On the surface they're saying "now's a time to get a great deal on my product or service" but what we interpret is "if you want to be happy or have value in the coming year, you need to sign up for this product."

Listen, I'm all for changing your life.  I'm all for getting together with community to make these changes.  I'm all for measuring, tracking, and bragging about changing your life. And if you decide that you're ready to make those changes starting January 1st, I'm for it.

But here is my beef with New Years Resolutions:  It's a great time for us to get help with the What, When, and How, rarely do we have a handle on the WHY.

The WHY, in my opinion, is the most important focus when changing your life.  Right around January 1st, our WHY tends to be because everyone else is doing it.  Or the gym is having a sale.  Or we really want to look good on the beach in 6 months.  None of these reasons are in any way bad- but they lack providing real drive when we're standing in front of a carton of Moose Tracks after a really really hard day.

Before you jump on the Resolution bandwagon, take a few minutes to think through WHY you want to spend the time, money, and effort on getting healthy:

"...because I want to be able to get on the floor and wrestle with my kids next year and my grandkids in 20 years."

"...because my family history of diabetes has finally caught up to me."

"...because my father just had a heart attack and despite the fact that we have a lot of the same habits, I'd still like to be able to walk my daughter down the aisle."

"...I'm tired of taking medication that is making me more sick than it is healing me."

"...I want my daughter to grow up to be a strong woman because she lives with a strong woman as a role model."

Whatever your motivation- it needs to be genuine.  You have to harness your desire to be better tomorrow than you are today.  "Because I need to" or "Because everyone else is" won't work when you're wrecked and the only people that can you feel better are Ben and Jerry.

So let me put this into terms of my life- I have around 3-4% of body fat that I seem to shed, then find again.  On the surface, I want to get rid of it because my jeans will fit better and I'll have a flatter tummy.  But when I break it down, I know I'm carrying that extra fat because I tend to run low on sleep and high on stress.  This produces cortisol, the cortisol manifests as abdominal fat, and voila, my jeans don't fit right.  So while I want to drop body fat and look good in my jeans, what I will really be focusing on is reducing stress and getting enough sleep.

Translated, my New Year's Resolution for 2014 is going to be to actively work on stress management and make sleep a priority, which will translate into a higher quality of life and a lower body fat percentage.

Make sense?

So in light of all that, I need to ask- what is your resolution for 2014 and more importantly, WHY is it your resolution?

Cheers and Happy New Year!

-Kelsey

Thriving During the Holiday Seaon

  From a health and wellness perspective, this time of year is riddled with guilt and anxiety.  A quick Google search provides 53,800 results pertaining to just the term "Holiday Weight Gain."  With that sort of cultural standard, who can enjoy a full serving of mashed potatoes without figuring out the burpee equivalent???  And this isn't even getting into the stress of buying perfect gifts, making the rounds to keep everyone happy, and getting those coveted few workouts in while you can.

Sigh.... All this stress is enough to make me find a tree and hide away for the next few weeks.

Wait, what?  When did the holliest, jolliest time of year become about survival? Is there is a Grinch that finally figured out he doesn't need to take our stockings, Who-Hash, or Roast Beast??  He's a Robo-Grinch that finally figured out how to get our Christmas spirit.

Sigh... (Again.)

Here's the thing- it doesn't have to be like this.  We don't have to JUST survive.  We just don't have to let the guilt and anxiety get to us.  Let's punch that Grinch in his hairy ol' face and take back the right to thrive during the holidays.

  I don't know about the rest of you, but there are three huge areas where I start to freak out and stop enjoying life this time of year.  I've broken down some thoughts to help you mentally be ready for the next several weeks:

Eating:  

Ok.  Here is my recommendation on home to manage the guilt and anxiety on this:

Stop.  Just Stop.

Stop stressing, freaking out, or crying about eating off plan on the holidays.  If you want some apple pie at the expense of your thigh touching (which, by the way, is ridiculous), eat some darn apple pie.  If you want to eat some whipped cream on it, eat some full fat, homemade, fluffy goodness (but try to forgo the fake process junk if at all possible).

Here is the thing- guilt will translate to stress and will wreck your body, metabolism, immune system, sanity, and love for other people.

Side note: this is not a free pass to eat like garbage all the time.  This is a free pass to enjoy off plan meals 4-5 times over the course of one week this year.  And if you're looking for some great, high quality, whole food meals (and one cannot even call them cheats they're so good), check out these.

(And for goodness sake- don't be THAT person that brings the veggie loaf.) 

Working out:  

The holidays are one of my favorite times to move.  I don't usually workout at a gym because I'm on the road and don't feel like finding a random gym.  Holidays are fun because you can get the family together for a game of touch football, a dance party in the toy room, or a stroll through a winter wonderland. 

More importantly, this is an opportunity to build memories.  I can promise you the little ones won't remember who gave them the brand new DS game or the Amazon gift card, but they will remember who climbed trees with them and taking the dogs for a walk.

Stress:  

Similar to the comment on food, STOP STRESSING.  Stress does not do anyone any good, and will most likely shorten your lifespan (whoa, this just got real).

But seriously, what is so important that's it's worth snapping at your friends, family, and spouse?  Certainly nothing that has to do with who can give the best gift, bring the best dish, or wear the cutest outfit.

To be honest, this is where I struggle the most (just ask the Husband).  I don't have any cute or whimsical suggestions on how to stop, other than to gut check yourself and realize it needs to be done.  And stop it.  Seriously.  You're exhausting everyone.

So this season, I encourage you to capture true health by loving, laughing, and being a light to shine on all the world.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/New Year, and may you experience Joy in all you do.

Cheers-

Kelsey

My Story- Part 2 (Nourish)

Note:  You’ll notice I don’t use any citations for this post.  For today, it’s not about what is or isn’t scientifically proven.  It’s about what I’m doing and what works for me.

But if you’re looking for more resources, check out some of my favorite people in the world of nutrition and lifestyle management.  Check out their websites, listen to their podcasts, and buy their books.  You won’t be sorry:  Robb Wolf, Diane Sanfillipo, Liz Wolfe, Sarah Fragoso, and Mark Sisson.

 
Life is crazy these days.  Between the uber amount of traveling for work, coursework for my Heath Coaching certification, training at the gym, supporting a few non-profit causes, loving on my husband, trying to help with the house, yard, and spoiled pets, and some occasional sleep, my weeks move pretty fast.

I'm not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me or to start a contest about who is busier.  I'm telling you this because this is Kelsey's Modern Life.  I would be willing to bet your life has a similar outline.  And we all know that crazy lives can cause some important decisions to get put on the back burner.

In Part 1 of this series, I shared with you the catalyst that ignited my health and wellness journey.  When I was diagnosed with MS, I reacted the way most of us do- "What medicine do you have to fix this?"  I took that medicine for a hot minute, but I never really felt good.  I’m not even sure that I felt better.  I still had numbness and tingling, no balance, suffered from brain fog, etc, etc, etc.  We all know the difference between feeling better and feeling good. 

Good didn't come for me until October of 2011.  Good didn’t come until I figured out a way to holistically solve my issues.  Good came when I was introduced to the Paleo/Primal lifestyle.  Specifically the nutrition side of things.  It's pretty simple.  Are you ready? 

Eat your fill of whole sources of meat, fish, nuts, seeds, eggs, veggies, and fruits.  Avoid eating grains, legumes, and most dairy.

We can spend hours, days, and years talking about the ideal ratio of macronutrients, the role of fermented foods and organ meats, and if Paleo cookies, granola bars, and beer are ok.  But honestly- it doesn't matter.  (Well, it does, depending on your goals and life circumstances, but for what we're talking about today: It.  Doesn't.  Matter.)

Here is how I eat on a typical* day:

Breakfast: Pastured sausage and roasted sweet potatoes with kale and onions.

Lunch: Soup (I love love love love love soup (love it)), a salad or lettuce wrap, and a side of avocado.

Dinner:  Some sort of pot-roast with grassfed butter and sweet potatoes, burgers with sweet potato buns, or dark meat chicken curry with riced cauliflower. 

*Typical means when I’m not traveling.  I’ll spend time covering what I eat when I travel in another post. 

Of course this gets modified based on seasons, activities, and other things that pop up.  But here is my thought on food relating to health:

  

It seems to me that whenever we’re trying to cure an ailment with a holistic approach, the first thing we do is try to add something to our diet to make it go away.  For example, adding cinnamon to your diet is supposed to lower your blood sugar, chicken soup will help cure the common cold, and supposedly the acai berry helps fight off everything from cancer to the bubonic plague.  And I’m not saying that any of these are bad (I love soup, remember?).  But from my perspective, we don’t often take a moment to do some root cause analysis of what is causing us to get sick.

From stress to environmental toxins to a couple of harmless germs, contributors to illness are everywhere. From my experience, highly inflammatory foods are one of the biggest influencers of health.  The most common inflammatory foods are grains (especially gluten containing grains such as wheat, barley, and rye), dairy, soy, legumes, and any other highly refined foods. 

I’ve found when I eat foods that are highly inflammatory my digestive, hormonal, and immune systems go seriously out of whack.  My most common symptoms are acne, brain fog, weight gain, disrupted sleep, and, worst of all, MS symptoms. 

I cut out industrial foods that were making me sick.  The kind of sick that wreaks havoc on my immune system and breaks my body down cell by cell.  The kind of sick that causes inflammation in my gut and decreases my body's ability to digest and utilize key nutrients.  The kind of sick that slowly chips away at my life span.  And I'm not trying to be dramatic here (it just comes naturally).

And over the past year, something odd started to happen.  I went from feeling Good to feeling GREAT.  Of course there are more factors that influence this such as stress, sleep, and movement, but nutrition was the cornerstone of this change.

This lifestyle (it is a lifestyle, not a diet) is not always easy.  To make this work for me, I spend hours prepping meals and cooking every Sunday.  Remember what I told you….  I don’t have a ton of hours in my week as it is.  But for me, this is super critical.  Eating right goes well beyond looking good in a bikini or getting my deadlift up over 300 lbs.  My goal is to be healthy, vibrant, and mobile for a very long time. 

We all have goals.  We also all have free will.  And every time we exercise that free will to go off plan, it has an impact on our goals.  Sometimes it’s worth it (frozen custard on a summer night- yes pleaseeeeee) and other times it’s just not (gluten, dairy, soy-filled fast food every day because something else in my life took priority- no, just no).

So I would implore you to consider what your goals are, start thinking about what you need to do to reach them, and own the decision rights to your life.  I really think you’ll be glad you did.  I am.

-Kelsey