Day 5: Move! And ch-ch-ch-choose Chia

 “Recognize that anything worth having is worth fighting for.  Good health, vitality, more energy, more confidence, better sex, great abs, a tight ass- you either want ‘em or you don’t.  You can continue plodding along in your life feeling like you’re not living up to your glorious potential or you can dedicate yourself to creating the life you want.”   Skinny Bitch

As I’m sure you know, exercise has many benefits.  It is better than an antidepressant, sending pleasure hormones to your brain.  According to Dr. Neal Barnard, “Vigorous exercise not only gives you an opiate effect of its own, but also helps you sleep, boosting your resistance to cravings.”  And of course, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that most every study ever conducted on health proves that regular exercise (30 – 60 min, five times a week) can help reverse and/or prevent nearly all health problems, from diabetes to high blood pressure to depression.

I’ve also noticed that I have much more energy the day after I’ve exercised.  Honestly, I believe regular exercise to be one of the secrets of life.  It makes me feel more efficient, my brain processes better, my body hums as energy moves more freely.  I can get exceedingly more accomplished in a day if I’ve been exercising.  Being sedentary makes life feel more like molasses.  If you have missions and adventures that you would like to accomplish in your limited time on this earth, then get that momentum going and keep it going!

Lately, I’ve been running, bicycling, and attending yoga classes.  I am training for a 10K (6.2 miles) in October and to help me climb back up to athletic endurance, I have been turning to chia seeds.  In Born to Run, Christopher McDougall calls chia seeds “Home-brewed Red Bull!”

He continues, “In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone.  As tiny as those seeds are, they’re superpacked with omega-3s, omega-6s, protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber, and antioxidants.  If you had to pick just one desert-island food, you couldn’t do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart disease; after a few months on the chia diet, you could probably swim home.”

According to Dr. Todd Pesek in Eat Yourself Super, chia has more calcium than cow’s milk.  Also, an excellent Superfood, chia can stabilize blood sugar, contributing to the prevention and reversal of diabetes.

You can eat the seeds raw, sprinkle into soups or whole grain dishes, or add them to baked goods.  The best way for your body to streamline the nutrients, however, is soaked in liquid for at least 10 minutes.  It forms a gel.

As you can see, the gel is not the prettiest or the most pleasant drink, but it makes a HUGE difference if I chug a glass right before a run.  It makes running easier.  Try it.

If you would like to learn more about chia, as well as recipes and how to make chia gel, the following is a great resource:  http://www.rawreform.com/content/view/345/127/.

If you are sore after a tough workout, drink some chia.  It reduces muscle soreness, which I have not read yet, but my sister-in-law, Jessica, swears by it and I've experienced it myself. 

Now for a treat!  This is the perfect after-exercise snack (or a great way to start the day as breakfast.)  The banana in this smoothie will nourish your muscles and replenish your carbohydrates. 

Fun banana fact:  When running long distances (over an hour,) a banana is a perfect snack for refueling – the high water content keeps you hydrated and the carbohydrates keep you going.  It’s very popular with marathon runners.  “Is that a banana in your pocket…?”

Bananas for Peanut Butter “Milk” Shake

1 Frozen banana, in small chunks

¼ cup chia gel

½ cup almond milk (unsweetened vanilla for now – the chocolate almond milk is wonderful in this but contains sugar)

1 ice cube

1-2 Tablespoons of peanut butter (depending on if you plan to snack on nuts later, if so, have just one)

Blend together.  I pulse a few times, then blend for 30 seconds straight, pause and blend another 15 seconds, then check consistency.  If it’s too thick, add a little more almond milk and blend for 15 more seconds.

You can also add cacao powder or protein powder.

*In today's picture, I added a heaping teaspoon of cacao powder and 2 teaspoons of steel-cut oats.  I put the oats in first, then poured the almond milk and chia gel over so that the oats could soak for about 5 minutes, then started adding the other ingredients.  It was delicious!  If I had more time, I would probably use more like 1/4 cup oats and soak in boiling water, then let cool (or make a bunch to keep in the fridge?)  The raw oats surprised me by disappearing though - I barely noticed them.

It tastes like a milkshake and is my favorite smoothie of all!