Stoking the Fire

Fall descends around us, as the notorious Cleveland weather swings the pendulum from warm Autumnal days to inches of snow, setting us in a panic to find our snow brushes and sheep lined boots. Our body senses the change, as the first cool days set into our bones, chilling us down to our core as we have yet to acclimate to the changes around us. 

Our deciduous trees are our shining in all of their glory, beckoning us to share the space with them as they glow with rich amber and ruby tones. There is something very special about the fall, a chance to connect with nature, connect with something pure and organic, a sense of home. John Muir captures the essence of nature so eloquently as he states "Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." (Our National Parks, 1901). As we witness the changes around us, we must also become in-tune with the changes within. 

While the leaves fall around us, some of the greatest growth occurs out of sight, underneath the soil as roots continue to establish themselves in the moist and fertile soils. Energy is conserved into the core, protecting the plant for the cold winter months. The human body is much like the rest of nature, as we work in harmony with the changing winds and cooler temperatures. Evolution has created a creature so resilient - able to withstand the long Cleveland winter months. 

As the days become shorter, and the evenings descend upon us, our body begins to crave the smells and flavors of fall in all of their richness. Pumpkin spice, anyone? It's no mystery why Starbucks is celebrating 10 years of slinging pumpkin spice lattes.  Pumpkins are from the cucurbitae family, one of the most popular crops in the United States, annually producing 1.5 billion pounds. As the fall sets into our body, we are biologically hardwired to conserve energy, allowing the metabolic fire to keep burning. Pumpkins are rich in beta carotene (precursor to vitamin A), fiber and low in calories - that is until we combine it with sugar and cream. As you look at your jar of pumpkin spice mix, we can make note that the majority of the spice mix is cinnamon, as well as nutmeg, ginger and allspice. Each of these spices are warming to the senses, especially cinnamon which has shown to reduce inflammation, fight harmful bacteria and serve as an antioxidant. These spices are warming to the soul as we sit with family, enjoying home cooked meals, carving pumpkins, and savoring those first sips of a pumpkin spice latte. 

This all leads us back to the internal fire. A few weeks earlier I ventured into the cold, and  stepped foot into the Cleveland Yoga studio as the heat and humidity wrapped around my skin. It was a Saturday afternoon, and I unrolled my mat, surrounded by some of my dearest friends. Our colorful, and well loved mats lay next to each other as I was reminded of the children's story where everyone rolls over, and someone falls out of the bed. We were each there to stoke the fire.  Although the smells were not those of pumpkin spice and all things nice, they were smells of comfort, warmth and familiarity. We tuned into that internal craving for warmth, to be part of the community, and chance to take a walk on the wild side, as our cares dropped off like autumn leaves.

Embrace the change, accept that summer has come and gone, and presence yourself to the changes that are occurring both externally and internally. Root down, and recognize that the more you ground yourself down to the goodness that surrounds you - community, family, personal well being - the more you nourish your soul, creating a strength capable of weathering any storm that comes your way and allowing for future growth when the spring winds come.




Pumpkin Blondies: 
Courtesy of Kaitlin Corkran:

2 1/3 cup unbleached whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted walnuts or pecans

- Set oven to 350 degrees
- Line 13 x 9 inch pan with parchment and cooking spray or oil
- Whisk all dry ingredients together in medium bowl
- Cream butter with sugars using a hand-mixer or standing mixer, then add egg and vanilla.
- Beat in pumpkin (it takes on a curdled look - no fear, this is normal)
- Mix in dry ingredients and spread onto prepared pan
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached
- Let cool completely, and enjoy!

Setting Limits to be Limitless

What's the greatest thing getting in the way of your own success? Most likely you. We often battle the inner voice telling us to do more, do less, say yes, say no, and the biggest one, you have to be a certain way to succeed. A dear friend and teacher of mine emphasized this idea in her Sunday morning yoga class as she reminded us to be our own teacher. At this point I had flipped into wheel after a slippery attempt to go into handstand. To listen to that inner monologue and while taking suggestions from the teacher, do what is best for your own well being. I often fly around, exerting more effort into a handstand than necessary and the greatest lesson of that morning? How to fall.

The past few months in between fuelskool posts have been just that - a lesson in falling, getting up, and realizing that there are so many hands offered out to help pull me back up. That outstretched hand is the result of years of building community, developing friendships, and finding those in your life that make you believe that the love you feel is a direct result of what you believe you deserve.  The people that surround me come from a place of support, inspiration and allowing my goals to be limitless.

In addition to listening to my inner monologue, I have come to realize that setting limits can be the best way to be limitless: harnessing more energy by using what you already have. By using the human body as a perfectly efficient machine we can tap into fuel sources that nature intended. I have recently been eating more clean, trying to eliminate processed carbohydrates and include more natural fat sources (which are friggin' delicious) Before I get into some diet rant, let's just say that by eating more clean, it quiets that inner voice which can morph into a ravenous yelling beast - fat acts to shoosh and swaddle the beast (in a nice blanket of almond butter) putting it to sleep for a long nap.

Long rides in the gorgeous fall weather, hot and sweaty yoga sessions and trail runs through the beautiful woods of Northeast Ohio can leave you blissed-out, until that beast begins to awaken. How does one calm the beast and stay in your bliss? Snacks!

Here's my latest favorite creation:

*** one quick note: remember the inner teacher comment? Well, sometimes that teacher needs to guide your cooking. So listen to your own desires, flavors and feel free to play with these recipes. I know I sure didn't measure anything - so these are estimates :)

Lemon Vanilla Coconut Bars:

Set oven to 350 degrees (325 if using convection)

1/2 c. coconut flour (high fiber, full of delicious and filling natural fats)
1 1/2 c. coconut flakes, unsweetened
2 scoops of your favorite vanilla protein powder...the more natural the better (optional)
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1/2 c. toasted almond slivers and/or sunflower seeds
1/3 c. dried cranberries
zest from one lemon (only the yellow part, white pith is bitter)
2 eggs
1/4 c. almond milk, or coconut milk, or water
1/2 c. apple sauce (I use homemade, which is sugar free)

Mix all ingredients together. This should be the consistency of a thick pancake or brownie batter. Pour and spread into a oiled 9x9 baking pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until edges are slightly brown.

Let cool and enjoy! These will last for about 5-7 days, if you can refrain from eating them for that long.

*** more notes: if chocolate if your thing, leave out lemon zest and add mini chocolate chips.

back to basics

5 hours of sleep in 48 hours - welcome to the life of a nursing student working night shift. Struggling to keep your head erect while in a meeting, drifting in and out of consciousness, and trying to find out when exactly is dinner time. Sleeping and eating - back to basics.

Working with newborns 24 hours out of the womb gives perspective to the importance of our lives. Nature versus nurture and how genetics loads the gun while our environment pulls the trigger. Babies and guns is not a good combination, but for this blog it serves a purpose. Maybe I should write a disclaimer. The point is that when we enter this world we are so pure, feeding from our mother's breast milk (hopefully), and we are only concerned about the basics - eating, sleeping and making a mess in our diapers. I'm not a baby person, but these little nuggets are just adorable. So perfect in every way.

At what point do we start pulling the trigger? Night nurses are the ninjas of the nursing world - sneaking in and out of the hospital while the world sleeps, sacrificing normalcy for the sake of others - and to be honest it takes a toll(house) on our bodies. Nurses are givers - the mothers and fathers of the medical world, but they are not exactly the shining example of health. Look at what clutters up the nursing station: chocolates, doughnuts, cupcakes... total sugar therapy. Here we go again, back to mindfulness. If we could simply be mindful of what we're eating, and more importantly why, can we revert back to that state of simplicity and purity? I'll take a onesie - size 362 months.

The second best thing I've seen wrapped up in a little bundle of goodness was the burrito I so gently swaddled this past weekend. My man candy had just laid himself out on gravel while running his 6 minute miles, bloodied and bruised, knees missing skin, forearm bracing his fall and the worst part was that no one stopped to help. He needed some loving, someone to care for him. The best way to do that was to feed him a whole lot of goodness after the rubbing alcohol made him angrily brace his chair. When your girlfriend is a nursing student, be a man, and let her practice taking care of you.

- organic whole wheat sprouted tortillas (burrito size)

- locally make chorizo: removed from casing, browned till crispy (Heinen's or the farmer's market)
- mushrooms: finely diced and browned with chorizo (more mass, less calories)

- sweet potatoes: cubed in 1/2 inch pieces, boiled to soft, then browned in hot pan

- salsa: all items were diced uniformly
     - 1/2 english cucumber
     - one avocado
     - 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
     - 2 local peaches
     - large bunch cilantro
     - 1/2 sweet onion
     - 1/2 lime juice

- 4 eggs, scrambled
- shredded cheese (optional)
- 1/2 red pepper cut into strips and sauteed
- greens mix

fill burritos, then toast in hot oven (350 degrees) folded side on pan and let brown. This will seal the wrap, making it easier to consume.

This is the breakfast version: I left the salad and salsa on the side

There you have it: a ton of veggies, whole grain carbs, chorizo for flavor, and a satisfied belly letting you take on the world. The world is your burrito, and it's up to you to figure out what to fill it with.

"The two most important days of our lives are the day you were born, and the day you find out why" - Mark Twain

mind of a grasshopper body of a sensei

The realization that I had neglected  to mention an essential dimension of my holistic approach to eating and physical activity came to me as a lay in a homemade puddle of electrolytes.  So what is it?? Yoga, ya silly goose, how could I not have mentioned it in my two earlier posts? The association between yoga and fuelskool is not apparent, but the practice of yoga is the practice of mindfulness, and what's eating without mindfulness? The American diet.

The American diet should be served with a shovel, and not one crusted with soil, but rather one coated with sugar, fat and salt- the trifecta of the human psyche - as we shovel it in without thinking.  We are biologically hardwired to desire these three elements. We crave it because it used to be scarce, now we can't turn a grocery isle without being bombarded by it. I'll leave the science and higher level thinking to Michael Pollan and I'll stick to eating and getting sweaty. See Mom, my anthropology degree comes in handy sometimes.

As I lay on my mat, one hand on my abdominal aortic pulse and the other rising and falling on my chest, I started thinking of the role of yoga in my fuel decision making process. I likened yoga, running and cycling to siblings: yoga is the oldest sibling, the wise trailblazer that teaches you to read and diagnose medical conditions at the age of six. The more knowledge you digest, the more you realize you don't know and there is so much out there to learn! Yoga for me is simply perception, our perception of reality, consciousness, and being attune to that inner voice (not the kind I'm learning about in my psych rotation). I'm getting somewhere, I promise. When our perception is skewed by pain or suffering, we have to base our perception on feelings. Some of the most powerful forces, like wind, can only be felt, so don't underestimate your own feelings. That gut feeling is always right. Yoga, the union of mind and body.

Back to food, we know what feels good in our bodies versus what simply feels good on our tongue. Training the tongue to match what feels good in our bodies was either hammered into you at a young age (sign in my mom's kitchen reads: Dinner Options 1. take it 2. leave it ) or is a process of relearning. We need that heightened sense of awareness to figure out what works for our bodies. This could not be more apparent than when we put our body through the ringer. What if it doesn't feel good? Yep, it's coming out, quickly, either against gravity or flowing right with it. So listen to your elders and your gut, they know more than you do. In my case, I cannot wait to get old. The best athletes I encounter are often at least ten years older.

The last bit of this stream of consciousness goes back to the other two siblings. I'm the baby of four - and all 10 lbs 2.5 oz of me were a surprise. Being the baby, I constantly feel the need to catch up, and will be a perpetual newbie. That being said, I am always approaching the middle sibling (running) and youngest sibling (cycling) from the point of a newbie and wanting to learn everything. I'm already aware that I will never know everything my oldest sibling does, I will never know yoga, I am a lifetime student of the practice.

Listen to your body, it's your sensei and let your mind forever be a grasshopper.


The following recipe has been my favorite since I bought a new juicer a few weeks ago...

I was always skeptical about juicing, all of the calories without the fiber, but with the inclusion of a ton of veggies and greens I have seen the light and changed my ways. And simply put, juice just feels good, especially after a long hot run, or sweaty yoga class.

- large bunch of kale (2-3 whole stems)
- 2 medium beets
- 1 granny smith apple
- 1 inch chunk of fresh ginger
- 1/2 - 1 cup pineapple
- two whole carrots
- one peeled orange or other favorite citrus

** makes two servings.

What does one do with all the leftover delicious cellulose? Mix it in soups, veggie patties, scrambled eggs...endless possibilities!

smaller is better

Pocket size has been my latest crush in the food world. Dubbed "portables" by my latest food picture book a.k.a. recipe book Feed Zone Portables by Biju Thomas & Allen Lim. This book has great ideas and after 272 pgs, I deduced that the trick to cycling like a pro is to design all snacks in jersey size pocket portions. This way you pack in the nutrients and calories to help you fly like the wind, without adding weight to your fancy full-carbon bike. Ever see guys on a carbon road bike that costs more than my nursing tuition with a beer belly left over from Christmas Ale? Your bike only weighs 15 pounds,  but hills are still so damn tough. Bear in a circus...go figure. (Too bad these guys still burn me...sometimes.)

I realized the joy of non-gel or non-block formed snacks when I was riding through the Black Hills of South Dakota. After a morning of climbing through dense humidity, I was a wee bit hungry and pulled out a warm biscuit I stashed left over from breakfast. Calorie powered oven. My teammates were slightly shocked, but then again my nickname was "lil' belly". Salty, flaky goodness.

The best way to approach this portable idea is with a muffin tin. Portion control, brilliant. My first attempt was last weekend while recovering from my latest 50K, seeing that I had time to play like a mad scientist.  Here's what happened...

Pretzel Bread French Toast Muffins

makes 12 muffins

2 pretzel buns = 4 cups (or any other favorite bread torn into 1 inch cubes)
2 bananas mashed (the browner the better)
6 eggs whisked
1 cup milk (cow/almond/soy)
2 T brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
blueberries (optional)

topping (optional)
- homemade granola (recipe to come in a later blog)
- turbinado sugar

Tear the bread, or cut into 1/2 - 1 inch cubes and distribute in oil sprayed muffin tins.

Whisk the mashed banana, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt in bowl and divide among muffin tins covering the bread. The bread will slowly absorb the mixture. Drop in some blueberries and cover entire tin with foil.

Let sit over night, or for at least an hour until bread absorbed egg mix. Top with granola, sugar, etc and bake in oven at 350 degrees F, covered for 20 mins. Remove foil and bake until tops are browned, about 15-20 mins.

Let cool, or not. Pack in foil, stash in jersey pocket, and wait until at least you reach the the next street over before indulging.

train to eat

So here it is, written documentation of divulged secrets, inner workings of my thought processes, and my admittance of obsessions. This girl loves to eat, and everything that goes into the process. I don't take direction well, so when I post a photo on Facebook, and people ask me for the recipe, I'm scrambling trying to remember what struck my fancy at the moment of creation. Recipes are guidelines, and make really good picture books.

The second part of this blog is to use food as a fuel source, not just an indulgence. Over the last five years, I have come to recognize that eating copious amounts of butter fat and crusty delicious bread is quite detrimental to the waist-line and more importantly the brain. After studying abroad, I put on a few pounds - I needed a way to burn off the paella, chorizo, and red wine after returning from Spain. Enter pain, sweat and endorphins.  After completing my first ultra-marathon in 2011 people asked me, "what's the hardest miles you've run?" I always responded it was the first ones when I began running. It gets better, I promise.

After a few years of running roads and finding my real passion on the trails, I decided it was time to clad myself in spandex and hit the road on two wheels. My knees were causing me a few issues, so I bought my first road bike. Taking time off from exercise was not an option, since I still consumed calories like a runner. Before I knew it, I was signed up to ride my bicycle across the country. Time to start training. Here's the fun part - in a training ride I could easily burn a few thousand calories and finding the balance between calories in and calories out was important for cycling. Running on empty caused my attitude and power to go down the swirly... quickly.

Food and I are intimate friends. I am constantly finding what fuels me best while making my heart sing with happiness and continue its rhythmic lub-dub when I demand more exertion. We take care of each other, discover new levels of creativity, and it really works well for finding new friends, or making old ones still like you.

Fuel Skool - not always done correctly, or by the book, but this is my version of what makes my world (and tires) go round.