Know Your Roots Salad & June Goals

Good morning to you!

On Tuesday night, I made Kath’s Know Your Roots Salad which features golden beets, wheatberries, sunflower seeds, beet greens, and sweet potato. Eric and I both went crazy over it. Golden beets are one of my favourite vegetables! If you have not tried them I highly encourage you too. They are sweeter and milder than red beets and even Eric who is not a red beet fan, just loves golden beets.

I made a few modifications based on what I had in my kitchen, but for the most part I stuck to the original recipe.

• I didn’t have any sweet potato, so I used a butternut squash. It went quite well flavour-wise, but I think I would have preferred the sweet potato as it firms up a bit more when roasting and the butternut was mushy.
• I also used kale instead of the beet greens because my beets were in the fridge for over a week and the greens wilted on me (whoops). The kale was a great sub in a pinch!
• I added some Navy Beans for some extra protein. Navy beans are great because they blend in well to the flavours in most dishes.
• I used speltberries instead of wheatberries

The delicious recipe can be found here.

June Goals

Thanks for sharing your goals in yesterday’s post! I enjoyed reading them. I’ve come up with a few goals myself.

Goal #1: Core Work via Whittle My Middle, TWICE a week

I’m bringing back Whittle My Middle core work into my workout routine on a regular basis. I’ve been doing it on and off all Spring, but I really want to get consistent and stick with it.

My goal is to do Whittle my Middle twice a week. Each session takes about 7 minutes of actual core work. I like to rest about 30 seconds in between exercises if necessary. I grab my Garmin and time each exercise.

Here are the exercises I will be doing twice a week:

1) Front Plank with fully extended arms: 60 seconds

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2) Side plank with bent arm: 60 seconds per side

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3) Torso Twists (see here for instructions) 60 seconds

Note. Instead of a medicine ball you can use hand weights or a large soup can/other heavy object.

4) Plank-Ups: 60 seconds

Start in plank position on forearms, legs extended behind you, resting on toes; raise right leg a few inches off ground, toes out (as shown). Keeping leg lifted, straighten right arm, then left, coming into a raised push-up position. Reverse motion to return to plank. Repeat, alternating lead arms.

Note: If this exercise is too difficult for you, try keeping you leg on the ground and just focus on raising and lowering your arms.

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5) Boat Pose: 60 seconds

Begin in a seated position with your knees bent and your feet resting lightly on the ground as you balance on your sit bones. With your core engaged, lengthen through your torso and recline slightly, avoiding any rounding of your back. Extend your arms straight out in front of you, then extend your legs, creating a V-shape with your torso and legs. Breathe comfortably throughout the move.

Note: Instead of just staying still the whole time, I prefer to bring my knees in to my chest and extending them back into boat pose (one rep, hold for 1-2 secs), all while keeping my feet off the ground. I find this challenges the abs more as you have to stay balanced while moving.

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6) Bicycle Crunches: 60 seconds

I did this workout after my cardio this morning and my abs wept! I admit, I couldn’t do the full 60 seconds for a couple of the exercises, but I hope to get stronger as I go. As long as my abs are weeping, I will be improving. :)

Be sure to always consult your doctor before beginning any workout routine to make sure it is right for you!

Goal #2: Hot Yoga 1-2 times per week

My $40 unlimited monthly pass is almost up at my Moksha studio, which unfortunately means that I won’t be able to go to yoga as frequently as I have been going because it is so expensive! When the intro pass runs out, I hope to go 1-2 times per week, as my budget allows.

Goal #3: Try Spinning Again

In university, I took a couple 3-month spinning classes and I just loved them! My current gym offers spinning so I really want to try it out again and see if it’s something I’d like to add into my routine. I would love to do spinning once a week if I still enjoy it.

Goal #4: Structured meals and Limit snacking

As I mentioned yesterday, I did not accomplish this goal in May. I snack a lot and I really want to break this habit and focus on having larger structured meals, instead of smaller ones that leave me hungry in an hour or two! Along the same line, I need to make the time for proper sit down meals. I often eat lunch in a matter of minutes, or even while standing up when I’m busy (so bad!), and I really need to break this habit. Has anyone transitioned from several smaller meals & snacks to 3 squares a day + 1 snack? I’d love to hear your tips!

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Well, those are my goals for June…I hope it is a great month! It’s such a love-hate relationship, but I feel so strong when I’m rocking out the core work. A strong core also helps with everyday activities and will help prevent lower back pain that I sometimes get from sitting at my desk. Let me know if you’d like to join me!