Recently, I got back into weight training. And when I say recently, I mean that I still can’t move from my workout two days ago. Is it too soon to talk about getting back into something when it’s been less than a week? That’s debatable, I suppose. Really, the pain is not that bad, but it’s definitely a reminder of how long it’s been since I lifted weights consistently. My triceps are alive and kicking! Yeow.
After I tore the meniscus in my knee last year (a result of lifting a heavy box during a move), my workouts have been all over the map. I had months of relentless, nagging pain and then short periods without much pain. Totally unpredictable, incredibly frustrating. My love for running races was sidelined indefinitely, which was the hardest part to come to terms with. Meniscus injuries are notorious for slow healing and often, the knee is never quite the same after injury. There is a new definition of normal, I guess. Needless to say, I’ve walked on eggshells – fitness-wise – for the past year and a half, scared to push my knee too hard.
Thankfully though, my injury seems to have turned a corner since earlier this year (knock on wood), thanks in part to the knee strengthening exercises I’ve stuck with. I no longer have pain from daily walking and regular cardio workouts have been fine too. Squatting on the floor or sitting on my knees is still bothersome (as are twisting movements), but it could always be worse.
So, it’s time to get inspired about new fitness challenges again. Weight training is a good place to start; not only is it a muscle builder, but it’s a confidence builder too. I’ve never been overly excited about weight training, but it’s amazing how much of a positive impact it has on my body, mind, and spirit when I do it. My goal is to do a few strength training sessions per week. I’ll have to modify some of the exercises in workout DVDs (plyometrics, like jumping squats, need to be avoided), but I’ll be able to do pretty much everything else. My mantra is to focus on what I can do instead of what I can’t do. It’s similar to enjoying a vegan diet – focus on all the incredible foods you can eat rather than the ones that you want to avoid. Before long, you’ve created a “new normal” for yourself.
All of this brings me to the million dollar question – which workout DVD to use? If you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them below!
In other celebratory news, can we give three cheers for peaches and other stone fruits this month? Can’t. get. enough.
Traditional crisp recipes are usually loaded with sugar and butter, but they don’t have to be. The natural sweetness of seasonal fruit should take centre stage. This recipe I’m sharing today does just that; in fact, it’s healthy enough for breakfast which is how we enjoyed it this past weekend. It would also be lovely with a scoop of ice cream or coconut whipped cream for dessert. It yields 3-4 small servings so if you want something to serve a small crowd I suggest doubling the recipe.
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Summer Stone Fruit Crisp
Yield
3-4 servings
Prep time
Rest time
5 minutes
Cook time
Total time
Peaches, plums, and cherries make up this stone fruit filling. It’s versatile though, so play around with the fruit. Apricots and nectarines would be nice too. I added a light dusting of coconut sugar, cinnamon, arrowroot powder, and chia seeds (the latter two absorbing water) into the filling. The topping is made up of almond flour (or almond meal, if you’d rather), rolled oats, oat flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, and sea salt. It tastes like a cross between an oatmeal cookie and granola without being sickly sweet! I love serving it with Coconut Whipped Cream or vegan ice cream.
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 3 peaches, peeled, pitted, and diced
- 2 plums, peeled, pitted, and diced
- 1 cup cherries, pitted and halved
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar (or other granulated sugar)
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup almond flour (or almond meal)
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)
- pinch of salt, to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and lightly grease a small 1 litre (4 cup) casserole dish.
- Combine the filling ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir until fully incorporated.
- In another medium bowl, stir together the almond flour, oat flour, rolled oats, and cinnamon. Add in the maple syrup and coconut oil and mash with a fork (or beat with a hand mixer) until thoroughly combined into a dough. Add salt to taste.
- Spoon fruit filling into casserole dish and level out. Crumble the topping over top of the fruit in an even layer. Bake, uncovered, at 375°F (190°C) for around 30 minutes, checking on the topping after 20 minutes. If the topping starts to brown too soon, you can remove it from the oven and cover with tin foil for the rest of the time. The crisp is ready when the fruit is fork tender and the topping is golden.
- Cool for 5-10 minutes and serve on its own, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or coconut whipped cream.
Tip:
Note: Use certified gluten-free oats to make this recipe gluten-free.
Angela this is so pretty! It’s like summer in a baking dish :) I love cherries and stone fruits of all kind. I hardly ever bake with fresh (I used frozen) because I eat all the fresh before I can even bake with it! Love the crumbly topping too!
Yum… I love the topping combination! I am totally into Barre 3 these days. It’s a great pilates / yoga / ballet hybrid that does a lot of core and strength exercises and it doesn’t bother my knee at all.
This looks so good! It reminds me of something my dad would make every summer.
Also – I don’t think it’s too early to say you are getting back into weight training! I am saying that I am back into half marathon training even though I’ve only trained once and I’m walking (speed/power walking though) since I killed my knee as well. It’s all perspective! :)
I’m glad you’re getting back into fitness in a way that feels comfortable. I can suggest the Tone It Up website for some great strength training. There’s also a handy iPhone app with daily workouts!
Love the recipe too; I will be trying it out for sure!
I’m so glad to see coconut sugar used in a recipe – I’m usually struggling to try and sub it in! I bet its subtle toasted marshmallow flavor (that’s how it tastes to me, anyway!) would go so well with peaches!
That looks delicious!
As for workout DVDs, I was skeptical, but I am a huge fan of Jillian Michaels’ No More Trouble Zones. I ordered it pretty cheap (used) off of Amazon and I use it 2-3 times a week.
I like how this recipe doesn’t contain loads of sugar in the filling. Fresh fruit is sweet on its own. Looks delish!
And good luck on your weight training! That’s something I’ve been doing too and I can tell a difference in the shape of my arms. It feels good to be strong!
This sounds truly lovely! What a fun recipe!
I know what you mean about injuries causing a loss of confidence. I hurt my left foot pretty badly last year while training for a half marathon and my running hasn’t been the same since. But I’m finding my “new normal” in HIIT workouts and sports!
For a DVD, I really like Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred. I got it at Target and use it ALL the time. The workouts are short enough that I don’t have an excuse to not do them, intense enough to feel like I’ve accomplished something, and definitely modifiable to be lower-impact (assuming things like non-jumping squats and lunges work with your injury?).
I used to do the shred all the time – I’ll have to dig it out again! I remember it being high impact, but like you said those can be modified. Regular lunges and squats don’t give me issues.
Loved the Shred, used it a lot over the past couple of years! Now I work at a horse barn 3 hours every morning before school, so no need for weight lifting – hay bales, water buckets and manure do the trick!! :D
I love this recipe! The colors and flavors go so well together. This is definitely getting bookmarked :)
As for DVDs, I own most of Jillian Michael’s DVDs and absolutely love them! They are short, yet intense. Which DVD’s do you use? I don’t think it’s too early to say you are getting back into weight training. I say that I am training for my first triathlon, yet I still have yet to swim in a pool :P By the way, did you receive an email from me regarding training plans for a triathlon? I know you receive hundreds of emails a day and they can get lost easily.
I love fruit crisps! This recipes sound SO amazing and looks so pretty and summery too!
I love The Firm or Brooke Burke workout DVDs!
I vote you try out some of the Barre DVDs! I love anything by Tracey Mallet.
I’ve been eying those! I used to be in ballet and loved it so I think it could be a nice fit. Do they use hand weights at all or is it all body resistance?
They use very light weights (1-3 lbs) for some arm work but the rest is done on the floor or with a chair as your ‘barre’. If you wanted a more strength based workout I love Tracey’s F.I.T. – not barre, but a nice split between cardio and strength training that uses heavier weights.
Thanks Erica, going to look it up :)
Posted something similar only recently on the work blog! No plums but included apricots! – http://www.thehappypear.ie/2013/07/24/why-we-love-crumbles-especially-cherry-ones/ I’ve just started Insanity..high intensity plyometrics! Loving it but there is a lot of jumping!
What a beautiful crisp! I’ve been wanting to try coconut whipped cream for ages too.
PS. I recently got back into doing Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred series. I love it, but there are lots of squats and lunges involved, which probably won’t work with your knee. I feel you on the soreness though. Clearly many of my leg muscles have not been getting a full workout for quite some time. Yeow is right!
This looks awesome! I will most certainly be making this soon–thanks for posting :)
As for workout DVD’s, I mainly just workout with stuff I find on Youtube, but all of the people I suggest have DVDs available for purchase. Jillian Michaels has good longs workouts that combine strengths training as well as cardio and plyo moves (you can find her dvd workouts in Youtube if you want to take a peak). Zuzka Light is my all time fav internet trainer! Her workouts are short–10-20 mins max and they combine strength and cardio as well and are te most effective workouts I’ve ever done. Her workouts are on YT also there are DVDs for purchase on amazon. Lastly Tara Stiles had great workouts, they are yoga but you feel it. I hope you find something you like!!
Thanks for the suggestions!
That looks delicious!
Good luck sticking to your weight training routine! I need to be more consistent with weights, I know my body would thank me. My favorite workout DVDs are the Les Mills Combat and TurboFire, both are put out by Beachbody. They give a great workout. Also, every workout on fitnessista.com is fabulous. :)
mmmmm— that looks so good! I have made so many of your recipes, and love so many of them! Weight training, I have 2 videos I love. Abs Diet 2 (the guy is cheesy, but the workout is really good) there is also a cardio one one there. And Jackie Warner – personal training xtreme timesaver. I love it. Such a great full body workout. And I’m glad you posted this because I want to see what other people recommend too :)
First, I just wanted to say I really enjoy your recipes and make them all the time. I’ll def be getting your cookbook when it comes out!
For workouts, I discovered blogilates.com this Spring and love it. I’ve really seen an improvement in muscle tone since I started. The instructor puts out workout plans monthly, so it’s great to know what she has planned a month in advance and always has options to change up moves. It’s a mix of HIIT, pilates, and weights. Plus, it’s free, which is even better!
I hope you’re finding even more fun ways to stay active as your knee fully heals!
I also tore my meniscus a couple years ago. Have you seen an orthopedic surgeon about it? I had a menisectomy and I was walking the next day and running within 2 weeks. I would say my knee is 100% back to normal now and I’ve done 2 marathons and 5 half marathons since then! It’s the easiest surgery ever- it’s laparoscopic, and I never even took any painkillers after bc there was no pain. I lived in a third floor walk-up and walked up the 3 floors when I got home after surgery. I even left on a 3 month trip in Africa two weeks after the surgery!
The way the doctor described the surgery to me was that when the meniscus tears, it will move back and forth between the bones in your knee. Sometimes it’ll be inside (where it belongs) and you’ll feel fine, other times it’ll move between the bones and that’s when the pain comes. He said you can definitely live with it for life and have the pain come and go, but with the surgery, you know it’s gone for good. That was all the convincing I needed!
Hey Alexis, So glad it worked out for you! Yes, I saw an OS and he recommended that I not move forward with the surgery as my tear wasn’t severe and by the time I got an appointment with him, it had been nearly a year since the injury and the pain was much less. It’s a tough call. Some people have luck with the surgery while others don’t – my stepfather has had the surgery a few times now for the same meniscus issue which has caused him probs for decades. I guess each person’s experience is unique. I’m so happy you got some relief though!
Have you heard of ‘dry needling’. My friend did something to her meniscus and had dry needling done. It’s much like acupunture, but is done by a Physio here in Australia. I had it once for my back and it was amazing!
No I haven’t, but that sounds interesting! Does it stimulate blood flow?
I’m not 100% sure how it works…but she avoided surgery because of it. She has an old mesnicus tear that she injured during a tough mud race. Went for one treatment and was able to walk again.
Here’s an overview: http://www.thehealthjournals.com/2012/04/dry-needling-targeting-muscle-pain/
I believe that the dry needling helps to alleviate surrounding muscle irritation, reduce scar tissue formation and stimulate blood flow. I know that it’s growing in popularity in Australia and it helped my back instantly!
Thanks for the info, will definitely look into it more.
Good for you getting back into weights. That’s the hardest for me! Especially upper body… And this fruit crisp is gorgeous. :)