Monday, July 25, 2011 at 07:06 AM
Kalli is my Bloggie Friend from California. She writes Fit And Forty Something.
She is Kalli From California. My kids, by the way, think that is hilarious. You know the way that her name kind of rhymes with the state in which she lives. Ahhhh, grade school humor. Anyhoo, Kalli posted this Savory Salmon recipe a week or so ago, over on Fit and Forty Something, and it looked so easy – and I happened to have all the ingredients in my pantry. I also had a piece of salmon that I needed to cook. So, I whipped it up.
Kalli says, and I agree, that you really could try this with any fish.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain yogurt ( I used Greek yogurt): NuVal score of 93
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used grape): NuVal score of 96
- 1 cup chopped Greek olives: NuVal score of 10
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tsp dill
- 1 tsp crushed or chopped garlic: NuVal score of 91
- Atlantic Salmon: NuVal score of 87
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Line a cookie sheet with foil
- Place the salmon on the cookie sheet
- Combine the ingredients (except the salmon in a bowl)
- Layer mixture on top of the salmon
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes and then finish it under the broiler for a few minutes.
The yogurt mixture keeps the fish so moist!
Delicious! When I tried this recipe out, I was in the middle of one of my Cooking Blitzes. I was working on Catherine’s Shrimp Pasta Primavera recipe, I was making a crock pot recipe for the week ahead, and I was marinating chicken for the next night – all at the same time. I was a hot mess! So, that’s why I opted for the oven method instead of adding the outdoor grill to my endeavor. But next time, I will definitely see how this works on the BBQ. I think it will be very tasty, indeed. Thanks Kalli, for sharing!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Blog Friends, Fish, Fit Friends at Forty, Salmon
Tags: fitandfortysomething, savory salmon
Monday, June 13, 2011 at 07:24 AM
Back in March, I woke up on a Saturday morning and something in my back did not feel right. I’ve dealt with low-back pain off and on – and typically I can exercise my way through it – so I tried my typical Saturday routine of a 3 mile run followed by some strength training. That was a bad idea. On Sunday, I couldn’t cough, laugh, sneeze, stand up, lie down or sit without excruciating pain. I was in big trouble.
Between several visits to my doctor, my chiropractor and a physical therapist, we found out that I had strained my lower back acutely, had a possible herniated disc, a muscle spasm in my Quadratus lumborum, a very tight IT band, and a very tight psoas. In other words, I was in big trouble.
Well, yesterday (June 12th) was the 3-month “anniversary” of the injury. And I will tell you that it has taken me all of that time to truly get better. Three. Whole. Months.
I am not a doctor, but I do believe that if I were 31 years old instead of 41, maybe perhaps it would not have taken so long. I remember spraining ankles and things back then and it just didn’t take as long!
But I write today’s post because I work out with several 40-something women (or soon to be 40-something women) and it seems we are all fighting injuries these days. At today’s writing, we have the following injuries on our Early Morning Workout Roster:
- Knee
- IT Band
- Low Back
- Hip that may require surgery
Oh, and then there is the guy who takes my Pilates class. He has a Shoulder injury. Yes, lots of injured people around.
So, let me tell you what my morning is like now that I am “healed”
5:00 am Weather Check
Sneakers on
Water and Fuel (I eat about 3 bites of that banana during the 10-minute drive to the gym)
Meet up with the Morning Crew for our daily run
The nice thing about running on with a group of people on treadmills is that everyone can run at their own speed. Given our injured states as of late, that has really come up big!
So how did I get from unable to laugh without excruciating pain in March to being able to run a 30-minute hill profile with my running group in June?
Well, it wasn’t easy!
Psychologically, the injury was very depressing at first. I remember driving to my chiropractor’s office passing all the spring runners on the roads thinking I would never run again! I would hear Katy Perry’s “Firework” on the radio and nearly cry because it reminded me of roller-skating with my daughter (another thing that I thought I would never do again). I had to take things very slow and be very patient with myself.
To get better, I followed all the advice of my doctor, physical therapist and saw my chiropractor too. Once I was able to get back into the gym, I did the following:
- Warmed up for a good 5-10 minutes before every workout
- Took days off in betweenworkouts
- Stretched for a good 5-10 minutes at the end of every workout
- Did a little less running and spent a little more time on the elliptical
- Used lighter weights and stayed away from kettlebells for the time being
- Did “old lady” things for exercise (like walking at lunchtime)
Now that I’m about 90% back to my former fitness level, it is tempting to get back into some old habits. I want to eek every minute out of that morning workout and try to get in a few more minutes of running or spinning. But I don’t. I stop so that I have time to stretch my IT band, my hams, my QL, my piriformus, my quads. Instead, I take a break at lunchtime and get outside for a brisk walk up some hills for extra cardio. It gets me away from my desk (so important!) and gives me some extra mental energy for a productive afternoon.
I am so happy to be on the mend. Now, when I hear Katy Perry singing “Firework”, I get excited thinking about how good it feels to ride my bike alongside my kids, play tennis and basketball with my son, run along the bikepath with my husband. And I am so thankful to my morning gym crew who inspire me to get out of bed every morning to keep my body strong.
Question of the Day
Have you been injured? How hard/easy was your recovery?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Fit Friends at Forty, running
Tags: injuries
Monday, May 23, 2011 at 07:12 AM
One of the best perks of being a blogger is that you get to make friends with other bloggers along the way. Today, I’d like to introduce you to a few of my friends from the blogosphere – a couple whom I’ve met in person, a couple whom I have not yet met in real life. A couple are NuVal friends, a couple are not. But they all have blogs that I love to read. And if you like your daily dose of A Better Bag of Groceries, you might like to click on over to visit these sites too.
First, Meet Kalli. 
She is the blogger behind Fit and Forty Something. Long-time readers of ABBG may remember reading about Kalli’s Green Monster Shakes here. I love to get my daily dose of Kalli, especially since I injured my back in March. I haven’t written much about my annoying back injury here on the blog because I don’t think you all come here to hear about my aches & pains, but reading Kalli really helped me through a difficult time. She has had a hip injury from running and she’s been a few steps ahead of me in the healing process. It was just what I needed to keep my spirits up as I cautiously proceeded back into my running, spinning and Pilates. Kalli lives in California, so I have not met her in person. But I feel like I know her – and her hunky husband, and their cute dog, and their beautiful new kitchen, etc. Most recently, Kalli did a Trade-Up post, inspired by my Trade-Up Tuesday theme that she sees here every week.
Meet Andrea
Andrea (pronounced Ahhn-drea) is someone whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many times. She is one of the dietitians for Big Ysupermarkets and she does a whole lotta stuff for Big Y and for NuVal, including blogging at MassLive. Andrea is a new mom to a 15-month-old boy. B.C. (Before Children) she used to log a lot of time at the gym and spend time kayaking, but now she keeps fit at home with her exercise bike, Pilates DVDs, and walking with her husband and son after dinner. As a blogger, Andrea is incredibly talented at taking her knowledge as a dietitian and making it easy for us non-dietitians to understand. Most recently, she wroteabout score changes at NuVal. We’re seeing many of them lately as manufacturers reformulate their products and she did a great job of explaining why.
Meet Stephanie
Stephanie is also a registered dietitian. She works for Festival Foods, a 14-store supermarket chain in Wisconsin. I have been very lucky to meet Stephanie on several occasions and she is just a doll. She is also super-smart. Even though she’s young and she’s only been in the supermarket business less than two years, I have seen her sit around a conference table with senior executives and simply wow them. Since Festival is a small company, she wears many, many hat in her job. She’s on TV, out in the community, training store employees, and yes, she writes not one, but two blogs: one for Festival Foods and another for the Green Bay Press Gazette. And oh yeah, she’s planning her wedding for June 2012. Won’t she make a beautiful bride?
Meet Tina
Of course you all know Tina! With 1.3 million pageviews per month(!) on her award-winning Carrots N Cake blog, who doesn’t know Tina? I remember once when I was working part-time for NuVal, I was at the gym, running on the treadmill on a Friday morning, watching Rachel Ray, and Tina’s picture came up on the television screen. Yes, I work with a big-time blogger. But the amazing thing is – in person – she is very quiet and down-to-earth. If you met her, you would never guess that just the day before, she was cooking with Kelly Ripa. Seriously.
Tina’s blog is addictive. I love to see what she is up to – both on CNCand her NuVal blog, Trading Up Downtown. And working alongside her – it is amazing to see how fast she blogs. She is a speed demon. I am humbled.
Meet Robin
Food, food, food. I work for a food scoring company. I write a food blog. I feed my plan for, cook, and feed my family three meals a day. Let’s just say that now and then I need a non-food coffee break. You know what I’m sayin? Sometimes I need to read about – and chat about – something other than food! And that’s where my friend Robin comes in. She is also known as Miss Conduct, the etiquette columnist for the Boston Sunday Globe Magazine. I have been in awe since her ver first column appeared. Soon after, she started her blog and we’ve become Internet friends. We came close to meeting in person once. She invited me to be her guest at a function. I was so excited! But we had plans to go to Storyland in New Hampshire – so alas, we have not met. My husband, who works in the city, did attend her book-signing for me, so he has met my Blog Idol. Someday! In any event, if you are looking for wit, intelligence and a good laugh, check out Miss Conduct.
Question of the Day
What are some of your favorite blogs – other than ABBG, of course 
?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Blog Friends, Fit Friends at Forty
Tags: Blog Friends, healthy living bloggers
Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 07:14 AM
Longtime readers of A Better Bag of Groceries know that I turned the big 4-0 this year. And one way that I chose to “celebrate” this milestone was to take some time to focus on some real people that I know who are also marking this important birthday this year. I’m not talking about Kelly Ripa or Matt Damon or Tina Fey (who all probably have access to personal trainers, chefs, etc who can help keep them looking their fittest and finest as they blow out 40 candles on their cake). Rather, I wanted to highlight my real friends who are proving that 40 is the new 30 – and you can be Forty and Fabulous!
Today’s Fit Friend at 40 is Shannon.
Shannon at my house - Summer of 2008
Shannon is my High School BFF and she is a huge NuVal fan who shops at the beautiful brand new Price Chopper store in Shrewsbury, MA. Shannon blew out her 40 candles in August and to celebrate, this mother of two school-age boys who works full-time managing a claims department for a large insurance company, decided to participate in a triathlon.
Shannon and her boys after finishing the SheRox Tri
Pretty impressive for this former cheerleader (not high school athlete) who I used to Jazzercize with (really!) in the late 1980s! She also managed to do it while buying and selling a house and starting a new job! Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Shannon took some time to answer some of my burning questions. If you thought I was organized, just wait until you read what Shannon has to say!
Melissa: You are a mom to two very active school-age boys – and you’ve worked full time since they were born! Wow! What tips do you have for other moms who work full-time, part-time or in the home for keeping it all together?
Shannon: I’m not really sure I always keep it together. I try to be as organized as possible. Sundays, unfortunately, are not a day of rest but more of a planning day. I make all of our dinners for the week on Sunday so they’re ready to be heated/cooked when we get home from work. I love my crockpot and try to find new recipes. It’s some prep in the morning and instant dinner when you come home. I’ll explain my meal system in detail below.
I also make 10 salads on Sunday for lunch for my husband and me. I store them in individual, seal-tight containers to grab and go a healthy lunch. Leftovers or a lean protein are added to the salads.
Once the meals are made, I list the meals, activities and lunches on the master calendar for the week.
As much as I give my husband a lot of grief about how he would be lost without me, this plan would not be successful without his execution. He gets the kids to and from school and gets dinner on the table. He is a large part of this successful operation.
Melissa: You competed in a triathlon this year. How did you manage to train for such an event with your schedule?
Shannon: The triathlon idea was my ‘turning 40 freakout’. I wanted a physical challenge. I knew I did not have the passion to train for a marathon or ½ marathon. I am so jealous of people who have that dedication. I wish I had it. The triathlon appealed to me because the training was varied – swimming, biking and running.
I decided to do it when I turned 39 (yes! I am a planner!) but did not tell anyone in case I chickened out. The running was easy. I run a few 5Ks around town so the 5K run was not intimidating. I started spinning at our local Y to train for the 12 mile bike. My spin instructor is the head mentor for the She-Rox Tri and was a great trainer!
Then…there was the swim….I am not a swimmer. The first time I got in the pool, I could only go 2 laps without being winded. That ½ mile swim was going to be long! I just kept at it once or twice a week and got up to 50 laps. The swim is still my least favorite aspect of the tri, but I can do it.
Training was challenging. It became more challenging last spring when I had to do it while buying/selling a house, getting a new job, moving and buying a new car!!! I did all this plus the triathlon within a 2 month timeframe!!! I just did it. It was in the routine and I could not turn back. Looking back, it probably helped my stress management.
Melissa: You are a Triathlon Mom, and while you (like me!) were a cheerleader and active, you were not a super athlete in high school (I hope you don’t mind me saying that). Now, you run and you are probably fitter than many of the moms around you. Tell me about your Fitness Journey.
Shannon: I was a late arrival to the athletic foray. Thank you so much for reminder of the ‘cheerleader days’! Back then, being an athlete wasn’t as accepted as it is today. I exercised sporadically in my 20s. I thought I was fit but then did my 1st 5K and swore I would never do one again! My exercise habit kicked in my early 30s after I had my first kid and still had 35 lbs of baby weight on his first birthday! I joined Weight Watchers and lost that weight!! I transferred to my company’s home office that had an on-site gym. With a toddler, I had no time. I saw co-workers exercising at lunch. I poo-pooed the sweating at lunch thing but then tried it. The rest is history. My routine grew from there.
When I transferred again a couple of years later to our Wellesley, MA office, I remember watching the Boston Marathon on TV and turned my walk/jog into a run. That started my 2-3 time a week run.
My current routine is spin 2Xs a week (bright and early at 5:45 AM!), running twice a week (at the office at lunch), 2 days of strength training (at lunch on the spin days) and one weekend workout – elliptical, group fitness or swim.
Melissa: You’ve told me before that you do your own “Dream Dinners”. Is Meal Planning a key to your organization? What are some of your tricks?
Shannon: As I mentioned above, I do all my meal prep/cooking on Sunday. This prep ensures that we are all able to eat together at least a few nights a week. With 2 boys and their activities, homework, etc, it can be very hectic and without meals ready to go, we’d be doing lots of pizza and drive-thrus.
I try to cook a big meal on Sunday that we can have another night during the week. I also cook another three meals for the week. I double and freeze when I can. I also try to sneak in extra veggies and lower fat options where I can. I’m not as good as Melissa and her fabulous friends but I try….That’s why I love the NuVal System!!
Melissa: What do you think of NuVal? What trade-Ups have you made since learning about NuVal?
Shannon: We have a new Price Chopper in our town. I love walking around there and checking out the NuVal scores. It is really eye opening – a real learning experience! My ‘best’ trade ups have been all-natural peanut butter. I used to buy reduced fat peanut butter thinking I was being ‘healthy’ before I read about it on Trade-Up Tuesdays. I also traded up my cereal from Cornflakes with bananas to Kashi Go-Lean. Pasta and OJ are a few more of my trade-ups. I’m working on the Greek Yogurt trade up right now. I really believe it’s about small changes that become habits of a lifetime!!!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Fit Friends at Forty
Tags: Fit Friends at Forty, Price Chopper
Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 07:14 AM
Happy April Fool’s Day! I briefly thought about doing a prank blog post, where I give out wrong scores (like, guess what everybody, Fruit Loops now score 100!) but I thought it would give Rob, our media director at NuVal, a heart attack. So, instead, I opted to introduce you to one of my Fit at Forty Friends. As you may recall from an earlier post, I am turning the big 4-0 this year. To mentally prepare myself for the Big Day, I decided not to focus on celebrities born in 1970, but rather real people who I know are handling this big milestone with grace and an attitude towards healthy living.
I met Kalli through my new friend Tina Haupert. Kalli turned 40 on March 12th of this year and as part of her 40th year celebration, she began her blog Fit and Forty Something. Kalli teaches math and science to 7th-graders in her small beach town in Southern California. She and her husband Bill are avid cyclists. Kalli also enjoys running, doing yoga, and walking her Black Labrador, Pepsi.
I asked Kalli some questions about turning 40.
Me: What is your strategy for keeping fit at forty?
Kalli: Execise consistently and easily. What I mean by that is you should find something you enjoy doing so it does not feel like a chore. Also, find friends who like to do the same things and work out with them. And, fit in working out in your daily life though walking to work, walking to do errands and walking the dog. Enjoy good food but in moderation, never have second helpings and enjoy a glass of wine
Me: How did you feel on your 40th birthday?
Kalli: Good on the actual day but I was nervous counting down the last days of my 39th year.
Me: Ugh, me too!
Kalli: Forty signaled an end to some things for me and a new beginning as well. I started my blog, for that exact reason. I started it on January 1st which was 2 1/2 months before my 40th but I needed something to help me transition to that age. It really helped! I was ready on March 12th to accept and embrace my age.
Me: Is anything different now that you are technically “in your 40s”?
Kalli: I realize, “this is it,” you must live your best life NOW. There are no do-overs.
Me: What do you think of NuVal? Have you found anything surprising in the scores?
Kalli: Yes! I have been reading other NuVal blogs as well as yours and I am learning so much about “healthy” food. I think NuVal really opens up your eyes to what is nutrient dense and good for you. No misconceptions there!
So, without further ado, I bring you Kalli!
I tend to consider myself fairly healthy but wonder occasionally if my “healthy” food is really so healthy.
That is why when Melissa from A Better Bag of Groceries emailed me to do a guest post on her blog I was ecstatic!
Melissa works for NuVal. You may have heard of NuVal from another “famous” blogger-Tina from Carrots and Cake.
I learned that NuVal scores your food based on its “healthfulness.”
I decided to test out my famous Green Monster Shake which I adapted from Angela at Green Monster Movement.
Here is what typically goes into my shake:
Baby Spinach
1 1/2 Cups Almond Milk-organic, regular flavor
1 Scoop Vega Chocolate Whole Food Optimizer
1 Banana
1/2 cup frozen Mixed Berries
1 tsp Flax Seed
I wonder how this shake will rate
Melissa here again! Kalli’s Green Monster Shake incorporates ingredients with very high NuVal scores. While we have not yet scored the Vega Chocolate Whole Food Optimizer or flax seeds yet, check out these scores:
- Baby Spinach gets a 100
- The Almond Milk scores a 90 if you choose Blue Diamond Growers Smooth & Creamy Unsweetened Organic Non-Dairy Beverage made from Real Almonds
- Bananas get a 91
- The Mixed Berries get a 100 if you choose Dole Wildly Nutritious Signature Blend Mixed Berries.
So, Happy Birthday Kalli and thanks for the Guest Post. Now I need to go make a Green Monster!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Fit Friends at Forty
Tags: Green Monster
