Saturday: Run and GOOP and Dr. Perricone

Ivan riding his tricycle this morning!!

I slept in today.  Most of the week has been exhausting to me, and I think that my swim took a bit more out of me than I thought.  I will be back on it next weekend, and doing a  brief run at home is not a federal crime, though it does hold a place in the annals of my personal guilt.  No matter, I am letting it go!!

A nine hour sleep does me a lot of good and I am actually shooting for the same again tonight.  A nine hour sleep is also rather dangerous I find.  Incredibly well rested with no workout hanging over my head, leaves me way to much time to research new possible obsessions.  Today, I chose vitamins, and went vitamin mad.  I spent Ivan's entire nap time researching vitamins in which I feel I am slightly deficient.  I pulled out our juicer and reread my anti-inflammatory supplement chapter.  Here is what I learned and who I used:

First of all, in terms of diet, Gwyneth Paltrow has a website, GOOP (about which I was dubious at first), but which I have come to LOVE.  She has a detox diet that she does the week after Christmas, and I think that it is all pretty good.  I am listing my two favorite things from the detox portion that I use all the time.

First:

SALAD WITH CARROT AND GINGER DRESSING ( I personally leave out the red onions in the salad)

This dressing is the jam! Great on salad and also as a dip for vegetables. This recipe makes enough dressing for two salads, so be sure to save the extra.

SERVES: 1
TIME: 5 minutes

For dressing:
1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped 1 large shallot, peeled and roughly chopped 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger	1 tablespoon sweet white miso 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seed oil 1/4 cup grapeseed oil 2 tablespoons water
For salad:
1 head of baby gem lettuce (or any greens), roughly cut	1/4 red onion, thinly sliced 1/4 avocado, diced

Pulse the carrot, shallot and ginger in a blender until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides, add the miso, vinegar and sesame seed oil and whiz together. While the blender is going, slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil and the water.

Combine the lettuce, onion and avocado in a bowl, drizzle with plenty of dressing and serve.

The next thing I make is the beet juice.  I kind of love it and often think that it could be re-tooled as some sort of cocktail.  

BEET, CARROT, APPLE and GINGER JUICE

This juice is the most incredible color and is wonderfully sweet. Beets are said to lower blood pressure, carrots pack a super beta-carotene punch, apples are cancer-fighters and ginger just loves your heart.

SERVES: 1
TIME: 5 minutes

1 large or 2 medium beets, cut into wedges 1/2 lemon, zest and pith removed

2 large carrots 1 large apple, cut into wedges 1" piece of ginger

Juice everything into a glass, give it a stir and enjoy.

Now, on the vitamin front, my favorite resource is Dr. Perricone.  His first book, The Perricone Prescription, is the book that I really credit with turning my eating habits around.  Dr. Perricone recommends a copious amount of vitamins.  I really do recommend his book, because I think it is a good eating habits book to have on hand.  There is a lot of explanation and is goes hand in hand with another of my favorite books, Superfoods.  Dr. Perricone is really just a smarter version of Superfoods, with recipes that are not quite as good.  You really need both books, in my opinion.  Mine are completely dog eared at this point.  

Anyway, here is the vitamin recommendation from Dr. Perricone.  Get ready, because it will make your head spin. and it is why I had to buy a travel vitamin case.

• Vitamin A ( I can really tell a difference in my skin)
• Vitamin B complex (skin, hair and nails)
• Vitamins B1-B6, and B12 (skin, mental attitude, energy)
• Folic Acid (skin healing)
• Vitamin C (defends against free-radicals)
• Vitamin E (cholesterol, blood pressure)
• Calcium (bones and such)
• Magnesium (blood pressure and energy)
• Selenium (free radicals, cancer preventitive)
• CoQ10 (preserves Vitamin C, reduces risk of breast cancer, increases metabolic effeciency)
• GLA (which I get by grinding my own flax seeds in a coffee grinder and putting two teaspoons in my smoothies on Mon/Wed/Fri)

So the vitamin thing is intense, right?  Next on my list to begin taking is Tumeric.  We have the spice, but it is a big anti-inflammatory, so I need to look into a pill form.  

SO, That is my vitamin run down.  I would recommend running right out and buying the Perricone Prescription and Superfoods RX: 14 Foods That Will Change Your Life!!