Fantastic Fall Days

It has been a wonderful fall season for our family.

To start off, even though we were a little late, we did get to build our sukkah this year. Last year, we were in Austin for my husband's sister's wedding during Sukkot, so we didn't put it up. The girls were so excited to get it out this year!


As you can see, they were a huge help.
They wanted to eat as many meals as possible in there once it was up. Unfortunately, the weather during Sukkot was pretty crummy this year. We left the sukkah up for a few extra days, and ate in it after the weather turned more pleasant, even though Sukkot was officially over.

Yesterday we celebrated the Halloween with our friends. This was the first year that D&G actually put some thought and creativity in their costumes. Also, we tried to repurpose materials we already had, and make as much as we could. D's costume is from clothes she already had, combined with scarves from her bubbe. We did purchase the "pirate accessories" of course. I made G's clown costume, and paired it with a shirt she already owned. I did purchase the bow. We already had the face painting kit - you may not be able to see it, but D has a skull and crossbones painted on her cheek.
We went to our friends' house in Bexley for trick-or-treating this year. We love going with our friends on Halloween! This is D's friend, who is demonstrating his best ninja pose.

The whole crew (mostly, except for the crying ones). Don't they look great!? This is so special to me, because these kids have been celebrating Halloween together since before their first birthdays - my oldest was six months old in their first Halloween group shot.

And here it is! D is in the carrot (it looks like a pumpkin) costume, on the far right, the one screaming and raising her hand. Not happy. The one sucking his thumb, wearing a devil costume, is the ninja pictured above, and the lion, partially obscured by her dad's arm, is the cheerleader with D in the next picture. The kids are still friends with most of the other babies in this picture too, they just weren't at last night's trick-or-treating.

D was thrilled to see her buds!

The husbands stayed at the house and passed out candy ... and drank beer. Don't judge - we were walking with the kids, carrying our plastic cups of red wine!

We had a great time, and the kids gathered tons of loot. D was a little sad because she lost her hook and her pirate earring, but she got over it. G's clown make-up was completely smeared by the end of the night ... there were a few tears shed, but overall, they had fun!!!

Today the weather was really just perfect. My husband got off work early, my mom came over, and we all just spent the afternoon hanging out in the backyard! G was having fun playing "boat" with Nana.

Don't I have a handsome boy? He looks perfect for fall in his orange shirt amid all the leaves in our backyard.

D's hair was still a little crazy after sleeping on the braids leftover from trick-or-treating the night before. She was having a great time making piles and jumping in the leaves!

I was surprised to find that R can hold his own on the tire swing. He is really starting to get around on the playground - next year he will be all over it!!

I am so blessed with such a beautiful, healthy family! I hope the rest of you are enjoying your fall season as well!

Today's workout: (had to work off that candy, right??!)
45 min. run w/ strides (5.53 mi)
25 min. resistance training
15 min. hill elliptical (1.82 mi)
60 min. yoga

Ole! Veggie Tacos

Our family keeps a kosher style kitchen, which means that there are certain restrictions in our at-home diet, the two most prominent of which are no pork or shellfish and no mixing of milk and meat. In order to keep within these guidelines, I am constantly thinking of creative ways to substitute dairy or meat products in recipes that call for both.

Our family loves tacos, which traditionally include both meat and cheese. We have tried a variety of ways to substitute, such as using soy cheese or soy meat ... both of which we found unsatisfying. Tonight, I changed it up a little and instead of ground beef, used a mixture of lentils and a vegan soy meat mixture. The result was a delicious and healthy meal!

Lentil Tacos

1 onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 cup lentils, dry
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup salsa
1 package Fantastic World Food taco filling mix

Saute the onion, celery and garlic in a pan with olive oil until soft, 5-6 minutes. Add the lentils and the spices and mix well, 1 minute. Add the stock and simmer, covered, on low for 20 minutes, adding additional liquid as needed.

While the lentil mixture is cooking, prepare the taco filling mix according to the package directions in a separate pan.

Uncover the lentil pan and cook for another 10 minutes to thicken up the mixture. Add the salsa and the taco filling mix. If needed, this can be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated, and reheated when you are ready to eat dinner.

We ate the tacos with tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, salsa, avocados, and rice. It was a nutritious and yummy meal enjoyed by all!

Today's workout:
30 min run (4.0 mi)
60 min. yin yoga class
60 min. yoga @ home

Everybody loves a haiku

Running and yoga
Balance, focus, peace, and ease
Different path, same way

Today's workout:
45 min. hill sprint run (5.50 mi)
50 min. ballet body class
60 min. yoga

Healthy Decisions

The other evening when I was volunteering for Girls on the Run, we talked about healthy decisions. The girls honed in on micro-choices mostly centered around food ("I only ate 2 Oreos instead of 5"; "Today I ate breakfast, but I usually skip breakfast", etc.), whereas the coaches were attempting to get them to focus on a more holistic view of an entire healthy lifestyle. I got to thinking about some healthy decisions that I hope my children will make during their lifetime:

1. I hope they keep a healthy attitude about food. That is, eating lots of fruits and vegetables, small amounts of "junk" food, keeping portion sizes moderate, not obsessing about food, finding enjoyment in selecting and preparing healthy meals.
2. I hope they integrate physical activity into their daily routine. I hope my daughters and son discover a sport or other physical activity in which they can thrive and practice on a regular basis. I want them to challenge their bodies and find joy in athletic expression.
3. I hope they develop deep and abiding friendships. Sharing your ups and downs with friends is an important part of living a healthy life. I hope all of my children find friends with whom they can laugh, play and explore.
4. I hope they find happiness without the abuse of drugs and alcohol. While I know that experimentation is a part of growing up, and I enjoy social drinking myself, I hope that my children will approach these substances sparingly. There are so many horror stories about binge drinking among college students, and the television show "Intervention" highlights the dispair and heartbreak that drugs can bring to a family. I hope that my children can navigate their teen years and early adulthood without falling prey to these temptations.
5. I hope they use wisdom and restraint with sexual expression. At this point in their young lives, I cringe to even think about them reaching this point in their development where I have to deal with these decisions. But as countless news stories are constantly warning us, children are engaging in a variety of dangerous and promiscuous acts at younger and younger ages. I hope that my children can wait until they have some maturity and discretion before embarking on this chapter of their lives.
6. I hope they will stand up for themselves in difficult situations. That's what all of these healthy decisions come down to, right? I hope that my kids have the strength of character so as not to yield under peer pressure and to derive courage and fortitude from the values they have been taught from their family, their school and their synagogue.

Today's workout:
60 min. hill interval elliptical (5.61 mi)
25 min. strength training
75 min. primary series yoga

Uncover your Power

Horror of horrors, I forgot to look at my running training schedule this morning to find out what type of run I am "supposed" to do today. So when I got to the gym, I just decided to fake it - I picked the hill interval button on the treadmill and just decided to go for it.

In the fabulous book I just finished, Born to Run, McDougall writes about how the ultrarunners adjust their running speed to meet the challenges that they face at the moment ... that is, on treacherous terrain they are going to slow their speed down compared to running on smooth, flat surfaces. Obviously, the treadmill presents no dangers to me (!), but varying incline levels does present something of a challenge - particularly since I generally run at 0%. So instead of pushing through at a lower speed that I would maintain throughout the whole run, I varied my speed with the hill intervals, taking the speed up when the interval went down and vice versa.

As I was running, I noticed my interval voice telling me, after thirty minutes, why don't you take the speed down a few notches and give yourself a break? But, I realized as I was running that this voice was there - even though I wasn't fatiguing. Strange - it was like I was subconsciously trying to sabotage myself. The more I run, I discover that I have this odd inner fear of running that is competing with the enthusiasm and joy that I find when I run, and the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when I complete a run. I have to be aware of that negativity, and take time to evaluate how I truly feel and whether I really need to take a break, or whether I can continue to work at the same level.

Today's workout:
50 min hill interval run (5.78 mi)
25 min. resistance training
45 min. yoga

Workshop Wednesday

Tonight I was able to attend the first of a three-part workshop on integrating the yamas and niyamas (guidelines for ethical living) with Non-Violent Communication. According to the Center for Non-Violent Communication, one of the purposes of this type of interaction is to "create human connections that empower compassionate giving and receiving".

As yogis, we are highly attuned to bodily awareness. Through this communication method, we learn to focus on the physical sensations that accompany our emotions and use these cues to help us identify our feelings.

To adapt our communication styles using Non-Violent Communication, we were given three steps:

1. Observe and identify any feelings.
   
2. Identify what needs we have that may not be being met, giving rise to the feelings identified above.
3. Explore strategies for meeting those needs in a non-judgmental fashion.

We did some role-playing to address one class member's specific situation, a conflict that arose for him at work. Through our discussions, we were able to identify feelings and needs that he had not realized he had experienced, empathize with the feelings and needs that the other participants in his confrontations may have been experiencing, and help him find alternative responses and reactions that he could have used in that situation. It was useful to remember that in a situation, we cannot control the other people involved, we can only control ourselves and our reactions to other people.

Our homework this week is to identify two feelings in ourselves - one where our needs are being met and one where they are not - and then track those feelings, our physical sensations when we experience them, our discourse, our thoughts. The two feelings on which I will focus this week will be: impatience and contentment.

Today's workout:
5.26 mi run w/ strides

Barefoot Running

The book I am currently reading, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall, is a fascinating running tale with all kinds of crazy characters. The stories inspire me to throw down the book and take off running right out the door.

One of the interesting points being made about running is the benefits of running barefoot. According to McDougall's research, because shoes separate our feet from the surface, encasing the feet completely so that they lose the ability to move naturally, they create more running injuries and problems than runners had in the past, before sophisticated running shoes became available. He writes that when you run barefoot, your body naturally absorbs the shocks, creates a softer impact, and adapts as needed. Your feet and legs sustain fewer injuries. Not only is running barefoot more healthy than running in expensive athletic shoes, but apparently running in cheap, flat, or worn-down sneakers is better for your feet than using the latest technology.

Here is some more information about running barefoot. It makes me feel better about my raggedy shoes ... and unlikely to replace them anytime soon!

Today's workout:
35 min. run (4.0 mi)
60 min. private yoga session
45 min. yoga at home