Injured Yogi

I'm currently dealing with a nasty IT band injury. Six weeks ago, after a led primary series class, I was practicing garbha pindasana(a pose I've never been able to fully do with my tight hips) and my ego got in the way, motivating me to force my hands through. "SNAP!" A rush came over my whole body and I knew it wasn't good. The same thing happened on a long run when I was training for my first marathon. It was a tough recovery back then but I healed up and was able to run two marathons a handful of other races within the next couple years.

The past six weeks have been full of all sorts of recovery tactics. The first week was pretty painful. I wasn't able to bend my knee without pain. Walking up stairs was a joke and each morning I'd wake up with a deep aching pain in the outside of my knee. The first couple of weeks after getting this injury I only did some light restorative yoga at home as long as there was no pain. I meditated a lot, took herbs and supplements to support healing as well as foam rolled. The next week I added my yoga practice back in at home and at my local studio's morning Mysore practice, which is something I would like to do everyday, but I also wanna sleep 8-9 hours a night so that makes it a more difficult decision at 6am each morning.

I feel like continuing to practice yoga daily has really helped my recovery. Even though it is frustrating to have to modify a lot of the poses and I still have a ways to go before I'm back to where I was physically, I'm doing much better and feeling stronger than ever!

Just have to be patient and gentle on my body so I can fully recover.

Anyway - that's a little peak into what I've been up to the past lil' while. Hopefully I'll continue to feel motivated to write on here 'cause I like being able to read back and connect with people through here but I'm not making any promises. :)

Oh, Hey! You're Back!

It's been so long since I've posted on this blog that I forgot how it all works.

What have I even been up to this past year?

No, I'm seriously asking that question... What have I been up to!? Time just flew by but I look back now and wish I would have documented some of my experiences.

So here's to documentation. Whether the WWW wants it or not it's gonna be filling up with all my feelings........

Macadamia Nut Crusted Halibut with Mango Salsa :: Whole30 Worthy

Hey guys!

If you follow me on Instagram you know I'm doing the Whole30 diet this month and I've been experimenting with grain, dairy, sugar and legume free meals. Last night my sister Larissa came over (she's doing the diet with me) and we made this awesome macadamia nut crusted halibut with salsa and mango.

I've had a few ask for the recipe and I didn't really measure anything so take it for what it's worth. :)

Ingredients:
Small piece of halibut
Handful of macadamia nuts
1 egg
Pinch of salt
Salsa of your choice for topping (I would have done mango salsa but it usually has added sugar and that's not Whole30 approved)
1 mango cut up

Here's what you do:
 - Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
 - Process or blend macadamia nuts until they're a good smooth texture for coating the fish
 - Mix a pinch of salt into the macadamia nuts and set aside
 - Beat the egg in a bowl
 - Dip the halibut in the egg and then coat it with the macadamia nut mix
 - Wrap the halibut in aluminum foil and and leave an opening in the top
 - Bake in a glass dish for 20 - 25 minutes
 - Check to see if it's nice and flaky before you take it out of the oven
 - Top with salsa and mango
 - Enjoy!

If you're not on the Whole30 diet, add a lil' fresh parmesan cheese to the macadamia nut mixture... :)

Clean "Doritos"

I used to love Doritos but now I can barely handle the artificial flavors and msg, not to mention all the hydrogenated oils and preservatives. You get it, right? Doritos = NOT healthy. DO NOT EAT... Ok, my rant is over.

Now to the good part.

A few years ago when I had committed to eating healthier I had a craving for that cheesy, crunchy corn chip I conjured up this recipe and it satisfied that craving in a snap. Even my picky husband loves them! Bonus: It's an easy recipe, because duh, I don't deal well with complicated recipes.

Here it is, step by step.

Clean Eating "Doritos"

Ingredients:
1 bag sprouted corn tortillas - (a healthier and more digestible version of the typical corn tortilla)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tbs onion salt
1/4 cayenne powder  *optional if you want a spicy kick

Here's what to do:
Cut the tortillas in quarters

Lay the tortillas out on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until tortillas brown slightly.

While the chips are baking, mix together nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion salt and cayenne.

Place chips in a bowl to cool.

After the chips have cooled, drizzle the melted coconut oil on top and mix well until all the chips are covered.

Sprinkle the spice mix on the chips and toss well so you can get the mix spread onto both sides of each chip. Mmmmm...

I just pack mine up in a ziplock bag and snack away!

Enjoy!

Things I Love Lately.

I wanted to share a couple things I've been loving lately...

 I have not had a young coconut in way too long. Last week I had a little bit of a headache at work and one of my sweet friends brought me this. It totally helped! 

 I'm trying something new. Lately, I suck at eating veggies so I decided to wash, cut and place them in a convenient spot in the fridge. Hopefully this will make eating veggies easier. I will report back and if it's successful then I'll add some more variety.

I just download this app with awesome workouts and activity tracking. It is loaded with quick and effective workouts. Free on iPhone!

 Started using my FitBit again. It's a great way for me to check on my daily activity levels.

I've been trying to read one sutra a day. Deep reading but truly inspiring.

Happy Fitnessing!

Salcido Sisters

My Bestie's were all here last weekend, well most of them. We had a baptism and a mission farewell all in one weekend so it was a great reason for my Salcido Sister's to come into town. We had a ton of fun. We went to our favorite places together, practiced yoga together and just hung out together... we really like to be together.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Fitnessing!

Getting Back to It.

I'm getting back into running consistantly in preparation for the Zion's Half Marathon. My work is sponsoring a group of us to go down and run it together. I'm pretty excited about it, but I feel like I'm starting all over again and running more than a mile is hard. I feel pretty darn pathetic. It's especially been hard to run on a treadmill but it's not worth running outside on the ice and in terrible air quality that will give you lung cancer so I have to endure the torture. 

I started really slow the other day but finished strong at 3 miles. Did you hear? 3 miles is the new long run. I'll try and attempt a "long run" of 5 miles this week sometime and report back. P.S. I had to hold on to the treadmill because I was experiencing some random vertigo, it's weird but it happens to me occasionally. I'll just wake up with it and it will last a few hours and mysteriously disappear.

A typical lazy dinner = tuna straight from the can. :/ my poor husband. Also, the yoga studio I practice at recently opened an organic raw cafe. After class on Friday I got the goji chia lemonade and it was a dream after a sweaty class. So yummy and refreshing. I'm excited to try the whole menu!

This weekend we caught up with Naomi and Anthony, our friends who moved to New Mexico a couple years ago. We've been missing them lots and want them to move back! We took several photos but these were only decent two. Our husbands don't know how to take a normal picture, haha.

Baby Wesley! I haven't yet introduced blog world to him. He is my little baby bear. Technically he is my sister Larissa's baby but I claim him as my own. There is nothing better than a yummy newborn in furry, footsie pajamas! I bought these PJs for him and you can't see but they have ears on the hood and a little tail on the bum. Too cute!

One thing I am trying to do in 2014 is practice more yoga. Since 2013 was spent running marathons and a number of other races I decided this year will be spent exploring yoga. I learn so much every time I practice and I truly believe yoga makes me want to be a better person in every aspect of life. If you follow me on Instagram @chelshope I'll be participating in monthly yoga challenges and posting photos. The challenge for January is #NewYouYoga. I don't post every day but I've been practicing every day and it's been wonderful! I'm also going to start teaching again at Real Foods Market Orem every Tuesday night at 7pm. If you're in the area and want to try it out, do it! You won't regret it :)

(Photo credit Paul Malan)

Happy Fitnessing!