Eating to Run: Breakfast of Champions

Morning fuel for your run matters. Make it count! This WW-and running-friendly breakfast is only 4.5 points. (If you have more points to play with, add up to 2 T. flax seed for great omega oils and healthy fats & lignins.) Statistical research is clear: people who eat breakfast lose and maintain substantially more weight than folks who don't. So, take five minutes and fuel that run with my preferred power breakfast. Enjoy!

Oatmeal: Mix1 cup organic oatmeal (appx. 1/2 cup dry), 2 T. dried cranberries and 1/2 T. organic flax seed. Add a drizzle of fat free half & half if you'd like. (Hint: They sell cases of excellent organic oatmeal at Costco for cheap!)

My bowl of organic oatmeal is accompanied by 1 light n fit yogurt, Coffee w/fat free Half & Half, Water and a Multivitamin w/ Iron.

It's healthy, high in fiber, takes just minutes to prepare, is energizing, low fat and filling!

Layout Design & Photo (c) 2007 Ann Hetzel Gunkel; Supplies: Erica Hite's Precious Boy Collection at Scrap Girls; Thao Cosgrove's Friendship Collection at Scrap Girls; Fonts: Wendy Medium & Marcelle

Eating to Run: David's Dream Pizza

That's right, We are so serious about food in our house that we now dream recipes. The following delighful pizza came to David last week in a dream, down to the exact amounts for the ingredients. It is his Roasted Beet and Gorgonzola pizza. Wow! It's a winner. And goes great with chianti or any robust red wine. Check this out--2 pieces (1/4 of a pie) are only 5 WW points! Now, that's dreamy. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Homemade Pizza Dough
3 med. Roasted Beets, sliced thinly
1/4 cup Gorgonzola Cheese
1/4 cup far free Cream Cheese
Kosher salt
Fennel fronds, chopped
Chopped pistachios or walnuts, optional

Instructions: Roast the beets in tinfoil, drizzled with olive oil and kosher salt, at 400 degrees for 50 minutes. Slice the beets very thinly.

Prep and bake the dough at 425 (Bake 4 minutes on 1 side. Flip. Bake 3 minutes on other.) Mix the 2 cheeses into a spread and distribute over the pizza. Lay out the thinly sliced beets. Add kosher salt. Bake ‘til cheese turns slightly golden at edges (appx. 7 minutes at 425.) Add fennel fronds and serve.

The sweet and earthy beets are amazing with the tangy gorgonzola, the kosher salt and the chewy but crispy thin crust. The bite of the fennel fronds is a great touch. It is also amazing with some chopped pistachios or walnuts sprinkled on top. (Add 1 point for those, but they give you bonus healthy fats!)

Layout Design & Photo (c) 2007 Ann Hetzel Gunkel; Supplies: Erica Hite's Precious Boy Collection at ScrapGirls; Thao Cosgrove's Friendship Collection at ScrapGirls; Fonts: Wendy Medium & Marcelle

Eating to Run: One-derful, Wonderful Brownies

Healthy brownies? For those of us who love chocolate and who love sweets, this is a dream come true. I hesitate to post what seems like a product promotion, but on the other hand, one of the wonderful things about Weight Watchers is that we share discoveries and tips for menus, foods, and treats. And I'm glad to support positive entrepreneurs. So here goes.

I really respect folks whose business model is based on selling wholesome products that aren't poison. The folks at Vitalicious create snacks for people who care about what they eat. They are high in fiber, vitamins and nutrients. They aren't filled with chemicals and junk. And certainly no trans fats. I order the VitaTops (muffins) online by the case and freeze 'em.

I now enjoy their brownie baking mix. Its easy and ready in 25 minutes. I add some crushed pistachios to the top and I'm adding healthy fats and great taste. Best of all, each brownie, no kidding, is just one point (1 PT!) on Weight Watchers Flex Plan. I believe in spending my money to support decent small businesses rather than the corporate junk-marketers of "low fat" or "snack well" poison. So I order these products online from Greenwich Village-based Vitalicious and they show up at our front door ready to mix, freeze or serve.

As a runner and a mom, I'm loving that this Vitalicious Brownie Mix has added fun and fiber to our house. Best of all, they've passed the five-year-old-boy test. So enjoy! Eat healthy and love your brownies.

Layout Design (c) 2007 Ann Hetzel Gunkel / Photo: David Gunkel; Digital Supplies: Thao Cosgrove's Friendship Collection at Scrap Girls

Just Do It...The Fitness-Industrial Complex

Here's the deal: as a runner, I never have nor will I ever wear that corporate sports logo with the swoosh (TM) on my person. Their business practices, including marketing to the urban poor and using sweatshops around the globe, revolt me.

But their marketing has been brilliantly successful: it taps into our idiotic fascination with sports celebrities, our seemingly bottomless narcissism around self-transformation (just do it!), and our relentless passion for appearances. Let me be perfectly clear: You do not need to buy stuff to be a real runner. Your running does not need to expand the GNP.

What is wrong with this picture?: Middle aged yuppie-type walks out front door with siren on coffee cup sleeve, heads to SUV suitably dressed for an expedition to the Andes, and uses fossil fuels to journey to something called a "health club." I have lots of associates who really believe that the wrist curl performed while writing a check to that health club is getting them in shape. And trust me, its the only curl of any type they'll be doing for the next couple of months.

I am convinced that it is preferable to step out your front door, run, and be done. If you need an all-terrain vehicle, special gear, and a "club" to be healthy, something is amiss. I adore that my father-in-law began running decades ago (when it was only for "nuts") in his old basketball hi-tops and some beat up clothes. He could care less about gear. And by the way, all these years later, he's still fit as a (non-logoed) fiddle.

Having said that, I wouldn't encourage you to run without good shoes and a wicking t-shirt. Running in your old cotton t-shirt is cost effective, but uncomfortable. And you will stink. A wicking t-shirt, some basic "breathable" running pants or shorts, and shoes that fit are good tools to have. I use 'em and I like 'em. But I won't wear a swoosh. And my healthy pursuits aren't about to fuel the fitness-industrial complex.

It's Freiburg Weather...

It's Freiburg Weather. That's shorthand in our house for "Ann is going to hate this." When I awaken to hear my husband say, "It's Freiburg Weather," this means my run will suck and I will loathe the day I decided to take up running. Well...a little.

Let me backtrack. Somewhere around fifteen years ago, my husband and I found ourselves living in Freiburg, Germany when we received postgraduate Fulbright and DAAD Fellowships. This is a big deal for philosophy types. Freiburg is the place where Husserl "invented" phenomenology and Heidegger, perhaps the most important Continental philosopher of the 20 th century, wrote and taught. Anyhow...we found ourselves living in an attic apartment in "die Wiehre," a district that wanders right into the paths and foothills of the Black Forest.

The Schwarzwald has a distinctive microclimate: mountain-y, humid, foggy and damp. No matter what the weather, your best clothes are always slightly sweaty. It's like dropping Seattle into a German forest. I hated that climate--I was sick most of the time (and learned lots of medical terms in German.) Nonetheless, we spent lots of time climbing and hiking in the Schwartzwald out our front door. Lots of those journeys were hell on earth for my humidity-hating Slavic constitution.

But sometimes, the hell miraculously gave way to wondrous surprises: a magical vista, the transformative power of pine scent from the damp forest floor, a moment of sunny clarity, or just plain relief that the journey was over. One of those surprises followed a long, wandering climb where I sort of lost my bearings. After hours of crankiness (definitely up there on the "for better or worse" list my husband has endured), we stumbled upon a lush green clearing dotted by a lone grazing cow (complete with picture-book bell clanking around her neck). At the edge of the clearing, like an apparition, was a tiny ramshackle wooden cabin. From it, emanated the most amazing smell. In this tiny shack in the middle of nowhere, Schwarzwalders were cooking up sublime Pfannkuchen--giant cast-iron pancakes filled with apples and dusted with powdered sugar. Oh my god, that was a nice moment.

So when I awaken and I hear, "It's Frieburg weather," I sigh, put on my running shoes anyway and hope for the best. You never know when a pancake-filled apparition will be waiting around the corner.

NSV - Episode 2: Cheering Section

Some days when you least expect it, you will find that total strangers will cheer you on your running journey. These are some of the most delightful--perhaps because completely unexpected--Non Scale Victories.

One miserable morning, after a winter ice storm, I was out running, bundled up in four layers of polar fleece, following the only tolerable path I could find--the trail left by Chicago snowplows and salt trucks down the middle of my neighborhood streets. Parents were sliding along the thin covering of ice as they whisked kids off to school. Suddenly a crossing guard moved a barrier out of my way cheering, "God Bless you! Good for you! Go for it!" I suddenly felt a surge of energy.

Two blocks later, a mom was pulling her kids in a wagon inching down the slippery Chicago sidewalks. I'd never seen her before in my life, but she obviously lived somewhere on my running route. She yelled to me, "I've been watching you run since last year. You look fantastic!"
[I'm vain enough that the possibly creepy aspect of I"ve been watching you" left me unphased.] Wow! Now I was on fire.

These unexpected moments of encouragement and praise are a real reward for dedication to one's daily run. All of sudden, a middle-aged mom feels like an Olympian at the finish line. Complete strangers reach out to congratulate, encourage and boost my spirits.

That winter morning, following a nasty Chicago ice storm, I ran my first 8k ever. And I'm sure what put me over the top was the surge of energy from folks I don't even know by name. Thanks to each of them, wherever they are.

Running to Eat: St. Joseph's Day Zeppole

One of the best things about running and healthy eating is that celebrations are not about deprivation. This week our family celebrated St. Joseph's Day in a big way as Italo-Americans and Polish-Americans in Chicago tend to do. (We belong to the latter group.) Let's face it, how cool is it when there is a patron saint of pastry chefs? Really cool!

This meant a giant St. Joseph's Day Table (a large public feast), repeated consumption of spectacular Zeppole (amazing Sicilian St. Joseph's Day pastries), and much merriment. Such lively excess might have once spawned feeling of guilt for me. But now, oddly, its quite the opposite. As my WW leader says, I don't let a lapse become a collapse. That frees me up to really enjoy special events--because they aren't a landslide into dietary hell. They're just celebrations. No more and no less. They don't carry moral weight, they're not a test of my willpower or character, and they don't have to loom large on my worry-horizon. And when they're over they're over. So, as Chicago polka legend, the late Lil' Wally used to say, "Live it up!"

If you want to know more about how cool St. Joseph's Day is in Chicago, visit my Polish Traditions website or check me out in the Chicago Sun Times.

Tips For Special Events:

1. Don't go to the party ravenous. (An apple or high fiber snack beforehand helps.)

2. Always, ALWAYS keep track of your POINTS (TM). They keep you accountable. Is a zeppole worth an extra 6k run? The answer to me is, Yes!

3. Have a plan. Think about what you really want to enjoy. Don't miss out on what's special, but always ask "Is this item really worth it to me?" If it's not, skip it for the good stuff! I plan and write out my points before parties, special events and restraurants, finding that a plan really makes a big difference. If I graze or "wing it," things don't go nearly so well.

4. Remember, this is not about dieting. Dieting is evil. Enjoy your life on St. Joseph's Day and every day. Viva San Giuseppe!