Events | Triumph Wellness

30-Day Vegan Challenge Give-Away

December 11, 2012 by Emily Segal 20 Comments

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, of Compassionate Cooks, with a rescued cow at a farm sanctuary. Photo: Courtesy Of, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau / SF

For many years, I have been a faithful listener to the podcasts by vegan cookbook author and animal advocate, Colleen Patrick-Goudeau. Colleen’s podacasts, called Vegetarian Food for Thought, available on itunes and her website, cover every single topic you could think of concerning veganism.

In fact, before I made the switch from vegetarian to vegan, I pointedly ignored the episodes that concerned eggs and dairy! Colleen is so clear and true that I knew if I listened, there would be no going back. When I was finally ready to let eggs and dairy go, I then listened to those episodes to educate and motivate myself.

I was delighted when Colleen gave me an opportunity to review her new membership program! I was even more excited when after I had tested the program and given my feedback, she thanked me by giving me a free membership to hand out to one of my readers!

We are going to raffle this free membership off right here, right now! But first allow me (and Colleen herself) to tell you about the program.

Here is a list of topics that are covered day-by-day in The 30-Day Vegan Challenge:

Day 1 – Taking “Vegan” Out of the Box (turns out veganism isn’t as fringe as you thought!)
Day 2 – Stocking a Healthful Vegan Kitchen
Day 3 – Reading Labels
Day 4 – Getting to Know the Grocery Store
Day 5 – Eating Healthfully Affordably
Day 6 – Trying New Foods
Day 7 – Making the Time to Cook
Day 8 – Starting the Day off Right: A Bevy of Breakfast Ideas
Day 9 – Eating Out and Speaking Up
Day 10 – Packing Lunches
Day 11 – Rethinking Meat Cravings: Fat and Salt Taste Good
Day 12 – Discovering there IS Life After Cheese
Day 13 – Cutting out the Middle Cow and Getting Calcium Directly from the Source
Day 14 – Plant-Based Milks
Day 15 – Putting to Rest the Great Protein Myth
Day 16 – Better Baking without Eggs
Day 17 – Strong Like Popeye – Increasing Your Iron Absorption
Day 18 – B12 – A Bacteria-Based (Not Meat-Based) Vitamin
Day 19 – Finding Abundant Options while Traveling
Day 20 – Skipping the Middle Fish: Getting Omega 3s from the Source
Day 21 – Keeping Things Moving with Fiber
Day 22 – Demystifying Tofu: It’s Just a Bean
Day 23 – Special Considerations for Particular Groups
Day 24 – Eating by Color
Day 25 – Eating Confidently and Joyfully in Social Situations
Day 26 – Finding Harmony in a Mixed Household
Day 27 – Compassionate Fashion: It’s Cool to Be Kind
Day 28 – Understanding Weight Loss – Part One – Calorie Reduction
Day 29 – Understanding Weight Loss – Part Two – Calorie Expenditure
Day 30 – Keeping it in Perspective: Intention Not Perfection
Day 31 – Wrap Up and Reflection

Seriously, Colleen leaves no stone left unturned here. Material is delivered entirely online. You can log into the website at any time day or night and read the material, listen to audio, watch video, and interact in the member forums.

And some of the recipes you receive:

Creamy Leek Polenta
Simple Bean Burritos
Lentil Mushroom Barley Stew
Panzanella (Bread Salad)
Tofu Scramble
Black Bean Squash Quesadillas
Southwestern Quinoa Pilaf
Mexican Chocolate Cake
Green Smoothies
Lemon Artichoke Tapenade
Tofu Cacciatore
Coconut Red Lentil Dal
Spicy Red Bell Pepper Soup
Soba Verde Salad
Truffle Popcorn
No-Bake Apple Crumble
Un-Split Pea Soup
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

By and large, Colleen’s recipe are simple and use easy-to-find ingredients, even for those of us outside of North America.

While I felt that The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, was probably best for a new vegan just learning the ropes, I did listen to every single day’s material and even learned a few new things, such as the trick to making the tastiest tempeh and how to make fluffy vegan biscuits (which I will eagerly save until Israel gets healthy vegan margarine! Speaking of which, I did find the grocery store tour a little depressing. American vegans, you have some seriously amazing choice of food products!)

Here are some of the FAQ’s from the website:

I’m vegan already. Will I get anything out of The 30-Day Vegan Challenge™?

Absolutely! The vast amount of information provided in this program is perfect for vegans who want to arm themselves with the knowledge they need to answer questions, debunk myths, and guide others. Colleen is continually told by long-time vegans that they continue to learn through her work, which encompasses so many aspects of living thoughtfully and well. Colleen’s no-nonsense approach will quite literally have you walking away each day with succinct, relevant, compassionate responses to the typical questions and challenges vegans hear. In addition, her nutrient-dense recipes and resources and tips for eating as healthfully as possible are helpful for everyone, whether they’re vegan or not, brand-new vegan, or long-time vegan!

I already own the book, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. Is the content of the online program different from the book?

All of the recipes are completely different from the now out-of-print book. They are brand new, created for The 30-Day Vegan Challenge™ online! Though some of the content is similar to the out-of-print book, it has been re-worked to suit different mediums: print, video, and audio, making it very fresh and new. For instance, the online program enables Colleen to share video cooking demonstrations and messages, which is impossible to do in a book.

So, if you’d like to save yourself the $20 sign-up fee, you can enter to win the free membership here! Just leave me a comment below telling me why you’d like to win The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. Then check back on Sunday, December 16th, the last night of Hannukah, when I will announce the winner! Contest is open to anyone with a computer and internet access, anywhere in the world.

If you’d prefer to skip the contest, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge can be purchased directly HERE.

(This is not an affiliate anything. Colleen is just generous and I love helping her spread her work.)

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Filed Under: Events, Holidays, Inspiration, Product Reviews, Recommendations, vegan, vegan challenge Tagged With: Getting Kids to Eat Healthy, vegan diet benefits, Vegan Recipes

Jenn Runs Vegas

January 15, 2012 by Emily Segal 5 Comments

This is a guest post from my friend, fellow vegetarian, and Team Triumph Member, Jenn R. Jenn is a veteran of many races of all different lengths. She recently completed the Las Vegas Half Marathon – a night run which was plagued with problems. Hordes of people reportedly got ill from the water that was handed out. There were many exposure-related injuries from runners not dressed warmly enough for the cold desert night. I read numerous reports from participants who were completely frustrated by course and crowding issues and just ending up quitting mid-race.

Jenn, however, persevered. Despite shuttle bus screw ups that caused them to miss the start, and a whole cascade of ensuing problems, she finished this race. (Oh, and not to mention creatively overcoming a medical diagnosis that probably would have put many people off of running permanently!)

Things don’t always go as we plan. But on race day, when tensions are running super high, any bump in the road can spell psychological disaster. I am really inspired by Jenn’s report and hope that if faced with similar problems, I won’t just throw my hands up and quit.

*********************************************************************

Team Triumph Rock ‘n Roll Las Vegas Half-Marathon 2011

A little background on me: I started running about six years ago, after we received an invitation in the mail to “Train to End Stroke” with the American Heart Association. I had never run a day in my life, but always wanted to, and the same could be said for my husband. We signed up, and trained to run a half marathon (Rock ‘n Roll Phoenix). We went from 0 to 13.1 miles (21 km) in five months of training.

In the years since, we have done probably 12 or 13 half-marathons, many 5k’s and 10K’s, and some full marathons. I, myself, completed two marathons, the second in May 2009, before I finally admitted to having an issue with my hip, and sought out a doctor. I didn’t have a traditional injury to recover from, but I do have a structural issue in my right hip and I had some tendinitis (and the start of arthritis). So at that time, I was told that I could still run, but that I should stop for a while to heal the tendinitis and that when I was healed, I could run no more than a 10k consecutively. If I wished to do half-marathons, I could, but I had to either run half and walk the rest, or alternate running with walking. Considering that I pretty much did that anyway, I was okay with those orders. Or so I thought. I actually quite enjoyed my running-free life for quite a while.

In fact, I participated the the 2009 and 2010 Las Vegas Half Marathons, happily walking them both. We were going to sit out in 2011 until we heard that it was going to be a night race. Then we decided that we had to experience it.

The training:

At the time I signed up for the race, I was still walking. I hadn’t a desire to run. I remembered what had happened in 2010: During my training, I was only able to get up to 8 miles. That came back to haunt me for the race. I got ill during the race and felt crippled when it was over. I was determined that this year it would be better.

Somewhere in the Spring however, I started running some intervals and tried the C25K (Couch-to-5K) training program, which I actually found to be difficult and gave up on. Yeah, I did. It’s not easy to admit that, but it turns out that after 18 months of not running, and gaining 30 pounds, well, it is hard to run longer than 5 minutes and I am one of those people who gets easily discouraged. So I gave up on that. I decided that there was no shame in walking the half marathon – and besides it was still nine months away and I had lots of time!

And then, as sometimes happens, the Universe works to inspire us, and my sister-in-law and cousin-in-law decided that they want to train to run in a half-marathon in their town in February and want my husband and I to join them. Well, not wanting to be the only non-runner for that race, and be left out, I immediately started trying running again!

I start following John Bingham’s plan to walk three minutes and run one minute. I followed this plan for the next four or five weeks until the Las Vegas Half Marathon and everything went smoothly. I felt great, I ran fast, I had no pain afterwards. During this time, I even ran a 5K Turkey Trot which I managed to finish in approximately 41 minutes, which isn’t so far off my average “running only” time of 36 minutes, which means that I ran a lot more of that race than I walked.

We had beautiful weather in Pittsburgh during my training, which was totally unexpected for November. Usually it is cold and snowy, but it felt like spring. I can’t complain. In fact, the weather is probably the number one reason I was able to train so well and so easily.

In my training, I had time to work up to running about 4 miles with intervals. So my plan for the race was to try to do 5 or maybe 6 (since I run better at night) miles with the intervals and then walk the rest of the race. I expected to finish in 3:00, 15 minutes faster than last year’s walking only time of 3:15!

Race Day:

I wish I could report that race day went as well as I had hoped and that this could be the victorious story. But unfortunately, it was not. I woke up that morning not feeling great due to women issues, but that was the least of my problems.

There were so many problems with this race. The organizers of this race are very experienced and we didn’t expect this at all.

It started with shuttles that couldn’t get us to the start line on time. Yes, we were late for the start. This has happened to us before and with the use of a timing chip, it shouldn’t even matter. It didn’t matter before. But it did this time!

When we got to the start, the race was 25 minutes in. My corral wasn’t even scheduled to start yet, however, so I should have been fine. But they had let everyone pass and they were already shutting down the start line. I know there were at least a few hundred more people behind us on shuttle buses.

I could not get to a porta-potty before the race, I had to carry our gear that we were planning on checking, the race was crowded and nobody had room to move, whether they wanted to run or walk.

It was freezing cold. There were people there not taking the race seriously. They were there for an evening stroll – a very long evening stroll – they had on pj’s and one couple were carrying a baby. A BABY for pete’s sake!

The fact that I had to carry gear on my back and had to use the potty made it pretty impossible for me to run. The lines for any potties I found were so long I wasn’t willing to wait. I just kept on walking and walking. Eventually, the need got too great and I found a shortish line and waited, and watched the hoards of people pass me by. That was pretty demoralizing to me. I didn’t like the idea of being in the back.

Eventually, I was out of that line and able to join back in to the runners and walkers. It was around mile 5.5 at this point and although my legs felt like icicles, I did do some running as I had some ground to make up. It certainly wasn’t five miles worth, but I think I did do okay.

At mile 12, it started to rain. That was the cherry on top of the pie. Yay. I finished in 3:36. Not quite the 3:00 I planned on! But, hey, at least I didn’t give up at the start when I got there late! And physically, I felt fine, which I can’t say for many of the participants.

At the finish, I am handed a medal. Guess what? It was a medal for the full marathon! Yes, they ran out of medals for the half-marathon. I just heard that they have mailed out the medals to those of us who didn’t get one. I guess it could be worse, I could have been given an unripe banana for recovery! Oh wait … that happened …. too.

For a complete and very detailed description of the catastrophe that was this race, please see my blog at http://www.jennriffle.com/

************************************************************************

Congrats Jenn! Jenn did not come in last – far from it – but I keep this slogan in my mind at all times:

Filed Under: Events, Exercise, Goals, Inspiration, Running, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Race Club, Running, Team Triumph Race Club, Vegan Athlete

Vegan Party Food

January 8, 2012 by Emily Segal 6 Comments

I am a member of a wonderful book club. We don’t always read the assigned books, but we sure have a great time at our monthly meetings! It was my privilege to host this month and instead of the sit down dinner we usually do, we had decided this would be movie night and finger food. Well, in true fashion, we never got the watching the movie, but we did enjoy some vegan hors d’oeuvres! (Am I the only geek who sees that word and mentally says “hoars dee or vee oars” ?)

I also want to add, that these women accept me even though I eat weird food. They love me even though I am drunk and ridiculous after just one glass of wine, and turn into a messy pumpkin at midnight. They patiently listen to me talk about endorphins and butt cheek chafing and even tell me I am “inspiring”! Inspired to run the other way maybe, but no, these kind-hearted, amazing females laugh at my jokes, eat my vegan food and say YUM.

Something else important I wanted to share: Back when I first joined this group, a bunch of the women were doing my 30-Day Detox. They have told me that this was a turning point from unhealthy book club fare to more healthy homemade stuff. The thing is, I hear from a lot of my women clients that book club night is always full of sweets and diet-breaking treats. Some clients who are struggling to overcome obesity or food addictions (sugar, chips etc) even come to dread book club meetings because they are so fraught with stress for them. I can honestly say that if this book club had been all about sinful caloric splurge night, I probably would also not have continued coming to meetings despite how much I love these women. It’s just too hard for me with that kind of food around late at night. But now we eat delicious healthy foods and enjoy each other’s company.

So if you are like one of the people I mentioned, whose book club has become a mine field of junk food, I urge you to speak up. Other club members probably feel the same way and meetings can be just as wonderful with a shift in the kind of food provided. Or have me come and teach a healthy cooking class to your book club!

My menu was:

Popcorn (for the movie we didn’t watch)

My Nut Cheese, this time made with almonds instead of cashews. Sooooo yummy! (with a fresh baguette)

Chips and Guacamole

Olives, Crudite and Spelt Crackers

Tofu Mini Quiches (see recipe below)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies from the PPK, amazing recipe HERE.

Dark and White Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters from this recipe HERE (I just did the bottom layer in dark chocolate and then the top layer parve white chocolate). By the way, this recipe I found on pinterest! Score!

Mini Tofu Quiche Cups

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 15 mini quiches

Serving Size: 1

Calories per serving: 60

Fat per serving: 4.8g

Mini Tofu Quiche Cups

The original recipe is from www.fatfreevegan.com. Mine is slightly larger that the original recipes and makes 12 muffin cups plus about 3 additional ramekins. This is due to the way tofu comes packaged here - I wanted to not have leftover tofu. If you just want 12, use the original recipe. You can use whatever vegetables you prefer.

Ingredients

olive oil spray
1 clove minced garlic
1 cup chopped mushrooms
2 cups minced fresh broccoli florets
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives (or one green onion)
2-3 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp. dried, crushed)
black pepper to taste
600 grams firm tofu (that is 2 packages in Israel)
1/2 cup plain soymilk
2-4 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch (may sub another thickener such as arrowroot or potato starch)
1tablespoon tahini (preferred) or cashew butter
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Spray 12 regular-sized muffin cups well with non-stick spray.
Lightly spray a non-stick skillet with olive oil and sauté the veggies over medium heat until the mushrooms just begin to exude their juices. Stir in the chives, rosemary, and freshly ground black pepper, and remove from the heat and set aside.
Place the remaining ingredients into a food processor or blender. Process until completely smooth and silky.
Add the tofu mixture to the vegetables and stir to combine.
Spoon equally into the 12 muffin cups about 3/4 full, plus the 3 greased ramekins.
Put the muffin pan into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 160C. Bake until the tops are golden and a knife inserted into the middle of a quiche comes out clean–about 25-35 minutes Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Notes

There are 8g of protein and 2g of fiber in each quiche cup.

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Recipe and Photos Â© Emily Segal www.TriumphWellness.com

This recipe is participating in Wellness Weekend at Diet, Dessert and Dogs, HERE. and Bookmarked Recipes and My Legume Love Affair (two links for that one!).

Filed Under: cookies, dessert, Events, Pinterest, Recipes, vegan Tagged With: Holidays, Pinterest, Vegan Recipes

5772 here we go!

October 1, 2011 by Emily Segal 1 Comment

This past weekend, we Jews celebrated the New Year of 5772. Gosh, we’re old. I’ve got to tell you, I have a good feeling about this year. Big things are going to happen and maybe, just maybe, I am finally mature enough to handle them. I’m optimistic.

Anyway, October 1st is significant in a few other ways:

1. We are ending DST tonight! WooHoo! I dislike DST. I grew up in a state that never adopted it and it just never made sense to me. I’m an Early-to-Bed-Early-to-Rise sort, so it suits me perfectly to have the sun come up early so I can get out and start my day. I’m pretty stoked for a 5:30am run tomorrow morning!

Vegan MoFo (Vegan Month of Food) starts today! I participated last year in this vegan cooking/blogging event and petered out after about 2 weeks. This time, my goal is to post 5 vegan-related posts a week for all 4 weeks. Can I do it? Watch and see! I have assembled the recipes I want to try and tonight will be plugging them into my calendar and making shopping lists.

Here’s the biggie: Marathon training officially begins! I was planning to start in September, but I got injured and had to wait. My marathon is now 6 months away and it’s time to get it in gear. Yikes! That’s physical training, getting enough sleep (thanks again to the time change!), stress management and of course, nutrition. If you see me posting about (or eating) sweets and sugar, slap my hand away please. There’s no time or room for crap now! Hopefully some of my posts for Vegan MoFo and beyond, will be about the Vegan Athletic Kitchen as well.

So, to kick things off for Vegan MoFo, I’m sharing a recipe we enjoyed over the holiday weekend. You will also notice that I’m trying a new recipe plugin that will allow you to print my recipes more easily. I hope. Let me know how it works for you.

Happy New Year and we’re off to a great start!

Moroccan Vegetable Couscous

This is the vegetarian version of traditional Moroccan couscous with vegetables. To ensure fluffy couscous, follow package directions and when couscous is cool enough to handle, use your hands to fluff and separate each grain. This extra effort is really worth it!

Ingredients

1/2 kg (1 lb) instant whole wheat couscous
1 Tbsp oil
2 onions, quartered
4 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
200 g (7 oz) pumpkin, cut into large chunks
2 large zucchini, cut into large chunks
4 stalks of celery, sliced thickly
1-2 cups green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 large pinch of saffron
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
8 cups of water or vegetable broth

Instructions

Prepare couscous according to package instructions. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large pot. Add onions and saute for a few minutes.
Add remaining vegetables and saute for another 5-10 minutes.
Add chickpeas and seasonings.
Add water or broth and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until the veggies are tender. (Check frequently and add more water if necessary. Final consistency should be soupy).
To serve, spread couscous on serving tray and top with veggies and soup.

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Recipe and Photos Â© Emily Segal www.TriumphWellness.com

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Filed Under: beans, Events, Holidays, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, vegan, Vegan MoFo Tagged With: Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete, Vegan Recipes

Finding Your Tribe

September 11, 2011 by Emily Segal 3 Comments

OK, so I need to write a blog post about sports injuries but apparently it is stuck in me and causing a log jam behind it, so I decided to set it aside and just write what is trying to get out. I’m going to just follow this thought and see where we go.

Tribes. Humans are tribal people. We don’t do well in isolation. We need communities and within those communities we form tribes of like-minded people. Belonging and being heard and understood are important for our well-being and survival. In fact, on this 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, what most of us remember is the sudden feeling of community in NYC and across the USA. For the first time, we were speaking to our neighbors and even though the situation was horrible, it felt good to be part of a community.

My father specializes in Community Psychology and over the vacation we were discussing how hard it is for people to make changes in their lives when their tribe does not support change. People can literally be held back by the very people who love them the most. One of the first things I talk about with my clients, is building a tribe of like-minded people who will support them as they make healthy changes in their lives. Twitter and facebook have allowed people to find and form tribes of support even if none exist in their real day-to-day lives. My Facebook stream for instance, is a constant mindbath of positivity, inspiration and healthy happiness. People who post otherwise are not shown in the stream – not part of that tribe.

Like most people I imagine, I have several real-life Tribes as well as online. First is my family tribe – the people I am either related to or who have been in my life for so long that I’m as good as related to. This includes mostly humans, but also several animals who have been, or currently are, members of our pack.

Then there is my religious tribe, both the large tribe of Jews and the smaller tribes of actual belief and practice where I find the most ideas I happen to agree with. (Just as an interesting aside, for those who don’t know this, Jews actually track their tribes from biblical times! This tribal legacy is passed down through the patriarchy, so when I married my husband, I became part of his tribe.)

Then there is my work tribe. I don’t have co-workers so that can be lonely. Most people make connections with the people at work with whom they spend their days. I, on the other hand, am finally in the fabulous position where I can choose my clients and I only work with people I actually LIKE. My clients are people I want to be friends with, people I like to talk to, people who are interesting and inspiring, and people who teach me as well as learn from me.

Then I have my women’s tribe. These are my girlfriends. Every woman has her tribe and I don’t think I need to say much about them except that I love them, they love me, we like to laugh, we always lovingly tell one another the truth, and we always have one another’s backs.

Finally, when I look at my life, I see that the other thing that is really important to me, is my feelings about animals/vegetarianism/animal rights and welfare/environmentalism/deep love and care of Mother Earth and her occupants. But where is my tribe for this? I did some research and I found that there is an active vegetarian society in Jerusalem, but that is too far for me to travel at night. I also found an on-again-off-again group in Tel Aviv, but didn’t see any centralized organization of events.

So a couple of months ago, inspired by a Vegan Meet-Up group that a facebook friend organizes in Montclair, NJ, I thought “If I can’t find my Tribe, then I will just create one.” I sent out notices everywhere I could think of about a Vegan Potluck and a friend of mine agreed to host it in her very beautiful home. Then I sat back in wonder as a stream of amazingly kind and beautiful people began to reply. I wondered hopefully if this realization of my tribe could really be happening.

Well, it did. In the end, there were 20 of us who showed up for the dinner and as I have mentioned on facebook, the energy of the group was positive and glowing. I felt that everyone was so open, so caring, so gentle and so interesting! From all sides I felt loved and appreciated and I knew I was with a group of people who “get” me. My Tribe. Huuuummmmm….

We shared many ideas of how we can move forward. Things we would like the group to be and to do. I know that skirmishes and negativity can arise at any time and that group dynamics are often difficult to manage. But I feel AMAZING to know that just by putting out the call “Hey, this is me. This is what I care about. Do you want to join me?” that I easily attracted a beautiful Tribe.

And by the way, not everyone there was vegan, or even vegetarian, but something brought them there and no one was judged in any way. As it should be, and sadly, most often is not.

On the last episode of her long-running show, Oprah Winfrey said:

“I’ve talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common — they all wanted validation. … They want to know, do you hear me? Do you see me? Does what I say mean anything to you?”

This is what being a Tribe member feels like. You still get to uniquely be yourself but other people see you and smile at you and sometimes even raise their glass to toast your existence.

Here are some photos of the event. Check out these beautiful faces!

What Tribes do you belong to? Are there more Tribes you would like to build? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.

P.S. Yet one more Tribe – Team Triumph – has several new members. I have added them to the group page HERE. If I have forgotten to add you, forgive me and tell me again!

Filed Under: Events, health coach, Primary Food, vegan Tagged With: vegan diet benefits, Vegetarian Meet-Up

Team Triumph is Born!

August 11, 2011 by Emily Segal Leave a Comment

There will come a day when you can no longer do this.

Today is not that day.

I have had a great response to my competitive sport challenge for 2011-12 and I have set us up a Headquarters Page:

http://triumphwellness.com/events/team-triumph/

WOO the FRIG, HOOOO!

Please go to that page to see the current list of participants and their events. I am still waiting to hear back from some of you, so when you choose your event, let me know and I’ll add you. Likewise if I got your info wrong, or you want me to link your name to a website or blog, or if I forgot to add you even though you told me to, email me at healthcoachemily@gmail.com and let me know.

Participants: I will be asking each of you to do a guest post (surprise!). You can write a Race Report up after your event, giving us the blow-by-blow, or write about your training or tips, or anything at all really as long as it’s more or less related to the challenge. Posts about how much you hate me will probably not be accepted unless they are really, really funny.

I’ll be back with training tips and all that good stuff. For now I want to close out with a video. The preview from the documentary The Spirit of the Marathon. (Those receiving this in email need to click on the TITLE of the blog post and watch the video on the blog itself).

The final quote, from Dick Beardsley, 2nd Place Finisher Boston Marathon 1982, gives me CHILLLLLZZZZZ:

“When you cross the finish line, no matter how slow, no matter how fast, it will change your life forever.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8XSit8XyeM

Filed Under: Events, Inspiration, Running, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Team Triumph Race Club

Let’s Race! Part One

July 27, 2011 by Emily Segal 9 Comments

OK, here’s the deal. As most of you know (because I rarely shut up about it), I am planning on running the Full Tel Aviv Marathon on March 30, 2012 in honor of my 45th birthday. I have run 3 Half Marathons, but never a full and it has long been a dream of mine. Frankly, I have no idea how I will run a full marathon, when half marathons seem pretty much the limit of my ability, but I strongly believe that “where there’s a will, there’s a way”.

Continuing with the well-worn sayings, “Misery Loves Company”, which is why I’m planning to take as many of YOU on this journey with me as possible.

And I don’t mean vicariously, chicas!

My dream/plan/desire, is to form a racing TEAM of participants all over the world, competing in any sort of sporting event and using this blog as Motivation Central to cheer one another on, get and stay inspired and on track.

It doesn’t matter if you have never run, biked, or swum before (What’s the deal with English past participles and why can’t I remember how to use them?) We are each going to choose an event, in a time, place, distance and sport convenient for us.

ANYONE can participate in a race! Every race that I have run in, there have been fat people and out-of-shape people and old people and handicapped people. In the Tel Aviv Half Marathon there were religious Jewish women running in skirts and headscarves and I even saw one Muslim woman running completely covered up!

And I must mention that the reason I saw all those various people is because they all PASSED me. I am slow and you can be too. What’s the rush? If you pick a race and need to walk it, fine, you will have lots of company. I am not going to run the marathon for speed this time, but rather just to finish it. The power is in the intention, the planning, the effort and hopefully the completion. You can set whatever kind of goal you wish.

Honestly, just set aside your excuses and step up to the plate. I swear your life will be eternally changed for the better.

So… our first step is to choose a race. I am going to refer you to this post on No Meat Athlete about how to choose your first race, HERE. Then come back and bookmark these sites so you can investigate and choose a race that suits you.

My only requirement is that you choose a race within 12 months from now. My race is a full 9 months away but my preparation is already underway although not in the way you might expect. I’ll explain in an upcoming post.

I’m giving you a full week to let this idea percolate and to explore different possibilities. By next Wednesday I want you to all have an event in mind. I’m not sure what format will suit us best, either the comments section, or maybe a facebook page or sparkpeople team? But I want to keep it public so the ~~chickens~~ people who think they aren’t ready yet, can be inspired.

The Tel Aviv Marathon site is HERE. There’s a Full Marathon (42.2 km), a Half Marathon (21.1km), a 10-K and a 10% race (4.2K).

The Jerusalem Marathon site is HERE. They’ve got a Marathon, Half and a 10K.

The Israel Women’s Triathlon in Herzliya is HERE. You can do various lengths and even put together a relay team with 2 other women, each taking one sport.

For those who read Hebrew, you can find a full calendar of races and events at Shvoong, HERE.

For races internationally check HERE. North America, check HERE. Or just google the name of your city and “race” and see if anything comes up. Almost every town has a turkey trot or charity race. Kfar Saba and Raanana also have local races.

So your assignment for the week is to find a race, sign up if it’s soon, and post it in the comments section here. I will be giving a shout out to all who are participating!

Don’t worry yet about how to train and what to eat, what to wear etc etc. I will be walking you through all of it, OK? Free coaching, community support, public accountability, how great is this?!

Come on, claim your medal!

Filed Under: Events, Exercise, Goals, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon Tagged With: Exercise, Race Club, Vegan Athlete

Cooking Class Time!!

June 26, 2011 by Emily Segal 2 Comments

Let’s start with dessert shall we?

Super Fudge in Progress

Who’s going to lick this spoon??

On Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at 11:00am, I will be hosting a cooking class Lunch & Learn in my Kfar Saba Home.

My home is Kosher and all the dishes are Vegan. That means they are parve – no dairy, eggs or animal products.

They also have no sugar, white flour, artificial sweeteners, soup powders, packaged food or chemicals. If you are gluten-free let me know and I can do that too.

Bland and Boring you think???

Think again:

The Healthy & Super Simple Super Fudge!

Indian Vegetable Filled Parathas:

Baked Onion Rings!!!

Tantalizing Thai Slaw

And did I mention Super Fudge??

Now, why would you want to learn how to cook these things?

1. They taste great

2. They are good for you and good for your family. If you are feeding folks with Diabetes, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, Sugar or Junk Food Addictions, or Picky Eaters, then it pays to have some really easy, delicious healthy low-fat, high fiber, plant-strong recipes up in your repertoire.

3. If you are watching your weight or trying to lose weight, these are just some of the recipes I ate to lose the 35kgs I lost 9 years ago and have maintained without even dieting! You can see my before and afters HERE.

4. If you are feeding a vegetarian or vegan and get stumped on really yummy things to make. Or if you ever have vegetarian guests. Or even if you’d like your own family to begin to adopt some more meatless meals or dishes.

So, come on over for a cooking demonstration, health Q and A with yours truly, and a delicious healthy lunch! The recipe book will be yours to keep.

(Disclaimer, if I have last minute cooking or market trouble, I reserve the right to make menu changes. None-the-less, enroll and I’ll still give you any of the recipes on this page regardless if I teach them or not).

Tuesday, July 5, 2011 11:00am Kfar Saba a bargain at 110 nis!

You MUST register and you must do it FAST! The sign up link is here:

http://triumphwellness.com/events/

I hope to see you there! (Although, if you don’t come, all that Super Fudge is for meeeee!!)

Filed Under: Events, vegan Tagged With: Cooking Classes, Vegan Recipes

Energy To Burn

June 15, 2011 by Emily Segal 4 Comments

I am a busy business owner, mother of 2, wife, chief cook and bottle washer, who keeps the house, does the grocery shopping, works out daily, and cooks all the family’s food from scratch. Think I’m tired? The truth is that my eyes fly open at 5:30am every morning with no alarm, and I buzz and hum with energy all day long with no caffeine-crutch. Want to know how I do it?

Here are my top 10 tips on raising your energy level through the roof:

1. Ditch the Coffee

I call coffee “fake fuel” because it really hides the fact that without it, you’re utterly exhausted. Your body uses fatigue to tell you that something is wrong. Coffee’s just a blindfold hiding the real problem. Not only that, caffeine burns out your adrenal glands, which will cause even worse fatigue and stubborn weight gain down the road. When you drink a cup of coffee, it’s like sticking your finger in an electric socket. Your adrenal glands pump out adrenaline, your fight or flight hormone, which causes that alertness you crave, along with rapid heart rate, dilated pupils and increased blood pressure. Your body thinks a bear is chasing you. Stress anyone??

2. Sleep

Now that you’re off the joe, you can ascertain what your baseline energy level is. Chances are, you’re fatigued because your not getting enough sleep. Most people don’t get enough sleep just because they are not in the habit of going to bed early, or they don’t manage their time well (tv and computer usage go here), or they indulge in too many late night social commitments. While the one-off wedding or party shouldn’t cause too much trouble, booking your schedule so tightly that you are out every night is draining your energy and lowering your vitality. It’s OK to RSVP “No” sometimes.

Stick to a regular sleep schedule of early to bed and early to rise and you will have loads of energy! Resist the urge to sleep in when time allows – you know that just makes you groggier.

An aside to the sleep-deprived parents of little ones: I know this lack of sleep is not your fault. My youngest didn’t sleep through the night until he was FOUR, so you’ve got my empathy. Just know this time will come to an end eventually. Hang in there and sleep whenever you can.

Many people complain to me that they cannot fall asleep earlier. Do everything else on this list and then get back to me. I can tell you, that on the days I don’t exercise vigorously, I too have trouble drifting off.

3. Exercise

I don’t care if you workout at the gym, on the roads or by cleaning the house and tending a garden. Pushing yourself physically makes you fall into a deep, restful sleep at night. Plus it gives you energy, oxygen and vitality during the day.

4. Assess Your Commitments

Most of my clients are women who take the weight of the world on their shoulders and then berate their bodies for giving out under the burden. I honestly have to give these ladies PERMISSION to stop taking on every single responsibility under the sun! This is called Martyr Syndrome and not only does no one like a martyr (despite your conviction to the contrary), martyrs freakin DIE before their time, ladies! Let other people do their share and you do yours, divided up nice and equally with a piece for all.

5. Quit your job

Didn’t expect that one, did you? If you love your job, then never mind, this one’s not for you. But so often we are exhausted by dreading the day or the task ahead of us. Of course, work probably won’t be fun all the time, but it’s not meant to be horrible all the time either. I’ve got so many clients who think they are trapped in dreadful, stressful jobs – maybe they are a few years away from retirement, or on the other spectrum just need to keep their noses to the grindstone to pay off school loans, or whatever. As the Reigning Queen of Thinking Outside the Career Box, I am here to tell you to go ahead and think outside the career box. There’s plenty of interesting work to do which people will pay you for. The biggest part of my A.M. vitality is being totally excited about the day ahead of me!

6. Hydrate

We’ve already discussed this one here. Most people walk around dried up and dehydrated. Drink lots of water. Now that you’re off coffee, you can drink water instead.

7. Get outside

Fresh air does a world of good. Step out at lunchtime, take a walk in the evening, get up early and meditate in the grass while the sun rises. Breathe!

8. Get more oxygen

Yawning means your brain needs oxygen. Next time you are hit with a wave of fatigue, take 5-10 deep breaths. Extra points for doing it outside.

9. Eat Whole Foods

You knew I would say this. Junk food drains you, whole foods energize you. Read the rest of my website and enough said about that.

10. Go get a blood test

Tell your doctor you are experiencing fatigue and ask to have your iron, B-12, and thyroid tested. Go the extra mile and get your hormones tested too. Many women have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep when their hormones are out-of-whack. If you’re following a low-carb diet and you’re tired all the time, then your B-vitamins are probably depleted. Get it checked, supplement, and eat some brown rice for Pete’s sake.

11. Bonus (and Shameless Plug): DETOX! My 30-Day Detox is a great way to get that energy flowing! New group starting June 22nd at 11am (New Time) in Kfar Saba. Click HERE.

Overwhelmed? Just pick ONE THING and start with improving it one step at a time. In no time, you’ll be bouncing off the walls with the best of us!

Filed Under: Detox and Cleansing, Events, Exercise, health coach, Recommendations Tagged With: Anti-Ick Techniques, Exercise, Self-Improvement

May Wrap-Up, on to June!

May 30, 2011 by Emily Segal Leave a Comment

The marvelous month of May is winding down. I set some goals for the month back at the end of April. Let’s see how I did:

Goal #1 was to blog daily, mostly new recipes. I blogged 15 times, so more like every other day, but still good. Fourteen of those posts were new recipes and 2 (one was both) were about motivation/inspiration.

Goal #2 was to write about establishing an exercise habit especially pertaining to race running. I did write about establishing the exercise habit in the Linchpin post. I still need to write the post about race training.

Goal #3 was to run a couple of workshops, a 30-day Detox and a cooking class. The 30-Day Detox I’m running right now, (they are on week 3 and glowing like the sun!), but the cooking class I had to cancel due to a conflict.

Goal #4 was the workshop I gave on Family Nutrition at City Kids in Tel Aviv. Done, and a rousing success, lives changed, raw brownies and spring rolls consumed.

Goal #5 was to up my game personally, re-veganize myself, work on a coaching project and get back into the gym habit. Done, done and done. Woohoo!

In addition, I managed to sell some e-books, sign some awesome new clients to the 3-month program, and unknowingly use a British swear-word in a post. That was a highlight, huh?

So… on to June! After some thought, I have decided that here at Triumph Wellness, we will be celebrating “Juicy Jumpin’ June”, and devote the month to raising juiciness and energy levels. I usually start to drip and drag in the heat and am determined to not succumb this time around. I will be blogging all kinds of recipes, tips and advice to getting June jumpin’ and get energy levels high, high, high!

As long as juicy and jumpin’ aren’t swear words in any language, then we’re good to go. Stay tuned…

P.S. US readers, please enjoy a safe and meaningful Memorial Day. I too, give my thanks to the men, women, and families of the USA who have sacrificed so much that we all may live in freedom and prosperity.