Week 7: Reaching Out

     Sorry this is late.  It has been another busy week in the life of Stephen Teacher.  Last week's challenges got me.  I'm still recovering from the 10K I ran on Monday, but I feel so accomplished that I was able to complete it.  I did not do so well with my beer intake, however.  Springtime in Korea means sitting at marts and drinking beer.  I fell into the temptation like a rebellious teenager.  I'm still trying to process how to deal with my temptations in a healthier manner.  So enough about last week...let's get to this week!

Physical	Mental	Emotional
Go on a bike ride this week.  I have found a love for riding bikes over the past year and haven't done it nearly enough this year.  For our #pushit challenge:  Incorporate squats into 3 of your workouts this week.  No one a flabby butt on the beach!	I want to hear about your journey over the past 7 weeks.  Create a blog documenting your successes and failures.  Send it to me by June 8th.  I'll include it in our final blogpost.  My email is:  stephenmichaelglaspie@gmail.com	Reach out to an old friend or family member.  I find that I never make enough time to stay connected with people back home.  Take that time for yourself.  Adding people into your support system can make all the difference in the world.

Have a great rest of your week, y'all!  It's almost my birthday!!!

-Stephen

Week 6: Promises

         So last week taught me 2 things:

1.)         Being vegetarian is hard, but I made it 5 days without meat.  Thank God I love salads.

2.)         Stairs suck!  Didn’t do so well with this one, but I did make an extra conscious effort to include more stairs in my life.  I even got my students involved, and let them take the stairs down one day.  I had a great week of working out.  Felt really good about that but am going to do more this week.  

         Last week, also had me thinking a lot about my insecurities.  I have so many and deal with them on a constant basis.  However, what I can say, is that my biggest insecurity involves being worthy enough.  I secretly have an intense fear that I'm not good enough to be liked or loved by others.  I work extra hard to keep friendships and put up with a lot more than most because anytime a friend does me dirty, I feel like it was somehow my fault.  I find that I'm getting better at forming healthier relationships, but I'm still a work in progress.  I really haven’t figured out how to properly address insecurities like this one, but what I have been able to do is look to my friends and family for support and advice.  It’s because of them that I’m able to continue to move forward and not look back.  I’m stronger because of them.  

         Anyhow, all this thinking led me to thinking about the future, and what I want out of it.  So that led me to this week’s challenges.  Enjoy!

Physical	Mental	Emotional
Due to the ferry incident, my Spartan race has been postponed until June 15th.  So I have a month to get ready.  I need your help.  I want to push us to do a 10K this week.  Run, walk, crawl…just do it!  #pushit	I LOVE BEER!  My core doesn’t.  I’m taking beer away from you.  I’m not gonna be that party pooper and take all your fun away, but I’m taking beer.  Also, I’m making it a personal goal of mine to drink less this weekend.  I will be "classy Stephen" and let someone else be the rockstar for me.  ;)	What promise can you make to yourself?  Why are you doing this?  What makes you happy?  What do you want out of life?  How is losing weight (if that’s what you are doing) going to get you to your goals?  What will make this time different?

This week’s hashtags are: #sgjunebody #promises

So many of you have shared your stories of success and failure.  It’s all a part of the journey.  Let’s keep trying to be the best that we can be and make this week a great one!  Don’t stop putting in the work, and don’t stop making time for yourself.  You deserve it.  The world doesn’t owe any of us anything.  We owe everything to ourselves.  I love y’all!  3 more weeks until my birfumaday!!!!  

Week 6: Guest Blogger

Our guest blogger this week hails from New Zealand.  I met Jo Turner in Korea and have known her for  awhile now.  This challenge has brought us closer together and her passion for clean eating inspires me to make better decisions.  I'm so thrilled to share her story and tips on how we can all eat better this week.  

Eating clean and green can not only help us become more environmentally aware, but it can also really make a difference to how we feel physically. It's difficult to completely overhaul the way you eat, but cutting things out gradually and making small changes is totally doable. It's easy to make excuses when it comes to food. - I don't have time. - I'm too exhausted after a full day of work. - I can't even boil an egg! But it's so worth it to fuel your body with good, real food. It's the only one you'll ever have!

I spent a large part of my life having an abusive relationship with food. It's not that I loved food or ate too much, but quite the opposite. Food was evil. Growing up we never had chips or candy in the house. We had weetbix or toast...when fruit loops made it to NZ, I remember my mother telling us that there was no way we were eating candy for breakfast. Dinner was almost always meat and three veg. It was healthy enough but I hated the meat. My father refused any kind of spice (or flavour) so our meals were pretty bland. Food was for sustenance, not to be enjoyed or savoured. (My mum's a great cook, and she fed us well, but she didn't have much chance to introduce us to different foods due to time, money and an old-fashioned husband. She taught me the fundamentals of baking and cooking for which I'm eternally grateful.) When I became a teenager the pressure from my "friends" to count calories and be thin was at the forefront of my mind. I started smoking because I was told it would curb my hunger. I started skipping breakfast and giving my lunch away. Food prevented me from having that concave stomach that I so desperately desired. I was active in sports and I walked everywhere (and fainted a lot). It wasn't until my 20s that I started to actually enjoy food, but by then my metabolism was shot. Trying to create a balance and put my eating right was, and still is, a difficult and long process. Moving to Korea and not having access to the foods that I had suddenly started to actually enjoy, and not having the facilities to make the dishes that I knew, put my progress back a lot. (This was before Facebook and smartphones) Not to mention I had zero motivation to "slave over a hot stove", to quote my mother, after a long day at work. I worked 5 minutes from my home and being minimally active, I gained 15kg in my first 3 months.

A few years later, when my now husband and I moved in together, things changed. I had someone else to cook for, I had someone who loved my curves but who I wanted to be healthy and beautiful for. I suffer a lot of chronic, physical pain due to injuries and birth defects, so it is difficult to be as active as I used to be. I was sick of being sick and I had to make a change. I had someone who absolutely loves food to help me through it and to introduce me to new and exciting cuisines. In the last 3 years I've been really focusing on making good, clean, real food.  I've learned not to deprive myself, but to just be more mindful and appreciative of food. I've also learned to accept that what I cook is not always going to be successful, authentic or look anything like it did on that cooking show. Like any skill, it takes practice.

Cooking your own meals is a great way to take control of your eating. Here are some of the things I've learned that have really helped me to get my eating on track. I'm mostly aiming this at young singles and couples, as I realise when you add kids to the mix, sh*t just gets a whole lot more complicated. I'm also a New Zealander who's spent the last 11 years in Korea, so I hope some of these tips translate over.

Because all the hip young whippersnappers are doing it, here's a LIST!

1. Keep it simple - Don't be bound to recipes*. Let food speak for itself. It doesn't have to be complicated. If you don't have an ingredient, don't worry. If it's not the healthiest recipe on the planet, make substitutions. You can substitute vegetables for others with similar cooking times. You can substitute within any of the 4 tastes: salty, sour, sweet, bitter. You don't need to go out and buy specific vinegars or spices or what have you. Experiment with what you have. It won't be authentic, but it will still taste good. Try yoghurt for sour cream, tofu for meat, potatoes to thicken soups instead of cream. Google is your friend. Salads are great for minimal prep...just change it up with a different dressing. 

*Baking takes a little more precision, but even then after some practice you'll start to notice the textures and consistencies that baked goods should resemble, and then you can usually mess around a little bit.

2. Plan plan plan. I can't stress this enough. It will take some getting used to and you will forget. If you already have everything in the kitchen, or better, already prepped food, you're much less likely to be lazy and order or go out to eat. Or make ramyeon. The best way to do this is to pick a day when you have an hour or two free. That can be hard, but making time for your health really should take priority. If that's not an option a couple of stints in the kitchen while you're doing something else can also work. Figure out what you want to eat for the next week. It doesn't need to be exact. Plan to eat the same thing a couple of nights. Plan to use some of the same produce. Chop up onions, prep some salad ingredients, roast up a bunch of vegetables, boil up a soup, make a big lasagna. It will take a while to get into a groove, but when you do, you won't really need to think about it much, and it will take a lot less time. If something comes up during the week, most things will last a couple of days or more in the fridge (google is your friend remember...please check if you're not familiar with food safety standards) or perhaps it can go in the freezer. Or you can always take it to work. Speaking of which, if you have to plan lunches too make a couple of options; salads, sandwiches, dips/hummus, for the week and rotate them. Just make sure whatever you make can last until Friday. Or have dinner leftovers.

3. Try to avoid as much processed food as you can. They may be convenient but there are often lots of hidden sugars and additives in things you don't expect.  You can chop up some tomatoes and and onion and let it simmer with some herbs and spices in about the same time as your water boils and your (whole wheat ;)) pasta is cooked. Would it be better if it had simmered for a couple of hours? Definitely. Throw on a bit of cheese (or some chickpeas if you don't think you've eaten enough protein for the day) and it's a pretty decent meal using fresh produce with no additives, where you can control the salt, oil and sugar.
You can make your own yoghurt, condiments, sauces and spreads pretty easily. And with a bit more effort you can make breads and pastas. I have a hand mixer/chopper/blender which is invaluable, and, while in Korea it's kind of a luxury, I do have a toaster oven that is pretty handy. (I managed without one for 9 years.) Probably the best investment was a $12 yogurt maker that requires next to no effort. It will depend how committed you are, and the kind of things you enjoy cooking, but it's worth it for your health.

4. Only keep healthy snacks in the house. And keep a lot of them. Keep fruit where you can see it. Crispers are great but I'm much more likely to eat it if I see it...preferably before I see the block of cheese. Make refrigerator pickles - You'll wonder why you never did before. Keep nuts and seeds around. Get some good whole wheat or rice crackers, roast up some chickpeas and grow your own sprouts. 

5. Stock your freezer and pantry. Whenever you make sauces or casseroles or soups, make extra! Get some tupperware or zip-locks and chuck it in freezer for one of those nights when you just can't be bothered. If you bake a loaf of bread, don't be tempted to eat the whole thing. Slice it up and freeze it. I do this with blocks of cheddar too (the shittier stuff) otherwise I just end up eating it. The quality won't be as great as it was fresh, but anything that gets heated up or cooked again is fine. I have a bunch of chickpeas and black beans that I cook and package up into can size portions. (Cans are fine, they're just expensive and hard to come by here.)
I like to have canned tomatoes and paste, corn and beans on hand. Invest in some of your favourite spices and herbs. You don't need all of them, but figure out what works for you.

Bonus!
Try to cut down your meat consumption. You don't have to become a full on vegetarian to make a difference. It's a controversial issue, so I'll just give you my short opinion on it. There's nothing wrong with eating meat. It's the amount that's the problem. And because of that amount, the way we farm it ensures its inferior quality. To put it very simply, we can use the space and resources used for farming animals and their feed, to plant actual food for humans. Protein can be easily replaced with beans, lentils, soy, nuts and seeds...and eggs, yoghurt and cheese in moderation. 

Which brings us to this weeks #pushit challenge!

Try to cook your own vegetarian meals this week. If you've never cooked, or hate the thought of it, just try one. www.allrecipes.com is a great place to start, and you can even do an ingredient search if you have a bunch of random things in your kitchen  If you're an expert, have some friends over! Maybe even teach some recipes to those who are looking to improve their skills. If you have to eat out, try and choose a vegetarian option. (It can be difficult in Korea to go full vegetarian, so focus more on cutting out that huge chunk of meat rather than worrying too much about the fish sauce in the jiggae.)  

If you'd like more information or suggestions on what to cook, feel free to contact me on the event page. Good luck and happy eating!!

Week 6: Going Green!

      We have 3 weeks left in the challenge, and I am more amped up than ever to finish this thing out strong.  Life has been really busy on my side of the world and has left me feeling like I could be doing more to make time for my fitness goals and myself.  So I really want to encourage us all to make these last 3 weeks count and finish out strong.  Keep posting your successes and failures along the way.  We are all here for each other.  So with that being said, let’s get into this week’s challenges…

We are going green this week!!!!

Physical	Mental	Emotional
Lose the elevators this week.  Your challenge is to live an elevator-free life for 5 days this week.  You pick the 5 days.  Taking the stairs can be a great way to get some extra exercise in during your day.  I live on the 8th floor…I may hate myself after this week.	I’ve always wanted to know what it feels like to be vegetarian.  Pick 5 days this week to go meat-free.  Load up on all the fruits and veggies!  Now, I may really hate myself this week.  ;)	Write down 3 insecurities, and think of ways you can overcome them.  I had a moment just tonight where I let my insecurities get the better of me.  The are so powerful but don’t have to be.