Healthy Sweet and Sour Pork

I found a recipe for Healthy Sweet and Sour Pork and make a few changes to clean it up a bit and make it even lower calorie, but still just as delicious!  It was a winner in my house last night served over short grain brown rice!  

All the veggies were available in the commissary, but you can easily sub in whatever is fresh or whatever you might have laying around the house.  I encourage you to switch up the protein and the veg to keep this bright and lively.  I was satisfied after just one serving thanks to all the beautiful colors the veggies added.  Pork is an overlooked but awesome protein choice and it's just as lean as chicken breast. 

Sweet and Sour Pork
makes 4 servings

Ingredients
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips
2 1/2 T balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
2 t low sodium soy sauce
1 T cornstarch
1 T Truvia
2 T vegetable oil
3 T organic ketchup
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots thinly sliced
1 red pepper thinly sliced
3 scallions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 cups snow peas, cut in half

Directions
Toss the pork with 1/2 T vinegar and a pinch of salt in a bowl.  Mix the remaining 2 T vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, ketchup, trivia, 1/3 cup water, and 1/2 t salt in another bowl.

Heat 1 T oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat.  Add the pork and slowly stir until it turns mostly opaque, about 2 minutes.  Remove the pork with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate,  Discard the oil and wipe out the skillet.

Heat the remaining 1 T oil in the skillet, then stir-fry the garlic with a pinch of truvia and a pinch of salt, 15 seconds.  Add the red peppers, carrots and scallions and stir-fry until crisp-tender, 2 minutes.  (add a little water if the garlic starts to stick to the skillet.)  Add the pork, snow peas, and soy sauce mixture; stir until the pork is cooked through and the sauce is thickened, about 3 minutes.

Enjoy!

No more sNOw!

I want to preface this blog by saying:  I grew up in Wyoming where we still have glaciers.  I know cold.  I know bone aching cold.  I don't like it.  It's one of the reasons I moved to Tucson Az after I graduated from college.  It's also why I moved to the Caribbean when I was 30.  I don't like cold.

(Jackson Hole Wyoming)

Living in Germany has been a challenge for my poor bones, my arthritic knees, and my sunny disposition.  It's dark here, it's cloudy here, and it's rainy and windy here.  A lot!  Recently though we've gotten snow.  Beautiful big piles of snow.  My dog, loves the snow.  Loves to run, dash, play, and roll in the snow.  I don't really mind the snow: so long as I'm curled up on the sofa under a blanket drinking a hot toddy.  In truth, I do enjoy outdoor activities that you can do in the snow: skiing, sledding, winter treks, and whatnot.  I do not enjoy driving in the snow, trying to park in the snow, scraping the ice off my car, or loading a ton of boot camp equipment in and out of the car in the snow. YUK!

A huge part of me wishes I could be a super cheery aerobics girl and shout about how wonderful it all is and wow, how many calories I burnt shoveling snow.  But guess what, I hate shoveling snow.

I sound like a grouch don't I?

Well, I am a grouch sometimes.  I don't always feel like getting up early and going to workout, or spin, or be positive.  Sometimes, a lot of times, I want to grouch and grump and feel sorry for myself.  I want to whine about missing the sunshine and remember good things like having a barbecue in February  or laying out by the pool in December.  I want to stick out my lip, stomp my feet, and feel sorry for myself.

And sometimes I do.

Then I talk myself out of it.  I look at myself in the mirror and say "Self, you have every reason not to.  You have every reason to give up, stop trying, and let yourself be comfortable.  Most people do just that.  You are not most people.  You are working on yourself.  You are a work in progress.  Get up, get out, leave your stinky whiny feeling sorry for yourself thoughts and move forward.  Don't let the old unhappy Jen win this.  Be strong, have faith in yourself, and lift something heavy."

You know what, usually it works.  Today, I did a hard hour in the gym.  It was just me, the weights, and a Glee soundtrack.  I worked back and biceps.  I lifted heavier then I did last week, and I liked the sweat running down the small of my back.  Maybe it was Rachel and Finn singing goofy upbeat love songs, maybe it was seeing those 2.5 pound plates on the barbell row.

Whatever it was.  It fed the strong confident part of me.  I'm closer to my goals now then I was a few hours ago.  I'm proud of me.

Take that snow!

Sunday Breakfast!

I love Sunday breakfast.  When I was a little girl Sunday breakfast was a big deal in my parents' house.  Some times my Mom would make French toast from left over bakery bread.  Other times it would be a big spread with bacon, "dippy" eggs, and toast with jam.  My Dad would always make a big pot of tea and we would all eat together.  My Dad would sometimes make the most amazing silver dollar pancakes with warm blueberry syrup.  He'd stand at the stove and make a million of those little guys and my sister and I would eat and eat and eat!  The table at my house was where a lot of good things happened.

As much as I love eating breakfast, I HATE making it.  I hate messing up my kitchen and having to spend time cleaning it when I can be relaxing with my pup!  Not to mention my husband likes to sleep in way later than I, so if I wait for breakfast I just get "hangry"  hungry+angry="Hangry" in our house.

Today though I have a plan.  I'm going to eat some oatmeal and then make a Sunday brunch.  I want to try to bring some of my family's traditions to my new family.  Sunday brunch will have to take the place of Sunday breakfast, but hopefully the most important part: spending time with the person(s) you love and laughing with them is the greatest reward!

I found a great recipe on Pinterest to try from Sweet Sugar Bean.  I loved her blog and am going to try this recipe today: Breakfast Tacos with Avocado Salsa.  I hope to try more of her recipes in the future! Please visit her blog to see what she's cooking up!

Photo from Sweet Sugar Bean's Blog... I could never make anything this beautiful, but hopefully it will be just as delicious!

Cheers,
Jen Cherry 

Fitness Magazine

Fitness Magazine is looking for stories about people who qualify as both overweight and/or obese and also identify as a "Fitness Buff"  When I saw the call for stories, I thought to myself, Self, you need to tell YOUR story.  Then I read the 24 or so comments.  

Some of the comments were very positive and people identified themselves as both a fitness buff and overweight.  What?  They thought they were just like me!  I was so happy reading those posts.  

Then I saw several responses that accused "Overweight and Fitness Buffs" of 'stuffing their face' or challenging that you can't be both overweight and healthy.  I immediately felt embarrassed that I even thought I might be a fitness buff.... then I got angry.  

I as a person am important.  I may not be 100% but I am a work in progress. So I wrote my entry and sent it off!

Here is what a wrote:

My name is Jen Cherry and am both a Fitness Buff and overweight.  I qualify as overweight really easily.  I am 5 ft 8, 178 pounds.  I have a BMI of 27.1, solidly in the overweight category   My body fat percentage is 29.9% (nearly obese) and I have 54 pounds of fat on my body.  I wear a size 10-12 in the United States, but here in Germany where I am stationed with my Active Duty Military husband, I often cannot fit in to clothing that is sold in regular stores.  I find myself needing to go to the the "grossedammen" shops, or the large woman's store.  This can, at times, be disheartening.

Qualifying as a Fitness Buff is pretty easy too!  I am a certified personal trainer and small group instructor.  I teach a 2 popular programs on our military base: A Serious Weight Loss Clinic for women with more than 30 pounds to lose and a high intensity Boot Camp.  I'm also the aerobics manager at our facility, teach indoor cycling, and am occasionally invited to  appear as a guest on our local radio station during "Fitness Power Hour."  I work out regularly 3-5 times per week and am lifting at this time trying to increase my muscle mass.  I have personal fitness goals to do an unassisted pull up and bench press my body weight!  I eat healthy and use MyFitnessPal to count calories and model healthy choices for my clients who can all view my log.

I have been called, "The Fat Trainer."  I have at times felt humiliated and ashamed that I do not look "the part."  I have cried, doubted myself and my vision.  I almost quit more than once.

I have overcome illness and injury, separation from my family, friends, lost careers, and all the stress that comes with Military life.  I am independent, have created a strong positive community and developed programs for my clients that not only work; they are healthy programs that have long term lifestyle changing success.  I'm proud of my life and my body on a daily basis.  Though I still struggle with insecurity.  I didn't always look the way I do now.  I have been varying degrees of overweight my entire adult life.

I have had many struggles with my body and my feelings towards my body.  After college I began my career as a Mental Health Counselor, a desk job and started gaining weight.  When I turned 30 my struggles became harder and harder.  I was lucky to adopt a dog.  He made it necessary for me to take a walk every day, before I knew it, we were jogging together.  He was an older dog though, and he couldn't run in the summer heat in Arizona.  So I joined a Boot Camp Class.  Suddenly working out was fun.  I had a smile on my face every day at an ungodly hour of the morning and it stayed there all day.  I had energy and motivation.  I will always be grateful for Boot Camp, the instructor, and the women who cheered for and challenged me.  Boot camp changed my life.  Up to that point I had joined and quit dozens of gyms, rented and bought hundreds of DVD programs, and used just about every quick fix miracle diet cure sold.

After 3 years of Boot Camp workouts I had lost over 40 pounds.  I had tried spinning, I had jogged with friends, and I had started to play tennis and hike on the weekends.  I was happy, confident, and proud of my body for the first time.  I decided to take a giant leap with the support of all my friends. I earned my Personal Trainer Certification!  Life threw me a curve ball, as sometimes happens, and I ended up moving to Germany with my husband.  Now I've started Cherry Wellness, a place I can bring both my training as a mental health counselor and personal trainer together to help people.  I want to help people take the big steps both physically and emotionally to live a strong healthy long life and enjoy it!

I hope Fitness Magazine get's thousands of entries from women like me.  I hope this can be a start to understanding that health and thin do not go hand in hand.  I hope other people are inspired, challenged, and uplifted by this project even if they do not choose my story.

Affirmation

Personal Affirmations are one of the most powerful ways we can take care of ourselves.  An affirmation is a tool I've used with many counseling and training clients.  To develop your own affirmation think about what it is you are trying to achieve then create a short statement that sums up those goals.

For instance, I am struggling with a knee injury.  I injured my knee for the first time when I was 17 years old.  It was a horrible accident and I had to have surgery and a LOT of physical therapy to gain full range of motion in that knee.  My father was only able to come to one physical therapy session.  He couldn't watch me go through so much pain.  I've dealt with the injury for the past 18 years of my life and haven't let it hold me back.  I've climbed to 16,000 feet in the Andes, I've hiked the Grand Canyon, and I've made being fit a part of my life.

Unfortunately on January 2nd I hyper-extended my knee.  It's been a few weeks and I have not healed.  I've rested my knee.  I haven't done any lower body workouts, I haven't run and I haven't been to spin class.  I'm starting to feel frustrated and angry.  

I'm going to create an affirmation to help me refocus that frustration and anger.  I want to be healed up, strong, able to squat my big wheels (180 pounds of plates)!  I want to run with my friends and my dog.  I want to go to spin class and sweat it out while imagining I'm cycling through the sunshine!  My affirmation is:

"I will heal.  I give myself permission to rest until my body is ready to train!"

What are your goals?  What is your affirmation?  Are you working on your resolutions?  Have you gotten off track?  It's ok; I promise.  Take a moment re-evaluate and create an affirmation to use every morning when you wake up, every time you get off track, and every night before you go to bed.  Keeping your affirmation goal specific will help to motivate you to get back on track, keep working hard and change your life.

I believe in you!

Jen

Candy and Kindness

Yesterday I need a break and went to the BX just to walk around.  I didn't really need anything (I still bought stuff of course!)  I just wanted some peace and quiet away from DH and my new puppy who's a joy, but into everything.  

I wandered around for a while and found a few things to buy.  When I arrived at the cashier the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were calling my name.  I tried to turn around, and there was a bag of Reese's Mini's hanging from the other impulse purchase rack!  I was totally ready to cave!

Just then the cashier was ready to ring up my purchase.  I was so relieved to walk forward and not look directly at the candy.  I said to her "Thank you, I was just about to buy some Reese's"  Do you know her response?  She said "You can be strong and resist."

"You can be strong and resist."  I laughed and thanked her.  I was so grateful for this unexpected kindness from a total stranger.  She absolutely helped me to reaffirm my choices to eat healthy and put good things in my body.  She reminded me I am stronger than candy, and I can resist impulse purchases.

Be kind to each other today!

Back and Biceps

Week one of the New Year is over, and I feel strong in my 12 week plan!  According to my Nike + Run app I've gone 20 miles so far!  (I think I've gone more, but I can't get the GPS to link under cloudy German skies so I just track heart rate!)

Today was back and biceps I did the same workout as last week but was able to go up in weight already!  Super proud!  Here's what I did!

Lat pull down 27.5 pounds 12 reps 1st set
Lat pull down 35 pounds 12 reps 2nd set
Lat pull down 42.5 pounds 12 reps 3rd set

One-Arm dumbbell rows:
35 pounds 12 reps 2 sets
35 pounds 8 reps last set (couldn't finish, but I'll get it next week)

Compound Row
110 pound plates 12 reps 3 sets.
(I had failure on the 10th rep of the last set and had to take a break to finish the last 2 reps)

Underhand Lat pull down:
85 pound plates 12 reps 3 sets
(I had failure on the 8th rep of the last set and had to take a break to finish the set, gotta GROW!)

Alternating Dumbbell Curl
15 pound weights 12 reps 3 sets
(I had failure on the 8th rep of the last set and had to take a break to finish the set, BUT; I moved up from the 10 pound weights I used last week.)

Standing Bicep Cable Curl:
22.5 pound plates 8 reps 3 sets

Seated Preacher Curls:
10 pounds 12 reps 3 sets
(This was much easier than last week and next week I'll go up to 15's for the first and second set, I wish the gym had 12's!!!)

I rested for at least 60 seconds in between each set and felt strong at the end!

Tomorrow shoulders and abs!

Enjoy Your Journey Challenge!

While looking through the January inspiration ideas this morning I came across one that totally inspired me.  So here it is!

January Enjoy Your Journey Challenge!

How to play:

• Post a picture of yourself “enjoying your journey” of wellness on my Facebook page Cherry Wellness
• Your picture should show your journey & hopefully getting out of your comfort zone, or doing something non-traditional.  For example take a picture of you enjoying fitness at work!
• The more creative & inspired the better!
• The challenge will last through January & a winner will be announced Jan 31st!
• Share my page with your friends & tag yourself in photos!

This picture is of me while at cooking school in Italy!  Our tour group went to some medieval ruins.  I think I surprised all of my classmates by turning cartwheels, planking, and doing handstands!  I was just so HAPPY I needed to express it physically!

Building

Wow 2012 is over and 2013 came in with a bang!  Literally, a bang.  Here in Germany fireworks at midnight are standard and we could see at least 3 villages' fireworks from our house!  Not to mention all of our neighbors!

I'm excited to build my muscles!  I'm starting a 12 week build program.  It's my own design but it's heavily influenced by Jamie Eason, Oxygen Magazine, and standard protocols.  I'm playing with the traditional protocols and using Jamie Eason's and Oxygen Magazine information to tailor the program to my needs and desires.

Here's chest and triceps and day One!!

knee modified push ups
12 reps 3 sets

dumbbell bench press 30#
12 reps 2 sets 10 reps 3rd set

dumbbell chest fly 15#
12 reps 3 sets

diamond knee modified push ups
12 reps 1 set

overhead tricep extensions 15#
12 reps one set
10# 12 reps one set
10 reps final set

cable tricep pulldowns 22.5#
12 reps 3 sets

Next week I'll go up on the dumbbell bench press and tricep pulldowns.  I'll also have to do some push-ups on my toes instead of my knees.  It's always interesting to see where you start and what you can do!