vegan pork. impossible? we think not.

Before I get too ahead of myself, let me introduce you to my new favourite thing (aside from coconut oil, that is) – jackfruit. This mother of a fruit (seriously, it’s the largest tree-borne fruit known to mankind) should get an academy award for its star performance as pork in this sandwich. Not only does it, when properly prepared, take on the appearance of meat but its heartiness and mild flavour also really helps it own the part. The fruit is rich in dietary fibers and potassium and is packed with vitamins and nutrients making it an awesome, natural, vegan alternative to meat.

your shopping list:

pulled jackfruit sandwich

You can find the recipe I used on the blog, Clean Green Simple.
She offers a ton of insight into the recipe and some awesome photographs so you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. I highly recommend checking it out!

the good, the bad, the ugly (mostly good though)

• yum, yum, yum. Did I already mention I'm a fan?  – I’ll be making this again and again and again
• once you have all the ingredients it’s very quick and easy to make #winning
• jackfruit can be a bit tricky to find – your best bet for scoring the stuff  is at an Asian grocery store
• this recipe calls for 100% jackfruit in brine (can) – which is what I used. Rumor around the office is that fresh jackfruit can be quite stinky so experiment at your own risk!

Whip it up, you won’t regret it and let us know if you love it too!

By the end of the day I either feel wonderful, or terrible and still hungry because I've been pulling in the carbs by the handful to fuel my day. It always starts with my morning too. If I pack my breakfast with protein, I am set up for success. If I start my day off with a cappuccino, we're in trouble.

Whitney's Breakfast Delight

Thanks to some of your recipes, and ideas, I have been combining non-fat, nothing added, organic yogurt with organic strawberries, and a handful of walnuts for breakfast. I'm not a huge fan of plain yogurt as it's a bit sour, so I've been mixing in just a touch of manuka honey, which makes my joints feel wonderful all day. If you want a light, delicious meal, with a side of protein to start your day, try Whitney's Breakfast Delight (recipe at the bottom).

My training diary keeps me on track, and crossing off every day's workout makes the day complete!

Aside from my hunger, I have to admit, truly devoting myself to training this time around has made all the difference. Although running never, ever, feels easy to me, it feels better almost weekly. I never wake up on Sunday mornings jump out of bed and yell, "Yeah long run day, it's go time!!" Nope more like, alarm, snooze button, alarm, snooze button, alarm, growl, take the dog out, and psyche myself up for the run. I'm only up to 5 miles on the long days, not a mile more or less, and I'll happily get to 6 next week.

Adding a mile weekly is a managable pace for me. If I increased my mileage too quickly, I'd hate the training and give up. So if you're a beginning runner thinking of training for a race, take it from me, slow and steady baby. If you hate running, you'll hate it more by forcing miles into your day, so find the joy and hit the pavement!

This week’s training mileage total: 15 miles
Longest run: 5 miles with a pace of 9:30 (ahead of my pace!)
Cross training: 1 yoga class and 2 bootcamps
Wore on my long run: Run:Race Tech (throwback lululemon) and Wunder Under Crops

Whitney's Breakfast Delight:
1/2 cup of nonfat plain yogurt (no additives, no sugars, no syrups)
1/2 cup strawberries (organic, always try for organic berries, as they can tend to absorb more toxins from pesticides than other fruits)
Handful of walnuts
1/2 tsp of honey (I love manuka for it's healing properties, but any ol' honey will do, unless you like sour things)
*Throw it all in a bowl, mix it up and enjoy. Cup of green tea and you've got yourself a mean, lean, health machine of a breakfast.

Feeling like something naughty, that's actually not naughty at all?

Ciara's Magic Cacao Protein Balls:
1 1/2 cup Walnuts
Dash of Salt (sea salt is best)
8 pitted Medjool Dates
1/3 cup Cacao or unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Water

Place walnuts and salt in a Food Processor and process until finely ground. Add the dates, cocoa powder, and vanilla and process until the mixture sticks together. Add water and process briefly. Scoop out, and form into mini balls and store in tupperware container for a quick protein treat throughout your day. Watch Ciara's video to see how easy these bad boys are!

Have a delectable week everyone!

P.S. Anyone follow any good healthy food blogs that could help my training (preferably vegetarian)?

I love food, I hate to run, and yet I run to eat.

I am purely motivated by the extra allotted calories I can intake if I put myself through a tough workout. The motivation for my first half marathon was the vegetarian quinoa burger, French fries and chocolate shake at Burger Lounge I knew was waiting for me post-race. I was enraged when the race was over and I was so tired, cranky, and overall blistery that consuming the glorious meal took way more energy than I had left in my body.

I am a pretty healthy vegetarian who is not afraid of chocolate and thus not exactly gracing the cover of Shape magazine anytime soon. For some people, working out is second nature. To me it's a chore and never easy. So believe me: finishing a half marathon was a BIG deal.

It has been a couple months since my first half marathon and I am "training" for another one coming up in 3 weeks. Unfortunately, my legs recently entered into depression and I have found every excuse in the book not to run in the last couple months. I should be running right now, but here I am typing away and wondering if they make some sort of Prozac or depression medicine for your legs. Instead, I go to the best form of therapy I know: hot yoga.

One of my favorite instructors was gently taking to us in savasana yesterday about how sometimes your body shuts down and will not allow your mind to control it the way it wants to. Sometimes your body needs a break and if your mind won't listen, your body will find it's own way of slowing down. I nearly started crying. Just hours before I had tried running 3 miles and ended up walking 2 of them and was left feeling lazy and deflated. I do not claim to be an elite runner by any means, but I do know that you have to get off your butt to actually kick it.

I make a lot of discoveries in savasana as just then I realized that I was really fortunate to be a running yogi, and that is okay to slow down every now and then. Going to a hot vinyasa flow yoga class after a 9 mile run feels like a reward rather than a workout, and it is a practice I think a lot of runners would benefit from. Sure, running competes with your flexibility and ability to get into certain poses, but take your ego out of it and discover the heavenly place that is child's pose. If it weren’t for yoga keeping my legs flexible and loose during my half marathon training, I really do not know how a below average runner like myself would have survived. Go on and run that half marathon, and then take a deep breath and relax in child's pose for a little while. You earned it. (By the way - a chocolate shake has no calories after a half marathon).

Namaste.