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No, don’t worry I didn’t move from the DC area where I was born and raised. But just in case you didn’t get the point from above, I have moved from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. My blog domain has changed from sweatdaily.wordpress.com to sweat1xdaily.com.
Why did I make the move? Several other bloggers have told me that wordpress.org is very rewarding, and less limiting then wordpress.com. So after months of contemplating, I finally decided to make the switch. So, now I am the proud ultimate owner of this blog, sweat1xdaily.com.
How do I follow this blog? A lot of people over the last week has asked how they can follow this blog. Well if you are interested in getting notified that new posts have been published or this blog has been updated, please subscribe. You can find a subscribe form, by pressing the menu button on the left hand side. Fill it out the form and posts will end up in your email inbox.
Have you heard of Bloglovin’? I am also now on bloglovin’. If you are a blogger and not on bloglovin then you are missing out. Go get on there NOW! If you are a person who doesn’t have a blog, but loves reading blog you need bloglovin’ in your life. This site is a place you can easily follow all of your favorite blogs in a organized fashion. It is also a great place to find new blogs. I love it. To follow me on bloglovin’ you can press the follow me on bloglovin’ button in the menu section of my blog. Or head over to bloglovin’ and search for my blog, it will come up and you can add it to your bloglovin’ reader.
Well anyway, I am really excited about the new changes for this blog! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!
© 2014 sweat1xdaily.com
Fall has arrived. It is my absolute favorite season.
The air is crisp and it’s time to get cozy.
The things I am most excited about are…
I love the touch of soft warm colorful hand-dyed yarns that are later handmade into chunky knits. (I’m a knitter.)
I love the feeling of a hot and steamy Bikram yoga classes.
I love running, running, and more running. I love seeing the trees which are colorful along the running trail, then hearing the leaves crunching under my running shoes at each stride.
I love tasting… Spicy soups, smoky chili, butternut squash, pumpkin everything.
First pumpkin beer… 2 years ago at October Fest!
I love the smell of… Gingerbread, cinnamon, pumpkin spice…
I love hot tea, chai tea, hot cocoa with coconut milk.
Those are a few of my favorite things… What are yours?
© 2014 sweat1xdaily
Last weekend, I went to DC VegFest. It was totally cool hanging out with all of those vegans and vegetarians. The Veg community is a very friendly group, and most wanted to know my story. I was asked by a couple different people, “What brought you to VegFest today? Are you vegan?”
My answer to that questions is…
No. I don’t feel it comfortable or necessary to label myself as anything. I don’t want to follow rigid rules of any kind, when it comes to food – I am too much of a foodie to be so restrictive and disciplined. I simply want to eat a healthy well balanced diet – full of color, flavor, and texture. And although, I eat and cook mostly organic plant based, I am opened minded, adventurous, and willing to explore all different types of food lifestyles.
I recently found my new favorite blog called, My New Roots. When reading Sarah’s (the owner of the blog) About page, I thought to myself, ” Wow! She nailed it. This is exactly how I feel.”
Sarah says, “The only label I’ll slap on myself is “whole-food-lover.” Nothing makes me feel better, think better, and look better than whole foods! And the big bonus? I never count calories or worry about my weight because I know that if I eat this way, my body will be in a perfect state of balance and health, naturally.”
I agree with her 100%. Although, my diet is mainly plant based, consisting of veggies, fruit, grains, beans, quinoa, nuts and seeds, I still can not label myself as vegetarian or vegan. There has been weeks in which I have gone meatless, but there are days you can find me eating a greek yogurt. I absolutely love eggs and eat them a couple times a week. I also can’t live without fish. My favorite thing about summer time is eating a Maryland crab feast or a Lobster bake on Martha’s Vineyard.
If you are vegetarian or vegan, your main priority is eliminating all animal products. But the most important thing to me is that everything I eat is organic and whole. It is a very rare day, if you find me eating something that is not organic. I avoid GMOs and processed foods. I try to buy everything from local farms, and eat seasonally. If I am eating eggs, they are from cage free hens eating an organic feed. When I eat fish, I only eat wild caught. And on the rare occasion that I eat dairy or any other animal product, it must be treated as humanely as possible, free of antibiotics and hormones.
There are times in which I love labels, and there are times in which I hate them. There are some labels that are simple, while others are more complicated. The times in which I love them is when they are simple and define ones identity. The times in which I hate them are when they are complicated and become stereotypes. I can label myself as a marathon runner, simply because I run marathons. But, I can not label myself as vegan or vegetarian, although I often cook and eat that way.
I bought this pendant from a vendor at VegFest…
It says, Plant Strong.
So if I must come up with a label, Plant Strong is a pretty awesome one. I also love the label that Sarah from My New Roots came up with – Whole Food Lover. Add organic to it and slap it on me.
What’s your label?
© 2014 sweat1xdaily
This photo got a ton of attention when I posted it to Facebook and Instagram last night. People requested the recipe and wanted to know all the details from what kind of seasoning I use to if they get crunchy.
Why I decided to make these…
On Saturday, when I was at DC VegFest, they handed out free samples of this snack. They tasted delicious, and the minute I saw them, I knew I have seen them before. In my favorite cookbook, Super Natural Everyday, Heidi Swanson has a recipe for these. So instead of buying a bag at VegFest, I decided to make them myself.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas. (Drain and dry them the best you can.)
- 2 tablespoons evoo
- 1.5 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 1.5 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1.5 teaspoons hot paprika (I didn’t have hot paprika on hand, so I used red pepper flakes as a substitute. When using red pepper flakes I only used 0.5 teaspoon.)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary. (I used dried)
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme. (I used dried)
- Lemon zest of 1 lemon
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425 F
- Pour the chickpeas on a baking sheets, and bake for 20 minutes.
- Check the chickpeas at 10 minutes shaking the baking sheet, making sure they aren’t stuck to the sheet. Continue baking for the rest of the time.
- Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine evoo, salt, lemon zest, rosemary, thyme, paprikas, and red pepper flakes if using.
- Once chickpeas have baked for 20 minutes, take them out of the oven and put them in the bowl with the other ingredients. Mix together.
- Place paprika covered chickpeas on baking sheet and put in the oven, baking for an additional 5-10 minutes. (The longer you leave them in the oven, the crunchier they get. Just make sure they don’t burn.)
- Let cool for a couple minutes and serve warm.
- Enjoy!
*** All of the ingredients I used are organic, and non GMO. ***
Why I love these…
I absolutely love these chickpeas. They are a wonderful alternative to potato chips, kale chips, or popcorn. They are a low in sugar, high in protein snack. You can eat them by themselves, or add them to salad, soups, or even on top of grains. And although, I flavored them with paprika, you can really chose any type of seasoning or flavors you are craving. A friend of mine, commented on facebook that she made hers with garlic and grated parm. So try away, get creative!
Have you tried roasted chickpeas before? What is your favorite seasoning? How do you flavor you roasted chickpeas?
© 2014 sweat1xdaily
Today was a fun and fulfilling Saturday.
The sun was shining and there wasn’t a drop of humidity in the air. It was the perfect day for a quick five mile loop around the monuments. 
I wore my new running shoes, Newton Gravity. I also wore my new running watch, Garmin 620. It was my absolute first time wearing the watch and I loved it. However, I will be writing a detailed review on the Garmin 620 later this week so stay tuned.
Then it was off to DC VegFest…
The DC VegFest was located in South East DC at the Yards Park right along the river. Growing up in the DC area, South East was a part of the city you always tried to avoid, it was poor and dangerous. But now, it tells a different story. The famous Eastern Market is located in South East, and eastern market is one of my favorite markets in the area. There are also some really cool bars and restaurants on the neighboring streets.
But today, the VegFest took me to another area in South East. I would have never thought to go down to the waterfront. Wow! Things are changing everyday. Check out how cool the South East waterfront is…
After walking around the waterfront my friend and I headed over to DC VegFest. 
At the DC VegFest, there were some fabulous vendors, delicious plant based food, free samples, and amazing guest speakers.
SPEAKERS
I didn’t get to see all of the speakers, but I saw a couple. They discussed the health benefits of living a vegan lifestyle. They also touched on politics, and environmental reasons for becoming vegan. They touched on animal cruelty, and some told their personal stories of why they went veg. The last speaker of the event was actually on the October cover of Runner’s World, wearing vegan compression socks.
VENDORS
There were some awesome vendors at the festival, but this soap vendor was by far my favorite. I have been using this sugar based shower gel from Blue Mercury which has been irritating my skin. Sugar is bad for you in every way. So when I saw this vendor, I thought perfect just what I needed. Buying soap here, saved me a trip to Sephora or Blue Mercury. All of the soap is free of animal products and both of the bars of soap I purchased have coconut oil in them. Coconut oil is my new obsession… (I will be writing a detailed post on the health benefits later this week so stay tuned.) The only negative thing I saw is that some of the soaps contain palm oil. Palm oil is in everything, and although it is not an animal product, it is not very vegan. Palm Tree farms in South East Asia, are taking away food and habitats from Elephant, Tigers, and many other animals. Anyway, I went home with two soaps a coconut one and and oatmeal one. The coconut soap is free of palm oil, but the oatmeal one may have some small amounts. Unfortunately, palm oil is hard to avoid.
FOOD
Going Veg is all about eating your veggies. If you go to DC VegFest next year, make sure you come with an appetite. There were tons of amazing food vendors and food trucks. A lot of the vendors only took cash, so make sure you bring cash. However, there are ATMs for those who forget. The food ranged from pizza to Indian, Ethiopian to mexican. There were sweets, and southern cooking, even greek.
Overall, I enjoyed DC VegFest!
I highly recommend VegFest for anyone who is already living a plant based lifestyle, and for those who are just interested to see what it is all about. At DC VegFest I learned a little more about animal cruelty, politics, and the environment. I also got the chance to eat some awesome plant based food, while learning how I can help create a better food system for the USA. And in my eyes, at the end of the day that is the most important thing. You are what you eat.
“That’s when I heard part of the secret. What we eat is a matter of life and death. Food is who we are.” ~ Scott Jurek
Stay tuned for some upcoming posts…
- Review on Garmin 620
- Coconut oil health benefits.
© 2014 sweat1xdaily
When you are not running on the trail or lifting in the weight room, even fit girls need their hair to look good.
And because I am both a fit girl and hair stylist today I am going to reveal to you the latest fall hair trend.
When a new season approaches every client who sits in my chair asks, “What’s trendy? What’s new?”
This season everyone is getting their hair chopped. The long locks that were once “ombré” or beautifully sun-kissed are now dry and parched – they’ve gotta go.
Celebrities such as Emma Stone …
and… Kaley Cuoco have taken the plunge.
(Kaley, however has gone shorter since… But her textured bob Is my favorite on her.)
It seems like every client is asking for this look.
So I got a fresh new look too…
For a while now I have been growing my hair. I also have been some sort of red.
Summer is over and Fall is beginning. So I decided it was time for a change.
Goodbye long hair.
Goodbye red ginger.
Hello short blonde hair…
Hair color: Wella
Hair product: Sebastian Texture Maker
What do you think of my new hair? Do you like this new trend?
The newest addition to the Apple family will be the Apple Watch, which will be released early 2015.
They have a couple different models, including a Sports model!
When Apple first announced they were releasing a watch, I thought the idea was stupid. But now that there is a sports addition I am very curious.
It looks really cool, but will it function as good as some of the leading brands?
Some of the Features…
- Band is durable and strong. Yet surprisingly light and soft.
- Sport models are as light as possible.
- Made with strong scratch resistant alumina-silicate glass.
- There are a variety of apps that will do things such as monitor your activity through out the day.
- Heart rate sensor.
- There are reminder features to tell you when your next workout is.
- Data sharing.
- It is unclear whether the GPS feature to track runs will be used from the iPhone. In this case runners will need to run with your iPhone.
The watch will retail $349.
Being a serious runner, my watch has become my running buddy. I am
pretty loyal to Garmin.
Above are the facts, but it will be interesting to hear reviews once the watch comes out.
Will the Apple Watch replace your Garmin? Which running watch is your favorite?
References:
© 2014 sweat1xdaily
The weather is always weird and unpredictable around here. It has been a beautiful mild, quite cool summer. And right when summer is about to end… It shows up!
Friday and Saturday were our hottest days – so hot it was almost unbearable.
And unfortunately, this summer I never made it to the beach.
The other day… I was reading blogs.
I came across one of my favorites thedancingrunner. Chelsea, owner of the blog – thedancingrunner, posted a running quiz.
Because the quiz made me laugh, and was really fun to take, I decided to share it with you. Aren’t you curious how much does running rule your life?
Take the quiz here… and find out…
My score was a 40/50…
let me know what your score is.
Oh… and I have been squatting everyday of the month of September. This is Day 4 of Sweat a Day!
Comment below with your quiz scores… and tell me which part of the quiz was your favorite. Also who’s squatting this month? What’s your favorite squat?
© 2014 sweat1xdaiy