21 Day Challenge + Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Roll Call!

Last Friday was Rally Night at the Studio for our 21 Day Challenge, and today marks Day 2. 21 days of clean, make that spotless diet, group workouts, and the motivation, accountability and power that only a team can bring.

I love working in a group fitness environment-- every day I train with people who are committed to their goals and who are putting in the hard work to reach them. At the Studio, our motto is stronger together, this funny thing happens when you get a group of people together, we find ourselves working harder and pushing ourselves harder than we ever would alone. We move together, we finish our workouts as a team, and we encourage the hell out of each other, and we call each other out when we should probably add a little extra weight to that bar. It's a beautiful thing.

The challenge consists of 21 people for 21 days, like I said, the diet is not only clean, also restricted to low GI foods, low sugar foods, low sodium, avoiding legumes, starchy vegetables such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, fruit, dairy, and soy products.

21 Day Challenge Guidelines

• 5-6 small meals a day, consisting of a serving of protein, non-starchy vegetables, and a small amount of polyunsaturated and/or monounsaturated fat
• max hydration; your body weight in kg x 0.033 = liters of water per day
• 21 daily team workouts

 In the past few weeks I've been cleaning up my own diet, for me this still includes quality whole milk dairy yogurt, soaked whole grains and legumes, fruits, etc. My personal goals with food are a little different than those of the challenge. I know that I thrive on a predominantly vegetarian diet. Where I struggle is eating too much of this fabulous food! 

In cleaning up my diet, I've been revisiting eating meat. While I was working in Spain at Azul Fit, I was thriving on a vegan diet, and felt fantastic. I also feel fantastic when I eat yogurt, and feel the benefits of a chicken breast now and again. I know this about myself, that I tolerate these foods well in moderation, and want to continue to feed myself with a variety of foods to create a balanced diet.

In the next few weeks, you can expect some particularly 'clean recipes', thanks to The Challenge ;)

Last week, I made these lettuce wraps, a recipe that I adapted years ago out of Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook. Tosca's recipes were such a guiding light for me when I was losing weight five years ago. I was down about 40 lbs when I found Tosca Reno's clean eating advice. It made sense to eat whole, unprocessed foods, and small meals throughout the day to stabilize blood sugar, so I jumped on board. 

Within three months, I had dropped the last 30 lbs that I wanted to, and was feeling on top of the world. My eating principles have transformed over the years to a more overall balanced way of eating. 

I love ice cream from Snow Goose Produce, a local produce stand, so I'll get a cone in the summer. I also love goat's cheese on my omelette in the morning, so I buy a high quality cheese and I savour every bite of it. While my diet consists predominantly of whole foods, I also see the importance in finding balance and enjoying your life wholeheartedly. My goal with food in The Challenge is to clean things up and establish a strong training routine, to give my body everything that it needs to build endurance, strength, and power.

These lettuce wraps are an awesome start.

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps (6 servings)

carrot, scallion, basil, roasted sesame oil, tamari

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 lbs organic lean ground turkey
• 1 bunch scallions, trimmed to the light green part
• 1 large carrot, peeled and grated + more for garnish
• 1 tomato, finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• handful fresh basil, finely chopped
• pinch of thyme
• 1/2 tsp fine ground sea salt
• 1 Tbsp roasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp tamari
• 12 iceberg lettuce leaves

Method 

Heat olive oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey, scallions, and cook until meat is no longer pink.

Add carrot, tomato, pepper, herbs and salt. Cook until scallions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add sesame oil and tamari, mix well to combine flavors.

Use a large spoon to divide filling into lettuce leaves.

note: This mix keeps great in the fridge for a few days, if you're planning to eat them as leftovers, keep the filling and lettuce leaves separate, and in just before eating.

*For any Challenge participants reading this, combine this, because the meat is cooked in olive oil and finished with a drizzle of sesame oil, this would include your protein and thumb of fat. Combine this with another fistful of non-starchy vegetables. served them here with steamed green beans and it was fabulous!

Keep it clean, keep training mean, Challengers!