Manic Monday

Hello again!  I can’t believe it’s Monday already…the weekend flew by much too quickly!  It’s especially hard to get up on a Monday (or any day) when you have this guy willing and ready to snuggle!  He always tries to hold me hostage with his cuteness, which sometimes leaves me racing against traffic to make it to work on time.  Just look at the sleepy eyes!

Today’s breakfast was a banana and peanut butter smoothie.

Banana smoothie recipe (Compliments of Shannon):

• 1/2 a large banana
• 1 tbs. crunchy natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

Mondays and Tuesdays are my long days, so I’m usually on the go most of the day.  I have to pack my snacks the night before, because like I said before, showering LeRoy with attention usually takes priority in the morning.  Plus, if I don’t bring a snack, I’m vulnerable to Rob’s strawberry poptarts. (one of my many kryptonites!)  For a snack I had some almonds, strawberries, and raspberries.

I really like Blue Diamond’s low sodium, lightly salted almonds.  (Kind of an oxymoron, right?)  There’s only 40 mg of salt per serving though, so I don’t feel too bad!  For lunch I had a chickpea salad again.  I literally had only 10 minutes to eat, so I had to wolf it down as quickly as I could.

Today’s workout was another pyramid workout.  I really like timed workouts because I have more of an incentive to push myself…I know there’s an end in sight, I just have to make it there.  Plus, after a long day it’s nice to get in a quick workout and still get home at a reasonable time.  I’m still a little sore from Saturday’s “Filthy Fifty,” which quickly became apparent on my way back down the pyramid during round one.  I had to do a lot of “girl” push ups and nearly smacked myself in the face with the med ball while doing wall balls.  Note to self…don’t wear bright yellow when working with a med ball, those things are filthy!

I managed to make it through the pyramid twice in 30 minutes…which probably wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have such a great workout buddy! (Karl! 🙂 )  My shoulders and arms are toast, though…especially after swimming yesterday.

When I got home I had an edamame, corn, and feta salad.  I get a half a pound or so every time I go to Sprout’s and snack on it until it’s gone…which always makes me wish I had gotten more and makes me look forward to my next trip to Sprout’s.  It’s super good…I might try to recreate it but I doubt it would come out as tasty.

This Thursday some friends and I are having a “healthy” potluck.  I’m in charge of the salad.  I LOVE salads, but I usually have salads as the main course, not an appetizer.  Any ideas on what kind of salads I can bring for an appetizer?  Remember, we’re trying to have a “healthy” potluck. 🙂

Filthy fifty, tomatillo chicken tacos, and a date with the foam roll

This weekend couldn’t have come soon enough!  LeRoy and I took a trip to a nearby park early this morning.  There’s something about the sand that makes him go wild…he sprints laps around the jungle gym, barks, and digs for rocks.  It’s so fun to watch and is a definite way to tire him out.

Today’s workout was rough, especially after Thursday’s workout.  Karleen and I attempted the “Filthy Fifty.”

We made some slight modifications.  For instance, we didn’t time ourselves; our main goal was to complete the workout.  Also, we did assisted pull ups rather than jumping pull ups.  The burpees were definitely the hardest part of the workout, especially since we saved them for last.

Here’s what my food look like so far for today…

# 1: Egg whites, spinach, cheese, and avocado in a wheat tortilla. # 2: Juice blend with a dried fruit and nut mix.      # 3: Chicken with grape tomatoes, cucumber, pita bread, and hummus.

So I’ve been slacking and have yet to post the recipe for tomatillo chicken tacos.  Well, here it is!  This started out as a crock pot recipe, but I’ve been using the oven and found it’s much more convenient and time efficient.  This chicken recipe is very versatile.  You can use it for tacos, stuffed bell peppers, or top a bed of rice with it.

Ingredients (chicken only):

•  Two chicken breasts
• Tomatillo sauce (green salsa)
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
• 1/2 a yellow onion (chopped)
• 1/2 a jalapeno (seeded and chopped)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix onion, garlic, jalapeno, and 16 ounces of tomatillo sauce together.
3. Place chicken in an oven-safe pan.
4. Pour tomatillo mixture over chicken.  Make sure tomatillo mixture falls on top and under the chicken.
5. Cover pan with aluminum foil and place in oven.  Cook for 20 minutes.
6. Check if chicken is cooked through.  Depending on the thickness of the breasts, it may take more time.  Continue to cook in increments of 5 minutes until chicken is thoroughly done.
7. Turn off oven.
8. Shred chicken with a fork.  Once chicken is shredded, place chicken back in oven for 5 minutes.  (This allows the shredded chicken to marinate.)

As mentioned above, there are several options as to how to serve the chicken.  We used it for chicken tacos.  I topped the chicken with pepper jack cheese, cilantro, sautéed green bell peppers, lite sour cream, and avocado.

As for tonight, I have a dreaded date with this guy… 🙂

Mr. Foam Roll

Early morning workout

Good morning and happy Monday!  I was finally able to get up early enough to get a workout in before heading off to work.  What a great start to the week!  Recently I have been seeing a lot of “Pyramid” workouts on pinterest and other blogs, so I thought I would give one a try!  I just incorporated some of my favorite exercises and made my own version!

• 10 Manmakers
• 15 Box Jumps
• 20 Kettle bell swings
• 25 Supermans
• 30 Push ups
• 35 Air squats (as fast as you can)
• 40 Full sit ups
• 40 Bicycles
• 35 Air squats (as fast as you can)
• 30 Push ups
• 25 Supermans
• 20 Kettle bell swings
• 15 Box jumps
• 10 Manmakers

Try to complete pyramid as many times as possible in 30 minutes!  Take rests as needed.

After my workout I made a breakfast burrito.  I adapted the Breakfast Burrito recipe from Women’s Health magazine.  I added avocado instead of salsa, an egg and egg white rather than two egg whites, and pepper jack cheese instead of fat free cheese.

It’s time for a leg workout!

Hello again! So I didn’t get in my originally planned early morning workout, but who cares?  I had a great workout after work!  Below is my workout:

• 20 minute run on treadmill-I like to see how far I can get in 20 minutes so I have a distance to beat next time.  Today I ran 2.57 miles in 20 minutes.

• 18 squats (65 lbs)
• 15 deadlifts (45 lbs)
• 10 squat jumps

• 15 squats (75 lbs)
• 15 deadlifts (45 lbs)
• 10 squat jumps

• 12 squats (85 lbs)
• 15 deadlifts (45 lbs)
• 10 squat jumps

• 10 squats (95 lbs)
• 15 deadlifts (45 lbs)
• 10 squat jumps

• 20 wall balls w/ 10 lb. medicine ball (squat with a med. ball throw)
• 20 single-arm kettle bell swings w/ 15 lbs. (10 swings/arm)
• 10 burpees with a bosu ball

4x

Note: I increased my squat weight 10 lbs. each rep.  These are weights with which I am comfortable.  Should you try this workout, you should use weights with which you are comfortable.

After my workout I was famished!  I had wheat toast with natural peanut butter and unsweetened, shredded coconut with some fresh fruit.

Since I had an earlier day today, Rob, LeRoy, and I went to the park and played around on the jungle gym where I practiced my pull ups.  I could only do two!  I obviously have a lot of work to do in order to reach my goal of 10 pull ups!

LeRoy begging for food in the kitchen after our trip to the park.

Tonight we had leftover pasta from last night.  I’m going to upload the recipe for the pasta tonight so check it out! 🙂