Had a terrific workout yesterday, which soaked me all the way through and made me feel energized all day. It’s called Sucker for Sweat Workout and for good reason! I had to do 6 rounds of 6 of the following exercises Tabata style, meaning I had 20 seconds of maximum effort and 10 seconds of rest for each exercise, so each one took me 3 minutes. The good news is that it took 18 minutes for the whole thing, but it was very intense and very hard. This is how I did:

Snowboarder
14-8-8-6-6-8
Hanging Knee Knee Raises
6-6-4-5-4-5
One Leg Elevated Raises
9-9-10-9-9-8
Skipping
47-44-38-40-45-40
Modified Pushups
(Subbed for Elevated Pushups)
6-6-5-4-3-3
Toe Touches
(Subbed for Side Plank Lifts)
12-12-12-6-15-13

This was really intense and I enjoyed my day off today to give my body a break. Tomorrow, I’m back to intense training for another 2 days of intense workouts.

Y.

Whew! It’s been a while. My life has been pretty crazy and full of unexpected and planned events since the end of last year, which put my health and fitness on the back burner. This should NEVER happen and I’m committed to doing my best to always put my well being first. How else can we throw ourselves into the unexpected and persevere, if our bodies, minds, and souls are not fit?

Instead of dwelling on what I didn’t do, I’ll get right to the point. Today I finished my first full week of exercising and eating reasonably well. In fact, I accepted Zuzana’s from BodyRock.TV 30 Day Challenge, where we are not allowed to eat sugar. We are still allowed to get sweets the natural way, like fruit, just no added sugar. At first, I wasn’t interested, since I didn’t think I ate that many sweets, but then I realized that I put sugar in my coffee, in my oatmeal, I’ve been having chocolate a little too often and thought “Hey, let’s see if I can do this.” Well, I’m happy to report it’s been 7 days and I’ve been drinking my coffee without sugar! I think I’m getting used to it and I like it. Sugar is the only thing that our bodies never need, since it turns carbs into sugar for energy and as we all know, sugar contributes to weight gain.

I am also taking a Health class and learning more and more about nutrition. Additionally, I acquired this really fun fitness helper, called FitBit that I can’t wait to talk about. I am looking forward to sharing all this with you and will do my best to keep my promise to myself to continue writing my blog as I resume my journey through health and fitness.

Fitness

I decided to follow Zuzana’s schedule, which is: 2 days of work, followed by 1 day of rest. This amounts to 5 days of intense workouts and plenty of time to rest and recover. I did my workouts in the morning on an empty stomach (but had breakfast right after) and felt really good during the day. Monday and Tuesday were brutal… It was my first time after a 2 month absence and I couldn’t even get through the full routine. I was dizzy and nauseous, so it was pretty bad.

Thursday I did one of her older routines, which I can’t find. It was a time challenge and in 15 minutes I had to do as many rounds of: 20 Prisoner Squats and 5 Push ups as possible, but I was only able to do 6 and half.

Friday, I did the Booty Lift Workout , which was super tough. and I completed mine in 26 minutes and 20 seconds.

I was really sore and looked very forward to Saturday as Active Rest Day, even though it wasn’t so active. I was so exhausted that I slept a lot and lounged around with Lenny. Then went to see Shutter Island, which was great!

Today, I did the Round Booty Workout, which made me want to give up at least 10 times. It was really intense and took me 33 minutes and 10 seconds to complete. Just to put in perspective, it took Zuzana about 18 minutes. I’ve got long ways to go! I’m hoping to do the routines from this week in a month or two, to see if my stamina improves. I certainly anticipate that. Overall, it felt great to start working out again, I could feel my body itching for an ass whoopin and I’m really trying to stay on target with my goals.

Diet

My diet has certainly slipped in those two months, but I’m coming back. For a time, I stopped bringing food to work, but I’ve changed that in the last few weeks. As before, I stock myself with food at work so I don’t eat out. I have Hard Boiled Eggs (free range), Oatmeal, Natural Peanut Butter, Canned Beans, Raw Vegetables (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Avocado, Red Onion), Fruit (Bananas, Blueberries, Honey Dew, Grapes), WW Pita, Grape Seed Oil (my new favorite), and Balsamic Vinegar. If I cook good stuff (tonight I made Turkey Meat Balls, WW Cous-Cous, sauteed Mushrooms and Onions, and Sauteed Kale with Red Onions in Balsamic Vinegar), I’ll bring a serving or two to work.

I’ve been unexpectedly MIA from my blog and I miss it! I found myself being extremely busy at work and even bringing it home. The holiday season is also proving to be hard at keeping fit and clean. On top of that, it’s been unseasonably cold here in San Francisco, so I’ve gotten sick – it’s pretty much circulating at work. In short, I have not been following Zuzana’s workout plan and my normal diet as diligently, but when I feel good, I get a few exercises a week, but really, it’s just not enough to blog home about. (Heheh) I’m not trying to come up with excuses, but such is life. Good news, I have not been putting on weight, but of course not losing more. For now, I’m maintaining. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not indulging in BAD foods, I’m just being more free with good, wholesome foods. A little too free, to be honest…

I do have a few ideas for new posts, so don’t give up on me just yet!

Thanks so much for your support and please tell me about your holiday struggles, so I don’t feel alone ;P

Y.

Thanksgiving started a little early for me. I relaxed way too much and didn’t accomplish what I wanted to. I worked out an embarrassing 3 days this week. Ugh. In the midst of meal planning, working, and other life related activities, admittedly, my focus shifted.

However, I am happy to report that I have lost a little over 10 pounds, 4 jean sizes, and gained muscle. I don’t know exactly how many inches I lost from various body parts, because I took down my measurements recently (didn’t think of doing it before), so I’m not ready to compare yet. I can officially perform a full push up and I even beat Zuzana in her jump rope challenge early this week. I have a feeling that this is actually the reason I put the fitness on a back burner this week, which I realize is counter productive. With that said, I am happy about my progress. I gained stamina, strength, and endurance. I can really see the difference when walking around in San Francisco and performing household tasks. I don’t get out of breath like I used to, and my back doesn’t get sore when washing dishes anymore.

For Thanksgiving, like last year, I am cooking for us and some friends. My menu consists of a Roast Turkey (the picture is my roast turkey from last year) with Fresh Cranberry Sauce, Roasted Root Vegetables, Whole Wheat Mac and Cheese, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Roasted Herb Potatoes. I’m also having a potluck lunch at work (I made a Brown Rice Pesto Pasta), so needless to say, this isn’t going to be a week of modest eating. I am determined to resume my workouts, though, and finally begin to work out with Zuzana.

What are you making for Thanksgiving?

Y.

Fitness

This week was a tough week for two reasons. One, I really pushed myself on Day 1 and Day 3, and was super sore for several days. Days 2 and 4, I was in no mood, so it was torturous. On Day 5 and 6 I just gave up completely and skipped it. 4 days is the least amount of days I exercised a week since I started and I’m not happy about it, but I’m not going to beat myself up.

Diet

Not as tight by the end of the week. I even had Pizza! It made me feel like crap physically, so lesson learned – no more pizza! I also baked a cake. It was really delicious and you won’t believe this, but healthy! Zuzana posted her ‘Breakfast Cake’ recipe. It consists of whole wheat cous-cous, oats, apples, carrot, milk, nuts, cinnamon, and honey. It’s a great sweet tooth killer and completely guilt free! Unless of course you eat the whole thing in one sitting.
Here is her recipe: Body Rock TV: Breakfast Cake.

My goal for this week is to finish the 6 week program with a bang. I’m going to compare my results with Week 1 and see my progress. I’m excited for my last week, because I don’t think I ever finished an exercise program! After this, I’m really looking forward to start working out with Zuzana. As I mentioned earlier, she’s been posting her daily workouts (which are killers) for some time now and I’ve been waiting to finish what I had started so I can follow her.

Week 6, here I come!

This is a variation on the pasta with sauteed vegetables. Lenny wanted pasta again (he loves that Brown Rice deliciousness), but I wanted to make something different this time, since I only had limited fresh vegetable from the other day. I usually buy a frozen Seafood Blend from Trader Joe’s, which consists of shrimp, scallops, and calamari. It’s perfect for a quick seafood fix. I incorporated it with the vegetable base and then coated the cooked pasta. It came out really good, even better than last time!

What you’ll need

Seafood:
1 16oz Frozen Seafood Blend – defrosted and ready to go
1 Clove of Garlic – chopped
1 Tbs Dried Basil
Salt/Pepper to taste
1Tbs Canola Oil

Pasta:
12oz Organic Brown Rice Pasta
Salt to taste

Vegetable Sauce:
16oz Organic Grape Tomatoes – halved
3 Cloves of Garlic – chopped
1 Small Sweet Onion – thinly sliced
1/2 Organic Sweet Bell Pepper – sliced(I had the orange pepper left from the other day so I just used that)
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (optional) We like it a little spicy
1 Tbs Canola Oil

Directions

Cook the pasta according to the box and the desired consistency. While it’s cooking, preheat your large stainless steel with Canola Oil on Medium High heat. Saute the Garlic until it begins to brown, stirring often to prevent burning. Add the Onions and Bell Pepper, stir, lower the heat to Medium and cover until the Onions and Peppers are soft (about 3 minutes). Salt and Pepper to taste, add the Red Pepper Flakes, Tomatoes, stir, and cover again for about 5 minutes. You want the tomatoes to break down and release all of its juice. During those 5 minutes, you will cook the Seafood. It takes a very short time, so you can put it off until the tomatoes have gone in.

To cook the Seafood, preheat a smaller skillet to Medium High heat with Canola oil. Add Garlic and saute until it begins to brown. Remember to stir! Add the Seafood and cover for about 1 minute, but no more. Add Salt/Pepper to taste and basil. Stir until it’s cooked. The scallops will turn opaque and the shrimp pink. Again, it’s a fast process.

Add the seafood to the pasta sauce, stir to combine, and then add the pasta that has been cooked and drained. Done! The entire process lasts the duration of the cooking pasta and no longer. Top with a little more basil and fresh cracked black pepper and serve.

Fitness

What started off as a questionable week, ended up as a huge accomplishment. I wasn’t feeling well on Tuesday and couldn’t do Day 2 – Cardio/Core workout in the morning, so I had to do it after work. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the week, as it was just impossible for me to do anything in the mornings, so I exercised right when I came home. What I found interesting that even though I was pretty tired after a full day at work, I would gain energy halfway through the routines, so that was a big plus. On Friday, however, I gave up and decided to have my day off then. On Saturday, what would normally be the 20 Minute Circuit Workout, I decided to mix things up and kick my own ass for being lazy on Friday.

Since Zuzana from BodyRock.tv started posting her daily workouts, I’ve been waiting to finish my 6 week program so that I can start working out with her. Itching to try her workout – Friday’s Intense Challenge , which she completed in 20 minutes, I substituted that for my usual Day 5 workout (20 Minute Circuit). The challenge was to complete 3 workouts in 4 rounds as fast as possible. To give myself even more of a challenge, I incorporated 100 skips before each of the 3 exercises, which added 1200 skips to the whole thing. I finished in 42:29. Normally, that’s about 20 minutes more than I like to workout, but I honestly didn’t even notice the time. I didn’t realize it was that long until I was done. I’m really feeling it today, but it did not stop me from my Day 6 workout.

I started to do my cardio workouts outside. Normally, I do everything in Lenny’s gym room, but the weather’s been spectacular, so I started to go out into the backyard where I can look out at the ocean. I also have a workout buddy. He’s this really cute dog that stares at me out his window as I do my routine. He used to bark at me when I first came out, but now he just sits and watches me until I’m done. As a huge animal lover, that’s my favorite part of working out.

As usual, I recorded all of my reps and calculated that last week I did 2470 skips. This week – 5964. I gotta
say, that feels pretty good.

Diet

During the week, nice and tight as usual. Watching my portions, trying new recipes. Had my one meal out at Chipotle. I know, not the best choice, but hey…

I’m bringing my usual to work this week. Going to make some Quinoa tonight so I can make salads at work. I’ll finally post my favorite Cold Quinoa Salad creation that I just adore.

Onto Week 5!

Sometimes all I really want is some pasta, don’t you? Well, you don’t have to sacrifice your health or diet goals to have some. I’m not a huge fan of Whole Wheat Pasta, so I bought Brown Rice Pasta (which I didn’t even know existed) at Trader Joe’s and we love it! It’s very flavorful and goes perfectly with the sauteed vegetable sauce.

What you’ll need

12oz Organic Brown Rice Pasta
2 16oz Boxes of Organic Grape Tomatoes – cut in half
1 Small Sweet Onion – thinly sliced
3 Cloves of Garlic – diced
1 1/2 Organic Orange/Yellow Sweet Bell Peppers – thinly sliced
8 oz Sliced White Mushrooms
2 Tbs Canola Oil
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Basil
Salt/Fresh Cracked Black Pepper – to taste

Directions

Cook pasta according to the box, but even though it says boil for 7-10 minutes, to bring it to my desired consistency it took about 15 – it was a little softer than al dente.

In the meantime, heat a large skillet with Canola Oil on Medium High heat. Add Garlic and saute until it is soft and beginning to brown – about 3 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Add Onions and cook together for another 2 minutes. Once the onions have wilted, add Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Salt, Red Pepper Flakes, stir and cover. Once the Peppers have softened (about 5 minutes), add the Tomatoes, cover and simmer until the tomatoes have released most of their juice. The Vegetable Saute should be nice and watery so that it can combine with the pasta.

The Pasta should now be cooked and drained. Throw it into the skillet and combine with the vegetables. Top with Basil and serve with Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What’s great about the vegetable sauce is that it’s really versatile. You can mix and match your vegetables and put anything you want in there, like Quinoa or Brown Rice. Sometimes I leave the peppers out completely or use Organic Canned Tomatoes, whatever I have on hand really. Normally, I make this a Quinoa dish, but it doesn’t really translate well on camera, so I don’t want to post pictures. What makes this dish special are the fresh vegetables and that it’s fast, easy, delicious, and nutritious. Adding freshly grated Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses would make this dish even more special, but it’s not necessary.

Enjoy!

This was my first attempt at a vegetable soup aside from my usual – Cabbage Soup and Borsht, and…. prognosis positive! This soup came out absolutely magnificent. It’s super tasty, hearty, filling, and loaded with nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It even passed the Lenny test – he had 3 bowls! This is a great addition to any whole foods diet and is now a part of my repertoire.

What you’ll need

1/2 Organic Butternut Squash – cut into cubes
4 Organic Tomatoes -quartered
1 Small Sweet Onion – quartered
4-5 Cloves of Garlic – I realized I was out of fresh garlic as I started making the soup, so I used chopped garlic I had in the fridge. I used about 4 Tbs
2 Carrots – peeled and cubed
4 Cups of Kale -chopped
1 can of Organic Red Kidney Beans – rinsed and drained
2 Bay Leaves
1 1/2 Tsp Oregano
Salt/Pepper to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 Cups of Free Range Chicken Broth (or Vegetable Broth for Vegetarian/Vegan folks)
Roasting Pan
Soup Pot
Blender

Directions

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the Squash, Tomatoes, Onions, Carrots, and Garlic on a roasting pan (I used aluminum foil on top of the pan, but if you don’t have it, use non-stick spray before placing the vegetables), sprinkle with salt/pepper and EV Olive Oil. Roast for 30-35 minutes or until the carrots and squash are tender.

Once they are done, take the tomatoes, onions, and garlic, place them in a blender with 1/2 cup of Chicken Stock and blend until all the ingredients are combined. I like little bits of garlic in my broth, so I just pulsate 6 or 7 times. Once you have a nice roasted vegetable broth, just add it to the rest of the Chicken Stock, add a Bay Leaf, and cook on Medium High heat until it begins to boil. Add Oregano, Squash, Carrots, Kale, salt to taste and cook on medium heat until the Kale has softened – about 30 minutes. Finally, add Red Kidney beans and simmer for a few minutes more. I suspect you may need more salt. And you’re done! Pour in a bowl, crack some fresh black pepper, and serve.

Enjoy!

Once a week, Lenny and I roast a whole chicken, since it’s one of the easiest meals to make. We use both russet and sweet potatoes (my favorite) and play around with different herbs and spices. When in doubt, we always go back to the good Old Bay seasoning.

What you’ll need

1 Free Range Chicken
1 Medium Sweet Onion
1 Organic Large Sweet Potato
2 Organic Medium Potatoes of your choice
2 Swigs Fresh Rosemary
1 Swig of Oregano
2 + 2 Tbs Old Bay Spice
Kosher Salt to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Safflower/Canola Oil

Directions

Coat your cast iron skillet with a little bit of safflower or canola oil and preheat oven to 415 degrees.

Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry. Massage Extra Virgin Olive Oil into the chicken, just enough to lightly coat it. Top with 2TBS of Old Bay Spice so the whole chicken is nice and orangey. Use more if 2TBS is not enough. I’ve noticed that you can never go wrong with more Old Bay. Place the chicken breast side down into the cast iron skillet.

Cut and peel the onion into quarters and take apart all the layers. Arrange the layers around the chicken and salt just a bit. Wash and cut potatoes (peel intact – that’s where all the nutrients are) into large chunks and arrange around the chicken on top of the onions. Season the chicken and potatoes generously. If the remaining 2 TBS are not enough, just use more! Finally, top the chicken and potatoes with the fresh herbs, cover with aluminum foil and place in oven for 1 hour.

After an hour, the chicken should be ready and the potatoes nice and soft. Please use your meat thermometer to be sure! Uncover the chicken, baste, and set the oven to Broil.

Put the chicken back into the oven for a 15 minute broiling session. This will brown and crisp everything right up. And you’re done! Check out the above picture for the final product.

Fast and easy prep, good for the body, and good for the soul!