A Little Bit of Dancing and More Great Food

For today’s cardio workout I got my sexy on with the Burlesque dance workout again, followed by the Zumba Rush workout.  Plus I shoveled some snow, went for a short walk or two.

Let’s talk food…

Today’s food…

Breakfast: Egg ‘N’ Cheese Muffin

I got creative with my egg whites this morning and used a little love…

All the egg whites could not fit in the heart shape, so I cooked them afterwards and put them on the muffin as well.  I probably could have made a second heart…next time.

Snack: Greek Yogurt with Green Grapes

With this snack I also added a teaspoon of vanilla just to cut the tartness of the yogurt and grapes. 

It was very nice.

Lunch: Chicken with Sweet Potato and Broccoli served up with Strawberries

I know that the strawberries were probably supposed to be a dessert, but I decided to put it all on the same plate to enjoy a colourful lunch plate.

It was great!

Snack: Chocolate Almond Protein Shake

Okay, so I love almonds, almond butter, almond flour and almond milk, but I am just not crazy about almond flavoured foods.  This shake recipe calls for pure almond extract…blah…I did not put it in.  I know that might sounds crazy to some but I figured with it having the almond milk and the slivered almonds, it would already have enough almond flavour.  And it did!

Dinner: Chicken Kebabs served with Greek Yogurt Cucumber Sauce and Kale & Brown Rice

The meal plan called for Spinach, I made Kale instead.  I don’t like foods spoiling in the fridge and I felt like having kale tonight.    

It was all so good.

As I have said in some of my past posts, “once you know how to eat clean, you will know what to sub in for side dishes”.  Okay so I may not have said it EXACTLY like that, but you know what I mean.  Learn to eat clean foods, and you will change your life.

So tonight was a busy night and that is why this post is not very long.  Swimming lessons resumed for my children, the pool was closed for two weeks for repairs.  My daughter had a little project to do to take to school tomorrow, but she was zonked once we got back home.  She had a play date with her friend today and I think with her swimming lesson tonight that just did her in.  So guess who had to paste the pictures in the book for her????  I will probably have to print her little write up as well in the morning, she takes forever to get dressed some mornings, and she’s only 4, almost 5.  Her birthday is on Thursday, so that means cake making tomorrow and the wrapping of the presents while she is at school tomorrow.  I guess I will have to wrap when the daycare kids have a nap.  Don’t want them telling her what she’s getting.  So the next few days are going to be busy and I hope I can still get some posts written up, if not, I will be back on Friday for a recap.

Before I go…look what I got in the post today…

Oxygen Magazine March 2013 issue.  I believe it goes on sale in stores on February 19^th.    

I had a quick look over Month Three of “Build Your Best Body” program, workout and meal plan.  The workout looks great; it includes weights, nothing that I haven’t really done before, so if I can do it, so can YOU.  The meal plan looks wonderful…Cranberry Cashew Granola…Avocado Hummus with Homemade Pita Chips…Salmon Cakes with Yogurt Sauce…Steak and Eggs…and so much more…Yummy!

Well I have Workout Day 20 in the morning, so I am going to wrap this up and get some rest.  As I said the next few days are going to be busy, so…

Until you hear from me again…Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina

Workout Day 19 of “Build Your Best Body”

First day of Month two and I am feeling fantastic! 

So here is the scoop…

Workout has changed and so has the meal plan.

My workout will be done for at least 3 days a week, well at least for the first week anyway.  I will UP the number of days as I go along as I did during Month one.  I love the workout.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, this workout introduces the Resistance Band.  So get your band out and get ready for a great workout.  You will also need your workout mat as well for floor work.

“The Athletic Curves Training Plan: Month Two”

“The goal this month is to get stronger, faster and more adept each time you train, so that by the end of four weeks, your body is a high-energy machine.” -  This is taken from the Oxygen Magazine article. 

The workout starts with a warm up: Jog in place (1 minute), High Knees (1 minute), Jumping Jacks (1 minute). 

Legs:

1a) Band Squat (with resistance band)

1b) Jump Squat (plyo)

Chest/Back:

2a) Bent-over Row (with resistance band)

2b) Plyo Push Ups on knees

Shoulders/Legs:

3a) Overhead Press (with resistance band)

3b) Lateral Raise (with resistance band)

3c) Speed Skater

Arms/Legs:

4a) Biceps Curl (with resistance band)

4b) Overhead Extension (with resistance band)

4c) Split Jump Squat (plyo)

Abs:

5a) Crunch (with resistance band)

5b) Shoulder Tap Push Up

So those are the exercises I will be doing over this month.  If you want to join me, go pick up a copy of the February issue of Oxygen Magazine for all the details.  It will show you all the sets and reps of each of the moves that you should be doing.  Plus it also has the “Muscle Up” meal plan with recipes that you will enjoy over the next 30 days.  The meals and recipes are not difficult to make.  Most of the meals are single servings with the exception to some of the dinner recipes (January and February); they are for more than one.  But it’s not difficult to increase the amounts if you are preparing the meals for your family.  Just double check when you prepare your grocery list.  There are a lot of meals which are made with chicken and/or other poultry, a few fish dishes and one or two meals with beef.  If you don’t like fish, sub in poultry or beef.  I am not a vegetarian so I don’t know all the things that you would/could sub in, but there are many, many great vegetarian cook books out there that you could use as a reference.  I have Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Vegetarian cook book and there are lots of wonderful CLEAN recipes you could use.

I have also added on a Plank at the end of my workout, just to keep up my Plank time.  Today’s time was 1:30.7…my goal is to be back up to a 7 minute plank by the end of February.

Today’s food…

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg Whites/Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal/Grapefruit

The meal plan goes like this for this morning’s breakfast…

 I bought the Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal to use instead of the Cream of Wheat.

I cooked it up, cooked up the egg whites and peeled the half of grapefruit.  I was thinking of eating it all separate, but then I decided to mix it all together.  

One bowl…one great taste!

I added a dash of cinnamon and just a little drizzle of honey.

Delicious!

Snack: Chocolate Protein Powder with Water and an Apple

I don’t really like the chocolate Hemp protein powder that I have right now, so I used a half scoop of chocolate and a half scoop of the Vanilla Vegetarian Protein Powder that I DO like.  

I am not a huge fan of protein and water on its own, but this mixture today was good. 

Lunch: Blue Cheese Spinach Salad

Yes folks…I tried Blue Cheese.  

I mean I have tried it before and didn’t really care for it.  What I should have said was, “I ate Blue Cheese”, and I like it.  Well, I liked it in this salad.  I would not just grab a hunk of the stuff and start chomping down on it that’s for sure.  And I know that that’s not how this cheese is to be eaten anyway.  My husband loves the stuff.

Good to the last bite!

Snack: Greek Yogurt with Slivered Almonds and Cinnamon

                               This snack is similar to one of the snacks I ate while doing Body Revolution.

Dinner: Salmon with Spinach and Sweet Potato

This was wonderful.  I broiled the salmon with some spices and a little coconut oil.  The sweet potato I tossed with 2 tsp of honey and a dash of cinnamon then baked them at 400F for about 40 minutes or until tender.  Some of the sweet potatoes are saved for tomorrow’s lunch. YUMMY!

Before I made this scrumptious dinner, my family and I went out for another winter’s hike.  

We couldn't go out for as long as yesterday though, the sun was already starting to set and the kids were getting hungry.  Before I could even get in the kitchen to start dinner, the kids were already making themselves a sandwich each.  They are too funny.

A great start to Month two with a great workout and some really great food.  Tomorrow will be a cardio day for me.

Until then…Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina

Workout Day 18 of “Build Your Best Body”

Yes it was supposed to happen yesterday, Saturday February 2^nd…BUT…yesterday turned into Rest Day after a late night of waiting for my son to finish building his new LEGO set.  Oh yes…he built it all by himself, and he and I were up until 1:30am.  I woke up late Saturday morning and we had things to do, PLUS I wasn't feeling the greatest…needed more sleep.  So I just decided to save my last workout for today, Sunday February 3^rd.

I completed the last day of the first month of the “Build Your Best Body” workout program.  And take a look at these Plank times…

I also got a personal best on the Decline Push Ups today…20 reps.  YAY ME!

I feel great and I love the food from the meal plan.  Tomorrow however begins Day 1 of the “Muscle Up” meal plan, more protein on the menu this month.  I stocked up on eggs today.  Tomorrow night’s dinner is spot on…Salmon…yummy.

I also start a new workout as well tomorrow.  The article recommends you should do this month’s workout at least three times a week.  So you know what that means back to dance workouts on the off days for cardio.  There are no Planks in this workout, but I think I will do at least one a day just to keep my times up there.  This month they introduce one piece of equipment to be used…the Resistance Band.  Plyo moves are also used in this month’s workout.  I will talk more of this workout as I go along.

After completing my workout this morning, my family and I decided to go for a walk on this beautiful winter’s day.  We all bundled up in our winter gear and headed for the snowy forest.  It had snowed again overnight and the trees were all covered in the soft snow, it was beautiful.

Here are a few pictures of our 2 hour hike through the woods…

Today’s food…

Breakfast: Winter Morning Quinoa

I tried it with pear again this morning and it tasted so much better than the first time I made it.  Maybe it was because I ate it right after I finished my workout, I was very hungry. 

Snack: Pistachios

I know these were not on the meal plan, but they are my weakness.  I had a few of them after we returned home from our winter hike.

Lunch: BLT

This definitely hit the spot after our walk.  Because I didn’t make the Flank Steak last night for dinner, I subbed in the BLT instead.  

So Good!

Oh, by the way…I made Spaghetti Squash with a Turkey Meat Sauce for dinner last night.

Snack: Apple Slices with Yogurt/Peanut Butter

Dinner: Salmon with Brussels Sprouts and Brown Rice

My daughter and I had salmon, while my husband and son had chicken.  Neither of them likes salmon, so I made them chicken instead.  This dinner was to be with asparagus but my husband didn’t feel like eating it so I subbed in Brussels sprouts.  Still clean. Always good.  I mentioned that I cook my quinoa in vegetable broth to give it more flavour; I do the same with the rice.

Well it’s been a long, fun day and I am ready to relax now. 

I prepared my notebook last night for this month’s workouts so I am ready for tomorrow.  And really looking forward to Month Two.

Until then…Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina

Workout Day 17 of “Build Your Best Body”

Today I changed up my workout a bit.  All the same moves, just a different way of doing it.  Because this was the 17^th day of doing the same moves, with most of them getting longer, I needed to shake things up a bit. 

I decided to use the workout as if it was a Circuit Training program.  Instead of fatiguing my lower body, then moving on to upper and then the core, I worked legs, upper and then core, 4 times through.  I was able to push out higher times and more reps on pretty much everything.  Now this is just me trying not to get bored of the same old, same old.  But things are going to change next week with new exercises in Month Two.

I think I will finish the workout off tomorrow in the same way I did it today, but with some extra cardio in between “Circuits”.

Here are today’s four plank times…

Oh yeah and I ROCKED out 19 Decline Push Ups first go around and 12 the second, 10 on the third and I even did a fourth set today for the first time.  I have always done only 3 sets of the Push Ups, while still doing four sets of everything else.  But today was different.  I will admit I left the last set of Push Ups till the very end.  I didn’t know if I would have time get my core work done, so I did the last set of core exercises and then the Push Ups.  Result…AWESOME workout!

Today’s food…

Breakfast: Egg Quinoa Parfait

Yes I had this again.  

ONLY this time I doubled up on the strawberries because I didn’t have any more bananas in the house.

Snack: Tri-Berry Shake
Here is the making of...

Yes I had this again.  

LOL

Lunch: One-Pot Turkey with Spinach and Onion Quinoa

Yes I had this again.  BUT it was on the meal plan. 

Well…the One-Pot Chicken was, but you know that I changed it up last night when I was preparing last night’s dinner.  And it called for leftovers for lunch time today.

Snack: Greek Yogurt with Strawberries and Walnuts
I think I added too many strawberries in the mixer, it turned out more like soup.

Oh well, it was still really good.

Dinner: Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Salad

I didn’t feel like cooking tonight.

My son got some money for Christmas and he wanted to buy himself the LEGO Monster Fighters Vampyre Castle.  We searched everywhere after Christmas, all the stores were sold out.  We managed to find a store here in Waterloo, ON that had some on order, PLUS it was $15.00 cheaper there than anywhere else.  SCORE!  BUT my son had to wait until mid-January for it.  Well it didn’t come in mid-January, and my son was very, very patient.  I called the store today and they told me they had some in stock.  SO that is why we went out tonight, and that is why I didn’t feel like cooking tonight.  I knew it was going to be a BIG night for him.  It was Christmas all over again.  After getting it from the store, he proclaimed in the car that…“Today is the BEST day EVER!!!!!”  He’s so funny.

On that note…I must go and see if he needs any help to build it.  Probably not, but I’ll check anyway.

If he doesn't need my help, I am going to relax and look over my new digital issue of Clean Eating Magazine on my iPhone.

Two more days of this month’s meal plan and I will be moving onto my final day of the “Build Your Best Body” workout tomorrow.

Until then…Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina