Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

NEW Fitness Page!

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!

 

If today’s post seems a bit rushed… that’s because it is.  I’m headed out the door to spend the day on the lake with friends.  (Note to self: remember the sunscreen!)

 

I have an exciting addition!  I added a “Fitness” page.  Check it out in the top menu or by clicking here.

The page has 3 categories:

  • Workouts – a summary of workouts I’ve posted (are you doing your push ups?!)
  • Related Topics – more general fitness tips/observations
  • Races – races run and links to their recaps

 

Feedback/requests welcome! 🙂

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Thanks to the crazy rain we had Thursday night, I had a kickin’ run yesterday.  The temperature was perfect and the air was clean.  I think this was my fastest pace yet for a more-than-5K run.

Stats:

  • Distance: 5 miles
  • Time: 41:18
  • Pace: 8:24

 

Then I came home and dug down into a new layer of hell with Excel.  Not.  Kidding.


 

Happily, I did have a fantastic lunch.

More to come on this deliciousness!

 

And at 5:30p I had my first in-home massage.  Why have I not been doing this my whole life?!  It was amazing.  If you are like me, every time you have a massage you wish you could just relax/sleep/do-anything-but-get-dressed-and-drive-home.

The answer is an in-home massage.  They come to you!  All I had to do was roll off the table and onto the couch.  Bonus: it’s about the same $$$ as going to the spa!

***

Time to roll out!

Are you a beach person or a lake person?  Are you enjoying either this weekend?

 

Tank-Top Ready Triceps

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It’s a big day.

  1. We are just a few loooong hours from a long weekend
  2. I’m going to pick up my first jug or local raw milk and straight-from-the-farm eggs
  3. This is my first post by request (never mind that the request is from  family member… thanks Aunt Teresa!)

Recently I posted a shoulder workout sure to leave you shoulders lookin’ good.  My aunt commented that she would like some ideas for triceps as well.  Ask and you shall receive.

Triceps are my favorite body part to work.  Thoughts of tight tris = awesome motivator!  Since Memorial Day Weekend marks the official beginning of tank top season, I worked mine big-time last night. 🙂

I always work my chest and tris on the same day.  There are a lot of opinions out there, but I subscribe to the primary/secondary theory.  Triceps are secondary muscles in chest exercises; therefore I like to work my triceps on the same day as my chest.  I find it goes a long way in my being able to totally exhaust the muscles.

  • I like to keep my heart rate up.  I sprint to rest my arms.
  • Grouping exercises is an easier way for me to organize/write a routine when I’m using sprints.
  • My first group incorporates non-chest/tri muscles.  It’s more of a warm-up.
  • Almost every workout I do ends with abs (albeit some days are lighter than others).

I ALWAYS end with a green protein shake… and after particularly hard days, I end with a glass of vino.

To me, from me

This is my go-to tight-tri workout.  It may seem long, but remember you are just 11 moves (14 if you do the abs) and 1 quick mile from a shake (and maybe some wine).

1. Warm up for 5 mins (jogging or elliptical)

2. Group 1

20 Diamond Push-Ups

Your hands should form a diamond (to target tris) like this:

Diamond push-ups

20 Skull Crushers

Skull crushers

Lie flat on your back with a dumbbell in each hand.  Bend your elbows, lowering barbell toward your forehead.  Be sure your weights aren’t too heavy… otherwise you may actually crush your skull. Straighten elbows (without locking them!) and repeat.

20 Seated Leg Tucks

Leg tucks

30 Seconds of Fast Squats

Important Note: get low, but be SURE not to let your knees go over your toes.  That’s how you hurt you knees.

3. 1/4 Mile Treadmill Sprint

4. Group 2

Dumbbell Press with Twist – 3 sets of 15

dumbbell twist

Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the ground.  Hold a dumbbell in each hand slightly above chest, with your elbows slightly bent out to the sides and palms facing forward.  Extend your arms over chest (without locking your elbows!), and turn each palm to face your head.  Reverse motion to return to starting position and repeat.

Bridge Fly – 3 sets of 12

Lie on a stability ball (you can also use a flat bench) with a dumbbell in each hand.  Dumbbells should be slightly above upper abdomen with elbows to your side.  Lower dumbbells to sides until chest muscles are slightly stretched. Bring dumbbells together in hugging motion until dumbbells just touch. Repeat.

Note: Hold your butt up, keeping your body in a straight line.  This will give the added benefit or engaging your glutes and abs.

5. 1/4 Mile Treadmill Sprint

4. Group 3

Overhand Push-Down – 3 sets of 12

Place hands 6-10 in apart on straight bar with an overhand grip (palms down).  Pull down until your forearms so they are parallel to the floor. This is your starting point.  Be sure to keep your elbows close to your body and feet slightly bent, shoulder width apart and bend your knees slightly.  Push the bar down slowly toward legs until arms are fully extended (don’t lock elbows!).  Your elbows should still be close to the body and your core should be tight.  Repeat.

Underhand Push-Down – 3 sets of 12

reverise grip tricep pushdown

Same as above, but with hands holding the bar in an underhand position.

Straight Arm Pull-Down – 3 sets of 15

Straightarm pulldown

Stand facing the cable machine with your feet shoulder-width apart (or with one foot slight in front of other).  Using an overhand grip on the straight bar, place hands shoulder-width apart.  At the start, the bar should be slightly higher than shoulder level.  Keeping your elbows slightly bent, tighten core and pull the bar down until it reaches your upper thighs.  Be sure to keep your arms straight (again, without locking your elbows) throughout.  Slowly allow the bar to raise back to shoulder height, maintaining your tight core.

5. 1/4 Mile Treadmill Sprint

6. Group 3

Tricep Kickbacks – 3 sets of 12

dumbbell kickback

Place left knee and left hand on a bench.  With your right hand, hold a dumbbell keeping elbow against body.  Straighten the lower part of the arm all the way, then bend back to a 90˚ angle. Do not move the shoulder.  Repeat 12x with each arm to complete a set.

Tricep Push-Backs – 2 sets of 15, 1 set to exhaustion

Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent.  Arms should start straight down at sides with palms facing back.  Lift arms straight back (~2 ft behind you), pausing for a second before return to sides.  Repeat.

On your third set, repeat as many times as possible (to exhaustion).

7. 1/4 Mile Treadmill Sprint

8. Abs (a.k.a. Bonus Round)

Decline Crunches – 2 sets of 25

Bicycles – 2 sets of 30

Second best flat-ab exercise, in my opinion

Planks (click for times/tips) – best ab exercise ever for flat abs (in my experience)

If you aren’t tired after all of that… I’m seriously impressed.  Don’t skip  your 20g of protein post-workout!

***

After this crazy work week, I couldn’t be more ready for 3 days off.  AND I’m kicking it off right with a massage this afternoon. 🙂

What is your favorite body part to work out?

How are you kicking off the long weekend?!

Tasting, Tasting 1-2

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Saturday and Sunday I visited the tasting tents at the Food and Wine Festival.  I miiiight have snuck in Saturday… shhhh!

The gates of heaven

The food was all good, but I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more variety.

There’s only so much fried chicken and BBQ I can consume.

Indian-Spiced Fried Chicken and Waffles = worth it

An exception to the “too much fried” rule is the above Indian-Spiced Fried Chicken and Waffles by Asha Gomez of Spice Route Supper Club.  I have GOT to check out one of her events ASAP.  Rumor has it she may be looking for a restaurant space…

Celeb Highlight: I got to meet Chef Norman Van Aken (the father of fusion… I shook his hand!).

Food Highlight: The beer, cheeses, and desserts (duh).

Best beer – New Heaven

The cheese spread (pun intended)

Coming to Whole Foods ATL soon!

I wish I’d done a better job remembering to photograph… there’s was just so much to eat! 🙂

My favorites beer/cheese/dessert:

  • Wild Heaven Craft Beers – I’d had these before, but Invocation and Ode to Mercy are the two brews offered by this new Decatur, GA-based brewery.  If you find them, drink them immediately.  It’s the best new beer I’ve tasted in a long time.
  • Sweet Grass Dairy’s Truffled Chevre – Decadently delicious.  There’s no other way to describe this.  Need proof?  They are complete OUT for the season.  🙁
  • The Hungry Peach’s Peach Cobbler Cupcake – Moist, flavorful, light… dignity is the only thing that kept me from devouring their whole display
  • High Road Craft Ice Cream – Every flavor was good (I shamelessly sampled everything), but if I had to cheese I’d say don’t miss the Caffeine Cacao and the French Toast (JUST like your mamma’s… in ice cream-form).  Good news for Georgian’s – they are coming soon to Whole Foods!  #godblesswholefoods

I had a great time hanging out with 2 new friends on Saturday and the Lippy crew on Sunday.  (Nathan’s wife, Chelsee = coolest chick ever.)

Me and Nathan Lippy. Our hair matches a little.

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If you ever wonder if your “clean” way of eating really makes a difference, eat like I did all weekend.  Monday I woke up feeling like crap.  Too.  Much.  Rich.  Food.

I seriously almost hurled during the flight to my client meeting.

At least it was better than it would have been: I ran 5 miles Saturday morning, took an hour walk that afternoon, played 2 ball games Sunday morning, and then ran 3.5 miles.  I should re-name this blog Run-Eat-Repeat. 🙂

I’m trying to mini-detox this week.  It’s not working so well since I’ve been traveling, but I’m definitely eating much cleaner than I did this weekend!  Monday I drank my breakfast (not in a noon-game tailgating way) before rushing to the airport:

Some days, you just need a green smoothie.  This was one of those days.

I did my P90X Ab Ripper X (best ab workout ever, btw), followed by my 75 push-ups (are you doing yours?!).  Then chugged enjoyed this refreshing smoothie.

Mango-Almond Smoothie

  • 1/2 champagne mango
  • 1/2 banana
  • 1 C fresh spinach
  • 1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tsp Maca
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • water (adjust to desired consistency)

Put it in a blender.  Pour into glass.  Top with your favorite crunchy treat (I love this low-sugar citrus-granola).  

Drink up!

***

More like what I gorged on this weekend… but whatever… 🙂

Even though we’re already mid-week, this may be a timely discussion question given the upcoming long weekend…

How do you detox after a weekend of indulgence?

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

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After some killer runs, my knees cried “Uncle” yesterday.  

Not to be outdone, my toes felt a little cramp-y. 

Truth be told, I wasn’t shedding any tears over skipping a run in the chilly, windy weather.  It was the perfect time for an often-neglected shoulder workout.

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that some women shy away from weights/protein for fear of becoming She-Ra.

Similarly, women shy away from shoulder workouts.  The linebacker  look isn’t sexy on women, right???

That was my fear until a trainer set me straight.  You CAN work out your shoulders in a way that will leave them looking hawt.

Non-football shoulders

My Anti-linebacker Shoulder Workout:

1. Military Presses – 4 sets of 10 reps

I like to do these on a stability ball to further engage my core.  Sit on the ball (or edge of an exercise bench) with a dumbbell in each hand.  Raise your arms so that your elbows are bent at a 90° angle, in line with your shoulders.  Raise your arms overhead without straightening them without locking your elbows at the top.  Slowly return to the starting position and repeat.

Tip: Be sure to keep your core tight throughout the exercise.

2. Lateral Raises – 4 sets of 10 reps

This one is simple: simultaneously lift your arms out to the side until they are parallel to the floor.  Be sure to keep your core tight and don’t lock your elbows.

Tip: For an additional challenge, pause at the top turning your hands (making a pouring motion) so that your thumbs point toward the floor.

3. Front Raises – 4 sets of 10 reps

Lift your arms in front of your body until your hands are even with your shoulders.  Pause for a moment at the top then slowly lower your arm back to the starting position.

Again, keep your core tight and don’t lock your elbows!

4. Front Raise Clockwise Circles – 3 sets of 25 reps

With a light weight in each and, lift your arms in front of your body until your hands are even with your shoulders.  Make small, clockwise circles without locking your elbows and keeping your core engaged (are you seeing theme?).

Superset these with….

5. Front Raise Counter-Clockwise Circles – 3 sets of 25 reps

Same thing, in reverse.

Extra Credit:

6. 3-Way Arm Shaper – 20 reps each

I took this from Shape Magazine.  It doesn’t focus exclusively on shoulders, but I find this helps me to finish with a satisfying burn out. Total masochist.

A. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at sides and lean against a wall. Walk feet out about 18 inches, keeping them close together, and squat until thighs are parallel to ground. Raise arms out to sides to shoulder height, palms facing down.  Lower arms. Do 20 reps.

B. Rise up and rest legs for 30 seconds, then lower into the wall squat again, but with feet shoulder-width apart. Extend arms at sides, then curl weights to shoulders. Do 20 reps.

C. Rise up and rest once more, then squat against the wall with feet wide. Hold dumbbells next to shoulders, palms facing forward, then extend arms overhead. Lower and repeat. Do 20 presses.

Click here for a video of these moves on Shape’s website.

Follow that up with 15 mins of abs (I did the P90X Ab Ripper X), and you have a solid 45 min workout.

If you’re really hard-core, do your 3 sets of push-ups too.

Don’t forget to get your 20g of protein!

In my Cereal Bowl:

  • Greek yogurt
  • Fiber One cereal
  • Banana
  • Chia seeds
  • Cinnamon

***

Almost Friday!!!  I’m going to the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival this weekend.  Soooo excited!

Does your body ever force you to take unplanned rest days?  

Have your toes ever ached?!

What I Ate Wednesday II

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Let’s talk protein powder.  

I use it a lot.

Looking at my restaurant food pics, you’d think I was a bigger meat eater.  However, at home I rarely eat meat.  My diet is more plant-based.  This means I have to work hard to get in the protein I need.

The usual suspects are all staples in my diet: tempeh, tofu, lentils, quinoa, eggs, greek yogurt, etc.

Tempeh Crab-Free Cakes (click for recipe)

I also lift weights 4 times a week.

After a weight workout it’s generally recommend that you get 20g of protein within 30 minutes in order to help build muscle and aid in recovery.  Sometimes that’s hard to do on the go, so I use protein powder. You can add it to virtually anything!

Shakes:

Pineapple Upside-down Shake

…or in oatmeal:

Banana Almond Butter Overnight Oats

Tonight I’m trying a new (to me) form of protein: Casein Protein Powder.

More on Casein:

  • It makes up 80 percent of the protein in cow’s milk
  • Helps further build muscle mass
  • Moves through the digestive tract slower than whey protein
  • Is ideally taken before bed since the majority of muscle repair/regrowth happens when you’re asleep (slooooow release of protein thru the night –> better muscle recovery)

Many women balk at the phrase “build muscle.”  Truth be told, most women have to work very, very hard to build muscle.  Lifting weights and taking in some extra protein isn’t going to make you look like this.*

*Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to look like this.  To each their own.

AND an extra pound of muscle can burn 50-100 calories per day!

On to the brilliant Peas and Crayons’ What I Ate Wednesday! Eats from Tuesday.  And yes, it involves protein powder. 🙂

Breakfast:

This was a quick, protein-filled, late-to-work-and-eaten-in-the-car breakfast.  It tasted like banana pudding on bread.  For real.

Banana Pudding Bread

  • 2 slices Ezekiel bread
  • 1 banana
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 T unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Toast the bread.  While toasting bread, mush up your banana and mix with protein powder and milk (you can adjust liquid depending on your consistency preference).

Spread the banana deliciousness on your toast and enjoy!

Lunch:

I really love when there’s just the right amount of spinach left to make a salad right in the container.  So.  Easy.

In my salad:

  • Spinach
  • Cucumber
  • Black beans
  • Radishes
  • Carrots
  • Sprouts
  • Salsa

Dinner:

This Sweet Potato Kale Pizza was one I bookmarked to try months ago. It was worth the wait.

My modifications were few:

  • Halved the recipe to make one big pizza
  • Instead of massaging the kale with the EVOO mix, I used Madras sauce
  • Cherry tomatoes instead of slicing a large one (roasted them on the pizza perfectly!)
  • Parmesan rather than “raw” parm

This was ridiculously filling satisfying.  I’ll be doing this again and experimenting with other toppings!  (I’m thinking coconut butter and garam masla next.)

Check out the recipe by Callie @ Rawxy here.

Snacks:

Items I forgot to take pics of include…

  • Chocolate Toffee Think Thin Bar
  • Celery + Hummus
  • Blueberries
  • Almond milk

Apparently I’m in the mood to list things today…

***

Do you use protein powder?  Have you ever tried Casein?

How else do you get your protein?

Push-Ups + Socca Pizza

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75 push-ups.  Every day.

That’s my favorite way to make sure my arms are summah-time ready.  This is – in my opinion – the best exercise to do in order to tone your upper arms and back.

I’m telling you – anyone can do this.  Here’s how:

1. Proper Form

  • In the low position, your upper and forearms should be at a 90 degree angle and your hands should be under your shoulders.  Start out laying on the ground to be sure you’re correctly lined up.
  • Keep your core tight – don’t sag you butt OR stick it in the air.  You want a straight line from head to ankles (much like the bikini-belly planks earlier this week!).
  • Don’t let your chest touch the floor – it should be 2-3 inches from the floor in the lowest position.
  • Breathe!  In going down, out pushing up.

2. Find Your Starting Point

In order to determine how many sets to do each day, you need to learn what your max is.

Using the aforementioned proper form, get on the floor and to as many push-ups as you can.  Go on, do it!  Pretend the person in the cub isn’t starting…

Whatever number you reached is your max.  Write it down!

3. Divide and Conquer

Divide your max number in half.  The result is the number of push-ups you’ll be doing 3x each day with 30-60 seconds of rest in between.

For example:

  • Say you did 20 push-ups in your max set (which is where I began)
  • Half of 20 is 10
  • This means you need to do 3 sets of 10 push-ups each day

Rest for 30-60 secs between sets.  You’ll probably need 60 seconds when you begin; as you get stronger, cut down on the rest time a bit.

4. Keep Pushing

Don’t stop here!  Re-test yourself once you are able to complete your sets more easily.  This might be take 1 week, or it might take 3 weeks.  Move at your own pace, but don’t sacrifice form.

If you have trouble with your wrists, try making a fist and doing push-ups on your knuckles so that your wrists aren’t bent.  If you have free weights, you can also use those to keep your wrists straight.

Push-ups are awesome because they engage multiple muscle groups – from your core to your calves.

Added bonus: you can do them anywhere!  I do them in hotel rooms when traveling to get my blood pumping in the morning.

Results, yo.

When I started, I maxed out at 20 push-ups in a row.  I’m up to 50 in a row and do 3 sets of 25 for a total for 75 each day.

Speaking of… it’s about time to re-test…

 

Steph @ Bite by Bite opens her bake sale today to benefit Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Please click here to check out the bake sale!!! As I said perviously, my dad passed away from Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.  The proceeds will go to an organization that can really put it to good use.  Much more research is needed!

My contribution is a cookie that my dad enjoyed: Dark Chocolate Sea Salt.

Recipe to come (not today as promised… I got distracted planning a baby shower)!!! The basics include: dark chocolate, butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, almonds, and crunchy fleur de sel glittered across the top.

Last night I was inspired by Sarena @ The Non-Dairy Queen.  She had Socca Pizza for Mother’s Day!

I’ve been craving pizza lately and I’m ALWAYS craving Mexican, so I made a Mexican-inspired socca pizza.

This came out perfectly.  It was just the right amount!

I’ll definitely try it with cheese rather than nooch next time (I was OUT!) BUT I really liked it with the nooch.  Between the flavorful salsa and the eggy-ness, I didn’t miss it.

After eating pizza topped with a runny egg, I don’t know if I’ll ever eat “regular” pizza again.  So.  Good.

Mexican Socca Pizza

  • 1/2 C chickpea flour
  • 1 tsp Essence of Emeril
  • 1/2 C water

Toppings:

  • Salsa
  • Minced garlic
  • Celery
  • Artichokes
  • Zucchini
  • Nutritional Yeast
  • Egg

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Grease 9-in round (cake) pan.  (I used olive oil spray.)

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and spices.  Gradually whisk in water.  Pour into pan and bake for 8-10 mins.  Meanwhile, prep any veggies you will be adding to the pizza.

When socca is done, cross your fingers that you greased the pan enough and flip it out onto a baking sheet or pizza stone.  Add your sauce and toppings – EXCEPT the nooch and egg.  Place in  oven for 6-7 mins, until veggies are nearly at desired level of tenderness.

Remove from oven to add the egg and the nooch.  Bake for 4-5 more mins, until the egg is just beginning to set.  Be sure not to over-cook the yolk.

Remove from oven and let cool briefly before plating and devouring!

***

Thanks for all the input on my rug yesterday. 🙂

What’s the weirdest thing you eat on your pizza?  

Ever try it with an egg?

Bikini Belly Secret

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Want to know the single most effective exercise you can do to flatten your belly?

Plank.  I swear by it.

Side Plank

The above was my side plank yesterday morning.  My form is usually a little better… it’s hard to plank and take a picture of yourself in the mirror! 🙂

Here’s my daily recipe for a bikini belly***:

  • Regular plank – 2:30 mins
  • Left-Side Plank – 1:30 mins
  • Right-Side Plank – 1:30 mins

***In my opinion.  Don’t sue me if it doesn’t make you look like Jackie Warner!***

The thing to remember when planking is to keep your butt down – don’t be sticking it in the air.  Don’t sag it to the ground either though.   You want to be in a perfect line.  Your elbows should be directly in line with your shoulders (it will help keep them from hurting!).  Keep your hands relaxed.

Same goes for the hips when side planking.

Keep them in line – no sticking them wayyy up or sagging wayyy down.  Straight.  Line.  The elbow on the floor should be directly in line with your shoulder.

Don’t start with a 2:30 min plank if you are new to planking.  Start with what you can do and work your way up.

Form is important here or you won’t be effective.  2 minutes with bad form is just a waste of 2 mins.

Growing up, Mom used to feed my sisters and me chicken fingers with a dip made of honey and mayo.

We didn’t like mustard.

This is my 7-year old mental state: Mayo + Honey = Delicacy.  Cheese = Terrible.

I’ve mentioned before how picky I was.  I didn’t even like CHEESE.  Thankfully, I grew out of that.

Mom shares my passion for all things cheesy, so for Mother’s Day I got her her very own basket ‘o fancy cheese!

The nice ladies at Star Provisions, a specialty market in Atlanta, let me taste until I found just the right ones for the basket.  It was hard work, but I sacrificed for Mom.

In the basket:

  • Valdeon – Cow AND goat’s milk blue cheese from Spain.  This spicy, buttery blue is wrapped in sycamore leaves.  It is hands down then best blue I’ve ever tasted.
  • Winnimere – Cow’s milk from Jasper Hill in Vermont (made seasonally – Nov-April).  Washed with lambic-style beer and wrapped in strip of spruce bark cut, it has a fantastic woodsy taste.
  • Wabash Cannonball – Goat’s milk cheese from Capriole Farm in Indiana.  It has 3 layers of goodness, the last being a rind of gorgeous ash and mold.
  • Little Martha – Salty cow’s milk from Flat Creek Lodge in Swainsboro, GA; named by Star Provisions after the Allman Brothers’ song.
  • Potter’s Crackers – Hazelnut Graham
  • Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Bar – Dark with Salt and Pepper

Did anyone else’s stomach just growl?

There are all TOTALLY different cheeses… but if I were forced to choose a favorite it would be the Cannonball.  The layers added so much to the complexity.  It’s like nothing I’ve had before.

Mom!  Which is your fav?!

***

I’m running to a meeting, so the Mother’s Day Brunch review is coming tomorrow!

What do you find to be the most effective ab exercise? Do you plank?

What is your favorite cheese?

What I Ate Wednesday

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Jenn @ Peas and Crayons hosts a weekly event called “What I Ate Wednesday.”

 

Basically, you post the foods you ate any day of the week.  It’s a fun way to see what others are creating and share your own concoctions!

 

Below is what I ate Tuesday (obviously not today since it’s barely Wednesday).  It was a fun day… one of my snacks involved picking out my mom’s Mother’s Day gift!  Mamma occasionally stops by the blog, so that will have to remain the “mystery snack” for now! 🙂

 

Breakfast:

Mocha-Banana Shake

  • 1/2 dark chocolate EAS (protein drink – you could sub milk + cocoa or chocolate milk)
  • 1 scoop cookies & cream protein powder (GNC)
  • 1 tsp maca
  • 1/2 C coffee
  • Banana
  • 1 C spinach
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Sprinkle of guar gum

 

Blend and slurp it up!  Topped it with a chocolate-carrot muffin mini that I’m still working on perfecting.

 

I’m definitely doing this again – it was the first time I used my leftover coffee in a shake and I loved the addition!


Lunch:

I made this Big Green Salad a few weeks ago and didn’t post it – arugula, spinach, and cucumber with oven-roasted shallots, asparagus, artichokes, and edamame.

What I actually had was a blah salad from the work cafeteria topped with over-cooked grilled chicken.  It was over-riced and not worth a pic.

Snacks:

I love these Think Thin mini-bars.  They are a great mid-afternoon chocolate-fix with 6g protein and 0g sugar.

 

A handful of walnuts…

dipped in …

Doesn’t everyone dip their nuts in nut butter?!  My walnuts went fabulously with my homemade Spiced Almond Butter.

***Insert mystery snack here***

 

Dinner:

Mexican Scramble

  • 1/2 C egg whites
  • 2/3 C Mexican Smart Ground “beef”
  • 2 T shallots
  • 1 small jalapeno
  • Cumin, coriander, S+P (to taste)

Saute the shallots and jalapeno.  Add “beef” to pan and saute 5-6 mins.  Season to taste, remove from pan, and set aside.  Place egg whites in pan and cook halfway (~1-2 mins on med heat).  Add “beef” mixture back to pan, stir into egg, and continue cooking until eggs are just done.

 

My scramble was served over a bed of spinach and topped with Mamma Pea’s aptly-named Mmmm Sauce.  With a side of carrot sticks.

“Fake” meat can be hit or miss.  I definitely eat it on occasion, and have tried out many different brands.  This one was pretty good!

 

Late-Night Snack:

 

I had a sample package of Cascadian Farm’s Cinnamon Crunch cereal from a race give-away that was calling my name.  It was a tasty dessert-snack with unsweetened almond milk.

 

Nightcap:

Yogi’s Kombucha Hot Tea.  Delish!

_______________________________________________________________________________________

What did all this tastiness fuel?

  • 30 mins of leg work this morning
  • 1 crazy work day
  • 40 mins of intervals this evening
  • 75 push ups

***

What did YOU eat?

Have you gotten your mom a Mother’s Day present yet?

Better not forget!


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