Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts
Saturday, October 13, 2012
A Year's Difference
The picture on the left was taken 4 months after Noah was born. The picture on the right was taken exactly one year later.
The difference is 141 miles and 20 pounds.
Normally, I hate pictures of myself, especially those where I'm not wearing makeup and have runner's hair. Yet, I'm proud of this picture. Yes, I still have a lot of work to do, but my ankles are smaller. My calves are stronger. My midsection isn't hanging over my waistband.
My goal for the next year? First and foremost, I need to rehab my meniscus tear. I'd also be okay with another 20 pound weight loss.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Crispy Eggplant with Spicy Marinara and Feta
Ingredients
1 eggplant, about 1 lb, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp dry basil
2 cups marinara
1 cup feta cheese
Directions
1. Mix milk and eggs in a small bowl. Mix wheat germ, parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper in a second bowl.
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, then coat both sides in the wheat germ mixture.
3. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Eggplant should be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
4. Add red pepper to the marinara and warm over low medium heat.
5. Top eggplant with marinara and feta cheese.
Makes 4 servings.
Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Vegetarian Cooking for Today (1993).
1 eggplant, about 1 lb, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp dry basil
2 cups marinara
1 cup feta cheese
Directions
1. Mix milk and eggs in a small bowl. Mix wheat germ, parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper in a second bowl.
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, then coat both sides in the wheat germ mixture.
3. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Eggplant should be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
4. Add red pepper to the marinara and warm over low medium heat.
5. Top eggplant with marinara and feta cheese.
Makes 4 servings.
Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Vegetarian Cooking for Today (1993).
Friday, April 22, 2011
Strawberry Banana Spinach Smoothie
Lately, I’ve been hearing about Green Monsters. I must admit, I’m not a huge smoothie person, but I was curious. So, I got out the blender and gave the original Green Monster a go. It wasn’t bad. It definitely wasn’t good, but it wasn’t repulsive. Of course, the recipe made like 4 cups and I wasn’t about to chug it, so down the sink it went.This morning, I decided to tweak the recipe and give it another go.
YUM!!!
It made enough to for two cups and I had no problem drinking it all. You seriously can’t even taste the spinach in it. Plus, the health benefits are amazing. Spinach really is a superfood and since I’m not a fan of green leafies, it’s great to hide it in a drink. Even the kids love it! Anyways, here is the version I made this morning.
Strawberry Banana Spinach Smoothie
2 cups raw spinach
1 banana
1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup milk
1 cup ice
194 calories, 0g fat, 7 g protein, 42 g carbs, 6 g fiber
Vit A 119%
Vit C 102%
Vit D 13%
Vit E 7%
Vit K 363%
Thiamin 11%
Riboflavin 25%
Vit B6 34%
Folic Acid 41%
Vit B12 11%
Pantothenic Acid 9%
Calcium 22%
Iron 12%
Magnesium 27%
Phosphorus 17%
Potassium 33%
Sodium 4%
Zinc 3%
Copper 9%
Manganese 47%
Selenium 7%
You could easily add in some protein powder, different fruits, and some flax or other seeds for a dose of healthy fats. It's like having a salad for breakfast!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
P90X Results and Review
Jason and I started P90X 12 weeks ago and the results are in!
… But before I get to the cold hard numbers, I want to begin by saying that we didn’t follow the program. Not 100% anyways. Hell, probably not even 50%. P90X requires 6 workouts a week and a low-carb nutrition program. I never had any intentions of going low-carb as I’m still breastfeeding. The workouts were fun (and HARD), and I looked forward to most of them, but life happened. I probably shouldn’t have started the program with a newborn who wasn’t sleeping more than a few hours at a time. There were a lot of workouts that I was just too tired to start and I’m sure I wasn’t “bringing it” the way Tony Horton would have wanted. Then, we had two deaths in the family — one being Jason’s dad. Needless to say, with the stress and time involved dealing with everything, pushing play wasn’t at the top of our list. Add to that a couple of trips out of state and Jason’s work schedule drastically shifting…
We definitely didn’t do P90X the way it was intended.
I still saw results, even with my half-hearted attempt and I still recommend everyone try it. In fact, my brother and a couple friends are going to be starting P90X while I’m going through Round 2. Yes, I’m doing it again and hopefully this time, I can do the program right. I got pretty decent results doing about half the workouts so I’m dying to see what happens if I follow it all the way. (Still breastfeeding, so still no low-carb though.) As for my thoughts on the actual workouts:
Chest & Back — Lots of push-ups and pull-ups. A little dull, but the basics work.
Plyometrics — I love plyo. It’s hard. You’ll hurt the next day. But it’s fun and I’m sure it’s the reason why I’m running faster even though I haven’t been running nearly as much as I used to.
Shoulders and Arms — My delts and triceps are my favorite parts to work and it was really similar to my arm workout prior to P90X so I may be a bit biased, but I enjoyed it. My problem was not having enough different weights. My 8s were too light and my 15s were too heavy for most of the exercises.
Yoga – Eh. I still don’t like it (and I really love my other yoga dvds) and it tends to be the first dvd that gets skipped during the week.
Legs and Back — Sneaky lunges! Love the calf workout.
Kenpo — It’s fun, but not much of a calorie burn. You really have to push yourself if you want to get your heart rate up.
Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps — Confession here… I’ve only done this workout once. It was HARD. Like, too hard for me to even do half the reps. So, I went back to the Phase 1 dics. Of course, Jason LOVED this workout.
Back & Biceps — Never did it. Again, Jason preferred it over Phase 1.
I did leave out AbRipperX and Core Synergistics because I like to pretend they don’t exist. You know, I hate it, but I love it sort of thing. Overall, it’s a great system although the Classic program is a bit light on cardio. Tony is funny although after 90 days, his “Tony-isms” start to get a little old. I still want to punch Dreya Weber in the face. Karen pot-stirrers are amazing.
Okay, now on to the results.
Jason’s lost almost 10 lbs and 3% bodyfat.
I’ve lost over 13 lbs and almost 3% bodyfat. I’m down 2.5 inches off my waist, 2.5 inches off my hips, and over an inch off of each thigh. I haven’t taken my official final fit test, but as of month 2, I’m jumping higher and squating longer. I’ve more than doubled my push-ups and more than tripled my ab strength. I also doubled my bicep curls. (Keep in mind that all of this is without doing P90X every day.)
… But before I get to the cold hard numbers, I want to begin by saying that we didn’t follow the program. Not 100% anyways. Hell, probably not even 50%. P90X requires 6 workouts a week and a low-carb nutrition program. I never had any intentions of going low-carb as I’m still breastfeeding. The workouts were fun (and HARD), and I looked forward to most of them, but life happened. I probably shouldn’t have started the program with a newborn who wasn’t sleeping more than a few hours at a time. There were a lot of workouts that I was just too tired to start and I’m sure I wasn’t “bringing it” the way Tony Horton would have wanted. Then, we had two deaths in the family — one being Jason’s dad. Needless to say, with the stress and time involved dealing with everything, pushing play wasn’t at the top of our list. Add to that a couple of trips out of state and Jason’s work schedule drastically shifting…
We definitely didn’t do P90X the way it was intended.
I still saw results, even with my half-hearted attempt and I still recommend everyone try it. In fact, my brother and a couple friends are going to be starting P90X while I’m going through Round 2. Yes, I’m doing it again and hopefully this time, I can do the program right. I got pretty decent results doing about half the workouts so I’m dying to see what happens if I follow it all the way. (Still breastfeeding, so still no low-carb though.) As for my thoughts on the actual workouts:
Chest & Back — Lots of push-ups and pull-ups. A little dull, but the basics work.
Plyometrics — I love plyo. It’s hard. You’ll hurt the next day. But it’s fun and I’m sure it’s the reason why I’m running faster even though I haven’t been running nearly as much as I used to.
Shoulders and Arms — My delts and triceps are my favorite parts to work and it was really similar to my arm workout prior to P90X so I may be a bit biased, but I enjoyed it. My problem was not having enough different weights. My 8s were too light and my 15s were too heavy for most of the exercises.
Yoga – Eh. I still don’t like it (and I really love my other yoga dvds) and it tends to be the first dvd that gets skipped during the week.
Legs and Back — Sneaky lunges! Love the calf workout.
Kenpo — It’s fun, but not much of a calorie burn. You really have to push yourself if you want to get your heart rate up.
Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps — Confession here… I’ve only done this workout once. It was HARD. Like, too hard for me to even do half the reps. So, I went back to the Phase 1 dics. Of course, Jason LOVED this workout.
Back & Biceps — Never did it. Again, Jason preferred it over Phase 1.
I did leave out AbRipperX and Core Synergistics because I like to pretend they don’t exist. You know, I hate it, but I love it sort of thing. Overall, it’s a great system although the Classic program is a bit light on cardio. Tony is funny although after 90 days, his “Tony-isms” start to get a little old. I still want to punch Dreya Weber in the face. Karen pot-stirrers are amazing.
Okay, now on to the results.
Jason’s lost almost 10 lbs and 3% bodyfat.
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