Monday, March 5, 2012

Ab workout #1...all by myself (and SHAPE).

Monday... check! Bring on the rest of the week please!

For Breakfast: 
Peanut butter toast and a banana...with some agave nectar! 
 I needed something quick and easy because I was studying for a Medical Nutrition Therapy Exam all morning ...glad to knock that out! 

After my classes were done I was ready to hit the gym and carry out my monthly resolution to do resistance/ strength training/ abs (basically anything but cardio) at the gym ON. MY. OWN (big deal for me). 

For the inspiration: 


For my abs workout:

1.     Planks: Center, Left, and Right  @ 60 seconds each
2.     pline Ride 2x @ 25 reps
a.     Elevate legs at 45 degree angle and crunch
3.     Weighted Bicycle 2x @ 25 reps
a.      How to do it: Start lying on your back with both knees bent. Extend your arms overhead, bending your left arm behind your head and holding onto your right arm, just above your elbow, with your left hand. Bend your right knee and press your right foot on the inside of your extended left leg (left leg should be off the floor and low). Lift your right shoulder off the floor and turn it in towards your left leg, while you lift both legs up about 45 degrees. Lower back to start position, that’s one rep. Perfrom 15 reps on each side.
4.     Plank pikes 2x @ 20 Reps
a.     Start in a straight arm plank and jump in ward
5.     Seated Leg U’s 2 x @ 20 reps
a.      How to do it: Start seated, facing your bent knees. Place both hands on the floor just behind your hips, and lean back to pick both feet up off the floor, keeping knees bent. Next, lean further back, bending your elbows to the floor and extend your legs further away from your body, while tracing a letter ‘U’ with your bent knees. Try to lean back so that your elbows touch the floor at the bottom of your ‘U’, and then sit up as you finish it. That’s one rep. Repeat 20 times total.
I learned these moves from: 10 Flat ab moves from shape.com!

For the rest of the week:  Pinterest teaches 10 ways to love. LOVE IT :) 








Friday, March 2, 2012

Procrastination Chef

I decided to take the night to catch up on school work and and try some new recipes...

First experiment:
Kale chips
Ingredients:
1/2 bunch kale
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp Mr Dash
1 Tsp red pepper (if you like things hot!)


Preheat oven to 350 F. wash and de-steam kale. Dry kale and toss in the oil and seasoning. Then spread the kale evenly on a flat baking sheet covered with foil. Bake for 25-30 minutes! You'll love the result!

Second Experiment...

Buckwheat Flour coconut muffins

Now this recipe was much more of an experiment because I was attempting to make Lemon Blueberry Buckwheat Bakes until I realized I was missing a few ingredients!! (including a medium sized baking dish) The result= 3 interesting muffins!

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup Buckwheat flour
 1/4 cup egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup frozen berries
1 Tbsp coconut shreds
2 Tbsp skim milk
1 Tbsp flax seed (ground)
1 Tbsp honey

Preheat the oven to 375. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in the other. Then mix them together until just combined! I'll have to play with the proportions if I like these Muf's at breakfast time because right now the ingredients make an awkward 3 muffins!

...Ok time to actually get my work done.


Thursday, March 1, 2012

My March Goals!

It's a new month (national nutrition month YAY), leading into a new season, filled with lots of new opportunities! I love March because the days get longer which means I can run outside :)  The weather gets warmer = no more heavy jackets (hopefully)... I hate carrying jackets all day. And the new season brings new "in season foods"...

some of my favorite March produce includes:

Grapefruit
Asparagus 
Beets 
Spinach 

I was recently inspired by a blog I read http://eat-spin-run-repeat.com/ because each month Angela comes up with new goals and then evaluates them at the end of the month. While I am always creating new goals  I thought blogging about them is a really cool way to keep yourself accountable and why not start with March?!

My March Goals:


Nutrition goals: 
 1. Write about 3 "Nutrition in the News" topics.

... I'm always reading/ skimming/ learning about nutrition topics but when I write about them I really think about the issue and remember it PLUS I get share it with people who may not be aware of what's going on!


Fitness goals

1. Run in one official race, 5k, 10k...

doesn't matter! I love running in races but I have yet to run one this year mainly because I am to indecisive to sign up! SO now I'm deciding I want to run one this month period!

2.  Do two "on my own" strength training workouts a week...

I love running. I love running ALOT, so naturally when I go to the gym I work up a big running sweat and then I'm ready to leave. Knowing this about myself I take lots of  classes like body pump and body sculpt to get in my strength training. BUT I'm perfectly capable to strength train on my own  and just need to get in the habit!

Foodie Goals


1. Try two new dinner recipes...

I love breakfast ALMOST as much as I love running (hence "up early") so i'm always creating new breakfast wonders. However, by the end of the day I've used up my energy and foodie motivation which results in only a few easy go-to easy dinners.  This month I want to increase my dinner world and try at least 2 new recipes hopefully incorporating some in season produce!

Organization Goals


1. Clean my car...vacum her, wash her, the whole bit! 


I'm one of those strange people who names their car and refers to it as a person #noshame. My cars name is Chloe :) My friend Charlene told me that if I name my car it'll work better for me so I chose to believe that and now my car and I are great friends... BUT she's not clean right now and I feel bad so she needs a good cleaning.

...Ok I think that's good for now. I don't want to overwhelm myself :)

Any new goals this month?!