Step It Up

I’ve been a little lacking in the “sharing of fitness” department lately, and I really need to remedy that.So…
Want a workout that will make you lose weight in no time flat?

Me too. When you find it, please send it my way.

But seriously, what I do have to offer is a workout that will get your whole body moving, your muscles sore, and the sweat pouring out of you. The best part is, all you need is a park bench of some kind. My bootcamp utilized some picnic tables. If you happen to own a workout bench or step up box, even better!

Where there’s a will, there’s a way…

Throw this circuit into your routine and feel the burn. You’ll be cursing my name as you climb the stairs.

I don’t care, as long as you’re screaming it

Flab Blasting Circuit

Give me three sets. Then, and only then, can you collapse.

We’ll start off easy: step ups.
15 reps starting right.
15 reps starting left.

Mountain climbers! Instead of your forearms, your hands will be on the bench with a slight bend in the elbow; this gets more of the body engaged.
15 reps

This one is a two-parter: Side Step Up and Twist.
Begin by stepping up sideways on a bench, keeping the core tight and lifting from the butt

As you continue to stand, straighten the supporting leg. Pull the other up as you bend it, about waist height, and twist the opposite elbow to meet the knee.
15 reps starting right.
15 reps starting left.

Time for some sexy shoulders; decline push ups!
Give me 15 to start. If it’s too difficult, go down to 10, then 8.
If it’s no problem, stay at 15 or increase to 20, then 25.

Now for the scary part: Box Jumps.
Get your feet nice and wide, and bend those knees!
Don’t swing your arms; instead, engage your quads, glutes and hamstrings to propel yourself up.
Start at 20 reps.
Too hard? Do 15, then 10.
Feel good? Do 25.

For more great at-home workouts, I urge you to check out Body Rock.

If you are unfamiliar with it, it is a whole bunch of free online workout videos taught by a REALLY hot and RIPPED chick. I am in awe of her. Seriously.

Hope everyone has a good weekend! I’ll be giving some life changing updates next week, so stay tuned

Move Over Trader Joe’s

Halfway through training of my new job and I’m loving it so far. Learning a lot about the biomechanics of the foot, and running in general, as well as flexing my customer service skills.

I also had the pleasure on Tuesday to interview Adam Bornstein, the editor of Livestrong.com, former editor of Men’s Health, & all-around hilarious and attractive fitness writer/researcher.

To learn more, visit his website, facebook, or follow him on twitter. He’s got some amazing things to say, and next to Ashley Borden, he’s probably my favorite interview we’ve done to this point.

Instead of going hard again at the gym yesterday before work, I decided to clean around the boy’s apartment and then swim. I suck SO HARD at swimming, but I think I’m getting better… googles would probably help. My back and arms are strong but my legs get so freaking tired. I don’t understand how this is possible given that I bike everywhere, but whatevs.

Speaking of biking… so as I’ve said, I’ve been biking for about 8 months now. But I’m still ALWAYS sore! My quads burn, my hips ache, and there are days when I really think I can’t do it.

Well on my way back from work yesterday I decided to raise the seat about 1.5 inches. WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. Even though it’s now terrifying to stop because my legs are so short and I can just barely get to the ground, I now have a full extension in my leg so ALL of my muscles are helping me pedal rather than just my upper quad which was making my hips tight and putting a lot of pressure on my knee.

I rewarded my revelation at Republic of Pie…

coconut milk latte, extra hot

Last night’s dinner was half a salad from Panera, as I had to grab a couple of interviews for the doc. Made for a long day!

Woke up this morning trained a client (basically it was bootcamp with one camper, but saying client makes me feel official), then relaxed with a liquid breakfast…

water, coffee and a pumpkin spice smoothie

In the office today, one more CLIENT this evening, and then the boy and I are going to make CHEESE! Fun, right?

Story time…

Don’t worry. this leads to food.

So the boy and I are adorable and do grocery shopping together, and try to plan meals for the week. Sometimes we have a plan ahead of time and sometimes we make it up in the store. This time was the latter. Trader Joe’s happened to be sampling this enchilada bake that was supposed to be super simple if you used their tortillas, pre-cooked chicken, bottled enchilada sauce and pre-shredded cheese. I liked it, the boy dug it, but I just can’t be buying all this pre-made stuff when I know I can do it better.

True, the whole point of Trader Joe’s is that they don’t put weird preservatives into their packaged foods, but still; soybean oil is quite unnecessary in enchilada sauce, chicken does not take long to cook, and I don’t want flour tortillas when I know they’ll make my stomach swell up like a balloon.

So after a day of bootcamps and filming interviews, I biked over and whipped this baby up in no time flat, served with a salad topped with salsa, and even had some wine. Life is good.

Gluten-Free Chicken Enchilada Bake

Ingredients

• 1lb organic, free range chicken breast (if you’re a snob like me)
• 4 gluten free tortillas (I used Estilo A Mano – Organic Corn Tortillas), or enough to cover the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish
• 4 oz. shredded monterey jack cheese (I used Trader Joe’s organic, grass fed)
• 1.5 cups enchilada sauce
  • 2 T whole milk
  • 1.5 cups chicken broth
  • handful of onion, chopped
  • 1 serrano pepper, seeded and diced
  • 3 T olive oil
  • 6oz. tomato paste
  • palmful ancho chili powder
  • palmful garlic powder
  • half palmful cumin
  • half palmful oregano
  • salt/pepper
    • Cook serrano pepper and onion in 3 T olive oil until soft. Add remaining ingredients and whisk together on medium heat until hot. Blend with an immersion blender if you have picky eaters who won’t eat whole peppers and onions (sigh).

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cover the bottom of a 13x9inch pan with your tortillas. Cut in half and rotate around if you need to. Cut chicken into chunks and sautee with salt and pepper until cooked through. Spread evenly over your tortillas. Pour on enchilada sauce. Sprinkle your cheese. Bake in the oven until cheese is bubbly; about 10-12 minutes.

Making A Comeback

So I even though in my porn post I said I wouldn’t stop posting food pictures completely, I kinda stopped taking them for my own mental health reasons, and thereby had none to post.

I’m happy to report to you that I’m slowly climbing back on the bandwagon.

Maybe it’s because I’m starting a new job and times they are a’changin?

Whatever it is, I have a post filled with yummy pics and recipes, all while still recapping my day; fun right?!

So yesterday I got to sleep in a bit. I’m training for my new job, but didn’t have to be there until noon, so I enjoyed a pre-workout pumpkin smoothie…

pumpkin smoothie: 1 cup carrot juice, 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1 tsp molasses, handful spinach, handful ice, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

I put in a solid two hour workout since I had the time… reminded me of the good ole college days. 1 hour resistance training (including heavy lifting), 1 hour cardio, lots of sweat.

Did my squats, some power cleans to press, bench press and other random arm stuff. Realized my rear delts are starting to over-develop in comparison to my front delts and chest, so my shoulders are constantly forced into a slouch… working on that.

Then put in 50 minutes of interval training on the elliptical. I’m a huge fan of the “cross country” circuit which will change not only the incline and resistance, but will also tell you to switch up between forward and backward.

After my workout it was time for lunch.

Gluten-free buffalo chicken pizza, mixed green salad, green apple, water in my spiffy bottle, and also some pumpkin spice coffee (not pictured)

Ate over at the Coffee Bean, where they brewed me a fresh pot of pumpkin spice even though they don’t normally serve it after 11. I’m spoiled.

The pizza was left over from the night before and is super easy to make… we just bought the Udi’s frozen gluten free pizza, but I recommend making your own from a gluten free dough mix (we have before) as it was kinda meh.

For the toppings, we doctored up some regular tomato sauce, sauteed up some chicken breast in salt and pepper, thinly sliced some Trader Joe’s mozzarella, I added a handful of chopped spinach, then we doused the top in Frank’s… and after about 10 minutes at 425, healthy buffalo chicken pizza is made!

Training went well… did some modules, studied the foot, had MY foot studied (I’ve been wearing the wrong sneakers for running) and took some inventory.

After that I biked back towards the boy’s apartment, but studied at Republic of Pie while he got his workout in.

today’s bootcamp circuit, my ACE flashcards and an almond milk latte

Love Republic of Pie because they have almond milk… but THEN saw after I ordered that they also offer coconut and hazelnut milk! If that wasn’t enough, they are also now offering Stumptown Coffee!!!! Next time for sure.

Speaking of beverages, tried this brand over the weekend…

Some car/van thing was actually handing these out in Portland while we were there. I tried the diet green tea, and the unsweetened English tea. I definitely preferred the unsweetened, though the tea flavor in both of them could be a lot stronger.

Finally, I bring you the best part of this post, and being that it’s National Burger Day, it’s all too appropriate…

Pulled Pork Burger

Those of you on the west coast might have seen the Carl’s Jr. commercial of the two hot chicks fighting for grill space and creating this monstrosity known as the “Memphis BBQ Burger.” However, I don’t eat at Carl’s Jr, and quite frankly don’t even like BBQ very much, but the boy wanted to make a healthy-ish version, so we gave it a go.

We bought grass fed beef and the Trader Joe’s pulled pork. Yes, if we’d made our own pulled pork with a low/no-sugar BBQ sauce it would have been even healthier, but we were also trying to save some time. I made my own crispy onions…

• onions, very thinly sliced
• milk/egg wash
• 2 T breadcrumbs
• 2 T gluten free flour
• salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

toss lightly in olive oil and bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes or until brown and crispy

I lightly toasted a gluten free hamburger bun. Put on a perfectly grilled patty with melted organic monterey jack cheese on top. Added a scoop of pork. Sprinkled on some onions. May have added a few dashes of hot sauce for good measure. And finally, devoured.

I’ve never been much for pulled pork, but this was DAMN good. Still not the healthiest of meals, but definitely a much better option than the fast food counterpart.

Still had enough macros left for a glass of wine and some chocolate to round out my meal. It was a very good day of eating.

What are you doing for National Burger Day?