Week 3 of Me This week didn’t go 100% as planned but allowing flexibility in my routine has become important. It’s easy for me to become “obsessed” about not missing a workout. But I know that becoming obsessed over my workout results in a lack …
I don’t think I could ever get too much soup, it’s one of those things I could eat every day during the cold winter months. I’ve learned so much about the different benefits of eating beans and cabbage, garlic and onions, peas and lentils, and …
I’m learning to love pushing myself past my own expectations again. Boot camp at the gym was such a driving force before because I wanted to compete with whoever it was next to meet busting out push ups too. Having signed up for a Spartan Race again, maybe helping me want to push harder also. Only downside is my hand is bothering me again, makes push ups and burpees a little tough(er). I just do them on my fists instead of my palms though. Enough whining right, get onto the workout stuff!
Day 8: Total Body
One minute of Bosu burpees was good stuff! Basically you hold your Bosu ball through out the whole burpee process. Being in the plank with the Bosu ball worked the stabilizer muscles in my shoulders as I did the push up, soo good, and sooo needed! After this workout I also included some foam rolling to help loosed up my hip flexors and lower back. I’ll have to share a how to video on that soon.
Day 9: Chest & Back
I’m loving my TRX and Bosu time lately, only problem I’m starting to realize is that it’s hard to do the fly’s in my hallway. I ended up doing a Y shape instead of the traditional fly, still worked my targeted area, just a bit differently and other muscles also. I ended up having to play taxi so I ended up skipping the run, I’ll be including more running on next weeks schedule.
Day 10: Leg Day
Maybe all the burpees I’ve included is what has my hand acting up angry. After one round my legs were feeling this, I used weights when I did the sumo squat with the calf raise and my calves were finally sore.
Day 11: Core & Shoulders
My cardio of choice for today was to hop on the treadmill at 6.0 and run. I was out of breath! It’s funny the simplest movements, were actually the hardest ones today. My kids have been grossed out for days because of the sweat drops on my bench after doing the bunny hops. I have yet to wipe it down because if it keeps them off of it, I’d rather keep my equipment in good condition, wish I could say the same about my pull up bar. 🙁
Day 12: Arm Day
After last weeks lack of soreness, I pushed hard this time. You may want to skip this routine if you’re no looking for bulk in your arms, or at least use lighter weights. When doing different movements that target the same initial area you are creating cross tears in your muscle and making them larger. That’s why when you see guys bulking up at the gym they are doing all different kinds of bicep curls to make big guns son! #SOsore
Day 13: Leg Day
Can you tell how this workout went down by the shade of my face?!? It may not have been a total leg workout but my legs were done, when I was done. I wish I’d have gotten some lunges in there. Overall though, it was good to get the extra cardio in with the run time. I ended up getting a little over two miles in on the treadmill.
Day 14: REST DAY!
It was such a nice day out. I highly recommend taking your workout outside whenever you can. The fresh air does a body good. Even better when you have good company. <3
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Procrastinator is my middle name, disorganized is my second middle name… Ever since I finished my first Spartan Race I wanted more from fitness, like to be able to help people with their fitness goals. Two years later I decided I wanted to be come …
Yup, it’s that time again. Goal setting, new commitments, lifestyle changes. Hooray!!!Go big or go home right?!? Nope. Let me tell you why… (Unless you are that one in a million.) Change is hard! Change is even harder when you try to pile on 20 …
My family loves burger night. Have you ever had the Morning Star Farms Roasted Garlic and Quinoa burger patties? Those are my favorite pre-made burgers. I try to avoid soy where I can because my body doesn’t seem to like it much. I’m so glad to have found a simple recipe to make my own soy free burger. I really enjoy trying new recipes and this was one, that I tweaked to make my own. So yummy!
You can do all sorts of toppings on your burgers, as you can see I went with guacamole. It’s funny, I’m not big on avocado, I know it’s good for me so I try to eat it regularly. The more I eat it, the less I dislike it. I think the guacamole pairs nicely because it’s got such a creamy flavor to go with the little bit of kick of the jalapeño and lime. As a vegan, it’s super important to get those healthy fats in there because they help keep you satiated, if you’ve ever had a salad for a meal you know what I’m talking about. Seems like a salad doesn’t stick around for long if it’s just straight up veggies. The healthy fats of nuts or avocado helps it hang out a while longer because it takes your stomache acid longer to break down your food, protein works the same way. Hence me trying harder to like the green wonder food!
Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers with a Zesty Jalapeño Sauce
Zesty Jalapeño Sauce:
Burger Patties:
Zesty Jalapeño Sauce: In a small bowl combine vegannaise, lime juice, zest, jalapeno, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste; mix well. Refrigerate if not serving soon. Makes ½ cup.
Burgers: Measure ½ cup black beans and set aside. Place remaining black beans in processor and process until pureed. Add the green onions, red bell pepper, cilantro, quinoa, flaxegg, garlic, salsa, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste; process until well-combined. Remove to a medium bowl and stir in the reserved black beans. Taste and adjust seasonings. Form into 4 patties.
In a shallow bowl, mix together the cumin and cornmeal. Dredge the patties in the mixture. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet and saute the burgers, two at a time, until golden and slightly crispy. Repeat with remaining burgers using the last tablespoon of oil.
Tip: If you don’t like the bitter taste of quinoa, try rinsing it before cooking to help get rid of the earthy flavor.
Troy decided to watch “What the Health?” again this weekend and it got me thinking about our diet. I was actually cooking while he was watching it but my ears were perked the whole time. I’ve been preparing vegan food in our house for almost …
I remember eating the pumpkin seeds after carving pumpkins every year as a kid. When my kids were little, I had tried making them a few times with no success. I think the problem was that I kept using oil. After hunting through recipes, I …
This little guy flew right under me as I was trying to take photos of the flowers in my yard.
One of my favorite things to do is watch the birds. My favorite is the hummingbird, with the blue jays coming in a close second. It’s just fascinating how fast those little hummingbirds can flap their wings. I love that I can hear them coming. Then there’s the silly jays. They crack me up because when I fill up the bird feeders in front of my house, they fling out the little seeds just so they can reach the sunflower seeds. You’d think I’d learn and buy a big bag of sunflower seeds for them! 🌻
As I was eating my breakfast this morning, which included seeded bread I came to a realization, that’s why I decided to share about the importance of seeds in our diets.
There are plenty of seeds out there; hemp seeds, flaxseeds, and chia seeds, to name a few of my favorite. All three of those have plenty of benefits, that’s part of why I include them in my diet. Today my focus is going to be on flaxseeds.
Flaxseeds
There is a regular (brownish) flaxseed, I just decided to get the golden one because it looks pretty when I bake with it. Such fancy little seeds! They are sort of like little golden nuggets, if you consider the amount of health packed into them. Omega-3s, protein, tryptophan and fiber, to name a few. As a vegan and a fitnut, I consider my omegas and protein to be very important ingredients because I’m not getting those from animals. We all know that fiber is good for bowel health, so I won’t talk about that. The ingredient that is most fascinating to me is the tryptophan because it’s something I’ve recently learned about.
Depression is something I deal with seasonally and I got to go through a depression/anxiety recovery program earlier this year. I never realized how much our mental health is tied up with the foods we eat! Tryptophan is an amino acid that helps us make serotonin, which helps stabilize our moods. Tryptophan is in a number of different foods but these tiny seeds have one of the biggest bangs for your buck!
How Do You Prepare Them?
Back to the birds, they have tiny little beaks that break seeds down so they can eat them. If you’ve ever had a pet bird you know that they eat the inside and leave the shell, much like us with sunflower seeds at a baseball game, or everywhere if you’re my oldest son!
Our bodies are not built to digest flaxseed left whole, just like corn, 🙈 they come out whole. That means all the awesome nutrition is wasted. (That was my realization this morning, most of the seeds on my toast were wasted!) We of course don’t have beaks, but we can use a blender or even a coffee grinder! You can also buy the seeds already ground up. I opt for whole because they are cheaper. I also buy mine in the bulk section and store them in my freezer until I’m ready to grind them up. They stay fresh that way, just like nuts. After I grind them up I’ll keep them in an air tight jar in the fridge for easy access. I try to utilize them in my diet every day, the family too.
All Ground Up, Now What?
There are quite a few ways to utilize the seeds. Throw them into a smoothie, toss it into a salad, sprinkle it on cereal. My FAVORITE way to use flaxseed is as an egg replacement in baked goods. Yes, eggs have omega-3s and protein BUT they also have cholesterol and no fiber, so I call the flax-egg winning!
Flax-Egg Recipe:
Mix and set aside to get “slimy” for a few minutes before using in your favorite baking recipe.
Now get out there and flax it up!
Due to the fact that I’m sort of a self proclaimed jack of all trades, you could be here for any number of reasons. Whatever it is, I’m glad you’re here!