Sweat It Out.

Hey friends,

Hope everyone is having a fabulous day and not eating any processed junk food.  I had my regular peanut butter protein mix for breakfast along with a couple cups of coffee (which just happen to go perfectly together). I would consider myself a fairly heavy coffee drinker, and until recently I was just drinking whatever  was the most cost effective. Lucky me, one of the families I work for on occasion own a coffee shop,JavaVino, here in Atlanta. They were kind enough to hook me up with a couple of bags of deliciousness. I didn't know what I was missing out on.  If you're in the area I recommend stopping in for a cup or three. Here's the link to their website. Their locally owned, and from the looks of it, offer a nice selection of wine and eatables as well.

Back to business.

Today I did this 300 rep workout. As I mentioned in the last post; I do not possess all of the equipment that Zuzana uses in some of her workouts so I just improvise, and sub in alternate exercises. If you've got the whole set up available to you then HECK YES! But for a poor person like muah this works just fine for now.

Here's Zuzana showing you how it's done. Click the link above to give you the whole workout breakdown.

My substitutions went like this:

I subbed in 30 sumo burpees (per Annie Frankenstein) in place of the pull ups, which are number 6 in the workout breakdown. And 30 leg lift star crunch butt lifts for the hanging knee raises, which are number 8.

Sumo burpees are great. And, like all burpees in general, are going to work your entire body. Click here to see how they're done. There are going to be 10 different types of burpees in that link. Feel free to pick whichever one you like the best. I stuck with the sumo because you're doing two push ups each time for a total of 60 if you complete all 30 sets.

The leg lift star crunch butt lifts look like this 

There you have it, folks.If you don't have a sandbag for the one arm swings just throw a few books inside of a backpack and do it up. A free weight or plate works fine too.

Hope you guys decide to jump on the train if you're not already aboard. Even if you think you're too tired or don't have enough time there is always something you can fit in your daily routine to help improve your health and happiness. Even if working out is that last thing you want to do that day I bet you'll feel great afterwards if you just make yourself do it.

Happy sweating.

This Soup Is Blowing My Mind Right Now

This one.

It's one of those soups that I had to put away in the refrigerator immediately or I may risk destroying the whole pot.  Not owning a microwave makes binge reheating a lot more inconvenient, so I'm glad to be lacking. Anyway, let me tell you about this soup. It's a variation of a recipe I found here.

Mind Blowing Coconut Curry Black Eyed Pea Soup With Carrots. BOOM!

-I soaked a little more than 1 cup of dried black eyed peas all afternoon. Maybe a large cans worth in the end.

-3 carrots diced pretty fine

-1/2 can coconut milk

-1/2 can diced tomatoes

-1 and half Tablespoons curry powder. (I used a lemon curry I found recently and it was very delicious)

-1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

-salt and pepper 

-4 cups water and one Not Chick'n or 4 cups stock

If you're using dried beans go ahead and cook them up most of the way in the 4 cups of water, then add everything else, and let it hang out on the stove simmering for like 30 minutes and, presto! There you have it. The original recipe calls for it to hang out in the crock pot for a bunch hours and brags of how much more delicious it is after its got a chance to meld. Unfortunately, I'm not lucky enough to have a crock pot so you gotta do what you gotta do. Right! 

I'm sure it's going to be fabulous at work tomorrow. I'll probably make this one of my regulars. I get attached to soups like that. 

Ugly and Delicious

Hey Friends,

How goes it? It's a rainy day here in Georgia. I stayed pretty busy yesterday, so I didn't have time to post anything. This is the workout I did yesterday. It's a great one. Only 22 minutes long. I've been really enjoying the commando push ups, so I'm glad there was some of those in there.

Here's Zuzana showing you how it's done. 

I love how short these workouts are and how hard they really blast you. I always feel like a million bucks when I'm done. Clink on the link above to get a breakdown of the whole workout so you can do it with me. You'll be glad you did. 

This is what I made that had to do with a Britney Spears chia head.

It's kind of ugly but it's really delicious. In fact, the first time I ever made it I was quite shocked at how good it was. And you get the benefits from it being raw and super simple to make.

Chia Pudding

-2 Tablespoons chia seeds

-1/2 cup soy milk (I used coconut this past time and didn't like it as well) or you can use whatever milk you want.

-1 or 2 Tablespoons of raisins depending how sweet you want it

-a short hit of honey if you feel like it

-couple pinches of cinnamon 

-dash of salt

-BOOM!

I like to put all ingredients EXCEPT for the chia seeds in the blender and give it a whirl for a minute, until the raisins are good and chopped. Pour this over your bowl of chia seeds. Let it hang out on the counter for about 15. Top it with a banana, or a berry, or nothing at all, then have at it. 

I love this and it keeps you full for a while since they're so awesome and stuff.

Ahhhhhhh!

I'm glad to have another lazy Sunday. I turned my phone off and slept in as late as I could. It was a nice break from my usual early start. 

I just made some coffee and a concoction out of my latest obsession.

Maple syrup, cocoa powder, coconut, pecans

I just found out how delicious these things are together last night. This is how I ate it then. Just kind of rolling the pecans around in everything and eating it like the most delicious treat. This morning I got fancy with a banana. 

CocoaBananaPecanDream

I just sliced a banana, drizzled pure maple syrup over them, then got crazy with the cocoa powder and coconut. Top it with the pecans and mix it up so it's not pretty anymore, and go to town. This could get dangerous.

Later on I'm going to do this workout. I know there are some moves in there that involve some equipment that I do not have, so if you're lacking too you can come back later to see what I swapped them out for. 

Hope you guys have a super delicious day. Thanks for reading!

 

Stuff It

It's turned out to be a beautiful day here in Atlanta. Hopefully tomorrow will prove to be the same so I can get some more yard work done. My efforts to plant a garden need a bit more, uhhhh.....effort.

I have a vision of cutting back food costs dramatically by growing my own. My backyard looks like Eden in my head. It's just finding the time and energy to make that come to life. I can do it. Especially if the weather will stay somewhat consistent. I can especially do it if my good friend will continue on this as a team effort with me (you know who you are. Are you reading this?)

I've got an early start scheduled for tomorrow. Sitting on some kids for a few hours starting at 8:00 a.m., then oil change for the Super Prev, and then I plan on going to the butcher shop and picking up some hunks of meat. I wanna start feeding my dogs some real wild animal type food. I think they'll appreciate that, and since we're such good friends I think that they deserve it. Why am I feeding myself so well and then turning around and making my best pals eat a bunch of garbage? It doesn't make any sense.

Anyway.

Tonight I made these.

Wooooooo, doggy!

I ate the smaller yellow one on the left tonight, and I'll probably dig into the big orange one tomorrow. It was really delicious and filling. Not the original tofu and peanut sauce I had considered, but hey, still good.

Black Bean and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

-1 cup black beans. (Maybe more. I had some dried ones that I left soaking while I was at work and you may have picked up that I've not mastered the art of measurement)

-1/2 an onion sliced and diced

-2 fat cloves of garlic minced

-1/4 cup uncooked quinoa (I did actually measure that)

-1 and a half Tbs chili powder

-1 tsp cumin

-2 bell peppers

-1 tomato diced

-cayenne to your liking. Won't take much.

Preheat your oven to 400

If you're using dried beans go ahead and cook them up. 

While thats going, cook your onion and garlic in some olive oil for a minute or two then add your quinoa plus 1/2 cup of water.

Let that cook for 10 minutes then mix in beans, tomato, and your spices. Salt and pepper that stuff, maybe hit it with some Texas Pete, cut the tops off your peppers, and spoon on in your mix.

I set mine on a piece of foil and folded up the edges so I could put a little water at the base of the peppers. You can do the same in a baking dish. 

Cook those suckers up for about 45 minutes and BOOM! There you go. You could probably stuff 3 or 4 peppers with the beans and quinoa mix, but I like to just have some as a bed on the side. If you're into eating dairy products I'm sure some cheese would be just grand mixed in there with everything. 

I'm really glad I went with the orange and yellow peppers and not boring old green. They're a bit sweet and really added a great flavor. 

 

Hope you enjoyed this recipe. 

Tomorrow morning I'm going make something that has to do with this. It's going to be good. 

That's right.

Thanks for reading, friends. Stay tuned.

Pollinated

The pollen has taken over the town here in Atlanta, Georgia. Everything is covered in yellow dust, including my pants after working out on the porch this morning. I finished this workout in 43 minutes and 13 seconds. It was brutal and good. I don't have a sandbag so I've been using a 25lb plate that came with my backyard. I thought my arms were going to fall off towards the end. I had previously been using two 8lb weights inside of a backpack but decided to step up my game,and it was a bit awkward to throw around. I'm glad I made the switch. The 9lbs makes a huge difference. I feel like it's really ripping me up.

Click on the link above to give you a breakdown of the whole workout. There are no intervals in this one so it's pretty straight forward. Here's Zuzana showing you how it's done.

I've just been eating leftovers all day. I killed the last of the sweet potato and cabbage soup about three seconds ago. That's the only problem with delicious soup. I can't stop. I ate it three times today. My friend that I play music with and I have our very first photo shoot tonight so I won't be cooking anything. Send us great vibes of photogenic-tivity. 

For tomorrow I was thinking something with tofu and a peanut sauce with quinoa. I have some orange and yellow bell peppers in the fridge looking mighty tasty too. We'll see what happens. 

I'm gonna go bring in the laundry now before it gets over pollinated. Thanks for reading!

I love my clothes line. ...and my Load Hog.

Stop What's Stopping You

This past Thursday I celebrated St. Patrick's Day like I'm sure a lot of you did. I went out, consumed my fair share, then got reckless with a can of Chunky clam chowder and a bag of Doritos. The shame. Here I am; vegan and grain free shoveling my face like a 1989 version of Ricki Lake. It wasn't pretty.

I woke up still full and feeling disgusting. You know; when you can feel the alcohol draining from your pores. I felt like the fattest in fatland for two days afterward. It was awful. I felt like I had set myself back a week after one night of partying. And for what? Yeah, I had a good time. But was it worth canceling out hours of workouts and strict dedication. No. It wasn't. So I've decided to stop what's stopping me. I've decided to kick the booze.

For good? I don't know. I've made the decision not to drink alcohol for at least one month and see where it goes from there. I'm not a frequent heavy drinker to begin with so I don't feel like this decision will be too hard for me to follow through with. I usually confine my drinking to the weekend. Maybe going out on a Friday or Saturday night. Usually only one or two weeks a month. USUALLY. But after this past Thursday I took a long hard look at what I've achieved thus far and what was standing in the way of me reaching even further. One night of binge drinking a week is enough to sabotage anyones hard work. I'm down close to forty pounds, have slashed my body fat percentage to shreds, and I feel great. I'm not about to let myself start back peddling now. Sure, having a few drinks and partying the night away has the potential to be a lot of fun, but at this point in my life it's not worth it. Drinking leads to being drunk, which leads to being hungry, which leads to waking up on a strange couch surrounded with empty Ding-Dong wrappers and a thinned out wallet. NO MORE!

So....the point of this is; find out what's stopping you from reaching your goals and do something about it. Talking about it or sitting around and thinking about it isn't going to get you anywhere. You can't wish yourself skinny, or rich, or devilishly handsome. Sometimes in life you have to earn things. Figure out what you want and take it. It's up to you to make the positive changes toward achieving your goals.

I'm going to go ahead and call out my good buddy, Fun Kevin. He too has joined me on this one month no alcohol challenge. So, Kevin, you are now officially bound by blog.

Anyone else ready to kick something that's standing in their way?

Work It Out Then Whip It Up

So, I just got in from mowing my backyard. It went from zero to Amazon in a weeks time so I was glad to get back there and hack at it. The front will have to wait until tomorrow. 

This is the workout I did today. I don't have a pull up bar yet so I subbed the hanging knee raises for ninja jump tucks which you can see a variation for here. This is a really great workout and the whole thing is only 16 minutes long. I got a late start today so I didn't have time for my skipping but I'll make up for it in my workout tomorrow. 

NOW, are you ready to get your taste buds exploding?

I've got one of my favorite soups going on the stove right now. It's a sweet potato and cabbage soup with a peanut butter broth. I love this soup and it cooks up fairly quick.

I cut my knuckle peeling that ginger right there.

1/2 a decent sized head of cabbage- chopped

3 sweet potatoes - cubed

1 Tbs ginger-grated or finely chopped

2 cloves garlic-minced or finely chopped

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne depending on how spicy you like it (I use a good amount b/c I love spice)

4 cups vegetable stock (I use Not Chik'n)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1 Tbs soy sauce

optional

Chopped cilantro

mung bean sprouts

Cook ginger, garlic, cayenne in 1 Tbs olive oil for 1 minute then add salt to taste and cook until tender

Add cabbage and let it brown just a touch before adding 3 1/2 cups of broth and sweet pots simmer for about 15-20 minutes

in a bowl wisk together remaining broth, peanut butter, and soy sauce

add tomatoes and cook together for another 5 minutes or so

Try to stop eating it.

I made these last night.

Gator doesn't need to worry about watching her figure.

These are some raw chewy choco treats I made last night. They turned out pretty good. I especially love eating them with some delicious coffee.

2 cups of sliced raw almonds

1 cup of rasins (dates would be better but they're $10 a pound)

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

2-3 Tbs honey or agave nectar

splash of vanilla

1 Tbs cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

I put the almonds, raisins, cinnamon, and cocoa powder through food processor until finely ground up then kneaded in everything else. Flatten out your dough and cut up into bars or strips or circles or whatever you want to do with them then throw them in the freezer and eat them when they're good and hard. 

They're kind of like a brownie and I ended up putting even more coconut on them. These measurements are approximate so just do what you feel. Some grated orange rind would be awesome in there too.

Thanks for reading. Have a delicious day.