I've Had This Song In My Head

I heard this song for the first time a while back and have been hooked on the band since. It's been months and this song is still on repeat in my brain......

I got my workout in early today like I prefer. It was great. I was dripping sweat by the end and I felt like a million bucks. The whole thing only lasted 12 minutes and included 12 different exercises. It was super fast paced and a lot of fun. And, as usual, I threw in 20 minutes of interval skipping afterwards for maximum fat blasting. Summer is just around the corner and I want to make sure I feel and look the best that I possibly can. 

Watch Zuzana rip it up. She's even got a tutorial in there if you're in need of some guidance. 

Here is where you can find the workout breakdown. Since I don't have a pull up bar I replaced them with sumo push ups. And since I am also lacking the dip station I just did dips from a chair. My favorite exercise was the clapping push up. Mainly because I only recently found out that I'm actually pretty decent at them and they make me feel really cool and tough. The prisoner jump squats are brutal and good as well. 

I think I'm going to probably talk about how important the interval skipping is in each blog post if you're looking to burn fat. I love my jump rope and my jump rope loves me back. Get one. Use it. Watch the fat melt right off. If you're new to skipping rope it's gonna seem a bit tricky at first. Stick with it. If you practice every day you'll be jumping like a pro in less than a week and feeling fine. I was terrible when I first started, and after sticking with it for like three days I had fancy feet like whoa. Forreal. 

I have some soup cooking up on the stove as I type. It's a recipe one of the mom's that I work for was so kind to pass my way. It started out as a type of Minestrone but I modified it into more of just a vegetable type soup. I'm pre-making it for my lunch/dinner tomorrow because I have a jam packed day ahead of me and won't have time to cook in the morning. I'll take some pictures when it's ready and post the recipe tomorrow. For now, I hope everyone has been avoiding eating processed junk food and have made good food decisions. It's important to remember that no matter how much you work out, you're not going to see half the results you should if you're polluting your body with garbage. 

That said; I hope you do this workout with me, and are focusing on good, and trying your best. You'll feel better if you do.

Thanks for reading.

Focusing On The Good and Trying Your Best.

So. I just got finished with my workout for the day. It's late by my standards. 10:31 p.m. to be exact. I usually like to go ahead and bust out my routine first thing in the morning but I was dragging all day. I even thought about skipping my workout all together! WHAT?! This will not stand.

I sat around and procrastinated on my couch for a hot minute, and thought about the guidelines I'd decided on for myself a few days ago.These guidelines would be: Focusing on the good and trying my best.

Is skipping a workout conducive to trying my best or focusing on good? Am I working towards attaining my personal goals by sitting around the house like a cold pickle? No. So I decided to knock some sense into myself.

I know I can always count on Zuzana to motivate me and get me excited to break a sweat, so I end up clicking on bodyrock.tv multiple times a day and it hasn't failed me yet.

I don't know about you, but watching this definitely doesn't make me want to sit around and eat Ding-Dongs.

That is the workout I ended up doing tonight. You can get the breakdown here. One of the reasons I love these workouts so much is because of how fast paced they are. You don't even have time to think about quiting. Some of these exercises may look hard or scary but the most important thing is that you're TRYING YOUR BEST the whole time. Even if you can only do three reps it's better than zero. I can't believe how much I've improved and how much stronger I am than when I started. 

I tacked on 20 minutes of interval skipping afterwards to really get that fat blasted. The whole thing, workout and skipping, only took 38 minutes. Add a few minutes of warming up and stretching afterwards and you've done yourself good in less than an hour. What more can you ask for?

Here are 12 jump rope moves to blast off 1000 calories an hour!

I set my interval timer for 20 rounds of 10 seconds rest and 50 seconds work and then mix it up. 

Oh yeah, I don't have a dip station like Zuzana has in that video so I put a broomstick between two barstools and POW! Reverse pull ups all day long. 

Now go try your best and focus on how good you're gonna feel after you burn off some calories. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a new delicious recipe up. In the meantime, don't even think about eating any processed junk food. High fructose corn syrup is not your friend.

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.