Fast fitness

Super rushed for time but jammed a quick workout in this morning and surprisingly hard yet fun!

15 min elliptical warm-up

Fast and Furious

20x wall ball toss

5x burpees

15x wall ball toss

5x burpees

10x wall ball toss

5x burpees

5x wall ball toss

5x burpees

5:57 M/Lys

(Image from http://www.crossfitintrepid.com/2012/06/21/wall-ball-tips/

Pesto and portobello stuffed/bacon wrapped chicken

Kudos to PaleoMomRx for this recipe. 

While we will probably never subscribe to the full hype that is crossfit or paleo - recipes like these are something to make you stop and appreciate it. 

Borrowed and modified from her blog, here's our version...

Served stuffed with portobello mushrooms, pesto, wrapped in nitrate-free bacon (thanks trader joe's). No instructions provided because it is EXACTLY as easy as it looks. 

350 til the juices run clear. Our oven (not convinced it gets to temp) took 50 min. A decent oven I would think 35-40. USDA says 165 deg internal temp. I cooked til 155 and it looked perfect (white all the way thru but still moist). Serve as you see fit. 

We choose to mandolin some yellow zucchini (so delicious and cheap this time of year) and salt. Served under as a little side dish. 

Bon appétit!

 http://www.paleomomrx.com/2012/08/08/pesto-stuffed-chicken/. For this

Abs. Argh. #alittlebitbetter

This morning...this happened...

http://pinterest.com/pin/233342824416410469/

Surprisingly waaaaaaay harder than I thought. Try it. Do it #alittlebitbetter

Monday Evening crush

August 26, 2013. Status update: we got the car towed this morning (street cleaning), I worked too late and didn't have enough to eat for lunch so I got home hungry and gggggggrumpy and not wanting to go to the gym (cocktails and comfort food anyone?). 

M pushed me back out the door to go. In retaliation for his positive enthusiasm in the face of my grumpiness, I pulled this workout off the WOD generator so we would both suffer. 

15 min warm-up then...

Coach Walter

3 RFT

Run 400m (1/4 mi)

40x Walking Lunges (L-1, R-2)

30x Sit-ups

20x Push-ups

10x Burpees

Time: 22:00 M / 22:58 Lys 

My efforts at retaliation made for a great workout for us both and a huge mood-improvement. I am SO LUCKY to have a great workout buddy - I wouldn't work half as hard if we weren't pushing each other to be better. 

Made it home by 9pm, made a quick salad with stir-fry shrimp and asparagus on top and a homemade coconut milk-line dressing. It was a little weird so I'll save you the food hash tag here... ;) off to bed by 11pm. No free time BUT So glad we did #alittlebitbetter and kept pushing. 

South Africa and World Cup 2010

Fitness today #alittlebitbetter

AM gym: 5:45am is not my friend. Yet.

15 min elliptical warm-up
35x knees to elbows
35x push-ups
35x sit-ups
35x pull-ups (I subbed in lat pull downs for 5-35 for sanity as still so sore)
35x burpees
35x jumping jacks

(split into sets of 10 3x)

23:32

awesome to finish. felt like a great feat - though writing doesn't look as impressive as it felt. however, at dinner tonight i rubbed my arms to warm up - and - what's that? I have muscles and delts forming after just three weeks where they weren't three weeks ago. Fantastic! #alittlebitbetter

Fast Food/Instant Breakfast #alittlebitbetter

Muffin-tin Breakfast Frittatas. 

About 15 minutes to prep (and I'm slow). 25 minutes so cook. Makes 6 servings

You could easily make this vegetarian and dairy-free too. I think the sausage added a lot of flavor (ahem, fat) to these and if you wanted to lighten it up you could nix or sub that out. Also found versions online with egg whites only. Experiment and see what you enjoy and let me know!

This was a breeze and variations on theme will be following. I wrapped in paper towels then tupperware once cooled and put in the fridge. You can enjoy them cold, or warm to taste. This will be breakfast for the rest of the week!

Ingredients: 8 eggs, 1/2c half and half, veggies of choice (4 asparagus stalks, 1/2 red pepper, handful sliced portobellos, 1/2 sweet onion), protein of choice, cheese (optional but delicious - we used shredded Italian 1/3 cup and a few sprinkles of Mediterranean feta), herbs/spices as desired. 

Assembly:

1. Brown sausage in a pan, when nearly finished, add chopped onions and continue to cook until sausage is cooked through and onions are sauteed.

 

2. Meanwhile, chop vegetables of choice. We love chopped asparagus, chopped red peppers, chopped portobello mushrooms. Mix together with a touch salt and pepper and put into a bowl.

 

3. (Optional): Add cheese to veggie mixture. We added a little crumbled feta, and a half cup shredded Parmesan cheese.

 

4. Add meat mixture to veggie bowl and mix everything together. Spoon mixture into coated (I recommend coconut oil to coat) muffin tin.

 

5. Whisk eggs, half and half together lightly. Transfer liquid into the muffin tin. A baster makes it clean and easy.

 

6. Put into pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes (until eggs start to brown slightly). Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes after to cool then transfer to cooling rack.

 

7. Bon appétit! 

NUTRITION FACTS

Serving Size: 2 muffins

Amount per Serving

Calories 197                                         Calories from Fat 125.1

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 13.9g                        21%

Saturated Fat 5.43g                27%

Cholesterol 266.53mg             88%

Sodium 288.89mg                   12%

Total Carbohydrate 4.41g         1%

Dietary Fiber 1.27g                  5%

Sugars 0.17g

Protein 14.02g                         28%

Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat           63%

Carbs      8%

Protein   28%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/alyssas-muffin-tin-frittata-sausage-vegetables/#ixzz2ci4rvVic

Easy dinner - lo-carb chicken salad

Pan-grilled chicken,

other pan: onions, mushrooms, asparagus, dill, lemon juice, 

Salad: greens, cukes, tomatoes

Easy. Delicious. Lo-carb and healthy.

Boston commute - The Green Line

Remember when SJP on Sex in the City made living in a city look so glamorous?! Yeah, me too.

Reality: My view on my commute home. I managed to squish in at the bottom of the stairs. Barely. This is no joke all I could see looking ahead. Oh City Living! 

Hey at least I squeezed on! 

Working it out #alittlebitbetter

There was no gym this morning. I have two excuses:
1. I was s.o.r.e. from the workout yesterday (maybe more from two days before)
2. I woke up at 5am to my alarm with a big kitty spooning me with a paw holding my hand purring, and behind me my beautiful beau looking all cute and snuggly. If there is ever a reason to stay in bed? It is that. I felt so grateful, so loved, and delighted to shut that alarm right off to just enjoy the happy morning loving.

However, the meant that we had to go after work. I tried to get out of it. I came up with excuses. Yet, I had packed my gym back this morning and Matt helpfully volunteered to meet me with it at the gym. Argh. Foiled. It was fantastic!

We started off with 15 minutes of elliptical - I think it's time to admit that I enjoy the guilty pleasure of 15-20 minutes of television: news, E!, TLC, ESPN, etc. I almost never watch TV so I flip through faster than a kid with ADHD getting a sweat on and warming up. If that's how I get my TV in - I'll take it.

It was his turn to come up with the WOD for us so he challenged us to a little set in any order:
150 jumping jacks
100 push-ups
50 pull-ups

Ha!

I broke the first two into sets and (nearly died but finished) then used the giant rubberband for pull-ups mixed in. Definitely feeling stronger at the three week mark. But making it about 5 at a time with the assisted pull-ups so there were lots of sets of those. Made it to 40 before my arms quit. Feeling pretty great! Today was #alittlebitbetter

22:15

Yesterday Morning - Fitness #alittlebitbetter

Hit the gym yesterday morning at 5:50am. Ack. So sore from the workout the night before and wanted to focus on core (nothing better to make your back hurt less right?).

15m elliptical warm-up (my legs like concrete)

3 rounds of 15 each:

1. Lying leg extensions

2. Stability ball plank elbow rolls (eeeek! Lots of grunting and giggling involved.)

3. Medicine ball sit-up/toss at 18#

Lots of laughing all around. It looked so easy but it was fabulously challenging. I wish I could say I felt great leaving the gym that morning but I was still sleepy and a bit grumpy. It helped make the day better though. 

We are both trying to stay positive and realize that we don't need to compare ourselves to other points in our lives, or to others in the gym. We are working on just being as fit as we can and remembering that we only need compare ourselves to the us from yesterday and keep being #alittlebitbetter.

Pic and workout from http://www.womensfitness.co.uk/fitness/750/abs-exercises-women

Fitness #alittlebitbetter

Today we did manage to snooze all morning, but rally after work to hit the gym. We did #alittlebitbetter - it was brutal but doing it with my favorite workout buddy makes such a tremendous difference in how hard I work and not giving up.

15 min elliptical to stretch out followed by:

1. 45 calorie row (about 800m for me)
2. 45 DB thrusters (matt at 35#, alyssa at 15# each)
3. 45 dips
4. 45 squats
5. 45 calorie row
6. 10 burpees (just because Matt hates them so much and that makes me laugh)

time: 28:01

Stuffed Salmon & Zucchini Pasta

Stuffed salmon with artichoke hearts, feta and spinach (as inspired by this Whole Foods recipe: www.wholefoodsmar...) 

and easy zucchini "pasta" 
with pesto, mushrooms and tomatoes. So easy. So lo-carb. So gluten free. Soooooo delicious. We were pretty impressed with ourselves.

Our Zucchini Lasagna

Our Zucchini Lasagna 
#gluten-free #lo-carb 

1. Thinly slice zucchini length-wise. Paper towel & salt to pull out water. Let sit for @ least 10 mins. 

2. Sautée meat - Add onions & garlic. Add tomato sauce & balsamic. Simmer 30 mins+ 

3. Chop veggies. We chose kale, spinach, portobello mushrooms, green peppers & sun-dried tomatoes. 

4. Separately mix cottage cheese, 1 egg, shredded cheese. 

5. Layer it up. 

6. Cover w foil. Bake at 375/45 mins. Remove foil for next 15. Rest for 10. 

7. Bon appétit

It's been FOUR years?!

How in the world has it been four years since I last posted? My goodness, time flies when you're having fun...

Going to work on updating this more frequently. Life is so different now...as time has passed I have learned so much about the world, about myself, and about all the things I still have to learn.

Thank you for your patience and stay tuned!

Love,