Just keep swimming

Finals week. Over.  I survived yet again, barely! I went home for a week to celebrate the 2nd birthday of a very special little niece.  We got her some baby-sized scrubs and a toy doctor kit (or as I re-labeled it “K-bug’s Physical Therapy Kit”)  She spent the weekend using her “med-cine” because “Dora sick.”  So cute!

I also got to go to Branson while I was home.  Woo hoo, or should I say, Yee Haw!  I went to a show for the first time since I was in high school.  My good friend was the lead in a Cirque du Soleil type show.  Look, I know celebrities!

It’s always fun catching up with family and old friends but, I have not cooked.  I have lots of stuff stockpiled, however, so don’t fret!  Here is an attractive and delicious dish I made a couple weeks ago.

Grilled Chicken and Peaches With Chipotle Sauce (adapted from Epicurious.com)

• 1/3 cup peach preserves *(I used Apricot)
• 1/3 cup peach nectar *(Apricot-peach blend)
• 4 tsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp adobo sauce from canned chipotle chilies
• 1-2 minced chipotle chili *(I added this to make it spicier)
• 2 tsp EVOO
• 1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro plus garnish
• 3 large peaches, rinsed, de-fuzzed, cut into 8 wedges
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves

1.Coat grill with some nonstick spray. Heat grill to med-high. 2.Stir preserves, next 3 ingredients, 2 tsp oil, and chopped cilantro in a medium bowl. season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1/4 of sauce to a small bowl. 3. Brush peaches, then chicken with oil and sauce from the small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  4. Grill chicken until cooked through (~ 7min each side) and peaches until slightly charred (~2min per side). 5. Place Chicken and peaches on plates. Drizzle with remaining sauce and garnish with cilantro. 

The time has come!  Tomorrow we leave for Santa Barbara.  Saturday is the big day! Wish me luck! In the meantime, here is a quick swim workout that I did that you should try:

• Warm up                  300
• Pull                           200
• Base                         6 x 100 (:05 rest)
• Threshold Intervals   4 x 75  (:10)
• Kick                           200
• Cool-down                 400
• Total   2000 meters

Working Up An Appetite For Panuchos

So I got a new workout from my “personal trainer” (Chad) this week.  Yet another gem.  Let me share my last two days with you:

Monday

• 3 mile Tempo Run.  I ran on the Arizona Canal last night after work.  I think I run faster when I’m trying to make it back to my car before the sun goes down 😉 In honor of the Boston marathon yesterday I ran 26.2 miles (just minus 23.2 miles).

Tuesday

• 10 min on stepmill
• Legs: 3×16 Alternating Jumping Lunges
• 5×8 Squats (heavy weight!)
• 4×8 Single Leg Ext
• 3×15 Ball leg curls
• 3×10 standing calf raises
• Shoulders superset: 3×10 shoulder press, then lateral raises
• Abs circuit: leg raises 3×15
• WoodChop 3×12 each
• Bicycles 3×20

Whew!  Just wait for the next few days.  I’m already tired looking at it! I have had a healthy little appetite lately due to the more intense workouts.  The other night I had a wild streak and decided to try this new recipe I found in Sunset Magazine for homemade tortillas stuffed with black beans, Panuchos.  My version came out more like tostadas. Even though I didn’t get it 100% correct, we all still enjoyed it.  This is what I ended up doing:

Tasty Tostadas

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• Your favorite marinade (We used a pouch of a chipotle flavored marinade, yum)
• 1 can black beans
• 1 T of vegetable oil
• 2 1/3 cups of masa
• 1 1/3 cup of chicken broth
• 3/4 tsp salt
• TOPPINGS:
• Romaine Lettuce
• Roma tomatoes chopped
• Avocado
• Salsa
• Diaya “Cheese” or if you’re lucky real cheese 😉

Chicken: Marinade the chicken.  Heat grill to medium. Grill chicken until cooked through turning once, usually 10-15 minutes.  Let chicken cool and then cut into bite sized pieces. Filling: In a food processor blend the beans along with their liquid until smooth.  The original recipe called for cooked onion in it too, but you know how I feel about those. Add them if you want.  Tortillas: Combine the masa and the chicken broth to make dough. Divide into 14-16 equal balls, set on a baking sheet, and cover with plastic wrap.  Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat.  One at a time, flatten out a masa ball into a tortilla shape. A freezer bag cut in half works well to press them out, using a little flour if it gets sticky. Peel the tortilla from the plastic and put on the skillet. Flipping once, about 1 minute on each side. Transfer to a plate and continue with the rest of the dough.  This is where you are supposed to slit the tortilla and stuff with beans. Didn’t work for me so I just put some beans in between two tortillas and cooked a little longer on the skillet.  Put it all together: Top each tortilla “sandwich” with some chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cheese and salsa. 

Gazpach-wow!

My personal trainer (my husband 😉 ) is very happy that I have actually listened to him and have completed all my workouts so far this week.  Yesterday was a 20 minute easy run followed by an upper body workout.  I did back, chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, and abs, in that order.  Piece of cake. So last night I decided to go to hot yoga.  It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a class and my doctor has been telling me its part of my prescription.  I always feel so amazing afterwards, why don’t I make it a better habit?!

Today was sprint day. It was a tough one but I survived!:

• 2 minute sprints, 5 times followed by
• 1 minute sprint up a 6% incline, again repeated 5 times
• 1 minute recovery in between each sprint

Last night I went to a farmer’s market.  I picked up some nice skin care products and pretty vegetables. 

I decided to try out a gazpacho recipe tonight to use my fresh veggies.  Here is the recipe that I loosely used because I have never made this delicious soup myself.  Of course I tweaked it to my liking, so this is my recipe:

Green Tomato Gazpacho

• 2 green tomatoes seeded and diced
• 1/3 cucumber, seeded and diced
• 1/3 red pepper, diced
• 2 clove garlic
• 2 T fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup pickled jalapeno
• 3 T water
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp sherry vinegar
• salt to taste

Throw everything in the food processor and blend until smooth.  Garnish with diced fresh tomato. 

This was so surprisingly good.  I’m so excited that I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow! Speaking of tomorrow, the Hunger Games movie comes out! I’m as excited as my “tween” patients… maybe more, that’s so embarrassing 😉

 

No strapless gowns for me

My day started with a nice little leg workout that my loving husband told me I had to do.

• Squats 4×8 reps (I squatted 115 lbs!)
• walking lunges 2 laps of 15 each way (with dumbbells)
• Leg Curl 3×8
• Leg extension 3×8
• Calf press 3x 15
• Follow with abs

Not a difficult workout but I HATE lifting legs. That is why I am having Chad tell me what to do for a while, so that I actually push myself. After my legs stopped shaking I had another appointment with my naturopath.  She started with some acupuncture.

This time she hit all the trigger points on my back. Not as relaxing as last time! She then decided to do fire cupping.

What is that you ask? I really didn’t know either. So I looked up some stuff that I will now share with you… Cupping is an ancient Chinese medicine technique.  The doctor douses a cotton ball in alcohol rubs it on the rim of the glass bulb and lights it on fire. The fire burns out quickly. The bulb is then placed on the patient’s skin, the heat dissipates, and as it cools it creates a suction.  Blood is brought to the area to promote healing. (sources: wikipedia and www.cuppingtherapy.net) To me the theory sounds similar to a physical therapy technique called Myofasical Release, so I was excited to try it. Before she started this was our conversation:

• Dr: You don’t have to wear any strapless dresses anytime soon do you?
• Me: Nope, I’m just working at my internship.
• Dr: You aren’t strutting around in a bikini, right?
• Me: No, I think they would frown upon that.  Why exactly?

This is why

This is my back 9 hours later! Trust me it looks worse in person. It felt pretty good though. She also told me that I get to start adding foods back in next week.  So, next Friday I am supposed to have a “cheese heavy” day. Woo hoo! I think I can probably handle that. Chad will be happy too. This weekend at the grocery store when he realized how deprived we have been without cheese he told me, “Erin, I love you but, if we find out you are cheese intolerant and that’s why you get migraines… I might have to leave you.” He was kidding…I think.

Getting Creative

It has now been almost two weeks of this current “anti migraine” diet.  Much to my surprise, I have not keeled over yet. I have had to become creative with my meals, however.

Plain Greek yogurt with honey and pumpkin pie spice

Lentil Wrap with Beef Pho

For dinner this evening I made a great marinade for some chicken kabobs.

Chicken Kabob Marinade

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper (I like it spicy, if you don’t do less)
• season with salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a container. Add 1 lb of diced chicken. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.  Add to kabobs with red peppers, green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Grill on medium-high for about 10 minutes. (If you are using metal skewers be careful taking them off the grill. Chad burnt himself. He also has reminded me about this five times since dinner 🙂 )

We supplemented these tasty kabobs with some kale chips, a roasted tomato and sweet potato gnocchi. I’m not a potato fan but I like sweet potatoes.  These things kinda rocked.  I have gotten in a rut with my workouts and running. Although I was a trainer for years sometimes I find it impossible to get motivated to do what I know I need to do.  It’s a good thing I have an ex-personal trainer for a husband.  Chad wrote me a fun little plan for this week.  Day one was a two-mile run at a quicker pace (I’m trying to get faster) followed immediately by 20 minutes on the step mill (I’m also trying to continue the meltdown). I ended with some abs an foam rolling.  Tomorrow is leg day and I am already feeling sore just thinking about it!

Gym rat and the party pug

It is the glorious weekend yet again! Too bad I am spending most of it doing school stuff. It’s ok though because I think I’m finally getting into the swing of using the gym to help curb my stress.  Yesterday I went to the gym and realized I forgot my headphones.  Fail.  The gym I go to plays the music so low and it is less than motivating.  So I decided to do a little sprint workout on the treadmill to keep myself entertained.  If I can press buttons several times during the workout I am happy, much like a two year old would be I suppose. Here is what I did:

Go fast to get faster (32 minutes)

1. 5 minute warmup
2. 5 minute normal run pace
3. 30 second sprint with a 1 minute recovery (4x)
4. Repeat 2 and 3 again
5. Repeat 2 one more time
6. 5 minute cool-down

It was a pretty short workout but I had to get to school.  For dinner I made a couple re-made recipes.  I love finding recipes for “comfort food” that have been re-made healthier by cutting the calories and fat. I made some chicken fingers and “risotto“.  I’m  a fan! I will definitely make the chicken again. The curry added a ton of flavor! The risotto would have been better with more salt and a little less chicken broth. I also couldn’t find barley at the store (what is going on with the stores around here, first the chicken now this!) so I just used all brown rice. 

This morning I was supposed to go to a spin class with a friend. I showed up at the wrong gym! Oops! It wasn’t far from my gym so I just went there instead and did some lifting and then 20 minutes on the stepmill for a total of about 45 min at the gym. In a mini-circuit I do A-C three times through and then move on to the next group of A-C. Here is the little circuit I did:

Mini Circuits

• A. Cable back lunges with single row (15 each side)
• B. Cable deadlifts (15 reps)
• C. Ball crunches with feel elevated on wall (20 reps)
• A. Standing cable chest fly (15 reps)
• B. Standing Lat Push downs (15 reps)
• C. Woodchops (15 each side)

After being at school all afternoon I was starving.  It’s my friend’s big 3-0 tonight so I figured that I should eat healthy to make up for later.  I made hummus and paired it with carrots.  I made my usual hummus but put several fresh basil leaves in it and topped it with smoked paprika.  Yum!

I need to get my bootie in gear and get ready for these shenanigans that are about to commence!

Party Pug!

A girl knows how to use a grill?

Whew, great class this morning! Being an instructor myself I find it hard to go to other classes, but this one is awesome.  I have to go on a little tangent though.  I try to stick to the front of the classroom. Not because I’m dying to stare at myself, it’s because I don’t want to have the urge to fix everyone’s form.  It’s a sick disorder that they warned us of the first day of PT school. It’s a curse, not a blessing. Today’s pet peeve was pushups. I can’t handle it when people insist on doing non-modified pushups but cannot do them with correct form. My class is well aware of my obsession of form and they keep coming back, so it can’t be all that bad. And so, before I jump off this soapbox I leave you with this: keep your bootie down, your head up, and your abs in.  Thank you that is all 🙂

Just because you drop your head, it doesn't mean you get any lower!

Wow, I feel better.  Just kidding… A little. Anyway! For dinner tonight I was super excited because I found this great recipe on the Garden of Life Facebook page. I knew I had an avocado on the verge of going bad and this recipe would be just perfect.

Avocado Dressing

• 1 Avocado
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup filtered water
• 1 T fresh dill (I’m going to use cilantro or basil cause that’s always in my fridge)
• 1/2 tsp of raw honey
• 1/2 tsp of sea salt
• 2 T Lemon juice

Blend all ingredients until creamy and smooth.

Alas, the avocado was not on the VERGE of going bad, it WAS bad.  Boo!  I still made a beautiful salad and just used some boring dressing from the fridge. I had another Portobello mushroom to use and remembered that I used to make Portobello burgers all the time.  Here’s my method:

Portobello Burger

• Portobello mushroom stem cut
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• pepper to taste

Drizzle the oil and vinegar on the mushroom and top with garlic and pepper.  Allow to marinate at room temp for at least an hour.  Heat grill to medium heat.  Grill mushroom for about 5 minutes each side or until mushroom is heated through and softened.  Yes, girls can grill too!

I topped mine with tomatoes, basil, and some goat cheese and placed it on a flax-seed and whole grain sandwich thin.  It’s surprisingly filling. 

Well, I fear that tomorrow could really do me in.  My friend invited me to check out a bootcamp with her.  It’s called Bring/Kill-your-friend Wednesday.  Nice.  I told her that I hit the weights pretty hard this morning so I wasn’t sure lifting two days in a row was the best idea. This was her exact response to me, “Mon/Wed are cardio days; tire flipping, running with sandbags, monster rope, TRX suspension, plyometric type stuff so it’ll be perfect!” Dear Lord, please don’t let me die underneath a monster truck tire! Wish me luck!

It starts at 5:15am so I better get back to my school work so I can get to bed at a decent hour.  At least I have a cute little study buddy! 🙂

Bring it on!

Bring it on! That is what I keep trying to tell myself as I struggle to get through this week. I blame the flu shot.  I have never had one before this year and I have never been sick so much than this year! It is clearly NOT just in my head or stress-related, right? After  volunteering at the race all day Sunday I have been blessed with a stuffed up nose and this really inconspicuous obnoxious cough.  This has been added to my breakfast regimen this week:

Multi Vitamins (gummies of course), Emergen-C (for the cold), and Feverfew (for the headaches)

I have been dragging more than usual so I was excited to try out this new energy drink I found.  Veggies, Fruit, and green tea? I’m in! I was a little disappointed that it had sucralose in it, but at only 50 calories I guess I can’t expect miracles. I tried both the pomegranate-blueberry and the mango and they were both quite tasty.

Taken in a study cubicle at the library. Shhh!

My brother-in-law was in town so due to my lack of motivation to entertain I decided to make pizza for dinner.  We made a classic pepperoni with a little basil on top

and a buffalo chicken pizza. Maybe not the healthiest but everyone was happy so I still win.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

• Precooked pizza crust
• olive oil
• Minced garlic
• Italian blend shredded cheese
• Crumbled bleu cheese
• Frank’s Red Hot sauce
• .5lb chicken, cubed
• 1/4 c celery chopped
• 1/4 c cilantro finely chopped

Cook the chicken in a little canola oil until cooked all the way through.  Add hot sauce and cook another 3 minutes.  Instead of sauce use olive oil and minced garlic.  Top with shredded cheese, then chicken, then sprinkle bleu cheese, celery, and cilantro on last.  Cook for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown on the sides.

I decided to start running a little more frequently.  I’m thinking of starting a new project.  I’m keeping it at that for now because nothing has been set in stone.  More to come! But, I will share the exciting treadmill drill that I did this morning.  30 minutes and it kicked my bootie!

Hills and Sprints

• 5 min    Warm up walk–> a jog
• 2 min    Baseline Run
• 2 min    Pyramid Up: increase the incline by 1% every 15 sec
• 2 min    Pyramid Down: decrease the incline by 1% every 15 sec
• 1 min    Sprint
• 2 min    Baseline Run
• 2 min    Pyramid Up again
• 2 min    Pyramid Down again
• 1 min    Hill Sprint: increase incline to 5% and sprint
• 2 min    Baseline Run
• 2 min    Sprint
• 2 min    Baseline Run
• 5 min    Cooldown

Have to teach a barbell class tonight and have a recipe that I’m excited to try that involves kalamata olives AND chickpeas! Wow, its sad that I get so excited about these things. 🙂 Until tomorrow I leave you with my new motivation, BRING IT ON!

A few little gym gems

As promised I am posting a couple of my favorite workouts.  I find that I if I go to the gym without a plan I wander around and don’t work as hard as I should. I know that I’m not alone here.  So, here is a gift from me to you. May all your New Year’s Resolutions come true 🙂

Yeah baby!

Super Set Fun: each of these exercises are paired. For example 1 and 2 are performed one right after the other then 3 and 4, and so on.  I usually perform each super set 2-3 times using enough weight to perform 12-15 repetitions. Approx 30-45min

1. Back Lunge with 1 arm cable row (15 each side)
2. Step-ups with dumbbells (each side on this too!)
3. Lat pulldowns/pullups
4. 1 leg Pushups on a bench
5. 1 legged squat to 1 arm overhead shoulder press with dumbbell
6. Cable rotations/woodchop

Circuit Circus: For a circuit each exercise is performed once before starting all over again.  It’s a great way to keep your heart rate up especially with the little cardio bursts :). It also help if you are in a time crunch because instead of resting between sets, you do another exercise.

1. Treadmill: 5 minutes
2. Walking lunges with shoulder press
3. dumbbell chest fly on a Stability Ball
4. Squat jumps
5. 1 arm dumbbell row with 1 knee on Stability Ball
6. Stability ball hamstring curls
7. Alternating step ups/alt power step ups
8. Stability ball crunches

All and all my theory is if you are working out to lose weight, keep moving! When doing strength training always start with your big muscles and work to the smaller ones.  For example always do your chest exercises before your tricep exercises. Your triceps are the helpers in your chest exercises so you don’t want them too tired to do their job! Here is the template I use when teaching my strength training class: 1.Squats 2. Chest 3. Back 4. Lunges 5. Triceps 6. Biceps 7. Shoulders 8. Abs.

Hope this inspires some great workouts. Let me know if you have a killer one that I should try. Also, check out the treadmill workout I did at my parents house too. It’s a good one!