If your gym does not have a treadmill, you can do the sprints on an elliptical, a recumbent bike, or any piece of cardio equipment.  I listed my speed and the weights I used, but you can modify it to fit your fitness level.  Go as fast as YOU can, lift as much as YOU can with great technique.

Today’s Workout – 1/21/12

1. 4 quarter-mile sprints on treadmill – 1% incline, speed 8.5-9.3. 

Run as hard and as fast as you can for a quarter mile (.25) and then walk/recover for a minute or so, or until you’re ready to go again.  If you’re doing it right, you should be breathing heavy – and maybe even a little bit afraid that you might not make it!  Repeat 4 times.

2. Stiff-legged deadlifts – 25 lb. dumbbells, 3 sets of 10 reps

3. Walking lunges – 25 lb. dumbbells, 1 set of 10 (5 lunges on each leg)

4. Walking lunges with reach – 25 lb. dumbbells, 1 set of 10

At the bottom of the lunge, tip forward from your hip and touch the dumbbells together underneath your thigh.  Then dig up through the front heel and squeeze the glutes as you rise. 

5. Walking lunges – body weight only, 2 sets of 10

Since you’re only using body weight now, really focus on range of motion (GET LOW!) and keeping the body upright even as you start to fatigue.

6. Plyometric lunges – 3 sets of 20 (10 each leg)

From a lunge position, jump up into the air and switch your legs.  Focus on getting low in the legs, dropping the back knee close to the floor, and really pushing the floor away. These are also called “split jumps.”  They should look and feel explosive and athletic – the LAST BIG PUSH in this tough leg workout!

 7. Walkout to Pushup – 10

With your feet hip-distance apart, tip forward from your hips and put your hands on the floor (you may need to bend your knees a little – or a lot – depending on your flexibility.  Walk out until you are in a plank, with hands wider than shoulders.  Do one pushup, and walk yourself back and stand up.  This is a great stretch for the hamstrings, plus it ends the workout with a little core and upper body work.

***

Let me know if you try the workout and how you like it!  Off to the volcanoes:)

LAQ

Time to break out and transform some leftovers!  Enter: a bowl of roasted sweet potatoes, butternut squash, brussels sprouts and apples with two eggs on top.  It was just as good as I hoped it would be:)

The menu plan for New Year’s Eve was going to be steak, sweet potatoes and greens of some kind – sauteed swiss chard, roasted broccoli, roasted brussels sprouts – something along those lines.

The meat selection at Whole Foods had already been picked over by the time I got there, but then the butcher put out several packages of grass-fed beef shanks.  I grabbed 3 packages, then Googled “beef shanks recipes” to see what else I might need to prepare them.  Grabbed some stock, a bottle of wine, some herbs, three Valrhona dark chocolate bars – oh wait, that was just me impulse shopping – and headed home to start braising and bidding farewell to 2011.

I started with an Emeril Lagasse recipe for braised beef shanks that called for dredging the beef in flour and seasonings, which I did and then promptly regretted.  ACK!  Why did I just ruin good grass-fed beef with white flour?!?  Conflicted much!?

So I scraped it off as best I could and went back to the Oracle of Google for recipe guidance.  Adding the word “paleo” to my search sent me in a much better direction: to the Balanced Bites website (remember that 21-Day Sugar Detox I did after Halloween?  Same website:)

Easy Recipe: Crockpot Braised Beef Shanks

Diane’s recipe was much simpler and easier to follow than Emeril’s, not to mention healthier!  I don’t have a slow cooker so I prepared them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 3.5-4 hours, and I added 2-3 cups of roughly chopped carrots to the pot as well.  I turned the beef shanks every 30 minutes.  When the meat is falling off the bone and your house smells like an expensive restaurant, you know you did something right! I recommend preparing the beef the day before you plan to serve them, much like you would braised short ribs.  Because these are such fatty cuts of meat, there is a LOT of fat in the braising liquid and everything will taste/feel like – well, an oil slick.  After cooking, let them cool and then put them in a glass container in the fridge overnight.  The next day, you can easily skim the solidified fat right off the top. But don’t worry, the braising liquid still retains plenty of fatty delicious goodness;)  AND MARROW.  Oh my gosh, scoop out the insides of the bones.  I gave one bone’s worth of marrow to the dog and this little Varmint was under my feet for the rest of the night:

“Please may I have some more bone marrow?” – the boy

I served the braised beef shanks over a bed of mashed cauliflower.  I use this recipe from EatingWell.com on a near-weekly basis, using their “sour milk” instead of buttermilk tip.

For another side dish, I was inspired by our Christmas dinner at Wit & Wisdom in Baltimore and did a combination of roasted vegetables: sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, butternut squash and – wait for it – apple!  Such a cool idea!  I tossed everything in a little melted coconut oil and roasted them at 425, tossing every 5-10 mins for even roasting.  Now, Wit & Wisdom included giant chunks of pancetta in their roasted veggies, and they were absolutely glistening in copious amounts of oil and/or butter.  See?  So I didn’t recreate them completely, but my version was pretty darn good!  I only added half a granny smith apple and will definitely add more the next time!  (Oohhh – breakfast idea alert: these roasted veggies with a poached egg on top.  OH HECK YES!)

Q: Have you ever tried to recreate a dish you had at a restaurant?  Were you successful or was it an epic flop?  Share in the comments section below!

Aside from the accidental flour dredging episode, this meal was almost Paleo/primal-friendly – well, except for the half & half I put in my mashed cauliflower!  If you’re cutting out grains and/or going gluten-free, you’re in luck here too.  A hearty, satisfying winter meal – even if it IS 60 degrees on New Year’s Day

“Oooohh are those COOKIES on your blog?!”

I know!  It’s been a while, huh?

What can I say – I got bored while waiting for the beef shanks to braise last night, so I set out to find a healthy-ish dessert.  I go straight to Elana’s Pantry when I want a good dessert recipe and these did not disappoint.  They are really good and easy to whip up in just a few minutes.  The cookie dough ALONE is worth making and eating, even if they never make it to the oven – ha!  (I probably shouldn’t be giving people ideas about such things…)

These still have sugar in them (from the maple syrup and the chocolate chips), but they do not contain any refined, grain flours and are gluten-free as well.

On a related note, I think it’s high time I stop keeping white and brown sugar, white flour, wheat flour, etc. in my pantry “just in case I need it.”  I have found over the past year that almost every recipe can be tweaked and made without those things.  I just realized that I’ve gotten so accustomed to cooking and baking with almond flour, coconut flour, coconut milk, coconut oil, and using maple syrup and sucanat to sweeten the occasional dessert, that all those old ingredients have probably gone bad by now.  Tomorrow might be a “clean out the pantry” day!

These gluten-free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies will definitely be in my little dessert arsenal!  Try them and let me know what you think!

Adapted from Elana’s Pantry.

INGREDIENTS

1 c. Almond Flour
1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1/4 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 c. Natural Peanut Butter
1/4 c. Maple Syrup
2 Tbs. butter, softened
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1/4 c. dark chocolate chips (or none, or more, depending on what kind of mood you’re in;)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine almond flour, sea salt, and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, combine peanut butter, maple syrup, butter and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and blend with handheld mixer.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Using a tablespoon, scoop dough out of bowl and then roll into a ball in the palms of your hands.  Place onto baking sheet.

Optional: Using a small fork, gently press the tines of the fork into the dough horizontally, then turn the fork and press down to make the traditional peanut butter cookie criss-cross pattern on top:)

Bake for 6-12 minutes or until they are lightly browned on the edges.  (Mine took about 10 minutes.)  Let cool on cookie sheet.

Busy living, breathing, and dreaming about BODYPUMP 80.

Big training weekend coming in 9 short days.

Can’t say that it’s all come together yet, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been this singularly focused on something – and that’s a very cool feeling.  Lots of scripting, visualizing, practicing and mostly just trying to keep my head in a good place!

The thing I’m most looking forward to is just seeing everyone – the people from my last training and the people I haven’t even met yet!  Come what may – it’s going to be an amazing learning experience.

Once this is behind me, I’ll have LOTS to write about because there is some big stuff happening in 2012!  2011 was a year of transition; S.A.M. and I are calling next year “2012: The Big Thing Cometh.”  :)

These chicken sausages were on sale so I decided to give them a try; I got the Spicy Jalapeno and I think they are fantastic!  Not too spicy, and great flavor.

I’ve been mixing them with vegetables and eggs and making breakfast scrambles; it makes for a huge, satisfying, high-protein breakfast.

You could use any kind of chicken, turkey or pork sausage here.  Use what you like!

INGREDIENTS – serves 1

Olive oil, for pan
2 c. baby spinach
1 spicy jalapeno chicken sausage, diced
1/2 c. egg whites, or 2-3 whole eggs
1-2 Tbs. feta cheese (or your favorite cheese)

In a small skillet over medium heat, drizzle a little olive oil into the pan.  Add spinach and toss using tongs until it starts to wilt down.  Add diced sausage, tossing occasionally, until sausage is heated through and lightly browned.  Remove from skillet.

In same skillet over medium-low heat, add eggs and cook until scrambled.  Add spinach-sausage mixture back to the skillet and fold into eggs gently.  Remove from skillet and top with feta cheese.

Bon appetit!

1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. egg whites
1/4 c. cottage cheese
1/4 c. canned pumpkin
Dash of cinnamon, nutmeg
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Into a food processor, add the oats and pulse until they are finely ground (you’re making oat flour:)  Add the liquid ingredients and blend a few more seconds until it’s smooth.  I added a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp. of vanilla.  Pulse it to mix in the spices.  If you want a thinner batter you could use a little almond milk or skim milk to thin it out, but they worked fine as is for me.

Pour into skillet, about 1/4 of batter per pancake, and cook until the edges set and little bubbles appear on top.  Flip and cook for an additional minute, or until golden brown.

Even if you eat every flippin’ pancake in the batch – which I have done before if I was eating them for dinner – the whole recipe is only about 300 calories, 4-5 g. of fat (depending on what kind of cottage cheese you use, and I wouldn’t worry about it anyways),  35 g. of carbs, 5-6 g of fiber, and 27 g. of protein.  It makes 5 pancakes (1/4 c. batter each).

I had two choices.

Marshmallow: how my body starts to feel around this time of year when the temperatures drop and my activity level slows. I normally pile on the wool, corduroy, and a nice layer of fat to get me through the winter:)  Don’t we all?  Your body can essentially go into hiding for the next 4 months and never see the light of day, and I think many of us train (or don’t train) accordingly.  ”No one’s gonna see it ’til spring, might as well lighten up a little and really enjoy the holidays!  I’ll start on January 1st!”

vs.

The Hard Place: training hard through the winter so that come March and warmer temperatures, you’ll be ready to peel off the layers of winter clothes and reveal a fit body that is shaped and defined by lean muscle.  Not falling into the holiday trap and giving in to rich, sugary, green- and red-sprinkled and whipped-cream topped calories that aren’t even that enjoyable, you just mindlessly eat them because everyone else is and because that’s what you’re “supposed” to do during the holidays.  But this year, January 1, 2012 is going to be a day just like any other, not a distant marker of when you’ll “get back into your routine.”  Yep.  This is gonna be HARD.

Normally, I choose “marshmallow.”

This year, I choose “hard”!

I remember a few months back, I found a video of one of the founding partners of Les Mills talking about the early years of Body Pump and how they wanted to set themselves apart from other group exercise classes.  They wanted to be a little raw and in your face, and if people whined that it was too hard, then tell them to “bloody harden up.”  Ha!  I love that, and it has kept me going through many a workout!!  Next time you’re in the gym and catch yourself walking away from the tough stuff, try that little mantra. “Bloody harden up!”

My key to staying focused is getting breakfast right.  It determines the rest of your day so get it right!  I like to think of breakfast as the “first domino” – if it falls, everything else falls down after it.  Your mindset and and your hormones will stay balanced if you choose protein, clean carbohydrates and good fats.  If you chose a Starbucks pumpkin scone and/or a ginormous sugary latte, want to take bets on what you’re going to crave for the rest of the day?  Want to take bets on how your energy level will be?

I’m fired up to head to the gym and trial a NASTY workout (which I will be sharing with my dear clients soon enough – haha, watch out for this one!)  So I’ll leave you with a little high-protein breakfast inspiration:

MONDAY: Pumpkin protein pancakes (will share the recipe soon!) with a side of scrambled egg whites + half an avocado:A little applesauce on pancakes instead of syrup:

TUESDAY: Egg white omelet (9 tbs. of liquid egg whites = 3 eggs’ worth of egg whites and approximately 15 g. of protein!) filled with 1 c. of spinach and a handful of mushrooms, plus a little shredded white cheddar cheese.  Oh – and a handful of almonds while I was sauteing the vegetables!

ALL RIGHT!  To the gym!

It’s December 4th and my current answer is: “I can’t decide.”

Last year, it was definitely, “Eat, drink, and be merry – and fix it in January.”  I still have last January’s “before” photos from the Metabolic Effect 10-week fat loss program and with the onset of cold weather, I can feel myself creeping towards that “square 1″ feeling I had last year.

After discovering the “Fitness 360 – ‘Pick Your Physique’” feature on Bodybuilding.com today, I’m toying with the idea of setting a challenging goal for myself and beasting my way through the holidays with a more rigorous training and nutrition program.

Side note: Girls, do not be freaked out by the fact that I just used the word “Bodybuilding.”  Check out the lean, strong, feminine physiques on that website and associate THAT with “bodybuilding.”  I’m not talking about giant, hulking women-who-look-like-men whose muscles have muscles.  No way

A fellow blogger is doing Jamie Eason’s LiveFit 12-week Trainer program and although I’m not going that route, I really connected with something Jamie said in the introductory video: that most people start a new plan and give up 2-3 days in.

((Hand in the air.))  Uh, that would be me!

Stick with the plan, trust that it works, and be patient.  That is SO much easier said than done! Despite the fact that I know better, that I know body change is “a marathon, not a sprint,” I have a hard time staying fixed on specific goals just like everyone else.

Anyone out there tightened up their nutrition for a few days and lost 3-4 pounds of water weight and then thought, “Hey, that was easy!  Man, I’m good at this.  I feel better now!  I don’t need this plan after all!”

One major take-away from last year’s ME 10-week fat loss program was the realization that I do really poorly on programs with fixed time lines: “12 weeks?!?  10 weeks!?  21 days?!”  Doesn’t matter.  They freak me out and create anxiety – and if you know anything about fat loss, you know that anxiety and fat loss do not mix:)  I think, to me, these timelines just feel arbitrary and restrictive.  However, if I have an EVENT to focus on and train for, it is game on!

The last time I successfully met a goal for an event was for the August 2010 Mega-Quarterly in Atlanta.  I was going to the Body Pump AIM1 and wanted to look and feel my best.  Looking back I can honestly say, I really did!  (No clue what my body fat % was, but I will divulge that it was 7 pounds and several inches ago.  Sheesh!)

One problem here: the date for the next big “event” I’m prepping for hasn’t been announced yet.  I have several friends in the same boat: we are all waiting for a trainer boot camp to be announced.  (My Les Mills friends will know what I’m talking about, the rest of you are going, “huh?”:)  Once again, I need to look and feel my best for this event because it will be physically and emotionally demanding.  But when will it be?  Your guess is as good as mine – and therein lies my lack of motivation.

But that word choice is pretty telling.  ”Motivation.”

I don’t need – or frankly WANT – motivation.  Motivation – and it’s sibling, “Inspiration” – is fickle.  It comes and goes, depends on your mood, the weather, etc.  How many people bail on a workout, or quit their gym altogether, due to a lack of “motivation”?

Purpose is a far more powerful driver towards body change, and I might need to take some time getting reacquainted with that.  Some of what I need to achieve for the boot camp is already coming together: I have made strength gains in my chest and back and am lifting what I need to across the board in Body Pump.  So the strength is there.  It’s the lean-ness that’s another story:)

It’s December 4 and I’m on the fence: maintain status quo vs. do something bold.

Bets on which way I go?  :)  Which way would YOU go during a time of year mired in celebratory meals, drinks, and desserts?

This is is particularly true where food is concerned.  Today I had several free hours between clients and realized I was caught up on group exercise work (I now oversee the group ex programs at two clubs – aye, aye, aye!), SO that meant I had a rare, week-day window of opportunity to get some cooking done.

Today’s “to do” list in the kitchen:

• Roast sweet potatoes – these are $1.79/bag at Trader Joe’s and I go through about a bag a week.  Roasting several sweet potatoes at a time gives me a clean, grab & go source of energy for any time of day.  I love a poached or fried egg over sweet potato for breakfast, or sometimes I just eat one plain and cold – right out of the fridge:)  Coincidence that I teach my best Body Combat classes when this is my pre-class fuel?  It’s a theory I’m still testing:)
• Make Homemade Vinaigrette – the stuff in the bottles is NEVER as good as you want it to be.  I have yet to find a bottled dressing that comes close to the homemade stuff.  You just need a few pantry basics to make your own vinaigrettes, and it’s all stuff you probably have on hand anyway: olive oil, an acid like vinegar and/or citrus juice, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, etc.  I’ve started buying little cans of anchovies at Trader Joe’s for when the urge strikes to make Gwyneth Paltrow’s anchovy vinaigrette.  I can destroy salad after salad if it’s tossed in that dressing!  I always end up stealing a few fishies out of the can, too. Down the hatch, little guy…
• Slow-Roast Tomatoes – Made earlier this week, and also from Paltrow’s cookbook (“My Father’s Daughter”), these are great to keep in the fridge and add alongside or inside omelets, salads, soups, etc.  Tomatoes are absolutely worthless this time of year, UNLESS you roast them:)  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and slow roast them at 275 degrees for 3-5 hours.  They will reduce in size by about half, and will keep in the fridge for a week or so.
• Bake apples – Also made earlier this week.  Apples are in season so EAT UP!  I eat one a day, but they can start to get a little dull and unexciting for me.  Baking transforms them into a perfect fall dessert that won’t wreck your clean eating plan.  I use the recipe in the New Metabolic Effect Diet book, but you can find baked apple recipes everywhere.  The key is to keep the sugar out or at a REAL minimum.  My recipe w/ four apples only uses 1 tablespoon of sucanat.  A little goes a long way.  I discovered this week that Cortland apples are my new favorite.  Drizzle a little half & half over a hot baked apple and you might just die.  I know I do.
• Marinade Teriyaki Chicken Thighs – these are a favorite recipe from last year that I make all the time.  They are marinading now (can go up to 4 hours), and will just need 16 minutes under the broiler – 8 mins. each side – when it’s time for dinner later on.  Serving with roasted broccoli and brown rice.  A great throw-together dinner when you get home from work or the gym.

All of this prep took maybe an hour or so.  So worth it.  Of course I had to taste-test some of my hard work, so lunch today was a particularly good one!!!  A cup each of baby spinach and mixed greens, a couple spoonfuls of gorgonzola cheese, and a handful of mushrooms all tossed with anchovy vinaigrette.  Slow-roasted tomatoes on the side, and a small sweet potato.  

Bon appetit!