Trying New Things

Since I’ve started waking up early each weekday, I’ve noticed that I can no longer sleep in on the weekends.  I wake up on a Saturday or Sunday morning, feeling rested, and I immediately assume it has to be 9 or 10am.  Then I look at my clock and am consistently shocked that it’s only 7.  I guess it’s probably because, unless I have late night plans, I try to get to bed at a decent hour even on the weekends.  It’s sort of annoying because I feel like I should sleep in when I can, but it’s more of a mental thing than a physical one – I can’t force it if my body just doesn’t need the extra sleep! 

And one definite positive of maintaining my sleep schedule on the weekends is that it makes getting up early on weekdays just a little bit easier.  I woke up yesterday morning at 5 and I was out the door and on my way to the gym in no time!

I started off with this shoulder + triceps workout, and then hopped on the treadmill for a quick 30 minute cardio session.  I started off with some steady state running and finished with five one-minute sprints.  Once that was done, I did some back extensions and oblique work, plus some hanging knee lifts and called it a day.  It sure was nice to get outside and have the sun already rising… the days are definitely getting longer already!

While I was completing the strength part of my workout, a fellow lifter came up to me to ask if I did CrossFit or if I’d played sports in college.  He was commenting on my overhead squats, and the fact that many people can’t figure out how to do any type of Olympic lifting correctly.  I answered no to both questions, but it really made me think about how much I still want to try out CrossFit.  I feel like my style of workouts matches up fairly well with theirs, and it’s definitely something for me to think about!

When I got to work yesterday morning, m y stomach was growling so I immediately busted out the breakfast I’d brought with me.  One the menu was two of my coconut blueberry muffins and some fresh sliced strawberries. 

For lunch, I brought with me a meal I’d prepped on Sunday night while my meatloaf was in the oven.  All I did was put two pieces of boneless chicken, two sliced plum tomatoes, and a few green beans in my new mini casserole dish, drizzled it with a little olive oil and a dash of basil and crushed red pepper, covered it with tinfoil and baked at 400* for about an hour.   

Once it was all cooked up (and cooled), I transferred it to a tupperware container and had the perfect lunch! I heated it up at work yesterday afternoon in the microwave, and it was delicious.  The chicken was super moist, and the spices gave it just enough flavor.

Yesterday’s snacks included cinnamon apple slices…

And a few of these cashews…

For dinner, I picked chicken lettuce wraps off my meal plan and used this recipe as a guide.  The only problem was that when I went to get the ground chicken from the fridge, I realized I’d bought ground turkey instead.  Woops!  Luckily, I couldn’t even really taste a difference in the end. 

Once the chicken turkey was all cooked up,

I added some liquid aminos, and a little bit of ginger, garlic powder (too lazy to chop up real garlic), crushed red pepper, and honey. 

I stirred everything up and let it simmer or low for a while, and once it was about done, I got out a few pieces of romaine lettuce. 

I usually use iceburg lettuce for this recipe, but something made me get romaine this time, and I’m not sure that it was my best decision.  Iceburg is a lot crunchier, which I think is better for this meal, so I’ll probably stick with that next time. 

I filled each of the pieces of lettuce with some of the mixture, topping each with a handful of almonds that I chopped up myself. 

I’d never added almonds before, but they totally took this dish up a notch, and I definitely won’t be leaving them out next time!  On the side, I added a few chopped carrots; I’d meant to cook them, but forgot, but they ended up being a great addition as they were.  The wraps were pretty spicy and the cold, crunchy carrots were a perfect contrast!

I did a little research on the liquid aminos, and there seems to be mixed opinions out there.  It seems that the majority of people either love it (mostly because they enjoy the taste) or hate it because they think it’s a gimmick.  It’s still made with soybeans, so even though there’s less sodium than regular soy sauce, if you’re looking to eliminate soy, it’s not really going to help you.  I liked the taste, so I didn’t fall into the group that hates it, but I also don’t really see how it’s that much healthier for you than anything else.  Either way, I’m sure I’ll end up using up the bottle eventually!

Questions:

Have you tried CrossFit?

Do you talk to people when you’re at the gym?

What are some of your favorite spices and sauces?