Cutting The Fat

Today’s workout was awesome.  I’m usually a bit afraid of tabata’s but this went great.

Tabata This

• 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, for 8 rounds of each exercise
  • pull-ups (i started with dead hangs, then kipping, and did my last 10 or so with a band)
  • push-ups
  • sit-ups
  • air squats
• 40, 73, 90, 115 = Total reps = 318

Ouch.  That’s all I got to say at the moment.  This was a mostly upper body and body weight workout.  I’m just getting in touch with my upper body so this was really hard for me.

Rx’d Workout:

• 21-15-9 reps of
  • handstand push-up, ring dips, push-ups
• For time

What I did

• 21-15-9
  • db shoulder press (started with 35s, dropped to 30s during first set, then 25’s for last two sets)
  • ring dips with small band
  • push-ups
• Time - 12:09

Shoulders arms and chest are all feeling pretty good right now.  It’s amazing how hard the pushups were after the ring-dips but I managed to do most of them with good chest to floor form.  I’ve definitely improved on pushups and need to check old logs for some benchmark on what I could do 2-3 months ago and what I can do now.

Legs and glutes are also starting to hurt today from yesterday’s squats.  I love a little good delayed soreness.

You know I’m all about easy and tasty and healthy meal options.  I made this in less than 10 minutes and it was one of the best meals I’ve had lately. Here’s what I got…

Ingredients

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 or 2 tsp sesame ginger seasoning from whole foods
• 1 tbsp light sauce sauce
• 2 tsp oil of your choice
• 1 bag frozen organic oriental vegetable mix
• 6oz salmon, skinned and cubed

How to Make It

• mix the soy sauce and the seasoning in a bowl and let the cubed salmon marinate
• Cook veggies per instructions. I buy microwave steamer bags so I cooked the veggies in the microwave for about 3 minutes, leaving them slightly undercooked
• heat a little oil in pan and saute crushed garlic until aromatic
• add almost cooked veggies and continue cooking
• when veggies are near done, dump salmon and marinade into pan
• salmon only takes a few minutes to cook.  if it’s fresh you can under cook it a tad which personally i think gives it a lot more flavor and keeps it moister

As always I have a little fruit for dessert but otherwise that’s it!  If you don’t have any seasonings all you really need is some garlic powder, sesame seeds, ginger, and you’re good to go.  So good!

Also – if you enjoyed this, check out other great information and posts at Food Renegade!

Warmup

• 2 rounds of
• 50 double unders
• 20 situps
• 15 pushups
• 10 pullups (did most unassissted by kipping. Did need a band for last 5 of second set)

Workout

• 5 rounds of
  • 1 minute row
  • 1 minute wall ball (20 lb med ball)
  • 1 minute rest
• Score = row calories + wall ball reps = 33, 32, 33, 28, 28
• Total: 154

I didn’t mind this workout that much.  I sort of enjoy rowing though I could feel myself conserving energy for the wall balls. The wall balls felt especially torturous and several times I caught the ball on my face, dropped it, or caught it and landed in a squat position then got stuck at the bottom.  I also just threw it down a few times and rested which totally killed my score.  I then realized I had been using the 20lb ball instead of the 15lb or 10lb that I’m used to so all things considered it was still a great workout.

Ever sine I was a kid I have absolutely loved eating artichokes.  Of course I do prefer them the way my mother makes them, which is sitting in a dutch even full of olive oil, garlic, and broth, and leaves stuffed with some kind of homemade stuffing, but I will eat them anyday, anyway I can get them.

For those unfamiliar, eating artichokes is a unique and enjoyable experience.  For me it satiates that want for bingeing or grazing on snack food because it’s actually a bit time consuming eating them.  You pick off the cooked leaves, put it in your mouth, bite down on it, and pull the leaf out so that the flesh of the leaf scrapes off and gets eaten.  Once you get through most of the leaves, you get the the tender fleshy heart of the artichoke.

I have been steaming them, and dipping the leaves in hummus.  I tried adding some garlic and oil to the water I steamed them over but I don’t think it added any taste.  If you are cooking yours in a dutch oven i think some oil and broth will flavor them but if you’re just steaming them, it doesn’t seem to matter much.

• If your artichoke has a long stem, cut it off near the base of the artichoke.  The leaves will have a sharp point.  I snip the tip off lengthwise of all the leaves.  Near the center where they’re tightly packed, you can saw the tips of with a knife if it’s too hard with kitchen scissors
• Steam for about 45 minutes or until leaves pull off easily.  The first few outter leaves will remain pretty tough but as you get into the artichoke a bit they will start getting softer.  You can peel a few of the outer leaves off and pitch them.

I dipped mine in hummus but I’ve heard of others dipping in melted butter with garlic, mayo, miracle whip, or other veggies dips.  They eat like a hearty meal but are actually pretty light so eat up and enjoy!