Wednesday Leg Day!

Wednesday leg day workouts: 3x through each superset

Reverse Lunges on the Smith Machine
Deadlift

Hip Thrusters
Hip Sled

Step Ups
Sideways squats

Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili

Ingredientse

• 1 3/4 cups water (could use vegetable broth)
• 1 chopped onion 
• 1/8 cup chopped seeded jalapeño pepper (1 pepper)
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained 
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added canellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 package frozen Morningstar Veggie Crumbles
• 2 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers (about 1/2 cup)

Preparation

1. 1. Combine first 11 ingredients in a 6-quart electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
2. 2. Ladle soup into bowls; top with cheese! :) 

SOOOO Good! 

This recipe was adapted by one from Cooking Light, which can be found here:Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili

Protein Waffles

Protein Waffles

Makes 4 small, 3 medium, 2 super large

Ingredients:
1/2 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions:

Put oatmeal and baking powder in a blender and process until powdered.

In a large bowl, mix yogurt, eggs, water, vanilla, and olive oil until smooth with an electric mixer.

Mix the dry and the wet ingredients to form a batter.

As the mixture stands it will thicken and it may be necessary to add more water, (a tablespoon at a time), to a get smooth, not lumpy, consistency.

Cook in a waffle iron according to the iron’s specifications. 

Legs and Abs workout

Another great workout with my coworker/friend J! Having an accountability partner really does make a huge difference in the quality and intensity of your workouts.  Find a partner who will keep you accountable not only in getting to the gym regularly, but will push you (within limits) to do your best.  Your best is always a quality over quantity and you may find that it varies a bit, particularly if you have any history of injuries.  Some days my knee doesn't feel as good as others and I have to adjust my plan accordingly.  But I always give my best and focus on quality lifting with great form over higher weights or reps.

Winterwonderland

So we only got about an inch or so here near Charlottesville, but they weather forecasters were calling for 4-8 inches of snow today. After teaching Kettlebells this morning I wanted to make sure I got in a run in case I wouldn't be able to in the next couple of days. I had just run yesterday and it was really cold out so I didn't push myself too hard today.  I got a quick four miles in then showered and headed off to work.  I neglected to stretch, so my hamstrings have been tight all day.

I LOVE my new Garmin Forerunner 10. D got it for me for Christmas and it so much fun to use! I love love love having a GPS watch to track my time, pace, distance and calories.  Once you plug it in to your computer to synch the data you also get a map, elevation, splits, and lots more.  So awesome!

Vegetarian Fast Food Choices

Being a vegetarian there aren't very many good places to go when you are on the road. I had never been to a Chipotle before I met Dean.  He eats there pretty frequently and the first time I went I had no idea what to order or expect.  MANNNNY trips later, Chipotle is my favorite fast food place to go. The ingredients are fresh (and often locally sources) and it can be very healthy depending on what you choose. I usually get the burrito bowl with fajita veggies, corn and mild salsa, lettuce, guacamole, a little cheese and either brown rice or beans depending on if it was more of a cardio/running day or a strength day. Its delicious and I always have about half left over for a meal the next day.  

Whats your favorite healthy meal on the go? 

Tomato & Basil Pasta Bake

I made a delicious pasta bake with the last yummy harvest of basil leaves this fall.  It was quick, healthy and protein packed (carbs too, but thats pretty obvious!!).

To make it easier on myself, I used a jar of spagetti sauce, some crumbled up veggie burgers (cook them first so you aren't trying to crumble frozen patties), mozzarella and ricotta cheeses and cooked whole wheat noodles. Bake and enjoy!!!

Note: I don't mind whole leaves of basil, but if you do, you can easily just chop them up finely!!!

I want to inspire you!

Don't give up!!

Quick dinner idea

A super quick dinner.  It may not look that great to many of my readers, but it was pretty tasty!

I get home really late at night sometimes and making a healthy dinner is frequently a challenge.  I use Steamfresh vegetables frequently and saw that there was a Steamfresh broccoli and pasta mix the last time I was in the store.  I heated that up and had some of the carrots my fantastic fiancé made carrots to go along with his dinner.  I still needed an additional protein source so I had some baked beans in the cabinet that I opened and heated.

This was a great, healthy, quick meal with a pretty solid amount of protein.  Many of my clients have heard me harp on them about eating frozen meals, and in an ideal world, we wouldn't eat frozen food hardly ever.  However, this wasn't a super terrible choice, the sodium isn't that high (I don't get very much sodium in my diet anyway)  and I definitely don't have frozen prepared foods regularly.