Coffee & vanilla, 30g of protein, about 250 calories. That’s what’s up. This will probably be my breakfast for the next few days… YUM!! Made my normal protein shake with vanilla whey & Silk, then added 1 scoop of caramel macchiato flavored coffee! I also added 1 packet of Truvia. So soo good. Make you wanna slap yo mama.
And here’s what my sweet Reese pup is doing while I’m attempting “squat push-ups”… She is not impressed. 😉
Telling everyone you know about your workout goals should obviously increase the chance that you stick with it… I mean who wants to be a lazy failure to the general public? Ha so yeah, I’m doing that.
Today was day 5 of Insanity… IT. IS. INTENSE to say the least. I’m really loving it so far though. I’ve done Jillian Michaels and a few of the P90X dvds in the past, but this one is my favorite. I also feel like it’s the most challenging. Today I did “Pure Cardio” and had to pause it a few times to catch my breath. I assume this is a normal week 1 thing… maybe week 2 I’ll be able to go all the way with no breaks. They advise you to take “before” pictures. Did that. I’m not in bad shape, but standing against a white wall, with the flash on, while you’re staring straight ahead, looking all mug shot-ish… definitely not the most flattering picture for anyone. And not something I’d want displayed on a social network. But if I make visible progress, best believe I will post it.
Insanity also comes with a nutrition guide and meal plan. I already eat pretty clean, but one thing I am going to work on is eating smaller amounts more often. They really stress the importance of eating 5 evenly spaced meals throughout the day while you’re doing a workout program like Insanity. AND I can eat a little more in general, because I’m burning more calories… which is always nice. Because food is fun.
On to other highlights from my day…
Speaking of food, my new favorite breakfast is oatmeal pancakes. Ideally you would use raw oats, or a low sugar version… but I only had a packet of Quaker maple brown sugar. I put it in the blender, along with a banana, flax-seed, an egg, a little water, and a little almond milk. It’s also recommended to add whey protein (that’s on my grocery list).
I put fresh raspberries and chopped walnuts on top…. YUM! This meal has it all, good carbs, good fats, and protein. Great start to the day and fuel for a workout.
Lunch was rolled in a whole wheat wrap with flax-seed. I used leftover chicken from dinner last night, with spinach, tomato, cucumber, grey poupon, and a tiny bit of light mayo.
Last, but most importantly, is my precious grey dog, prepping for fall in my new scarf 🙂 I just wanna squeeze her wittle face off sometimes.
Dinnertime can become monotonous unless you’re trying out new ideas from time to time… so I decided to add some new items to the Brown Kitchen menu. Not to pat myself on the back or anything 😉 ….But this balsamic Dijon chicken is probably the best thing I’ve ever made. [By the way, I sort of feel like I’m writing a “Chicken for Dummies” article… but I never had anyone teach me what to do in the kitchen, so everything is learning experience with me :)]
Got this idea from Clean Eating mag… but had to modify the recipe a little, due to the fact that I don’t have a rice cooker, AND Publix didn’t have the exact ingredients. The only thing I would try differently next time is to slice the chicken breasts in half before marinating… I feel like with the smaller peices of chicken, that you’d be able to taste the marinade a little better. It’s so flavorful and so so good.
Ingredients:
Marinade:
First, prepare marinade. Combine all marinade ingredients and add chicken… turn the breasts to make sure they’re completely coated. You can use ziplock bags, a bowl, or a glass baking pan. Cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. I like the fact that I have enough of these ingredients to make this marinade several more times without buying them all again.
When you are ready to begin cooking, preheat oven to 350. Since I used my glass baking pan to marinate, I simply took it from the fridge, covered it with foil, then popped it in the oven.
Next, mince the shallots. I used my Chef’n Veggie Chop for the first time (I’ve had the thing for a while but forgot about it, whoops). But it really is great and I’ll definitely be using it all the time now. I liked it better than my food processor for the simplicity of cleaning it, and the fact that you can pop the little blade out, use it for storage with the lid, and even serve directly from it if making salsa or guac. You just pull the handle like you would to crank a weed eater ha.
Next I used my fabulous Calphalon pan to sautee the shallots and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat. Once they were softened a bit, I poured in the vegetable broth and reduced heat to simmer. Last step was to mince the parsley and put the rice & quinoa in the microwave.
I served the chicken over the rice & poured the mushroom/veggie broth mixture on top. Add a sprinkle of parsley. BOOM. Masterpiece. This was also my step-dad’s birthday, so I invited him and my mom over to try it out. We were all a part of the clean plate club!
can i haz jus’ 1?
Unbelievably easy cookies… only 6 ingredients. Low-fat, low sugar, dairy-free, & no flour. Hmm sounds too good to be true… they probably taste horrible. Who in their right mind would want to eat these…
love.healthy.me 