Will shake for chicken.
Would probably sing an aria whilst riding a unicycle for chicken, but you know.
Another lovely Pilot-grilled feast:
I prepped the food and when he got home, he grilled it up while I did the baby bedtime rituals. We had dinner before 8pm, and it was awesome.
Wilted some kale on medium in a little olive oil and veggie broth,
removed it from heat and added the juice of 1/2 lemon, splash of Tamari, cayenne, garlic, sea salt and pepper
We split an avocado atop the kale, along with grilled chicken, stuffed with cheese and turkey. I was going to “cordon bleu” it, but alas, the mini food chopper is broken and didn’t even think about using the Vitamix. I have a tendency to get a in smoothies-only mindset with that thing and it’s capable of so much more…
(The Pilot’s with Colby Jack, mine with goat cheese)
It was a glorious meal, and I saved half my chicken for extra protein after hitting up the weights.
More eats:
My favorite Larabar
(Coconut Cream Pie, Cappuccino and Cashew are up there, too)
Salad in a mixing bowl:
(which sadly only filled up half of it. I need a greens stash replenishment like you read about)
And the story of a cookie that I almost set on fire.
I had the brilliant idea to cut off a piece of the dough I’ve been snacking on and put it on a plate in the microwave for a late-night sweet treat.
Well, 2 minutes is too long, my friends.
I forgot about the cookie after about a minute, raced back into the kitchen and was greeted with a rank, charbroiled aroma and couldn’t even see said cookie in the micowave- it was filled with smoke.
“Hey, will you please help me over here? I think my cookie is on fire!”
“A cookie! Where did you get a cookie? I want one”
“The dough is over here. Will you please come help me figure out how to turn the fan on so the smoke alarm doesn’t go off?”
(I can never find the “fan” button when I actually need it)
“Wait, you made cookie dough? What kind did you make?”
“Halp meeeeeeeeeee”
Priorities, haha.
He made me feel like I was insane to have put cookie dough in the microwave –“would you put a raw turkey breast in there?”- but I’m pretty sure I’ve done it before. Plus, it was vegan dough so it doesn’t really matter how cooked it gets. Needless to say, neither of us enjoyed a cookie last night. We were both a little traumatized from the stench.
Speaking of burns….
here’s what I did at the gym last night- a lovely burn for the areas that get a double-take as you walk away
(Head’s up: Brides-to-be, make sure to workout your back! It’s a common wedding dress focal point when you’re standing at the altar. The best part about it is that since the back is naturally pretty lean, if you emphasize back toning exercises, you see visible toning very quickly)
*Always check with a doc before making any fitness changes. Honor your body and injuries, and be sure to exercise with proper form.
[print_this]
-Warm-up: Cardio of choice, moderate intensity, 5-7 minutes
3 sets of 12-15 reps of the following, unless otherwise indicated:
-Bench step-ups (10 right, 10 left, 10 facing each side)
-Superman (lift legs and arms at the same time 10 times, flutter/swim for 30 seconds; repeat 2 more times)
-Following with cardio (15 minutes of HIIT, optional) and/or stretch.
[/print_this]
Hope you have a happy humpday! <3
See ya later with a Fashion post.
xoxo
Gina
Today’s workout jam:
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Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
ive put cookie dough in the microwave on more than one occasion.
I tried to find that cookie dough at WF yesterday and they couldn’t find it! I was super bummed.
Things I miss: reading your blog, lifting [my own body weight], and food that doesn’t come from a dining hall. Aaaaaand seeing pictures of liv’s gorgeous baby face. Baby’s got back.
Ahhhh we’ve all been there, huh??? Hahahha!!! Ryan would have said the same thing!!!
I’m loving me good hard workouts, so thank you for this one
xxoo
So you’ve introduced me to Larabars. I bought one the other day, peanut butter chocolate chip, and it was really good. So now my question is what do you use them for? Snacks? I had it as my breakfast since I was in a rush that morning and it did the job for a while, but I was hungry again in 2 hours. My main concern is the fat and sugar content. It seems a little high. I would love to hear your thoughts!
Just as an FYI, some of the Larabar flavors are higher in fat and sugar than others. Some have up to 250 cals, 13-14g of fat and 25g of sugar, while others have as little as 180 cals, 9-10g fat and 16g sugar. So check the labels! Also, the main 2 ingredients in all of the flavors are dates and nuts, which are natural sources of fat & sugar. If you ate an apple and a handful of almonds, you’d be getting just as much fat and sugar! It’s still way better than a cookie and a can of coke
Thanks!
yep, they’re a great snack. to make it a meal, i’d have a salad with some kind of protein on there (larabars have hardly any) which will help you stay satisfied longer.
fat and sugar are high from the fruit and nuts, but it’s nice that it’s healthy fat and not added sugar- it’s naturally in the dates
xoxo
Thank you so much! I’m going to hunt down a few more flavors this weekend, including cappuccino!
HOLD THE PHONE…they make cappuccino Lars bars?!?!?
YES! I just had my first one about 2 months ago — delicious!
Gina, you speak my language — you just listed all my favorite larabars… and in order! Weird!
twinsies!
YES. amazing
Bella is so cute!! I actually got the blueberry LaraBar after I saw it on your blog and loved the flavor!!! It is my favorite now!
haha i love your burnt cookie story! my husband would’ve been saying the same exact things about wanting a cookie and wondering where i got cookie dough.
I have totally put cookie dough in the microwave before…always tastes better a little melted, even with the chocolate all gooey yum. As for your kale, looks great! And I always feel so great eating kale…love the idea of adding avocado!
Oh my goodness, the cookie story made me laugh out loud! Love it
I bet your dinner tasted even better than it looks–gosh I’m getting hungry! I have to try the cappucino Lara bars you mentioned–I love cappucino
This post reminds me that I really need to get back to work on this here booty. Great post.
Mandi
http://www.theSassyFitMom.com
It’s funny that you mentioned how quickly you’ll see results with back exercises. I always noticed that, but I never stopped to think why it was! Learn something new every day, right?
I like the wilted Kale idea, looks like a yummy dinner. Love the workout today! The HIIT part at the end will maybe (more like probably) be optional for me though haha
Wow, look at that back of yours! Inspiration! I’m inspired to get on some back exercises now!
Also that salad in the bowl looks remarkably like the spinach salad I’m planning on getting at Trader Joes for lunch today. I’ve been thinking about it all morning!
Ah, men and their cookies. Nothing else seems to matter when there are cookies to be eaten.
This is random but now that you guys are parents, do you try to have dinner together each night? Will you continue doing this with Livi if/when Tom is deployed?
i’d ideally love to have dinner as a family together every night. for now, we’re lucky to have a “real” dinner that isn’t cereal and omelets
and yes, livi and i will definitely eat dinner together if tom is deployed
Ohhhh this is my kinda workout! Bookmarked and can’t wait to try!!
Haha, I love the Pilot’s reaction – “I want a cookie!” Too funny. Thanks for the workout! I really appreciate having both the pictures and the name of the exercise, as well as links to descriptions. And I love the picture of you doing a pull-up – fierce!!
love the back workout!! i definitely think working your back can be overlooked…(i know mine is!). thanks for the workout idea!
Almost setting things on fire….oh girl. I am always multi-tasking in the kitchen and I swear have more “almosts” than I care to write about. Lol. Almost dropping the entire bag of flour over the edge of the countertop, almost setting off the smoke detector (that happened again last nite, it’s super sensitive)…I can relate to your story
I like that workout! I think I’ll do it tomorrow! Thanks for posting it! : )
let me know how it goes!
Random question: how were you going to use the food chopper to cordon bleu it?
Haha I forgot to mention why- to make bread crumbs
Ah OK! I couldn’t think of what part of cordon-bleuing required chopping. I forgot about bread crumbs.
Hahaha I’m terrible at microwave cooking (and all cooking). I’m so surprise that I’ve never permanently destroyed a microwave, just a little smoke and a lot of ruined leftovers.
I always laugh at myself for forgetting things in the microwave! How is it possible to forget something (especially food) in 30 seconds??? I do not know, but I continue to do it. The other night I warmed up a chicken breast in the microwave and then remembered it TWO HOURS later. Oops!
haha! i feel better now
Blueberry muffin Larabar?! That looks AMAZING. What are the ingredients? We don’t have that flavour in Canada yet
Also, thanks for sharing this workout! I absolutely LOVE doing your routines – they are so well-rounded & push me to do different things that I normally would, Keep it up, girl!
I LOVE that song!! I am working on a Zumba dance to it
That workout looks great–I love doing Supermans to really target the core/lower back!
Glad you mentioned to bride’s to work out their back muscles! I’m currently engaged, and even though my dress has sleeves and some lace on the back, it’s still pretty open. I totally wasn’t even thinking about working out my back.. thanks!
Ah I’m all about the back toning! Thanks for the killer workout, you’re right, I just love how fast toning shows on the back!
LOVE this JLo song!! You always post the best zumba music
thanks, i looooove that song right now
“Where did you get a cookie?” Bahhaha that totally sounds like something I would say, while the house burns down. I totally would have thought you could do cookie dough in the microwave.
On a non-cookie note, you’ve inspired me to work on my back muscles. Never thought about how fast that toning would show up!
Thanks for the back tips! I always love your workouts.
I was wondering, since I workout at home and have only bands to work with, do you think you can recommend some great ST moves with them? I typically only use them to train my upper body, but my routine has gotten super stale and would love some new moves.
Love your blog!
resistance band kickbacks, side steps, overhead press, tricep kickback, chest press, fly, ab exercises… some more ideas are here: http://fitnessista.com/2011/07/focus-on-resistance-bands/
Oooh, thank you!!!
The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar kind of ruined all the rest for me… soooo good! Strangely, it also has one of the lowest sugar contents of all of the flavors.
interesting- i had no idea!
Thanks for the ‘printable’ workout Gina! I could have used it last night when i went to the gym for like the first time in 6 months (post baby) and i did not know what to do with myself, had no plan for a workout so ended up in spinning and it was AWESOME, kicked my booty!
I will def be taking this w/o to the gym next time:)
And oh yeah, the Vitamix would have worked perfect for bread crumbs, next time:=
I’ve totally had some microwave fails!
ha! Priorities is right! and then as soon as my fiance would hear “vegan” he’d lose interest in it anyway lol
Say, I am definitely trying to tone my back better because my wedding dress is pretty low in the back! (getting married in December). I just feel like it’s not getting to where I want it! Any other suggestions?!
assisted pullups are your friend
congrats on your upcoming wedding!
Random question: How did you get the “print this” on your blog?
it’s a wordpress plugin called “print this”
Nice thanks!
I love working out my back. Before my wedding I was a little bit obsessed but I’m glad I was. All of our guests kept commenting how toned I looked. Even now when I look back at pictures I can see the definition and glad I put in the work.
For the bench step ups, what do you mean by “facing each side”? Is it like side stepping up instead of a forward step up? I think so but want to be sure. I’m going to do this tomorrow! Thanks!
yep, exactly right
i really like your blue sparkly tip nails!
thank you!
I CRACKED up reading that conversation haha. That totally sounds like something that would happen in my house. Men…
OH and you’re so right about the back being a focal point in wedding dresses! I hadn’t even thought about it until one of our wedding guests (who happened to be a personal trainer) came up to me at the reception and was like “hey FYI, your back looks amazing!” Not the compliment you expect at your wedding haha – I was so glad my pre-wedding workouts were well-rounded.
right?! haha the house could be on fire, but he was wondering what kind of cookie it was
My sister once set soup on fire. There’s a first for everything.
Yum- that kale sounds fantastic. Great back exercises! It’s an training area often forgotten about.
Haha I love how he was more focused getting a cookie than on helping you out! Men are useless when there’s food around.
Hi Gina,
When did y’all transition Livi from the bassinet into her crib? We have a 7 week-old and have no bedtime routine yet (she was premature and currently weighs 8.3 pounds so she’s only sleeping 3 to 3.5 consecutive hours currently); however, I would love to start one soon and would like to know what has worked for you all. Thanks!
Thank you for giving a ‘printable’ option for the workouts!
Oh my goodness, all that food looks amazing!
I just started reading your blog and i LOVE it!
zerotofinish.blogspot.com
The plank row with leg lift was way harder than I anticipated! LOL Great workout as usual – thanks for keeping things exciting for us.
so glad you liked it and found it challenging!