Heather and Mark are having a giveaway for almond butter… yum!

And Kelly is having another book giveaway.  I want both!!

BEST MEAL OF THE DAY

I give all credit for today’s meal of the day to my sister and her boyfriend, who brought us the best strawberry balsamic vinegar and basil infused olive oil EVER (from Old Town Oil in Chicago)!!  I tried the strawberry balsamic here and raved about it the first time, but today I actually added fresh strawberries to the salad which brought out the amazing balsamic vinegar sweetness and strawberry flavor even further.  The vinegar + oils turned a delicious salad into an extraordinary, lick the plate clean amazing meal (and yes, I did in fact lick the plate after I was done … no joke!).

In today’s salad I used baby spinach, grape tomatoes, fresh strawberries, goat cheese and pecans – all dressed in 1 tsp of the basil EVOO and 1 T of the strawberry balsamic.  OMG, strawberries and goat cheese in a salad… how did I live for over 26 years without ever trying this combo??!!

Pre-dressing closeup:

On the side I enjoyed 4 crackers with some Trader Joe’s olive bruschetta.  It was a really great lunch!

OTHER EATS

For the dish above, I followed this recipe found on Lara’s blog.  I added extra mushrooms because we love mushrooms in this household  7.5 oz of dry pasta, 1 lb of raw chicken, a broccoli head and a big handful of fresh mushrooms + sauce made 4 HUGE servings.  In fact, I couldn’t finish this bowl so I had dessert instead…

Total calories for the day: 1678

WORKOUT

I had a great workout today!  I was actually really excited about it which made a very vigorous bootcamp class (recently renamed to “extreme core training” and yes it was extreme) very enjoyable.  I started with a 15 minutes of abs, followed by 40 minutes of a bootcamp class (we alternated between jump rope and crazy exercises for 1 minute each) and finished with 20 minutes of pilates.  I was actually going to do the whole pilates class but my legs were shaking so much after 20 minutes I thought it may do more harm than good so I left in the middle of the class.  The instructor was a little upset, but whatever.  She’ll get over it

By the way, I’ve been using my Ab slide 3 times a week (I didn’t do it today… I just figured I’d mention it so you guys know I’ve been complying with the Sexy six pack challenge rules ).  I’m up to 60 rolls already!

And that’s all I’ve got for you today!  I have a little dinner + movie date with my friend Katie tomorrow so there may be no post tomorrow night… or a really short  one!  I’m just warning you

Since my workout was totally the highlight of my day, I’ll start with that….

WORKOUT

I started with a 15 minutes abs class at the gym.  It was nothing crazy just lots of crunches and stuff.  Then I took a 40 minute spin class, followed by a 3.3 mile walk/run on the treadmill (originally I was just going to walk, but then after a few minutes I got bored, so I slowly increased my speed and ran for a solid 3 miles… cooling down again with a short walk).  I used the “fat burn” function on the treadmill and it let me set a target heart rate (I originally picked 150, then moved it up to 160) which adjusted the incline to constantly maintain my HR.  It was fun because there were random hills along the way and I was in control of adjusting the speed if I thought I could take it.  I ran at 6.2-6.6 mph (a little slower than usual because I was already tired from spinning).  To finish my workout, I jumped on the elliptical and did another 20 minutes there while watching the Food Network.  I love multi-tasking like that   Workout stats (exclude a 5 min stretch):

• Duration: 1:48
• Calories burnt: 960 (35% fat) – Yeah!!
• Ave HR: 150 (included the abs class which kept my HR at a low rate); Max HR: 226 (that doesn’t seem right!  during spinning my high was usually at 168, not sure about the run but 226 is def wrong).

 I also used my Ab Slide right before going to bed.  I did 20 straight rolls, 10 on each side, and another 10 straight rolls (50 in total).  That’s 10 better than the last one.  I think I could have done more, but I was ready for bed.  I’ll push myself for a few extra ones today or tomorrow.

BEST MEAL OF THE DAY

I wish I took progress pictures of this meal because it looked so pretty along the way, with the spinach and the cheese… mmm.  Anyways, today’s best meal of the day was my dinner (although leftovers for lunch were awesome too but I already featured the scallops).  We had some ricotta in the fridge and since it spoils so quickly after opening the container, I wanted to make baked ziti.  So baked ziti I made.  I added grilled chicken for some extra protein and some baby spinach for extra veggies (+ I really love spinach with pasta dishes).  Here is the whole thing when it came out of the oven.  Doesn’t it look good?  Cheese will make just about anything look mouth-watering, I think.

And my serving (1/4 of the pan).  Yum!

OTHER EATS OF THE DAY

+ a glass of Pinot Noir I enjoyed with some co-workers after work

Total calories for the day: ~1775 (includes a rough estimate for the cake bites).  It’s over my usual limit, but I’m cool with it since I burnt so many calories at the gym today.  See, I’m healthy AND sane

Oh yeah, and check out Kelly’s weekly giveaway at here.  That book sounds like something I’d enjoy… maybe you will too (if you win)

BEST MEAL OF THE DAY – PART I

What you see is 1 slice of Arnold’s double fiber whole wheat bread, toasted, spread with ricotta cheese, 2 prunes, pecans and a tsp of maple syrup.  To die for!  I had some amazing fresh blueberries on the side.  These have seriously been the best blueberries I’ve ever had (they were on sale 2 for 1, but we’re still almost out )

BEST MEAL OF THE DAY – PART II

I love love love scallops, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever made them!  Why you ask?  Well for some reason my husband thought he wasn’t crazy for scallops even though he usually loves them at restaurants.  Maybe he secretly didn’t trust my scallop making skills   Well, I proved him wrong tonight.  I used this recipe from Cooking Light as the base, but didn’t actually make the bay-scented butter (just used Smart Balance butter instead – a little less than the recipe asked for).  I also These were SO good!  Btw, I don’t know if Cooking Light was planning on serving this to birds but 1 serving is definitely not enough for a person.  I made probably about 7-servings worth according to them, and I ate about 30% of it.  Of course I could eat even more but this way I get to have leftovers!

On the side, I had some trusty parmesan brussels sprouts (this is the only way I make brussels sprouts because they are amazingly delicious and take less than 10 minutes as opposed to baking which takes more like 30-40 minutes) + 1/2 cup of brown rice.  Great dinner!

OTHER EATS

There was also another unphotographed cookie that jumped in my mouth before I knew what happened.  It’s ok, I was a good girl all day!

Total calories for the day: right around 1650

By the way, I finished my project at work today!  It was another busy day, but I did it – it’s done!!  I was/am so happy about it.  My boss was very appreciative, so I feel great!  Yay!

Re: gym, I still haven’t gone and now dinner is sitting like a rock in my stomach (thank god I didn’t go back for more!) so I don’t know what’s going to happen with that.  I know I definitely will use my ab slide before bed.  Gotta get those sexy six pack abs!!

The rules state that you have to commit to some kind of abs routine at least 3 times a week for 30 days.  Originally I said I’ll just do something for at least 10 minutes (abs class at the gym, abs class from my dvr, my own somethin somethin) and that’s what I started with, but yesterday under my bed I noticed a very dusty AB slide that was crying out for help.  I got this thing years ago in college and I can probably count on my 2 hands the number of times I used it.  This thing is so hard!  I mean, not only does it work your abs, but your arms have to be mighty strong if you want to get back up.  Now that sounds like my kind of challenge!  So I’ll be using this baby at least 3 times a week and we’ll see if I can improve.

Don’t let its cute appearance fool you!  This thing is a monster!  

Anyways, this is where I may grow some balls and actually show you what I’m made off.  I took a “before picture” of my abs yesterday.  I will not post it until February 17, hopefully along with the sexy six pack abs in the “after picture.”  Of course that’s only if I don’t chicken out.  Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten Barney Butter straight out the jar this morning, heh?

So for my first AB slide workout, I did 20 straight rolls and 10 on each side.  I think it’s possible to roll out even further, but I’m not there yet.  It’s funny, because I think my ab muscles are pretty strong, but somehow this thing still kicks my ass… err, abs  I’ll report on my progress with the AB slide in future posts.

REST OF MY WORKOUT

After doing a little rollin, I turned on my cable box for some yoga.  It’s totally my new thing!  I like that I don’t have to leave the apartment to have a little workout!  I just did a 20 minute routine that was nice and relaxing – lot’s of stretching.  I totally needed it!  My inner thighs were making a clicking noise that freaked me out a bit.  I felt better afterwards!

Then I did a whole lot of nothing but after a few hours put on my gym clothes and hit the gym.  I knew I wanted to do some weights and figured I’ll just see if I feel like anything else once I’m there.  Of course, once I get to the gym I’m like a machine, so it ended up being an extra long session.  Works for me!

I started with a 5 minute warm-up on the elliptical, followed by back/biceps/hamstrings/glutes and obliques workout from Jillian’s Winning by Losing book…. then 15 minutes on the bike and another 10 minutes on the elliptical.  I felt great afterwards, and the best part, because I pushed myself a little extra, I hit my weekly workout minimum (~8 hours) so I don’t have to work out today if I don’t want to (and it looks like it is going to be a lazy day so that’s good that I don’t have to drag myself to the gym).  Gym workout stats:

• Duration: 1:40
• Calories burnt: 735 (45% fat)
• Ave HR: 134, Max HR: 189

BEST MEAL OF THE DAY

I started the morning with some whole wheat french toast stuffed with 1/2 banana, mascarpone cheese and chocolate chips (using Arnold’s Double Fiber whole wheat bread as the base).  The egg mixture was just 3/4 of an egg with 1/4 cup skim milk and a drop of vanilla extract.  Here are the insides before cooking:

And the final product with some coffee:

Gooey insides:

Yum!

OTHER EATS

Mmm, goat cheese…

And for dinner, we went to O Sushi restaurant.  I’ll do a separate post of dinner with my restaurant review

We also went to a Big Lebowski party (the Big Lebowski movie was playing in one room, we were all drinking white russians, and a few people were playing Wii Bowling in another room), so I had one of these:

How was your weekend?