Day 134- Teenage dream (beating personal best)

Meal 1: (6:30 AM - BREAKFAST) 

5 egg whites with green bell peppers and mushrooms, 1/3 cup oatmeal mixed with nutmeg, allspice, splenda and a scoop of pumpkin 

Post workout: (9:30 AM)
Chocolate smoothie
1 rice cake with jam and Walden farm sauce

• 5 frozen strawberries
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 handful fresh spinach
• 3 large ice cubes
• 1 pinch xanthan gum (for thickening)

Meal 2: (12:30 AM - LUNCH)

Tandoori chicken 

1/2 cup pilaf
Green beans

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 
1/4 tablespoon garam marsala

• 1 tablespoon lime juice

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 
8 oz Chicken Breast (bone in or boneless)

Directions:

1. Prepare spices. Spray some cooking spray unto a pan. Saute garlic and ginger for 1 minute until fragrant. Add cumin, chilli powder, and garam masala. Stir spices for 30 secs. Take off of heat. Split spice mixture in half into two bowls.


2. In smaller bowl combine spice mixture with 1/2 Tablespoon lime juice and 1/4 cup yogurt. In a larger bowl combine spice mixture with 1/2 Tablespoon lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt (this will be your spice rub).


3. Prepare chicken. Take off skin. If bone in, split breasts in half cutting through the bones. Score chicken pieces with two 1/8” cuts on one side per piece. Place chicken into large bowl Work spice rub into chicken. Set aside for 30 minutes at room temperature. After 30 minutes, pour yogurt over chicken and toss.
4. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and place wire rack on top. Place chicken score side down on wire rack and bake for about 22 minutes. Breast meat should register 125 degrees. Pull out chicken and turn on broiler. Turn chicken score side up and cook chicken an additional 8-15 minutes depending on broiler. Breast meat will register 165 


5. Let chicken rest 10 minutes before serving.

Optional Side Dish: 
Kashi Pilaf
    •    1 medium onion, chopped
    •    1 medium zucchini, chopped
    •    1/2 cup kashi pilaf
    •    2 garlic cloves, minced
    •    1 1/2 cups water
    •    1/2 teaspoon curry powder.

1. In a large saucepan, saute onion and green pepper with nonstick cooking spray until tender. Add rice and garlic; cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until rice is lightly browned. Add the water and curry powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes or until rice is tender. Fluff with a fork.

Meal 3: (3:30 PM)
*Make zuzanas hummus*

Low Carb, Gluten-Free Bittersweet Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pancakes- here

Makes 5 pancakes
Ingredients:

• 2 TB sifted oat flour
• 1 TB PB
• 1 egg, 2 whites (divided)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup stevia
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 7-8 organic cacao chips
• 1 tsp (or more) all natural, thick chunk peanut butter or almond butter, chilled (topping)
• Hershey cocoa powder (for sprinkling)

I made these pancakes twice, with slight variations. The first time I didn’t bother to whip the whites and I only got 4 dense pancakes. The second time, I went to the trouble of whipping the egg whites and I got 5 lighter pancakes. Toy around with the ingredients and up the peanut butter and chocolate quotient if you want a more luscious breakfast.

Directions:

1. Mix one egg with stevia and vanilla. Whip the other two egg whites and a pinch of salt with clean electric beaters until they form stiff peaks. 
2. In yet another bowl, mix the dry ingredients along with pb2 and cacao chips
3. Mix the egg yolk/wet mixture with the flour mixture and then fold in the egg whites with a rubber spatula. Incorporate the egg whites, but don’t overmix and deflate them.
4. Cook over medium to medium-high heat.

 

Nestle in a dollop of peanut butter on top of the pancake while it’s cooking over medium/medium-high heat. Have the peanut butter chilled helps make it into little balls that you can roll with your fingers to squish in the pancakes.



I topped with hershey cocoa powder, I Can’t Believe I Have This Crappy Fake Butter Spray! and sugar-free syrup.


But it was missing something. Ah, more peanut butter!
<photo of pancakes slathered in peanut butter and chocolate shavings was too hot for this blog!> Actually, the photo is not shown due to editing. However it will be available in the Director’s Cut of my daughter’s film Stuffed Animals in Suburbia.
There are so many fun things you could do with this and I highly suggest you do.

Meal 4: (6:30 PM - DINNER) 
Left over pizza
1 cup greens 

Meal 4: (9:30 PM)
5 egg whites with green bell pepper and spinach
1/2 cup cottage cheese with 2 tablespoons blueberry jam and soy nuts

 Teenage dream

Slide Under with Sandbag 
50 reps
Sandbag Sit Up 
50 reps
Rolling Knee Tuck & Push Up 
25 reps
Diagonal Knee Raises
50 reps
High Knees 
max. reps during each interval
Pendulum 
max. reps during each interval



INSTRUCTIONS:
This workout is made up of 2 parts. The first one is a circuit of 4 exercises that you will go through 5 times and as fast as possible. I did it in 13 minutes and 3 seconds the last time and today I will try to beat my record. You guys can try to beat my time but don’t you ever sacrifise good form. Make sure to watch the video and check out the pictures below to make sure that you are doing all of the exercises right.
The second part of the workout is an interval training that takes only 4 minutes but you have to put all of your energy into this. It is important to remember that you can get all of the benefits out of short workout like this only if you push at your max and the workout feels super intense.

Slide Under with Sandbag – 10 reps (1 rep is towards one side)

Grab your Sandbag by the handles and bring it up on to your upper back. Imagine that you have to duck under an obstacle and for that you have to really bend over  pushing your hips back and keeping your back straight. You will be sliding under the imaginary obstacle from side to side. Beginners can do this exercise without the Sandbag.

Sandbag Sit Up – 10 reps

Lay down on your exercise mat and grab the Sandbag by it’s handles with your palms facing forward (see the grib on the pictures above). Keep your knees bend and your lower back pressed into the mat. Exhale, engage your abs, and with inhale roll your upper body forward and up into a seated position with the Sandbag above your head. Keep your arms extended at all times and shoulders away from your ears. Reverse the movement and roll back into the startig position. Beginners can do this exercise without the Sandbag.

Rolling Knee Tuck & Push Up – 5 reps

Place your shinbones up on the Ballance ball and get into a plank. Your hands should be underneath your shoulders and arms extended. Keep your abs tight and your body in one straight line. Do not drop your hips. Roll the ball forward contracting your abs and bringing the knees towards your chest. Roll the ball back and do a push up. Beginners can skip the push up and focus on rolling the ball or just holding the plank for at least 20 seconds.

Diagonal Knee Raises – 10 reps total

Grab the handles of the Dip Station and move your extended legs to the right. Bring your knees up as high as you can and then extend both legs down and to the left. Each Time you bring your knees up counts as 1 rep. Make sure not to shrug your shoulders and to keep your abs tight.

Beginners can leave one foot on the ground, but don’t forget to switch sides after each rep.

4 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training

Set your Interval Timer for 8 rounds of 5 seconds and 25 seconds intervals. You will be doing 2 exercises back and forth and your goal is to do as many reps for each exercise during each 25 second interval. The 5 seconds is not long enough to write down your reps but count the for yourself anyways because it will help you to push harder in each round.  I did about 78 reps on average for High Knees and 48 for Pendulum. Remember that you really have to push yourself to the max because it should feel super hard. If it doesn’t than it means only one thing – you are not pushing at your max effort!

For those of you who don’t understand the intervals, it works like this:

5 seconds rest – High Knees – 5 seconds rest – Pendulum – 5 seconds rest – High Knees….etc until your timer tells you it’s over.

High Knees

This is basically running in place but you have to drive your knees as high as you can. Don’t bend over – keep your chest up and abs tight.

Pendulum

Get into the pike position with your hips pointing up towards the ceiling and your back straight. Extend your left leg out to the side as high as you can. Keep your right leg slightly bend and the heel off of the ground so that you are standing on the ball of your right foot. Jump and switch legs keeping your abs tight and engaged. Each jump counts as 1 rep. Keep a good pace so that you complete as many reps as possible during each 25 second interval.