• Wide-grip Lat Pulldown: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Underhand Cable Pulldown: 3 sets of 15 reps
• One Arm Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 15 reps, per arm
• Exercise Ball Pull-in: 3 sets of 15 reps  
• Seated Cable Row: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Jackknife on Bench: 3 sets of 15 reps  
• Bent-Over Barbell Row: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Mountain Climber: 3 sets of 20 reps  
• Standing Alternating Dumbbell Curl: 3 sets of 20 reps
• Bench Dip: 3 sets of 12 reps  
• Preacher Curl: 3 sets of 12 reps
• Narrow Push-Up: 3 sets of 12 reps 
• Triceps Pushdown – rope attachment: 3 sets of 12 reps
• Mountain Climber: 3 sets of 20 reps  
• Cable rope overhead triceps extension: 3 sets of 12 reps
• Air Bike: 3 sets of 25 reps

Cardio:

30-second sprints on treadmill; Level 8; 30 seconds on/30 off; 30 minutes total

Um, yeah – WITHOUT the cardio that routine took me 60 minutes!  It doesn’t seem like much, but 3 sets of 20 is a lot.  I ended up pushing the cardio to lunch.  Still smiling after 60 minutes though!

Okay, see that pink underneath my diet coke shirt?  I got that from a company to promote workout gear, which then quickly went out of business.  I couldn’t even find the name of it, but I LOVE that shirt – it’s a tank, and it’s made by NUX.  For those of us who have, ahem, a muffin top, that shirt holds everything in, while I am doing weights, running, etc.  LOVE.

I had 1/2 a cup of granola before working out, then more jalapeno quiche for breakfast with Chobani and fruit later in the morning.

I was super busy at work yesterday, which I love.  It makes the day go by so fast, and before I knew it, it was time to head back to the gym.  Now it said for cardio “8.0 mph – 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off.”   I took that as run 30 seconds at 8.0 (which is a 7:30 minute mile pace!) and then bring the pace down and walk the second 30 seconds and back and forth. 

Well, by the time that I ran 30 seconds at 8.0, then reduced the speed to 3.7 to recover, it was almost time to bring it back up to sprint!  So I ended up doing 1 minute at 8.0 and 1 minute at 3.7 for 30 minutes.

With a cool down, I did 3 miles.  But what I thought about later in the afternoon is I think I am supposed to keep the speed at 8.0 the whole time, and then jump off for the 30 second rest?  It’s on tap again today, so I am going to try it – although the mileage won’t be as accurate since I am stepping off half the time!  Do you think that’s what it means 30 seconds on/off??

And the gym?  Completely empty.  Now is the calm before the January 1 storm!

Since the muffins I made tasted like ass to Tony, I picked him up a blueberry muffin that they sell at the gym for $1 by the front desk.  I brought it to my desk and stuck it in my lunch bag to bring it home for him.

I ended up having a huge ass salad with leftover turkey cutlet from our sammies the night before.  Well, my lunch was mostly veggies with about 3 ounces of turkey and 303 calories. 

About an hour after I ate I was so hungry!!  So, I took half of Tony’s blueberry muffin.  I have to admit, it was pretty good – I am calling half of it 200 calories.

Now is the time I am getting two or three gift catalogs a day at work.  Some of them I just throw straight in the trash, but some I look through.  I saw this super cute snowman tree that would fit on your desk.  I texted the picture to Tony.

Apparently he doesn’t feel the same way about snowmen as I do!

Dinner was quick and easy – Chicken Marsala for Two – except this time I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces, and I added a cup of broccoli to mine.  I just tossed the broccoli in the pasta water for the last two minutes.

Alright, I am off the gym for chest/shoulders.  Fingers crossed it doesn’t take me an hour to get through it!

Stats for the Day:
  

• 1674 calories, 200 carbs, 98 protein, 50 fat, 28 fiber
• 26% of calories from fat, 23% from protein and 47% from carbs
• A- grade on caloriecount.com
• 60 minute back/biceps strength
• 30 minute treadmill sprints

Make it a great day!

• Leg Press: 3 sets of 15 reps

• Squat Jump: 3 sets of 15 reps

• Smith Machine Single-leg Split Squat 3 sets of 15 reps, per side

• Jump rope: 3 sets of 1 minute

• Walking Barbell Lunge: 3 sets of 20 reps, 10 steps down, 10 back

• Long Jump: 3 sets of 20 reps, 10 jumps down, 10 back

• Leg Extension: 3 sets of 20 reps

• Lateral Bound (side-to-side single leg hops): 3 sets of 20 reps

• Smith Machine Squat: 3 sets of 30 reps

• Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets of 20 reps

• Jump rope: 3 sets of 1 minute

• Calf Press on Leg Press: 3 sets of 20 reps

• Jump rope: 3 sets of 1 minute

Do you know how hard it is to go from a single legged squat straight to jump roping?!   And doing 60 squats on hand weights so that my heels were off the ground really made my quads shake by the end.

This was intense for sure, but I ended up doing the whole thing.  I even made good time to the gym so I had a chance to take a 15 minute long shower before heading to work.

So I know a bunch of you are dying for the Jalapeno Popper Recipe – I wish I had come up with the idea, but I “borrowed” it from my sister who put it on Facebook last week.

I did make some changes, mostly to make it a bit more healthy – so here is my adaptation:

Biz’s Jalapeno Popper Quiche

• 4 servings – each one: 247 calories, 12 fat, 14 carbs, 1.6 fiber and 19 protein

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces canned potatoes (about 1 can)
• 1/2 cup reduced fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 6 ounce plain greek yogurt (0% or 2%)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1 cup egg beaters
• 1/2 cup Cabot extra sharp shredded cheese
• 1 zucchini, shredded
• 2 jalapenos – one shredded and one sliced

Spray a pie plate with Pam.  Layer the cut canned potatoes to make a potato layer on the bottom of the pie pan.  With a stand mixer, mix the cream cheese, yogurt, milks, and egg beaters together until cream cheese is broken up.  I grated one jalapeno and put that in the egg mixture.  Pour that into pie pan.  Sprinkle with shredded zucchini, then finish with the cheese.  I only added pepper to the egg mixture because there was enough salt in the cream cheese and cheddar cheese.  I put sliced jalapenos on top and baked for 45 minutes at 350.

I had 1/4 of the quiche, a Chobani and some kiwi on the side.  Note, my quiche was a bit watery after I reheated it – I probably didn’t squeeze out enough liquid from the shredded zucchini – I think a better substitute would be broccoli.

This was so spicy good!  A couple of bites I had to alternate with the yogurt to tone it down a bit.

I was more than happy to get to the pool at lunch.  For some reason after doing strength, the pool just makes my whole body feel better – and I only had one other person to share the pool with!

I had to take this picture for Roz.  She’s the only other person I know who loves to show her oddly shaped carrots!

Alright, I know I am going to get a lot of shit for this, but I did take home some of my Mom’s chili from last Friday.  As I was driving home though, the smell of the onions got stronger and stronger, but what I now realize is that was probably ME that stank of onions, since I cut so many of them.

I emailed my Mom yesterday morning to tell her I was going to eat her chili at lunch, even though I knew the vast amounts of onions that were in it.  She emailed me back and said “let me know if you throw up.”

Well, I didn’t throw up and actually my Mom’s chili is delicious!  I didn’t see, nor did I taste any onions, which just goes to show that if they don’t taste like anything, why put them in a dish?

So on the days I do cardio on equipment with t.v.’s during lunch, I usually watch The Chew.  In the beginning I didn’t like it, but now I do – they do have some creative dishes on that show and I think their personalities go pretty well together.  Last week Michael Symon did a turkey cutlet sandwich with broccoli rabe that looked amazeballs.

I couldn’t find broccoli rabe at my store to save my life but I thought I could quickly sauté some baby spinach and get kind of the same effect.   I just FEB’d my turkey cutlets (flour/egg beater/breadcrumbs) and sautéed them quickly in 2 teaspoons olive oil until nice and crispy – turkey cutlets are a great weeknight protein because they take just a few minutes to cook.

After I cooked the cutlets I just sautéed the spinach with some minced garlic and crushed red pepper and put it on a 2 ounce bun.

The turkey was juicy, crunchy and then the garlic red pepper spinach made this dish.  Tony asked for cranberry sauce on his sammie.  He liked the flavor of it, but his sandwich was too thick for his liking.  I think he was thinking a pork cutlet sandwich when I mentioned turkey cutlet.  Have you ever had this?  It’s ridiculously good – usually served on a tiny white bun with pickles.

I wouldn’t even know how to attempt to make that pork sandwich at home!   Well, unless I get a bigger deep fat fryer!

Stats for the Day

• 1728 calories, 236 carbs, 100 protein, 41 fat and 29 fiber
• (not pictured – 1/2 cup granola pre-workout snack)
• 21% of calories from fat, 25% from protein and 53% from carbs
• B+ grade on caloriecount.com
• 55 minute calves/quads strength
• 30 minute swim at lunch

I hope that the people in the south suburbs of Chicago can rebuild after the storms on Sunday.  To see the pictures is so crazy that your life can change in an instant!

Today is back and biceps, and it looks equally as hard as yesterday.  Oh, and after the strength?  The cardio is 30 minutes of sprints – 30 seconds on at 8 mph, then 30 seconds recovery.  Wish me luck!  Make it a great day!