Strong Like Popeye

Chef Boy R Me

I've been on a cooking spree these past few days.  I've been going through a bit of a dry spell in the kitchen lately, so I'm glad to be back in the groove.  It started on Sunday when I gave a Pinterest recipe a test drive.  I've been hearing lots of buzz about cauliflower pizza crust lately, so I finally bought some cauliflower, googled how to 'rice' it and gave it a try.  These are the ingredients I ended up using for the crust: 

Ingredients

• ½ head cauliflower (about 2 cups riced)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano

The recipe is from a blog called Eating Bird Food.  I used about 4 cloves of garlic instead of one (I wasn't trying to scare away any vampires, I just like it that much).  I topped mine with tomato sauce and roasted zucchini, but the one in the blog I linked to got a little fancier.  Bottom line, the crust is AMAZING, so top it with whatever you'd like.  Even my anti-cruciferous-veggie-eating-best-friend liked it, so if you are a veggie hater, this recipe is for you.  

I also had a Costco portion of spinach that was hiding in my garage fridge.  I would've been heartbroken had I let it expire without fulfilling it's lifelong purpose of being eating.  So I cooked up the entire bunch and made some garlicky spinach.  I'm always amazed at how much it shrinks once it's cooked down.

I vaguely remember reading about a study that said a group of lab rats that were fed spinach had stronger muscles than those rats that were not fed spinach.  Maybe this guy was on to something:

What's up with Popeye's gigantic forearms?  Why does the spinach only make his biceps pop out?  That, I am not sure of, but check out this link to read more about why spinach is so awesome.

I also tried a few other recipes from some of my favorite blogs.  This morning it was Almond Butter Pancakes from pbfingers.com.  This evening I prepped one for tomorrow.  I made Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars, which were inspired by the recipe I've linked to on sparkpeople.com, but I actually revised it and made it my own, so if they are good, I will certainly share!

Back It Up

I've been working on a freelance piece (I've always wanted to say that).  I don't want to give away too much, but it has inspired me to add some additional training attention to my glutes.  I'll leave you with a good butt exercise that you can do at home, no equipment needed.  This is a glute wall lift.  It's paired well as a superset with straight leg deadlifts:

Start by lying on your back with one foot on the wall and the other toward the sky:

Raise your hips toward the sky and really contract your glutes at the top.  Lower your hips slowly and repeat that motion 15-20 reps.

Want to make it tougher?  Add some resistance by resting a plate (10-25 lbs) on your hips.  Try it and let me know what you think!  Do you have a favorite body part that you like to train?

Free Yoga Winner :)

Who won?

The winner of the For the Love of Yoga give-a-way will be announced at the bottom of this post!  We have 7 entries.  Two were kind of mixed among other posts, but I know what the intention was and I'm not going to disqualify anyone over a technicality, so-I know who you are and your comments have been accounted for!

Before and After

I went to the oral surgeon today for my follow up visit after my procedure and I got the clear to resume life as normal.  Yay!  Good thang too, bc I've been resuming away for about 4 days now ;).  I don't know about you all, but I LOVE a good before and after shot.  Whether it be for weight loss, a make over, a home remodel or ANY sort of transformation, the before and after split screen is one of life's greatest pleasure...so...at my own expense, I have a before and after to wrap up the week long saga of my wisdom teeth being removed:

Eeeeeew! The left is clearly, immediately post surgery (thank you mother for capturing that fine moment) and the right is today, seven days later.  Pain free and able to eat and lift whatever I want!  If you need an oral surgeon for any reason, I highly recommend Dr. Krause in Westerville.  The entire team is friendly and professional.  I was able to fill out paperwork online, in advance to save time.  They made the process quick and convenient.  Dr. Krause explained the procedure with specifics so that I had no cause for concern and his team gave me clear after care instructions, so I healed in half the time!  DONE with that!

Why Plyo?

Do you ever do plyometric exercises?  Plyometric exercises are fast, power moves.  Think: squat jumps.  They are great for improving speed, but that's not the only benefit.  Because they are compound moves that use your bodies largest muscle groups, your body will produce anabolic hormones while performing them.  This will force your body to store energy as muscle...not fat!  Good-bye cellulite!  I incorporate them into one of my leg days each week.  I do them at the beginning of my workout because they require a lot of energy.  Your body will need to recruit lots of muscle fibers to execute these types of moves, so you'll want to be fresh when you do plyometric exercises.  One great plyometric move is The Box Jump:

They are as simple as they sound.  Find a sturdy surface that won't collapse under your weight.  Make sure the height is manageable for you.  Soften your knees and jump onto the surface.  Repeat until your form starts to get sloppy.  

Time to Relax

It's past my bedtime, so I'm going to finish the cup of chamomile:

and hit the sack.  So let me leave you with what you've all been waiting for...For the Love of Yoga...the winner is...

Commenter number 4, Sandy!! You win the 1 month pass for February's For the Love of Yoga!  

CONGRATULATIONS!

Thanks to everyone who participated! I hope to have another give-a-way soon, so keep reading.  Clearly, I'm not above bribery :)  Have a great night.

Center of Attention

Tooth Utopia

I'm in a state of post recovery euphoria today.  In case you've not experienced this before, it occurs after you've recovered from an illness, injury, etc. and everything is in working order again.  I am a bottomless pit of gratitude for my health and ability to eat.  I inhaled...I mean savored some salmon and veggies today:

Then I had an abundance of energy, so I did a 1,000 rep conditioning type workout to get me back in the game and prepped for some heavy lifting tomorrow!

I had a lot to catch up on today so I just threw together 10 exercises and did 100 reps of each for a total of 1,000 reps.  This allowed me to expend some energy and work up a sweat in a short amount of time.  It looked a little something like this:

100 kettlebell swings

100 push-ups

100 second wall sit

100 crunches

100 squats w/ upright row alt. sides

100 second plank hold

100 skater lunges

100 crunches (again)

100 reverse lunges (50 each leg)

100 second plank hold

Try to complete this circuit in under 30 minutes!

Ommmm Yeah!

Are you ready to find your center?  Do you know where your third eye is?  I am ready to help you develop or grow your yoga practice.  February is going to be 'For the Love of Yoga' month at Infinity Fitness.  I am going to be leading 8 yoga sessions that will be designed to support all levels of practice from beginner to a more experienced yogi.  Some sessions will be gentle and restorative and some will be more a more intense workout.  My goal is to introduce you to a few different styles of yoga so that you can have a better understanding of the different types and benefits of yoga.  Because I want to be able to offer this program to as many people as possible, I am offering a 1 month unlimited class pass for $50 ($120 value).  This rate will be available for anyone who pre-pays by the end of January.  You can attend as many (hopefully all :)) of the 8 sessions as you'd like.  After January 31, you can join in for $15 per session.  But wait!  There's more...ONE lucky blogger will win a FREE one month class pass.  I told you I had something coming your way!  Comment at the end of this blog and you will be entered to win.  Winner will be chosen by a random number generator and there will only be one chosen for this give-a-way.  If you are worried about your ability to practice yoga...don't be.  Yoga is for all levels and plenty of modifications are offered to allow beginners and more experienced yogis to participate together.  If this guy can do it...so can you!

Raise a Racket!

There is ONE other way to get hooked up with a one month class pass for the 'For the Love of Yoga' month.  I will be providing a prize pack that includes the 1 month class pass and a few other goodies to this worthy cause:

Diane Crawford, a client, friend and cancer survivor, has a non-profit organization that puts together this event (among others) to raise funds to support cervical awareness, cancer research, etc.  This event will be held at Wickertree Tennis and Fitness Center in Columbus, OH on January 26, 2013.  There will be dinner, drinks, music, multiple raffles (including my yoga prize pack) and more.  You can register to play with local tennis pro's (accommodating to all levels) or you can enjoy the festivities and watch.  If you'd like to read more about this event and Diane's story, just click here to find out more.  Register soon!  It's going to be a great night!!