Boyfriends & Boxing

Bare with me while I brag for a minute: I have the world's best boyfriend! Tonight, after a long day and a great workout, I came home to dinner already prepped and cooking. The best part? It was healthy!

CM whipped up a delicious sweet potato quinoa gratin. Recipe found here. It was delicious! (And tasted even better because I didn't have to make it). I love quinoa because it tastes like it should be as bad for you as empty carbs (aka rice and pasta) but is actually lower in carbs, has no sugar, and has as much as 8 grams of protein per cup. Sweet potatoes are also a super food I love! For some information on the benefits of sweet potatoes check this out.

The finished product. Rileygirl approved.

While the gratin was cooking CM and I were really hungry, so I made us a quick appetizer - healthy ranch dip. I simply mixed 16oz greek yogurt (instead of cream cheese) with Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix. We dipped carrots and Buffalo Wing Pretzels in it. (These things are like crack! So addicting!)

Today's Workout

Today my alarm went off at 5:30am, and I promptly turned it off. I was a little bummed with myself until I got to work and a girlfriend invited me to work out at her gym tonight. She works at The Club by George Foreman III in Fort Point. This place is awesome! It's a new, beautiful facility with about 150 classes a week! I recently bought a 10 pack and have tried many of the classes. Some of which I love (like BoxFit 360 with Dave), and some of which I could take or leave. Tonight we tried Bags and Body. The class was only 30 minutes, so I ran a couple miles afterwards. It wasn't my favorite class, but it was a good quick sweat and is definitely a great arm toning workout. See my breakdown below.

The view from the treadmills.

Bags and Body*

Challenge: 5

Sweat Factor: 7

Music: 3

Pros: Great focus on arm toning and conditioning in between combinations. Also taught a lot about boxing techniques.

Cons: Not a hard enough workout for only 30 minutes. Definitely broke a sweat, but was rarely out of breath. I thought the music was dated.

*Categories are ranked 0-10 (0 = worst, 10 = best)

A Twist on Taco Tuesday

I remember Taco Tuesday being a college dinner favorite. I like to think of this as the healthy version. Tonight I whipped up a Taco Tuesday inspired dish using zoodles! (Zoodles = zucchini noodles). I love zoodles, because there's so much you can do with them. We got a spiralizer (like this one) a few months ago and it has absolutely changed dinners.

This dish is super easy, cheesy, and has a little kick. I'm not one to do exact measurements when whipping up a quick dinner so I'll estimate as best I can.

Mexican Zoodles

Ingredients:

2 zucchinis
Cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic

Onion powder

Salt & pepper

1/4 white onion

2 tblsps olive oil

1/2 can corn

15-20 thawed shrimp

1/2 can black beans

Lime

Avocado

Mozzerella cheese

Salsa

Directions:

Spiralize 2 zucchinis and salt and sprinkle with cayenne pepper and onion powder, set aside.

Chop the onion, and mince 2 cloves of garlic. Saute both with olive oil until the onions are translucent.

 Add zucchini noodles and shrimp. Saute for 1-2 minutes.

Add beans and corn. Saute until warm

Squeeze in 1/2 a lime.

Ladle into a bowl. Sprinkle with mozz cheese. Top with salsa, avocado, and more lime juice to taste. 

You can even get fancy and use a dollop of greek yogurt (It's just like sour cream!)

Today's workout was a quick kick-ass HIIT workout on the treadmill, and some arms. It only took about 45mins, which was perfect, since my legs are still sore from Monday's squat session. 

HIIT Treadmill workout

0:00-1:00 - walk 4mph incline 1

1:00-2:00 6.5mph incline 2.5

2:00-3:00 6.5mph incline 3.5

3:00-4:00 6.5mph incline 4.5

4:00-5:00 6.5mph incline 5.5

5:00-6:00 7mph incline 1.5

6:00-7:00 7.5mph incline 1.5

7:00-8:00 8mph incline 1.5

8:00-9:00 8.5mph incline 1.5

9:00-10:00 9mph incline 1.5

10:00-20:00 every minute alternate between 6.5mph and 9mph, staying at an incline of 1.5

20:00-30:00 repeat minutes 0:00-10:00

Walk 5 minutes at 4mph for a cool down