Hello All!!
How is everyone this afternoon? Are you having a good day? It is day 3 of being snowed in, and I am officially starting to go stir crazy. I ice skated my way over to the apartment complex gym and ran 6 miles and walked 1 this morning.
Eric made it home safely from Kansas yesterday at around 3:00pm! I was so excited to have him home. We even got to venture out for a birthday dinner. I felt a little safer with Eric driving his 4-wheel drive vehicle than I would if I tried to go somewhere in my tiny car. I think the driver had a lot to do with it! ;) We went to Hoshi hibachi and sushi which is my all time favorite sushi place. If I had to choose one type of food to eat for the rest of my life, it would probably be sushi! After dinner, we made a stop by the grocery store since I haven't been brave enough to go myself since the storm. The store was pretty picked over, so we settled on a not-so-traditional but still delicious birthday cake.
I think this might need to be a new tradition. That cake was stinkin AMAZING! :) Let's just say I took advantage of the fact that birthday cake calories don't count on your birthday! That is a fact isn't it?
On Tuesday night, I was raiding my pantry to see what I could cook for dinner and came across these little guys. I forgot to take a picture of the package before I poured it into the boiling water so here is one I stole/borrowed from their website. Ooops
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| [source] |
I purchased these noodles a while back, but was waiting for a night when I was just cooking for me to try them out. I'm pretty sure Eric wouldn't go for anything with the word tofu in it. I first learned of these noodles through the Hungry Girl cookbooks and my friend Mallory assured me they were good. They are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and only have 20 calories, and 3g of carbs per 4oz serving. So you can eat the entire bag for 40 calories and 6g of carbs. Talk about a guilt-free way to enjoy pasta.
Noodles check, now what can I put with them? I found a can of stewed tomatoes in the pantry, 1 zucchini, and some mushrooms in the fridge, and a chicken breast in the freezer. Voila, a yummy well balanced meal in no time flat! The noodles literally take 2 minutes to cook. You simply boil them for 2 minutes and they are ready to go. They have a slightly different consistency than regular spaghetti, but once I put the tomatoes and veggies on top, I could hardly tell the difference. Honest!
I will definitely be purchasing these noodles again!
Now, on to our new moves of the day! As many of you know, I don't like to spend hours upon hours in the weight room. When I go to lift weights, I love exercises that work more than one body part at a time. That is why I am a huge fan of these two moves.
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| Side lunge with a shoulder press [source] |
This move works your shoulders and entire lower body. Although it is snowing outside right now, Spring will be here before you know it and so will tank tops and shorts. This move will have you ready for both in no time. Grab a pair of 8- to 12-pound dumbbells and stand with your feet together and your arms at your sides (A). Take a giant step back with your right leg, landing with your toes turned out. Sink into a lunge until your left thigh is parallel to the floor, then lower the dumbbells and your torso until the weights are on either side of your left ankle (B). Straighten your left leg without locking your knee and stand up, bringing your right leg forward so your legs are together. At the same time, press the dumbbells overhead with your palms facing each other (C). That's one rep. Do 12 to 15 reps, then repeat on the other side. That's one set. Do two sets, resting for 30 seconds between sets.
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| One leg dead lift with a row [source] |
This move works your core, back, glutes and hamstrings. The hamstrings are one of my favorite muscles in the body, so I love this move! Grab a pair of 8- to 10-pound dumbbells and stand with your arms at your sides. Place your right toe on the floor about two feet behind you (A) and bend forward from the hips. Keeping your right leg straight, raise it off the floor until your body forms a T and your arms hang straight down from your shoulders (B). Row the dumbbells toward your ribs until your elbows pass your torso (C). Lower the dumbbells and return to start. That's one rep. Do 12 to 15 reps, then repeat on the other side. That's one set. Do two, resting for 30 seconds between sets.
Try adding these two new moves to your next strength training workout and let me know what you think!
Q's and A's:
What is your favorite type of birthday cake?
If you could choose one genre of food (Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, American, Thai, etc.) to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Have you ever tried Tofu Shirataki noodles? What did you think?
In health,
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