zucchini pancakes

Zach and I follow Balanced Bites on Facebook. There is also a blog called Balanced Bites. The owner of the this page on FB and blog has recently come out with a fantastic cookbook called Practical Paleo. It is on sale right now on Amazon. It has not been released yet but is available for pre-order here. I highly recommend this book!

Zach was one of the lucky ducks who received this book last week. He gets to read it before anyone and review it. I have to be honest... I am loving this book! 

This book is full of recipes, meal plans, and so much more. 

The other night Zach and I received some fresh figs from my sisters yard. I have never eaten a fig before. Didn't really even know what it was, much less how they tasted. Later that night, Zach was in the kitchen with Practical Paleo out and open to the roasted fig recipe. OMG, they were delicious! 

I have expressed before on my blog that I love breakfast. I love it! Definitely my favorite meal of the day. All the recipes have stuck out to me but I really wanted to try this one...

Zucchini Pancakes. 

Last night, Zach and I ran into the Fresh Market and picked up a few veggies and I made sure to pick up a few zucchinis. I was already looking forward to breakfast and I had just finished supper. 

After the book comes out I will share the recipe on here but until then...

 PRE-ORDER PRACTICAL PALEO!

But I will show you my delicious zucchini pancakes.

 Delicious!!!!!

Watermelon Classic 2012

Every 4th of July, my work host an annual Watermelon Classic 5k Run/Walk. I have never participated in this race but have volunteered a few years. This year I was asked to walk in the 5k. 

A few months ago, I wrote a post about my friend/client Matthew. He really wanted to participate and make this his first 5k. He asked me to do it with him. Of course, I said YES!!

Bright and early, the morning of the 4th over 1800 runners/walkers gathered at the MS Sports Hall of Fame. We were two of those 1800+ people!

Me and Matthew before the race. 

Brandi, me and Sheila. 

 Me and Jessica!

 We made our way on to Lakeland Drive and patiently waited for the siren to blow so we could start. It was a very nice morning, breeze here and there and a mostly shaded course. 

Making our way to the starting line. Sooo many people!

I asked Matthew what he wanted his goal to be. He looked at me and said "1 hour?". I immediately said "we can do better than that!". His response "45mins?". Much better!

Our siren blows and off we went. We kept setting goals for ourselves throughout the race. We would pick someone far in front of us and make it a goal to beat them.... and we did!! A little competitive? Maybe! =)

The last little stretch was back on Lakeland and back to the MS Sports Hall of Fame. This might have been the hardest part but only because there was no shade. 

We finished! We had a great time! 3.2 miles isn't so bad when you have great company!

A few of the Healthplex peeps. 

Brandi, Me, Matthew, Katie, and Shelia.

(This was Shelia's first 5k, too. She ran it in 30mins!)

 Not only did we finish but we finished in 45:11!!!!

And....

not only did we make our goal BUT Matthew also won 1st in is age group! 

We probably could have gotten it under 45:11 but since the high volume of people participating it was a little hard at the beginning to break free from the congestion. It was a little SOOO crowded! Once we were able to get away from the crowds there was no stopping us. 

So incredibly proud of Matthew and all his accomplishments! 

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! 

oh my

I love eggs. 

I love them anytime of the day. 

I love them yolk runny, scrambled, omelet and now my new favorite way...

FRITTATA!

How good does this look??? 

All you do...

Put egg whites in a pan.

(Oven safe pan)

Throw some veggies in the pan.

(My veggies of choice: kale, bell peppers, onion and mushrooms, broccoli... really anything!)

Cook on the eye until the bottom it done. 

Throw the pan in the oven and turn the broiler on. 

Wait until the top is cooked.

AND...

TA DA!!!!

So incredibly good!

So good! I have eaten on everyday since Friday. 

Give it a try and let me know what you think! 

just have a ball

Zach and I always walk on Saturday mornings. I neighborhood... aka "the hood"... gets a little boring. Our hood is only is small. One time around the hood is just 1/2 mile. One loop over and over and oooovvveeerrr again. Pretty boring. 

Yesterday, on the way to work, Zach asked if I would want to walk in a 5k instead of around the hood. SURE! We got up this morning did our little workout and then got ready for the walk. We knew that rain was possible but what's a little rain going to hurt??? 

Of course, it started sprinkling as soon as we headed to the race. The race was called "Just have a Ball." It was to help fight against childhood obesity. 

Now, anyone who know me knows that I have no desire to run. I use to and I enjoyed but after 2 knee surgeries, my knee is a little too priceless!!! Thankfully, Zach doesn't like to run either. We got in the walkers spot and got ready for the horn to blow. We took off with the rest of the peeps. 

I am obviously not a fast walker. I like to stroll. Zach and I got a little competitive with the other walkers. Shhhh... don't tell them! We had people in front of us and we were determined to beat them and that's EXACTLY what we did! 

We finished in the rain in 44:40! 

I ran into a great friend, Jessica! Her husband came in second over all. 

 AND.....

Zach and I won our age group! We were pretty pumped!

 It was a great morning. We had fun and enjoyed every moment. 

The only thing I didn't like was the refreshments at the end of the race. 

Pizza, cookies and fruit. 

Okay, I can understand the fruit but HELLO!!! we are at a walk to help FIGHT childhood obesity NOT promote it! Let's get it together peeps!

Now, I think I will be lazy for the rest of this rainy afternoon. 

another killer

Yesterday, I struggled through the 95degree heat to bust out a great workout! I do my workouts on Fridays in the afternoon because I get a "flex meal" afterwards. I might have to start doing these in the gym... a real gym... because its only going to get H.O.T.T.E.R.

I tried one un-assisted chin up before I got started. Lets just say...EPIC FAIL! I refuse to give up though. I will get it! Just gotta keep working at it. 

I went up on some of my weights and was able to get a few extra reps on each set of push ups! I did 3 rounds of these exercises. 

(I forgot to record the renegade rows... they were before the push ups.)

After my workout, I struggled inside inhaled a Lara Bar (my flex meal had started!), showered and then enjoyed this...

Open faced pulled pork lettuce wrap with homemade low carb slaw and orange and white sweet potatoes. 

(This pic doesn't even make this food look as good as it was!)

For dessert, I ate partially frozen bananas, topped with crumbled chewy choco chip cookies, dark chocolate chunks and crushed almonds. SO.GOOD.

Give it a try!!!

Happy Saturday!

2+2=5??

The last couple of training sessions have gone really well. I have been very pleased with my progress. Lots of strength gains! As a matter of fact... in 3 weeks my front loaded reverse lunges have gone up 30lbs!!

This morning I woke up before my alarm and got to work. 

Here is how it went down...

Front Loaded Reverse Lunges

95lb

3x5

Hip Thrust

Well... I was trying to be all big and bad and stuff and went straight for 225lb! Oh yeah! 

OH.MY.GOODNESS!!!!

I managed to get out 3 reps. I am pretty impressed with my 3 reps but knew immediately that I needed to knock it down to get a complete 3sets of 5. I started switching the weights and put what I thought was 195lb on the bar. 

Started the hip thrust over.... first set with "195" I thought to myself...

"you are having a really bad day."

Some where, some how managed to get 2 out of the 3 sets. 

I got up to hobbled over to get some water and looked at the barbell sitting on the ground. 

I started calculating the weights in my head again. I even wrote them down to add them again. 

Can someone please send me to Math 101???

I had a whopping 215lb on that bar!!! This entire time I thought it was 195lb. All I could do was shake my head and adjust the weight so I could get my last set done. I ended up bumping it down to 185lb for that last set. This really sucked every bit of my energy out of me! 

But at the same time, I realized that I can do a little LOT more than I think I can!!!

Barbell Military Press

75lb

3x5

Band Assisted Chins

I have moved down to one mini band. (I have been using 2.) I am on a mission to do one full body weight chin. 

4x1

Back Extension

3x15

Tabata

Burpee/Push-up

KBswings

I still can't get over my error this morning but am pretty excited how much weight I lifted. 

So, if there are any math majors out there that would like to help me learn how to add again...

I sure would appreciate it!!! :)

Happy Wednesday!

a little progress

I have completed 1.5weeks of my new 4 week training program and I can already see progress!

I love progress!!

All my lifts went up in pounds and things are coming along. Very pleased about this and excited to see what happens in the next couple of weeks. 

Here is the video from yesterday mornings workout. 

Hope you are having a great Thursday!

 The weekend is almost here!!! :)