Spice Island takeaway

Yesterday's workout was pretty intense so I found myself making one change. Here's the original workout: I did 5 sets

1.) Burpees- as many as you can for 30 seconds

2.) V-sits- as many as you can for 30 seconds

3.) Mountain climbers- continuously for 30 (get in push up position and alternate bringing left knee to right elbow and right knee to left elbow- try and go as fast as you can)

4.) Jumping Jacks - continuously for 30 seconds

5.) Plank- start in a plank position on hands, then alternate by going down on elbows and back to hands- 30 seconds

6.) Squat jumps- as many as you can in 30 seconds

 

After the 3rd set, my legs were tired from the squat jumps so I found it harder to do V sits so for the 4th and 5th set, I did oblique twists with a dumbbell. I was only planning on doing 3 sets but I felt that with a couple minutes of rest in between sets, I could handle two more sets. I've found that loud music and inner dialogue helps. Like always, I kept telling myself that "change is uncomfortable!!" and boy, was I super schweaty by the end!

Lunchtime:

COM POW! aka combination of kale and bok choy

 

I swear this is my last time eating this for a while! I don't recommend eating one thing too often, because if you're like me, you'll get sick of it real quick!

Tiger Tiger comes with noodles and sauce so it makes for a really simple meal.

Yay! We're monthly wine club members again! We're going to try and sample one bottle a week.

Indian takeaway from Spice Island

We ordered a TON of food. I thought everything tasted pretty good but Tarek wasn't a huge fan. In his words, "I wouldn't order it again" Boooo! He still hasn't found a tikka masala that has a nice balance of sweet and spicy. They've only been overly sweet, which I prefer.

We had everything from coconut rice, to curries, and lamb biriyani.

After dinner, T played his game while I watched New York, I Love You. Aside from the all-star cast, I'm not sure how I felt about the movie.

Agenda: We're joining another pub crawl this afternoon and then its dinner at a "part time" restaurant in Chapel Market- wee hoo!

Back to Viajante for Round 2!

617 calories burnt in 5.15 miles during a run around Regent's Park yesterday morning. The weather was SUPER nice to run in, very mild. The run started off really well but then my legs felt really tired after just 10 minutes but I remembered reading somewhere that the first 20 minutes is usually the toughest for runners- you just have to keep pushing yourself and you'll start to feel better. My legs and running movement just felt more fluid.

After a quick shower, I got ready to meet some friends at Viajante. I've already been there once before and I was excited to try it again for lunch. I'm not gonna lie- I enjoyed my experience more this time around than the last dinner experience. I mean it was still really good both times but I found this lunch a lot more up my alley!

Yuuumm- Thai explosion II!!  I was excited to see it on our menu again. It's got some sort of chicken confit in between two fried skins. It's also got lemongrass which reminds you of thai food. The fried lobster croquette was tasty as well. The green paste (puffed amaranth with sorrel) sort of reminded me of a wheatgrass shot even though I've never had one before, lol.. It literally tasted like eating grass and was a bit too healthy for me. Is that possible? ha!

cured artic char with barley tea and radishes

paprika bread with pork butter. :-D

Yuzu crab with herbal broth and shimejii mushrooms

I was SO impressed by all the beautiful colors on this plate. It was definitely a treat for the eyes.

roast beef skirt with girolles, turnips, and yeast (??)

I'm not quite sure what it was but something in the sauce reminded me of a korean soup called Doenjang Chigae. The beef was sort of hard to eat (too chewy!) but the flavor was outstanding. I really enjoyed it.. even though I'm not sure where yeast fits into it. That's what it said on our printed menu!

beautiful ladies!

palate refresher- I was in love this frozen marzipan with celery and lime. I think this was my favorite because the marzipan tasted like an extravagent almond dessert. It was so freaking delicious!

the main dessert was equally amazing as the palate refresher. Beetroot and dark chocolate crumbles (crunchy in texture sort of like oreos) WOW WOW WOW. Did I tell you how much in love I am with beets and to have this sort of dessert was like my lucky day or something! There were also chewy pieces of what looked like beets but I'm not quite sure what it was. All the different textures made this dessert really fun to eat too. 

salivating just thinking about it...

mushroom truffles with coconut marshmallows!! Yes COCONUT marshmallows! I think I dun died and went to heaven!

catalan creme... We were fortunate enough to have Chef Nuno Mendes (which we didn't know at the exact moment) come to our table and present the first few amuse bouches. We did remark before we knew who he was that we found him very mysteriously attractive. I think it was the long shaggy hair, beard and humble aura. :-). The only misfortune is that we didn't get to take a picture with him!

Surprisingly, after all that I still had room for dinner later that evening. 

chopped up some garlic and red onions

with some bok choy- mm mmm!

sauteed in a wok with soy sauce and siracha

the lamb ended up forming a really crispy crust in the oven so it was pretty good!!

honey oats and more cereal for breakfast then GYM time!

I added some additional almonds and raisins

Workout: Tone it up's Bikini Max Burn workout plus Itty Bitty workout

• 20 jumping Jacks
• 10 burpees
• 20 lunges
• 5 minute jog
• 10 push-ups
• 10 dips
• 20 lunges
• 5 minute jog
• 20 second plank on hands
• 20 tummy tucks
• 5 minute jog
• 20 bicycle crunches

Itty bitty routine- 10 reps, 3 sets

• legs straight, back pressed onto floor, bring straight legs up and down for 10
• legs straight and at 45 degree angle, bring shoulders off ground and crunch up as straight legs come up
• side plank dips
• hold plank on forearms, come up onto hands and do tummy tucks on either side then back to plank position (Gawwdd, I was shaking towards the end of the 3 sets!!)

cottage cheese, fruits, squeeze of agave nectar

I had a quick protein snack after the gym. I would try this combination- its really good!

I stopped by the store and happened to walk by some basil and thought to myself..yum basil sounds really good right now so I went ahead and bought the other ingredients for a simple caprese salad!

mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar= ammazeballs!!

wholewheat tortilla, spicy refried beans, avocado slices, salsa- OLE!

okay this doesn't look very appetizing but it was a really good vegetarian lunch!

Time to get productive- peace out!

Sweaty days

So I made my own version of tuna salad with tuna, asparagus, green beans, corn, romaine lettuce, red onion, avocado, and honey balsamic vinegar

I like my salads big and hearty :-D

Dinner: mushroom pizza for me and fish and bok choy for T

I oven baked the sea bass in just EVOO, salt, and pepper. I took a bite and it was pretty damn good!

T made breakfast this morning before heading off to work. Eggs with cinnamon and all-spice (he didn't mean to put in all spice but it still tasted pretty good). It's another beautiful, HOT HOT day in London. I think I could cook an egg on the sidewalk.

Gym this morning consisted of back and chest: 3 sets of 8-10 reps

• straight arm pulldown
• incline dumbbell press
• barbell row
• machine chest press
• rest 1 minute and repeat 2x
• Lat pulldown
• incline dumbbell fly
• upright row
• front raise
• calf press
• rest 1 minute and repeat 2x

even though our house is sweltering, I thought it would be a good idea to make lunch using the stove and oven. STOOPID!!

I seasoned the tilapia with EVOO, salt, pepper, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin. Unfortunately, the spices didn't work so well together with the fish. ACK! O'well..at least the fish was cooked properly.

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/bok-choy.html

more bok choy and brown rice. I really love the crispiness and taste of bok choy. It's definitely one of my favorite green vegetables to eat plus it's full of good vitamins and minerals (Vit A, Vit C, Vit K, etc!!)

Song of the day: Adele "Turning Tables"