Dance Fever

My back and chest are sosososososo sore from yesterday's workout! My program has taught me that in order to gain muscle strength, I have to lift heavier weights. I've definitely made a lot of progress from when I first started lifting but I want to see more defintition. Yesterday's morning workout consisted of:

3-4 sets of 8-10 reps with lots of grunting, huffing and puffing involved

Close grip pull down

Dumbbell Chest press

One-arm bent over row

Push Ups

Rest

Bent over dumbbell row

Upright row

Military Press

Wide grip pull down

Protein smoothie afterwards to aid in my muscle recovery.

 Into the vitamix:

• handful of spinach
• handfuls of both frozen blueberries and blackberries
• scoop of chocolate whey powder
• milk
• yogurt
• banana

Cold, frothy, and delicious!

 

Sonoma break: Man. What a life!

Lunch:

Courgettes and mushrooms sauteed w. EVOO and salt n. peppa

With a generous pour of siracha on top.

My chicken developed a nice crust to it. Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper,

Went on a quick shopping excursion yesterday and bought 2 new dresses, a top, and some winter gloves. Some days a girls just gotta shop!

Reading material: It's been a loong time since I've perused a fitness magazine other than my YMCA materials

Yea so what if I like to read men's materials (and its not to stare at the ripped men, although not a bad perk). I'm assuming my future client base will be women AND men.

Dinner last night: 54 Pinang http://www.54farringdon.com/

Starting the night off right w. a glass of house white.

Seriously, these prawn crackers should be illegal. They fried them on the spot so they came out crispy and slightly warm. Once you pop you can't stop! So addicting..

Fried shrimp balls with a layer of sweet potato and coconut.

Roti, a type of flatbread. Soft and chewy with some warm bean mixture (dal) on top

These shrimp appetizers were my favorite. Who knew coconut and sweet potato could gel together.

Yumminess all around.

Jasmine rice

Egg fried rice

White fish in a curry sauce. The fish absorbed the sauce nicely and was pretty tasty.

Lamb shank. It was tender but the flavor wasn't as pronounced as most malaysian dishes I've had. Overall, the food was decent. I wouldn't necessary go back but if I was in the area and craving Malaysian, I would hit it up!

Dance all night: My salsa company had its Christmas party last night.

It involved lots of dancing and posing.

Beautiful people with beautiful smiles :)

My salsa teachers.

Dancing can be a form of exercise.

What a great way to burn some calories without even trying!

"one more time, music's got me feeling so free"

Breakfast this morning:

Yogurt parfait:

• vanilla yogurt
• goji berries
• almonds
• blueberries
• raisins
• muesli

With a green monster muffin for some extra carbs.

Song of the day- Juanes: "Y Es Por Ti "

To run or not to run. That is the question this morning .

Salsa Improvers I: complete

Celebration dessert for my last day of Improvers I salsa :). Unfortunately, I don't feel like I improved much from when I first started. I'm still not following my leads and the connection with my partner is hardly ever there. Must. Keep. Practicing!

Pretty rich brownie but it wasn't all that moist or exciting. I should have saved the calories.

Breafast this morning:

 Oats:

• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
• goji berries
• sprinkle of salt and cinnamon

Toppings:

• almonds
• mixed berry bread crumbled 
• agave nectar
• fresh blueberries

Off to the gym for a back, chest, and shoulders workout

Want a flatter belly? Read this and don't forget that flat abs don't come with a million sets of crunches. It's 80% diet and the rest cardio. You must burn the fat away before you can see any definition in your abs!!
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/abs-diet-foods?cm_mmc=Newsletter-_-2010_Dec_08-_-Dose-_-readon

It's going to be a messy one folks

I love corny Christmas decorations. This lil guy was only a £1.

Lunch:

sauteed spinach and mushrooms in siracha/dijon mustard and chicken breast with sliced beets and mayo on the other.

Scrumptious.

Somehow I managed to put it together and eat it. Don't ask me how.

Clementine for a snack.

The sun was out for a brief moment today. Halleluj-ER! I almost forgot what the sun looked and felt like. :)

Happy Hump Day!

Cubano Boricua

Another successful salsa night under my belt. I'm currently in an improver's cross body salsa class but its almost over so I decided to branch out and try another style of salsa. Enter into picture: cuban salsa. http://www.cubanrhumjungle.com/ . I've noticed that when I go to salsa clubs, people are always spinning me around in circles. Definitely not what they teach you in cross body where you move across the floor in straight lines. Cuban salsa also seems to have more flair, passion, and hip movements. Much more my style :)


After salsa, I met T at Milk and Honey where they were doing a free monthly event. Last night's event was a tasting of four new cocktails. They've changed their menu and decided to invite member's and one guest to try it out. I came just in time to try the last one. It was an interesting cocktail to say the least. Sorry I forgot to take pictures!
http://www.mlkhny.com/home.php

I was starvin marvin afterwards so we stopped at Pizza Hut. This is the second time in the past week I've had Pizza Hut (I hadn't been inside an actual pizza hut restaurant in the States in over 7 plus years). One would think it was my favorite food or something! Maybe they should add pizza as a food group. Just a thought.

Warm cheesy garlic bread. Yuuuuuuuuuuuuumy!!

Ehhhh just so so breaded chicken strips.

The hawaiian is back in rotation baby. It's probably my favorite pizza topping as of late. There's just something about that sweet and salty combination of the ham and pineapple. Makes me very happy :)

Whoever invented this dessert is one smart cookie. heh heh. Get it? Warm baked cookie dough dessert? Oh lordie. It's still too early. Chewy, buttery, chocolatey goodness all over my spoon. Such a simple and amazing tasting dessert *if you're a fan of chocolate chip cookies*

I opted for something a bit more healthy this morning.

Vanilla yogurt w. blueberries, almonds, goji berries, and muesli.

Wholewheat toast w. fried egg and flaxseeds on top.

Off to the gym! On the agenda: Legs

RIP Elizabeth Edwards. You were one brave soul.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/06/elizabeth.edwards.obit/index.html?hpt=C1

Popeye would be proud

Chicken sandwich w. sauteed spinach, siracha, dijon mustard, and light mayo. Very messy but delicious!

More green monster muffins!! I think I overmixed the batter this time around. Apparently, you shouldn't overmix because they won't turn out as fluffy.

Still green and tasty tho. I like having healthy snacks around the house. These muffins are wholewheat and use only 3/4 cup sugar. Handy on-the-go type of snack.

Off to try cuban salsa tonight :)

So fresh and so clean clean

We have a working washer and dryer finally!! Our old one was making this horrendous noise during the spin cyle (as if it was going to spontaneously combust at any second) and THEN it later started releasing this awful chemical smell. So grateful that our landlord was quick in getting us a new unit. We only had to wait a week and a half. Not bad.

Very impressed at my husband's handiness. He should really quit his job and become a househusband. He can cook, clean, and put together just about anything!!

Dinner last night was leftovers because we didn't have much in the house. Our groceries came this morning thankuverymuch.

I ate dinner in front of the tv. I don't think I've turned it on in a few weeks. I'm now caught up on Gossip Girl. Can I get a WOO HOO!!!

A little princess decided to snuggle up next to me on the couch.

Dessert: Smoothielicious

In the mix:

• skim milk
• vanilla yogurt
• handful of frozen blackberries and blueberries
• ice
• water
• splenda
• sprinkle of muesli, almonds and dried fruit mix on top

Breakfast this morning:

I ordered this pancake mix from Ocado and was excited to try it this morning! I'm in a breakfast rut and wanted something different.

Simply add milk, eggs, and oil to the dry mix

Add a sprinkle of fresh blueberries to each pancake prior to flipping

One topped with vanilla yogurt and the other with Vermont maple syrup. Guess which one was the favorite?

Maple syrup of course! The vanilla yogurt was a bit too sour with each blueberry bite but the syrup gave the pancake a nice sweetness. Hopefully this breakfast will fuel me through some French studies, and then Zumba later this afternoon.