Apparently Having Bronchitis is Not Conducive to Working Out

Yup, I have bronchitis. So does our oldest son, and we've probably had it (at least) several weeks now. So, per our doctor, he shouldn't go back to school until Thursday (at the earliest) and the two of us are trying to hack up a bunch of disgusting stuff while I'm simultaneously trying to keep him (more or less) still. I haven't worked out since last Thursday since I had a mild case of the flu on Friday, and I was still recovering Saturday, then Sunday I figured it was better not to push it and I could start working out again on Monday... well best laid plans. :P On the plus side, I have not gained weight since my last "official" weigh in last week.

I tried the "Get Ripped! Ripped 1000" DVD last week and all I can say is don't bother. They claim that you'll burn more calories by doing cardio intervals in between each weight segment, which may be true if they didn't also bring your heart rate back down after each cardio segment. So far the only one I think I would do of the Get Ripped is the "Slim and Lean" one which I would use for a strictly weight lifting workout. Granted I could probably figure out how to modify the Ripped 1000 DVD to get a better workout, but why would I spend money on a DVD that I felt I had to change to get a better workout in. If I spend money on a workout DVD I don't want to feel like I have to modify it to make it effective.

That's it for now. Trying a new recipe tonight out of the "South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook" called "Tilapia Margarita". I'll let y'all know how it turns out. =)

6 lbs Down and Lemon-Caper Chicken

Weighed myself today and I am now officially 151 lbs. Being sick may have had something to do with it, but hey, I'll take what I can get. =)

We tried the Lemon-Caper Chicken on Monday and it was pretty good. I had to make some modifications to it, so I'm not sure if it turned out exactly right, but it was fine. Of course I'm not sure I'm going to make it again anytime soon simply because there are many other recipes we'd like to try before we start repeating any.

As to our challenge of not buying anything new at the grocery store until we eat what we already have; it's going well, but it's actually starting to bug me not buying anything new. I know we need to stick with it though, our pantry and freezer still have plenty of food and I think we'll be fine until June at this rate. But, I am going to break the rule for Easter Sunday. Along with all the diet cookbooks I checked out from the library, I also checked out "Mastering The Art of French Cooking". I'm going to attempt to make the "Boeuf Bourguignon" and the "Chocolate and Almond Cake". Of course I warned everyone ahead of time that if it turns out horrible we'll order pizza instead. =)

I did well with working out last week (for the most part). I worked out Mon - Fri, didn't on Sat/Sun, and was planning on working out Mon - Fri this week as well. So far I've only worked out on Monday. I'm going to attempt to make up for that (somewhat) today by doing a Get Ripped DVD as well as run on the treadmill. I'm also supposed to go out to dinner tonight (at a local Italian restaurant), and looking at the menu online there are no low calorie options so I'm going to make sure I only eat a small portion of my dinner.

That's the latest and greatest. With leftovers and everything else we have I don't think I'll be attempting any new recipes until Sunday. I will try out the "Get Ripped 1000" DVD today so I'll do a review of that next time around.

Three New Workouts and a New Favorite

Since the last time I posted a DVD review I have tried three new workout DVDs: "The Trainer's Edge: Integrated Strength Training" with Jeffrey Scott, "Get Ripped! Slim and Lean", and "Get Ripped! To the Core", both with Jari Love. Jeffrey Scott's I did not think was worth doing. It said use lower weights because it was high rep so I was expecting something like Jillian Michaels's "No More Trouble Zones", but I could have easily used 5 and 8-lb weights throughout the entire workout. Granted, if I had done that I may have had a more positive review of it, but I was more interested in trying different workouts than trying his again with heavier weights. Also, with the "Get Ripped!" series, I was expecting to use 2 and 3-lb weights, but the "low intensity" person in the video was using a minimum of 5-lb weights and I found that I could alternate between 5 and 8-lb weights and get a decent strength training workout in.

Common things I have read about the "Get Ripped!" series is that it moves too slow in between sets, people don't like stretching after every move, the music and video production is lame, etc. Yes, all those things are true, but if you're working out and only lifting in a gym, you're very likely going to have breaks in between either setting up for a new exercise or waiting for equipment, and I actually liked the extra stretching after each set. If you're used to Jillian Michaels's constant movement I can see why you might not like this, but I thought it was good just to do something different. Also, the two "Get Ripped!" workouts were very similar, so if anyone was to buy one of these you might just buy one of them and then get the others from a library or OnDemand for a slight variation once in a while. I also have the "Get Ripped 1000" to try out, so I'm going to see if that one is much different from the two I've tried so far. After doing these workouts I think I would like to incorporate a "Get Ripped!" DVD into my routine at least once a week.

On a side note I decided to do a cardio-only workout at the gym yesterday. It was 20 minutes on the bike, 20 minutes on the treadmill, and 20 minutes on the elliptical. Elliptical was definitely my weakest area, so something I need to work on, and I won't do it last next time. But, on the positive side of things, I ran at a faster pace on the treadmill than I had run in the past few months so I was happy about that.

Recipe plan for Sunday, this time out of the "South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook": "Lemon-Caper Chicken" with "Roasted Green and Wax Beans with Walnuts". I'll let y'all know how it goes. =)

New Recipe, Different Cookbook

Last night we tried "Flounder with Tomatoes and Peppers" from the "Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter's Cookbook" and it turned out surprisingly well. I was nervous it would be too fishy or bland; but it was one of the better dishes we've tried recently. The mix of ingredients (most that I don't normally use when cooking =) gave it a great flavor, plus once the prep work of chopping was done, it was really easy to make.

Flounder with Tomatoes and Peppers

1 lb fresh or frozen flounder fillets or other then, mild-flavor fillets (this comes out to about four 4-oz pieces of fish =)

1 cup finely chopped onions

1 medium fresh mild green chile pepper (e.g. Anaheim), seeded and cut into bite-size pieces (1/2 cup)

1 Tblsp olive oil

4 medium roma tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup sliced, pitted imported black olives, such as kalamata or nicoise

2 Tblsps capers, drained

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Parsley sprigs

1) In a large skillet cook onions and chile pepper in hot oil over medium heat about 4 minutes or until tender.

2) Stir in the tomatoes, olives, capers, and 1/8 tsp of the salt. Arrange the flounder fillets on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle fish with the remaining 1/8 tsp salt and the black pepper. Cover and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Transfer fish and vegetables to dinner plates. Garnish with parsley.

Another New Recipe

Last night I tried making another new recipe out of the Jillian Michaels cookbook "Mastering Your Metabolism". It was called "Broiled Tilapia with Fresh Herbs, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes". The positives were, this recipe, like the chicken one I did last week, was easy to make. You make the herb mixture in a food processor and you use the same mixture for the fillets that you use to stuff the mushrooms. You put the fish (coated in the mixture), the stuffed mushrooms, and a bunch of cherry or grape tomatoes on a baking sheet and broil for about 10 minutes. The verdict? The mushrooms and tomatoes were fine, the mixture to coat the fish smelled really good, but it tasted only "okay".

If anyone wants a copy of this recipe I'll send it to you, but I'm not going to post it here. =) Next new recipe will be on Wednesday night, going to try a different cookbook this time, the "Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter's Cookbook", the recipe will be "Flounder with Tomatoes and Peppers". I'll let y'all know how it goes. =)

Review of The Belly Off! Workout -Strength Training

To change things up a bit, I tried a workout DVD tailored for men: Men's Health: The Belly Off! Workout - The Strength Training Routine (2008).

The DVD consists of a warm-up followed by a cardio segment, then 2 supersets, which are 2-3 combination strength exercises which you repeat 3 times. This is followed by a "strength circuit," which is a quicker series of moves, and of course there's a cooldown and stretch. At the end, there's a separate abs section.

David Jack is leading the workout with another man and woman behind him showing the modifications for the workout. He was fine, I didn't find him annoying at all. =) During the workout a message would pop up on the screening telling the viewer what exercise we were doing and for how many reps at the start of each one.

Warm-up is good and a long enough (9 minutes). I liked that since sometimes I don't really feel "warmed up" after only 5 minutes which is typical in workout DVDs.

The cardio segment was good, but it was only 2 minutes long (granted, this is a weight training DVD, but still). The supersets and strength circuits were good, but I should have used heavier weights for them. I started with 5 lb weights and eventually switched to 8 lb weights. I think I prefer the high rep/low weight routines I've done so far over this.

Two things that were really good about this DVD were the cool down and the ab blast. The cool down was 10 minutes long (again, instead of the traditional 5), so it didn't feel rushed at all and there was sufficient time to stretch after the workout. The ab blast was only 5 minutes, but it was very good. My only complaint is that it's after the cool down for some reason. I would have preferred it before.

Would I use this DVD again? Yes, but I would definitely use heavier weights, and I don't think it's one I'd use on a regular basis so I won't be buying it anytime soon.

Recipe Review

I mentioned previously that I checked out a bunch of books at the library. The first one I tried was Jillian Michaels's "Master Your Metabolism Cookbook". So I made the Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts and the No-Cream Creamed Spinach. As we're not big fans of cooked spinach, that is one we're not going to try again. That, and the entire time I was cooking it I had no idea if I was doing it right. It didn't taste bad or anything, we think the main reason we didn't like it was because we don't like cooked spinach that much. However, I liked the Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts and it was really easy to make.

Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts
(Serves 4)

1/2 cup unsalted almonds, toasted
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp grated lemon zest
1 T. fresh lemon juice
3/4 dried rosemary
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp salt
4 (4-5 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Preheat the oven to 425.

First you have to toast the almonds. To toast them put them in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, continuously stirring the nuts for 2-4 minutes (2 minutes if they're already chopped, 4 if they're whole). Transfer to a plate to cool.

In the work bowl of a food processor, place the almonds, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, rosemary, garlic, and salt. Process until coarsely chopped; the mixture will be a thick paste.

Arrange the chicken breast halves in a baking dish. Divide the almond paste and spread on the breasts; pat down to cover each breast completely.

Roast in the oven until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer reads 165-170 degrees, about 10 minutes. ** Note: I had to cook it longer than 10 minutes, so that's something to figure out based on your oven. Loosely tent with foil and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 293.3 kcal
Fat 17.4 g
Protein 30 g
Carbs 4.3 g
Sodium 194.2 mg