7 day x 30min Cardio Challenge!!!!!

[alcina]

Yesterday was a pretty good day movement-wise: did a 50 minute beach walk with the girls, did another 30 minutes walking during the day plus a 60 minute casual walk on the beach with friends in the afternoon. I also did 45 minutes of HARD vacuuming - man, did we have a lot of sand and fur on the floors!

I made a great Honey, Soy & Garlic stir fry thing with tons of veggies...it'll feed me for at least two more meals Tasty, filling, heaps of excellent nutrients and really good for me. And it takes about 3 minutes which makes it perfect for my attention span!

It was really low tide in the afternoon and we saw all sorts of cool stuff on the walk. Dora kept teasing crabs and they'd snip at her and she'd jump back...it was too funny to watch!

 

[trucker girl]

Wow- that's just an amazing post, alcina! That starfish shot is so cool!

So... stir fry... what's your recipe?

 

[almitywife]

:happywave im homeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

well, despite the opportunity to go crazy i didnt do too badly

thursday lunch was a pub hamburger and i ended up leaving almost half of it (hubby ate it though) and then thursday dinner we went to a great aengus beef restaurant and i chose a nachos entree sized meal while hubby went for the beef n reef on mash!

we did have dessert it was sticky date with butterscotch sauce.... and it was gooddddddddd

and friday breakkie was bacon & eggs but that was all that we ate all day!!

but

thursday we walked for over 2hrs around campus and town and friday we did a bit of a walk to the uni and back too so i dont feel so bad

oh... and my uni report.. how does that ad go...


7yrs of hard work & course fees studying part time while working full time and teaching scuba 3 weekends a month
$100 in fuel
$150 in hotel bill
$150 in misc meals
$100 for the offical uni rugby jersey hubby had to have
$215 for official photography
$65 for official gown hire
$95 for official picture framing
watching your hubby graduatate from uni..... priceless

almost as priceless as watching your 80yr old inlaws having to stand on stools for their pics

 

[alcina]

Awesome, Almity!!

Love those stiff formal portraits LOL

 

[trucker girl]

You're right- priceless!

1 hour brisk walking today- there's a price to pay for that, though.

 

[trucker girl]

Inspired by alcina, I made stir fry tonight.

Sauted bok choy, onion, sweet red pepper, some chopped carrot, chicken pieces I had left over, and edamame (green soy beans- found in the frozen veggie section if you can't find it anywhere else). Seasoned and added some teriyaki sauce. I served it with whole wheat pasta but I think rice would have been a nicer match.

Yummy.

 

[alcina]

Trucker - nice one! You might want to consider skipping the rice/pasta and adding red cabbage and/or more veggies instead. But each to their own...I've tried to dump as much "extra" stuff as I can, frees up more calories for the good stuff! We used to eat rice or pasta with almost every meal (this was years and years ago now), and then I discovered that I was doing it just because that's what we did! Once we stopped doing that, we discovered a whole boatload of new ideas and our veggie consumption doubled. Now I can take or leave rice/pasta and just have a couple of favourites that we have now and again.

 

[trucker girl]

I saw yours had squash and red cabbage but I couldn't really tell the details.

I'm addicted to carbs- I've never had this weight issue. I mean EVER. I haven't weighed this much since JR high (when I weighed more). Don't know what I did back then to lose the weight so this is all new to me.

Shows that you can't ever just forget that the body needs attention as much as the heart and soul. Sigh.



Hmmm... looking at the pic again- broccoli, red pepper, chicken and... asparagus? What do you stir fry in? I started with Olive oil (EVOO...) but just a pinch. Then finished off with teriyaki. My house still smells of it!

 

[alcina]

Sorry, you did ask for my "recipe"! Here is is more or less - it changes with whatever I have in the fridge or looks good at the market!

Chicken breast
cauliflower
brocollini
red peppers
yellow peppers
orange peppers
red cabbage (I love this stuff!)
asparagus
celery
zuchinni
yellow zuchinni (or squash)
garlic
handful of cashews - I break each one into two or three bits
honey soy sauce from a bottle - get the thickest you can find coz you use way less, crazy but true, and it glazes better making it delicious!

1 tbsp honey soy sauce on cut up chicken bits, marinade for a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge
2 tbsp honey soy sauce on cut up veggies as above

tbsp olive oil in a big wok style no stick pan
toss in the garlic and let 'er sizzle for a minute or two
toss in the chicken - I keep it hot and moving so it gets the glaze sealed
turn down heat a bit so nothing burns
toss in marinaded veggies, heat them through - stir every couple of minutes to mix flavours and get everything piping hot

serve

I usually have 1.5 - 2 cups of this at a meal and I'll get 4+ meals easily (I tend to overdo the veggies!)

Carrots, beans, peas, corn, sweet potato chunks, bok choy, pak choy are all good, too.

With the new research about oils and belly fat, I'm probably going to add a wider variety of oils back to our diets, but olive oil works perfectly for me...sometimes i find sesame or peanut just overwhelming to the dish.

This is such a staple for me...I do the same basic thing but use tomato based sauces with different spices to give myself something "italian" - add a little fresh romano or good parmesan on top for just a hint of flavour and it's heavenly (you can also pop this into the oven in a baking dish with pasta to make a quick casserole); or hit the cajun/creole spices for something hot.

Hint when using tomato stuff - go for the Roma tomato in tins and get the ones with nothing else added. So much better than the "normal" ones.

 

[sarita75]

Yum, that sounds wonderful Alcina.



I am home from the gym and really tired and hungry. I haven't been for the past two days because of Wednesday's blood donation and Thursday's malaise. So today I pushed it a bit more. 30 minute on the treadmill, 1.64 miles and approx 253 calories, followed by 23 minutes on the free movement elliptical. 1.82 miles and approximately 276 calories.

...Tomorrow: Repeat.