JCore Day 24

This one is from Wednesday Feb. 20.

The Workout

I finally went to Boot Camp!  I was so happy to finally get started.  Today’s class was set up like a circuit, and we did a lot of great exercises, like pushups with resistance bands across our backs (so hard!) and sandbag slams.  Probably the most notable exercise was the tire flip.  There was this giant tire that we needed to move back and forth down a patch of grass.  I could manage it if I had a partner helping me, but not so much by myself.  Working alone I didn’t get it more than a few inches off the ground.  I’m thinking that my goal for this class will be to get to become strong enough to flip the tire by myself.  It was a really good workout, although right now I don’t feel like I’ll be as sore as she said we’d be.  We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

After the workout was over, we sat down with Simone to talk a little about how our eating is going.  I mentioned to her that because I’m eating more protein than I have in the past, I haven’t been as hungry and sometimes don’t eat as many calories as I should.  Simone said that this isn’t really a good practice, and that eating more frequent, smaller meals throughout the day might help me make sure I get all of my calories in.  I’ve been eating pretty consistently about every 4 hours or so, but maybe I’ll try to bump it up to every 3 hours to give me time to eat everything I need to.

The Food

Breakfast: Oatmeal with pumpkin and smoked chicken and apple sausage.

This should have been awesome.  It was, in fact, almost awesome.  It was right on the threshold of awesome.  The only problem was I didn’t add enough salt, so it was kind of bland interspersed with sausage deliciousness.  I actually forget to salt my food that I pack for work with kind of a tragic frequency, so I really should just get a saltshaker to keep at my desk.

Lunch:  Salad with chicken, mixed veggies, and hummus-salsa dressing.

I made this using canned chicken and lettuce from our CSA box.  It was extra good since there was no one around to tell me what they thought it looked like :p.

Snack 1: Pear and string cheese.

Well, I managed to photograph 1/3 of my snack this time, at least. 

Snack 2: Dry roasted chickpeas.

I wasn’t really hungry after Boot Camp (I’m rarely hungry immediately after workouts), but Simone had said that we should try to have a small snack after class.  So, I brought these with me and ate them in the car on the way home.

Dinner: African chicken with broccoli, Asparagus Stir-Fry vegetables, and black beluga lentils.

Kevin had mentioned that we’d eaten Indian, Moroccan, and Asian-flavored dinners recently and suggested we have something from a different continent.  I randomly chose Africa and Googled until I found a recipe that used ingredients we had in the house already.  The only experience I have with African food is eating at Ethiopian restaurants, so I don’t know if this Peri Peri African chicken is authentically African-tasting or not.  It was pretty good, though; a little spicy and a little tangy.  We had originally planned to eat it last night and then changed our minds, so the chicken ended up marinating overnight instead of the suggested 3 hours.  The stir-fry vegetables were a mix of asparagus, green beans, cauliflower, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and yellow squash.  I think the lentils were my favorite part, though.  I haven’t had them in a while, so I was really excited to find them with the pre-cooked grains at Target (where I got the farro and whole grain medley). 

Dessert: Ghirardelli chocolate.

My sweet parents sent me a package with a card and a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day – although, because of the snowstorm they got earlier they couldn’t get out to mail it when they wanted to so it didn’t arrive until today.  I ate this one hazelnut truffle (which was super delicious), and then donated the rest of the box to Kevin.

In other news, we finished The Night Circus last night!  So, so good.  I was sad when it was over (not because it was a sad ending, just because I wanted there to be more to read), and there are definitely parts I want to go back and re-read.  Also I want to go to the circus!  Specifically I would like to go to The Night Circus, but I can’t because it’s fictional.  Someone should start a Night Circus so I can go to it.