Up and Out

Good Morning!

Last night in school went really well…it was exactly the kind of calm night I had hoped for and I left around 9:45. Much to my surprise, I actually got a really great grade on my petit fours that I was totally not expecting considering how frustrated I was by them. My cheesecake turned out well and tonight all I have to do is put together my fruit tart and napoleon. Pictures to come tomorrow of the final spread of products to be graded!

Since I got home early last night I woke up early this morning (6:30) and headed to the gym for one of my longer workouts—legs/cardio/abs. I was at the gym for about an hour and here’s what I did:

Warm up 2 minutes on treadmill

Squats (holding 2 10 lb weights) combined with kneeling kickbacks on a mat. 4 sets of each exercise with 1 minute rest after each combined set. 12 reps of each.

Stiff-legged deadlifts (holding 2 15 lbs weights) combined with dipping bridge pose on mat. 4 sets of each exercise with 1 minute rest after each combined set. 12 reps of each.

2 sets of standing calf raises with 15 lb dumbbell

3 sets of hanging crunching abs—15 reps each set

3 sets of slow bicycle crunches—20 reps each set

10 minutes running on treadmill

15 minutes on elliptical with resistance cranked up on hill mode

I got the compound sets leg routine out of this month’s Oxygen magazine. It works on sculpting your muscles with 2 exercises that work the same muscle and preformed back to back with no rest in between…it places a greater demand on your muscle groups and thus, works them harder. When you double the workload like this it burns fat and carves shape and definition.

Before I went to the gym this morning I had a piece of Flax & Fiber toast with a smear of peanut butter. When I got back, I had cottage cheese oats with steel cut oats, 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese, a big spoonful of peanut butter and a sliced banana. Mmmmmm power in a bowl! I crave this!

And more lentils and brown rice for lunch! This super combo left me full and satisfied for hours the other day and I’m glad I made extras. All those complex carbs and lean plant protein is a killer combo for sure. And when you spice it up with some sriracha….well you know. It’s amazing :). Plus, I like having a hot meal at work since I’m always freezing!! I’m also packing a string cheese and some grapes to have with my lunch and for later, more cottage cheese (1/2 cup) with a cup of diced peaches to mix in. These peaches are packed in juice, not syrup!

I need some coffee for sure right now! Is it Friday yet?!

August 7, 2008 By jenna

A Burger or an Arm? Give Me Something Cool!

caitlinbo (see bride run)

August 7, 2008 at 12:38 pm

SIGH. no it is unfortunately NOT friday. what the hell? i’ve been waiting patiently for friday ALL WEEK! 🙂

your workout sounds hard and satisfying! yay!

are you going to be in orlando this weekend?

Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food)

August 7, 2008 at 12:46 pm

Congrats on the great grade!

Melanie

August 7, 2008 at 12:51 pm

Hey Jenna! I’m curious about the cottage cheese with oatmeal combo. Do you cook the oat with the cottage cheese or add the cottage cheese at the end? I just picked up some whipped cottage cheese and I like the consistency better that regular cottage cheese.

Hey great job on your petit fours!

~C~

August 7, 2008 at 12:57 pm

I’m glad you got a good grade on your petit fours!!

I am also curious about the cottage cheese oatmeal prep.

jenna

August 7, 2008 at 1:08 pm

Hey guys!

For the cottage cheese oatmeal I just precook steel cut oats one night and then in the morning reheat them with some water in the micro and once they are hot, I just add 1/2 cup cottage cheese, peanut butter and banana and stir. that’s it! You add the cottage cheese once they are already cooked like you would peanut butter or other add-ins!

Caitlin,

No! I’m headed to Tampa actually. Ryan will be in town next probably next month…but I will let you know and we will have to meet up!!

arielle

August 7, 2008 at 1:18 pm

I thought it was Thursday all day yesterday so I am totally disappointed now. I hate when that happens.

Trina

August 7, 2008 at 1:37 pm

Jenna,
I was wondering if you have heard of CrossFit? Everyone around me lately has been talking about it and since you have been wanting to gain some muscle and have been doing a lot of strength training exercises, I thought it might interest you. You can check out the website:
http://www.crossfit.com/

Apparently it works wonders…It is supposedly all the rage in workout programs right now 😉 Just thought I’d share…I have done it the past two days and my body is definitely feeling it……ouch!

Also, I got inspired from you the other day and bought one of those little rotisserie chickens from the grocery store. I wanted to add a little more protein in my diet and that is an easy way to do it. Anyways, I wondered if you peeled the skin off the chicken when you ate it? Isn’t the skin the fatty part?

Today will fly by and Friday will be here before you know it !! 🙂

Andrea

August 7, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Does anyone know any magical cures for the first signs of a cold so it doesn’t get any worse??

hk

August 7, 2008 at 2:19 pm

Yaa baby! Cottage cheese is a HUGE part of my diet, i totally dig it 🙂 haha im loving this breakfast- and that workout looks awesome! I love the Oxygen routines 🙂 congrats on all of your hard work at school!!

Heather

August 7, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Oooh, and I just bought some cottage cheese! I’ll have to try that.

Congrats on the grade! And good luck on the Napoleons and fruit tart. The only thing that made me nervous about Napoleons was cutting them. But they turned out fine! I’m sure yours will be great.

nicole r.

August 7, 2008 at 2:31 pm

ClaireDille–

Saw your comment about the california veg burgers on the other post–shaw’s in copley has them! i was there yesterday to get them actually—not sure if that’s close to where in boston you are, but if so, give it a shot

Sara

August 7, 2008 at 2:37 pm

Hey Jenna,
I few weeks ago you mentioned Oxygen magazine…I happened to be at the store that afternoon and I picked up the current issue. Oh my gosh…I love it! It’s such a great magazine and the workouts are awesome. I’ve been doing the leg routine this past week and the tricep routine (which is totally working my tri’s). I get Shape and Self magazines and do some of the workouts in them, but I feel like I’m getting quick results with the Oxygen ones. Thanks for the great tip!

jenna

August 7, 2008 at 2:54 pm

Trina,

I’ve never heard of that before but I will check it out for sure, thanks for the great link! As for the chicken, YES, pull all the skin off!! The skin is the fatty part that contains a ton of saturated fat. When I take apart the chicken I always peel all the skin off and usually don’t eat the dark meat either…I’m a white meat kinda girl 🙂

Liz

August 7, 2008 at 3:56 pm

I could eat PB and banana ALL day. Yum.

I’ve never had it with cottage cheese though. I usually eat that with blueberries, pineapple, mango, strawberries… you get the idea. I could eat that all day too.

Trina

August 7, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Jenna, Cool, let me know what you think of those workouts 🙂

Also, thanks for answering my question on the chicken. I typically pull the skin off but I just wondered if you had too 🙂

Kat

August 7, 2008 at 4:27 pm

The recall of your routines is very inspiring! Thanks for sharing. And that lentil rice combo looks amazing I am going to have to try that out.

Kat

ModelBehavior

August 7, 2008 at 4:30 pm

Andrea,

SSSLLEEEEEPP!! If I can I try to sleep and rest as much as possible right when I feel the first signs of illness, I find that one day of preemptive sleeping and resting can save me from having to take off several days down the road!