Things I Loved to Eat Today!

 

 I am trying sooooo hard to come up with some new lean and green dinners.  I feel like I have been eating the same 5 things forever.  The last time I went grocery shopping I went out on a limb and bought some Ahi Tuna Steaks.  I have never had much luck in the past with tuna, but I thought I would give it one more chance, and I am sooooooo glad I did!!

Honey Lime Tuna Steaks

(or sweet lime tuna steaks)

1/4 cup light olive oil

1 tbs Old Bay seasoning

1 tbs lime juice

1 tbs Honey or Truvia (hence sweet lime instead of honey lime!)

1 1/2 tsp basil

1 lb. Tuna steaks

Mix first five ingredients in a shallow dish and whisk well.  Add tuna and turn to coat.  Marinate in fridge for 20 mins up to an hour.  Turn occasionally.  

Grill or Broil 8-10 mins per inch of thickness or until fish flakes easily with a fork.  Baste fish with marinade a few times to keep it moist while cooking.

NOTE: I took my fish off of the pan while there was just a bit of pink left in the center.  The fish continued to cook and ended up not being too dry, it was perfect!

I served this with some rice for my family and a giant salad with some broiled asparagus on the side!  It was so so yummy!!

ENJOY!

Things I Loved to Eat Today!

 

I love a good crock pot meal.  I especially love the smells that waft through the house the entire day.  I don't know what it is about having my dinner all taken care of by noon that makes me feel like a more productive person! Today, I experimented with a beef roast.  It turned out really good!  I am trying to branch out and try new veggies, so I started with my husbands favorite, mushrooms.  Here is what i did.

1 can reduced fat reduced sodium chicken broth

1 tbs. olive oil

1 tbs. sea salt

1 tbs. Spike Gourmet Seasoning

1tsp. Garlic powder

1 Beef Roast

1 container mushrooms

First I heated the olive oil in a skillet.  Then while that was heating I pierced the roast with a knife all over.  Next, I took the sea salt, the Spike seasoning, and the garlic powder and rubbed it all over the roast making sure to get it into the holes in the meat.  Then, I browned each side of the roast in the skillet.  Pour the chicken broth into the crock pot and add the roast.  I poured the drippings from the pan into the crock pot as well.  I let this cook on low for about 3 hours.  During the last 20 mins, I dumped the mushrooms in the crock pot whole.  Let those cook and soak up all the yummy flavors.  I don't like overly cooked veggies, so I took them out once they felt al dente.  

I served this with a large salad and it was amazing!  One other thing I loved about this meal was it was so easy to make it husband friendly.  I made a baked potato to go on the side and used the rest of the drippings to make a gravy.  I am a big fan of only cooking one meal and making it work for all of us.  This was amazing and very satisfying!

Important Tips

 

So my first week of the Cardio Free workout is complete.  I have come to a few conclusions of my own about the program.

1.  The most important and different thing about this method is the speed of your reps and sets. The contraction of the rep should take 2 counts, then hold the contraction for 2 counts, then take 4 full counts to release.  He uses a bicep curl as an example.  2 counts on the way up, 2 count hold, 4 counts on the way down. 

2. One of the biggest "Aha" moments for me was when Jim Karas, the inventor of the "Cardio Free Diet" teaches us that a set of reps should never be more than 10 reps.  He breaks it down into phases.

Reps 1-5 are your working reps, these should be pretty easy

Reps 5-8 should be your fatigue reps, you should start to feel the burn during these reps

Reps 8-10 should bring your muscles to failure.  

IF YOU ARE NOT BRINGING YOUR MUSCLES TO FAILURE, YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME

This was a big change for me.  I have always felt like a wuss if I couldn't bust out 10 or 15 reps with ease.  Well Jim Karas tells us, that you must fail to succeed.  

3. I was most definitely using enough weight in the past.  In order to bring my muscles to failure in 10 reps, I had to really up the weight I was using.  Today, I mostly used 15 and 20 pound hand weights.  There were a few of the exercises in the book that required lighter weights like 3's or 5's, but for the most part, I was up in the higher numbers. 

4. A conclusion I came to on my drive home today was this...there is no magic program.  The exercises outlined in the book are not magic.  It takes work to get results.  I am doing the plan in the book, just to get used to this program, but I think the rules he lines out could apply to any strength training exercises.  I do feel like I am getting more of a workout and next week I am going to up the ante by adding a bosu ball to the routine.  

I will keep you informed!