Bob Harper yay - Kale Chips Nay

I just finished watching season 1 of New Girl - It's superb.  It makes me laugh out loud. If you haven't seen it - you should.

Next topic -  So before Sergio arrived I was doing really well with working out and eating healthy, but then I sort of got off my kick and the schedule was all nuts and so I lost my weight loss mojo. I was down a few for a while there! But I'm back on the horse now! Since my gym membership ran out I bought like 15 work out dvds and my plan is to do a mix of work out dvds, running, and bodyrock.com throughout the week to try to lose some LBs.

So far, I've done the Bob Harper Ultimate Cardio and the Jillian Michaels Shed and Shred.
The Bob Harper Ultimate Cardio will have you doubled over in pain and misery. I sort of crushed it though - It is awesome. And I feel like I am pretty tough in general so when I say it's hard,  I promise you will vomit and feel like you've been punched in the gut if you try this video.

This was pretty much how I looked after Bob Harper had his way with me

The Jillian Michaels Shed and Shred has 2 30 minute workouts - the first one is level 1 and it sucks. It's like doing a Jane Fonda callestetics work out. I was so annoyed the whole time - and her voice always yapping doesn't help.

Then there's Level 2 - Level 2 will make you burn. It's decent. I would do it again. It's a mix of movements with weights and plyometric body weight exercises.

Then, since I'm also trying to get on track with my healthy eating - I made a couple of new things in the kitchen that I've been reading about in some healthy people blogs.

The first was Kale Chips.
Kale is in ABUNDANCE here. They shred it and boil it with onions..sort of like spinach.
But these Kale Chips were supposed to taste like you're eating potato chips.  Eh - I mean, they were okay, I over salted mine. Would I rather have a stack of Pringles? Yes.  Do I like that it's a new way to slip more veggies into my diet without feeling like i'm eating veggies? yes also. Here's how it went:

Kale in all its glory. It's a strong leaf with really giant thick veins.

I used my scissors to chop the leaf off the stem

I chopped them into large pieces and then tossed them with olive oil and seasoning salt

baked them till they were crispy..

this is what resulted. I think i over salted them but they were okay. I guess if you are a huge potato chip person and you are trying to stay off them, this is an okay alternative.  Kind of tastes like a maple leaf with salt. mmm

Then I also made Sweet Potato Fries. There is so much stuff on the internet right now about sweet potatoes and how they are this great healthy food that can satisfy your carb craving without being destructive to your progress. Here the sweet potatoes are really mild - It's not as easy find those deep colored yams - but i've seen them around. Actually sweet potatoes are really popular in the local diet here, so the big light colored ones are easy to find.

I just chopped them up - threw on some olive oil and salt and baked them till they were soft. These I highly recommend. I dump ketchup on them and it works for me.

These were goooood. I'll be doing this more often.

Okay  - that's it for today. Tomorrow is another day and another work out DVD. I'll holler at ya!

A Pot Luck Post

This post is going to be all over the place  - I first want to show you what traffic in Nairobi can look like:

.

 It's not the best photo but I was trying to be inconspicuous because there was a cop standing nearby and cell phones while in the driver seat can get you in big trouble. Anyways, what you see here is an intersection (roundabout) with cars jammed all together headed every single direction imaginable..and NO ONE MOVING. Everyone just packs in so tight that it ends up just screwing the entire flow of traffic and then you just sit there with all these cars so close together you couldn't slip a piece of paper between them (see car in front of me and the truck it's basically hitting)..and it's the ultimate gridlock. I swear I had to do a 34 point turn just to get through a crack of space to finally break away. Love it. This is why a 5 minute drive home ends up taking 1.5 hours in Nairobi. There are no rules - no lights, no stop signs, no lanes..no rules. Free for all. But I am a demon out there and hold my own nicely. It helps that I have a big truck that scares the small cars..Or I would never be able to cross a road EVER here.


Okay, now that my traffic rant is over - I'll move on to my next random thought, which is Paleo Banana Bread that rocked my face off. It was the best ever AND flour free, with hardly any fat and no sugar (well there was syrup in there).

Another award winning food photography shot by Lenna. Premium aluminum foil baby!

The Recipe is courtesy of Elana's Pantry.
Basically, you use almond flour instead of baking flour, and you use some coconut oil instead of regular oil ( but i used some yogurt, some coconut oil), and then i used real maple syrup (thanks Mikey) instead of the honey that the recipe calls for. And I threw in a couple of splenda packets and some crushed walnuts...SO good. It's gluten free and low fat.  Almond flour is cheap here and is easy to find, which is a little strange but great - so I've been using it a lot.

Next topic - My work out today.
I woke up at 5 to the sound of a car alarm going off - and couldn't fall back asleep. So, I called Sergio since it was around 9pm for him and it's a treat for him for us to talk at his night time (and a treat for me as well of course).  After we talked, I got up, made some coffee and decided to go to the gym. I did a really tough work out on the Total Arc machine (kind of like an elliptical) - the effort ranges from 0-100% resistance. Basically I did the following:
0-3 min - 40% medium incline
4-5 - 70% (quick pace)
5-6 - 60% (quick pace)
6-7 - 50% (quick pace)
7-8 - 40% (medium pace)
8-9 - 35% (slow pace)
Repeat like 8 times.
Then I did a 500m challenge on the row machine. I'm trying to get a time of 2:15 or better - it's tough.

Okay, that's if for today. I'm something good for you coming tomorrow!!
xoxo

Healthy Eating in Senegal

Today I'm catching up with my healthy eating accountability blogging - I think today went well considering I am still in Senegal, living in a hotel with no kitchen and trying to make the best choices for accomplishing my goals.


At the breakfast buffet, I completely avoided the fresh baked croissants and the rest of the carb section - I had some muesli mixed with fiber one cereal, a couple of hardboiled egg whites, some cherry tomatoes and cucumber, and some cantaloupe. So, I made it out alive today. That breakfast buffet kills me – so many delicious cheeses and breads, etc. Imagine being in france..that is the type of spread they offer..i could easily consume my entire day’s worth of calories at breakfast..much lIke I did last Saturday morning by eating this bad boy:



Rediculously good waffle with Nutella - I did not hate it.

 For lunch, I brought with me to the office some canned stuffed grape leaves, canned hummus and some wheat Arabic bread that I found at the supermarket. Oh and you would not believe what i found at the supermarket here - it might as well be crack considering my addiction to the stuff....LEBNE!! AND introducing something I have not found, not even in the US..LEBNE BALLS WITH ZAATAR ALREADY MIXED IN!! are you kidding?? no, i'm not.  But i did not eat that for lunch..I bought a jar to take home with me..i'll probably buy a few more. I got nervous that it would get bought out because that's how African supermarkets work..buy it while it's there is a lesson i was taught very early..so since i didn't have much money on me i hid some in the store somewhere where not even the finest stocker in all the world will see it!! yahooo!!!! like i said..crack.

I am really missing veggies though. It’s hard to eat veggies while living in a hotel. The salads at the hotel cost $18 and really leave much to be desired. I haven’t been successful at trying to order cooked veggies…heaven forbid the kitchen deviate from the menu – thinking outside the box is out of the question. The mall next to me has no salad options – except for a really gross fatoush with cabbage and radishes?? So, I think I’m going to buy some veggies and bring them to the office to at least eat for lunch. There is a fridge and full kitchen there – our office is actually a giant apartment. My office is a big bedroom with a gigantic bathtub and shower.

Lunch

Crack

For dinner I did good – chicken brochette with a side of couscous [no veggies on the menu of course]. After driving out into the field and seeing many other areas of Senegal I think I understand the no veggies thing….the land is either completely dry or flooded here [around the coast line]. In all the driving around that I have done (days and hours of driving...ugh), I have not seen any good farm land at all. Sad really..you can see people trying to farm but it’s just so dry and the soil just doesn’t seem rich for agriculture. I may be talking out of my rear end right now but that’s what I have noticed here. Nothing like Kenya, Rwanda, etc where you can see good fields of fruitful crops everywhere.

dinner turned sideways..okay so i'm not a food photographer but the cook was not a food artist either

So, tomorrow I start all over ...I think i'll start each morning with the serenity prayer..since I truly do believe I have a sugar and refined carbs addiction and it is painful weening off that stuff!! And though it may not be life threatening for me or as serious as drug and alcohol addictions...it's never a good thing when something has control over you to the point that you feel powerless to change. So.....

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.