I should know better than to comment that I will try to update daily…it sets me up for failure! So I didn’t update daily last week and I didn’t take any pictures of my food. I work full-time, I’m a wife, I’m an aspiring photographer, I am Beachbody coach and I have to sleep. So, my apologies. It doesn’t mean I didn’t think about this blog and wonder if anyone noticed that I didn’t follow through with my comment to attempt to post last week.
So here is what last week looked liked for me.
Monday – I did run and I did get in Total Body Cardio Fix
Tuesday – I did run (yep, I skipped Upper fix and I don’t even remember why now…I probably had a headache or the threat of one and upper body work contributes to it)
Wednesday – I did run and I did Lower fix
Thursday – I did Pilates Fix
Friday – I skipped. Short of the long story, I had to stay home from work because I had to take my furbaby to the emergency vet at 11:00pm Thursday evening and didn’t get home until 2:30am.
Saturday – I did Cardio Fix to make up for Friday and also did the scheduled Dirty 30.
Sunday – yep, I skipped yoga.
Overall, my average on a scale of 1-5 for my eating habits was a 3. I wasn’t perfect but I didn’t really over do anything. I also started tracking more on My Fitness Pal.
Was I perfect last week – ABSOLUTELY NOT! But I’m not perfect and my goal is to show you what trying to live a healthy lifestyle looks like…not what perfection looks like!
I do want to share some recipes with you though. I made them ‘Fix Friendly’. I basically did this by not mixing ingredients together but measuring them out by container. You could just make the recipe according to the instructions and then measure with a GREEN container.
Mango & Avocado Black Rice Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette (pinned from Ambitious Kitchen: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/282249101621539949)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups organic black rice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 large ripe mango, diced, 1 small ripe avocado, diced or sliced, 1/4 cup roasted almonds, 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 1/2 cup diced red onion
For the Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes), 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon honey (agave nectar if vegan), 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt, 1 clove garlic, minced, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, salt and pepper to taste, lime wedges, to garnish
Instructions
Rinse rice in mesh strainer. Add to medium saucepan. Add 2 3/4 cups water and a pinch of salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a low simmer, and cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed about 30-40 minutes. When rice is done cooking, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Cool for 10 minutes before adding dressing.
While rice is cooking prepare the dressing: Combine lime juice, olive oil, garlic, honey (or agave), cilantro, and salt in a food processor. Process for 15-30 seconds or until dressing is combined. Once rice is done cooking and has cooled a bit, stir in dressing and . Cover bowl and place in fridge for an hour or until cool and you are ready to add in the rest of the salad ingredients.
Before serving, toss salad again with dressing and fold in cilantro, mango, and red onion. Pour into cold salad bowls and top with roasted almonds and avocado. Garnish with a lime wedge or extra cilantro if desired.
Here is how I made it ‘Fix Friendly’
I cooked the rice, diced the mango, avocado, cilantro, red onion, juiced the limes. I prepared the Vinaigrette with the lime juice, about 1/2 of the olive oil, garlic, and cilantro. Once the rice was cooked, I measured it out with the YELLOW container. Topped it with avocado measured with the BLUE container and then the mango measured with the PURPLE container. I poured about 1/2 of an ORANGE container over it. I also cooked up some chicken breast in lime juice and cilantro and measure the cooked chicken with the RED container and put in it in the same dish as the rice mixture. WHOLA! Fix Friendly. AND let me tell you how tasty this was! Even my hubby commented on how much he enjoyed it! Sorry, no picture of my version!
So let’s mosey on to what this week has been like.
Monday – I ran and did Total Body Cardio. Eats were pretty spot on. I’d give it a 4 on that 1-5 scale.
Tuesday – Too hot and humid to run 😦 I did Upper Fix in the evening and still averaged a 4.
Today (Wednesday) – weather was ok for running but I didn’t bring my gear because I thought it was going to be thunder storms all day and too hot/humid again. WRONG! I pushed through my desire to skip this evenings workout and got in my Lower Fix. If all goes well, I will maintain my 4 average.
This week’s recipe: Israeli Couscous with Asparagus, Peas, and Sugar Snaps (Bon Appétit | June 2010, pinned here: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/282249101621539897)
Israeli couscous is small, round, toasted pasta with grains about the size of peppercorns. Serve this dish chilled or at room temperature.
Ingredients
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 large garlic cloves, minced, divided, 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel, 1 1/3 cups Israeli couscous (6 to 7 ounces), 1 3/4 cups (or more) vegetable broth, 14 ounces slender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut diagonally into 3/4-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups), 8 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups), 1 cup shelled fresh green peas or frozen, thawed, 1/3 cup chopped fresh chives, 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation
Whisk 2 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, 1 garlic clove, and lemon peel in small bowl; set dressing aside. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add couscous, sprinkle with salt, and sauté until most of couscous is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add 1 3/4 cups broth, increase heat, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender, about 10 minutes, adding more broth by tablespoonful’s if too dry.
Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add asparagus, sugar snap peas, green peas, and remaining garlic clove. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; sauté until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer vegetables to large bowl.
Add couscous to bowl with vegetables. Drizzle dressing over. Add chives and cheese; toss. Season with salt and pepper.
Test-kitchen tip: To trim asparagus, hold onto the top of the stalk with one hand and bend the bottom of the stalk with your other hand. The stalk will snap, separating the woody end from the tender top. I love this tip!
So, to fix this recipe up…here is what I did: I used 1/4 of the olive oil while making the dressing. Kept the lemon juice, garlic and lemon zest. I cooked the Israeli Couscous (which is amazing! I bought it a while ago and never made anything with it…I should have tried it sooner!!) in water. I used asparagus and sugar snap peas. I was just too lazy to buy green peas but threw in some grape tomatoes. I cooked the vegetables in a bit of lemon juice and chives and then tossed together in a bowl with the dressing so I could measure my lunches in my work containers. I then cooked up some chicken breast tenders in lemon juice and chives. I measures the Israeli Couscous with the YELLOW container, topped with a GREEN container of the vegetables and dressing and then added chicken with the RED container.
The side by side comparison doesn’t really stack up…but I’m real 🙂
Here’s how real I am:
The story? The sweat was running down into my eyes so bad from Monday’s run that I couldn’t open my eyes properly. And then once home and cleaned up…refreshing myself with a Strawberry-Blueberry Shake.
After some of the Giveaway blog post comments, I’ve decided to offer a Portion Control Challenge Group beginning the week of June 23rd, either a 5 day or 10 day. Who would be interested? Comment here or head over to my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/coachShannonMoholland
Don’t forget! PiYo launches soon and I would love for you to join me! I AM so excited for this to launch! My July/August workout plan is to run at lunchtime and do PiYo in the evening! I need to improve my flexibility and this is going to help! I LOVE Chalene. She is so real, so motivating!
Chalene Johnson took the very best Pilates and yoga-inspired moves and cranked up the speed to give you full throttle cardio, strength, and flexibility training—all at once. PiYo packs it ALL into each workout so you can build lean muscle mass—as you’re burning crazy calories. Now you can carve every inch of your body. How? You’ll use your body weight to perform a series of continuous, targeted moves, to burn fat as you redefine every single muscle. No weights. No jumps. Just hardcore results. The result? Problem areas become no problem. You’ll get sleek, long arms, sexy, flat abs, a tight, lifted butt, and the confidence that comes from knowing you’re at your best! This is your chance to define exactly how you want to look—and how you want to feel. You’re in control. You have the power to define yourself. Now use it.
There will be 8 workouts, PLUS a BONUS workout, so 9 workouts on 3 DVDs!
Release date is June 23rd
Program Length 60 Days…
Workout Length 25-45 minutes
How much? This will make you smile…
Base kit- $59.85 (Plus S&H)
Club- $53.87 (Plus S&H)
Coach- $44.89 (Plus S&H)
Challenge pack- $160 — EXPECT to be released initially at $140 (NO S/&H)
Who’s ready to #DefineYourself?
Align: The Fundamentals (46 mins)
Strength Intervals (25 mins)
Define: Lower Body (25 mins)
PiYo Sculpt (30 mins)
Define: Upper Body (35 mins)
Core: (30 mins)
Sweat (35 mins)
Drench (45 mins)
BONUS – PiYo Buns (25 mins)
2nd BONUS from ordering via my link http://bit.ly/shannonsbonus
NO WEIGHTS
NO JUMPING
LOW IMPACT
MODIFIER for every move
http://bit.ly/PiYoChallenge
Challenge Pack includes 30 days of Dense Nutrition meal replacement Shakeology http://bit.ly/shakeforhealth for more info
Coach Moholland 
