Two KB Clean and press/two hand swing combinations

Workout Interrupted...

I started my workout @ Girya today and about 30 minutes into it I made the mistake of answering my phone! Bad news, I didn't have time to finish my workout....good news, I get to teach a new student how to swing a kettlebell on Monday!



Warm up

2 hand swings and transfer w/12kg x 5 sets 1 min work, 1 min rest = 10 min.

Work sets w/12kg

swing, clean, press, squat ladder 1-4, 2.5 min work, 1 min rest
swing, clean, press, squat ladder 4-1, 2.5 min work, 1 min rest

I only got 4 sets in, but that was still 14 min. and that's still 80 cleans, presses and squats!

Total workout 24 min.

I did swing with students today, but mostly the 8kg, with the expectation of getting my own workout in, so tomorrow I'm planning on at least 30 minutes of swinging the 16kg. after yoga.

"Use What You Have" Cooking

One of my favorite books on interior design, when that was my main hobby, was titled "Use What You Have Decorating", it's pretty self explanatory, the idea was to not have to go and buy new and/or more, just use the things you already own, except in different ways. This also describes the way I love to cook! I love using up ingredients that I already have, sometimes in different ways, like the pot of chili I made this morning (4:30am!).



red onion (I didn't have yellow)
carrot
2 red bells
3 jalapeno, 1 pablano
beet stems
diced tomato
red and black beans
chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin, oregano


I pureed 1/2 roasted buttenut squash (I had in the fridge) in the blender with 1/2 cooked chili before mixing it back with the rest. I had a ton of cooked chicken thigh and leg meat from a batch of chicken stock I made in the pressure cooker yesterday (a different blog post!), so that was the protein I used.



All Day "get rid of muffin top" Lunch

coffee/cream 80 cal
chicken/veg soup 350 cal.

Use What You Have Chili w/

beet greens and chicken 500 cal.

fruit salad 300 cal.

ginger tea w/honey 25 cal.

Total 1255

Use what I had Fruit Salad!

Fuji apple
3 sm kiwi
grapefruit (sectioned)
drizzle of honey

Turkey Soup w/Root Vegetables and All Day Lunch

parsnips
carrots
celery root
celery
onion
garlic
parsley
turkey leg and thigh (and 2 necks)
6 cups water (1 1/2 tsp. salt)

In the pressure cooker for 20 minutes, stir dandelion greens into hot soup.


I seemed to have developed a slight "muffin top" with so much time off of my training, LOL. Back to sweating my ass off and some serious diet clean up! I'm off for a walk, I had an awesome KB workout this morning and I hope to duplicate it with one of my students tomorrow in video!



Tracy's All Day Lunch

sm chicken soup w/roasted butternut squash 300 cal.
lg turkey/root veg soup w/greens & rice 400 cal.
broc and cabbage slaw with chicken and spicy peanut dressing 450 cal.
carrot, celery sticks w/PNB (10 almonds) 300 cal.
fuji apple 100 cal.

Add in Peet's coffee w/cream 100 cal. Total calories 1650

My First Official Snatch Day...post op

Woo Hoo! Snatching the 12kg felt great, but still a couple of weeks away from the 16KG. Luckily I can get an awesome workout with the 12...here's what I did for my first snatch workout in 7 weeks;



AM weight 133.8
6:30am KB w/12kg

Warm up

40 2 hand swings x 5 sets, 1 min work, 1 min rest = 10 min.

Work sets

8 swing/snatch roundabouts (8 sw/sn each side, 16 total), 2 min work
1 min rest
10 snatch roundabouts (20 snatch total), 2 min. work,
1 min rest
12/12 snatch, 1 min work,
1 min rest



I alternated these 3 sets 5x. All three took 8 min. to complete, 5 x 8 = 40 min total. 300 snatches!

Total workout 50 min.

I went to a Vinyasa yoga class on Friday and my first Bikram class on Sunday, no KB's on Sunday, no yoga on Monday. Since I was forced to take time off from yoga classes a couple of things happened....

I get to be a beginner again and I'm thinking I want to take advantage of this new start to practice Vinyasa, instead of Bikram, still going to Bikram, but making the Vinyasa my main practice. My Bikram practice is easy for me, but the other would be a new and a more difficult challenge.....there....I just made up my mind while writing this...Vinyasa class today!

The other thing about taking the time away from yoga is that I feel I needed the break from the classes, because I have a whole new appreciation for the perfect balance, for me, of KB's (1st!), walking, and yoga.

Turnip Greens

I was recently asked about how I add greens to my diet...what greens to eat, and how to cook them. And although I do want to write a post all about greens, I came across these bunches of turnips at the Farmers Market on Saturday and decided to give them a try. There is no food that I won't try (I think!), and I especially love "2 for 1" veggies, in other words, like beets, you get the green part, the leaves, which are completely edible, for free!

Last year I roasted turnips along with other veggies like rutabaga, parsnips, squash, shallots and garlic. Turnips were not a favorite, but I don't dislike them either...they're fine. Whenever I bring home a veggie I've never prepared before the first thing I do is look up recipes by googling the name of the veggie followed by the words "salad" & "recipe"! I'm ususally interested in eating a veggie raw first, and then cooked...but that's just me! I did find a recipe for raw turnip salad (shredding the turnips), but I wasn't in the mood for salad and the turnip greens looked like the type of greens, like radish greens, that go "bad" quickly, so I had to use them ASAP, and there's practically nothing you can't make a soup out of, or add to a soup....so soup it was. Besides I had two chicken legs in my fridge that had to get cooked sooner, than later.

So, in my pressure cooker, I sauteed onion, celery (in big chunks) and garlic in some olive oil, added chunky carrots and turnips, 6 cups of water, 1/2 cup pearl barley, 2 chicken legs (thighs and drums), and 1tsp. salt. I cooked for 20 minutes, then let the pressure come down on its own and stirred in the greens from the turnips and, voila, Chicken and Barley Soup with chunky veggies and turnip greens. The turnip greens, after wilting in the hot soup, stayed a little chewy, which I like, but added nutrition and color! The flavor was pleasant, but slightly bitter. I'm sure there's many more ideas on ways to use these greens, but this recipe was based on the one and only time I've tried using them. I will try them again, maybe in a salad though...another time.

I always add some sort of greens to my soup, ususally Dinosaur Kale (Lacinato Kale), at the very least spinach or chard. Life is good....greens are good.

Forget Spelling, I Need to Learn How to Count!

OK, I want to make one thing clear.....I do not miscount my own workouts! It's when I try and talk during a demo....or coach a student during a set, I get screwed up! Doesn't really matter anyway, 1 rep, 2 reps....just show up and get the reps in!

10:15am KB Workout @ Girya
25-30 minute Swing Warm up w/student 8-9am

2 hand swing ladder alternating 12kg & 16kg x 5 each (total 10 sets)
2 min. work, 1 min rest = 30 min.
550 swings / 100 squats

10 2 hand swings, 1 squat
9/1
8/1
7/1
6/1
5/1
4/1
3/1
2/1
1/1

All sets going downhill, so the squats came faster and closer together.

Roundabouts w/16kg, 1 min. work, 1 min rest x 7 sets = 14 min.

Total workout 44 min. (not including morning warmup)