Day 9 (Sweet Dee) - holy leg workout, Batman!

This morning I had the opportunity to join Megalops at her gym for "bring a friend" week.  I was supposed to go yesterday morning too for a cardio class, but had to cancel because I was a snot-face. ;)  Cat A Combs came too, and it was an all-legs resistance band workout that was CRAZY intense!  I was dying!  For reals!  It made me realize how much I neglect my leg muscles (I tend to just lift arm weights and leave my legs to the cardio workouts - hoping that will be enough).  All-in-all an awesome class! 

I'm also feeling a lot better today.  Still nose-blowing and hacking, but I can tell it's almost outta my system.  I had a great relaxing evening last night too (cooked dinner, made some Powerballs - I'll explain this later - watched an episode of "Criminal Minds", read some of my Book Club book), and was in bed and asleep by 10pm.  I am going to have to get up early the rest of this week to fit in my workouts which will be hard, but getting to bed early every night should help!  

FOOD
Banana & 1 powerball* with a cup of black coffee (I'm actually getting a little more accustomed to the black coffee, as long as I drink it while eating something naturally sweet, such as the banana.  It seems to even it out a bit!)

Cup of Raspberry Leaf tea

Kiwi

Salad (romaine lettuce, kale, zucchini & onions sauteed in olive oil w/ spices, leftover roasted beets, unsalted garbanzo beans, tomato) with dressing (vegan mayo, mustard, spices, pinch of salt, almond milk, vegan sour cream)

2 Riccola cough drops

Organic minneloa tangelo  (tangerine-type fruit)

Dinner at Katy's new home!  I brought the main dish, and she made the salad.  Everything looked so pretty on her plates that I had to take a few pictures!

Quinoa "Chicken" (Quorn "Chicken", oven baked, and served over quinoa with steamed asparagus, mushrooms sauteed with onions & garlic, seasonings and marinara sauce)
Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, raisins, apple slices - w/ olive oil & balsamic vinegar)

Cup of Tea

*These Powerball thingies were actually called "5-minute no bake vegan almond butter chews", but that was wayyyyy too long of a title if you ask me.  I call them Powerballs 'cause they're great for a post-workout snack because of the nut butter protein, and low calories (only about 100 a pop!).  I got the recipe from a great blog called Oh She Glows - you can find it here.  I did make a couple of changes: I used peanut butter instead of Almond butter, substituted dried currants for the cacao nibs, and added a couple of tablespoons of flaxseed for an added boost in nutrition.  You can find MY version of the recipe here!  They are DELICIOUS!


EXERCISE
1 hour leg / lower body weight resistance training  

As a sidebar, I came across this article today about getting your 5 servings of vegetables / day.  It's a great reference for eating healthy, and even has a visual guide of what it should look like on a daily basis!  According to a 2010 survey, only about 26% of American adults are getting just 3 servings of vegetables / day.  Come on, people!  You don't have to be vegetarian like me to fit 'em in.  Read the article.  It's great!  Here's a link to the blog I read when I came across that article too, with 7 easy tips to make sure you're getting enough veggies.