Saturday, September 4, 2010

The Weekend Mix

Oh so lovely, you know that feeling. The feeling of Saturday....the endless opportunities to MIX THINGS UP. You see, I think thats why God (okay really man) created weekends, to get us out of our ROUTINE. Don't get me wrong, its nice to have a routine during the week, it helps me get through it productively, but when the weekend calls, I love mix up my workouts, my meals, and my time well spent. Heck, they didn't create Sunday Brunch for nothin! Anyway, today I thought I'd leave you with 2 mix ups. The first up is an outdoor workout that you can do a track or just with big ol' open space. The second is a fun recipe you can make from any vegetable you find a the farmers market.

Weekend Warrior Workout
find a track or 50m field, yard, etc. Make sure there is at least one bench or a curb.
Warm-up: I like to warm up with a mile run. If you can't run, find a hill and power walk up it. This should last around 10 min.
Circuit #1: (perform each exercise for 45 sec with 10 seconds rest between. Do this circuit 3-4x)
- decline push ups with a tuck. Feet are on the curb/bench, hands on ground. Do a regular push up then tuck or hop your feet to your chest and then back on the curb.
-traveling dips on curb or bench
-jump rope or fast hops up and down the curb
-forward/backward lunges with med ball or weight held overhead with straight arms
Circuit # 2 (these exercises are measure by the distance)
-starting at your track or field, do walking lunges with a curls half way down the track or 25m in the field. Drop the weights and do 3 suicides. If you don't know what a suicide is, click here or see here. Do this 3x.
-starting at your track or field, do 12-15 squat presses then do high knees down 25m and then run or sprint back to your weight. Do this 3x.
Core: (this circuit alternates between 2 exercises)
- 45 seconds of mt. climbers then 45 seconds of bicycle crunches
-45 seconds of Russian twists (with or without weights/medball) then 45 seconds v-ups or lower leg raises
- 45 seconds plank then 45 seconds of planks with knee to elbow reaches
Do this 1-2x.
Cool down with a light jog, power walk, or just go jump in the lake, pool, etc. to cool off! That's what I do!! haha.
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And now for the other mix-up.....FOOD! I love trying out new recipes on the weekend because if you screw it up, you still can go grab a late dinner and not worry about getting up early the next day. Perfect! This week I decided to grab a Japanese eggplant and try my hand at "garlic and dill eggplant fries." They were pretty good, in fact, the hubs thought they were potatoes or parsnips the whole time until told him. haha.


Garlic & Dill Eggplant Fries
(super easy)
-slice the eggplant into thin strips (like your going to make sweet potato fries)
- put them in a bowl and pour in your seasoning to mix. I used a little coconut oil, garlic, and dill. Mix thoroughly until they are lightly coated. Make sure they are not too coated in oil otherwise they will get soggy.
- place onto baking pan and bake at 400F for about 25 minutes. I then broiled mine the last 2 minutes to get them a little crispiness. My oven actually works quite fast so you might try baking them at 425F as well and just checking them until done. They are not as crispy as real "potato" fries, but oh they were GOOD!


all I need is some ketchup!
Well, Saturday night movie calls my name...along with a big comfy couch.
Cheers,
LC