Lots and lots...

of food and fitness!

I'm finally back on track!! Working out regularly + healthy food = I'm feelin' good.

Since fitness classes are over for a few weeks at the rec, I've had to get creative with my workouts. Yesterday, April and I went to the gym together and I followed one of her hour-long workouts. It was intense! It involved intervals on the treadmill and lots of strength training, including weighted squats and lunges, plank push ups and planks with weighted rows, and various abs. I really liked that the cardio intervals were interspersed with the strength training intervals. It definitely made it more interesting than the usual 30 minutes of cardio + 30 minutes of strength training.

Today, I did an HIIT workout on the treadmill for 25 minutes at 1.5 incline, basically switching between 5.0mph and 6.5 mph every minute. After 10 minutes, I switched it to 5.0mph for 1 minute and 6.5mph for 2 minutes. I really feel like intervals increase the sweat factor!! (And simultaneously decrease the boredom factor).

What I've been eating lately:

Kale chips!!

Salt & vinegar kale chips, to be exact.

Random veggie stir-frys.

This one included my last little bunch of broccolini. I boiled the broccolini, and I really liked it this way! The stems are a lot softer, and the broccolini looks a lot greener!

Then I sauteed it in olive oil with some mustard greens and threw in some of the marinated tempeh (which I had frozen--quite convenient!). For seasoning I used a splash of soy sauce.

Very quick and easy!

Kashi pizza.

This did not disappoint! I've been wanting to try Kashi pizza for so long, and the day finally came!

Crispy crust is the best!

Pancakes.

Buckwheat/garbanzo bean flour/berry pancakes topped with sunflower seed butter  and maple syrup.

Sushi.

This was super spontaneous and turned out better than expected! I realize sushi is usually raw, but...TFG style sushi is not!

Hearty Garlic and Mushroom Sushi

Makes 8 large pieces

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets nori
• 3 medium cloves garlic
• 1 cup mushrooms (I used frozen)
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• ~1/4 cup chopped tempeh or tofu, preferably pre-seasoned (I used this tempeh)
• optional: chili sauce for dipping

In a medium-sized pot, cook the mushrooms and garlic in olive oil. Once the mushrooms have softened, add the rice vinegar and finally, add the chopped tempeh.

After the mixture has been prepared, allow to cool and keep to the side. 

Put the nori sheets on a flat surface and top with the mushroom mixture.

Roll the nori and then cut the roll in half.

In a large pot, boil about 1 inch of water and use a steamer to steam the halves. Steam for about 30 seconds.

Repeat with the other roll.

Cut each half in half again and these are ready to eat!

I really liked the tempeh in this because it gave that rice-like texture to the filling. Plus, it added a lot of volume. Regular vegetarian sushi never seems to fill me up, but this did the trick!!

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What are some of your favorite workouts? Specifically, summer workout plans? Fill me in! I will be taking lots of notes so I have a variety of routines to work on!