Friday 3/27/09: Legs 03/27/2009

Quads

Smith Machine squats
+50 lbs x 12
+70 lbs x 10
+90 lbs x 8
+110 lbs x 6
+90 lbs x 12

Smith machine lunges
+50 lbs x 12 reps (per leg)

Hamstrings

DB Straight Legged Dead Lifts (on step)
25 lbs x 12
30 lbs x 10
35 lbs x 8
40 lbs x 6
35 lbs x 12

Leg curl machine
50 lbs x 12

Calves

Seated calf press machine (haven’t done calves in awhile, testing weights out to see what was appropriate)
60 lbs x 12
70 lbs x 10
80 lbs x 8
85 lbs x 6
85 lbs x 12

Workout recap:  Everything felt good, but I definitely need to up the weights on the calf workout and the leg curl machine.  We’ll see how I’m feeling tomorrow and Sunday, but it looks like I may be able to up all squat weights by 10 lbs and up my SLDL weights by 5 lbs.

Food:

AM Meal: Yo Crunch Lite Yogurt, Orange
Noon Meal:  Steamed chicken and broccoli, small amount white sauce
Snack: Yo Crunch yogurt
Snack: 2 sugar free creamsicles
PM/Post Workout Meal: Mexican Lasagna

Mexican Lasagna Recipe: So, this is kind of something that I just threw together.  I had planned on making a low-fat/cal more traditional Italian lasagna, but after hearing the Pittsburgh Knotties talk about El Campesino today, I was craving Mexican food!  My dad used to make this taco casserole thing that I always loved, so I kind of went with that idea.
-whole wheat lasagna noodles (I used 8 total)
-2 lbs lean ground meat (I used a mixture of ground beef and ground turkey breast)
-fat free or low fat shredded cheddar/mexican cheese blend
-2 packages taco seasoning
-taco sauce (to taste)
-can plain tomato sauce
-crushed red pepper (to taste)
-shredded lettuce

Brown meat, drain, add taco seasonings.  To be honest, the tomato sauce was a total afterthought.  I went to put the noodles down and realized that if I didn’t use any sauce, they wouldn’t soften up!  I mixed the tomato sauce with some taco sauce and crushed red pepper to give it a kick, and so that it would still have a Mexican flavor to it.  In your casserole dish, put thin layer of sauce mixture.  Put down lasagna noodles, layer half of taco meat mixture on noodles, then add shredded cheese.  I layered more sauce on top of the cheese, then another layer of noodles, meat, and topped it with cheese.  Bake at 325-350 35-45 minutes or until noodles are soft.  Remove from oven, cool 15 minutes.  I served with shredded lettuce because it turned out pretty spicy and the lettuce provided a nice contrast!  The portion size turned out perfectly, it made 8 pieces of lasagna which broke down to 4 oz. of lean beef and just one lasagna noodle per serving.  Because I mixed the FF and LF cheeses, I saved some calories/fat there without skimping on taste too much (FF cheese doesn’t melt as well either, so the combo gives everything a better consistency).

Thursday 3/26/09: Cardio

Fasted AM Cardio – Walk/Jog intervals – Followed (slightly modified for length) Couch to 5K program Week 1.

5 minute warmup walk
60 second jogging interval
90 second walking interval
repeated until at 26 minutes total workout
4 minute cooldown walk

Food:
AM meal- 100 Cal Yo-Crunch yogurt, Fiber One bar
Noon meal- Turkey/FF Cheese sandwich on whole wheat bun
Snack- Sargento reduced-fat Colby Jack cheese stick, Luigi’s No Sugar Added Lemon Italian Ice
Snack- Yo-Crunch yogurt
Late afternoon meal- Chick-Fil-A Grilled Chicken Sandwich (plain, no butter) w/ 1 tbsp BBQ Sauce
Evening meal- Shrimp “Alfredo”, 2 sugar free Creamsicles

Shrimp “Alfredo” – One of our favorite healthy meals!  Recipe is portioned for 1 person.
-frozen shrimp (I used 8 large)
-2 oz Barilla Plus pasta (I used angel hair)
-1 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge, Garlic Herb
-1 tbsp Low-Fat grated Parmesan Cheese
-skim milk, start with a few tbsp, add additional as needed
-Butter buds, to taste
-garlic powder, to taste
Cook the shrimp on low heat while pasta boils.  I don’t use any cooking spray, as they cook, the extra water from being frozen provides enough moisture to keep the pan or shrimp from burning as long as you cook on a low enough heat.  Drain pasta when done, drain shrimp when done.  Mix all sauce ingredients together, cook on low heat until laughing cow cheese is smooth.  Add pasta and shrimp (I also cut my shrimp into smaller pieces instead of leaving them whole).