A Worthy Salad

I made a real effort to increase my vegetable intake this week and that involved eating a lot of salad. This led me to conclude that I am the laziest salad maker in the world. I put no effort into it, which leads to some pretty sucky salads. Today, I set out to change that and totally nailed it with the following:

Ingredients:
1.5 cups kale
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
100 grams grilled chicken

Mix together and serve with rye toast. Check out the nutritional information (excluding the toast):

Not too shabby and it was actually good!

Now on to Sweat It Out Saturday. Here’s what my week of workouts looked like:

Sunday: RPM

We did RPM 36 and I loved it. The instructor pointed out that newer RPM releases focus more on speed while older releases focus more on strength. I wonder if this is why I haven’t been loving the newer releases. When it comes to RPM, I definitely prefer climbs to speed work.

Monday: Power Sweat 75

On Monday, I broke in my one month pass at Power Yoga Canada with a 75 minute Power Sweat class. I really enjoyed this one. The instructor took the time to demonstrate proper form and also encouraged us to lighten up and let loose (apparently, we were giving off bad energy… oops!). It was a cool vibe but far from an easy workout. In fact, this was the first yoga class I’ve ever done that had me seriously sore the next day. In the past, only lifting has made me feel that way the day after so this was a new phenomenon. It definitely has me thinking twice about my definition of strength training.

Tuesday: Unplanned Rest Day

The plan was to do BodyAttack in the evening but I ended up having to work late. I technically got home in time for class but  I was also starving by then. My options were a) attend BodyAttack without eating a full meal and pass out b) eat really quickly and risk the possibility of my dinner making a return in the middle of class or c) cut my losses and call it a rest day. I went with the last option. Sure, I could have gone to the gym later in the evening and hit the treadmill or some other mind numbing activity, but I figured I’d rather save my energy for a good workout the next day.

Wednesday: BodyAttack

After work, I went to the GoodLife near my office for BodyAttack. This is not my usual BodyAttack venue and probably my least favourite GoodLife location. The instructor was cool but some of the participants were… interesting. One lady did the class in what appeared to be her work pants and flats.  Maybe she forgot her gym clothes/shoes at home? I’m not sure whether to give her props for her dedication or shake my head at her for doing something so ridiculous/potentially dangerous. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta accept that your workout wasn’t meant to be (see above).

Thursday: Power Sweat 60

Man, there were some skilled yogis in this class. As in, people standing on their heads and shit. I’m so used to being advanced in all of my fitness classes, it’s definitely humbling being one of the weakest people there but I’m enjoying the challenge. One girl was asked to demonstrate going from crow pose to head stand and back and it was truly inspiring. My goal is to own crow pose (just the balancing on my arms part, not the standing on my head part – let’s not get too ambitious here) in 30 days. I actually managed to prop myself up for like half a second. Using a block. Baby steps, people!

Friday: Rest

I spent some quality time with the foam roller on Friday. Heavenly! 

Saturday: BodyAttack

Thanks to Friday’s foam rolling session, my legs were fresh and ready to go this morning. Unfortunately, I had a major case of the grumpies and didn’t feel like going to the gym or doing much of anything. Now, I’m all for taking a rest when you need it, but in this case I did not need it. I was just in a blah mood and I knew that a gym session, even though I didn’t feel like going initially, would get me out of it. Mission accomplished. Within ten minutes of class, I already felt better and I was in a great mood driving home.

The rest of the day involved reading the last book in The Hunger Games trilogy and napping (it’s been awhile since I took a quality nap – felt so good!). Tonight, Josh and I are going out for a fancy dinner (also been awhile), and I’m really looking forward to it.

Enjoy your weekend!