Day 35 - the 5th shred

Awesome - that's all I can say about today. This morning, I did the whole shred and nearly everything was in "full" position. I did the first round of pushups all in full position and the second round I did half in full position. My butt kicks were higher than I've done before today. Jumprope even kept me going. My arms and chest are incredibly sore. My abs are sore as always. My thighs are still burning. But it all feels great.

Today was the first time that I muted Jillian and listened to my mix that's down there at the bottom of the page. Oh, it was phenomenal. So much easier this way! As it turned out, the music really kept me going when I felt like I needed a break. I think that was a big part of the difference between prior days and today. We'll find out tomorrow!

On top of that, I feel like I ate really well today. I bought some lowfat, low sugar, low carb yogurt smoothies this week to try. They're Dannon brand, and in my opinion they are b-l-a-n-d. I mean, they don't taste bad, but they don't taste particularly good either.

So this morning, I got the Stoneyfield Farms version to try. It's much more calories, but it also tastes that much better. I think it may have given me gas, but we'll see tomorrow when I don't have one. ;)

In related news, a little story...

Since I was young, I've always had a few food allergies. One of those is fresh pineapple. So the other night, my wife is eating a fruit salad that included pineapple. The last time I had pineapple has to be at least 20 years ago. Anyways, I asked her to give me a little piece to see what it does to me (if I'm still allergic). Dum da dum! No reaction. I was psyched because pineapple is one of those delicious fruits that's in just about everything tropical. I'll give it a couple more tries over the coming days to see if I'm truly over the allergy.

Fast forward to today. One of my other allergies was tree nuts. So I've been reading a lot about eating healthy, and one of the things they recommend all the time is walnuts. Not just for the "real" food and healthy oil content, but bonus! it's also good for my cholesterol. So I bought a little bag of walnuts at the corner grocer near work and had them with some raisins as a dessert after lunch. No more allergy!

This evening I went to pick up some dinner and decided that I'd have some salmon. So I was wandering around trying to figure out what to have with it. I decided to make some yellow rice and black beans. Once I chose that, I also decided to make it cuban-style. Oh Em Gee! This was one of the best dinners I've made in quite a while. I'm only sorry my wife wasn't home to enjoy it with me. I made it as kind of a trial to see if it would be good and I think I found my new favorite meal to make.

Recipe:
Salmon (2 servings of 4oz each)
KC Masterpiece Chipotle and Lime Marinade

Marinate salmon in 4 tbsp of marinate for 30 mins in the refrigerator in a sealed container
Grill 10 mins for each inch of salmon thickness

Yellow Rice
Vigo Saffron Yellow Rice
Prepare per instructions, using olive oil

Black beans
Publix canned black beans (serves 4)
1/4 diced tomato
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tbsp white cooking wine (I used some leftover white wine)
1 tspn oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup water

In a large skillet, coat with olive oil over high heat, saute peppers, onions, garlic for 8 - 10 mins or until carmelized.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 8 - 10 mins.

I made a side dish with Birds Eye Steam & Serve Spring Vegetables in Citrus Sauce, but combine with any vegetable you like.

Serving sizes as per packages.

Enjoy and let me know if you make the dinner and how you like it!