Exercise Info, recipes, Strength Circuit

Best Chicken Recipe!!

Posted on by Naomi
Happy Hump Day, my friends. What a Wednesday it was here in Boston. It reached 89 degrees!! sadly, I was working all day today, so I didn’t get to take advantage of the beautiful hot weather, but I know there will be many more days like this, so I’m not too worried. 

Thank you all so much for your amazingly wonderful comments on my new recipe, the apple cinnamon protein muffins! Seriously, they took about 3 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to bake. Done and done! and they were delicious! I calculated the stats for them too! The whole batter made 11 muffins (could have made 12 smaller ones) so, for 11 muffins here are the stats:

Calories: 99
Carbs: 12.3 grams
Protein: 8.1 grams
Fat: 2.2 grams

So there you have it, awesome stats and super tasty protein muffins! ENJOY!
Back to my roomie dinner, I mentioned briefly yesterday. My roommates and I decided to cook up a fabulous dinner to celebrate my birthday which was last week. The 3 of us never got a chance to celebrate all together, so this was a birthday dinner for me!

On the menu


  • Caramelized onion chicken
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Roasted broccolli & Cauliflower
  • Fro-yo!
Caramelized onion chicken! Guys, this was SUCH A GOOD RECIPE! We are keeping it so close and making it again so so soon!


So good!


My plate. 1 piece of caramelized onion chicken breast with lots of onion, roasted cauliflower & broccoli, roasted sweet potatoes (all in the oven at 375 degrees with olive oil, salt and pepper and FRESH rosemary)


These were perfectly roasted and complemented the chicken beautifully

We went super quick to a local frozen yogurt place to grab some fro-yo, so we wouldn’t miss that much Idol! CHILL is a local tart frozen yogurt joint located in Cleveland circle, Brighton.

I got half original and half coconut with fresh blueberries

I added some Galaxy granola on top too! This was a perfect dessert to a perfect dinner!

Caramelized onion chicken (adapted from Cooking Light)
Ingredients

1  pound  chicken breast tenders

1/2  teaspoon  salt

1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

1  teaspoon  olive oil

1/2  cup  sliced onion

1/2  cup  seedless raspberry jam

1  tablespoon  red wine vinegar

1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce

1  teaspoon  bottled minced ginger

1/2  teaspoon  dried rosemary

Preparation

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 2 minutes. Add chicken to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove onion and chicken from pan.

Add jam and remaining ingredients to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return chicken mixture to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.


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Today, Hump day started off with a banana and a workout! (banana before the workout!) I didn’t go with a body for life style workout today and really focused on some things my trainer advised me to. I did a little of everything in small circuits with cardio in between!

CIRCUIT 1

Low Row
40 lbs, 3 reps
Lying Triceps French Press
20 lbs, 20 reps
Side Plank Dips
10 dips each side


**run .25 on the treadmill as fast as I could

CIRCUIT 2




Supine pulls ups
10 reps
Push ups on Smith Bar
12 reps
Jumping Jacks
1 minute


**run .25 on the treadmill as fast as I could

CIRCUIT 3



Side lying Leg abductions
20 reps each side
Glute raises on Stability ball
20 reps
Crunches with 12 lb body bar
15 reps
Push ups
15 reps


**run .25 on the treadmill as fast as I could

CIRCUIT 4



I, T, Y in squatted position
3 lbs, 12 reps each (it seems like low weight but these are HARD)
Shoulder Presses with a twist
8 lbs, 12 reps
Jump Squats
15 reps



**Foam rolled!!
—-
B-fast. 1/2 C oats with 1 scoop Biochem Protein powder, 1 TBSP flaxseed, frozen berries, spoonful PB


Mid morning snackage. Apple cinnamon protein muffin


I got my nutrients in at lunch time with a glorious salad.
  • Romaine
  • Eddamame
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • Mushrooms
  • Balsamic vinegar
I also made a sandwich on a deli thin.
  • 1 deli thin
  • 1 French Onion LC wedge
  • Boca Burger (flame grilled)
  • sprouts
  • Tomato slices
Mid afternoon snackage. 1/3 C oats with 1/2 Scoop BSN cinnamon roll Protein powder, frozen berries


With a 6oz container of greek yogurt


And an organic Fuji!


Dinner was some leftover roasted broc and sweet potato with chicken breast!
—
Also, Thank you all for the suggestions where I should get a white basic tank to wear to the rehearsal dinner I have Friday night for Jason’s brothers wedding. I found a great one at Banana Republic and it was on sale for $20! I didn’t even know it was on sale until she rung it up! SWEET!
—–

Off to finish IDOL! I will leave you with some exericise info!

Importance of the warm up and cool down.


The warm up & cool down are two aspects of a workout program, that, yes I will say it, I have overlooked before. As soon as I started taking my exercise physiology classes in college, and we got talking about the heart, muscles, bones and the effects of exercise on the body in depth, it made me realize just how important the warm up and cool down really are to any exercise program


Warm up

During a warm up you are preparing the body for any sort of physical activity that you are taking part in. The movements during your warm up can consist of the movements that you will be doing in your actual workout OR they can not be related at all to the workout you are doing 

  • A general warm up consists of movements that don’t necessarily coincide with the actual activity being performed. Some examples would be walking on the treadmill, going on the elliptical or going on the stationary bike for 5-10 minutes.

  • A specific warm up consists of movements that more closely mimic those of the actual activity you will be performing(if you are lifting chest and biceps, before you work your chest, you may want to do some quick push ups or light weight bench presses  to warm up your arms for the movement you will be performing )

  • A warm up should last 5-10 minutes at a low to moderate intensity. The cardio portion of the warm up is called the general warm up, as I mentioned before. A complete warm up includes and specific AND a general warm up


Benefits of a warm up

  1. Increased Heart rate and respiratory rate which increases the body’s capacity to do work and increases blood flow to the active muscle tissue

  2. Increased tissue temperature

  3. increase metabolic rate

  4. Increased psychological preparation for bouts of exercise, which increases your mental readiness!

  5. Warm up may be beneficial in increasing overall performance, more efficient and effective movement and decrease chance of future injuries.

Cool Down

A cool down provides the body with a smooth transition from exercise back to a steady state of rest. It is the opposite of a warm up and is often overlooked and viewed as less important than the other components. Performing a cool down as shown significant impact on a clients overall health.

  • Cool-down should last about 5-10 minutes

  • After an extended period of cardio training, slowly decrease the intensity of the exercise 40-50% of max HR and work at this lowered intensity for 5-10 minutes. This will help bring the HR down to a resting state.

  • A cool down ensures that blood does not pool to the lower extremities, leading to dizziness


Benefits of a cool down

  1. Improve flexibility

  2. remove waste by-products via the blood

  3. minimize muscle soreness

  4. Allows cardiorespiratory system to respond to the lower demand

  5. avoid dizziness and possible fainting

  6. provide an emotional balance after exercise

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  • what would you like to see more of on my blog?  Is there any specific exercise question you have? Email me!!!
  • What is your favorite way to eat chicken (if you don’t eat meat, what is your favorite non-meat, protein filled product?)



Naomi
Naomi