Favourite Food Pairings

Well, we are at the hump. A little more frightening than usual, because I only have 8 days of work left! Jeez louise. I’m trying really hard to finish up all my ongoing projects so I don’t leave a bunch of half-finished stuff for the girl coming back to the position (I was filling in for her as a communications officer for 4 months). So much to do! I’m also kinda bummed I won’t get to be involved in some of the fun future projects. There’s never a shortage of things to do at the university!

So as I alluded to in my last post, I decided to try out a different gym this morning. I’m quite lucky here as my gym membership allows me access to four different locations in town, and on top of that, I can use the facilities at the university I work at.

I am very attached to my campus gym. It was inside those walls that I fell in love with exercise during my undergrad. It’s a little bare-bones, but full of memories nonetheless. I got there right when they opened at 6:30am, and immediately noticed some of the same regulars from when I was a student!!

Went in planning on doing an upper-body workout, but felt like doing some squats (what??) once I got there. Here’s how it went down:

Warm-up on treadmill:

Minutes	Speed – MPH	Incline
0-3	3.5	0
3-4	5.5	0
4-5	6.0	0
5-6	6.5	0
6-7	7.0	0
7-8	5.5	1
8-9	6.0	1
9-10	6.5	1
10-11	7.0	1
11-12	5.5	2
12-13	6.0	2
13-14	6.5	2
14-15	7.0	2
15-16	5.5	3
16-17	6.0	3
17-18	6.5	3
18-19	7.0	3
19-20	3.5	0

I pretty much made up the weightlifting as I went along. I started with a compound move that works my whole body, opting for a lighter weight to warm-up my muscles a little more. Then I did alternating sets between lower-body and upper-body moves. The justification behind this was to get my heart rate up working my legs, because it goes down during the arm moves. Here we go!

Exercise	Weight	Reps	Sets	Area
One arm dumbbell snatch	20 lbs	10	3	Legs, Shoulders
Alternating Sets:
Step-up	40 lbs	10	3	Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves
Barbell bench press	45 lbs	10	3	Chest
Alternating Sets:
Stiff leg deadlift	50 lbs	10	3	Hamstrings, Glutes, Lower back
Wide-grip lat pulldown	50 lbs	10	3	Back
Alternating Sets:
Sumo squat	55 lbs	10	3	Quads, Glutes
Dumbbell shoulder press	15 lbs (ea)	10	3	Shoulders
Alternating Sets:
Cable bicep curl	25 lbs	10	3	Biceps
Cable pushdown	25 lbs	10	3	Triceps

I finished of with one set each of plank, roll-up, side knee drops, bicycle crunches.

Awesome, awesome workout! When I was thinking about going to the gym to lift weights last night, I was feeling really uninspired (and lazy) about it. But then I had the idea to go to a different gym. The thought of something new immediately energized me and I was looking forward to this. Sometimes a change of scenery is all it takes!

I don’t have a picture of breakfast, but it made me realize kiwi needs to be added to my banned foods list along with pineapple. I had some with yogurt this morning, and abdominal distress immediately followed. Something that happens often with kiwis. While my reaction isn’t as bad as pineapple, I don’t believe kiwi is tasty enough to endure a couple hours pain. Also, it makes my mouth feel kinda itchy??

Moving on! Here’s a picture:

Leftovers. Salmon and quinoa to be exact. 

Paired with one of the best pairings there is.

Carrots + salsa. Better than carrots and hummus, or carrots and almond butter.

Afternoon snack was another killer combo!

 
Orange + almond butter. Spread a little AB on each slice. Y-u-m.

Dinner!

 
A monstrous omelet. Rawr.

Stuffed with turkey, hummus, feta, olives, spinach, tomatoes, among other things. Hummus + eggs = another winning combo!

After dinner, I finally took my antsy poodle for a walk. The skies cleared up and it was even warm!

Archie is actually really good at walking right beside me. Sometimes he gets hold of a “scent” so I humour him while I pees for the 105th time.

 
“Scent” in quotation marks, because I don’t think he has much of a sense of smell. Of course, this coming from a girl who grew up with a basset hound.

Heyyy, what’s up.

I think it’s time the trees start growing leaves already…

 

Getting impatient for summer to arrive!

We were out for about an hour, and both crashed when we came home (after a few downward dogs, of course). My legs are beat after these past few days of exercise.

Now I’m just nibbling on some more no-bake protein cookies.

Made with an extra tbsp of protein powder tonight, but otherwise the same. I sense a new snack obsession!!

I’ve also got a new batch of homemade protein bars setting in the fridge – chocolate banana peanut butter! Will share tomorrow :)

 

Question of the Day: What are your favourite food pairings? I really want to know! This is something I think about a lot. Some of my faves are:

• dates + cashew butter
• butternut squash + peanut butter
• salmon + maple
• chickpeas + cumin
• tofu + eggs
• turkey + hummus

Oh, and you’re not allowed to say banana and peanut butter, chocolate and peanut butter or PB&J! Haha.

See ya tomorrow for Waffle Wednesday! xoxo