ZCut Week #3: Knees Up

I had missed a week of posting the Zcut Cardio Workouts and wanted to make sure I got this one in. It was rough. It was the week after I had done the Fairfield marathon and the kickoff of NYC's heat wave.  That week I did not do much running.   I did some light running Thurs, Friday and then on Saturday we went for a longer (5 mile) run. 

This workout was AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

What you need: two sets of weight - I had 8's and 12's, bench and a mat

Warm Up - Jog, Jacks and Jump Rope, Wide Leg Pushups (3), Squats and Lunges  (about 20 of each) and stretching for the hip flexors, shoulders, calves, etc.

Section 1 - 10 minutes
10 lateral burpees - jump over the step push up then jump back over, you could also jump over your mat or walk over the step.  I had to take breaks since my legs were screaming from the run.
20 crab toe touches
10 ab splitters
10 mt climbers, 10 jacks on the step
20 lunge jumps

Break - 4 minutes

Section 2 - 10 minutes
10 overhead squat
10 lunge twists
10 side burpees
10 pike press knee tuck

Break - 2 minutes

Repeat Section 1 

Break! - 2 minutes

Weights - 2x through
10 pistol squats each side
10 plie squat
10 dive bombers
10 curl press 


This one was HARD!!! I thought I was going to lose it afterwards.  I practically fell in the pool for my swim.  Wed was a spin day, and so was Friday and Sunday we went for a bike ride in the most humid weather I've ever seen up to the Cloisters, which were beautiful.  Then we rode down through Central Park and back down the West Side Highway, it was about 23 miles total. I wanted to do a little more but someone was starving!

View from the bikes. 

That weekend also happened to be pride so we had this great view.

Not our picture. I borrowed it from WIO but we could see this from our building. 

That night I made this incredible pasta from Ina Garten, which was cheesey and delicious. It's called midnight spaghetti and included parsley from our local farmer's market, which we went to on Saturday and bought all sorts of veggies and fish.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/midnight-spaghetti-video/106544.html

Muffins, Mozzarella and Billions of Bananas (Recipes)

In my last post I talked about the successful Spin-a-thon I held at Sky Club Fitness and Spa in Hoboken this past weekend.  The event was great and raised more than $500.  I am very proud of all the attendees and I was exhausted after it was over.

I bought so much food to prep for the event, I put together candy bags for every attendee (it's close to Valentine's Day!) and I brought oranges, bananas, bagels, granola bars and trail mix. Unfortunately, people did not eat as much as I anticipated, except for the oranges and I brought home a bunch of bananas and more.  While granola bars will stay and be great for summer biking, what the heck was I gonna do with all these bananas??

So during lunch I googled banana recipes and I cranked out these recipes.

Oatmeal Banana Muffins.
I made a few tweaks, I added 2 tbsp peanut butter and 2 tsp of vanilla and instead of a loaf I made muffins, baking them at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/banana-oatmeal-bread-10000000222215/
I have eaten one each morning with yogurt and fruit on the side. 

Strawberry Banana Fro Yo
Since there were a ton of bananas I also bought some vanilla fro you and jazzed it up with this recipe
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mango-banana-frozen-yogurt-10000000223070/
Unfortunately Mangoes are not in season so I used strawberries and I did not have reg. milk so I used almond. I don't have an ice cream maker but I put it in an airtight container in the freezer. The mixture tasted so GOOD!! I could've drank the whole thing as a smoothie right there! I tried a bit yesterday and it rocked.

I also had a lot of mozzarella cheese leftover from making pizza the night before so I threw together rice and pasta for that night and the rest of the week.  The pasta lasted us that night and my lunch for the next day. And the brown rice I ate last night and we'll eat tonight.

Pasta
Whole wheat spaghetti cooked to package directions
Pesto store bought and reheated
Pine nuts - toasted in a dry skillet
Sauteed kale and spinach and zucchini - in a skillet w/EVOO and S&P
Mix all ingredients together with 1 cup shredded mozzarella and 1 tbsp parm

Rice
Cook Brown Rice to Package Directions in Low Sodium Chicken Stock
After it's done, fluff with a fork and add crushed tomatoes and mozzarella. and 1 tbsp parm.
I ate with a veggie burger and a salad and tonight I am serving with turkey breast.