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Posts Tagged treadmill

Keeping the Treadmill Interesting

Jan 23

Posted by Shari B. in FitFeature, Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Good morning blog buds!

I posted this to the FitFeat FB page this morning but the mobile app thinks I was posting as a fan of the page and not as the admin, so it won’t hit your news feeds. Hopefully the WordPress mobile app I’m trying now for the first time works a little better!

I came across this article for treadmill workouts and the tips were almost identical to how I keep myself from getting bored when I have to do indoor cardio, so I thought I’d share it. Another trick I utilize is when I am watching recorded TV programs on the treadmill, I’ll walk on a high incline during the show to keep my heart rate high but then kick it up to running or sprint intervals during the commercial breaks.

Treadmill workouts

Have a great Monday & a FIT week!

– Shari B. =)

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The Start of Year 3 and a 3 Week Challenge

Aug 29

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 11 Comments

Happy Monday blog buds!  I hope you had a fantastic weekend.  Ours was very nice – and our weather couldn’t have been more beautiful.  It’s been warm, to say the least. In Denver, we have tied the record for the all-time hottest August and we are poised to actually break that record over the next few days. I love it!  Summer is welcome at my house anytime!

This weekend marked the end of YEAR TWO for FitFeat!  Wow, 2 years! It’s flown by!  And I’ve had such a blast along the way.

I’m definitely looking forward to what the next year brings!  In honor of FitFeat turning 2 and starting its 3rd year, I figured it might be time to bring back a little of what this blog was all about when it first started.  I initially created FitFeat in order to share with readers, clients (and maybe even potential clients) how I eat and exercise to stay “fit”.  Then the culinary school journey began and my focus become more about my natural chef practice.

A lot of the food I have been eating lately hasn’t been my typical “Shari fare”.  That’s mainly because I am constantly in a recipe testing mode and those recipes are built around the needs of the personal chef clients at the time.  Most of these recipes have been freezer recipes and let’s just say a lot of casseroles have been consumed.  More grains than I personally want to take in and a lot less in the way of RAW, fresh foods than I want to be eating.

With Borders book stores going out of business, they were having 50-70% off sales so this weekend I bought FitFeat a little token birthday gift:

I can’t wait to dig in and make some new veggie recipes.  My dehydrator has been feeling very neglected!

I also have a visit with a beach location coming up in the near future, so I figured this would be the ideal time to get back to my FitFeat basics.  Using my “10 Commandments of FitFeat” as the guide, I’ll be getting back to my simpler nutrition style, with maybe a few recipe tests along the way, but back to a lot more RAW food consumption and a definite increase in vegetables.

For the next three weeks (because ‘they’ say it takes 21 days to break old habits and make new ones), I’ll be challenging myself to cut out a lot of the refined foods that have weaseled their way back into my world.  I will have a “snack to savor” on the weekend – and I can already tell you that this coming weekend it will be a piece of wedding cake on Sunday night!  :D

And during those weeks, I’ll post more of what I am doing with food and exercise so that you can follow along if you’d like, à la early FitFeat days.

Anyone want to join in the fun for the next three work weeks?

So let’s begin shall we?

My workout this morning was UPPER BODY, ladder-style.  To do a ladder workout, you select an exercise, then work your way up through numbers of reps (to the top of the “ladder”) and then work your way back down to the bottom of the ladder.  So your first set is one rep.  Then you rest a beat.  Your second set is 2 reps, then rest 2 beats.  Third set is 3 reps, and so on, up the ladder.  I did today’s workout with a goal of 10 being the top of my ladder because that would actually total 100 reps at the end of it.

Here’s how it looks:

1 rep
2 reps
3 reps
4 reps
5 reps
6 reps
7 reps
8 reps
9 reps
10 reps
9 reps
8 reps
7 reps
6 reps
5 reps
4 reps
3 reps
2 reps
1 rep
100 total

I did this routine for four exercises: pushups, pulldowns, chair dips and horizontal pullups.

Then I did a cardio ladder, setting my treadmill at 4.0 mph for a good walking pace.  I did 1/4 mile intervals, raising the incline each time working my way up then down the incline ladder:  2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, 8%, 6%, 4%, 2%.

I was done with all of the above in well less than an hour. And my arms are toast!  I think applying mascara today will be dangerous – I have shaky arms!

Let me know if you try it!

Before my workout I had my half-caff coffee (sans Coffeemate today, wahoo me!) with almond milk and stevia:

And post-workout, for breakfast, I had a green smoothie with some RAW Code plant protein powder.

It’s still early, so that’s all I’ve had so far.  I’ll include more of today’s food in the next post.

Have a great day friends!  Thank you SO much for continuing to visit me at FitFeat and for bringing so much love and friendship into my life! I’ve so enjoyed the conversations we’ve had out here over the last 2 years and am so excited for the coming year as well!

– Shari B. =)

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Circuit Training for Upper Body and Core

Sep 25

Posted by Shari B. in Exercise Instruction, Keeping Fit | 12 Comments

Hi friends!  Happy weekend to you all!

As promised, I am back to share with you a little workout I put together last week for one of my ‘in-person’ personal training clients.  She gets a lot of lower body work outside of our in-studio sessions, so we focus on upper body, cardio and core movements.

She enjoyed this one a lot so I thought I’d post it here as well.  Every once in a while I should show you FITNESS stuff in addition to just healthy FOOD stuff, right? ;)

Be sure to warm up for a minimum of 5 minutes (and preferably 10 minutes) in order to get blood flowing to your muscles and raise your core body temperature.  Action pics are included after the list of circuits, to give you an idea of the movement involved.  Get your timer ready because you’ll perform each exercise for one minute!

A1: 1 Minute Punch Presses on the Ball

A2: 1 Minute Seated Rows with Exercise Tube

A3: 1 Minute Reverse Plank Posterior Lifts

A4: 1 Minute Cardio Interval (we ran on a treadmill)

A5: 1 Minute Rest 1 minute

Complete “A” Circuit twice through before moving on.

B1: 1 Minute Pushups (as many as you can full pushup style then drop to modified style on your knees if you need to)

B2: 1 Minute Squatting Punch Rows

B3: 1 Minute Upright Rows into Overhead Presses

B4: 1 Minute Cardio Interval

B5: 1 Minute Rest 1 minute

Complete “B” Circuit twice through before moving on.

C1: 1 Minute Dumbbell Flyes with a ‘Twist’

C2: 1 Minute Swimmers

c3: 1 Minute Bicycles

c4: 1 Minute Cardio Interval

c5: 1 Minute Rest

Complete “C” Circuit twice through before moving on to your cool-down (in the second set, C5: rest should be replaced with cool-down activity.)

Cool down with light cardio or walking for at least 5 minutes to bring your heart rate back down and allow your blood flow to normalize.

Action Shots to give you an idea on the movements:

Punch Presses on the Ball
Head and neck supported, abs and glutes tight, palms facing each other
Alternate arms pressing upward similar to punching

*NOTE* I prefer to keep my upper back, neck and shoulders on the ball and use my core muscles to stabilize my low back.  If you have any issues with your back, roll further onto the ball to ensure your back is being supported, or perform this movement on a weight bench instead.

***

Seated Rows with Exercise Tube
Rowing movement, keeping torso steady

***

Reverse Plank with Posterior Lifts
A Jackie Warner special ;) You’ll feel the whole backside of your body
Notice that the arms stay straight – these are not tricep dips.  You are lifting your butt up and down (squeeze the glutes!)

***

Pushups

***

Squatting Punch Rows
Palms are facing up on this one, alternating quickly right to left arms

***

Upright Rows into Overhead Press
Four step motion here.

***

Dumbbell Flyes with a ‘Twist’
the ‘twist’ here is that you start with your palms facing toward your head and as you lower into the flye, slowly rotate the wrists so that the palms face each other at the bottom of the movement.  Twist again on the way up back to the start position.

*NOTE* I prefer to keep my upper back, neck and shoulders on the ball and use my core muscles to stabilize my low back.  If you have any issues with your back, roll further onto the ball to ensure your back is being supported, or perform this movement on a weight bench instead.

***

Swimmers
Opposite arm/leg flutter to simulate swimming.

***

Bicycles
Fingertips are lightly touching head, NOT pulling on it.  Take elbow across the body to the opposite knee, then switch to other side.

Before beginning any exercise program, it may be recommended that person first consult a physician or other qualified health care provider. A physician or other health care provider can determine what type of exercise, the frequency, and the intensity are appropriate for each individual. A physician or other health care provider may be able to recommend an exercise program that will cater to a person’s specific heath concerns and needs.

Let me know if you have any questions on the workout or what your thoughts were after completing it.  Was it hard for you?  Or too easy?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends!

– Shari B. =)

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Stop, Drop and Roll (Your Shoulders)

Jan 16

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Good morning friends!  Happy Saturday!

Did you all have an exciting Friday night? Mine was SO exciting that I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30!  Haha… I’m so lame!  :)   MSP and I did go out for a fun dinner and then wandered around Bed Bath and Beyond for a bit.

Dinner was at the Grand Lux Cafe, which is owned by The Cheesecake Factory.  Grand Lux used to be one of my favorites and we hadn’t been there in a really long time (over a year, at least).  They have such a huge selection of things to order you feel like you could eat there every week for a year and never have the same thing twice.  That was the case when I was a meat-eater and didn’t pay any attention to the vegetarian selections.

I thought for SURE I’d have tons of amazing veggie dishes from which to choose seeing how they have such a diverse menu.  I was really shocked to see ONE dish under there vegetarian section, which was stir fried veggies with tofu, WHITE rice and orange sauce.  Or your other meal option would be to choose up to 4 of their butter-laden side veggies and have them served on a plate (again with white rice).  This menu option had a very original name “Vegetables as a Meal”.

I can get great veggies and tofu at Tokyo Joe’s any day of the week (for a lot less money) so I ended up choosing from their tapas menu instead.  I went with the Vegetable Tempura (carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini) with a mustard dipping sauce and a Roasted Beet with Goat Cheese side salad.  Not the healthiest from a ‘waistline’ perspective, but both were very tasty.  Or they were made better by the Pineapple Basil Mojito I was drinking.  ;)   That could be the case!   (BTW, I did snap some pics on my iPhone but it was SO dark in there that you can’t even tell what you’re looking at, so I’m not even going to bother including them here.)

I don’t want to slam Grand Lux too badly because I still like the restaurant and the food is good.  But Grand Lux, you do need to get with the times a bit.  The rest of your menu is so creative, so why the unoriginal tofu/veggie stir-fry?

Regardless of the food, MSP and I had a wonderful time chatting away and relaxing, ran a few errands, then came home to relax some more with our long-lost pals from Grey’s Anatomy.  Grey’s has been gone so long I couldn’t even remember what happened on the last episode (which was in November, I think?)  So glad to have it back now!

***

To rewind a bit to Friday’s FEATS, I started out on the treadmill for 20 minutes of intervals before moving on to some Tabata-style leg work.

  • Penquin Squats heels in toes out (4 min)
  • Wide Plié Squats low half of movement only (4 min)
  • Seated Thigh Raises (I was on FIRE after 2 min so I’ll have to work UP to 4 on this one)
  • Right Glute Work in external rotation (2 min)
  • Left Glute Work in external rotation (2 min)

Ouchie. Mama. But in an “oh so good” way.

***

I think it will soon be time to give in to spending a little extra money and getting some massage done.  I’ve definitely got some tight spots and can feel some of the trigger points in my neck and upper back acting up a bit again.  I used to get a massage every couple of weeks because I truly believe it is a necessary part of keeping our muscles fit and healthy.  It’s just one of those things that quickly gets cut out when I have to “tight the budget belt”.   I have a tendency when I’m at a desk too long to lift my shoulders up toward my ears and hold them there, without realizing I’m doing it.  I catch myself doing it all the time.

I do this:

When I should be looking more like this:

Do you tend to wear your shoulders as “earrings” like I do when you are working at a desk? When I do catch myself, I’ll take a few minutes to do some shoulder rolls (forward and back) to get some blood flow to the traps/shoulders and then perform this trapezius stretch to bring my shoulders back down.  Or I’ll stay seated, grasp one side of my chair and pull away, dropping my head down and to the side until I feel a good stretch.  Hold for up to 30 seconds, then repeat on the other side.  Like this:

I did those pics on the fly with my webcam and I still have all my running gear on, POST RUN.  That’s just PURTY right there, eh?  ;)   Guess I better add SHOWER to my Saturday TO-DO list!  ;)

Have a super Saturday friends!  See you again soon!

– Shari B. =)

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Chili and Ice

Jan 12

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 5 Comments

Hi blog buds!  How’s your Tuesday treating ya?  I hope I’m not throwing off your reading schedule by posting in the afternoon the last couple of days.  I thought I’d play with my schedule a bit to see which I like better.  What I’m coming up with is post when it fits, instead on a SCHEDULE! :)   Hopefully it doesn’t matter if it’s morning or afternoon!

Well Monday turned out to be a fun exercise day.  First I did 25 minutes of intervals on the treadmill in the morning.  I really do get bored on the treadmill and have to vary my speed and/or incline constantly just to stay interested.  After a quick warm-up I did 1 minute intervals of 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 mph running then walk one minute, then increase the incline a notch and do it again.  The time goes by so much faster that way.

Then when I pulled in the driveway after work, our street had been plowed again!  Which is good on one hand because at least they were moving all of the big ice chunks onto the sunny side of the street.  Unfortunately that also meant our ‘ice trench’ was covered up AGAIN!!!  So I put on my grubbies and some waterproof boots and went out there to dig yet another trench.  It was 50 degrees yesterday so things were just starting to melt a bit in the shaded part of our street.

This ice issue in front of our house has become the neighborhood comedy – neighbors sure like to chuckle at me every day as they drive by, thinking “Suckers!  You got stuck with the worst lot on the street!”  :)   I appreciate that it at least provides a neverending workout, that’s for sure.

But THEN the exercise gets better … because it was so nice out, I couldn’t resist getting the dogs out for a some WOGGING!  It’s been so long I think they forgot what WOGGING is (and you readers may have as well!)  I can’t keep a steady pace with my crazy pups because they like to stop every two seconds to sniff something, then run, then sniff.   So we’re walking AND jogging:  WOGGING.  They had a blast and actually didn’t drive me insane this time.  I think it had something to do with the treats I stashed in my pocket.  ;)   It was perfect weather for a walk.  Now THIS is the Colorado winter weather I love and miss!

***

Every weekend, usually on Sunday, I sit down to come up with food ideas for the week for his dinners (mine are much easier because I always have veggies on hand and as such always have a salad, wrap, sandwich, soup, etc.)  This time MSP said he wanted me to make my mom’s chili during the week, but make it VEGETARIAN.  I’m sorry, say that again? Did you just tell me to make VEGETARIAN chili?  By George, he did!  He said he’d be fine if I used a meat substitute for the beef so that we could both eat it.  (When I made it last time, I just made two pots side by side, mine without beef, his with.) He’s the best, huh?  No wonder I love him to pieces.  :)

So I picked up some Gimme Lean “Ground Beef Style Veggie Protein” and used that in place of the beef.  My mom’s chili is awesome.  We love it.  And it’s very easy and we had it last night for dinner.

I always seem to change the recipe around in some way.  Here’s what I did this time:

Brown 1 package Gimme Lean “ground beef” veggie product in the bottom of  a large soup pot.  If you like onions, you can brown it with that.  I just added a little onion powder, since MSP doesn’t like onions.

After browning, add the following to the pot:

  • 46 oz can of tomato juice
  • 15 oz can organic azuki beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 15 oz can organic kidney beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 1/4 tsp celery salt
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 2 Tbsp chili powder

Simmer for a few hours.

I plated my helping over some spiralized zucchini (just for Cindy, since she wants a spiralizer) and then topped it with some nutritional yeast (in place of cheese).  Mmmm my mom’s home cooking, with a twist!

What are your favorite beans to use in chili?  Are you a WHITE BEAN chili lover or a RED BEAN chili lover? I like ALL chili colors!  :)   I don’t think I could pick a favorite.  I just love BEANS, period!

– Shari B.  =)

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Some Fridays Are Made for Margaritas

Dec 5

Posted by Shari B. in Exercise Instruction, FitFeature | 3 Comments

And last night was one of those nights.  It felt like a long week and I was starvin’ Marvin when MSP got home from work.  So off to the Rio we went for dinner. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this margarita that was about the size of my head.  (Caution:  grainy photos ahead, courtesy of my iPhone!)

marg

I also thoroughly enjoyed not only chips and salsa, but a “half-order” of their veggie quesadilla.  I asked them to go as light as possible on the cheese since I prefer not to ingest cow’s dairy whenever possible, and they TOTALLY delivered!  To be honest I couldn’t even SEE any cheese on there where I opened it up!  Thanks RIO, you guys rock!  I ate the dollop of guac that didn’t make it into the pic (but not the sour cream that did!)  I also enjoyed the steamed veggies they made for me on the side:  carrots, spinach, squash and red pepper.   It’s been a LONG time since we’ve been to the RIO and it did not disappoint.  I enjoyed every last bite. 

marg 2

And then proceeded to fall asleep on the couch the minute I sat down (at about 7:45!)  It was much-needed sleep though!

I’ll work backwards through the rest of my Friday.  When I left the office at 2:15 I had an unpictured decaf soy latte (no chai this time, just coffee) as my afternoon snack.  It was FREEZING outside still and totally hit the spot.

My ‘quickly consumable at my desk’ lunch was half a can of Amy’s Low Sodium Lentil soup with a slice of Ezekial bread and a BUBBLY!!!  (The bubbly always makes me happy!)

img 940

Mid-morning was a Larabar!

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And my breakfast was oatmeal with half of a crumbled Coconut Cream Pie Larabar and a splash of almond milk.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  crumbled Coconut Cream Pie Larabars are seriously the tastiest topping ever for oatmeal!  TRY IT!

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My Friday morning exercise was 40 minutes of treadmill time (incline intervals) while catching up on this week’s episode of mindless television known as “Melrose Place”.  Even the return of Heather Locklear as Amanda Woodward is in no way making this show better.  I expect a cancellation soon.  If they can cancel great shows like “Lipstick Jungle”  I’m curious how garbage like this revamped version of MP can stay on.  (Yes, it’s been over a year since they cancelled my beloved “Lipstick Jungle” and YES I am still bitter!)

I also owe you my Thursday workout.  It was leg day and I did TABATA!!!  And here were are on Saturday and I’m STILL feeling it!  I’m starting to think I will designate days of the week that start with ”T” as Tabata days!  :)  

Weight Training:  Tabata Legs

  • TM warmup
  • Smith Squats  4 minutes, 74 reps
  • VS Rear Lunges 4 minutes, 44 reps per leg
  • Leg Extensions (machine) 4 minutes, 88 reps
  • Leg Curls (ball) 4 minutes, 80 reps
  • Straight Planks 2 minutes
  • Side Planks 1 minute left, 1 minute right

FitFEATure tip:  If you don’t  have a Tabata interval timer but would like to try Tabata-style weight training, do this:

Do a set of 10-12 reps of an exercise of your choice.  Stop and count to 10.  Then do another set of 10-12 reps.  Stop and count to 10.  Repeat this until you have completed 8 sets of that exercise.  Then move on to the next exercise on your list.  If I’m doing Upper Body, I’ll do one  Tabata round for chest, one for back, for shoulders, then triceps, then biceps. 

Have a SWELL Saturday, friends! 

= Shari B. =)

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Green Has Gone to the Dogs

Dec 3

Posted by Shari B. in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Hey friends!

How is your Thursday treating you?  Mine is quite CHILLY!  14 degrees and dropping!  Good thing I had the beautiful scarf Cindy made to keep me warm today!  It’s also a good thing I got my green smoothie in early this morning because right now I’m so darn chilled that the thought of cold veggies is actually terrifying! ;)  

I shared my green smoothie with a couple of friends who have recently become addicted to this healthy treat:

img 929

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Yes, I have resorted to giving my dogs green food!  (Does that make me weird?) :)  They LOVE cucumber and sprouts the most.  I’ve been making little salads in their bowls lately to help fill them up because somehow they both gained a little weight so they are on “lean dog food” – which obviously isn’t filling them up because now they are constantly begging for food.   So I’m treating their diet as a I would with myself or any clients:  fill up on veggies! 

img 860

Nummy nummy in Rascal’s TUMMY!  :)  

***

Yesterday I started with a post-workout green smoothie and one of these:

img 919

My very first PERSIMMON!  Looks an awful lot like a tomato, but I promise it was a persimmon!  Quite the tasty little fruit — I liked it a lot.  I kept seeing this little fruit pop up on some of the blogs I read and finally decided to give one a try.  I read that they are the national fruit of Japan and that their peels are chock full of phytochemicals to fight oxidation of our cells.  (Too bad I didn’t read that BEFORE I ate mine, because after two bites I decided it would taste better PEELED!  Guess now I know for next time!) 

I also tried BROWN RICE sushi from Whole Foods for dinner the other night: 

img 917

This is another thumbs-up!  If only we could convince more sushi restaurants to use brown rice on their rolls…

Last night’s dinner was a typical Shari Salad (complete with dulse, nutritional yeast and Goddess dressing) along with some acorn squash slivers:

img 928

Yesterday’s exercise was 45 minutes of cardio with 30 of those minutes spent on the treadmill and 15 minutes spent doing my crazy dancing for cardio!  (Thank you Lady GaGa and Beyonce!)  One of my favorite ways to get my heart pumping! 

Stay tuned for the next blog post where I tell you about how your cardio equipment is lying to you!  ;)

Have a great night everyone!  I’m hoping that my MUST-SEE TV tonight are all NEW and no re-runs… it’s a good night for curling up on the couch under a blanket to keep warm!

– Shari B. =)

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Hide & Seek Veggies

Oct 21

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 3 Comments

It’s snowing here this morning!  Hello Winter. 

I’m very excited to tell you about yesterday’s feats!  They had to do with getting MSP to consume some veggies!  I hereby dedicate this post to those of you who have written saying that you are having a hard time getting someone in your household to eat their veggies.  :)   

To begin, I made MSP what I’ll call a “First Step Green Smoothie“.  Normally for every breakfast during the week he makes a chocolate protein shake.  I asked if I could make him a special shake this time to see if I could camouflage some veggies in it, starting small in hopes that he’ll like it, get used to the flavor and then progress in to further greens.  (I did tell him I’d be putting veggies in and he agreed to give it a shot.)

First Step Green Smoothie Ingredients:  

  • Ice cubes
  • 10 oz water
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • stalk of celery
  • 1/3 cucumber
  • small fist o’ spinach
  • 1 banana
  • 1 clementine
  • 12 green grapes

Wow, I thought this shake turned out GREAT!  If I still ate whey protein, I’d have guzzled this one myself!  It had such a delicate light green color and sweet flavor.  He did drink it (with only a few funny expressions so progress is being made), but he apparently HATES celery and that was the flavor he zeroed in on.  Note to self:  no celery in future MSP smoothies. 

img 343

For his dinner I’d planned on making him one of his favorites:  Turkey Tacos.  While getting ready to start cooking, I had a thought: I had a can of organic sweet potato puree in the pantry.  Surely sweet potato could be hidden amongst taco seasoning!  I consulted Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious (which I had conveniently checked out of the library on Sunday) to see if maybe she had a taco recipe in there and sure enough she hides purees in tacos in the book (meant for KIDS, I might add!)  I didn’t follow her recipe, but it confirmed that it could be done — without my ruining a pound of pricey ground turkey to find out!

Sneaky Taco Meat Ingredients:

  • 1 lb extra lean ground turkey 
  • 1/4 cup dry taco seasoning 
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree
  • 1/2 cup sweet potato puree
  • water if needed

Brown the turkey, then add the purees and the seasonings to the pan, mix really well.  If it seems too dry add a little water at a time to desired consistency (I only added about 3 TBSP water) and simmer for 15 minutes or until the family is ready to sit down to dinner.  I served MSP’s on small corn tortillas and he only tops his with cheese. 

Voila!img 370

In keeping with the southwest dinner theme, I made a myself a small veggie quesadilla (smeared avo, zucchini ribbons, tomato slices and a very light sprinkle of shredded raw goat cheddar.)  The avocado and warmed zucchini ribbons definitely gave it the texture of a creamy, melty quesadilla without much cheese to speak of.  ¡Bueno!

Topped with some Tabasco sauce:

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And served with a side of Amy’s Organic Black Bean Soup (with nutritional yeast):

img 365

***

Veggie day was a SUCCESS!  MSP ate cucumbers, spinach, celery, a clementine, a banana, tomatoes and sweet potatoes ALL IN ONE DAY!  I can almost see the nutrients making him glow already!  ;)  

My Tuesday exercise was 45 minutes of incline intervals on the treadmill, while suffering through yet another episode of the new Melrose Place. (I keep thinking, “Next week it will get better…”  It doesn’t.)

As for my own ‘hidden veggies’  I hid some sweet potato in my oatmeal (oh and I hid a few raisins in there too…):

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I also hid some veggies inside of two toasted Ezekial slices:

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Now go hide some veggies in the food at YOUR house (I double dog dare you)… but not until you enter the FitFeat Free Giveaway Contest if you haven’t done so yet.  You can enter until Thursday night at 8:00 PM MST! 

Have a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!

– Shari B. =)

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