All Posts By

chioma.ihekweazu@gmail.com

Fitness

Fitness Feature: Jessica Smith

June 5, 2014

Every couple of months I cruise Amazon looking for some new workout dvds. Well, I had the good fortune to stumble across some workouts by Jessica Smith. I have three of her workout dvds in my collection now, Cardio Abs, 10 Pounds Down Better Body Blast, and 10 Minute Solution Ultimate Bootcamp and I must say these are great workouts. While I love them all, Cardio Abs is my absolute favorite. It’s split into three separate workouts (cardio abs, total body abs transformer, and concentrated abs), and each one is about 26 minutes in length. It also includes a bonus 4-minute tabata workout.

10 Minute Solution Ultimate Bootcamp includes five 10-minute routines including: Fat Fighting Skills & Drills focusing on interval cardio training, Ultimate Upper Body Training with weights, Ultimate Lower Body Training, Ultimate Total Body Training, and Six Pack Ab Attack. I do all five to get a full workout and since it’s broken into five segments it makes the overall workout feel shorter.

Finally, there is 10 Pounds Down Better Body Blast. This workout is broken into three 20-minute segments that target arms, legs, and, abs. What I really like about this one is that she’ll often start off with a base move and then progressively make the move more challenging before you cycle back through it.

What makes her so awesome:

  1. Her workouts are actually enjoyable. I remember when I first did Cardio Abs and I was smiling during it. I loved it. My heart was racing, I was sweating, and the moves were tough but it was fun. I felt like I got a solid workout in but I wasn’t cursing the gods as I went through it.

  2. The moves are fresh. I’ve been working out for a while so I’ve seen all kinds of exercises and there were lots of new moves throughout these dvds which I really appreciated. Also, she keeps it as simple as possible. In the quest to be new and innovative, lots of instructors come up with these crazy, convoluted moves that are just really awkward. None of that here.

  3. Her personality is a winner. Nothing can ruin a potentially great workout for me faster than an instructor who is either barking orders at you like she has something to prove or instructors who are so perky with their permanent plastered smiles as they’re going through really challenging exercises. She’s very motivating and upbeat but not in an annoying or aggressive way.

  4. She also has a Youtube channel with tons of free workouts that run the gamut from cardio to barre to kickboxing to resistance training. You really can’t beat that. Check it out here.

Have you done any of her workouts before? If so tell me what you think!
0 Comments
Food

Arugula Salad

May 27, 2014

At the end of March, I went to Baltimore for a weekend trip and had this sweet potato salad. It was incredibly good, and as I’ve started doing with really good food that I order at restaurants, I decided I would attempt to recreate the magic that happened on that plate at home.
I think I love salads now. Like I legitimately love them. I’ve liked salads well enough before but it was a rarity for me to actually crave them. Well I discovered something that has made them so much better, and was a part of the reason why I loved that salad in Baltimore so much. Back in the day I used to use lettuce as the base for my salads, then I eventually switched to spinach, but now I’ve discovered arugula. I was buying it to use as a filling in a wrap a couple of weeks ago, and before it went bad I decided to use it for a salad. Great decision. It didn’t taste like a salad. Every iteration I’ve tried has been delicious. I first had it with baked chicken, black beans, garbanzo beans, and goat cheese.

When I ran out of baked chicken, I used an apple chicken sausage link, and when I ran out of those I used oven roasted sweet potato wedges. And it doesn’t need any dressing. Seriously, I don’t know what I was doing with my life before. I may have been late to the party, but I’m here now.

Speaking of parties, hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day Weekend!

0 Comments
Food

Culinary Pursuits: Spicy Vegetable Frittata Muffins

May 12, 2014

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the amazing mothers out there including mine! I’ve wanted to try making these frittata muffins for the longest time and today I finally did. They were amazing and so easy to make that I thought I’d share them with you…virtually that is:) This was a bit of a spontaneous recipe post. Usually when I post recipes here, I make the food knowing ahead of time that I’ll be posting. This was more along the lines of “Let me throw together what I have in the fridge,” so bare with me if the details aren’t all that detailed. Anyway, check out the recipe below!

Ingredients:
6 large eggs
1 cup of egg whites
curry powder
fiery 5 red pepper
Rosemary garlic seasoning
1 spinach & feta chicken sausage link, sliced into 12 pieces
Vegetables of your choice (Use whatever you have on hand or whatever your favorites are. I made a vegetable medley of chickpeas, carrots, green beans, squash, and zucchini that was sitting in my fridge so that’s what I used)
1/3 cup of goat cheese

This should make exactly 12 muffins!

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a 12-cupcake pan with cooking spray.
Add vegetables, then one slice of the spinach & sausage link, and a few sprinkles of goat cheese.

Pour ~1/2 cup of egg/egg white mix to each cupcake
Bake for 25-30 minutes
Enjoy!
These are packed with protein and would be great as a midday or post-workout snack, or they can even be a part of a meal.

Have you made frittata muffins before? If so, what are your favorite things to add to them? Tell me in the comments!

0 Comments
Fitness

Fitness Feature: My X3 Sports Experience

May 4, 2014

So a couple of Saturdays back I went to a class at X3 Sports in Inman Park. I signed up for their Fast Track class which is supposed to incorporate circuit training and cardio exercises. I chose this class specifically because it’s supposed to test, and ideally improve, your agility by using sports training equipment. I got there a few minutes late and the class was packed. There were apparently twice as many people as there normally are and the space they use is on the smaller side so it was stuffed! There was a short warm-up with your standard moves and then we began. The instructor had us do a circuit of basic squats, bear crawls, jump squats, diamond push-ups and side planks (on both sides) for 12 minutes going through at our own pace. We then repeated this same circuit for two more 12-minute rounds with 30 second breaks halfway through each 12 minute circuit.

Overall, my arms got a good workout but I was left disappointed. We just cycled through the same few exercises for the entire class which to me felt short (and not in a good way). I was expecting to incorporate some new moves and equipment into my workout but I didn’t. All of the moves we did were moves that I could have and actually have done at home before. I understand though that it was probably due to the large class size so it’s hard to fault them. I will say this, it does seem like a cool gym. The kind of gym that I’d want to join. They have kickboxing classes, weight training, and muay thai classes as well. Will I be joining though, probably not. One, the location isn’t particularly convenient and two they make you sign up for a year or two-year long contract (I’m not looking to get tied down). On to the next…

0 Comments
Food

Baked Banana Almond French Toast

April 27, 2014

Brinnertime! I love breakfast foods. Whether I’m eating them for breakfast, brunch, or dinner, it’s all good in my book. So I decided to make myself some french toast, one of my all time favorite breakfast foods, for dinner. To make it a little less indulgent, I used egg whites, whole wheat whole grain bread, and some agave nectar. Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of egg whites
1 large egg
1 tsp of almond extract (I got mine from TJ Maxx but you could also find it at Publix, Trader Joes, or Walmart)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of cinnamon
3 slices of whole grain whole wheat bread (I used Peppridge farm)
1 banana, large (sliced into 18 pieces)

Agave nectar

1. Whisk the egg and egg whites in a bowl
2. Add the vanilla and almond extract.
3. Pre-coat a glass baking dish with cooking spray.
4. Dip a slice of bread in the batter and add six pieces of sliced banana on top,         sprinkling on some cinnamon.
5. Repeat step 4, with the other two slices.
6. Pour any leftover batter on top of the bread.
7. Cover with saran wrap first, and then aluminum foil.
8. Let sit in the fridge overnight or for 6-8 hours.
9. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes (Tip: It’ll probably work better if you un-layer the three slices of bread for more even and faster cooking).
10. Take out of the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and drizzle on some agave nectar.
You can serve it with egg whites and chicken sausage like I did or whatever you’d prefer.
french toast
P.S. That’s sparkling pomegranate juice from Trader Joe’s;) You should try it!
I hope you’re enjoying a beautiful lazy Sunday!
0 Comments
Uncategorized

Work Wear Inspiration

April 24, 2014
Hi Guys! Today I’m bringing you some more of my favorite work looks. I’m hoping to show you that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to get quality work pieces. My work wear items came from all over (thrift stores, TJ Maxx, Target, The Limited, etc) and I got very good deals on them. The key is to wait for sales and add pieces gradually so way your wallet isn’t taking a big hit all at once.
My “Casual Friday” look. Both the sweater and the pants came from Forever 21.

Hope you’re having a great week so far!

0 Comments
Food

Healthy Sweet Treats: Banana Bites with Honey Goat Cheese

April 10, 2014

Hey Guys! I hope you’ve been having a great week so far. Only one more day until weekend festivities commence. Before they do, I wanted to bring you a healthy sweet treat. When it comes to my meals, I like to end them on a sweet note. If the last taste in my mouth isn’t a sweet one, the meal just doesn’t feel complete. Usually, it’ll be a piece of fruit, like a banana, some greek yogurt, or a granola bar but I thought I’d get a little more creative. Today, I’m bringing you these grilled cinnamon sprinkled banana bites with honey goat cheese. Can I first just say wow! These were so incredibly good. Exceeded my expectations and took all of two seconds to make.

All you’ll need is a single banana, some olive oil cooking spray, ground cinnamon, and honey goat cheese (Publix).

Instructions:

  1. Coat a pan at medium-high heat with olive oil cooking spray.
  2. Chop the bananas into 1/2 inch slices, sprinkle on cinnamon, and carefully place on pan.
  3. Let the bananas cook for 2-3 minutes on each side (be careful when you flip as the bananas are softer)
  4. Take the bananas off and put a little honey goat cheese on each slice.
  5. Enjoy!

 

0 Comments