Strength Training & a Breakfast Sandwich

Last spring, I found a new love in running, and shortly thereafter I found out I have crappy knees that can’t handle too much impact.

Sadness…   Sad smile

Then, a few months back, I joined a gym.. That’s right, a gym.  And since then I’ve pretty much become BFF’s with the elliptical.  Feeling like a hamster is better than feeling like a sloth.  Am I right?

While it feels good to get some cardio in during the week, I noticed I’ve been feeling kind of weak lately.  Slightly feeble.  (could be the cold weather?)  Plus my posture has definitely declined in the past couple of years, and that is not a trend I’d like to continue on.

With all this weighing on my mind, in my down time over the past few weeks I’ve been working on putting together my first-ever strength training routine.  I’ve NEVER EVER been into weightlifting or any of the machines at the gym.  It’s just, well, too complicated.  Plus, I’m a numbers gal.  If I can’t see the numbers adding away right in front of my face, I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything.

So one morning, I tried out a few different exercises I found in the pile of fitness magazines I’ve been hoarding in my office and was immediately discouraged.  I just really didn’t know what I was doing, I had no plan of attack, and it felt like a big fat waste of time.

Well that is until I woke up the next morning and literally had to lift my legs out of the bed because they were so sore.  Perhaps it is possible that doing these silly strength training moves DOES actually impact your body…

Perhaps.

The next day, I went through ALL of the fitness magazines I’ve been accumulating over the past year and snipped out the strength-training exercises that looked promising.  Using this data, I pieced together the exercises I actually understood and/or those that appeared somewhat feasible and that could be done in the comfort of my own home…

Thennnnn I found images and instructions for each exercise and then decided to take things to a whole new level of crazy by organizing all the data into a PowerPoint presentation.

What?  You don’t put your strength training workouts into PowerPoint?

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Open-mouthed smile

After ALL of this research and organization, I had about 30 exercises but still no plan of attack.  I knew what the moves looked like, how to do them, and… well, that was about it.  So I sent my PowerPoint to the BF, who has a heck of a lot more experience in this area than I do, and asked him to please help me because I’m to the point of extreme frustration even though I had found pictures for each exercise, detailed descriptions, and picked out a really pretty color scheme!!!!

Hehe…

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Pretty, right?

Luckily, he obliged and did help and also did agree that it was a pretty color scheme….  (your darn tootin it’s pretty) all while I got to work on breakfast!

FINALLY!!

Cue the turkey pepperoni breakfast sandwich please!

Easy peasy, I tell ya.  This is 1 egg seasoned with S&P topped with 4 slices turkey pepperoni and 1 tbsp reduced fat Mexican cheese:

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My cheese was being stubborn and would not melt, so I popped a lid on for a bit to coerce it.

Mellllltttttt I say!

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Then I slid the egg onto a toasted whole grain English muffin and added some Ketchup and some Franks Red Hot:

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How ridiculously good does this look?

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Mmmmmmmm….

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Get in my belly.

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Smash em together:

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Annnnddd the sandwich was gone 13 seconds later.

Stats on the sandwich:  221 calories, 31g carbs, 9g fat, 15g protein, 8g fiber

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