Livin' Lean

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Even though I only have one class on Mondays, there’s something about having no classes at all that makes today feel so much better.

Let’s recap what’s been happening on the exercise front before I share a delicious recipe!

This morning, I started week 4 of Live Fit. Instead of doing the second week’s workouts last week, I skipped to week 3 because the program starts off pretty slow. I’ve been focusing on eating more in order to lift heavier, and I can tell it’s paying off! I was so excited to see how much stronger I was this morning compared to last week’s leg day.

After only being able to squat 135 lbs. for 6 reps last week, I was thrilled to have squatted that much for 2 sets of 10 reps today. Hopefully, I’ll be back to squatting 135 lbs. for 3 sets of 10 by next week.

Now for some not so exciting news…I had bundled up for a 9 mile run a few days ago but only made it 5 miles before stopping due to some pain in my right foot. It was bothering me since my 8 mile run a few weeks ago, but I figured it’d go away with some icing and rest.

I was starting to get a little paranoid from everyone telling me that my “Vibrams don’t have enough support” and that could be the cause of my foot pain, so I decided to stop by Philadelphia Runner yesterday to get some advice about changing to a pair of regular running shoes. The problem is that I can’t even make it a quarter of a mile in regular sneakers without my shins throbbing. When I started explaining my situation to the employees at Philadelphia Runner, they basically told me I shouldn’t listen to everyone else about the whole Vibrams thing as long as it works for me. One of the employees pointed out that it has probably been a huge shock to my foot that I’m all of a sudden running these long distances, especially without any short runs in-between my long runs. Oops. Even though I kind of knew I should have been training smarter, I guess I just didn’t want to hear it because I dreaded running so much. Good thing running is growing on me! They suggested that I ice my foot, incorporate a few short runs into my nonexistent training plan every week, and continue running in my Vibrams if that’s what is comfortable for me.

As soon as all of my foot pain dissipates, I will try to start running 3-5 miles a few times a week in addition to my long runs. As far as the Live Fit program, I guess I will have to sacrifice some lifting days in order to safely train for my half marathon. I definitely want to stay injury free!

~~~~~

Now onto a tasty recipe…

Turkey Sloppy Joes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1.5 cups chopped sweet onion
• 1 lb 99% fat free ground turkey
• 1 tbsp crushed garlic
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 6 Ezekiel buns

Directions:

Mix together tomato sauce, ketchup, tomato paste, dijon mustard, vinegar, and coconut aminos in a bowl.

In a pan on medium-high heat, sauté chopped onion in olive oil until translucent. Add ground turkey, crushed garlic, chili powder, sea salt, and ground pepper. Cook until brown. Add the tomato-based mixture. Make sure all the meat is evenly coated, and simmer until thickened.

Toast the Ezekiel buns. Add about 4 oz of meat to each bun. Enjoy!

~~~~~

Sloppy joes were one of my favorite childhood meals. Even though this is a clean version, it tastes just as good as I remember! I love making this big batch and having enough for the rest of the week. So delicious!

Question of the day:
What was your favorite childhood meal?