Taco Night is Every Night

I've gotten on this kick of eating tacos for lunch and tacos for dinner. It's been satisfying an urge for Mexican Food. It's the simplest thing to make, and I vary the meat I used depending on time and effort.
I heat up two corn tortillas (140calories total), add Salsa Fresca I made, and then add 3-4 oz of cooked lean ground turkey or chicken leftovers or canned white chicken meat if I'm desperate.

Nutrition Today:
830am: protein powder, peanut butter, banana, ice, water blended for my morning smoothie as usual.
1030am: 1 pear 1 hardboiled egg as usual
1pm: 2 ground turkey tacos (see recipe above)
3pm: Promax protein bar (chocolate chip...my favorite)
545pm: 2 ground turkey tacos (same as above)

Workout Tonight at 8:30am:
55 minutes kettlebell workout:
4 sets of 25 swings for a warm up
4 sets of the following combinations: 10 alternating swings, 10 cleans on each side, 10 alternating swings, alternating clean and presses, 10 two arm swings, two arm upright rows, 10 overhead tricep extensions. Rest after each complete set.
4 sets of the following combinations:10 two kettlebell two arm swings, 10 squats with 1 kettlebell, then 8 bent over rows with each arm, 5 alternating swings, then 5 snatches each side. These sets totally wiped me out.
3 sets of the following combination: 10 kettlebell sit ups and 10 leg raises with kettlebell above head.
DONE!

Yesterday was a rest day...and today was a little hard going downstairs tonight. I wasn't sure if I wanted to run or do a kettlebell workout. Last week I only did kettlebell Monday and Wednesday. They were pretty tough workouts, but I really wanted to get one more Kettlebell workout in before the week was over.

Tomorrow will be a run day. I just bought some new running shoes yesterday at Road Runner. I'm going to try them out. I had my other running shoes for 2 years and finally I think they had broken down enough to warrant me buying another pair. I know the recommendation is to buy them every 6 months or so, but they are pretty expensive to have to replace that often.

Hang in there for those who are on a quest to change their body. Every day is different emotionally, physically, and nutritionally. You just got to ride the bumps when they surface.

RsmKettleGirl@gmail.com

Kettlebell Clean & Press

Picking up a kettlebell and just swinging it will not work my muscles the way I want it to. It's not like getting on a treadmill or taking an aerobics class to burn calories. It's so much more. The more and more I practice kettlebell with Paul, I am convinced how important it is to have a good instructor. I get a great workout, but more importantly I get reminders to breath, squeeze, push, pull, and tighten at all the right times. It has made all the difference especially when I am doing a clean and press. I can go through the motions, do the movement, but sometimes I don't always feel the muscles being exhausted where I should. When he reminds me to do this or that I really feel the muscles.

Kettlebell is such an interesting workout. Even in the short period of time I have seen my back and arms improve dramatically.

On a side note: I found a really great recipe for fat burning chocolate chip cookies in my absolute favorite magazine.

The magazine is Oxygen, by Robert Kennedy, September 2010 issue: page 80.
1 1/2 scoops whole wheat flour
2 cups whey protein powder. (I used 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder & 1 1/2 cups chocolate protein powder).
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups low fat small curd cottage cheese
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg (I used egg white substitute)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• preheat oven 350 degrees
• combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl and mix with fork
• in a separate bowl combine next 5 ingredients & whisk together
• add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well. add oats chocolate chips and walnuts. and mix.
• drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Kettlebell Core Strength

Tonight was a day off from kettlebell. I ran and did some weight training. I noticed that while I was pulling the weight with my hamstrings, I was focused so much more on the muscles I am using than I normally had in the past.

It is vital to focus on my core when I am using the kettlebell, because I don't want to get injured and I want to really work the muscles. Staying focused and strong while swinging or lifting the kettlebell is teaching me to be more focused on my core when I am doing weight training. I really liked the results from the focus and intensity I put into my workout this evening.

RSMKettleGirl
http://bikinicompetitor.blogspot.com
rsmkettlegirl@gmail.com

Getting Fit with Kettlebells

Like I promised, I wanted to let you know how I got started using kettlebells. Last year a friend of mine told me about how much kettlebells had dramatically changed her core strength and appearance. She is a runner by nature, but uses the kettlebell for strength training. Her arms were beautiful and so was the rest of her body.

In January 2010 I told myself that I would try the kettlebell class that Paul Daniels teaches in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. I didn't do it. Instead I went to his cardio kickboxing classes once in a while, when I needed a break from my cardio running days during the week. By nature I lift weights. I love lifting weights and feel at home with weight machines, barbell and dumbbells.

I had been thinking about entering some type of fitness contest this year, but hadn't committed fully to it. In the meantime I was training with weights & running. Then, this summer I went back to Paul Daniel's cardio kickboxing class for a change of pace & he and I talked after class.

He told me, "you know you really should be using the kettlebell if you really want to change your physique."
As the discussion continued I decided to take a leap into the kettlebell world, but not completely ditch my weight training.

When I started working out 3 days a week using the kettlebell, I realized that I don't need the weight training as much as I thought. The kettlebell training was quite enough for my "lifting days."

...except for last Sunday when I snuck in a mini leg workout with machines and weights! It's hard to break some habits.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about how I really feel when I work out at 830 at night after spending a day taking care of two children and a husband, making all the meals for everybody, cleaning, etc. and somehow finding the time to reach my fitness goal.

RSMKettleGirl

Blog Address: http://bikinicompetitor.blogspot.com/