Skogg Challenge - Day 2:60 and a Recipe to Share!

Today has been going well so far. I am feeling very positive about the challenge. I'm finding myself to be well fed and not feeling too hungry.  I also think that proper supplementation is helping me with my edema issues, energy levels, soreness.  Here's the recap for today, and I'll update this post throughout the remainder of the day with my progress.

Exercise Component

I have two workout sessions planned for today.  ETA: I didn't get to the evening session. This is a strange week because I have training sessions with my clients every night Mon-Friday. I usually only take clients on Mon and Wed evenings. I am making up for when I was sick. So, I knew that my personal training schedule would be impacted.  Anyway, after my clients, I was so busy trying to get 2 projects done that had deadlines of this morning.  So, I wasn't able to squeeze in my second session. I usually plan 2 workouts per day on most days (which is overkill). In reality, I am lucky if I get two or three days of 2-a-days in per week, which is just fine.

Morning Session: I did a short leg workout (about 35 mins - Supreme 90 Day Legs). It was effective and time efficient. 

Evening Session: After work, I plan to do Skogg Roots Level 2, along with some cardio. I haven't decided if I'll add another set of 200 swings. My hamstrings were a bit tender during this morning's leg workout, so I don't want to overtrain or exhaust them.

Nutrition Component
Today has been a good nutrition day so far. I started my day off by writing out my planned meals for today. Having it written down in advance really helps me stay on track.  In addition, my nutrition counselor provided some outstanding tips for battling the sweet tooth.  I'm on track for consuming 1 Gallon or more of water. ETA - I got in about 100oz today (almost a gallon).  I also didn't eat enough. My evening meals were really more like snacks. I'll focus more on getting the appropriate balance of food in, but at least I was eating and not skipping meals!

I wanted to share a great recipe that I found in this month's Oxygen Magazine.  I used it to base my lunch meal off of, though I didn't follow it exactly as written.  I made a homemade shrimp, avodaco, & spinach salad.  It was very good and filling (recipe to follow)!  I may have used a bit too much fat in the meal, so I'll tweak that a bit next time.  After lunch, I had a sweet craving, so I had a mouthful of (sugar free) RediWhip and that took care of the craving.  Yippee!!

Spinach Avocado Shrimp Salad Recipe

(originally printed in Oxygen Magazine, April 2011 edition, page 66) 

The original recipe makes 4 servings. I only made 1 serving for myself for lunch.  It was so good!

Salad Base Ingredients
12 large raw tiger shrimp, shell removed & deveined (I weighed 5oz raw, which was about 4oz cooked)
Olive oil (I omitted this an used PAM)
2 avocados, sliced (I used 1/4 of an avocado)
1 pomegranate, separated into seeds (I omitted this)
2 bunches fresh spinach, trimmed (I used a little more than 2 cups of organic baby spinach)
2 tablespoons roasted pine nuts (I omitted this and used 6 walnut pieces instead)
In addition, I added 1 roma tomato, english cucumbers, and a handful of baby carrots to my salad.
 
Salad Dressing Ingredients:
4 teaspoons grainy Dijon mustard (I used 1 tsp)
2 tsp fresh black pepper (I used 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes (I omitted this)
4 tbsp avocado oil (I omitted this and substituted 1T EVOO.)
Juice of 2 fresh lemons (I simply used bottled lemon juice, about 2.5Tablespoons)

Preparation Directions

1. Cook shrimp in a hot skillet or grill. I cooked 2 minutes per side.

2. Place avocado, spinach, and cooked shrimp in a salad bowl. Toss gently. (I also added my other salad ingredients - tomato, cucumber, carrots).

3. For the dressing, whisk together mustard, black pepper, pepper flakes, avocado oil (I used EVOO) and lemon juice until emulsified. Drizzle over the salad. (I had to toss to distribute through the salad)

4. Top sald with nuts and serve. (I topped my salad with 1T of flaxseed oil as well).

Enjoy!