Kettlebell Squat with Upright Row 3×15 10 pounds
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift 2 10 pound dumbbells 3×12-15
Farmers Walks 15 pound dumbbells walk 15 steps back and forth 5 to 6 times
Kettlebell Swings 15 pounds 3×15
30 second Jumping Jacks
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Leg Tucks / Crunch combo 15-20 reps
Jump Rope Jumps
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Planks (hold as long as possible)
The gym reopened. You can only wear a mask to the gym not a bandanna. My trainer gave me a new workout routine. It’s an easy routine made harder because I do 15 reps not 12 reps.
Upper Body
Dumbbell Row 3×15 10 to 15 pounds
Floor Dumbbell Chest Press 3×15 10 to 15 pounds
Seated Dumbbell Curl 3×15 10 pounds
Resistance Band Tricep Extension 3×15
Side to Side Medicine Ball Slam 16 reps
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Russian Twists
Jump Forward and Back 20 jumps
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Alternating Leg Tucks 15 each side
This might not apply to most blog readers. However I want to write about it because who knows–maybe a reader falls into this category.
In New York City those of us who collect SNAP benefits are eligible to obtain Health Bucks at our Greenmarkets.
For every $5 spent in SNAP benefits, a person will get a $2 Health Bucks coupon.
Thus enabling you to get more fruits and vegetables.
To do so:
Bring your EBT card to the market manager tent at the farmer’s market.
Swipe your EBT card and in exchange get tokens and Health Bucks to spend at the market.
I don’t take kindly to people who resent others for buying organic food with their SNAP benefits.
Individuals living on a low income deserve to be healthy and eat nutritiously just like those of us who are well-off.
This is what I say:
Cut it out with the comments about people using SNAP to buy juicy heirloom tomatoes.
Regardless of your income there’s no shame in wanting to be healthy.
A person isn’t supposed to reprint recipes owing to the copyright law. I will use this recipe to entice readers to buy the book Vegetables Every Day. After this I don’t think I can get away with transcribing a recipe from the book.
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1 large head Bok choy (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons roasted peanut oil
6 medium garlic cloves sliced thin
1 cup vegetable stock
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
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Separate the leafy green part from the white stalks. Discard tough bottom part from each stalk.
Cut the stalks crosswise into thin strips. Cut the leaves crosswise into thin strips.
Set the stalks and leaves aside separately.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat until almost smoking. Add the stalks and stir-fry until slightly softened about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and stir-fry until lightly colored about 2 minutes.
Add the greens, stock, and salt and pepper to taste to the pan. Stir to combine the ingredients.
Cover reduce the heat and simmer. Stirring once or twice until the Bok choy is very tender. About 10 minutes.
Remove the cover and raise the heat. Simmer briskly until the excess liquid has evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes.
The Bok choy should be moist not soupy.
Serve immediately.
This recipe alone I feel is worth buying Clean Snacks for.
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1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut cream chilled
6 tablespoons smooth almond butter
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Open the can of chilled coconut cream and remove the solid cream layer on top.
Place solid cream layer in a large mixing bowl. Add the almond butter and cocoa power and vanilla extract.
Use a stick blender or hand mixer to mix everything into a smooth batter.
Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes to thicken.
This is the tastiest healthiest alternative to the regular boxed chocolate pudding sold in food stores along with Jell-O. Skip those boxes please.
Try this tasty. It has 5 grams protein and 3 grams fiber per the nutritional content listing for the recipe.
This mousse can be refrigerated for up to one week.
I plan on buying Clean Snacks.
This is one of the recipes in the Clean Snacks book referenced above. I will be using this recipe here because this book isn’t the only book that has a variation of this recipe.
In the coming blog entry I will feature another recipe that I think is even better. I plan on buying the Clean Snacks book. See whether you’d like to buy the cookbook too. I’m not a fan of the Paleo or Keto diets these recipes are linked to. Nor am I a believer that you must go on any diet to lose weight.
Only the recipes in this book are easy to make. Even though paleo and keto are in the title this didn’t deter me from checking it out of the library.
The author of this cookbook isn’t a nutritionist. Yet I can attest that the 2 recipes I’ve created from the book are tasty. The snacks here are healthier than potato chips or pretzels or a candy bar or can of cola.
Toasted Coconut Chips
2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Pinch sea salt
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Preheat the oven to 300 F.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl combine the ingredients.
Mix very well.
Pour the mixture on the baking sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Stir every 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown.
Cool completely.
I used coconut chips not flakes and this was perfectly fine. I buy the Fresh Direct coconut chips.
The salmon filet was leftover from a Bento box I ordered for dinner one night.
The vegetable is the Center Cut Squash that arrived in the CSA box. It was the first time I had this veggie. The squash tastes almost like citrus and is juicy and tastes green.
How it was cooked:
I cut the squash in half the long way. Brushed with olive oil. Cooked at 350 degrees in the oven for 40 minutes or so.
Alas, I’ve stopped buying the CSA box because there’s too much food in it to use within five days.
Now that fall’s coming I will be buying individual vegetables like spaghetti squash.
Recipes to follow for Bok Choy plus vegan snacks.
The word for beets in Italian is barbabietole.
The beets were in the CSA box with the other vegetables I used to make the prior meals.
This beet salad was for dinner one night. The heirloom tomatoes came from the box of organic tomatoes I bought.
To roast beets you cut off the top and bottom. You roast them at 400 degrees for 45 minutes in the oven.
I let the beets cool a bit after taking them out of the oven. Then I used a knife to cut around in a circle to remove the hard skin.
I used the onion that was in the CSA box too.
This is my version of an eggplant-and-mozzarella “sandwich” you’d find in an Italian food shop.
The Italian eggplant arrived in the CSA box. I cut it into “coins” brushed each coin with EVOO and grilled them on the stove.
The oven I bought last Labor Day has a fifth burner that has a grill pan you can use above the oval burner.
I used the grill pan on the fifth burner to grill the eggplant coins for about 7 to 9 minutes or so. I didn’t keep track of the time. I viewed the coins to see when they were golden brown. I turned each coin over halfway through.
The mozzarella I used alternating with the eggplant to make a sandwich was the Galbani fresh mozzarella that comes sliced.
Again I don’t like to have a lot of cheese because doing so can elevate your LDL or “bad” cholesterol.
This is the first time I’ve cooked and eaten Bok choy. The vegetable was part of the CSA box I bought for this week’s dinners.
I used one head of Bok choy and could’ve used 2 heads. The recipe is tasty and I will feature it in a coming blog entry in the future.
With a ton of tasty vegetables on offer year-round I say: ditch the meat. Produce sold in-season is cheaper.
Colorful veggies are happy food. Feel-good greens can give you benefits instead of reaching for vitamins.
A lot of people take vitamins and that is their choice. I stopped taking supplements years ago.
In my estimation I think the decision comes down to what each of us as an individual needs to nourish our bodies.
Which might be different from the advice an expert peddles to the masses.
However I do adhere to some guidelines and I’ll talk about these guidelines in the future.
Full and Robust Life Hacks 