Adapting to changing circumstances

My son asked if we could have burgers for dinner. He has been asking for a while and so today I finally picked some up at the grocery store. I had the second workout of week 7's program and so a burger patty would make a great post workout snack. What do you have when the rest of your family are eating burgers with a big, fat bun and you are not eating bread?

This is what you do, you make some mayonnaise from scratch. (recipe here, but I omitted the sugar and used olive oil and grapeseed oil)

The burger Patty was comfortably nestled between two slices of pan fried Eggplant, topped with sautee'd onions and home made mayonnaise.  (right)

In the gym the exercises we are doing are designed to speed up my metabolism. AND to make me really sore it seems. Today my quads were stiff and sore! To be fair Igor did warn me and gave me some advice on how to deal with the soreness. Vitamin C after the workout for one. 

Another meal idea is a stuffed portabello mushroom with sautee'd veg on the side. (below)

The vegetables were parsnips, carrots, peppers and asparagus with baby tomatoes. I stuffed the mushroom with goats cheese and antipasto eggplant strips with a large drizzle of balsamic vinegar.. 

When we were in the gym and Igor introduced a new exercise called the "reverse lunge" and let me just say that the thing that stood out to me the most was that last week's torturous walking lunges paid off, I was able to do the reverse lunges without keeling over, only because of the strength I had built up.

How am I adapting to this week's changing workout? First of all, just the fact that the exercises are different and are executed in a different tempo keeps your routine fresh and interesting. Thankfully there is no HIT training this week, and so far, no "Prowler"...I dislike that thing intensely. I have been reintroduced to the good old Russian twists and today learned that I can do bent over rows with 25 pound dumbbells! On Tuesday I was experiencing lower back pain and so we adapted my workout, we omitted the deadlifts to allow for recovery.

I am slowly gathering equipment and supplied to take with to Russia, and we were asked to take Marshmallows, Apparently you can't get them in Moscow! My husband bought me a down filled sleeveless jacket to put under my parka to keep me warm. He also got me some waterproof mittens which will come in handy. A friend that I work with gave me some packages of glove and boot warmers which I will use when I photograph the Ice Marathon on Lake Baikal.

I suppose soon I will count down the days till I leave, but right now I am counting down the number of workouts left...Igor has given me some Isometric exercises to do while I am away.  

Tomorrow I will start packing my suitcase. Just how many bags of marshmallows do you think I can squeeze between my shoes?

Here is some more information on my trip as featured in the Richmond Hill Liberal.