So after gawking at some other fitness blogs out there I decided today was the day. It was time I tested out weights. Everywhere out there says that weights are an important part of physical fitness and that they aren’t that scary once you start using them. So today I opted out of doing my regular high intensity interval workout for a weight workout centered around my arms. I figured my arms would be a good place to start seeing they are weaker than weak, and I could really use some strength building in that area.
So while I was perusing other blogs I came across what seemed to be a pretty decent place to start on using some weights. I started my workout with 20minutes of cardio on the Arc Trainer and the StairMaster (that thing is the devil), and then went into my own little arm workout, that went like this:
My inspriation for this workout came from Peanut Butter Fingers. I ran out of time so I skipped some moves and due to difficulty level I also lowered the amount of reps on the last one. The crazy shoulder exercise is actually “Ryan’s Awesome Shoulder Move” it was probably the most intense shoulder move I have ever tried and I thank Peanut Butter Fingers for sharing!
All in all weights were WAY less intimidating than I thought they would be. I mean granted I was using equipment instead of doing free weights, but I think it was for sure a step in the right direction. It was a big motivator to try something new and realize that it is actually a lot of fun, and it is always nice to mix things up at the gym.
Now in the way of “Things” I have a delicious recipe for you. I have a habit of finding a recipe that looks delicious, then going home realizing I am missing most of the ingredients and then just making something up with the food that already exists in my fridge. So here is my rendition of a delicious Paella.
Shrimp and Scallop Paella
Serves 6 – Calories 171.7 – Fat 5.7g – Saturated Fat 0.8g – Carbs 23.4g – Fiber 3.5g – Protein 8.4g
6 large shrimp
5 large scallops
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups brown rice
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 cups diced tomato (from a can you need the juices)
3 cups homemade or no salt added chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups asparagus chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
- In a large (you want this big) saute pan heat 1 tbsp of oil once warm place shrimp and scallops in the pan. Cook shrimp until just pink, and scallops until slightly browned on each side. (It is important that you don’t over cook them or they will get rubbery at the end.) Once cooked remove from pan and place on a plate to cool. Wipe down pan with a paper towel to get any scallop juices which might be left behind.
- Add remaining 1tbsp of oil to same pan, add in onions and cook until they become translucent (about 3-5min). Add in garlic, rice, turmeric and paprika, mix until everything is coated in the spices and flavours have mixed.
- Add tomatoes and broth to rice mixture and stir everything together. Bring to a boil. Let boil for 3-4minutes then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and let cook for about 20minutes, try not to lift the lid too much you need to keep the heat in to cook the rice.
- Once 20minutes have lapsed add in asparagus and corn. Mix well and cover pan again for another 5minutes.
- While asparagus and corn are cooking in the rice mixture, chop up the shrimp and scallops. Add shrimp and scallops to the rice mixture, stir and let sit for another 2minutes to absorb the flavour. Serve immediately.
*note: I didn’t have brown rice on hand when I made this (seems I had eaten it all) so I used white rice in my recipe, but the calculations are based on long grain brown rice, I have also adjusted the cook times here to reflect the length of time which would be needed for brown rice.
Have a happy Wednesday – we are almost done the week!
Also a little side note I have finally updated the Eats page! Enjoy.
gingersneezes 