Best Burger

Hello, hello, hello!

I have yet another delicious recipe for you to try...tonight.

Courtesy of the best, most realistic "fad" diet around, I present to you The Official Abs Diet Burger (with a side of roasted asparagus and grape tomatoes):

Here's what you'll need (as always, please look at the original recipe for measurements):

• Rolled oats
• Reduced-fat Mexican-blend cheese
• Onion
• Egg
• Lean ground beef
• Spinach
• Pepper
• Salt

Now, the recipe is super complicated.  Are you ready?

Dump all of those ingredients into one bowl:

Mush together.  (I used a wooden spoon to start mixing and quickly realized that my good old-fashioned hands would do the trick a lot better.)

Now, form four patties from the mixed together mess that you just created:

Heat up a grill pan over medium-high heat, and plop those bad boys on the stove:

I discovered that I made my patties too thick and would've probably been better off making six to eight smaller patties -- or simply smooshing the patties down a lot more.

In addition, they do fall apart somewhat easily while flipping (simply due to the loads of extra ingredients), so take that into consideration and only flip when necessary.

To prepare the veggies, line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil to minimize clean up, spread the asparagus and tomatoes (or green beans, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, whatev) out, spray them with some olive oil, and sprinkle with lots of herbs and spices.  I generally opt for salt, pepper, oregano, tarragon, rosemary, cayenne, or any variation of the aforementioned.  Throw it all in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes, and you have yourself a yummy, low-calorie side dish:

Here's the breakdown for the burger (including Sara Lee 80 Calories & Delightful wheat bun) and veggies:

• Calories: 367
• Carbs: 25g
• Fat: 14g
• Protein: 33g

Again, since I'm shooting for 14-18 grams of protein per meal, it probably would've been better for me to make smaller patties.  Oh well.

Seriously, this might be the best burger I have ever had, and The Boy (who is a huge fan of greasy burgers) loved it as well.  It'll certainly make the rotation, as it almost feels like "cheat" food.

Make this ASAP -- and let me know how you like it.  :)

I'm off now to rock out with Bon Jovi.  Check ya lata!

A New Year

As promised: two posts in one day!

I am super excited to start blogging again and am looking forward to the inherent accountability that comes with sharing my daily activities with the world (or just my mom).  I am also extremely motivated right now and can't wait to tell you about my plans for 2012.

First, I rang in the New Year by spending the last three days demolishing my apartment.  I think I singlehandedly filled the dumpster with all of my belongings, and that was after taking an entire carload of junk to Goodwill.  I scrubbed all of my pots and pans and reorganized my kitchen, took everything out of both of my closets and put them together in ways that made actual sense, and cleaned off my desk to give away to make room for my new bookshelf.  I haven't cleaned yet - like, scrubbing, vacuuming, dusting, etc. - because just sorting through stuff and putting it back took me THREE days.

I am wiped.

Second, I have some really great plans health-wise for 2012.  First, I am starting a bootcamp tomorrow with Max Life Fitness & Nutrition.  It looks awesome: it meets six days per week, and the activities are varied, unlike Farrell's.  There's everything from kettlebells to kickboxing to cardio to abs.  When I called to reserve my spot, the guy on the phone told me that the workouts lasted anywhere from 20-45 minutes.  When I said, "Twenty minutes?!" he said, "Just you wait."  It's going to be awesome.  So tomorrow is the testing day: I'll get my photo taken in shorts and a sports bra (quite a scary sight for the photographer, let me tell you), get measured, and do different tests (I'm assuming sit-ups, push-ups, and the like).  I am super nervous but also really pumped.

The second of Healthy 2012 is more running.  On a whim, I signed up for the Lincoln National Guard Half Marathon.  So, I am in the process of creating a race schedule to coordinate with my training, and here's what I'm thinking so far:

• January 14th: Forey Fest 5k
• February 11th: Red Flannel Run 5-mile
• April: AIDS 5k
• April 24th: Grand Blue Mile
• April 28th: Drake Relays 8k
• May 6th: Lincoln National Guard Half Marathon
• June 2nd: Dam-to-Dam 20k

I will also be running the FULL IMT Des Moines Marathon this year on October 21st, so there will be many more races throughout the summer to prepare for that.

Throughout all of my training, I am going to be sure to incorporate a lot of cross-training; I strongly believe the lack of cross-training really affected my injuries during my last training session.  That will not happen again.  Swimming and weight training will become my friends...I hope.

The third part to my Healthy 2012 is better eating.  My mom and I are going to be Abs Diet buddies.  Essentially, the Abs Diet is just smart eating.  There are twelve key things to eat:

1. Almonds (and other nuts)
2. Beans (and other legumes)
3. Spinach (and other green veggies)
4. Dairy
5. Instant oatmeal
6. Eggs
7. Turkey (and other lean meat)
8. Peanut butter
9. Olive oil
10. Whole grain bread and cereals
11. Extra protein powder
12. Raspberries (and other berries)

On the "diet" I will eat six small meals every day.  To make sure that actually happens, I already created this week's meal plan and went to the grocery store (and spent an arm and a leg).  I will have to go tomorrow to get fish, but other than that, I shouldn't have to go to the store again, which will be nice.

I am going to drink LOTS of water.  I was good about doing this during marathon training, but I wasn't so good after that finished.  My plan is to have my daily cup of coffee (with a little milk and Truvia) in the morning and nothing but water after that.

I am also going to start taking vitamins again.  I bought another thing of chewables today (I swear - it's like eating gummy bears), and I also bought Fish Oil pills to help my Omega-3 intake.  I know they're super beneficial, but I've never taken 'em.  Time to start.  :)

The cool thing about the diet is that they strongly suggest you take one "free" day per week.  This means that you eat whatever the heck you want.  My free day will be Saturday, and my exercise-free day will be Sunday.

I am really, really excited to see what this workout and eating plan will do for me.  Hopefully nothing but good things: I have to look good in a bridesmaid dress in August.  :)

Okay: time to get a few last-minute things before I have to go back to school tomorrow.  It's shocking how fast a break can go, especially when you're super productive.  I will for sure be back tomorrow with a recap of my first day of bootcamp and Abs Diet!  

Get excited - I sure am!!!