A fun spinning class, A review & Easy chinese food

Yesterday I went to a spinning class at the gym that confirmed how fancy is my gym 😉 Have you heard of RealRyder? A spinning bike that moves? 😯 It is a spin bike that moves side to side, which mimics banking a turn on a road bike. Learning how to make the bike lean to left and right was a bit challenging but the true challenge is when you stand up and pedal while trying to keep the bike relatively centered. The side-to-side movement of the bike feels almost like riding on the road. I was working way harder than normal spinning class. In 45 min I was all sweat and could feel my abs and arms working a lot more. If you have a chance to try one, I highly recommend it. It’s a lot of fun! 😀

Breakfast was all GREEN 😀

a GM made with spinach, almond milk, frozen banana and GREEN MAGMA barley grass

I received this a while ago from Stephanie and finally remembered to try it 😉

Benefits of Green Magma:

•    Is made of organic barley grass powder that dissolves easily into water
•    Boosts energy levels
•    Enhances regularity
•    Improves skin, hair and nail condition
•    May have cardiovascular benefits
Recommended Use: Blend 2 teaspoons of Green Magma into 8 ounces of water or juice. Drink twice daily on an empty stomach for best results.

It does not have a strong taste like Amazing Grass, which is good because I prefer to have smoothies with the taste of the ingredients. In term of benefits? Sounds promising but I’ll have to let you know in about a month or so (if I can remember taking it everyday ;))

accompanied by two toasted homemade oat bread (I added the recipe) with avocado & LC.

Simple chinese food.

The chinese food that is served in restaurants is unhealthy and time consuming to prepare it. Furthermore, it’s not the real chinese food that chinese people eat at home. What we have then? Here’s an example of food that is healthy, simple and tasty 🙂

Chinese green bean and garlic (fresh garlic please!)

cut it by hand

neutral oil, minced garlic

Stir-fry for 1-2 min, add salt, 1/2 cup of water, cook covered at medium for 5 min and it’s done!

To make steamed egg I used 1 whole egg + 1 egg white, salt

hydrated dry scallops (optional)

For 1-2 eggs, add about 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt. Steam for 15 min

Ready~

I don’t like plain white rice so I made a mix of black rice, rolled oats and some unripped kabocha

dinner was served in <20 min 😀

Q: Do you like chinese food? What’s your favorite dish?

New into running

I’m a newbie in running. I started running outdoor in January (freezing), but to my surprise I found it fun. Then, I started to run more, maybe once or twice a week, 2-3 miles. I was hesitant to run more because I used to be the one who “judges” runners like those who just run to lose weight or eat more. I just didn’t get it! But each time that I run, I find my mind peaceful and clear; I find myself feeling glorious after the shower; every time that I run a little longer, it seems I’ve conquered a war. These feelings bring me back into running and I like it more and more. However, I was still not convinced if I have to take it seriously or not. I wasn’t sure if I should run races. My first 5k was good but not challenging because I was running more than 5k already. By April I was running 2-3 times a week, the longer run was +7 miles, but when I went to Shanghai for vacation, I took complete hiatus in running. I could have run in treadmill… but it wasn’t fun and I didn’t want to run just for the sake of running. I thought I was done with running when I came back and I’d go back to my normal workout routine (spinning, yoga and walking). I was wrong. I wanted to run. I miss those feelings that only running can give me. So, I put my running shoes again and just run without over analyzing it! Marvelous sensations are back. Then I decided to follow to flow and listen to my heart. If I want to run, I’ll run! If it proves I was wrong about runners, then admit it!

I signed up for 10k last week. I started to follow a training plan for half marathon. No no… I’m not running one any time soon, but I want to follow a running schedule to not over do it. Sometimes when runner’s high kicks in… I just keep going and I know too much too soon is not good.  I’ll keep writing about this running journey. It’s a totally new for me and I’m really excited. 🙂

Some tips that I found useful

How to avoid injuries:

• Do NOT overtrain. Many running injuries are a result of too much intensity, too many miles and too soon. It’s important to go easy when adding mileage or intensity to your training. You shouldn’t increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% each week.
• Invest in a good pair of shoes. Be sure that your shoes aren’t worn out and that you have the right model for your feet and running style. The wrong shoe can actually aggravate existing problems, causing pain in your feet, legs, knees or hips.
• Run in right surface. Ideally, you want the ground to absorb shock, rather than passing it along to your legs. Avoid concrete as much as possible.
• Stretch. It is extremely important to stretch before and after to warm the muscle and to avoid injuries. How? check out these.

Other important tips:

Drink enough. Runners need to pay attention to what and how much they’re drinking before, during and after exercise. Here are some simple rules for drinking and running:

• An hour before you start your run, try to drink 16 to 24 ounces.
• You should take in 6 to 8 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes during your runs. During longer workouts (90 minutes or more), include a sports drink (like Gatorade) to replace lost sodium and other minerals.
• Drink after your run. You should drink 20 to 24 fl oz. of water for every pound lost. If your urine is dark yellow after your run, you need to keep rehydrating. It should be a light lemonade color.

and finally good fuel. Green Monster is back!!! 😆

I started to add chia-seed into it

\

isn’t it beautiful? 😉

and it tastes great too! 😀

Q: What’s your thoughts about running/runners?

Talk less, show more ^_^

Today I’ll talk less, show more. 🙂 I was in the mood of taking pics to the making-process of breakfast and dinner (those eaten at home).

No juice yesterday because we were out of produce 😦 So I made a GM using

Rest of the breakfast

All together! A yummy combo! 😛

Work went WELL, actually GREAT. Why? Because I finally caught Carmen to discuss the progress of our paper that will be published in one of the top journal in our field! Isn’t it exciting? YEAH~~ I’m super EXCITED and HAPPY! All the effort and stress finally paid off! 😛

After we finished, it was 2PM and I haven’t had lunch yet. I was FAMISHED!!! If she hold me 5 min longer, I’d have to bite my arm! 😯

I didn’t bring lunch so I went to univ. Co-Op to get a sandwich which DELICIOUS. (maybe due to my extreme hunger;))

Oat bread, mustard, tofu spread and varieties of veggies.

The messy desk where I work and eat. 🙄

Dessert: decaf with soy milk and dark chocolate.

I didn’t read the small prints, so it caught me by surprise how SPICY was! Unfortunately I didn’t like it at all. So, instead I munchied on my rescue snacks.

Worked until 6PM and went home to have a quick snack (toasts with avocado and jam + Almond Milk) before going to the gym.

Dinner time!!! Guess what I had? Obviously something related with “noodles” since I just got the spiralizer.

Ingredients: shrimp, steamed broccoli

fresh blended tomato, zucchini noodles

Preparation: cook tomato sauce with 1 tbsp olive oil, blanch zucchini (1 min on the boiling water)

Add shrimp and broccoli, seasoned with salt, sugar, pepper and basil

Serve

Enjoy

It was AMAZING!!! Seriously, I haven’t had such a great homemade meal for a long time! Top Chef Coco is back! 😆

Dessert was the expected KABOCHA, a very ripped one! 🙂

Question: When was your last Top-Chef meal?