Welcome Alexis "Lexi" Nicole Edwards

The news finally came yesterday around 1pm!!! Lexi and Mom are both healthy and doing well! Gosh, what a relief! I will be heading to the hospital tonight to act as paparazzi so expect a facebook album with in the next few days. :).

Tomorrow is my big weigh in at WW so I'm taking it easy today. I started off with a great work out though. 40 mins of cardio (20 on the running efx and 20 mins walking at an inclineon the treadmill) and some legs. I love walking at an incline. It's a harder work out for me sometimes than running. I usually set the speed anywhere between 3.3 and 4.0 depending on what the incline is. Today I was at an 18 incline for 2 mins and I had to be at 3.3 so I wouldn't fly off the tread. How embarassing would that be??? My incline chart today is listed below:

1 - 4 mins - Speed at 3.8/Incline at 12
4 - 8 mins - Speed at 3.6/Incline at 15
8 - 12 mins - Speed at 3.8/Incline at 9
12 - 14 mins - Speed at 3.3/Incline at 18
14 - 16 mins - Speed at 3.4/Incline at 16
16 - 18 mins - Speed at 3.5/Incline at 14
18 - 20 mins - Speed at 3.0/Incline at 6

Def try this out! It's a great work out and I can feel it in my legs and booty.

I also realized that I hate it when strangers/trainers talk to me at the gym. If a trainer is trying to sell their services, I get extremely frustrated and tell them I'm not interested. It stinks trying to avoid them each day at the gym, but it makes me work harder.

This morning a random stranger asked me about my ipad. I told him briefly that I use it for reading while doing cardio and sometimes look at the Self Magazine work out routines. This guy wanted to look at the ipad, check out the apps, etc. I had no interest in selling this apple product to him. He also happened to be the sweatiest person at the gym. When he wasn't looking I walked away and left to get ready for work. Probably rude of me, but I was on a time crunch this am.

My meal plan for the day:
Pre-gym - Kellogg's Choco Drizzle Cereal Bar. This 90 calorie treat gives me enough energy to get moving in the am.
Breakfast - Starbucks Turkey Bacon sammy - this has 9 points so I am not going to make this a habit. I didn't know it was so many points!! I can re-create it at home for less points. (note to self...try this on Sat am!)
Lunch - I brought soup for lunch today. I plan on enjoying this with about 20 oyster crackers
Snack - Banana
Dinner - I have 2 ideas for dinner tonight. Barefoot Contessa has a great shrimp scampi recipe I have been dying to try (recipe is below.) I may not feel like getting to carbed up, so I may save this for next week. The other option is chicken enchiladas. I would just try a very small portion and include a salad with my meal. We shall see...

Linguine with Shrimp Scampi - Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt plus 1 1/2 teaspoons
3/4 pound linguine - i use whole wheat
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 pound large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 lemon, zest grated
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Directions:
Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.

Doesn't this look great!!!

I also found a new great recipe on Hungry Girl which I want to try out soon.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza - 1 serving

Ingredients:

1 high-fiber or whole-wheat pita
1/2 tsp. dry ranch dressing/dip mix
1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese, room temperature
2 oz. cooked and chopped skinless lean chicken breast
1 tsp. Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, or more to taste
1 tbsp. reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping
1 tbsp. chopped scallions

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Place pita on the sheet and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine ranch mix with cheese wedge and thoroughly mix. Spread evenly onto the pita, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge.

In another small bowl, toss chicken with hot sauce. Scatter saucy chicken over the ranchy cheese layer, and sprinkle evenly with Parm-style topping.

Bake in the oven until hot and toasty, 10 - 12 minutes.

Sprinkle with scallions, slice into quarters and, if you like, top with a little extra hot sauce.

Both of these look great! I love sharing recipes, so if you have any that you recommend, please send to me at peri.kaplan@gmail.com

I have a WW buddy now at work that I like to swap recipes with. There is nothing better than having a support system at work!

Have a great day! One more day until the weekend. Monster and I have a date tomorrow night with RJ Hull. I know there are a few readers that are jealous :).

PK