Deck of Doom Challenge

A bunch of years ago my buddy Adam in MA introduced me to using a deck of cards as a workout tool. I've since given it the name "Deck of Doom." Here's how it works:
Assign a different exercise to each suit in a standard deck of cards. Best bet is to write them down on something that is large enough to read easily. I prefer either a whiteboard or a 4x6 index card (pictured below).
Shuffle the deck like crazy, then place in a pile, face down.
Turn over top card.
Match the suit on the card to the chosen exercise. Do the exercise for the number of reps indicated on the card.
Turn over next card, repeating until the deck is done. If you use Jack=11, Queen=12, King=13, and Ace=1, you will end up doing NINETY-ONE reps of each exercise. I usually keep the jokers IN, but assign them something different, outside of the theme of the day. Then I give it a time frame. For example Joker=30 second plank.
The first time (few times?) you try a Deck of Doom workout, it might be a good idea to remove the face cards.
For me, the beauty of the DoD is that you don't know which exercise or how many reps are coming up! You might have just done 13 burpees, and then the next card is 12 burpees! BOOM! Or, it might be 1 jumping jack. You just never know...

Feeling a bit inspired today, I wrote up three different Deck of Doom workouts. I did one for lunch, and as I was writing about it in my log, I had the BRILLIANT idea to make a month long challenge out of it. Here it is:
For the month, DoD workouts will be done every other day (MWF, TThSa), with the same ones being done on the same day each week. I'm doing it Tues/Thurs/Sat. Here are the cards that I made; feel free to join in!!! Let me know here or on FB if you are in, and how you are doing!!!

 Mondays are OverHead Press, Curls, Face Pulls, and Chest Press.
Push, Pull, Push, Pull. See? You can use a cable machine or even resistance bands (Bodylastics!) for each of the exercises. What? You don't have bands???? Click my link in the right column and get yourself a starter kit! (affiliate link).

 Thursdays are leg day. BSS = Bulgarian Split Squat. Use weights if you want an extra challenge. For a BIG challenge, hold weight on ONE SIDE ONLY. The same side as the down leg.
Goblet squats and Mary Catherines round out the deck. Good times, good times. Good luck walking down stairs in a few days!

Ah, the Saturday workout. ABS. And cardio. And abs again. Good times.
Next week, on the same days, repeat the cards. The decks take about 15-20 minutes to get through, so you can use them as your whole workout or just part of it, depending how badass you are. Or do it TWICE, because you're cool like that.











Again, if you want to join in, let me know! I'll try to help keep the group somewhat accountable for the month!!

Meal Prep: friend or foe?

These days it is hard to follow a 'fitness personality' or trainer on IG without seeing at least ONE (hundred) pictures of what they've done for Meal Prep on a Sunday. AMIRITE?

Images range from the simple to the simply-no-way-am-i-going-to-do-that. Like this image, which at first glance has three meals a day for a week all prepped out. But when I counted, there are EIGHT days worth of three meals a day. Huh. Dude must work for The Beatles. Anyway, while I DO agree that meal prepping can be a huge time saver and be beneficial to MY lifestyle and food choices, it isn't for everyone.

And that, my friend, is the beauty of it all.

What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. What I believe is important to do is to TRY things like this. (I nearly said "try everything," but that's just ridiculous. I mean, who needs to try leprosy just to know they don't like it?) There are so many ways for us to be successful with our food intake, exercise regimen, mental health, etc., that I sincerely hope that you don't feel like there is only ONE WAY to succeed.

On the topic of meal prep, though, here's what I've found to work for me, most of the time: At the grocery store, I'll buy a couple packages of chicken thighs or leg quarters, or maybe even breast meat if it is on sale. If I am grilling it, I will remove the skin first (makes a HUGE FIRE if I don't), and marinade it in some sort of sauce or spice mix for a day or a few hours. Then I grill it all at once. While I'm doing that, I might make some brown rice and cook up some veggies. Or not, and plan salads for each day.

I have these nifty 3-compartment containers that work great for helping me portion out my foods. I'll put chicken in the two smaller ones and fill the large one with the rice/veggie or salad. I'll prep 5 like this so that I can have one a day for lunch at work. The containers stack nicely in the fridge at home and at work.

Show here is my lunch for the week. In the mornings it is so simple just to grab one, wrap it in a plastic grocery bag, and head to work. Do I prep my meals EVERY WEEK? OF COURSE I DO!  Nope. I'd be lying if I claimed that I did. I try to do it more weeks than not, and when I do, I find that my lunches are much more satisfying, my morning routine is a lot less stressful, and I don't spend as much money on food as I do when I don't prep. Good news all around, really.

Want to get started, but not sure what to do? Lemme give you some tips:

• Pick a healthy combination of foods that you enjoy
• Purchase them on a Saturday or early Sunday 
• Use Sunday afternoon to prep and store your meals
• Start SIMPLE. Sure, I'd LOVE to have salmon every day, but that just isn't going to happen

Are you already prepping? What are some tips you can pass on to the rest of us? Sharing is caring.

See you soon, 

BigZig

Crime Scene Soup

Although I am not a huge fan of soups, on occasion I will dive into a recipe that I run across either online or in a healthy lifestyle related magazine. This one came from a recent issue of Runner's World, but I modified it just a little bit. (Sorry, the link ISN'T to the original recipe, just their website.)

Why do I call it 'Crime Scene Soup?' Well, the original recipe doesn't call for beets, but I love beets, so I added beets. This changed the coloring to something that could be found at a crime scene. Perhaps we need to change genres of shows we're watching on The Netflix?

If you include the herbs, there are only NINE ingredients in this soup. Does that sound like too many? If anything, I might eliminate the onion. I can't really taste them anyway. Here's the list:

• 4.00 cloves, Garlic, raw
• 200 gram, Onion
• 200 gram, Sweet Potato
• 100 g, Carrots, raw
• 100 gram, Chopped Beets

• 1.50 cup, Beans, white, mature seeds, canned
• 2 tablespoon, Oil - Olive
• 4 cup, Organic Vegetable Soup Stock
• 0.50 tsp, Herbs De Provence

Heat the olive oil in a stock pot, then add garlic. After about a minute, add in the sweet potato, carrots, and beets. Stir around for a bit, then add in the onion and herbs. Pick whichever herbs you prefer, really. 

Once the heartier veggies start to sweat a bit, add in the beans (RINSED!) and stock. To reduce sodium in the recipe, use either low sodium stock or just plain old water.

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once cool, refrigerate and enjoy for lunches, etc. 

I plan to use this soup for lunches during some weeks, and as such I used 5 servings as the amount when I put this into my recipes on MyFitnessPal.