CHANGE IS GOOD

For those of you who haven't seen Recreate Fitness, the gym I work out at....here is kind of a birds eye view of half the gym.

I had a great time at the gym today and even had some fun shooting some photos with Matt and Tina during some of the classes. I think Tina is catching the camera bug, she seemed to have fun trying new lenses and playing with different angles. She got some really cool shots.

I got a new PR in class today. I did 20 kipping pull ups, my previous record was 15 on Jan. 3rd. I think my hands gave out before anything else, I need to toughen up these small little dough-boy hands. :)

Sean was my partner for the work out today and we were cruising right along. ( We even found a way to keep good form and still shave a few seconds off our wall ball time. ) But then we hit the atomic push ups and for what ever reason we thought we had to do 100 instead of 50. I think we just about hit 100 and I think it was Devon who pointed it out to us. We were struggling through those last 2o or so towards the end. Oh well, it was a great chest work out and I am sure my chest will be sore tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I am attempting snowboarding for the 1st time in 12 years and back then I only went twice. The first time I thought I was getting the hang of it until I bit it really bad and someone came up to help me and said, " Are you okay? That is the worst accident I have ever seen!" The second time was much more enjoyable because I took a lesson and made it through the day without wiping out. ( I can't say that much for my brother in law who spent half the day getting x-rays from his fall) Now that I am thinking of all this, it probably isn't too smart of me to go tomorrow since these bad accidents seem to follow me around on the slopes. LOL I am going to take it easy and just enjoy the snow and friends. I will let you know if I made it back in one piece tomorrow.

I can't remember the whole work out because I had to run out after class and didn't write it down. But it was good and long and hard! :) Just the way we like them.

Food:
6:30 am oatmeal with protein, glutamine, flax
10:15 am protein, water
11:30 am protein bar
4:00 pm celery, almond butter, protein and water
7:00 pm crab salad, cheese, fruit
8:00 pm eggnog bread pudding

Spidey is the man, he can do the alligator on his fingertips! hahaha

We did push presses today and they felt really good. I have been staying kind of light because of the lower back pain I was having while doing this lift. I knew the pain was from the bad form I had when bringing the weight back down after the press. So, I finally figure it out and was able to start moving back up in weight. I finished off my fifth set at 175, but I felt like I could have moved up to 195. I think we have a couple more weeks of this, I am hoping to get over 200 by the end of this lift.

Workout:

Strength: 5 sets of 3
Push press 115/125/135/145/155/175
5 dead hang pull ups 5x

WOD:

Run 2 laps
30-20-10
DB deadlift - 30 lbs
DB pushpress - 30 lbs
Run 2 laps

Time: 8:40

at home...rowed 5000 meters in 21:10

Food:
6:30 - Oatmeal with my stuff. :)
8:30 - protein, water
11:30 - protein, water
12:30 - Chicken Gyro / light sauce
2:30 - 3 celery sticks, 1/4 cup almond butter, protein water
6pm - telapia, asparagus, steamed veggies
9pm - protein, water

It's time to play....name that work out! I am not sure if Nathan has a name for this yet, but it needs one.

I really liked this work out, it is one of those WOD's that make you feel good to finish. I felt really good today after taking a day off for rest. Between the cert, and travel I was feeling pretty out of it so I didn't work out on Tuesday. I woke up Tuesday morning down in Medford and you know that saying, "Listen to your body" well when I got up, I heard more popping and cracking then I think I have ever heard from my body. So I took the day off and woke up this morning feeling great! Thank God!!!

Work out

Row 1000m
50 pushups
50 2 hand swings / 24k
50 jumping pull ups
50 sit ups
50 med ball cleans / 20 lbs
50 kb high pulls each arm / 35 lbs
50 ball slams / 20 lbs
50 ring rows
250 jump rope

Time was 28:55

Food:
6 am - My normal oatmeal
9 am - protein, water
noon - Beat Salad, cheese, walnuts
3 pm - 1/4 cup almond butter, 3 celery sticks
6 pm - 8 oz chicken, 2 cups of cooked veggies
9pm - protein, water

We did "Jackie" today for a benchmark work out. It was a great work out and was pretty happy with my time. ( I think it was 10:04) I don't have anything to compare it to yet, but it felt like a good start.

Work Out:

Front Squats 135/135/145/155 all were 5x
spidermans

"Jackie"
row 1000 meters
50 thrusters 45 lbs.
30 pullups

Food:

oatmeal, glutamine, flax oil, protein
protein, water
chicken salad
protein, water
ahi tuna salad

I completed the Basic Barbell Cert this weekend over at Crossfit hel with Mark Rippetoe teaching. We went over so much information in about 19 hours of class time, there is a lot to soak in but with Mark's books he gave us, I can look a little deeper into some of the topics. So Saturday we did the back squat, press, and bench press. Then on Sunday we did the Dead lift and the power clean. Mark went into so much detail of the skeletal system and positioning of the bar, and how to lift and what to lift with, etc... It just all clicked and made sense. Way too much information to talk about right now. It was great experience to learn these lifts and then also to coach them. I really like that style of teaching. Here is the order in which I liked the exercises from best to least.

Low Back Squat 45/45/95/135/165/185/185 all x5
Dead lift 135/135/225/275/275 all x5
Press 45/45/95/115/115/135 all x5
Bench Press 45/45/90/185/225/ allx5
Power clean 45/45/95/105/105/105 all x3

I am wiped out after this weekend! Hopefully I will get a good night sleep.

Food over the weekend was not so good. I ate when I could eat and it wasn't always the best. Back on it tomorrow!

So today was a "play day" at the gym...basically work on techniques and such. I ended up doing a 10 minute kettle bell-snatch drill that I have been wanting to try. So it was competition rules...do as many kettle bell snatches in 10 minutes without putting the kettle bell down and only switching arms one time. Nathan set me up with a 16k competition kettle bell and off I went. About 3 minutes into this thing I started thinking, "what the hell was I thinking" My shoulder was on fire by that time but I knew that if I switched now I would not be able to do do 7 minutes with my other arm. So I pressed on and I think there was about 5.30 left on the clock I switched to my right arm. Again, 2 to 3 minutes in on my right and it got rough.....by the last minute I wanted to put it down so bad...I could no longer open my hand in the rest position because it was cramping so bad and so did my forearm. Tina started counting down that list minute for me which really helped and I was able to complete the whole 10 minutes. When I was done.....I was done! I got 119 I think. It felt good to accomplish that though. I highly recommend trying it sometime. :)

Food:
oatmeal with the usual.
chicen sandwich
protein, water
steamed veggies and 4 oz of chicken, 1 piece of home made bread.
protein, water

I love doing the Kettlebell lifts. Tonight we did one arm swings and snatch. I used a 20k comp bell and felt good, in fact the snatch seemed to go up fairly easy when I kept proper form for the whole 15 minutes. I am hoping that we will try a 10 minute snatch challenge soon. I would like to see if I can go 10 minutes with only 1 arm switch.

So next time I get the bright idea of doing 6 days in a row, please slap me!!! What the *%#$ was I thinking? Today's work out was the first one since last Saturday that I felt like I was getting my strength back. I had worked out on Monday and Tuesday and took Wednesday off. I may have been fighting off a cold or something too, all I have wanted to do the past 4 days was sleep. I was still and tired coming into tonights work out but by the time we got done with out push presses I was fired up and ready to attack the WOD. Now I feel hyper and probably won't be able to sleep good tonight. :)

Workout:

Warmup
3 rounds
5 Windmills- 35
5 overhead squat with kettlebell- 20
Farmers walk- 32k

Skill
Push Press 6x5- 135/135/155/155/155/135
Cross chop to halo- 10 / 35 lb

WOD
How many rounds in 15 mins?
5- L 1 arm swing
5- R 1 arm wing
5- L arm snatch
5- R arm snatch
10- pushups
12 rounds with 20k kb

Food:

6:30 Oatmeal, glutamine, flax oil, protein
9:00 protein, water, glutamine
12:30 a little calamari, chicken salad
7:30 oatmeal, protein
( not a good day for my diet )

I was taking a look around at some rope climbing vidoes today and I came across this guy doing a one arm rope climb. Check it out.




Work out kicked my ass today. Still a little confused why....I usually like the Tabata drills.

Skill

Dead hang pull ups. 5/5/4/4
dips 5/5/5/5
KB snatch 5 each arm - 22k/28k/28k/32k

WOD
"tabata" (20 sec. sprint 10 sec. rest.) 6 times at each station

Bear Crawl
Combative rope
S.D.H.P KB 24k/24k/24k/24k/45lb/45lb
jumping pull ups

At home : Rowed 2000 meters for Fat Elvis

Food:
6:30 Oatmeal with protein, glutamine, flax oil
9:30 protein with water and glutamine
12:00 Chicken salad
2:30 Fat Elvis (wow that was good)
6:00 8 oz Ahi tuna, 4 asparagus spears, salad
9:30 protein, water, glutamine

Great work out tonight, I have really been trying to make sure I have good form in my work outs for two reasons, the first was because I wanted to make sure I didn't injure myself and the second goes along with what Nathan talked about a few months ago in class and that was that the WOD's are not a race, he would rather see us use good form and finish last then see us be sloppy and finish fast. Some people can do both.....good form and finish fast, it is a beautiful thing....someday! :) Also, Sean has been talking about it in his blog a few times the past couple months ( you can read here )and since I started really watching my form and trying to get full range of motion I have seen huge gains and feel much stronger.
So I just wanted to second Sean's post...for me it seems to be the best way to hit these work outs. I still struggle through some things with form, but I really appreciate Nathan, Tina and the other trainers correcting me and setting me straight.

Work out:

Skill:
5 rounds of barbell front squats.
Ended up at 145#'s on my last set.
10 ring pushups.

WOD:

7 rounds
7 med ball cleans
7 burpees
7 ring rows
Time: 11.53

What a week! First off I was happy to get on the scale today and see that I lost 3 more pounds this week. So I went to RF 6 times in a row this week kind of as an experiment. I wanted to see how my nutrition would help my recovery time in between work outs. I did good until Friday night and after we went all out on that row it took a long time to recover. On Saturday's work out it caught up to me, I was exhausted and put up crappy numbers for the WOD. So I am going to go back to 4 work outs next week and maybe rotate that with a 5 every other week. So today is my rest day, I am going to relax and try not to do too much. Although it is nice outside, it would be a good day to do something out there.

Work-out:
Skill
DB Cleans ( I think ) got up to 50 lb DB's
pull ups

WOD
1 minute at each station / 4 rounds / 3 min.rest between rounds

Box jumps
DB Thrusters (30 lbs)
Slam Ball (20 lbs.)
row for calories

Food:
Toast with peanut butter
oatmeal with protein, glutamine, protein, flax oil
protein, water
Broiled telapia (love that recipe), asparagus, brown rice
protein, water
toast
chicken breast, pasta, marinara

What a fun night at the gym! Nathan introduced some of us to "Beam Ball" at the end of the work out. I can't explain it, you will have to experience it for yourself. All I can say is it is fun and exhausting all at the same time. Look for it in the 2012 Olympic Games. :)

So tonight we did a benchmark 500 meter row. Sean and I have been talking about technique and damper settings for a little while now so now it was time to put what we have been talking about to the test. So Sean, Ben and I decided to row together at the same time....rowing next to these guys got me psyched up and I knew I had to go all out to keep up with them. So Nathan counts us down...3....2....1......GO! Sean busts out of the gate just flying! I was thinking in my head....Damn this guy is fast, I look out of the corner of my other eye and here goes Ben...holy crap...these guys are animals. So I pick it up a little knowing that I don't have that kind of stamina yet I started pulling hard with my back to get anything extra. So we get to the last 100 meters and I put everything I had into it and by the last 50 meters my butt started cramping up and I was going to start slowing down until I hear Tiffany and Nathan screaming at us to keep going! After hearing them yell the meters just went quick and we were done.
Ben - 1.27.6 ( I think)
Sean - 1.27.8 ( I think)
Aaron - 1.28.8 My previous PR was 1.39. I was shocked!!

After that, we were all spent and couldn't do much for about 15 minutes. It was great to row with those guys, but I don't want to do it again anytime soon. :)

Food:
7:30 Oatmeal with protein, flax oil, glutamine
9:30 banana / 2 string cheese
11:30 6oz low sodium tuna, 1 tablespoon low fat mayo, 1 tablespoon grainy mustard, 2 pieces of romaine lettuce and 2 pieces of homemade whole wheat bread.
3:00 protein, water, glutamine
4:00 2 pieces of string cheese
8:00 chicken salad
10:30 protein, water

`So as a few of you know one of my hobbies is photography. I was talking to Matt G. tonight a little about it and made me realize that I haven't been spending much time behind the lens. I thought I would put up a few photos that I took while Shannon and I were in Europe this year. We had such a great time and I love going back through some of these photos and reminiscing. Hopefully someday we will make it back.

I have to admit, I saw this workout on the board and was a little worried..especially if you look down and see what I ate for diner at 5:00 and then I worked out at 6:30. But I have to say, I loved that workout. I think that might have been one of the toughest work outs I have done yet at RF. I feel really good and have a lot of energy right now, I am not sure if it is the change in the diet or just pumped from the workout. Either way I feel great!

Workout:
(mini leg circuit - 10 air squats/5 lunges/5 jumping lunges/5 jumping squats)

run around building 2 times
bear crawl the length of the gym
mini leg circuit
25 pull ups
100 Russian twists 16k
100 mountain climbers
mini leg circuit
25 1 arm snatches (each arm) 16k
50 push ups
75 2 hand swings 24k
mini leg circuit
row 100 meters

Time - 27.51


6:30 1/2 cup oatmeal,glutamine,flax,1/2 scoop protein / 6 egg whites with 1 yolk
9:00 protein, water
11:00 Tuna sandwich made with 6-oz. can low sodium tuna fish, 2 slices whole-wheat bread, 1 Tbsp. fat-free mayo, 2 leaves romaine lettuce.
1:00 protein, water

I am going to experiment with a couple things in my diet the next couple days to try and give myself a little more boost in my workouts. Tina pointed out to me that I am probably not getting enough fat (good fats) in my diet. The only real source I was getting was the flax oil that I was putting in my oatmeal. Which is an excellent source but I was only getting about 15 - 20 grams a day total when I should be getting between 30-35. She was totally right and made a lot of sense, so I am going to try to find some good sources to add through my day. Hopefully it will balance everything out. Thanks for the advice Tina!

Today was my first attempt at doing front squats. It was quite the learning experience, I think I was getting the hang of it by my last set. The last 2 sets Nathan got me to find a good spot for the bar but I have a hard time keeping my left knee from leaning in while I push out of the squat position. I will get it though, my last set felt pretty good. I need to work on opening up my hips too. They have been very tight lately.

The WOD was short but tough, we did 10 minutes of rowing for calories and slam balls rotating every minute. When I started 2 and 1/2 months ago I did a one on one training with Nathan and he had me do rowing and slam ball and if I remember right he had me row 250m and do 10 slam balls.....well I finished the first round of rowing and slam ball and I almost started pukin' so we stopped there. So it was a little gratifying to knock out 10 minutes at a pretty hard pace.

Work out:

Skill
Front Squats 65/95/115/135/135
8 ring rows 5x
5spidermans 5x

WOD

10 minutes - rotate every 1 minute and combine numbers for score
rowing for calories 94
slamball 20 lb ball 104
total 198

Food:

6:30 Oatmeal/flax oil/glutamine/protein
9:00 protein/80z water/glutamine
12:30 Chicken Gyro
3:00 protein/8oz water/glutamine
5:30 4 oz chicken, 1 cup steamed string beans, 1 piece of homemade trail-mix bread
7:00 protein/8oz water/glutamine

I had a lot of fun on Friday helping out with the move.  It was great to see how many people helped with the move, I think with that crew we could move my entire house in an hour.  It was pretty cool and sad to see how fast we emptied out the old gym.  I am going to miss that small space but "Change is Good" and the new place is awesome!  I look forward to getting back to the Olympic style lifting again.  The only thing I have really done so far is the Dead-lifts so I look forward to learning more.  

I was getting pretty good at pacing myself during work outs lately.....until today! I am not sure but when I was doing the KB dead lifts and 250m rowing sprint....on my last set I went all out and when I was done rowing I couldn't get off of the rower because my butt muscles cramped up on me. I am guessing between the leg circuit yesterday and then going heavy on the kb lifts and then pushing so hard on the rower my muscles said, that's enough! Then we went to the wheel thing and did leg curls and plank inchworm things on that. By the time I made it to the 3rd station for turkish get ups I started feeling like I could puke if I didn't slow down. I think Nathan has a good knack on picking people out who feel that way. I thought I was looking normal and resting and he walked right over to me and asked if I was going to puke. hahaha He has a gift! :) Anyways, I only completed 2 sets of the 3rd station because I was spent. Great work out though! Love those grinds.

Workout ( I am going to have a hard time remembering this)

Med ball circuit 2x
15 push ups 2x

WOD
Grind
4 rounds of each

double KB deadlift 24k/28k/32k/36k
row 250m

Wheel thingie:
Plank inchworm ( I dont think that is what it is called)
leg curls

3 turkish get ups each side
10 kb plank rows 16k
I only finished 2 rounds of this.

Food

6:30 am oatmeal with protein/flax oil/glutamine
8:30 am 8oz water/protein/glutamine
noon Chicken gyro with light sauce
3:00pm 8oz water/protein/glutamine
5:30 pm 4 oz salmon, 2 cups of steamed veggies, 1/2 cup of steamed brown rice, 1/2 piece of home made jalapeno bread (very good)
8:00 pm 8oz water/protein/glutamine

So this is what we will all look like if we lift our kettlebells, eat right and take our vitamins right? If anyone does end up like this, please don't come to class in a speedo!!! haha
Anyways, I have really liked working with kettlebells and have started looking into some of these competitions that are held. While they are kind of boring to watch videos of, I am sure actually doing the competing would be a great experience. I would like to try and do a couple competitions someday. There is a lot to learn about techniques and strategy...and not to mention I just need to get stronger.

The gym work out was great tonight. We did every one's favorite thing....Leg Circuit! I have grown to like the leg circuit even though I still struggle through it, I think my form has come a long way. I also know my legs need it, I have always had such weak and scrawny legs.
We also worked on our 1 arm swing, hi-pull, snatch. I moved up to 24k for the first time doing this. It was a big difference and I can tell at that weight you better have your form right or you will feel it.

Work out:
Skill
10 Partner Kettle bell swing - 24k 4x
5 kb swing, hi-pull, snatch - 24k 4x
10 plate squats

WOD
4 rounds
Leg circuit
15 kb swings - 24k
15 pushups
Time - 17.03
Food:

Breakfast - Oatmeal/protein/glutamine and 1 banana
snack - protein and water
Lunch - Subway 6 inch chicken breast sandwich on whole wheat
Snack - protein and water
Dinner - 4 oz chicken/peppers/onions/asparagus

Lots O Water!

Not much going on today. In Seattle today...worked, went to a movie, went to dinner and now I am watching the biggest loser and blogging. Man there are some big people on there this season. Maybe I should have held out before losing all my weight and applied for the show. hahaha

No work out today.....rest day

Food

Breakfast - Oatmeal/protein/glutamine
snack - protein and water
lunch - pear salad with grilled chicken and 1 piece of bread
snack - protein and water
dinner - seared ahi/half cup rice and salad with pecans

I had to head up to Seattle today for work. I wanted to find something to do after work while I am up here so I decided to find a swimming pool in the area to give swimming a try. So I found one and went at it for about 30 minutes. Now, I am no Olympic swimmer by far and if I am going to keep doing this I have a lot to learn. But by the end, I was pretty exhausted and felt good. I think I will stick with this while I travel for awhile and see how it goes.

Workout

Skill
5 rounds
5 /1 arm kb clean and push press 22k/22k/28k/32k/32k
weighted lunges / 18lb/18lb/25lb/25lb/25lb
8 ring rows 5x

WOD
30/20/10

25 DB Thrusters
24k 2 hand swing
pushups
Time 10:04

30 minutes of swimming


Food:

6am - Oatmeal/protein/flax oil/glutamine

9am - protein/water

11:30 - Chicken Salad

3pm - protein/water

6pm - Chicken, veggies, fruit

You know it was a good week at the gym when you wake up on Sunday morning and just about every muscle in your body is sore. hahaha Well it wasn't quite that bad, but I am still sore from Friday's leg circuit. Then of course on Saturday's partner work out I tried to push pretty hard to keep up with my partner Sean. He was great to work out with and kept pushing me to do more at times when I was feeling sluggish and thought I couldn't push it. Thanks Sean!

So Shannon and I were out with some friends last night and we ran into Tiff and Christina at Bartinis and it was pretty funny because Tiff jokingly asked me how I was going to manage drinking Martinis and watch my calorie intake at the same time. I quickly reverted back to something I heard earlier that day about the 80/20 rule......with a twist. Eat 80% good all the time and 20% of whatever you want the rest. I think I used the whole 20% last night for the whole week! hahaha Actually a friend of mine who is a competitive body builder has lived by eating really good during the week and pick one day to blow it. That doesn't mean go out and gorge until you drop....but if you crave that pizza, burger, etc.... Have it on that day, he said it is really important to do that. I thought he was full of it, I thought I could eat perfect all the time and I found out that is not as easy as it sounds. You need that break to enjoy food, God knows there is so much good food in Portland to enjoy. Oh and Tiff...just in case you were wondering, I did row this morning! hahaha

Work out

Skill
max pull ups - 15 kipping
max push ups - 40

WOD
partner work out with Sean

1500m row(500,500,250,250)
10-1 ladder
push press(30lbs)
mt climbers
box jumps
ring holds for 2min
18:46

Food
Breakfast - oatmeal/flax oil/glutamine/protein
snack - protein/glutamine/water
lunch - San Sai - 1 sushi roll, small greens salad
snack - 2 dot size cupcakes from St. cupcake
There was no real dinner, lets just say from 3pm until 1 am I ate the following,
1 banana
1 slice of pizza
2 Coors light
half of a salad
a few chips with artichoke dip
2 martinis
fruit and cheese fondue
2 pieces of seared ahi tuna

So I have never been one for "New Years Resolutions" but with a name on my blog like "Change is Good" I had to come up with at least an idea of what I want out of this year. Not necessarily goals set in stone, but more of an outline on things I want to accomplish. I stumbled upon this video this morning that I thought was really good and should help when you are setting goals for yourself.



Getting back to these ideas, the gym is a gimme. I am already committed to going to the gym 4-5 times a week and have done so the last 2 months. RF has become an addiction! hahaha So some things I want to do that are fitness related in 09 outside of the gym are...

1. Try new "sports" A few of you have already given me some good ideas. A few that I want to do within the next couple months are snowshoeing and indoor rock climbing.

2. Hiking/backpacking. I want to climb to the top of Mt. St. Helen's and try some challenging hikes like that. I also want to do some easier day hikes with my family and help them stay active.

3. Keep improving the foods I eat and the foods I give my kids.

So that is some basics things that I have been thinking about. Good luck to all of you in 09! Remember...CHANGE IS GOOD!!!

WOD for Jan 2.

20 Heavy 2 hand swing 45lb/24k/28k/24k
row 250m - 4 times

Leg circuit - 4 times
10 jackknives - 4 times

3 turkish get ups - 1 time
10 knees to elbows - 1 time

Food:
Breakfast - Oatmeal with flax oil, glutamine and protein
Snack - protein, glutamine with water.
Lunch - 1 egg with a light english muffin and 1 banana
snack - 2 slices of homemade bread
Dinner - chicken, black beans, corn, cheese over 1 cup of brown rice
snack - small frozen yogurt

I was watching the video that Tina created of Recreate Fitness and 2008 that she posted to the blog today and it just amazes me how far they have come in basically one year. Since I have only been coming for a little over 2 months it was great to see some of the transformations that people have made from when the started till now. Thank you to Nathan, Tina, Melissa and all the other trainers for the great work outs in 2008 all of you are truly inspirational. I can't wait to see the changes that are in store for me in 2009.

What a way to start off the new year with a great work out. We did the 20/10 work out which is very hard but I really like the format. I am usually absolutely spent by the end of this type of work out and today was no different. My forearms, biceps and shoulders were toast by the end....it was all I could do to just keep a grip on the rings for ring rows. As a matter of fact as I am sitting here typing this I am watching my shoulder have muscle spasms. hahaha

Recipe idea

So I had this idea and I don't know how or if I will keep it up, but I wanted to pass along quick and easy dinner ideas that we eat here at home. I am all about easy and cheap cooking. A lot of what I make at home I kind of just toss things together and most of the time they turn out pretty good and pretty healthy. If any of you have recipes to share, I encourage you to post them on your blogs or pass them on to me, I am always looking for new food ideas at home. So I am going to start this off by posting a meal that I ate a lot of while losing weight.

Main ingredient Shopping List: (serves 2)
Frozen or fresh shrimp ( I use frozen shrimp from Costco )
Frozen or fresh veggies (I use frozen mixed veggies )
Frozen steamer packs of brown rice

What I do is cook my shrimp on a George Foreman grill, if you don't have one you can just add a little bit of olive oil to a fry pan and cook for about 4 minutes on medium heat each side or until pink. Cook 16, that will be 8 for each person which equals 4oz of shrimp for each person. (Also, if you don't like shrimp, use chicken.)

We steam our veggies but you can buy some good frozen steamer veggie packs now that you can just throw in the microwave. You want to end up with about 2 - 3 cups of veggies to split.

Same with the brown rice, just throw it in the microwave it comes out great.

When the shrimp and veggies are done and hot, put them in a mixing bowl and add 2 teaspoons of Curry powder and 1 teaspoon of black pepper and mix it all together like you are tossing a salad. Then put a cup of rice on each plate and split up the mix. I like mine over the rice. Well that's it. As you can see everything is basically just heating up the food and serving it. From start to finish it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to make. This meal gives you a good balance of protein, starch, and vegetables and is low in Sodium. Let me know what you think.