Recipe of the Week: Oven-Fried Spicy Chicken

I know it has been a while since I posted a recipe but I honestly hadn't made anything using any new recipes. I decided to get it together this week and try out some of 100s of recipes I have around here.

Ingredients:

1 cup corn flake crumbs (I just crushed up some Special K)

2 tsp chipotle chili powder (or regular chili powder)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

3/4 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp season salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

4 bone-in chicken thighs (I removed the skin)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375. Line backing sheet with aluminum foil. (I recommend spraying the foil with cooking spray because mine got stuck to the foil.)

2. In a bowl mix together buttermilk, 1 tsp cayenne pepper and seasoning salt. Place chicken in bowl to soak.

3. Meanwhile, mix corn flakes, chili powder, cumin, salt and rest of cayenne pepper in a large ziploc bag.

4. Remove chicken from bowl and place in bag. Shake until coated with cornflake mixture.

5. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 50-55 minutes or until golden and crispy and internal temperature registers 160. (I just want to say that having a probe hookup in your oven is wonderful.)

Nutritional Information per thigh: 285 calories, 18g fat, 21g protein, 9g carbohydrates

P90X - Week 6 or 7

I was nicely reminded by my good friend Dena that I've been slacking on my updates ;-). I won't even promise to do get back to daily updates but I can make weekly ones for sure.

My first week 5 didn't go so well because Mother Nature and I had a disagreement and I really didn't feel well enough for a week full of workouts. I made the decision to do week 5 over since I missed several of the workouts. That makes this week my new week 6. Only 6 more weeks to go.

Workouts:

This set of workouts incorporates two slightly different arm workouts. I like both of these workouts but I still have problems with the push-ups due to my wrists. Luckily doing them on my knees still provides a workout for my chest and arms. It does however cause rug burns on my knees which is definitely not a good look during the summer...

Body Changes:

My back fat has not decreased as much as I would like but I'm still keeping hope alive. My arms and legs are stronger and more toned. I'm excited because I'm only half way finished so if I keep it up then I'll have some really noticeable results.

Nutrition:

As I said before, I hadn't been doing as well as I should have concerning my eating habits. This week I have been very diligent and have recorded all of my food and exercise into my calorieking account. I have met my calorie goal every day so far and my carbs/protein/fat ratios haven't been too far off. Now if I can just stick with this for the next six weeks.....

Additionally, I went for a four mile run today and it was great. I had been feeling kind of frustrated the past few days and the run definitely made me feel better. I have to make sure to keep running as a part of my routine.

P90X Update - 1 Month Down!

I have not done a good job of keeping up with blogging about my P90X journey. After working in front of the computer all day, doing my workout and cooking dinner; I haven't felt much like blogging about anything.

Things are going great with the program. I am definitely getting a lot stronger and my muscles are becoming more defined. This gill of fat on my back isn't disappearing as fast as I'd like it to but that probably is because I haven't exactly stuck to the suggested meal plan. I have a lack of willpower when it comes to food. I should be able to pass up a burger and fries but for some reason I can't. If I didn't like to workout I'd probably weigh 300lbs.

This first month has gone by pretty fast. The workouts were challenging and haven't really gotten easier because I just work harder at them. The only part of the workouts I don't like are the push-ups. I have to do modified versions because I have problems with my right wrist. I can't bend it in the correct positions needed to do a regular push-up. I'm going to check with the doctor to see if there is a way to fix this. Since I can't work as hard on the push-up part I just put more effort into the other arm exercises .

So....1 month down and 2 to go. I'm definitely going to make it and hopefully will have some beautiful results to post for all to see. If this back fat isn't all the way gone then you'll only get a front shot, LOL.

P90X - 2 Weeks Down, 10 More To Go

Today I am starting on week 3 of this 12 week journey. I feel pretty good. My shoulders and glutes are a bit sore but overall I'm in less pain than I was at the end of week 1. I think the main reason I'm feeling sore is because on Saturday I added in an extra workout of bike riding and running. I hadn't been riding or running in a while and I felt surprisingly great. We did a brick workout of 10 mile ride + 1 mile run x 3. Oh and we got faster on the bike part each time (I can't say the same for the run portion, lol). I will definitely make a point to continue riding and/or running on the weekends while I'm doing P90X.

As far as workouts are concerned the 1st three weeks are exactly the same so there isn't anything exciting to discuss about that. I do feel stronger overall and the workouts are becoming slightly easier, a big emphasis on slightly. I have still yet to complete the entire abs ripper video. That thing is 15 minutes of pure torture!

My weight and body fat % has been fluctuating up and down for the past week so I'm not really sure what is going on with that. I will be honest and admit that I haven't been doing the best at following the diet plan like I should be. I'm going out of town at the end of this week so I know that I will probably make some poor food choices but I'm going to try my best not to get completely out of control. I'm going to take my laptop with me so that I can do the workouts in my hotel room.

I'm still motivated and going strong. I definitely feel I'm going to have some great results by the end of this thing.

P90X - Day 8 & 9 : Find the Burn

The guy that does the video is always telling you to "find the burn" well I found it all right. My muscles were burning just turning pages in my notebook today. I wonder how long it is going to take for the soreness to go away. Maybe it is going to be this way for the entire 90 days since the workouts switch so often. 

This week is just like last week so yesterday was chest & back and today was plyometrics. I still can barely make it through the plyometrics workout and I really thought I was fit. I've run a marathon and complete a triathlon, geez! Apparently this workout doesn't care because it is kicking my butt anyway.

The good news is that I have lost 2 pounds and reduced my body fat slightly (only 1% but hey it is an improvement). Also I feel great which is extremely motivating. I hope everyone else is doing wonderful as well.

P90X - Day 6 & 7: Don't Wear Heels

I'd like to start off this blog post with a word of warning. It is not a good idea to do the Legs & Back workout and then go dancing at the club in 3-inch heels. That is unless you are attempting to start a new dance craze called "The Charlie Horse". Seriously, trying to strut walk through the club + your calf muscle seizing up on you = massive fail. I certainly learned my lesson.

Day Six was scheduled to be the Kenpo and Day Seven was the rest or Stretch X day. Due to the holiday and the fact that I could barely walk on Saturday I chose to switch the order around and do the Kenpo today.

Kenpo was great! It is a type of martial arts so it was basically a bunch of kicking and punching. I feel like I could beat someone up pretty bad right now, LOL. Just like all of the other workouts you get out of it what you put in. If you are punching lightly then you don't get the same workout you would if you are punching with force. I went all out. I pretended I was punching all of the people things that annoy me. I think this will be one of my favorite workouts of the bunch. There are still about 5 more that I have yet to do so I don't want to speak too soon. 

After the workout was over and I was eating dinner my arm was trembling just picking up my fork....so yeah, this was a serious workout.

P90X Day 3, 4 & 5

Clearly my plan to give an update everyday is not on track. Oh well, I'll make an effort to do better but the way these workouts are kicking my butt I don't feel like blogging afterwards. So here's a recap on the past few days.

Day 3 - Shoulders & Arms:
I'm excited about this workout. I really want some of those sexy, muscular arms and I feel like this will help me get there. This was probably the easiest workout thus far but still not easy by any means. Currently I'm using bands in place of the pull-up bar because I can only do half of a pull-up. Not to mention the fact that I almost had a nervous breakdown trying to get my pull-up bar put together (it's still not together by the way). Tank tops here we come!

Day 4 - Yoga:
When I saw that day for was yoga I thought, score, finally a break. Umm NOT! The yoga was ridiculous. First of all it is an hour and a half which is 30 minutes longer than the other workouts. The first 30 minutes where a version of power yoga where we were moving the entire time. I was fine up until about the last 8 minutes, at that point I had to skip out on some of the upward dogs because my arms just couldn't take it anymore. The next 30 minutes was balance poses which wasn't too tiring but it definitely was challenging. The last portion was yoga abs which I'm hoping will help sculpt my abs of steel.

Day 5 - Back and Legs:
I'll just say that my calf seized up and I almost started crying during this workout. I thought I had pretty strong legs but I don't have P90X legs (yet).

General Thoughts:
This has been great so far. Hard but great. I like doing the workouts along with the video because it keeps me going. There is no way I'd complete one of these workouts on my own. I've been doing pretty good on my diet but I still need to lower my carb intake slightly.