Challenge #4 Begins

The new Nerd Fitness Challenge has begun.  A lot is happening over the next six weeks.  I planned my goals around that, planning for days that will be hard to stay on focus.

Eating Goals:

• Primal, following The Primal Blueprint
• Other than below mentioned events, there will be no straying.  If I stray, I shall have to do 200 kb swings (Thanks CB for the idea), and tweet it for my public (well, fellow NF-ers anyway) humiliation.

• Menu - Create and follow it
• Water!  Not Crystal Light, Water!  (Ok… tea and coffee too)

Fitness Goals:

• Following the Primal Fitness eBook, (except I'll be doing 3x Lift Heavy Things per week)
• 1 Day Sprinting - 50 Meter running sprints, 6x per session. (Sunday)
• 3 Days Lift Heavy Things - Push-ups, Pull-Ups, Squats, Overhead Press & Planks (MWF)
• 3 Days Play - These will be mostly Jonas lead activity days, min 30 minutes per day, can be broken up into multiple play sessions.  Total time aim is 2-5 hours per week. Walks during my lunch breaks count towards my total time here. (TRS)
• Side Note: Tuesday: Family Skate Night, $5.50 per person includes skate rental… Done!

Life Goals:

Events: 

This go around we're going to go with things that will be happening in the next six weeks and how I'm going to deal with them.

• Family Reunion 9/10 (aka The Family Hootenanny): There will be paleo friendly food.  I'll have it and nothing else.  I'll also stick with water to drink, no moonshine!
• Dad's Birthday 9/13: I'll bring my own food for dinner & have 1/2 cup of ice cream, no cake.
• The Big Move Out 9/24 & 9/25: A lot of emotions will be running high this weekend.  My goal is to stay on goal no matter what emotions hit me.  There will be NO binge eating.
• Sister's Birthday 9/29: She's due to be having a baby any day, I am off this day so I will offer to make dinner for everyone.  I'll also have 1/2 cup of ice cream.
• New Baby's Birthday (Someday soon!): I can visit the hospital and not eat bad hospital food.  I can eat before I go so I'm not tempted to eat on the drive to the hospital.

Personal Fun Stuff:

Because I need some fun and excitement in my life!

• I'm putting in a reading goal.  I read a lot, but never really kept track of the number of books or anything.  So my goal is 6 books, yep an average of a book a week!
• Knitting Project - 500 rows complete by end of challenge.
• Hang a rope from the big tree in the backyard, try to climb said rope!

It's Called Being a Responsible Adult Stuff:

• Relay the back patio (Yes, this will be fun.  Lifting 50ish bricks, laying black paper and sand then putting the patio back into place).
• Weed the flower beds, put down more mulch.

Baked Chicken Thighs & Patty Pan Squash

This morning started with a trip to a local farmer's market.  Every week when I go, I like to try something new. This week, it was a patty pan squash.

Thanks to a "Chicken Fairy" I also have a ton of chicken parts (legs, thighs, breasts).  So dinner tonight was a combination of Baked (and stuffed) Chicken Thighs and the patty pan squash.

So what did I do with the squash?  I cut it up, put some butter, salt, pepper & fresh basil on it and cooked it in the oven, at 425 for about 40 minutes.  The result?  Tasty.  Not something I could eat a ton of, but it was a good side to the dish.

Onto the chicken.  I chopped up half a red onion, a couple basil leaves, some butter and put it into a bowl with a spoonful of crushed garlic.

Then, I peeled the skin off the chicken legs some, making a pocket and stuffing a spoonful of that mix under the skin.

When that was all done, I brushed the skin with some olive oil and dusted it with salt & pepper.

Into the oven they went!  425 for about 40 minutes...

Golden, brown and boy was it delicious!

My plate.  I also cooked up some green beans I had gotten at the market with a bit of the red onion and added a side salad of cucumbers & tomatoes from my garden, tossed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. This dinner was totally primal/paleo. As you can see, it was a lot of delicious food, most of which I picked or bought from the farmer's market this morning.  It was easy and quick (an hour total) to make.

Overall, this dinner got two thumbs up and a full tummy.  The chicken was so moist and delicious.  I will be doing similar techniques in the future, trying different "stuffings".

What do you guys think?  Do you like seeing various recipes that I make from time to time?