Workout Wednesday V2

Name:  Josh Roberts
Age:  25
Occupation:  Josh is a certified personal trainer and martial arts instructor.  He also works with with mentally handicapped children, helping them get ready for their school day.  
Family Stuff:  Josh is married with one young daughter.

Teaching Tai Chi

Fun Fact:  Josh also works in the garden, growing vegetables and fruits and working at a local farmer's market.

1)  How many days per week do you work out, just for yourself?
I run to work most mornings, about 3/4 mile.  3-4 days a week I do body work, meaning weights and/or body weight conditioning exercises.  I practice martial arts 6-7 days a week.


2)  Do you keep your workout schedule the same each week or do you mix it up based on your busy schedule?
I mix it up each week just to fit it in.  Many of my workouts happen when I have a client cancel.

3)  As a personal trainer AND a Tai Chi instructor, do you have a preference when it comes to teaching?
For me it has more to do with the people I am teaching, helping them reach their goals, rather than what I am teaching them.  

4)  Do you lift weights on a weekly basis?
I do more body weight exercises.  I only use conventional weights maybe once a week. 
     *body weight exercises: push-ups, lunges, squats, etc.


5)  Do you find it difficult to squeeze in your own workouts while juggling work and family?
Yes it is very hard sometimes.   In the past I have not been very good at getting my workouts in because I put my family first. I finally have a schedule written out that, so far, has helped me keep track of all my practices and allows me to spend time with my family. I most always spend time with my family when I can and have workouts during nap time or after [my daughters] bedtime or early in the morning before my wife and daughter wake up.   I spend enough time being gone for work so I don't want to miss out on family time for my own workouts. 

6)  What is your favorite part of Tai Chi?
My favorite part of Tai Chi is  the internal exploration, closely followed by combat applications.

7)  What is your favorite part of personal training?
Working one-on-one with students and being able to support them in reaching their goals.  This is closely followed by the improvisation that comes with personal training---the tools being used, a new health issue to work around, or working inside or out.


Josh's Workout:

Warm up with a fast-pace run, lasting about 5 minutes.
30 seconds of each abdominal exercise with 30 jump ropes in between:

• crunches
•  V twists
• bicycles
• reverse crunches

60 seconds rest

• 20 squats with knee crossover (see pictures below)
• 20 burpees
• 20 jump lunges
• 10 push-ups with 5 second holds at the bottom and top of the lift
• Plank with 30 second hold

Cool down with a 5 minute walk or jog.

5 second hold (love it!)

5 second hold

Thank you to Josh for sharing today.  I can definitely relate to being so busy that's it's hard to squeeze in a work out, can't you?  I love that his workout is fast and efficient!  To learn more about Tai Chi click here.

Burpees seem to keep coming up in my posts.  I better do a tutorial soon!  What do you think?

Sweet Potato Quesadilla Bake

I don't want to brag, but last week I believe that I created the best recipe for the best meal ever.  I have been cooking and baking for close to 12 years.  Following and creating my own recipes.  So, while I am not an expert, I feel like I know my way around the kitchen pretty well.  
My family has eaten Burrito Pie for years.  Tortillas, refried beans, ground turkey, cheese, layer it, bake it, done.  It's good.  It makes a great go-to staple for busy nights.  But I was ready for something different.  Below is my vegetarian, healthy yet delicious, take on this recipe!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes - sneak one before you mash them...so good!

Simmering Black Beans

Gorgeous kale and onions and garlic.  A great base for any recipe!

Layering the pie!

Sweet Potato Quesadilla Bake

What you need:

2 medium sweet potatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1/2 cup chopped banana peppers (optional for you level of desired spiciness)

2 bunches washed and dried kale, sliced thin

1 can black beans, with half of the liquid

5 flour tortillas (large corn tortillas could be used if you are gluten free) 

2 cups shredded cheese (I used a colby/jack blend)

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil 

For the sweet potatoes:
(This can be done ahead to save time.)
Preheat Oven to 400 degrees
1.  Wash, peel and slice the sweet potatoes.  Place them in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, stir to coat, and place on a cookie sheet or baking dish.   Sprinkle with cumin, salt and pepper.
2.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Flip the sweet potatoes with a spatula and bake for another 10-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
3.  Allow to cool and then place in food processor.  Blend until smooth.  

For the beans:
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium.  Add the onion, cook 3-5 minutes or until slightly translucent.  Add the garlic, stir often for 1-2 minutes.  Add the banana peppers and stir often for another 1-2 minutes.  Add the kale and stir continuously until it shrinks.  Cook another few minutes, stir and add the black beans.  Cover and simmer for 30-60 minutes.  

Now you have your sweet potatoes and beans for the recipe.  You can place in separate airtight containers for up to 48 hours.  The rest of the recipe is super fast, so I would make the sweet potatoes and beans ahead of time if you are  crunched for time in the evenings.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a pie pan layer 2 flour tortillas.  Spread half of the mashed sweet potatoes until even.  Top with black beans.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Top with 2 flour tortillas and repeat sweet potatoes, beans, cheese.  Top with 1 flour tortilla.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Top with a little more cheese and bake until it melts and the entire casserole is bubbly.

Allow to cool and slice like a pie.
Serve with sliced tomatoes or your favorite veggies.

My family loved this meal.  I ate the leftovers for two lunches!  Let me know what you think!

The Real World

"It was always half invented, but the other half was good."

This is one of my absolute favorite quotes.  It comes from the Jimmy Eat World song "Littlething" from their 2010 album "Invented".  Really, in my opinion, their best album.  Gasp!  What?  She didn't say Clarity?!  No, I didn't.  But that is a discussion for another day :)  The reason I started this post with that quote is because I feel that it really relates to life.  Think about your daily life.  Your relationships, your thoughts, your feelings about where you are and where you want to be.  There is reality.  And then there is what you think is reality.  
Maybe you have gained 3 pounds and feel huge but the rest of the world looks at you and thinks you are fit as a fiddle.
Maybe you completely adore your new boyfriend and in your mind have a perfect relationship "invented" but, in reality, he's a jerk that is more preoccupied with how he looks than with you and your feelings.
Maybe you just logged onto Facebook to see that one person from your graduating class is a brain surgeon, one is a successful author and one is a perfectly pampered mom of three.  According to their posts.  What you didn't see was the other side, the real life side.
So, that's where the invented stuff comes in.  We often invent a parallel reality that is what we wish our life was.  Or we invent how we think our friends or family are living, imagining it to be perfect.
Reality sucks some times.  Chronic illnesses.  Bills to pay.  Dishes to wash, floors to mop.  Regrets and unfulfilled dreams.  Who wouldn't want to live outside of reality in an imagined Brady Bunch land?
There is the other half, that is good.  Everything you love about your life.  But the first half, the part we try to look past, is often the more important part.  If you feel neglected, overwhelmed, or disappointed about how your life is going THAT is what you need to look at, rather than "inventing" an idea of what is really happening.
Embrace reality.   It hurts sometimes.  
There are many things in my life that will never be cookie cutter perfect, no matter how much I long for them to be.  But they are my perfect, my life, the only one I will have.
Step into your reality and make the changes you want to see.  And the things you can't change?  Let them go or embrace them for what they truly are.  
Leave the invented half behind so that you can become whole.

Not the best recording but this song is absolutely beautiful.  Thanks person that took their phone to the concert to record this :)