“No rep” is not something you want to hear during a workout. Fortunately (and unfortunately) you don’t tend to hear those fatal words unless you are competing in a workout. In the everyday gym setting, you are usually your own judge. Getting called out on your less than sub-par performance, is very unlikely to happen unless the coach is super comfortable with you.
I say fortunately because sometimes you are just riding the struggle bus and need someone to show you a little grace. I know that during The Open I got my fair share of warnings. “Okay, I need your chest to hit the bar on this next one.” “Make this one a good one.” “Make this one count.” I can handle that kind of grace. Your chest is supposed to actually HIT the bar. My judge showed me some grace and gave me warnings, he did not turn a blind eye and let me do regular pull-ups though.
Unfortunately, though grace is shown too often during an entire workout. Why do we only ‘no rep’ people during Open workouts? Why do we only ‘no rep’ people that are our friends? Why are we so uncomfortable to call someone out? A spade is a spade. If you aren’t performing as you should, shouldn’t you be called out on it? Yes.
I am being a little hypocritical though, I don’t call people out when they are doing something wrong. Many times, I feel like it is not my place to say anything to them. Other times, I don’t feel like it is worth the conversation or argument that it could lead to. I don’t have the title as coach (or administrator or boss) to call someone out on a less than stellar squat (teaching lesson, punctuality, data input, work ethic, etc.).
I am the boss in my classroom and to my children at home, and you bet your bottom I will let my students/children know when they are not giving me their best. I will let my students know when they are acting out of line. They represent me. They are a direct reflection of the hours I have invested in them, my degree, and the time I spend planning. If a student does not academically grow after 180 days in my classroom, I take that personally. I don’t fully blame myself for their lack of growth, it is not a one-way street by any stretch. A student must also want to learn and put in the effort. If I have a student that is fully capable of learning and wanting to learn, that student should grow academically while in my room. If I didn’t ‘no-rep’ that student, he or she would not continue to give me their best effort.
Once you get away with “cheating”, what is holding you back from continuing to do it?
Everything we do in the gym is for time. We work on skills, but if there is a “workout” then it will 9.9 times out of 10 be for a time or score. I don’t mind it being timed for rounds or reps at all. Like I told my coach Thursday morning “I’m not really that strong, I am just kind of quick.” A time cap keeps me going and keeps me from resting so much. I am competitive, but when it comes to working on strength I know I am weak compared to the rest of the ladies in my gym, so I focus more on my form rather than barely squatting or benching and getting a high number by my name.
Many people don’t see the clock as motivation to do quality work though, they see the clock as motivation to do a high quantity of reps. What is the point in doing something if you are not going to do it right? Your name gets put on the board with this very impressive time or score beside your name, but yet your quality of work is crap. Everyone knows you aren’t really doing the work, but no one is bothering to actually call you out, so you will become a better person. The point of calling someone out is not to make them feel less than adequate, but to make them reevaluate what they are doing and make adjustments. My coaches tell me if my form is less than stellar and help me make adjustments.
If my students constantly wait on me to put the answer on the board and never try to do the work themselves, they will not be passing the test. Plain and simple. If you don’t practice doing it correctly, when it comes time for the test, you will fail. Don’t short change yourself the possibility of what you could become, because you are just plain lazy or just want an impressive number by your name. Learn what is required of you to truly earn that number, score, degree, pat on the back, whatever it might be that gets you that gold star and do it well.
New Food Review
Sheet Pan Roast Pork Tenderloin with Potatoes
This dish was good, not blow your socks off good, but I would cook it again. My issue was getting the vegetables to cook at the same rate as the pork. My potatoes were not done at the same time, so I had to pull the pork out and then leave the potatoes in longer. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but when you are meal prepping with two small kids you need every minute in the kitchen to count.
30 Minute Chicken Fajitas with Roasted Pineapple Salsa Verde
I thought I would like this salsa better than the mango-pineapple salsa, but I can’t say that it blew me away anymore than the other. I loved the simplicity of this salsa and roasting the tomatillos with the vegetables and meat. Both salsas were great with the macros, but the pineapple-salsa verde was much more macro friendly. I ate this as tacos and a bowl. I would much rather eat this as a bowl. I didn’t want to waste any of the sauce from the verde and it did not hold well in the taco. I will definitely be making this one again, as a bowl.
M E N U
Sheet Pan Zucchini Chicken Meatballs
Lemon Thyme Grilled Salmon Cauliflower Rice
Garlic Butter Creamed Spinach Salmon
Pork Chops + Spicy Potato Kale Bowl with Tahini Dressing
Sheet Pan Zucchini Chicken Meatballs
The last time I made these I totally botched the meal, but it actually turned out well. This time I remembered to get ground meat, so I am hopeful that it will be even better than last time! I opted for ground turkey instead of ground chicken, but taste wise, that should not make a difference. I cooked rice last time to have with these.
Don’t be hesitant to try these just because of the word zucchini and the laundry list of ingredients. The ingredients are things that you should already have in your pantry or are few items to grab from the produce section.
The last time I made these I had a separate recipe in my app for the meatballs and one for the sauce. The meatballs, using chicken breast, had 55 calories per serving (it made 17 meatballs), 9.5 grams of protein, 1.8 grams of carbohydrates, and 1.1 grams of fat. The sauce was 82 calories, 1.2 grams of protein, 7.1 grams of carbohydrates, 5.4 grams of fat for four servings. Not bad at all!
*Changes I make to fit my macros
Ingredients:
For the peppers:
1 red bell pepper, cut into medium chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into medium chunks
1 orange bell pepper, cut into medium chunks
*2 green bell peppers, 1 red bell peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
*spray oil olive
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Freshly ground salt and pepper
For the meatballs:
1 pound 94% lean ground chicken or turkey
*2-3 pounds
1 cup shredded zucchini that's been squeezed of excess moisture with towel
1/4 cup panko or regular breadcrumbs*
*1 Brioche Bun toasted and shredded
1 egg
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce:
1/3 cup light coconut milk
2 tablespoons tahini
*28 grams
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup or honey, to sweeten
*1 ounce honey
1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
To garnish:
Cilantro and diced green onion
Lemon Thyme Grilled Salmon Cauliflower Rice
I am actually not going to be using salmon in this dish. We have a lot of pork chops frozen, so I am gong to sub salmon for pork chops. Definitely not the same, but it will work. Pork usually takes on flavor well and doesn’t have a distinct taste to me. I am not going to use cauliflower rice, because I would need another side dish to add the carbohydrates in. If you need a low-carb option for supper, keep the cauliflower rice and eat on. If you are using regular rice, you could layer this in the crockpot and even use chicken breast to make it that much more simple. I love cooking chicken breast in the crockpot, it turns out so juicy and falls apart. So good!
*Changes I make to fit my macros
Ingredients:
Salmon & Squash
2-4 salmon fillets more or less, depending on size
*chicken breast or pork chops
1 large lemon juice and zest
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon sea salt to taste
2 large garlic cloves minced
olive oil for cooking
2 small zucchini squash cut lengthwise
Cauliflower Rice
16 oz cauliflower rice fresh or frozen
*jasmine rice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 large lemon juice and zest
sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon fresh thyme or oregano
Salsa
8 oz baby heirloom tomatoessliced in half
1 avocado sliced into small chunks
*omit
1 tablespoon fresh thyme minced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
lemon juice from 1 lemon
sea salt flakes to taste
red chili pepper flakes to taste
This is new recipe for me, but I am going to make a few changes on how I am going to cook this. I have what I believe to be the smallest oven ever made. I can not fit a large pan inside of it. Not even large, just a good medium sized pan. Since I have such a small oven and not many pans that will fit inside of it, I have to wait on things to get out of the oven, so I can use said pan. This does not make the process of meal prepping quick. I am going to try and head this problem off by cooking this meal in the crockpot instead of the oven. Since I am using chicken breast instead of thighs, this will make them even better. I have done several other chicken and rice dishes in my crockpot, so I feel very confident that this one will turn out well too.
*Changes I make to fit my macros
Ingredients:
CHICKEN AND MARINADE
5 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in (about 1 kg / 2 lb)
*Chicken breast
1 - 2 lemons, use the zest + 4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp dried oregano
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
RICE
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, separated
*Omit
1 small onion, finely diced
1 cup / 180g long grain rice (Note 6 for other rice)
*Putting rice in the crockpot with the chicken
1 1/2 cups / 375 ml chicken broth / stock
3/4 cup / 185ml water
*Omit
1 tbsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp salt
Black pepper
GARNISH
Finely chopped parsley or oregano
Fresh lemon zest
Garlic Butter Creamed Spinach Salmon
So this one has me a bit nervous. There is a lot of fat and I am going to try my best to make it work. Josh sends me these recipes as a test to see if I can recreate them and still make them taste as good as this blogger makes her food look & sound.
We don’t ever have salmon cooked like this and I am very skeptical of it. I love my salmon grilled with some good spices and lemon. Light, simple and easy. This for me is not going to be a fish dish. I am going to use pork instead.
*Changes I make to fit my macros
Ingredients:
4 salmon filets, skin on or off (your preference)
*pork chops
kosher salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
*omit oil
2 tablespoons salted butter
*1 tablespoon
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk, or heavy cream
*3/4 light coconut milk & 1/4 whole milk
2 ounces cream cheese, cubed
* low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 cups fresh baby spinach
juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, plus more for serving
Pork Chops + Spicy Potato Kale Bowl with Tahini Dressing
I am pretty excited about this new dish. It isn’t anything fancy, which is great because some times the new dishes I pick can be a bit overwhelming. I like to do my meal prep as quickly as possible and when there is a new dish I tend to skim through the directions and usually miss something important. I have 3 new dishes this week, so here is to hoping I don’t miss anything important this time!
I am going to make a few changes just to fit my taste preferences. Overall, the recipe is pretty healthy and the macros will mostly fall on how much of the potato you add in
*Changes I make to fit my macros
Ingredients:
FOR THE POTATOES
1 lb yellow potatoes cut in bite-sized pieces
*Sweet potatoes
1 red onion diced and separated
1 jalapeño diced
1 green bell pepper diced
1 tbsp olive oil
*spray olive oil
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
FOR THE DRESSING
1/2 cup tahini
*1/4 to 1/3 cup
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp yellow mustard
lemon juice to taste
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic salt
pepper to taste
water as needed
FOR THE SALAD
4 cups kale chopped and stems removed
1 lemon juiced
E N J O Y !
