The end is drawing near and our Trainer is ramping it up. Today, he had us doing every kind of exercise in rapid succession – a literal non-stop 15 minutes of physical movement that had the sweat pouring off me. 15 minutes. A quarter of an hour. It doesn’t seem that long until you’re doing it. Think of it in terms of how long that minute is when you’re waiting for the microwave – and then multiply it out. He took pity on these old men because just about the time I was planning my funeral, it was off to the weights. Bicep curls with free weights is so much easier than high/low planks off a flippin’ ball! I’d love to know where he comes up with these things – I think he channels the Marquis de Sade.
After last week’s spin fiasco, I decided I needed to go back in and try it on my own. It was a bit more doable when I was pacing myself, but it’s never going to be my preferred way to exercise. I’ll keep giving it a go, but you will never – ever – see me in a spin class! The eardrum-shattering music and screaming would keep me out even if I was good at it. I am not motivated by noise – and I already have tinnitus. No, thank you.
I really don’t get the screaming as motivation concept but I do have a newfound respect for the people in there. That is some difficult stuff.
On to dinner…
It was the perfect day, weather-wise, so grilling a steak seemed to be the perfect dinner choice.
The steak, itself, was pretty basic – a NY strip liberally doused with Penzey’s Mitchell Street Steak Seasoning and an extra boost of Berbere.
It sat atop a hash of sorts of brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, onions, and bacon.
First thing I did was peel and cut up a sweet potato and boil it until tender. I drained it and det it aside.
Next, I chopped the bacon and fried it off in a large skillet until it was crispy. I took it out and added thinly-sliced onion and thinly-sliced brussels sprouts to the pan, along with some salt and pepper.
When it all started wilting, I added the sweet potatoes and broke them up a bit, mixing everything together.
The pan was getting a bit dry, so I added a hefty splash of Gentleman Jack and a drizzle of maple syrup and cooked it all until nicely browned. The bacon was stirred back in and dinner was ready.
Onto the plate it went with the steak sliced on top.
What was nice about this is brussels sprouts are my most favorite vegetable – really – but they’re on Victor’s list of least-favorite. Victor absolutely loved them and cleaned his plate!
Another week down and we’re maintaining the weight and maintaining a good attitude. That’s a good thing. I seriously am not going through this, again!