Last Tuesday I had my cardio point test done.  The purpose of the cardio point test is to determine your optimum heart rate ranges for interval training and your VO2 (Volume of Oxygen). 

Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high intensity work. This high intensity work is alternated with periods of rest or low activity (the intervals in interval training).

VO2 is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and utilize oxygen during exercise, which reflects the physical fitness of an individual.

We have been doing zone training for a few months now and up until now I hadn't taken the cardio point to get my precise "zones."  I've just been going off of how I feel and the guidelines for my age.  I think my actual zones were really close but my VO2 was way off.  In my watch it was set to 26% when it is actually 45%.  It was surprising to hear that I was in the 60th percentile for my age group.  I'm shooting for the 75th next time ;)  I learned a lot this week on improving my cardio workouts;  I realized a lot of the times on the weekends (especially when I do cardio on my own)  I just run and don't pay much attention to what zone I'm in.  When I do look down I am usually in Zone 4.  Now working out in Zone 4 isn't bad but ideally I do more Zone Training in my workouts to increase my Anaerobic Threshold and the amount of fat I can burn at a higher heart rate.  I learned in Zone 4 I am burning 19 calories per minute but only .2 of those calories are from fat;  the rest are from sugar.  In zone 2 and 3 I am burning between 12 and 15 calories per minute and roughly half of those are from fat.  So if I could increase my AT then I will be burning more calories and many of them will be fat calories which is what you want! Neat huh?

Since getting the new zones programmed in my watch I have worked out twice.  Friday night we did a spin class and it was awesome.  Once I got past the first 10 minutes of my legs burning the rest of the workout went great.  For those of you who don't know spin class takes place in a studio filled with stationary bicycles with toe holders.  You basically switch between sitting and standing and peddling the bicycle at various speeds and resistances.  It is a tough work out but I think it will be very valuable especially when I start training for the Triathalon. Then this morning we did a cardio interval training class at the gym as well where we basically switched between zone 2 & 3 every couple minutes on the treadmill.  I burnt ababout 600 calories which is quite a bit higher then my watch was reporting before my cardio point.  Overall I would say the cardio point is definitely going to be a valuable tool for my workouts and a great measurement of my progress over time. 

We learned about drop sets tonight in Team Fitness.  This method of strength training is where you do 5-6 repetitions with the heaviest weight you can lift until muscle failure and immediately followed up by 10-12 repetitions of a much lighter weight.  It was a really great workout.  Wore out my muscles to the max.  It didn't help that I forgot we were doing strength training tonight instead of the usual cardio workout so I lifted yesterday too.  After our workout I had a great garden salad that Allyson made and a Vanilla Nutrii Veda protein shake with peanut butter and banana.  Followed that up with a shot of Zrii Liquid Nutritional - "The Original Amalaki :)

Tomorrow night I have a cardio point test as well then Wednesday another night of strength training!  Thursday is the turkey jam...guess it will be good to burn lots of calories this week and get my metabolism up so I can have some extra helpings at Thanksgiving at our house on Thursday.

This is another one of my favorite recipes to make on a Sunday.  Just throw all the ingredients in a crock pot and forget about it. Pretty healthy too.

1 Rotisserie Chicken (you can cook your own chicken and make your own broth but I tend to take the easy way out)

46 oz Chickent Broth (low sodium)

1/2 C Chopped Onions

2 Anneheim or Chipotle Peppers Diced

15 oz Can Tomatoe Sauce

15 oz Can Diced Tomatoes

6 Roma Tomatoes Diced

2 Tsp Chipotle Tobasco Sauce

Couple Cloves Fresh Chopped Garlic

1 Tbsp Dried Cilantro

1 Can Drained and Rinsed Black Beans

1 Can Corn

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 Jalepno Pepper

Throw all the ingredients above in the crock pot and turn it on high.  Stir occasionally and reduce to low.  It's about as easy as it gets.  Hope if you read this you have the opportunity to try it out because it really is another simple, delicious and healhty recipe.

Garnish with Tortilla Chips, Cheese, Avacodo and Lime :)  Enjoy!

After a nice 8 mile run and a protein shake Allyson and I headed to the city to meet Alex & Karen for lunch at Big Bowl.  We drove down at around noon and got there in record time.  There wasn't any traffic and it was a beautiful afternoon.  We parked across the street from Alex's apartment on Canal Street and cabbed it to Big Bowl on Ohio street.  Allyson and I shared a pot sticker appetizer which was pretty good.  We had the mixed pot stickers which included 3 chicken and 2 vegetable pot stickers.  I preferred the chicken pot sticker to the vegetable.  The pot stickers were served with a sweet and sour, mustard, and soy based sauce.  None of the sauces really stood out or did much for me. For our main course Allyson had the Kung Pao chicken with rice and I had Chicken Pad Thai.  The pad thai chicken was very tasty but lacked a little heat so I had to add some hot sauce.  Everything was fresh and the flavors were good.  Allyson's Kung pao chickent came piled with fresh spinach and charred green beans which were delicious.  Yes, I liked her dish better then mine.  After lunch we walked back to canal street; it was a gorgeous day for a stroll through the city.  The sun was shining and glistening off all of the high rise buildings as you can see from the shot I took below with my blackberry.  It's been a busy wekeend so time to relax....

Another simple and delightful egg recipe. (Serves 4)

6 Eggs

2 Cups of your favorite Vegetables Chopped

Brocolli, Cauliflower, Green Pepper, Mushroom

1/2 Cup Shredded Monteray Jack Cheese

Crack the 6 eggs in a mixing bowl.  Whisk until there is a nice foam.  Stir in vegetables.

Spray 9 inch pie pan (glass) with non stick cooking spray.

Add eggs and vegetable mix.  Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.  Add cheese on top and broil

for a couple minutes. 

You can also mix the cheese right in with the original egg mixture as well.

Keep it simple and healthy and enjoy.