Day 18: CARDIO RECOVERY (Recipe: Low-Cal Granola)

I'll keep doing these as written. But I added about 35 minutes of yoga afterward and it was probably the most enjoyable yoga in recent memory. I did Eoin Finn's "Shoulder High" routine from his Power Yoga for Happiness 2 set. I highly recommend Eoin and anything he has done. Specifically, my shoulders, hips, and lower back were in desperate need of some decompression and this was perfect.

"Gym-style" exercise, especially something along the lines of Insanity, creates huge compressive forces in your lower back and joints in general, and it becomes even more important to bring space back in. I have noticed that by the end of each week, I start feeling a little overworked and tight in spots. Also, while Insanity has been great for lengthening hamstrings, some hip angles, and inner thigh; I find that my shoulders, outer hips, and lower back have lost flexibility. I'm going to add in this yoga routine after Cardio Power and Resistance tomorrow, too (since it's only 38 minutes) and see how it affects the way I feel by the end of the week.

I'm trying to clean the diet back up, and I'm having my cousin over for healthy pad thai tonight (Cooking Light has a great vegetarian version) and coconut green beans. Great day so far... pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast. For lunch, I had a green monster as written below but with a full scoop of protein powder and with white peaches and honeydew added, sockeye salmon salad on a Oroweat sandwich thin, and a bowl of low-calorie granola as written below with almond milk. This is an excellent snack or a great part of one of your mini-meals:

BOWL OF AWESOME LOW-CAL GRANOLA
(makes one serving)

1/2 cup whole-grain puffed cereal (like brown rice or kamut)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped freeze-dried apples*
Dash cinnamon
1 1/2 TBSP light or sugar-free pancake syrup
Almond milk or skim milk (optional)

Preheat oven to 300. Mix the cereal, oats, cinnamon, and syrup together and blend well. Spread the mixture onto a sprayed baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes until crisp. Stir in freeze-dried apples. Eat plain or serve with your favorite milk. Not counting the milk:
165-175 calories, 1.5 g fat, 4 g fiber, 5 g protein
*Freeze-dried fruit and regular dried fruit are very different. Look for the airy, crispy kind.