Taking it wayyy back – 90s R&B/hip hop spin playlist

If this doesn’t get you out of your seat, I don’t know what will:

 

 

 

Happiness is not the absence of problems

…but the ability to deal with them

 

Not a fan of dubstep, but this made me laugh!

 

 

And to my playlist for the week – there are a couple new tracks… and a couple oldies too.  Expect an all out 90s playlist next week!  I’m taking requests, so email, FB, or tweet me.  (Oh, and don’t judge me cause I played Taylor Swift – it’s catchy!)

 

Your attitude determines everything…

If you want something to change, change your attitude

 

Last night, I played a mix by DJ Frank White for my class and it was soooo much fun!

 

Listen and download his mix below:

 

Here’s the rest of my playlist:

 

Quick + Easy Quinoa Salad Recipe

If you’re like me, you saw “quick” and “easy” in the title of a recipe and you’re sold!  I got this recipe from my friend, Stacey from The Healthy Beet.  There are a couple things I tweaked from her recipe, but the gist is the same.  The great thing about this recipe (well, other than it’s quick and easy) is that it’s flexible – you can add/remove ingredients that you like/dislike and make it your own.  So get creative in the kitchen!

 

Here’s how mine came out:

 

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 cups water

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 leek cut into thin 1/2 moons (discard green)

2 celery stalks, diced

1 head broccoli cut into bite size pieces

3-4 shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly

4 links of chicken sausage, cut into bite size pieces (I like either the Applegate or Al Fresco brands from Whole Foods)

Sea Salt

1/4 cup grapes (optional)

1/4 cup of roasted unsalted cashews or almonds (optional)

 

Put quinoa and water into pot, bring to a boil.  Add a pinch of sea salt, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 12 minutes (or as package directs).  Meanwhile, in a frying pan, saute onion in olive oil for 2 minutes on a medium high heat.  Add broccoli and leeks and cook until tender.  Add celery and shitake mushrooms..  Cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add diced chicken sausage and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add sea salt to taste.  In a large bowl combine cooked quinoa, sauteed vegetables and chicken.  Add grapes and cashews right before serving. This can be refrigerated and served cold as a quinoa salad also.  Serves 4-6 depending on your appetite.

“Back in the day” playlist

I get soooo excited when I hear the songs I grew up with, especially songs I can groove to and sing along.  I often get so sick of the current stuff because we hear it everywhere, and when I don’t feel inspired musically, I can always count on some old school 90s r&b and hip hop.  This was definitely of one the top 5 classes I’ve ever taught!  And I like to think the class felt the same…

 

They just don’t make music like this anymore…. hit it, Montell!

 

And here’s the playlist:

You can’t always get what you want…

…sometimes, what happens instead can be better

Here is my playlist for this week…

#TheBlackKeys #AlabamaShakes #TheShoutingMatches #TheLumineers #Mumford&Sons

Going hashtag HAM!

This weather has got me in a blues rock funk!  This week’s playlist was in tribute to that.  I was hesitant to diverge from my typical top 40, pop, hip hop groove, but I am sure glad I did!  This music makes me wanna sit out in the sun, sip some ice cold PBR, and smile my face off.  This music makes me happy!  Check out this video from The Black Keys… you cannot help but smile!

 

 

One good thing about music…

…when it hits you, you feel no pain. -B. Marley

 

My current obsession is “The Shouting Matches”.  If you’re a fan of blues/rock, you gotta peep The Shouting Matches… fan of Bon Iver?  Well, guess what The Shouting Matches is Justin Vernon’s side project.  Groovy music to chill to… and apparently spin to!

 

 

 

“The Truth About Exercise” Documentary

Last night on PBS, there was a documentary on exercising and what the optimum amount of physical activity provides the optimum results.  This is always a tricky theory to answer, because every body is built differently.  Our genes play a factor in how our body responds to physical activity and how we process foods.  Though genes can play a role in how we look, I do believe with hard work and dedication, we can reverse what we may be negatively predisposed with.

I often get questions around how much to exercise, and for me, I think the ideal scenario would be 5 times a week 45 mins to an hour each session. For the majority, that may be considered way too much, and if you think that’s not enough, maybe you should revisit the reason why you work out. If you’re not training for a competition, there really should be no reason to work out more than that. If you believe so, maybe revisit the reason why you work out.

In this documentary, Michael Mosley defies the traditional theory that spending countless hours at the gym is the primary way to lose weight.  Instead, he suggests that doing short, yet intense amounts of hard work is just as beneficial, if not more, than spending hours with steady state cardio. Yes, some people are less responsive to high-intensity training (HIIT), but in general, there are internal (less visible) benefits of this type of training as Michael demonstrates. He even goes as far as suggests that 3 minutes of high-intensity training PER WEEK is sufficient to reap rewards. That might be a bit extreme for me, but it does imply that it’s not quantity but quality that counts!

If you know me at all, you know I’m no fan of steady state anything. In fact, I often refuse to run because I find it more detrimental than beneficial. However, I don’t discourage people from steady state cardio if that’s what they truly enjoy. Ultimately, the goal is to move and be active, so whatever activity that brings you joy and promotes health, you should continue regardless of what this study says.   Here’s the documentary if you’re interested.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2364989581

When you focus on wanting what you can’t have…

… you fail to appreciate what is right in front of you

 

Obsessed with this song “White Noise” by Disclosure, and what’s even better is their music video.  Peep this!

 

 

On to my playlist for this week… enjoy!