Quinoa Mango Spinach Salad

I’m halfway through the first stage of NROLFW and wanted to do a quick update on my thoughts/progress so far with the plan.

Stage 1 calls for 16 workouts, alternating between workout A & workout B. After 3 full weeks, I’ve completed 8 of the workouts at the “2 set” phase and just today moved into the second half of stage 1 which increases the sets to 3.

I’m not going to do any updates on measurements yet, I’ll wait until the end of stage 1 for that. Sorry, no awkward full body muscle pictures today.

In general, I love it! In these 3 weeks, I’ve learned to live and function in a perpetual state of soreness (in a good way!). This is the longest I’ve ever stuck with a strength training program before. I seriously look forward to each and every workout. I think a few things are contributing to that:

• The way the program is structured it encourages you to add heavier weights as the workouts progress.
• It gives you “beginner” moves when necessary so it’s easy to tell when you’re gaining strength because they start to feel easy and you move onto the “real” moves (push-ups are an example here).
• I think the emphasis on dumbbells and barbells instead of machines makes it more easily recognizable when you can handle increased weight.
• I already see a difference in muscle definition. Positive reinforcement baby!

These are me not flexing. I’m going to call them my “rolling hills” and I’m pretty sure they weren’t there before. Well on my way to looking like the book cover.

Click here for before pictures (granted, I am flexing in those so they’re not totally comparable).

A few fun facts:

-Prone jackknife is my favorite move of this stage.

-Step-ups are my least favorite (boring and tedious)

-I can now do 3 sets of 10 full push-ups!

Diet wise I haven’t been doing anything out of the ordinary besides being more cognizant of my protein intake. I will try to have a protein smoothie or something high in protein after each session. It doesn’t always happen, but I’d say about 75% of the time.

Today’s smoothie, which overflowed the second I put the camera down and which Ginger promptly licked up.

Stay tuned after another 3 weeks for a full Stage 1 recap.

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Now, let’s talk about mangoes. Again.

I actually bought 2 mangoes for last week’s mango black bean salad but only ended up using one because the other was hard as a rock.

Six days later after hanging out next to the bananas getting all ripe, it was begging to be used.

After reading Jenna’s recap on her fruit detox, I had been craving fruit and couldn’t even think about “real” dinner foods.

I just wanted fruit.

The practical side of me kicked in though and somehow I ended up with this.

A quinoa, mango and spinach salad.

It’s a great summer salad that takes very little effort to throw together.

The quinoa adds some staying power as a lovely complete protein while the fruits bring wonderful sweet flavor.

Spinach greens kind of just wilt into the mix once the dressing is added. And feel free to use whatever greens you have on hand.

Arugula, watercress, baby kale or even tatsoi would be great.

Top with some crunchy nuts and seeds for healthy fats and dinner or lunch is ready!

With a piece of whole wheat sunflower seed bread it was the most delicious, light dinner.

MORE SALADS LIKE THIS TO TRY:

Jicama Salad
Mango Black Bean Salad
Shrimp Avocado Mango Lime Salad
Simple Summer Corn and Tomato Salad

What’s the weirdest craving you’ve ever given into for dinner (or any meal)?