Day 9: From Paris With Love

Hello all,


I assume all of you thought that I stopped? Well, I am sorry that I haven't updated much lately. It's been a week(?) so far. You know Xmas is going on and New Years is coming up. For Xmas I was with friends but I sticked to my diet and stayed away from that taste-less Turkey+gravy. And now, I am in Paris for New Years for a few days. However, I went Jogging today in here. It's very lovely to see Paris like this, I didn't notice till today that people just slam into each-other to hug. Lol. 


For Body size, waist and all that other stuff will be posted when I am back into the Gym. It's just that the Manager is on-leave for Xmas and I am here.


All what I can do is Jog and Jogging. But here's what I wanna write today. A bit of-Inspiration. We gotta uplift our spirit... somehow.


Everyone has an iPad/iPod/Zune/whatsoever, right? Well, download something that you can watch while you're on that cycle or download something that you can jogg for, songs... eBooks on your Kindle or anything. Because trust me, once you're on that Cardio Machine you're just going to get bored and leave it. lol. 


Here are some great movies/songs I watch while I am doing my Cardio that are motivational:


Movies:
Comedy: Friends TV Series
Inspiration: Brave Heart, Requiem for a Dream, Forest Gump, Donnie Darko, The Shawshank Redemption and Good Will Hunting
Romance: The Note Book


Songs: I don't know about your taste but these song titles are sure one uplifting push-through training :)


Kanye West - All of the Lights
Kanye West - Stronger
Gucci Mane ft. Usher - Spotlight
Tinie Tempah - Written in the Stars
Common ft. Will.i.Am - I Have a Dream
Taio Cruz - She's Like a Star
Eminem ft. Lil Wayne - Love
Drake ft. Kanye West, Eminem & Lil Wayne - Forever
Pitbull ft. T-Pain - Hey Baby
...And list goes on




Oh yeah, I wanna throw in my fav Salad Recipe introduced by an old-friend(copy/pasted from email)... :)

Nicoise Salad:

• 1 lb. salmon fillet
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
• 1 lb. mixed baby greens (rinsed)
• 2 small red potatoes, skin on, boiled and quartered
• 2 small purple Peruvian or blue potatoes, skin on, boiled and quartered
• 1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and blanched
• 2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 4 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 cup Niçoise olives
• 2 Tbsp. capers, rinsed
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup minced parsley

Preheat broiler to 400 degrees, or preheat gas, charcoal, or countertop grill. Whisk together ingredients for raspberry vinaigrette and refrigerate. (For convenience, dressing can be made up to one day ahead.) Cut salmon fillet into six serving-sized pieces. Combine lemon juice and olive oil in small bowl and brush onto both sides of each piece of fish. Then lightly salt and pepper each piece, sprinkle with fresh dill, and either grill or broil for about 10 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove from grill and set aside.

Toss mixed baby greens with a quarter of the raspberry vinaigrette, then divide greens between six medium-sized salad bowls. Arrange each of the remaining ingredients (except parsley) in its own separate section atop the mixed greens in a visually appealing, festive presentation: the salmon, potato halves, tomato wedges, green beans, egg slices, olives, capers, walnuts, and cranberries. Drizzle each serving with the remaining raspberry vinaigrette, then sprinkle with parsley, salt, and pepper. Bon appetit! Makes 6 servings.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes (cooking salmon), 20 minutes (preparing servings), up to 24 hours (chilling dressing, precooking and chilling potatoes and eggs).

Nutritional Information (per serving)
Calories	Protein	Fiber	Carbs	Fat Total	Saturated Fat
402	28 grams	8 grams	35 grams	20 grams	3 grams

And you all, how were you all doing? Any changes? How's holidays going?

From Paris with Love,
Ahmed