Jillian Michaels 25 Minute Body Shred

If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen a Jillian Michaels workout that I posted a few weeks ago.  I said I was going to do an in-depth blog post on the workout, and I’m finally doing it.

For those of you who know Jillian Michaels, you know she doesn’t mess around.  For those who don’t, I highly suggest getting to know her; she will kick your butt so hard without even having to leave your house.  Her workouts are good for when you’re short on time and/or can’t leave your house.  This is a workout I saw in a magazine that is a quick 25 minute, high intensity, all over body workout.  It follows her other workouts in the circuit sense.  Except it's only 3 circuits, repeated 3 times.  I’ve actually added a little more to this, because for some reason I thought it could use a little extra!

I use my Gym Boss app for this that I’ve talked about before (my new HIIT app for those who have Droids. – Side note, I think HIIT is available on iPhone now, but I already have everything saved in Gym Boss so I don’t want to switch back – they’re both great though.) This workout is broken down into 3 circuits, the first circuit, Strength, is 3 minutes; the second, Cardio, is 2 minutes; and the third, Core, is 1 minute.  Although I added an extra minute of core in, cause I feel like you never work your core too much.  One round is only 7 minutes!  C’mon, everyone has time for that!  Do it 3 times through, and it only takes 25 minutes (I put 10 second breaks in between so I can grab dumbbells, get set etc.)

The first circuit, Strength, uses dumbbells.  If you’ve done a JM video, some of these moves will be familiar to you.  This circuit is going to be 3 moves, 30 seconds each, repeated twice. 
The first move is a Dumbbell Row in Crescent position.  She does this pose in her No More Trouble Zones video.  It’s a very deep lunge, keeping your back leg straight and locked.  Front leg bent at a 90° angle.  Hinge your torso forward slightly from your hips.  The starting position will be holding your arms straight down in front of you by your knee, then drive them up towards your ribs, palms in, squeezing your shoulder blades.  Maintain your lunge position with the dumbbell rows for the full 30 seconds.  Switch legs on the 2^nd time through.
The second move is and Alternating Side Lunge with reverse fly.  This is just exactly what it sounds like.  Start with legs together, arms in front of your body, palms facing each other.  Lunge to one side, hinging your body forward so your back is parallel to the ground, arms directly below chest.  (It is very important that you keep good form here, do not rush through it.)  Extend your arms out to the side at shoulder height.  Return to start position and switch sides.  Just go back and forth for 30 seconds.
The third move is a Dive Bomber.  Put your dumbbells down for this move.  This move is kind of like downward dog, a plank and a pushup all thrown together.  Start on your mat in a plank position.  Lift up into a downward dog position.  (For those who aren’t familiar, you want to lift your hips so your body forms an inverted V and your feet are as flat on the ground as you can get them.)  Slowly bend your elbows and lower your chest towards the floor.  In one fluid movement, push onto your palms as you thrust your chest forward, then upward as you lower your hips to the floor, straightening your arms and balancing on the balls of your fit.  You don’t want to be lying on the ground.  Reverse back to start position and that is one rep.
Now repeat that circuit one more time for a total of 3 minutes and move onto the next circuit!

The next circuit is cardio.  Only 2 minutes of this, but since it’s quick, the moves are more intense. You’re going to do 2 moves, for 30 seconds each, repeated twice.
The first move is single leg mountain climbers.  You’re going to start like you would with normal mountain climbers.  Plant position, body straight.  Pull one knee in to your chest and keep your other leg straight back.  Hop your straight leg back and forth like you would with normal mountain climbers, keeping your other leg bent into your chest.  Repeat with other leg bent 2^nd time through.
The second move is a jump squat jumping jack.  Start with your feet together, jump out into a deep squat, touch the floor with one hand, keeping the other arm above your head.  Jump back to start position and repeat switching arms.
Repeat those 2 moves each twice for 30 seconds each for 2 minutes total.

The third circuit is Core.  You will need your dumbbells for one of these moves, so keep them on the floor by your side.
The first move is a chest fly in a Hollow Man position.  For the hollow man position, lie on your back and bring your shoulders and legs off the ground at about a 45° angle.  Hold that position.  Take a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing up, and bring them together straight above your chest.  Slowly lower down until they’re almost touching the floor.  Repeat that motion.
The second move is a windshield wiper.  This is one of my favorite ab moves, targeting abs and obliques.  In the same position lying on your back, raise your legs straight up, arms out straight at your shoulders.  Keeping your body as still as possible while dropping your legs to the right as close to the floor as possible.  Come back to start position and lower to the left.  Repeat.
I repeat that circuit twice because a little extra core never hurt anyone. 

 Now if you do that workout with no rest in between, you will feel it.  It gets your heart rate up, combines strength, cardio and core for an allover workout; and it takes less than a half hour!  I like to put about 10 seconds in between the moves, just so I have time to switch to the next one, for example grabbing  the dumbbells and lying down on the mat.  I like to time myself like that so I don’t take longer breaks than needed; because the quicker you get through it (with correct form!) the better it works.  I’ll attach a picture of my app so you know what I mean.

 

Ok, so you now have no excuse not to work out, so get moving!

If you need any clarifications or modifications or have any questions please ask!

Also, here is a picture of the workout for further clarification.

(Please excuse the format, I had to convert it from a PDF, but it goes in order.  Top left is the first 2 moves of the first circuit, top right is the Dive Bomber, and the bottom is the cardio and core moves)

Cod Filet over Mushroom Risotto topped with Kale Pesto

Ok, so if you follow me on Instagram you probably saw my dinner the other night – cod fillet with mushroom risotto and a kale pesto.  And if you don’t follow me on instagram then what are you waiting for! Follow me @PhitnessPhoodie!

For those that didn’t see, here’s a picture.

 

MMM MMM look at that deliciousness. 

So this recipe came to me for a few reasons.  My fiancée loves mushrooms, and I do not.  I don’t mind the flavor, I just don’t like eating actual mushrooms.  So I decided to make a mushroom risotto.  I sautéed the mushrooms then removed most of them from the pan (I left in a few for him since he loves them) and pureed them up to add to the risotto so I would get that mushroom flavor (and the health benefits) but not have to actually eat whole mushrooms.

Then I was thinking I wanted to do something with kale.  Kale is a super food in case you didn’t know.  Amazing health benefits, lots of vitamins, low in calories, high in protein etc.  I have been trying to eat more kale but have yet to find a recipe I like, so I thought I’d make a pesto with it.  Pesto is always good; and let’s face it, if you add garlic and parmesan cheese to just about anything it will taste good.

And for those wondering, the meal was only about 350-400 calories!!  (All depending on size of the piece of cod you have.)  Another thing that’s great too is the cod has about 30+ grams of protein!  That will keep you full all night so you’re not reaching for the ice cream! 

Ok, Ok, I know, you’re just drooling now wondering how to make it…well, its super easy, and I’ll tell you how!

For those who haven’t made risotto before, it seems like it would be hard, but it’s really not AT ALL.  It’s super easy; it just takes time and a little patience.  I like to make it as I’m cooking and prepping other things so I don’t feel like I’m just waiting for it.

Here’s what you will need:

Risotto:

Mushrooms chopped

1 small onion (or more if you like, I do!) diced

2-4 cloves of garlic (depending on your garlic preference, I like a lot!)

1 cup of Arborio rice

3-3 ½ cups of broth – you’re choice here; you can use veggie and make the risotto completely vegetarian, or use chicken or beef too.  You can also use half water, half stock if you want to make the stock go a little further

½ cup Dry white wine 

Kale Pesto:

Kale – I didn’t need to make too much, so I used about 5 stalks (tough stems removed!) and I have extra pesto

Toasted pine nuts and/or pepita seed (pumpkin seeds) – I had pumpkin seeds left over from another recipe so I used them!  Toast them up a little before putting in the food processor

2 garlic cloves

Parmesan cheese – about ¼ cup or so….just eyeball what looks good

Olive oil

Salt and pepper 

Cod:

Cod fillets

Salt and pepper 

Ok, so to start you need to put the stock on the burner and keep it warm.  Don’t bring it to a boil; just keep it on low to stay warm. 

Then chop up the mushrooms.  You’re going to puree them so the size doesn’t matter too much, if you want to leave them whole in the risotto then I’d cut them into bit size pieces.

Sautee those with a little olive oil until brown and starting to get caramelized.  Here’s where I pulled most of them out and only left a few in.  Do whatever you’d like here.  The ones you pull out put in the food processor. 

Add a little more olive oil to the pan and the diced onions.  Let them sweat out a little, maybe about 5-10 minutes, and add the garlic.  When the garlic is fragrant, add the rice to toast for a minute or 2.  Deglaze the pan with the wine.

Now the secret to risotto is you kind of have to be stirring constantly, or at least keeping an eye on it so that the liquid doesn’t get completely absorbed and the rice sticking to the pan.  So, when you see that the wine liquid is mostly gone, you can start adding your stock.  Use a ladle and add between 1-3 ladle-fulls at a time to the risotto.  Stirring frequently, let that reduce down until the liquid is absorbed (should take about 4-7 minutes).  Keep doing that until you’re stock is gone – it will probably take you 3-4 times of adding the stock.

Now like I said the great thing about this is you can do other things!  Puree your mushrooms, season your filet, and make your pesto. And it doesn’t matter what order you do this in.  Your cod filet will only take about 4 minutes on each side, so I would make sure you’re putting that in the pan when you add the last of the liquid to the risotto.

So with the mushrooms, I put in a little olive oil to help them mix up, just a little splash, and puree!  Reserve in a bowl.  Now on the kale!

This is very simple too.  Toast up your pine nuts/pepita seeds a little.  Add all your ingredients into the food processor, and voilà, that’s it!  Little side note: I always start with less olive oil because you can always add more, but you can’t take it out.  Same with salt and pepper.   It doesn’t need to be super smooth, it will have a little texture to it from the cheese and the seeds, but make sure it’s a paste – do a little quality control test (taste test) and adjust as needed!  What I also did was put it in a small pan to heat a little – on low, (while your fish is cooking.)

Look how awesome of a cook you are!

When you’re ready to drop the cod – make sure you have seasoned both sides with salt and pepper, and a little olive oil – use a not stick pan and sear!  Cod is very flaky, so don’t worry if it’s falling apart a little bit (you honestly should have seen mine), but it will still taste delicious!

When you’re finished, plate the risotto.  Place the cod on top, and top it with your pesto…..

AND ENJOY!!

How easy was that?  Super simple, super healthy, and SUPER delicious.

I hope you try it and enjoy it.  If you have any questions or comments please let me know!

Happy Cooking!