It’s Day 3 in leaning out for vacation. Did I mention that there are 10 days of this? You might ask, what the heck is this maniac thing you’re doing? Well, it’s the Lean Jean Plan out of the 10-Minute Trainer. If you ever execute this plan, on the 3rd or 4th round, you will find that Day 3 is the day you start to eye your meaty little forearm.
Kidding!
But I do feel like I can just binge sometimes when I’m on this lean plan. This time, I have adjusted the plan and added back some normal fats. The proper way of executing this plan is to “PAM” it all the way and not use any oils or anything. Sorry, Tony Horton, but my body couldn’t handle it anymore after being on a leaner lifestyle for a few years now. It used to be fine in the first 2 years of losing weight, but with the dizzy spells and low sugar shakes, I decided things couldn’t be that way.
Besides, why would I put cooking spray in my body??? Can you say “plastic fat” 3 times fast?
Trust me, go au naturel. You’ll thank yourself, so will your innards. Just remember that you need to be conservative with your fats, and, of course, some gut killing exercises will put that fat to good use.
Black Bean Pork & Vegetables
Serves 2
8 – 9 oz. of lean pork rib chops, cut into ¼” cubes
1 cup frozen corn
½ cup shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 small cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp dried black beans
3 cups iceberg lettuce, sliced into strips
1 scotch bonnet chili pepper (or any chili pepper), seeds removed and thinly sliced
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dry white wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 tbsp grape seed oil
Green onions to taste, thinly sliced on a bias
Cilantro to taste, roughly chopped
Salt
Pepper
Do Ahead: Soak the dried black beans in warm water for 2 hours or until soft. Drain, but reserve the liquid in a bowl. Roughly chop the beans and set aside.
Marinate the pork for 15 minutes with 1 tbsp of grape seed oil, the wine, soy sauce, salt and pepper.
Heat a skillet with 2 tbsp of grape seed oil over medium to high heat. Sear the pork until browned and set aside. Keep the juices in the pan.
Over the same heat, add the garlic, black beans and chili. Allow it to lightly sizzle until the garlic is lightly browned and the beans are cooked down. Add half of the reserved black bean liquid to the pan to deglaze it. Let it simmer until slightly cooked down and thick.
Add the corn and turn up the heat until everything is sizzling. Toss for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and toss for another 2 minutes. Add the remaining black bean liquid and a quarter cup of water. Simmer until the liquid has evaporated and thickened again. Turn down the heat to medium low.
Toss the lettuce with the sesame oil, salt and a sprinkle of green onions. Set aside.
Returning back to the pan, add the pork back into the pan and toss. Increase the heat to medium and let cook for another 2 minutes until everything is heated through, coated and sticky.
Serve on a bed of the lettuce and garnish with more green onions and cilantro.
Ok, so you might find the up and down heat adjustments in this recipe is silly, but it isn’t. Food, undoubtedly, cooks better at a lower heat. If you only turn it up when needed you will find your food will look like it was well loved.
Chris and I wolfed this dinner down like nobody’s business. I mean, all we had today was scrambled eggs for breakfast, half a fruit, homemade pea soup and crackers. So lean (and I swear it’s borderline starvation) but it works. My body was like clockwork because I became hungry every 3 hours on the dot. Timing is everything though… 8pm rolled around and it was time to do my Body Remix workout courtesy of the Nike Training Club.
I love this iPod app, by the way.
But, yes, it was time to punch it at 8pm, but I was almost out of gas. So I downed a half cup of grapes and hit the basement. On a normal day, I’d make it through 30 minutes of non-stop butt-busting, but it’s Day 3. I barely made it through my 30 minute Body Remix, but I winced my way through it. All at the same time, I winced through the shoddy Flames game tonight. Talk about having a reason to complain, right? Right?
I love my team so much it hurts.
So we lost, 3 – 1 for the Senators, but I won my night with 30 minutes of sweat and a nice late dinner with my favourite man.
