Workout and a Healthy Meal: Toasted Papaya

I just had the best workout. Did my normal routine of going from machine to machine, but this time I did mini circuits by constantly switching back and forth between the machines. I usually do three sets of 15, but today I did two machines at a time: one set of 15 on machine A, one set of 15 on machine B, then one set of 8 but at a much higher weight on machine A, likewise on B, and finishing up with sets of 15. I was shocked to see how much weight I could put on the machines when I was trying to fatigue at 8 – I have definitely been going way too easy on myself. I also paid much closer attention to form, and I wasn’t scared to go to the free weights room and do some of those! Brilliant. I only did 20 minutes total, but it was a hardcore 20 minutes.

The coolest was when I did the assisted dip/pull up machine: last year at this time, I was just using it for the first time, and I would set it to level 17 or 18 (which I think is like 110 pounds of help or something like that). Today, I set it at level 12 – only 70 pounds of assistance! I weigh about the same that I did last year at this time, so that means I’ve gotten 40 pounds stronger! Amazing.

After the gym, I came home to an amazing raw meal. You all are going to think this is absolutely disgusting, but I’m going to post the pic anyway:

Yup, that’s a filet of raw salmon on there. (If you’re grossed out, you can always think of it just like lox or sashimi.) I went to the high end grocery near me (at Trump Towers, actually) instead of the cheap corner store, and originally was going to get the pre-packed sashimi. However, I then changed my mind and hit up the fresh fish counter. I told the guy behind the counter that I wanted to eat the fish raw, and asked if he had any sushi quality fish. He pointed me toward the organic salmon, which was even on sale, and thus my full scale conversion to raw has begun! It was actually delicious, and I even liked the texture. I had it with a pre-packaged macro vegan seaweed salad, and then some edamame. It was a totally high protein post-workout meal, and it only took like 30 seconds of preparation to throw it all on the plate.

Finally, for dessert, I actually cooked. But it’s healthy! I found papaya on sale yesterday, and I’ve never had papaya except in smoothies, so I thought I’d give it a try. When I searched recipes/ways to serve it, I found a cool recipe for toasted ginger papaya, and I thought that would be a great finish to my Asian dinner.

I used 1 tbsp honey, 1/2 tbsp minced ginger, and 1/2 papaya. I was surprised at how easily the ginger and the honey went together – it wasn’t too sticky once I added the ginger. Also, the directions couldn’t be easier: cut and seed the papaya, mix the ginger and honey, then spread the ginger and honey on the papaya and pop it in the oven for 15 minutes! However, I just wasn’t a fan of the baked papaya – I think I would have liked it cold, but hot wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t take a picture of it because it basically just looked like a papaya cut in half.

Nutrition facts:
240 calories for the salmon
110 calories for the seaweed salad
59 calories for the edamame
132 calories for the toasted papaya (recipe here)

Review: 2/5
I really didn’t like the baked papaya – the texture was icky to me, even though the flavors were good. Right now I think I’m not a fan of papaya, but I’d like to try it again raw. See, raw is better than cooked! 🙂