I Dare You!, Giveaway, A Meatless/Rainbow Quinoa Recipe, HRM is Back in Town!

OMG - can't believe so many of you aren't blue cheese fans! Wow! I lurve... in small doses! So, as many of you know, I recently dared myself - well double dared myself – to do two things: wear spandex and take a spin class. I mean, really. This is something I’ve been putting off for YEARS. You can go back to my blog in 2008 when I said I would try spin… then avoided it until 2011. True story. And now I love it, look forward to it and think it’s going to get off these pesky 5 pounds I’ve been holding on to since June 2009. My next dare will be trying Meatless Monday. For real. No meat for one day. No biggie, right? I’ve NEVER done it. Again, always said I would but haven’t yet. What have you been putting off? Dare yourself to try it and you may win!

Lovely Julie contacted me about a great giveaway – a SOYJOY branded towel, t-shirt, Camelbak water bottle and more! SOYJOY dares to be different - It’s the only nutrition bar baked with real fruit and ground whole soybean. Learn more about SOYJOY here. To win this gift pack, simply tell me what your dare is in the comments section by 5 p.m. EST Monday, March 28. You can dare yourself to do something fun, crazy, inspirational, or just plain silly. To be eligible for more prizes, visit SOYJOY’s “Do You Dare” Facebook page and sign up to take a dare! I just added my Meatless Monday dare last night. Now it’s out there… so I have to do it, right?! I'm such a sucker for accountability.

Click larger to see my dare! I also loved how when you made a dare - their were categories like physical dare (run a 10K); foodie dare (try a new ingredient or recipe); etc.

In preparation for succeeding at this dare, I've been on the lookout for meatless recipes. Here's another new one I'm loving.

Warm Quinoa and Chickpea Salad

Adapted from Fitness Magazine
Makes 4 Servings

Nutritional Information: 422 calories, 57 carbs, 16 fat grams and 12 protein grams.

Check out the recipe on Healthified Kitchen! I have many, many more meatless ones to come - it's Meatless March in recipe-making land!

And real quick Monday recap: work and then 3.5 mile walk during lunch (HRM said: 53 minutes/270 calories, average HR 117; max HR 128; 53 fat-burning minutes and 0 fitness minutes. Then it was just more work with a 1-hour spin class after work (HRM said: 60 minutes/424 calories; average HR 141; max HR 171; 47 fitness minutes and 13 fat-burning minutes). So nice to have my HRM again - 694 calorie burn today - WOO! Going to test it again a few times to make sure it's right - my other HRM used to say I burned 50 calories/mile walking, not 70+. Then again, I weigh more, I walk less - who knows? I'll keep monitoring though!

Q: Are you a chickpea fan? This was my first time eating them 'straight' - i.e. when they haven't been blended and smoothed into hummus. I LOVE.

Q: Are you going to take the challenge? If so, what is your dare?! I think it's fun - and I like 'dare' - totally reminds of 'truth or dare' back in the day.