Chiappetta Olive Oil

Way back in the day, when I worked for Avon Products, I worked with a really great guy named Frank Chiappetta. Neither of our careers lasted forever at Avon, but to this day I do miss those days and the people, and love to keep in touch through Facebook, LinkedIn or our annual get togethers.

Little did I know that the Chiappetta family had a life long history of producing fine and delicious extra virgin olive oil since the early 1900s.   I was so surprised to learn that Frank had shifted gears from technology trainer extraordinaire bringing his family business to the states.

Frank sent me a bottle of his oil to test out, and it was indeed quite good.  I used it for cooking, but this did the oil a grave injustice.  It's much finer than that, intended for dished where the taste of the oil can really stand out.  So I immediately switched my use to drizzle on salads, roasted vegetables, tomatoes with mozarella and basil, and even on some Lebanese caviar which a dear friend brought as an appetizer to my home one day. 

The verdict? It's delicious!  So congratulations to my old friend Frank on a great product!!  If anyone else is interested in it, you can do so here: http://www.chiappettaoliveoil.com/index.php

Les Mills Combat

Today starts the day of a new workout program for me.  It's called Les Mills Combat, and as advertised it's supposed to help me "workout like a warrior, and carve a lean, chiseled body in 60 days".  Of course it's not just the workout, but following a diet plan that goes with it.

My diet plan is already no sugar and nothing that acts like sugar in my body, which means no flour, rice, pasta, bread or any medium to high glycemic foods.  I'm stick packing a few of the pounds I put on throughout the holidays and my most recent vacation, so I'm going to also cut back on overall carbs and keep my net carb count under 75 net grams.  Net Carbs = Total Carbs - Fiber, so I'll be tracking both.  I use myfitnesspal.com to track my meals and if you're interested in seeing what I eat and how I do this, you can find me there as lbcruzin.  

Below is my first month's schedule, and I started this morning with Combat 30.  I'm not a very coordinated person, so I think it will take some getting used to get my feet and body coordinated with the kicks and punches, but on day 1 I burned around 350 calories in 30 minutes.

If anyone is interested in doing this type of workout, send me an email and I'll help you get hooked up.