Monthly Archives: March 2012

Wham Bam, Thank You Ma’am Workout

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That’s how today’s workout went. It was a good one! Correction: It was a good, but TOUGH one. (AKA: make sure you get clearance from a Dr. to do this kinda workout!)

I thought I would inspire you all with my awesome pre-workout pics.

I was totally going to delete this one because I was just goofing around, but I can’t stop laughing at it, so I thought I’d invite you to laugh with (or at) me.

Here’s a slightly better one:


Here are the deets:

5 min warm-up:

  • 1 min Jacks
  • I min jog in place
  • i min jump rope
  • i min butt-kicks
  • 1 min jacks

Around the world lunges (barbell resting on the base of your neck)

  • Right foot on the bench, 10 front lunges
  • Turn to the left, right foot still on the bench, 10 squats
  • Turn to the back, right foot still on the bench, 10 reverse lunges

Switch to your left foot on the bench and do the same thing. Run the whole set for both legs 3 times through

10 minutes cardio of choice

Standing biceps

  • 10 regular curls
  • open your hands to the outside of your body, 10 curls
  • 10 outward presses

Do this set 3 times through

10 minutes cardio of choice

Complete these moves 3 times through

10 minutes cardio of choice

  • 10 overhead oblique presses (weight in right hand with elbow at 90 degree angle, right foot crossed over left, press weight over your head towards the left side of your body)
  • 10 standing oblique crunches (weight in right hand, knee to elbow side crunch)
  • 10 V-ups

Complete these moves 3 times through

10 minutes cardio of choice

  • 10 leg lifts
  • 10 laying leg press (top foot flexed, bringing knee to chest, fully extending leg, keep it hip height)
  • 10 large leg circles

Complete 3 times through, then switch to the other side

  • 30 second  jacks
  • 30 second jog in place
  • 30 second jump rope
  • 30 second butt-kicks
  • 30 second jacks

Stretch. DONE.

Let me know if you try this (or part of this) workout! Did you like it?

Today was a good day.

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Hey folks! I have had (still having) a great day. Where shall I begin…

Coffee at Higher Ground with Nicole, my American-living-in-Canada friend! I ordered the Nut ‘N Honey with Soy milk and it was deeee-licious (espresso, soy milk, hazelnut and honey).

I will definitely be visiting there again, they also serve food, beer and wine! My kinda hangout!

We then walked along Elbow River to the Eau Claire YMCA to check out some volunteer/instructing opportunities.

Oh my gosh, that YMCA is 4 floors! It had beautiful, large studios, all new equipment, friendly staff–basically everything you could ask for! We spoke with the Member Services Director and she was thrilled to offer us volunteer slots as well as personal training and group fitness opportunities. I am beyond excited, because I can actually get paid to teach at that Y! By the end of our impromptu meeting, my cheeks hurt because I was smiling so much from hearing all these possibilities..plus, she referred me to another privately owned gym that was also located downtown.

We walked a bazillion miles and had worked up an appetite, so we decided to hit The Hose & Hound for lunch. I had to take a pic of the Calgary Tower as I drove past.

Who cares what we had for lunch.. here are our beers! I had the Wild Rose Raspberry Ale. Yum yum in my tum tum.

(For the sake of sounding healthy, I had some sort of salad with chicken and almonds and carrots and…stuff. Again, very good).

I was so glad to meet up with Nicole- we really got to vent about all the obstacles of moving to Canada. I’m not going to get in to it here-because I’d probably get so worked up that the rest of this post would consist of a lot of asterisks and bad words. Not blog-friendly.

After my billionty mile walk downtown, I came home and went for another gazillion mile walk with Twyla and all three doggies. My puppies are hurtin’! (Not the actual puppies; I was referencing my feet). I think I have definitely gotten more than my fair share of physical activity for the day.

Now I must do my strength training…..in the form of 12 oz. curls.
Hello, Thursday night.

I’d like to go to a fancy party

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I have to start the morning off right. Look at this dress:

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Ah, gorgeous! I think I could even pull it off.. Not that I have any reason to wear a floor length gown, but still. And then there’s my favorite part:

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Woof, take a took at that back (not specifically Elizabeth Bank’s back, but the back of the dress) LOVE. I think one of the boards I have on Pinterest mainly consists of backless dresses. I have an obsession. Does anyone want to invite me to something fancy so I can buy one?! Pleeeeease…

Back on track, Jen, back on track. Today is Thursday! *duh* no different than any other day, BUT I’m having coffee with another American! Yup, I’m not the only one who has left the U.S of A. to be with their man. You have no idea how exciting this is for me. More importantly, I have plans. That’s right, something to get ready for. A brush my teeth, comb my hair event. We agreed to meet at a coffee place halfway between our houses and perhaps walk the park or browse some boutiques (she has no idea what a pro I am at browsing).

Just had myself another bowl o’ oaty goodness in preparations for today’s events.

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I actually weighed myself this morning (pre-oats) and discovered that I haven’t gained any weight! I usually only weigh myself when I am at my parents house because I’m one of those people who could obsess over the number (cue: downward spiral). But Tyler just taught me how to use his scale (I’m too stupid to figure it out, apparently) and I thought I’d give it a go after this past months events. Woohoo! Jen’s a happy lady.

Question: What’s your relationship with the scale?

Badda bing, badda boom

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WORKOUT: DONE.

One hour of a super sweaty at-home kickboxing session. SCORE! I did the first half of CD 1 from CBC‘s Jam’n Cardio Kix, then a bunch of my fave advanced routines (you CBC ladies probably know exactly which ones I did). I only stopped because my floor was too sweaty to keep going. Perhaps round 2 later? Or maybe some muscle stuff..
I AM wearing my super awesome-y shoes that always pump up my workouts

Go me!
Tina Fey high fives herself
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Layla is back to normal. Stretched out on the bed, her drooling subsided.


Thank god. I was this close to rubberbanding sponges to my feet and follow her around. That would’ve been quite the sight.

And now it’s storytime. First, a picture of my non-wrinkled, non-botoxed forehead:

You’ll see why I posted that pic in the story (Sidenote: I hateeee that stupid little freckle in the middle of my forehead. At least it keeps me symmetrical.)

SO, back to the story. In elementary school, we had a teacher, Mrs. Mazur, who taught math and spanish for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. She had this reward system where she would award tickets (like raffle tickets) for those who did well on tests, performed their dialogues correctly, or who were well-behaved. The students could then use their tickets to buy things from her closet. She has candy, school supplies and cheapy little toys. Usually an A on a test would be 4 tickets, a correct answer to a question would be 1 ticket, etc. Me, being the weird student that I was (still am), I decided to save all my tickets throughout the three years then redeem my billions of them upon 8th grade graduation. I had saved over 300 tickets by the end of 7th grade (turns out she left before 8th grade for me to redeem, but I digress) Anyhoo, I decided to really WOW her in math class by going up to her and telling her I could make pi. Confused, she asked why I would tell her that I could make pie. Was it apple? Pumpkin? A-HA! I revealed my super fancy trick that got me EIGHT tickets. EIGHT. Behold the glory that is PI:

This story has been brought to you on behalf of Pi Day (3.14). I decided to forego an actual pie story/recipe. I’m a nerd. WOWZA.