Monthly Archives: October 2012

TRX class

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Hola, people of the world.

I just thought I’d write a quickie on my TRX class last night. It’s going to be pretty basic, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

We did  5 minute warm up (well, I told them it was a warm up..we really did a lot of side lunges while holding the ropes, and some arm stretching)

We did the next 10 moves for 1 minute each with a 45-60 second recovery (3 sets of this before moving to the next exercise):

  1. Hip press
  2. Suspended Lunge (3x on each leg)
  3. Chest press
  4. Single Arm Row (3x each arm)
  5. Atomic pushup
  6. Back row
  7. Ab rollout
  8. Suspended knee tucks
  9. Tricep Extensions
  10. Bicep Curls

Sounds simple with only 10 moves, but you’re doing them for a significant amount of time. And yes, you’ll be shaking by the end of it.

I managed to get to the gym way early before teaching this class, so I squeezed in a 20 minutes spin session. It was a great way to break a sweat before teaching (Even though I still felt pretty crappy)

Oh, and then when my class thought they were done, I had them get down on all four on their mats and do a few sets of the Dirty Dog (I call them fire hydrants- and contrary to the video I linked, I had the class hold the move at the top of their range of motion for a niiiiiiice loooooong tiiiiiiime). Bwahaha. I saw a few waddling out of the studio after that.

Very sore. Very awesome.

I started this book today:

 

(Source)

Already pretty far into that sucker, it’s an easy and fun read.

A few things before I go:

1. I won a Kombucha Home Brewing Kit from Lauren over at Oatmeal after Spinning! Woooo hoooo! Check out her blog, she has lots of cool things going on over there 🙂

2. I got my Bulu Box the other day. Since I have been sick, I really haven’t gotten myself to try any of the goodies, but as soon as I do, I’ll make sure to post! (One of them is Birthday Cake Whey Protein…cannot wait to try that!)

3. Since we’re all sick in this house, I made a run to the store for chicken noodle soup and the fixing for grilled cheese. I think things will start looking up pretty soon.

Talk to ya later!

Hello! I love everybody!

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I am a bad blogger because I haven’t published anything in almost a week. That is not acceptable! But I have some excuses if you’d like to hear them.

  • I am sick
  • It’s midterm week
  • SNOW

I don’t know if they’re legitimate excuses, but I am using them.

Hmmm…so since I have been stuck inside blowing snot out of my face and doing homework, what do I have to talk about???

1. Best Body Bootcamp started yesterday!

If you’ve never heard of this before, I definitely think you should check it out and register for the next round! Anyways, it’s an 8 week program for only $25. Cannot beat that. Tina sends you 4 phases of workouts (each are 2 weeks) that incorporate strength and cardio.

“But Jen, you’re a fitness instructor and personal trainer, why are you TAKING a class?”

“Because, my little internet friends, it is awesome to have someone plan a fitness regime for you. And it refreshes my workouts, and gives me inspiration to incorporate the different exercises and concepts to the classes I teach. Again, cannot beat that!”

Yesterday’s workout was 20 minutes of cardio intervals that alternated between 60 second and 30 second recovery periods. I did the strength portion at home because I had all the equipment. Then when I finally decided to chip the large ice cube that had formed around my car, I got to the gym for the cardio- which I probably shouldn’t have done while sick. I was doing my 8-8.5mph sprints in such a fog, that I don’t remember thinking of anything but bed.

I’m sore today, so it was worth it.

Today’s workout will have to be modified since I am teaching TRX. I’ll probably skip the strength portion for another day but still get the cardio done (assuming I can breathe, I heard that’s important).

2. Midterms this week. This is all I have to say about that:

 

3. There is a lot of snow outside.

 

And I lost my winter coat this weekend. It is my belief that all coat-checkers be certified (you know how elevators have inspection stickers, and restaurants have certifications, and hair stylists have their permits? Yeah, coat-checkers should have the same) I handed mine to an imposter and BAM my $220 coat was gone. So sad.

Because I am super cheap, I spent most of the day yesterday online trying to find a WARM coat for a good deal. After much hoopla, the best thing was to have my parents get one for me in NY and mail it here. Therefore, I can’t go outside until the FedEx guy shows up Thursday. (Ok, I do have a wool coat and a puffy parka, but the wool coat is fancy schmancy and the parka is for poopy dog walks only)

4. My bestie, Kysha, sent me an invite to Zulily since they had some coats on sale there. (THANKS!!!) I got sidetracked and looked through Zulily (it even allowed me to ‘shop internationally’, so Canadians out there, you can shop on Zulily, too!) and there are so many awesome deals. Click here to check it out, sign up, and SHOP SHOP SHOP till ya DROP DROP DROP! (or if you lose a coat, like I did)

5. I roasted my first acorn squash last night and it came out perfectly. I suck at using sharp objects in the kitchen, so I took a butcher knife and a hammer to that sucker and got the job done. I sprinkled each half with melted butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup and baked at 400 degrees for just over an hour.

I also tried my hand at Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf. It was alright, but not good enough for me to post the recipe. We also had asparagus. Um, there is a reason I don’t buy asparagus here.

  • it’s THICK (twss)
  • You end up breaking off almost half the stalk, so it’s wasteful
  • it’s MUCHO DINERO

6. My latest Pinterest obsession has been wedding flowers. I need to make a decision so I can figure out what some of the other decorations I might want. This one caught my eye for color purposes only

 

That’s the extent of my wedding posting for now.

7. If the stupid Lions didn’t F up the game last night, I would have won this week’s football poll. I can’t even be mad at Jay Cutler for that one.

I’ll leave you with yet another picture of my four-legged companion:

To the dog park

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Yesterday I woke up all ready to attack the day with my laziness. Followed by teaching HEAT class. But then I made lunch.

 

It was a good sandwich that I just randomly came up with. Some multi grain bread from the local bakery, sliced cucumber, sauteed red peppers, cream cheese, and a slice of cheddar. I slapped that on the panini press and lunch was served.

Immediately following, my stomach started hurting. It hurt so bad that I called for a replacement to teach my class last night…and I got in bed. I thought perhaps it was the cheese or the bread that did me in, but we’ll never know.

I tried to survive through dinner that Tyler brought home, but I think that made it even worse.

 

We took Layla for a walk afterwards, and then I knew I was a sicky-sick little lady (HA! Little?).

I woke up this AM with a sore throat, some post nasal drop and a headache that made me fall over when I got up to pee. (YOU’RE WELCOME).

And yet, I still managed to take my four-legged child to the park. Hells no I was not going to walk her, I am dead people! I took her to the fenced in dog park, slapped my chair in the corner, and watched her do her thing. Unfortunately for me, she knew the park was right next to the river, so she whined and jumped on my until I hooked her up and brought her for a swim.

 

So there I was, in my pajamas, coughing and moaning, while my idiot of a dog jumped into the frozen (ice not visible to the naked eye) water. Then she freaked when she heard all the broken ice clanking around her. I laughed. Then coughed. Then laughed and coughed at the same time.

 

 

 

You see, since I have been a miserable beast of a mess all day, I have no energy to do things to write about. Nor am I my witty, hilarious self. And don’t even get me started on how difficult it has been to attempt homework today. I think I might lay in the tub (with water in it, of course) and take a nap. And by nap, I really mean sit in there reading my book until I pass out, and then wake up with a crook in my neck.

I might also get real stupid-ass stubborn and head to the gym for a cardio interval session on the treadmill. I’m kind of craving it right now.

Oh, and I am making pulled pork.

And coleslaw.

And since football is on tonight, I might have an adult beverage. Doubt that’ll help with the sickness, but it’s Thursday, dang it! )That means absolutely nothing to me since I have been happily unemployed for 8.5 months now. Wow, time flies when you live in a foreign country with a dog, a dude and no money!

I gotta get better by Saturday! A friend and I are making out own impromptu pub crawl downtown! I can’t wait. Are you in Calgary and want to join? Let me know!

Also, I am accepting applications for a new best friend in the Calgary area. Must like working out, drinking, and laughing. (Kysha and Katie, you’re still my besties, but I need a gal that doesn’t have to use a passport to see me!) Why am I interviewing for a new friend? Because I need someone to have fun with! Someone that doesn’t always have to do ‘couples’ things, or has a bed time, or is a grump. Someone who isn’t Tyler. I love him and all, but I need me some quality fun-girl time.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some moping to do.

ROOF!

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I think my new favorite exercise (at least for this week) are TRX tabatas. They are no joke. I formatted yesterday’s class to incorporate 2 moves on the band (to fatigue), then do two moves with dumbbells that use the same muscle groups. After those were complete, we would do a 90 seconds cardio burst. We did this for 5 rounds, but I snuck in two different tabatas to really get our blood pumping. The first was TRX squat jumps and the second was Swimmer Starts (shown at minute 1:20).

I originally planned to get in a quick run after class, but since my muscles were pretty much dead after class, I just walked back to my car and headed home. I got a pretty sweet sunset shot on the walk to my car

 

Today’s funny story is brought to you by….ME!

I am still pretty much a child in that when I see something, like a duck, I’ll either shout “duck!” or “quack!” Or I read signs aloud as we drive by. Stuff like that. On an unrelated note, we are getting our roof done (they came and delivered the materials 2 weeks ago, we are just waiting for them to come back and actually do it.) Anyways, because we were in the process of picking out what color roof, we would point out ones we liked when we were out walking Layla. So, the other day when we were in the car, I noticed a lot of houses in a row were getting their roofs re-done. So I yelled “roof!” and Tyler goes……”you saw a dog? What kind?”

Hhahahaha, does anyone see the humor in this? My idiot self shouting ROOF sounded like WOOF. I really need to grow up and not proclaim things as I see them.

Read this post about plateauing. You will laugh.

I found some REALLY BAD pictures from college. So I thought I’d share some of them with you. This is prior to he existence of facebook, so these are what I like to call ‘rare finds.’ Enjoy. Or barf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am a LOSER.

So I’ll leave you with something a little bit cuter to look at. Layla.

 

Do you like TRX? Tabatas? Have a terrible college picture you’d like to share?

The Funk Phenomena

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1. I forgot to mention yesterday about this sort of cool thing. Tyler ate McDonalds. No, that is not the cool thing, but I’m getting to that part. You see, when I’m not in the house around dinner time, Tyler cheats on me. I came home from teaching at the Y last week and I asked if he wanted me to make him a smoothie. He said no, he wasn’t hungry. I asked him if he had any dinner and he said he snuck to McDonalds when I left. My jaw dropped and my head started to shake, but he had what he thought was a legitimate excuse: the Monopoly game was back. AND he won. I asked if he won a McMuffin, which is basically not winning, and he said no, he won 2 free 5×7 prints from snapfish.ca. 

“Ok” I thought to myself, “I can use this!”

So yesterday, I got online (shocker) and ordered two prints. And shipping was free.

2. Naturally, I followed up this venture with a trip to Michael’s for some craft frame project, but I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. I had a coupon, too! Wahhh.

3. I made these puppies to accommodate dinner last night (which was salad topped with spicy pulled chicken)

 

Cornbread Jalapeno Poppers

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 6 jalapenos
  • cornbread mix (I used the entire box, and baked the rest as muffins to freeze for later)
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1.5 cups shredded cheddar
  • GLOVES

Here’s what you do:

  1. Put on gloves and cut each jalapeno in half (lengthwise). Remove veins and seeds.
  2. Mix the cornbread according to box directions (ugh I always make mine from scratch, or use Jiffy mix, but I couldn’t find Jiffy anywhere here! Another sad face for Canada), mix in the corn and one cup of cheese.
  3. Scoop the mixture and place in each jalapeno. Top with remaining cheese
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

 

(Tyler didn’t like them. I’m thinking he was secretly hoping they were full of cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. That’s for next time!)

4. I had a really sweaty at-home workout last night.

 

(The stability ball followed me into the bathroom, apparently)

I started with about 40 minutes of kickboxing, and rounded out with a 20 minute full body strength session. I started laughing at the beginning of my kickboxing workout, because the first song was The Funk Phenomena (I linked to the YouTube ‘video’ so you can listen to it if you have no idea what I am talking about). I went through the song 2x because I was laughing so hard.

“Jen, why were you laughing?”

“Because he sounds like he’s saying Tha Fu Fa Na Ma Na instead of The Funk Phenomena!” (Leave it to me to make everything childish.) I was also super hyper, so I was adding some crazy hip action to this routine.

5. When I went back home in August, I dedicated a full day to take care of formally important stuff. I had to contact every insurance company I used for car insurance (to provide Tyler’s insurance company with proof that I have been driving x-number of years with 0 claims- so that my payment would be reduced) I had a lot of insurance companies, because I was always reviewing to see who could provide me with the cheapest rate. Oh, and the coverage I had under my parents when I was in college- that company doesn’t even exist anymore, so that was fun trying to track down.

I also had to deal with all the health insurance bills that SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN A PROBLEM. You see, my health coverage from my employer in the states covered one annual physical and one annual ‘lady exam’ (cough cough, yaknowwhatimsayin, cough cough). So, I went for my lady exam in September 2011 and was billed $289. UM THAT’S NOT ACCEPTABLE. So I went to my HR department to bitch about it, and they just told me to call the doctor’s office, who then told me to call the billing office, who then told me to contact my health insurance company…blah blah blah. This went on for almost a year. Finally, I was contacted by someone in HR who said they screwed up and incorrectly entered my social security number. And that’s why I kept getting billed.

I also went in for a routine check up at my doctor and was billed $110. For what? She basically took my blood pressure and asked if I ‘felt safe at home.’ Dumb questions that doctors ask these days.

Long story short, I spent 6 hours on the phone when I was home in August, trying to straighten everything out. I had people send me receipts and confirmation that everything was settled.

And then this weekend, my dad messages me saying I had another bill from them in the mail.

NO, AMERICA. YOU ARE SO SUCKY AT HEALTH INSURANCE.

YAY, CANADA. YOU GIVE ME MEDS FOR FREE AND ARE NICE TO ME.

6. Since I love to tell funny stories, I’ve got another one for you today. You see, I used to be fat.

 

(Source)

Ok, well not ‘fat’ but I ate a lot of calzones and chocolate covered raisins and drank a LOT of beer in college. And I broke my foot junior year which didn’t help, either. My highest weight was just a hair under 200 pounds. I kid you not. So to all you boys out there I made out with in college- you’re welcome. You must have been drinking a lot of beer then, too.

I went through phases of over-exercising, and no exercising, and weight watchers, etc. It wasn’t until after I graduated and moved into my own place did I realize the importance of what I was eating. And it wasn’t until I got certified in group fitness did I get the importance of my fitness.

And now, I am more than 50 pounds lighter than I was in college. Hooray! (And I still drink beer and eat Nutella, imagine that!)

7. My dog is crazy.

 

Tell me something random in the comments!

(Don’t forget to like my facebook page, follow me on instragram and twitter @nutcaseinpoint)