Thursday Q&A

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I got 10 requests, so I’ll give 10 answers. Here we go.

What are some tips for throwing together meals?

The simple, and kind of asshole answer would be: find shit and mix it. But to be honest, I just look for a carb/starch, veggie(s), and a protein. Once you’ve got that basic formula, it’s easy peasy lemon squeezy from there on out. Here are my usual suspects:

Carb/Starch

  • Israeli Couscous
  • Quinoa
  • Potatoes (sweet, red, russet)
  • Whole Wheat pasta

Veggies (the usual suspects)

  • zucchini
  • peppers
  • mushrooms
  • onions
  • carrots
  • spinach

Protein

  • Chicken
  • Tofu
  • Tempeh
  • BEANS
  • Bacon (only on Sundays, because it doesn’t count)

There is no rhyme or reason as to how it can be assembled. Sometimes I roast the veggies, sometimes sautee, sometimes raw. The meat is generally on the skillet, or they’re leftovers. And the veggies? It’s really what’s still edible in the crisper. I leave the seasoning pretty simple: EVOO, S&P. That way, if there are leftovers, it’s still pretty basic and you can do whatever you want with it. Tyler usually adds hot sauce or ranch dressing or soy sauce. I like it plain.

What’s the most awkward situation you’ve been in?

I’m awkward in general, so either I write a novel titled: JEN, or tell you about accidental public farts or nip slips.

What are you top workout moves?

I was actually talking about this with one of the girls in my bootcamp yesterday. I think the best overall exercise you should do to work total body is the burpee. If you have no equipment, or you’re stuck in a hotel room, or only have 5 minutes to get your sweat on: choose burpees. True, they are dreaded, but shut up and do them and you’ll be sore all over the next day.

Lately, I have been obsessed with Pikes. Here’s what it is:

 

Source

That’ll get your core working. No joke.

I also love curtsy lunges with a bicep curl, moving into a high knee and lateral raise. (Holding weights in each hand, take your left foot and step diagonally behind your right leg, keeping your torso and hips facing forward. As you drive you left knee to the ground for the lunge, perform a bicep curl. On your way back to the start position, pick up the left foot and raise your right knee to the side of your body, while simultaneously performing a lateral raise with your arms.)

LOVE squats. Any and all variations.

Clean and presses.

Hmm, I love everything? I don’t know. I go in phases. These are my favorites for now. In six months it could be tricep dips and wall sits. I kind of go through phases (but i still make sure to engage in muscle confusion and total body exercises!)

Why is Athena so awesome?

Again, another novel. I met Athena at the gym (shocker, I know). I was taking both her classes every week. I was obsessed. Not with her, but with her classes. I was also taking about 528529 other classes a week. I had turned into a gym junkie. I made her fudge one Christmas. She made me a mixtape (it was love). Once I got certified to teach, we became friends. And drank margaritas on occasion. We share new moves, blogs we love, recipe ideas. Seriously, she’s awesome. Check out her blog. Now.

What are you looking forward to most on your trip back home?

Yay! I’m flying to NY August 6th, heading out to see all my gym friends in Boston for a bit, then back to NY to chill with the fam. What am I most excited for? Seeing my friends. Having a girls night out. No boyfriends. No husbands. No babies. (Kysha, it’s different in your circumstance. The baby is IN your belly, so it doesn’t count)

Better yet, no talk ABOUT boyfriends, OR husbands, OR babies.

Just having fun with the people who ‘get’ me.

Ok, someone will probably have to force me back on the plane to Calgary at the end of the trip.

What were you for Halloween every year?

I don’t remember EVERY year, but I will do my best to remember what I can.

  • A pumpkin
  • Strawberry Shortcake
  • A cat
  • A gypsy (not the ones that are on TLC)
  • Alice in Wonderland
  • A hobo
  • Thing 2
  • A nurse
  • Richard Simmons (that one was awkward because I had a huge boot on my foot. So technically I was Richard Simmons gone wrong)
  • Tom Cruise from Risky Business
  • Lady Gaga
  • Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman

Yup. I got progressively worse. Maybe I should shoot for being a pumpkin again this year.

How did you become a fitness instructor/get your certifications?

I was actually approached by one of the instructors (hi Liz!) at the Y who noticed I was at her class like EVERY DAMN WEEK. (Even when my car broke down and had to get towed, I had the guy just drop me off at the gym so I could make her class). She helped me get signed up for a certification course for Corpbasics Cario Kix and Cardio Cutz.

Soon after, I got certified in First Aid/CPR and I was teaching one class every week. I wanted to do more, though. I became so engrossed in the thought of being able to bring fitness to others, that I practically lived in the gym. (Ok, I did have a life though. I worked a full-time boring-ass office job, AND was taking grad school classes, AND I got a new dog, AND I was driving 4 hours every weekend to go home.)

Liz then approached me with the idea to get certified as a personal trainer through ACSM. The Y was offering a 3-day workshop to help prep for the exam, so I signed up. I knew a lot of the material, but o-m-g was there a ton more that I didn’t know. And the test was HARD. Like, try to memorize every constellation in the universe, then draw them all with a blindfold on. Super hard. But I studied and studied. Took the bajillionty hour test, and I passed. Since the certification is really the gold-standard for training, I really had the golden ticket for whatever I wanted to do at the gym.

I got up to teaching a Core class, Total Body Sculpt, Express Core, Express Lower Body, and Cardio Ball. And subbing for Athena and anyone else when I could.

I finagled my hours at work so that I could accommodate class times at the gym. Because the gym had priority. But the job had the paycheck. (Well, the higher paycheck. Unfortunately)

But.

Then I moved.

To Canada.

And all those certs I had?

Out. The. Window.

I have been starting from scratch since February so I can at least make some money training up here. So far, I have gotten re-certified for CPR/First-Aid, taken a Fundamentals course, and a Group Strength course. I have about 3 billion other courses to go before I’m squared away. (The system here in Canada is way more confusing than the States).

Luckily, the director at the Y has really helped me out and allowed for me to volunteer instruct the outdoor bootcamps. I can continue to do this until all my certs are complete, then I can teach more indoor classes and what not.

We shall see!

What are some of your favorite breakfasts?

Honestly, I go in cycles. I’ll become obsessed with one thing, and have that for breakfast every day until I can’t stand it any longer. My recent faves have been:

  • Cheerios and almond milk (or Panda Puffs! I JUST FOUND THEM HERE AND I AM HAPPY!)
  • Eggs
  • Whole Wheat English Muffin w/almond butter
  • SMOOOOOOOOTHIES (omg there are so many good ones. pb banana, blueberry, strawberry, chocolate mocha. I usually throw in plain 0% greek yogurt and chia seeds for the omega-3s)
  • Protein pancakes (again, with chia seeds, greek yogurt, etc. and I top them with either almond butter or raw honey instead of maple syrup. Even though Canadian maple syrup is probably one of the most divine flavors ever.)
  • On weekends, Tyler makes Eggs Benedict. I devour them.

What are some of your favorite U.S. shops?

…all the others that I like are pretty international (Banana Republic, LULULEMON, Gap, Sephora)

What’s your love story?

Ack. Maybe this is also my answer to the most awkward situation. Let me try to break it down without it being too confusing.

I was living in Boston. I started dating a guy who I went to college with. He was Canadian and had gone back to Ottawa after school. We had a long distance relationship going for over a year. It was going really good. Then, I found out he was dating another girl in Ottawa. At the same time. And they had been together for years. Ack. We both broke up with him and the other girl and I became friends. Last summer, she suggested we go to Calgary for the Stampede. I drank a glass of wine, then booked the flights online. (whoops). Turns out, she was friends with Tyler when he used to live in Ottawa. She had arranged for us to stay at Tyler’s house in Calgary for the duration of the trip. After I left Calgary, Tyler and I began texting (like maniacs). He had some extra vacation time, so he flew out to Boston…literally a week later. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Is that a weird How We Met story?

Have any more questions for me? Send them my way!!

Swedish Chef Talking

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I forgot to mention this earlier when I posted about my parent’s visit here in Calgary. BUT, the entire trip, (and since we were drinking tequila like it was a high-paying job), my mother and I talked to each other like we were the Swedish Chef.

I’m not even kidding, you guys. We were a-boom-shootin’ the entire time. Mom & I= hilarious. Tyler & Dad= thought we were crazeballs. I told Tyler he can’t get rid of me because I pretty much can’t go back to the States now. He’s stuck. Poor thing.

Today’s bootcamp: Sweaty.

We divided into 2 groups.

Round 1

Group 1 did 2 ab tabatas- the first was plank holds, and the second was sit-ups

..while Group 2 did pushups, ran down and back the field, bicep curls with tubing, down and back the field. They repeated this until Group 1 was done with both tabatas (8 minutes total)

Then, they switched.

Round 2

Group 1 did another 2 full tabatas of V-ups and Russian Twists

….while Group 2 did bent over rows, ran down and back, tricep extensions, ran down and back. Again, they repeated this until Group 1 was complete.

Then, switch again.

This actually took up our entire class time, because we had to run from our start point at the Y to the field, stretch, do the 2 rounds, stretch, then get back to the Y.

It doesn’t sound like much, but believe me, it was tough.

Post workout fuel: Banana-Blueb Smooth

Fantastic after a super hot-n-sweaty workout.

Check out this sign my mom got me:

Unless you fly here. Or drive over 4 hours. Then, you should stay.

This week’s song brings out my inner 14-year old. But I don’t play it once Tyler gets home. His ears would probably bleed.

And, guys:

I’m still waiting for requests on what to write for a future post. Do you want to know my life story? Well, you can go here for that. Do you want to know my opinion on country music? Tell you my favorite stores to shop? If I brush my teeth up/down back/forth? I’d be happy to answer! Lemme know!

Recap of Yesterday

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1. Well, yesterday was a great day. I sold a bunch of stuff for Tyler (makin’ money, y’all!), got my hair done (holy 6 inch roots. I’m not even kidding), had dairy queen, did the ol’ H-Dubs (homework), and got in a sweaty gym session. AND I got that Lulu gift card from Athena. AND I got a surprise bday package from my old bestie, Amy.

Now, let’s elaborate.

2. Who cares what I sold. I won! I won! I won! The money is mine! For further elaboration on my reaction to each sale, I URGE you to check out this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqcN-DF95PE

(except, I didn’t die)

3. While I was out winning the money, I had a sudden urge to get my hair highlighted. I figured, I’m leaving for NY/Boston soon, and I don’t wanna look like a dumpster lady when I see all my family and friends. So, I quickly googled places in Calgary that were near me, and I called the first one- they had an appointment available right then- and I got quite possibly the best coloring.of.my.life. (No offense, mom. You did good, too). No pics yet because I haven’t even bothered to do it. I was in a hurry so I didn’t even have her dry it. Does anyone else do that? It saves a ton of $$ too.

4.OMG YOU GUYS, DAIRY QUEEN. I woke up with the craving. And it’s a craving that will not go away until my cookie jar blizzard is consumed. So how did I get it? I made a trade. I made chicken and veggies for Tyler for dinner: he buys me the dairy goodness.

5. Homework. I don’t even care to elaborate. I wrote about stuff. Lots of stuff. And read other stuff. Today, I have to read some more stuff, right about that stuff, and hope my group inputs other stuff. The end.

6. Is it logical to go workout after consuming Dairy Queen? No. Especially if you’re lactose intolerant. But I feel like an all-star yesterday, so I saddled up and got my hiney in the gym. Nothing super fancy, but enough to get my heart racing, palms (and other parts of my body) sweating, and blood pumping. I did sprint intervals on the tready, intervals of clean and presses/curls/rows with the bar and cardio tabatas, chest prest/skull crushers on the ball, jacknife/pikes on the ball, and medicine ball twists on the ball. Outta there in 40 minutes. As Antonio from Barter Kings would say, “Bah-Bam!”

7. I told you about the Lulu card yesterday, but I was even more surprised to get a big box in the mail from Amy. Amy and I were neighbors and best friends in High School. We drank Twisted Teas and Keystone Lights in my room, snuck out to parties, and got matching tattoos. (of what, you ask? A martini glass. Because that’s the cool thing 2-18 year old girls would get.) Anyways, she sent me some cool stuff:

Thanks so much, Amy!

Off to bootcamp!

Coming up: My response to ALL your requests from the last post. Get your comments in now!

Homework

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Hi. I am super sore today. Like, holy hell DOMS.

I started yesterday’s workout with about 10 minutes of kickboxing, then I did Tina’s Burpee Blaster workout.

I finished up with a few sets of single legged hammer curl/row combos and stability ball extensions. And some abs.

For my entire sweaty session, I listened to the FitFluential Radio Station on FitRadio. If you’ve never heard of FitRadio, I really encourage you to check it out. For my entire 60 minute workout, a continuous remix played and I loved every single minute. In fact, they even have remixes to music that’s not geared towards workouts. Right now I’m listening to the Between the Sheets station (it’s great, but I can’t help but giggle. Doing ‘it’ to remixed slow jams just seems like a bad Lifetime movie to me).

Anyways.

By the end, I looked g-ross

Then, it was homework time. If you didn’t know, I am STILL in grad school. I started a year after undergrad, but I was so busy with my full-time job, teaching at the Y, studying for my ACSM certified personal trainer exam, traveling, and LIFE that I am finally on my 3rd to last class. I decided to take my last elective (or as I like to call them: fun) class during the summer, so that come fall/winter, I will be miserable indoors not only because of the weather, but because I will be finishing up with Managerial Economics and Operations Management (as if I didn’t suffer through them already in undergrad! woof). Then: Masters Degree.

Hopefully around the same time, I will get my PR card here so that I can finally WORK. And because I’ll be all educated and whatnot, people will want to pay me MORE. (lots of caps in this post. gotta emphasize stuff)

Back to the homework bit.

I am frugal in my paper consumption, so I used the back side of my workout to take notes on the Freudian Personality Theory. Because that’s normal. Whatever, I got to write about marketing sports cars and fine chocolates.

On a different note. Tyler has been selling a lot of his stuff on Kijiji lately (for you American folk, that’s Canadian for Craigslist). Let me make a correction: Tyler posts the stuff, talks with people who are interested, then has ME do the dirty work of the actual exchange of goods. This morning, I sat on the front porch for 10 minutes while some guys inspected a paintball gun. I didn’t even know how much Tyler wanted for it. Good thing I’m awesome and made the sale at the right price.

EVERYONE HOLD THE PHONE.

I just checked my mail. And I got a card. From Athena. For my birthday. And look what was inside:

Pretty much the best gift this girl could ever get. Thanks so much, Athena!!!!

Now, I’m off to meet up with some guy to sell yet ANOTHER one of Tyler’s things. Oy.

***(I got my Foodie Pen Pal package yesterday and it’s AWESOME! But, I can’t post about it until July 31st. Stay tuned!)***

Question: Anyone have requests for an upcoming post? Anything you want me to write about? Otherwise, the next post might be an entire scene from Anchorman. I’m not kidding.

 

 

 

Vacation’s Over. O.V.E.R.

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Please allow for this post to be a sporadic* as possible. My mind= jell-o. Thanks.

My parents just left this morning.

They flew from NY to vegas to stay with friends, then drove to Montana to stay with the same friends (how nice would it be to have homes in both vegas and MT?!), then drove here to stay with me and Tyler. Now they are driving back to Montana, then back to vegas, then flying back home. I am tired just thinking of how exhausting that trip must be. While they were here, we:

  • Went to the rodeo at the Calgary Stampede for my Birthday!!!

 

  • Drank a LOT. (10 out of the 11 days to be exact)

 

  • Went to the Grandstand show at the Stampede

 

  • Went to Lake Louise and Banff

 

  • Ate a LOT. (more on that later)

 

  • Shopped
  • Went to 2 of Tyler’s football games

 

  • Played cards

Of course, I cried hysterically when they left. But then I got to cleaning the house and I got over it. Besides, I am flying to NY on AUGUST 6TH for 18 days!!!

About the eating thing. And the drinking thing. I drank like a fish while they were here. A total, sloppy fish. And I supposed I felt like I ate a lot (anything is filling when your belly’s full of booze). And I tried to work out. But I considered their time here as vacation. I got 5 -what i would consider- GOOD workouts. And while at the Stampede and Lake Louise, we were walking around ALL DAY. And sweating. But there was a hot dog with BBQ sauce and bacon consumed. As well as poutine. And, well, the margaritas.

AND GUESS WHAT?!!!

I.did.not.gain.a.single.pound.

I am so happy. You really have no idea.  Now please excuse me while I get myself together for a Grade A sweat session. Boy, do I need this.

*I learned this word from Clueless. 

Cher: OK, it will get easier, I promise. Just as long as we do it everyday. Not just sporadically.

Tai: How do you know if we’re doing it sporadically?

Cher: That’s another thing, Tai. We’ve got to work on your accent and vocabulary. See, sporadic means once in a while. Try and use it in a sentence today.