The Post-Buyer’s-Remorse Workout

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Where do I start? How about after I took Layla for a long walk yesterday, I ended up dragging my booty to the mall. I really shouldn’t have, but I made out like a bandit. I got 2 dresses and a necklace from Banana Republic; a dress, sandals and pajamas from Gap- and all that was for about $120. Not too shabby.

As soon as I got back home, I turned right around and ended up going to Tyler’s football game. Where he managed to dislocate his shoulder. Not good, since today he is off golfing with people from work. I hope it doesn’t make it worse! He was having so much fun on the field and it was only the first game. Perhaps my persuasive powers to get him back in the gym will finally take into effect now that he knows he’s gotta keep himself strong to prevent injuries!

With all that hubbub, I was only able to squeeze in an at-home workout last night. Not really what I was aiming for, but it was better than nothing. I ended up doing about 20 minutes of kickboxing, then another 25 minutes of strength stuff: stability ball reverse lunges, plie squats, weighted stability ball oblique twists, chest press and flys.

Today, though= different story. I completed the Fitnessista’s Schweaty September Workout

Mine was only slightly modified:

Cardio #1

1. Shake Senora- Pitbull (Warm up)

2. Americano- Lady Gaga (Speedier)

3. Pass at Me- Timbaland (Tabata; 20 seconds work, 10 rest, repeated 8x)

Strength 12-15 reps of each move 2-3 sets

Front/Back overhead press (Using a body bar, do an overhead press, then bring the weight down and behind your head so it almost rests on your shoulders. Then press it back up and have the bar come down in front of your face, almost resting on your chest. Each full front/back movement counts as 1)

Shoulder raises (first set: lateral raise; 2nd set: front raise; 3rd set: combo of the two)

Cardio #2

1.Princess of China- Coldplay and Rihanna (moderate pace, increasing the resistance every 1 minute)

2. Papa Don’t Preach- Madonna (30 seconds speedy; 1 minute recovery)

3. Love on Top- Beyonce (moderate speed)

Strength 12-15 reps of each move 2-3 sets

Right leg squat + bicep curl, regular weighted squat, left leg squat + hammer curl, 25 calf raises

Step Ups: 1 minute each leg

Cardio #3

1. Boomerang- DJ Felli Fel (2 minute warm up then pace for the rest of the song)

2. Please Don’t Stop the Music- Rihanna (Tabata; 20 seconds work, 10 rest, repeated 8x)

3. Back in Time- Pitbull (moderate pace)

In my workout, I did the elliptcal for Cardio portions #1 & #3 and used the spin bike for #2. Here is the playlist I used for the hour long workout. It timed out perfectly- even with the machine wipe-down times!

Now, I must write up tonight’s bootcamp! I will check back in with that workout later tonight 🙂

PS: This is my first month in the Foodie Penpal program run by The Lean Green Bean. I just got my penpal today, and I am super excited to send her a package full of goodies! The best part: She has a list for US and Canadian residents and penpals are paired with those who reside in the same country to alleviate any customs/shipping problems. Love!!

New Start Monday

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Hi. It’s Monday. It’s a new week. Sometimes it’s a great excuse to just start over. Especially if you had Dairy Queen or beer over the weekend. Which, of course I didn’t do. Ok maybe I did.

Sunday nights I usually turn into a Negative Nelly because of my workout and food choices (or lack thereof) but come Monday morning, I am excited to get going on a week filled with wonderful, challenging workouts…and healthy eating decisions.

Here are a few pics from the weekend that make me proud to be me:

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Check out that arm! I see some definition and I’m not even flexing! Wait, you can see it? Here’s another:

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And I rocked a side pony that doesn’t make me look too hideous

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Tyler has a football game after work tonight, so I have a full day to dedicate to me. After the laundry is done, kitchen is cleaned and floor is scrubbed, of course.

Now, I must gripe:

One month from today is my favorite holiday of the year, and it’s not even celebrated here. This is seriously not cool. I was willing to give up everything to be with my man, but my favorite holiday should not have been thrown in the mix. Therefore, I will be decked out in my red, white and blue attire (complete with beads, Kysh!) on July 4th.

Speaking of me being in Canada with no job for the next year or so, does anyone want to buy a brand new iPod Touch that hasn’t even been opened? This lady is in need of serious cash flow.

I’m off to workout and pump a little bucket if endorphins in my system!

Another workout..yes, really.

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…I’m back. Lots of things to share from today, and it’s not even over!

For breakfast this morning, I was having a hankering for pancakes. So…I made them. Ooooh and they were so good you guys.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cups oats
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 egg
  • 4 tbsp butter, melted

Directions

1. Combine the oats and milk. Let set for 5 minutes.

2. Add everything else to oat mixture.

3. Pour batter on skillet until each side is lightly browned.

Makes 4

(I drizzled honey on mine. You should too)

Then, because it’s Friday, I ate my breakfast in bed. Accompanied with my variety of liquids.

Fast forward a few hours (nothing to see here, people) to lunch

Scrambled eggs mixed with veggie marinara, black beans and a side of rye crackers.

And now for today’s workout. Usually, I take Fridays off, but lately I have been having that extra surge of energy, so today I decided to do yet another treadmill interval!

I got myself situated on a treadmill with a view

Then I got a-runnin’

This is how my workout was broken down

  • 0:00-5:00 @ 4mph
  • 5:00-6:00 @ 6mph
  • 6:00-7:00 @ 4mph
  • 7:00-10:00 @ 6mph
  • 10:00-11:00 @ 4mph
  • 11:00-13:00 @ 6mph
  • 13:00-14:00 @ 4mph
  • 14:00-17:00 @ 6mph
  • 17:00-18:00 @ 4mph
  • 18:00-19:00 @ 6mph
  • 19:00-20:00 @ 4mph
  • 20:00-25:00 @ 6mph
  • 25:00-26:00 @ 4mph
  • 26:00-29:00 @ 6mph
  • 29:00-30:00 @ 4mph
  • 30:00-31:00 @ 6mph
  • 31:00-32:00 @ 4mph
  • 32:00-35:00 @ 6mph
  • 35:00-36:00 @ 4mph
  • 36:00-38:00 @ 6mph
  • 38:00-39:00 @ 4mph
  • 39:00-42:00 @ 6mph
  • 42:00-43:00 @ 4mph
  • 43:00-44:00 @ 6mph
  • 44:00-45:00 @ 4mph
  • 45:00-50:00 @ 6mph
  • 50:00-51:00 @ 4mph
  • 51:00-54:00 @ 6mph
  • 54:00-55:00 @ 4mph
  • 55:00-56:00 @ 6mph
  • 56:00-60:00 @ 4mph

PHEW!

Post workout fuel consisted of fresh strawbs, 1/3 banana, OJ and ice blended. HIT.THE.SPOT.

My afternoon was straight up dedicated to Layla. The poor girl had a vet appointment for some follow up blood work. She did awesome with the doctors, but left with a band-aid.

I kind of felt bad, though. I pretended we were going for a walk, when really we just ended up walking to the vet. Terrible move for a dog-mommy to make. (Car was still getting all $049520397235092 of work done).

To make up for my awfulness, we walked to the little pet store in the same shopping center so that Layla could get some well earned treats. This was my first time actually taking Layla into a pet store and I was very skeptical. Especially since this particular store has a huge display of chewies and treats that are dog level- right at the entrance. But she was a star!

She got her treats

And a WAY better harness. (How do I know it’s better, you ask? Well, because she wore it on the walk home and she was a doll. No pulling. It was a-MUH-zing.)

We just picked up my car and I have had chili simmering in the pot since I began writing this post. If you do the math, that means the chili is ready and it’s my time to say goodnight!

Workout Challenge

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Happy  Friday, friends!

As promised, here is the awesome workout I mentioned yesterday. (I have posted about this workout before- it is a workout I originally found from Fit In Heels and did in December 2011)

The workout consists of 10 exercises. Each are performed for 30 seconds, with a 15 second rest in between. (*Ack! I just noticed that the first time, I did 30 sec work/30 sec rest! No wonder the ‘scores’ are off a bit!) If you are scarce for time, going though this series just ONE time will give you a great 6 minute workout. But, if you’re feeling ballsy (and please, feel ballsy…I dare you) do this series 4 times!

Here are the results from my first go ’round from Christmas:

And here are my results from yesterday:

I did better in some and worse in others, but I feel I was overall consistent in my abilities. At the end of the day though, I feel stronger and more fit than I did 5 6 months ago. I have switched to heavier weights at the gym, done more cross-training, and have really been trying to stay as active as I can throughout the days (now that I am not confined to a cubicle)

Oh, and if you don’t wear a watch when you workout, or hate having to keep looking up at a clock to make sure you’re starting and stopping on time, try the Gymboss 2 Interval Timer app. It comes with a few different intervals already set up, but you can create your own (that’s what I did for this particular workout). You can choose to have the background change color for work/rest periods, have sounds for start/stop times, etc. I really love having that because it’s not always that you will be in a class for these timed exercises and it really is impossible to accurately gage the time on your wristwatch (that’s how I did it the first time, and it is really tricky doing pushups and checking the time!)

Anyhoo, I challenge you to complete this workout. Let me know if you do, how you liked it, and what ‘scores’ you got!

In the meantime, I am challenging myself to be alcohol-free for the month of June.

  1. It saves $$$
  2. It saves me the temptation of overeating
  3. Eliminates the crappy next-day feeling (some call that a hangover?)
  4. Eliminates bloating
  5. Increases productivity

I’ve done this before, and it really helped me mentally and physically. Plus, I am less likely to crave a glass of wine or a beer once I have abstained for a while. Anyone ever do this?