Number it out.

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Lots of things to talk about today. Let’s number it out:

1. The Walking Dead last night. Oh myyyyyyy, I forgot how much I love that show. Then, about an hour later in bed, Tyler put his arm over me and I thought it was a zombie and almost killed him.

(Source)

2. My legs were pretty dead from my Saturday workout, so I kept it to a minimum and focused on my arms yesterday. But I did manage to squeeze the bender ball between my knees for the entire hour of Walking Dead.

3. I started reading Wild last night. I’m already halfway through. I got sucked in, and didn’t realize that I was staying up for hours!

(Source)

4. I signed up again for Round III of Best Body Bootcamp. Last session, I followed it to a T for about the first 2 weeks, then when I went home for almost the entire month of August, I edited it to incorporate more runs (I love running through my parents neighborhood) and to accommodate my busy schedule visiting friends.

5. I just spent about $49686240935 mailing people stuff. Canada post, you are expensive.

6. And now, I must do what Tyler tells me:

It’s a tough life, I tell ya.

Gangnam Style

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I made another new-to-me dinner last night, and it was pretty good.

Couscous with veggies and bacon. Pretty self explanatory. But the secret was in the dressing! After you cook the couscous as directed, sautee any veggies you have in the fridge (I used red pep, zucchini, and an onion from the garden), and sizzle up about 5 pieces of bacon, toss them all together in a bowl.

Then- the best part- coat the mixture with dressing made up of:

Juice of one lime
3 T olive oil
1 T honey
1 t paprika
Dash salt
Dash pepper

It was a really nice dish. Only complaint from Tyler was that it was too sweet. He probably would have enjoyed it more if there was a higher ratio of bacon. I would suggest tasting the dressing before coating the dish to make sure it’s to your liking.

******

Yesterday’s workout came in three parts.

Part 1: Strength Circuit from Best Body Bootcamp. For the workout I chose, she had us doing 5 sets of each exercise before moving to the next exercise. Each set was supposed to use higher weights, but since I didn’t have much choice from working out at home, I made sure to do variations for each set to incorporate muscle confusion. For example: with bench presses- first set was with feet flat on the ground; second set had my legs in ‘table top’; third set my legs were fully extended; fourth set I did on the stability ball; fifth (and technically sixth set) I did single arm presses.

I’m not sore today, but I definitely felt the challenge as I progressed.

Part 2: 45 minute walk with Layla. I wore a jacket, but hot dang I was a sweaty mess by the time we got home. I chose a route that was very hilly so I could work those glutes just that much more 🙂

Part 3: Cardio. I buzzed on over to the gym for a 25 minute interval run on the treadmill and 10 min HIIT on the elliptical. Ummm, it’s been over 3 months since I have been on the elliptical. How did that happen?

Today’s workout will be at the Eau Claire YMCA downtown. I am co-teaching HEAT (indoor bootcamp) then going over some kickboxing stuff with the fitness director to see if I am eligible to instruct an upcoming class. Then probably some sweating on the treadmill.

I leave you with my current favorite jam/dance/I will be breaking this out at the retreat this weekend:

If you scroll to 1:27, that might be what I look like while instructing my class this afternoon. #justsaying. Gangnam Style.

Spoiled Dog (and a recipe!)

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

So, my dog is spoiled.

I went to the store yesterday specifically to get canned pumpkin for her. Over the last few months, she has been having issues where she screams in pain whenever she sits or lays down. We have brought her to the vet and found it’s because her anal glands have been filling with fluid. Gross, right? Since then, she has had to go to the vet a couple of times to get her glands ’emptied.’ But dude, vet appointments are nasty expensive. We Googled the problem and spoke with the people at our local pet store, and it seems that upping her fiber intake may solve the problem. Insert:

Pumpkin!

About 1 tbsp mixed in with her food, and she should be good to go. With her being a picky eater, I was nervous she would eat around the orange stuff, but dang she gobbled it all up!

And now she’s even more drooly! Gross.

As if the pumpkin wasn’t enough, she also got some of our dinner.

Correction: some of my dinner.

Guys- it was a good dinner.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Onions

Here’s what you’ll need

pork tenderloin (duh)
2 granny smith apples, peeled and diced
1 medium onion (I used 2 small ones from our garden!), diced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup water
S&P

This is what you do

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, prepare a baking pan with olive oil (or Pam)
In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Place the S&P’d tenderloin in the skillet to brown on all sides (about 5-6 minutes).
Transfer the tenderloin onto the prepared pan and place in the oven until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 165 degrees (about 25 minutes).
While the tenderloin in cooking, add the onions to the same skillet in which the tenderloin was browned. Allow them to get tender. (approx. 3 min)
Add the apples, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir frequently to fully incorporate. Once incorporated, add the water to the skillet.
After a few minutes, once the apples start to tenderize, cover the skillet and turn off the burner.
When tenderloin is done baking, remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Cut the tenderloin and top with onion/apples mixture. Serve.

Sounds good huh? It is. Even Tyler liked it, and he hates pork (crazy since he LOVESSSSS bacon). And he hates the idea of pairing meat with fruit. Double win for me!

As if these yummy eats weren’t enough for the four-footed princess, Tyler came home with even more goodies for her.

One of the ingredients is pumpkin! She is going to turn orange soon. I promise to post pictures when it happens.

She loved these treats from Wet Noses. She actually played with her first brownie bite last night before inhaling it.

While my dog enjoyed being spoiled yesterday, I unfortunately did not treat myself to such luxuries. I didn’t even work out. And I was SO mad about it. Granted, I do have an exercise-filled weekend coming up, so my body could use the break. But I took out my frustration on Tyler with lots of frowns and moans and groans. Poor guy.

Exercise makes me happy. Even if my body needs the break, I like to indulge in workouts to stay HAPPY. I promised myself that since I was not doing a single thing yesterday, I would have an awesome workout today. And I’m excited for it! I’m going to run at the Y then get in some strength circuits from Best Body Bootcamp. And then I’m going to be HAPPY!

Oh wait, I did do one thing..

Fall nails!

Anyone suffer from non-working-out guilt? How do you overcome?

Take A Hike

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Hi. It’s the start of football season, which means nothing to me. I’ll be starting back up with school in a couple weeks, so I won’t care that Tyler will be stuck in front of the TV. Because I’ll be stuck in front of this computer doing homework. Yuck.

Yesterday, our little family went for a hike on Heart Creek Trail. Me= happy. This is just outside of Canmore, AB- the edge of Banff National Park.

I SO wish this picture was in focus because it’s so great! Ah well, maybe next time.

Of course the pup went in the river at every possible chance. She mostly just lays in it. We ran into another woman with her two dogs who called it “hippo-ing.” I’m stealing the term.

We have to keep her on the leash because she would NEVER come back. Poor Tyler almost got pulled in a few times.

It was a perfect day for a hike. Not a cloud in the sky. But it wasn’t too hot either. As soon as we hit sdahy spots, you could feel the cool breeze. Tyler and I always commented every time we walked through a ‘cold’ patch!

How pretty is that?!

Layla was actually pretty good with posing for all of our photo ops.

Probably because she knew that 2 seconds later, she’d be able to hop back in for a dip. That water is fr-fr-freeezing.

I was usually behind the pack because I was just staring up at the mountains and cliffs. About a month ago, two climbers were found dead after falling about 90 meters into a dry creek bed. We actually saw the spot- there were bouquets of flowers resting at the site. It’s totally erie.

At the end of the trail, I tried using the self-timer for a family shot, but I was the only one with any light- so you can’t really see Tyler or Layla! #fail

Some crazy climbers. We happily walked by. Well, Tyler was pulled by Layla.

There were a lot of ‘bridges’ to cross the winding creek. By bridge, I mean two planks of wood nailed together. Really not a great passage for a dude with a dog on a leash.

“Hey Tyler, hold the dog who is about to jump in the creek and take a picture of me. At the same time.” Bad idea. But great picture!

One last dip before it’s time to head home..

Time to go home!

It was a great day, and Layla slept the entire drive back home.

To recap this past week’s workouts:

Monday: 30 minutes of kickboxing, 200 situps, 45 minute walk with Layla
Tuesday: 40 minutes of spin, lower body circuits
Wednesday: 90 minute walk with Layla, upper body circuits, 200 crunches
Thursday: Off
Friday: 40 minute run, lower body circuits
Saturday: Hike, upper body circuits, 200 stability ball situps
Sunday: 30 min cardio (haven’t decided which yet), 30 min total body circuits, 30 min walk

This week was definitely a lot different than my usual week’s worth of exercise. I’m not complaining though- I was feeling a little more run down this week, so I didn’t try to push myself too much. I feel a REALLY good week coming up!

I haven’t been really following the Best Body Bootcamp workouts either because I just wasn’t feeling it. I kind of wanted a break from something that was planned for me. Still, no complaints- even Tyler has been noticing how much more fit I look. Can’t hate that!

Anyone do something fun this weekend?

Seven Steps to this Humpday

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

HHD, folks. (Happy Humpday for short.)

Jumping right into it, since I suck as smooth transitions, here we go:

1. Yesterday, I posted about my upper body workout. But I also did Tina’s total body circuit workout from Best Body Bootcamp. The best part about that workout? She had us do 6-8 reps of each exercise with a heavier weight immediately followed by using a lighter weight and performing the same exercise until fatigue. It’s totally a great way to change up your workout without really changing it. (I’m talking to you: people who think that doing bicep curls only will make you sexy.) Oh, and I did the workout in my family room, while my mom sat next to me, and we were watching the finale of Design Star All- Stars (neither of us saw a single episode of the season, so naturally it made sense to watch this. hear the sarcasm?)

2. Breakfast this morning was a little trip to Coffee Planet

Sorry about the butt shot, mom. I told you I was talking a pic, but you continued to walk right in.

And I had the world’s largest bagel.

Ok, ok, it’s actually an everything bagel, but I took the liberty of renaming it. I would be lying if I said this thing had zero carbs, but that’s what I told myself the whole 732 minutes it took me to eat it.

Those were probably two worst two sentences I have ever written in my life. I’m too lazy to hold the backspace key to make changes.

Mom had a hot chocolate that reminded me of Harry Potter

Anyone else think of the ‘ol HP??

3. I got my first pedicure since prom.

Mom took me since she had to get her nails filled. Thank God I shaved my legs last night. Oh, and apparently since my last pedicure, salons have had major upgrades. I’m talking about those massage chairs. UM WHAT?! Had I known I was gonna get a little back rub with my polish, I would have made it back sooner! HOWEVER. This massage chair was NOT what I was expecting.

Um, yeah. That part was awkward. Especially since it was a guy doing my nails and I was all “OOOooo my butt!” and then made a somewhat pleased expression. I cringe to think what HE was thinking.

4. I finally found the necklace I have been looking for forever!

It’s the Karma necklace from Dogeared.

“But wait!” you say, “If you are providing the link, why didn’t you just order it online if you wanted it so badly?”

Good question, readers. Good question.

I am no stranger to online purchases. But for some reason I wanted to actually see it and touch it and hold it before buying it. Because I am weird like that.

Basically what I’m saying is, I just didn’t think to buy in online.

I’ve also realized from this picture that I should probably make an appointment with a Dermatologist.

Anyhoo, I found this gem at Sterling & Company along with a few other goodies that I can’t post because they are gifts to some people who read this here itty bitty blog.

5. We visited my apple dumplings at Sutton’s. These are one of my top favorite foods that I would probably ask for these if I was on death row and had my last meal request. Well, that and Pyramid Apricot Ale. And In-n-Out. I am so having these on the dessert table at my wedding. Athena, I’ll be hiring you for a ‘morning-after-wedding’ workout.

6. We somehow made our way up to Lake George, and I managed to see a moose! And a bear!