Tag Archives: workout

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.

 

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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)

Weekend Recap

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Ah, the Sunday blues. The worst feeling. Except for probably childbirth, but I haven’t done that yet.

Cute pictures of my dog help a little bit.

 

She has entirely too many toys. Tyler brought her home a big bright pink one that’s name Silly, but I haven’t snapped a pic of it yet. (He brought me Moroccan Oil! What a gem of a guy #lovehim. And yes, I just used a hashtag)

Oh hey, and look what I Tyler installed (I helped)

 

Light! Glorious, bright, light! You have no idea how excited we were to get this puppy up. The hallway is just too dang dark, and we are still pretty painted-out from the living room/dining room/bathroom, that we haven’t tackled a brighter color for this space.

Sidenote: I did NOT know Rock of Ages was adapted from a musical. I was not prepared to watch over 2 hours of singing. oof

Sidenote#2: Never have a valued the performance of a humidifier more than now. Hello, boogerless sleeps!

Here’s a funny story: We took Layla to our favorite park yesterday. It’s completely fenced in, there are other dogs she can play with, and it’s close to the river so she can take a swim (and by that, I mean lay in the water).

Anyways, we get to the park and there is a tent set up. It was a little thing promoted by the city(?) to educate people on how to properly clean up after their pets. Ummm, what? I’m pretty sure it goes like this:

  1. Have bag.
  2. Dog poops.
  3. Put hand in bag and pick up poop.
  4. Flip the bag inside out, tie a knot, and throw bag away.

Guess people don’t know about that little trick.

I also guess that wasn’t really a funny story, but I thought it needed to be told.

On an unrelated note, I had a really great workout after the walk. I completed 40 minutes of crazy intense spinning and then since I was pressed for time, I did a quick set of bulgarian split squats, elevated squats, hamstring extensions, single-legged dead lifts, and clean and jerks. This may sound weird, but when I have a set of muscles that feel tight, I actually like working some strength on them because it feels like stretching. Silly, yes, but it works for me. Now my hammies feel fantastical.

(Insert brief pause here, while I go downstairs to change the laundry)

Oh hey, date night!

 

I clean up pretty decent. I’ll admit, I don’t get myself ‘done up’ too much these days, but DAMN it feels good to be a gangsta.

 

He looks pretty slick himself.

Tyler got a Groupon for Koiji Restolounge. Poor guy has had a mean craving for sushi, but hasn’t had it in forever since I’m not a seafood person. And then, I caved and told him I’d give it a go. The restaurant was small, but it was super nice, and the waitstaff was really friendly. Helped take the edge off, for sure.

Not gonna lie, I was nervous.

We ordered an avocado roll, 2 California rolls (avocado and snow crab), a spicy tuna roll, Alberta (beef, arugula and cucumber), and Tuscany (cream cheese, sun-dried tomato and something else).

 

 

 

a.) I suck at using chopsticks.

b.) Around the 6th piece, I had a nasty gag reflex and needed to gulp my wine and take a breather.

c.) I love wasabi.

 

I’m not in love with sushi now, but I can definitely tolerate it. This made Tyler a very happy man. (Is it weird to still taste seaweed the next day? Because I do)

Fast forward through the night, and here we are. Sunday football, pumpkin pancakes, homework (gag reflex at its finest), and watching a man jump from space.

 

That man is crazy!

What did you do this weekend? What’s your favorite sushi?

Check In

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Hey! (I have been watching too many episodes of Duck Dynasty lately. Uncle Si kills me!)

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Just a quick little check in, I wanted to remind all of you that today is the last day to “Like” my facebook page to be entered in a little intro giveaway! What’s the harm in a little mouse click with the possibility you might win something for free? Seriously.

Yesterday’s HEAT class was a combo of strength circuits and cardio blasts. I’d type out the whole class, but I’m not really in the mood. It basically went like this:

6 strength stations

Round 1 was one minute at each station, followed by a 2 minute cardio blast

the stations were:

  • alternating lunge with med ball twist
  • decline pushup
  • tricep dips
  • bosu squat hops
  • stability ball chest press
  • plank

then the cardio was 30 sec jacks, 30 sec high knees x2

Round 2 was another set of 6 stations each done for a minute

  • pendulum lunges
  • walking plank pushups (HOLY BALLSACK these made me SORE today)
  • tricep dip toe touch
  • bosu squats
  • stability ball chest flys
  • crunches

then another set of cardio that was a lot of down-and-back stuff: run x2, skip jumps x2, shuffle x2, and frog jumps

Round 3 was the same as round 1, this time with only 45 seconds of work. After 3 stations were completed, we did a 2 minute cardio burst like before) Then when all stations were completed, we did the down-and-back cardio as before

Round 4 was the same as round 2, except again at 45 seconds of work AND after each station, we did 30 second cardio bursts (plank jacks and jump twists)

I finished the class with a lot of quad/hamstring work on the bosu and abs.

Whoops, guess I did just write out the whole class.

Now go Like my page and get in the running for this giveaway!

A Few Things

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A few things. (I always say ‘few’ when I’m teaching a class, “c’mon guys, only a few more pushups!” when really I mean 10. Or 20.) But this time I really only mean a few.

1. Check out this hilarious video. It’s the Gangnam Style music video…without the music. I still can’t decide if that makes it incredibly hilarious, or seriously creepy. You be the judge!

2. Oh man. I saw this on The Pioneer Woman‘s blog this A.M. and got addicted…immediately. Kendra Scott jewelry. (Kysha, Katie..go look at this site. There are some serious contenders for wedding jewelry!)

3. Taught Barbell Blast tonight. Except, since I subbed it last minute, I didn’t know that it was Barbell Blast. So guess what, we did Barbell Blast without barbells. Hahaha. I had one lady leave 5 minutes in. She totally had a look on her face that was all “awwww hellls no”

 

Not a super glamorous shot, but the next class was about to start so I had to be quick. And the next class was PARKOUR. Umm, what? The YMCA offers jump-off-the-roof classes? Now that I think about it, I should have stayed to watch. Drats. Well, that’s what YouTube is for, I guess.

Favorite moves from tonight’s class:

-Decline bridge chest press. It’s kinda like this picture:

 

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Except, I had the class rest their heels on their steps. I also had them alternate between the chest press and flys 2 times- without coming out of the bridge pose. Then had them go immediately into weighted bridge dips and single leg dips. Bwahaha

Other favey was the Arnold Press combined with tricep extensions (done 2 times through) To be extra challenging, I had them do sets of medicine ball pushups immediately after. Bwahaha².

I ran into one of the women in my class in the locker room afterwards and she told me she liked my class because I went so slow. Not sure if that was a compliment, but I guess I’ll take it? I told her it was to ‘feel the burn’. Quick thinking.

******

See, that was only a few things. I kept my word. 🙂

TWO birthdays!

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Happy happy happy happy happy birthday to Tyler and Layla!

Crazy that they both share the same birthday! (Ok, Ok, I don’t know Layla’s actual birthday because she’s a rescue, but I got her on Sept. 19th three years ago today, so that’s when I have been celebrating!)

As soon as the alarm went off this morning, I started singing Happy Birthday over and over. I think I got into Layla’s head, because as soon as I would stop, she’d nudge me to keep going. She has also been a little more demanding for treats today. Hmm

I’m still recapping those dang fitness classes from the weekend. Not gonna lie, I’m getting bored of it, so this one will be brief.

Third class I took was TRX circuit training. I’m no stranger to TRX and unfortunately I didn’t learn much in this course. He gave us the basic moves, and after targeting multiple zones, we would run over to the field and engage in high intensity cardiovascular training before returning to the ropes.

The cool part of this course was that I was located up the path from the main lodge where my first two classes were, so I was able to get in a nice 2km walk both ways. I was totally on the lookout for bears- apparently black bears were spotted there every day that week.

 

******

Last night’s workout was supa dupa sweaty. In fact, only 7 minutes into my WARM UP- I had to strip (bow chicka-bow-bow) and I noticed the weirdest sweat mark

 

That’s not where my nipple is, people, so don’t be getting any ideas.

I did 10 minutes of kickboxing for my warmup.

Then, I did stability ball lunges with bicep curls (2 sets of 12 on each leg), stability ball chest press (1 set of 12, a set of 12 with a 4 count up, one count down, then another set of 12)

Then another 10 minutes of kickboxing.

Single leg (resting the other leg on the stability ball) overhead press (3 sets of 12, with the middle set having that 4-1 count), tricep extensions (3 sets of 12), woodchops (3 sets of 8 each side).

Last 10 minutes of kickboxing.

Plank holds (20 seconds on, 10 second rest. 4 times)

The idea with this workout was to incorporate strength conditioning with cardiovascular exercise. By the end of the hour, I was sweaty, the floor was sweaty, and the dog was sweaty (not because she also worked out, but because she HAS to be with me when I’m working out, and was the lucky recipient of my flying sweat).

I am currently switching between homework and baking (it’s a surprise for now, but will blog about it later). Have to take the puppy out for her birthday treat at the pet store, pick up some more gifty gifts, workout, and get ready for the arrival of the birthday boy! So so so excited!

Anyone LOVE birthdays?! Tyler doesn’t seem too excited, maybe his prezzies will cheer him up!