Tag Archives: workout

Fine Friday

Posted on by

0

While it feels like every other darn day for me, but for most of you…it’s FRIIIIIIDAY! End of the week. Go out tonight. Have fun. I’m staying in with the man to paint and watch TV. In a word: romantic.

I did manage to finally snap a few pics yesterday. Let’s start with the best one..me!

Do I look fierce or what? Fast forward 20 minutes and I’m out for a walk with the pup- the pup who happens to have diarrhea- the dog who happens to have diarrhea while it’s windy- the dog owner having to carry said diarrhea in a poop bag in the wind- and it’s not so fierce.

We took a different route today and managed to hit some of the streets that are actually just around the corner. I am flabbergasted that EVERY HOUSE is different. When I grew up in CA, you could tell the different neighborhoods because the developer only had about 4 different models of houses. So each street looked identical; maybe some of the designs were flipped or something. But here, every single house is different. I have secretly been on a mission to find our house’s twin.

I made some fabbbb apps when I got back. I found the idea at Healthy Tipping Point.

Mushrooms stuffed with hummus and topped with cheddar cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Yum!

Next, came dinner. Spinach salad with steak, strawberries, pineapples and poppyseed dressing.

Jen was happy.

I finally decided to walk to the Y last night for my workout. (My walk to this Y is shorter than my walk to the Oak Square Y in Boston! I didn’t think that was possible. But, oh, it is. This will help extend that tank of gas even longer!) Like I mentioned before,  I did an entire tabata workout. I found that this type of workout is not only quick; it helps keep me focused and motivated; and it helps me get in a good workout when the gym is absolutely PACKED. My workout looked like this:

2 cardio tabatas (heel taps for the first, alternating plank jacks and high knees for the second)

bicep tabata (one leg stand bicep curls- one foot on stability ball)

tricep tabata (tricep extensions and kickbacks)

8 minute tabata on the row machine (holy YES this was my favorite part)

lunge tabata (elevated; holding weights)

squat tabata (alternating between regular body weight squats and elevated squats)

2 cardio tabatas (jumping jacks for the first, alternating between up-downs and front kicks)

ab tabata (mix of crunches, russian twists, leg lifts and pilates pulses)

Done in just under an hour. Boom.

******

Breakfast this AM was a delicious and nutritious yogurt bowl. Haven’t had one of these in for-ev-er. I used my new-to-me Oikos

A sample box of Great Grains blueberry pomegranate cereal we got in the mail yesterday

and fresh strawberries to create this yummy delicious bowl:

So that’s what I’ve got for you on this fine Friday morning: food and workouts. Story of my life.

Anyone have any awesome Friday plans?

Meatless Monday

Posted on by

8

Mmmk mmmmk, let’s talk more about meeeeeeee. No one seems to be interrupting or even commenting, so I’ll take that as a go-ahead.

I ended up doing 30 minutes of cardio at the Y, then finished off with arms. (I already did a full body workout and extra abs this am!)

I’m gonna jot down some gym pet peeves. It really doesn’t matter what gym you go to, you will most definitely see some of these things. Feel free to add on others I fail to mention.

  • Wanderers. These people look as if they feel satisfactory enough by just having made it to the gym, yet they have no idea what to do. And if they do decide on a machine, it’s for about 45 seconds until they change their minds. Then, because they weren’t on the machine for that long, they feel they are exempt from having to wipe it down. People, I still don’t want your germs.
  • Creeps. I’m talking to you, fellas. Stop checking out the girls with the tights spandies or the low cut tops. Yeah, they’re asking for it, but it’s rude. And gross. And us laddddies feel inclined to either talk to management about you, or just confront you in person. If it gets to that point, you should just be embarrassed.
  • Another one for the boys: Why do you always have to grab your junk between sets? NO ONE wants to see that. Plus, I gag.
  • Sweaty gorillas. I fall under this category. MAKE SURE TO WIPE OFF ANY EQUIPMENT. Otherwise, it’s like the skit from Jackass 3 where Steve-O drinks Preston’s sweat. Not pretty.
  • Groups. Do 14 teenage boys need to huddle around one piece of equipment? No. This isn’t social hour.
  • Naked people. Ugh, they make stalls for a reason. It takes all my might not to gasp in horror when I round the corner and find wrinkly boobs. I just worked out hard, I might be prone to fainting, and nakedness doesn’t help the cause.

One thing I LOVE about my Y here in Calgary is that there is no equipment signup. AKA: No one’s is going to tap you on the shoulder and demand to see the ‘time elapsed’ on your machine to make sure you are not cutting into their allotted 30 minutes. That system is not effective. Anywhere. I have been to this Y a crap ton of times already, and not once have I seen a problem. Good job Crowfoot YMCA!

Phew. I feel better now.

In honor of National Spinach Day, lunch consisted of a Green Monster (frozen banana, 2 handfuls baby spinach, almond milk, 3 ice cubes and a splash of vanilla) and an english muffin topped with Trader Joe’s Cranberry Apple Butter (When you have an obsession and you have limited packing room, you make room for necessities)

After some domestic chores, (laundry, change bed, grocery shop and take a bath)—> ok, maybe that last one isn’t a chore, but I did it anyway, I painted my nails. Woop! Perhaps it was to pay homage to St. Patrick’s Day a tad bit late, or perhaps the spinach smoothie got to me, but the green was calling my name. Warning: Do not zoom in on this picture, I have fierce cuticles. And if you decide to zoom in, don’t judge me, it was a cold winter and I have sensitive skin.

I decided I was going to make tonight’s dinner a Meatless Monday dinner. This was for a couple of reasons; a) We still need to stock up on meats at Costco, and b) I’m sick of chicken.

So, I came up with a little pasta concoction. I packed the meal with a lot of veggies, to make sure a good a good dose of vitamins and goodness.

Whole wheat penne with broccoli, yellow pepper and fresh green beans. Drizzle with EVOO and add a dash of salt.

Ahhh, back to that grocery store trip I mentioned. Only wanted to get some produce to fluff up our pasta dish, but decided to check out the yogurt section to see what they had going on (again, I have to wait for our Costco run, but argh, I couldn’t help myself) Ok, so they have 3 different brands of greek yogurt. Liberte, as I have mentioned before, and two other brands I have never seen. It took me forever to figure out what they were because all the dang containers were French-facing-front! I am sooo not a fan of this two language thing. Anyhoo, none of the yogurts were 0% or even 1%! They were all regular fat, whatever that may be, and contained 18g of fat per serving! My indulgence in that aisle was quickly squashed. I can wait.

******

I am almost done with Mockingjay! It took me longer than usual to get through because of my meltdown-of-a-week last week. I am hoping to finish tonight! Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can read next? I don’t like serious books or Jodi Picoult or sci fi (The Hunger Games is an odd exception)

Flurry Monday

Posted on by

5

And a happy snow day to you, my dear friends. It is a glorious 0 degrees here in Calgary this a.m. and I am ready to get this week going!

But first, I will show you what I threw together for dinner last night (to be consumed while watching The Amazing Race. While we’re on that topic, I hate the green team. Ok, no, I seriously don’t like the girl on the green team. And the Kentucky boys are HILAR) That said, dinner was basmati rice toped with garlicky sauteed spinach and chopped chicken sausage. Yum!

After The Amazing Race, we decided to watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Holy balls is that a crazy movie. Slow and twisted, but really good. Now I can see why I had a hard time getting into the book. There are so many different characters to remember and how they are connected to each other. Woof!

After watching that and 12 episodes of The Walking Dead the night before, I had some crazy bizarre dreams last night. I need to stop doing that to myself!

B-fast this am was a couple leftover banana chia muffins with a scoop of pb and some scrambled eggs.

After adequate digestion time, I decided to get started on my fitness for the day.

Dont’ I look intense? The answer is YES.

I decided to once again turn to Pinterest for some inspiration. You know, change it up a bit. Keep me from having to get creative. I came across a workout I have done a few times before, and I thought it would be perfect for a Monday morning pre-workout workout.

Source: indulgy.com via Rose on Pinterest

 

I did that 3x through, then did the same stability ball ab routine I posted yesterday. I had a little interruption here and there when my separation-anxiety ridden dog decided to ass-plant on my mat. Doing crunches with her there was like playing peek-a-boo with a baby. I’d extend back, and she’d cock her head to see where I went, then I’d contract back up and her neck would jolt back. It’s comedy hour at my house this morning. We’re a funny little team in this house.

I just wanted to get this all jotted down before I really get my day going. Lots to do today!

  • YMCA for cardio and weights
  • walk with Layla
  • Paint my nails (yay! Jen squeals with joy! The move and crap weather have wreaked havoc on my precious digits)
  • Come up with an amazeballs dinner (I’m domestic like that.)
  • Paint! (Will it ever be done??!)
  • Costco (Yesssssssss. Mama needs a big ol’ jar of almond butter, and almond milk by the gallons, and economy bags of brussel sprouts and strawbs and…..)

Ok, I guess that really isn’t a whole lot, but for this gal, it’s the mecca of all daily schedules right now.

Off to the gym! 

Sunday Sweat Sesh

Posted on by

0

Just thought I’d share some bits of my workout today!

First, I started with a leg burner that I saw on Pinterest (thanks, Ashley! I found it on your board!)

Source: fitsugar.com via Jen on Pinterest

I did that 2x through. I needed some cardio, so I did a quick 30 minutes of kickboxing (Give Me Everything, How Low, Ramalama, Get on the Floor, Beat It, Dun duh-duh, Enjoy Yourself, Down on Me)—-> for you CBC folk 😉

Then, I followed it up with another lower body burner I found on Pinterest

Source: itsfitnessbaby.com via Jen on Pinterest

Last but not least, I finished up with some abs on the stability ball. I did a mix of

  • russian twists
  • crunches
  • planks, jackknives, pikes
  • side crunches
  • pass throughs
  • back extensions
  • roll outs

Did you work out today? What did you do?
 

Starbucks Thinks I’m Weird

Posted on by

0

I got a late start to my workout last night, but it was a great at-home sweat session! I completed 1/2 of Bobbi‘s 20 minute Tuesday workout (weird, but it took me 20 minutes to just do half. Anyone else try this? Am I way off? I blame the altitude.) I then did a 20 min ab workout on the stability ball and some glute work on the mat (donkey kicks w/variations, froggers). Not bad considering I was about to forego the workout, but as soon as Tyler said “Ok, I’m gonna go kill a few aliens before bed,” I knew I could use that time proactively and torch some cals.

20120321-081603.jpg

20120321-081622.jpg

Today’s workout will have to be much more intense after wolfing down this heifer for dins last night:

20120321-081736.jpg

We got started on painting the living room last night after those mondo sausages were scarfed. Word of advice: don’t paint in the dark; you’ll miss a ton of spots. We only got one coat on, but I’ll definitely be posting before and after pics. There really is just so. much. brown.

I used the last of my Click
protein powder yesterday (read: SO SAD! It’s hard to find and I can’t afford to order online and have it shipped to Canada! Anyone wanna help me out?!?! I need my Click! 😉 ) that said, I actually needed to brew a pot o’ coffee this AM to accompany my oats balls for breaky.

20120321-082546.jpg
Good, but not as good as the espresso protein powder! In case you were wondering, I poured the coff coff in a juice glass because I didn’t want to keep making trips back to the kitchen. I’m way too busy watching daytime TV, talking into the internet box, and planning my day. Plus, I rather prefer lukewarm coffee. You should see the look on the Starbucks barista’s face when I order a hot coffee- half filled with iced coffee.

Methinks today is garbage day. Only because there is an obscene amount of banging going on down that weird back-alley where everyone keeps their trash bins. I’m about turn into an old bag lady and run out in my pj’s and give Mr. Garbage man a piece of my mind. Actually, who am I kidding, I’ve been up since 4:30 this morning. Prime blog reading and book reading time. Head and iPhone under the covers/pillow. Obviously. The boyfriend don’t mind, but the dog? She turns into a fury ball of bitchy when her sleep is disrupted. Perhaps she should rethink her attitude and realize she has free reign over my half of the bed, and I’m the one who suffers. Way better than the floor, dawg.

And there ya go.