Workout Wednesday July 17, 2013

Hello lovelies!  I'm back!  I feel like it's been forever since I posted but it's not for lack of trying...have any of my fellow bloggers been bitten by this stupid Google bug??  Seriously!?  I could not post for like 5 days and it was irritating as hell!  I literally shouted to all of you, "I'm STILL HERE!"

So, work out wise, I have really stepped it up and quite honestly, I can tell you that the changes I've made have seemed to make a huge difference in both my endurance and my strength...AND I think in just a few short weeks, I'M starting to notice the changes myself...



I know, right?!



It's this whole strength-training, shit - guess what?  It works.

For the past three weeks, I've been incorporating 3 strength training sessions into my workout week and I swear that has made such a huge difference.  Plus, I love that it's such a change to my cardio life.  In addition, I'm running 3x a week and, because I just love it so much, I take Zumba on Saturdays.

My Movestrong class continues to be so much fun; I love not knowing what we're going to be doing and get excited when we arrive to find out.  Saturday, this was our layout:

The workout consisted of 1 minute intervals of each:

1) Kneeling hamstring curls - those were harder than they looked.  Basically felt like your hammies were cramping the whole time.

2) Step up/downs with dumb bells on the three boxes

3) Ringed step jumps - I have no idea if this is the real name, but basically you put your foot into the ring, then using the other one, jump up and down off the step platform.

4) Flip the 165# tire back and forth - that's my fave!

5) Thigh crunches

6) Squats holding the 15# ball overhead

We did all of this twice and then,

7) We finished with plié squat intervals with 15 - 30# dumb bells - 2 sets of 10 reps

In between all of these, we did 30 seconds of squats and plié squats.  I'm pretty sure we did over 500 squats.  Then I followed it up with Zumba.  It was a great workout day!

My Crossfit trainer, Vanessa is amazing.  I seriously have a girl crush on her.  #dontjudge  She's hot and fit and funny - all things I aspire to be.  She is training our group for our Blood & Guts run in October and she basically has been putting us through tons of drills to work on our endurance and agility. I absolutely love Tuesday's trainings and I always look forward to what she's going to have us do.  Last night we did jumps, belly crawls, balance beam work, ice skaters and jump squats.  And, she's started throwing in some "penalties" for not being able to perform.  For instance, if we fell off the balance beam, we had to do 5 burpees.  No burpees for me, thank goodness, because they effing suck no matter how hard I try, I cannot do them gracefully. 

I think the thing I really love about these trainings is that I don't have to think about it.  I just show up and they tell me what to do, correctly, and I just go to it.

The rest of my workout week has been spent running; I am really loving my morning run especially since it has been so freaking HOT (we're talking humidity in the 90s even at 5:30 in the morning!) and my time has been improving:

71 degrees and cool...happy face...

This was this morning...pissed me off that I had to cut my run short, but it was SOO hot...like I was running in water, blah...

77 degrees and oppressive...yucky face...

The rest of my week will be bittersweet, our dear friends are moving to Colorado and I'm going to miss them so much!  I cry every time I think about it...she's been my gym rat buddy for my entire journey and things just won't be the same without her.  I promised her that I'd continue on without her here, though and we'll definitely be keeping each other in check!



Me & My Maria - March 2013 - Prison Bus Limo...cuz, that's how we rolllll...


Don't forget to check out this week's healthy recipe at A Healthy Makeover.  Make your own blackened seasoning - so much better tasting than any mixes you'll get in the store and no weird fillers!

http://ahealthymakeover.blogspot.com/2013/07/blackened-seasoning.html

Workout Wednesday

 

Hey Heyyy!  It's time for Workout Wednesday with Skinny Meg!

 

The past week seems like such a blur and I know exactly what I can attribute it to:  morning workouts.  Now, if you don't know me, let me tell you a little bit about myself...I'm not a set-my-alarm-and-workout kind of girl.  I love my workouts but I will do them in the afternoon and that's been fine for 20 months into my journey...thankyouverymuch.

 

But something clicked last week; I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to lace up and run.  And I fell in love.  After my workout, I just felt amazing.  I began to think about the potential possibilities of the things I could do after work since I had already gotten my run in...This morning workout shizz?  I'm digging it.  I know, I know, I'm SOOO late to the party, but better late than never, right?

 

So, back to my blurry week...

 

Friday

I ran 2.7 miles (38:50)

 

Saturday

I finally made it back to Zumba after 2 months!!  It's my first love and is probably responsible for 1/2 of my weight loss - I've missed it but I've been trying to get in as many runs as I can so it felt great to be back!  I followed it up with a sesh on the treadmill for 2 miles of sprints/jogging intervals.

 

Monday - (this one was earlllllllyyyy...4:50am!!  Um, in case you were wondering, even in the Summertime, 4:50am is dark!) 

I ran 3.51 miles (51:18)...and sweat my mother-lovin arse off!!  It was 72° and HUMID...look, proof:

 

 

Pretty sweat bib...

 

...and THEN, I went to the gym after work for a MoveStrong session.  This week we worked on a lot of arms and core.  This is also when I hurt myself getting off the parallel bars...hubby said, "Everyone knows the routine's not over until you nail the dismount."  Yah, all my dismount consisted of was a buckled elbow, subsequent jamming of my shoulder and thumb, and finally, a punch to my own head.  #graceful

 

 

My whiny Instagram Selfie...

 

Tuesday - A few of my friends and I hired a certified Crossfit trainer to work us and get ready for our Blood & Guts run in the Fall.  PS:  This would not have been my first choice for an obstacle run...I'm more of a Flowers & Butterflies kind of girl.  Anywhooo, I couldn't wait to get started and I was even more excited after I met her.  She's wonderful!  She was knowledgeable and made sure we were always using proper form and most importantly, she was positively encouraging...no Jillian Micheals here, you get me?  Flowers & Butterflies...flowers & butterflies.  Our work out consisted of a 7/10 mile run, then back to do 40 overhead weighted walking lunges, 20 bear crawls (hated to love these), 20 jump squats, then 10 push ups...and in between each we ran 200m...then we did it all over again and ended with another 7/10 mile run and stretching.  I cannot wait to go back next week!

 

Wednesday (Today!) - I ran 3.02 miles (43:48).  This morning was PAINFUL...it might not have been if I had gone to bed at a decent time.  But I didn't...I went to bed at midnight and woke up and 3:30am in pain from my jammed thumb and shoulder and couldn't get back to sleep until 4:30.  I literally rolled out of bed at 5:30 and threw my clothes on and did it.  It was absolutely the last thing I wanted to do this morning so that's why I did it.  Although I feel exhausted...I am so super proud of myself for not ignoring the alarm and getting my ass out the door.  I'm winning, y'all.

 

 

Hilly + 4 hours of sleep but I was out there!

Don't forget to check out this week's recipe at A Healthy Makeover!  If you're looking for a dish to bring to tomorrow's 4th of July BBQ, this is the one!!  Corn & Black Bean Salad - Always a hit!!  Happy and safe 4th to you!!

 

 

 

Workout Wednesday - June 19, 2013

Hey Heyyyyyyy!  It's time for Workout Wednesday with Skinny Meg!

This week I traveled for 3 days but I still tried to get in some workouts.  On Thursday morning - this is a biggie, folks - I got up at 5:45 in the A.M. to get in a little Jillian before I headed out of town.  I am SO not a morning workout person...don't get me wrong, if it's the weekend, I'm all about waking up and getting in a workout...but I despise setting my alarm to workout.  So, this was a huge accomplishment for me!

Saturday was our University's Commencement ceremonies and although I was going to be on my feet for the entire day, I still got up early and went for a walk on the Potomac River/National Harbor here in DC...it was a gorgeous morning and I just couldn't resist!  This is the 2nd year in a row that my buddy Missy and I got out there to walk & enjoy the sunrise.

The Potomac at National Harbor, MD

I logged almost 1,500 workout calories that day - I decided to leave my HRM on all day and I vowed that I would not sit down except to eat...I even did laps around our Green Room during the ceremonies.

On Monday, a few friends and I decided that we'd try the MoveStrong class at our gym.  Have you seen this thing?  Here's a pic I found online and it's the exact same thing that my gym has:



MoveStrong - Google Image

 So, the great thing about this class is that it's a circuit of many of the apparatus's you see above.  Each person sets up at a station, the trainer times us and we do 1 minute of each exercise.  Between the stations, the trainer had us doing chair lunges, and weighted pliés.  We finished by doing 1/10 squats - Ohhh.Mah.Gah, I cannot tell you how amazing and awful I felt at the end of this 30 minute workout!  I literally walked away from this bizarro cagey thing with my shaky legs whilst they screamed, "What are you doing???  Stop!  Can't you feel us shaking!??  Um, please, stop???"

I cannot wait to own that Bitch again.

Last night I was starting to get sore from that contraption so we decided to just hit the gym and treadmill.  I thought running would help to keep my muscles warm, etc.  Yah, I think that worked, but by the end of the night, I put Hubs on Toilet Recon because I was sort of afraid I wouldn't be able to get up off it.

Today, I can barely move and for every step I take, I let out a little whimper...but, I love it.  Does anyone else love this feeling??

Can't wait to read about my linkup buddies' workouts!

Don't forget to check out this week's recipe at A Healthy Makeover!  A great Summer recipe!

Workout Wednesday - June 12, 2013

Hello there!  It's time for Workout Wednesday with my girl Skinny Meg!  I love this linkup because I get so many great workout ideas to try!

This week, I've been really good about keeping track for you and even taking lovely sweaty pics to share - lucky, lucky you!

Wednesday - We headed to a great local park that has an actual rock/paved track and this cool station where you can do other exercises like situps and pullups and such.  We hit the trail a couple times around and then headed back to kick some trees....yes, you read me right.  What follows is the conversation I had with my Hubs (who won't even let us have a real Christmas tree because he can't stomach the thought of 'killing a tree'...) when he called me during..."You're kicking trees!????"  "Hell yah, you gotta problem with that??"  "Um, hayuhhhh...that's a crime against nature!!!"  Okay, so we didn't actually kick any trees...but we did tap some sweet tree ass.

This is a really great workout for your backside, flanky area, legs and abs.  Basically what you do is balance on one foot (like you would for a side kick in combat or kickboxing) and with the other, tap the tree (or solid object) continuously for one minute.  Then switch sides...and, daaaannng...you're gonna be sore.  I love this!

Thursday - I decided to try Fitness Blender - everyone's been talking about it and it was super rainy and yucky outside so I headed home to try it out.  I have to say, this might be one of my favorite new workouts.  It's free and they have great videos where you can choose a body part to focus on or just do a full body workout.  I ended up trying three of them (cardio, abs, butt) for a great 50+ minute workout.  And let me tell you, I was sweat balls after only 10 minutes.

 

Love my AppleTV!



Mmmm...pretttyy...



Reeeeeeeeeeeaccccccccccchhhhhhhh!

Saturday - This is the workout I'm MOST excited about - I ran 5 miles!  I cannot express to you how much this run meant to me.  After not being able to run my entire 5k, I was kind of defeated so I set out on Saturday just to redeem myself. I didn't have a plan to run a specific amount of miles, I just wanted to get out there.  What I really wanted to do was prove to myself that my 5k performance was a fluke.  I had run the same distance before many times but that dang 5k was haunting me!  So out I set to just do what I could.  The weather was perfect:  overcast and cool and I just went for it.  I was feeling really great and decided that I would try to push myself a little - when I got to 3.1, I decided 4 would be great...then when I got to 4, I was like why not just go for 5??  So I did!  I was so pumped, you have no idea - when I hit 5 miles, I just stopped...I could have kept going, but I didn't need to...I laughed though because I honestly squealed my excitement in the street.  I don't even give a rat's ass if anyone saw me.

I am seriously loving this running thing.  Even though on Saturday night, I was pretty sore - I'm old!  But, it was so worth it.

Yah, Baby!

Monday - I was ready for some weights and it was Hubs and my anniversary so I didn't want to be at the gym for a long time.  I did 150 weighted bar squats, 75 Russian Twists, 100 Jumping Jacks and front jacks, 100 crunches, side crunches, two :30 planks, handweight fly's, and lunges with handweights.  I was getting ready to leave when Hubs called me to tell me to stay put because there was a Tornado Warning in effect.  Now, even though I love Hubs with all my heart and was excited to get home to see him, I never mind being at the gym, so I jumped onto the Stairmaster to sweat some more and wait the storm out.

Excuse the fuzzy - hard to take a pic while you're climbing moving stairs...but check out my lovely sweat pool...heh heh...why does it feel awesome when it's your own sweat but gag-worthy if you came across someone else's sweaty nastiness?

Tuesday - More Fitness Blender!  This time I enlisted my running buddy and sweat our asses off for 38 minutes and I burned 338 calories in that short amount of time!

I need to remember that not all workouts have to be a certain amount of time - you can still get a really great workout, if it's the right workout, in a shorter time.

So, that's my week!  I'm headed to the National Harbor in Maryland for our University's Commencement Ceremonies for the next 3 days.  I have my workouts already planned so even though it's going to be super busy, my plan is to get out there and sweat a little before my days begin.

Check out this week's healthy recipe - Monterey Chicken - SOO yum!!








Workout Wednesday - June 5, 2013

Hello lovelies!  It's time for Workout Wednesday with Skinny Meg!  I love this linkup because I love getting new ideas for workouts - I like to keep things interesting and changing all the time.

This week has been great because I finished my FIRST 5K! and it was amazing!  I was so excited that I could do it and I am even more excited to do my next one.  Since I ran in the GAWD awful heat this weekend, I decided to walk on Monday instead of my usual run...I was still a little bit sore from Saturday but it was nice to get out and keep moving...we walked about 4.5 miles and included all of the hills in our neighborhood, which are A LOT.

Last night I lifted and today, I'm SO sore - does anyone else LOVE that feeling??  I went to bed with my muscles burning and even though it was uncomfortable, I loved it.  I only had time for a quick session last night so I ended up doing the Quick 20 at my gym but apparently it was worth it because I really am finding it quite hard to wave at people today.

I'm VERY much looking forward to tonight's workout because are going to this really great "workout park" near here.  Apparently, they have trails to run and then these stations to do cross training - I'll definitely take pics because I'm not sure I'm explaining it very well.

I hope everyone is having a great week and I can't wait to see which workouts you are doing!  BTW, you have to check out Skinny Meg's post from yesterday titled "I Weighed Myself", what an amazing inspiration and another reason NOT to focus so much on the number on that damn scale!

Check out today's recipe of the week - Roasted Cherry Tomatoes - Yum!  Be sure to sign up to receive updates or follow me on Pinterest!

Workout Wednesday with Skinny Meg - May 29, 2013

Hello!  This is the first time I'm linking up with Skinny Meg for Workout Wednesday and I'm pumped!  She is SUCH an inspiration to so many and especially to me.

Most every week for the past 10 weeks my workouts have kept me busy training for my first 5K on Saturday...I'm so nervous but at this point, I'm using a favorite quote:  I'm kissing it and sending it to heaven...not much I can do at this point, right?  Well, except quit, but um, yah, I'm no freakin' quitter.  My goal is to complete the entire thing running.  I've done it many times during training so I'm hoping that Race Day will be no different.  The only thing that's making me nervous is that the race is in grass, which I'm not used to...guess I'll figure it out!

For the past few days, I've been resting a calf injury but I'm sure it will be better by Saturday and the good news is that I've been able to spend more time lifting and working on strength exercises.  I like to incorporate hand weights and bar work when I can.  Right now, it's still very new to me and I'm hoping that I'm using proper form...thank goodness for YouTube and Google, eh??

Here's a little list of my mixed-up weekly routine:

• Monday - Cardio:  Running (outside as much as I can when it's not raining) - 1 hour
• Tuesday - Toning:  Push ups, bridges, triceps dips, burpees, squats, lunges jump squats, Superman, planks, crunches, dumbbell arms & abs stuff (side bends, twists, cross body knee lifts, squat twists...please do not quote me on any of the names I just gave these as I have no idea what they are truly called - I only know they kicked my abs...)  This usually takes me about 45 minutes
• Wednesday - Cardio:  Sprints - 1 hour
• Thursday - Toning:  See above
• Friday - Light cardio and toning
• Saturday - Cardio:  Running or Zumba
• Sunday - I try to rest, but it's hard so it's either yard work or light cardio

I'm hoping to meet lots of inspirational folks through the linkup and learn about how other people are making their way along this journey!

If you get a chance, check out my recipe blog, too - A Healthy Makeover & a new recipe post today:

http://ahealthymakeover.blogspot.com/2013/05/crustless-3-cheese-quiche.html