Total Body Toning Workout and Grandparents Day

Last night, my husband came home not feeling well so I decided to ditch my dinner plans and made noodle soup for him and leftover lobster ravioli for myself.  It wasn't quite what I hoped for but it filled my belly nonetheless.  In the grand scheme of leftovers, I think I made out pretty well.  I'm still hoping to make that Salmon Fishbowl tonight since I can't stop thinking about it and I bought all the ingredients for it yesterday.  We called it a really early night, like 8:30 early, which meant I was bright-eyed and bushy tailed before 5 am this morning.  So much for sleeping in... Oh well, I did have the luxury of lazing in bed reading for about an hour before deciding to get up, grab a second cup of coffee, check my e-mail, and muster up some motivation to squeeze in a cross-training workout today.  Today kicks off week 4 of my 10 week half-marathon training plan.

To help motivate myself, I came up with a new workout that I really enjoyed.  While planning it, I had a couple of goals in mind...

• challenge every major muscle group
• combine weights and plyometrics
• get my heart pounding
• finish quickly

I successfully accomplished my goal with the following 32 minute circuit:

I'd love it if you try it out and let me know what you think.  Let me know if it doesn't make sense too.  I had a hard time describing how it was organized.  I'd appreciate your feedback if you decide to give it a go.  That background photo is a doctored up photo of a window in my grandparents' barn.  Cool, huh? They've been on my mind a lot lately.

Happy Grandparent's Day to all you grandparents out there, by the way.  You guys are amazing people! Here's some of our favorites...(Photo dump alert!)

Oma and Daddy with the boys.

Oma and her boys.

My grandparents (the boys' great-grandparents)  and my parents
(the boys' grandparents) with me and the boys.

Mason and his Great-Grandpa.

My parents my sister with me and the boys in Washington DC.  

We are blessed to have so many family members who love these guys.

I also whipped up a batch of flourless black bean brownies after church this morning.  It's another recipe I've been wanting to try and it didn't disappoint.  I found the recipe here and the only change I made was to use applesauce in place of the oil.  Are they as decadent as a brownie chock full of butter? No.  Are they delicious and the perfect thing to nip a chocolate craving in the bud, YES, Ma'am.  I suggest you try them out.  Don't be afraid of the black beans.  You can't even taste them.

You know I had to add chocolate chips :-)  

Thankfully, I got the boys down for an early nap this morning because we're headed to a baby shower early this afternoon.  They're brave to invite all 3 of us.  I didn't really like baby showers until I got pregnant and realized how important it is to feel so pampered and cared for when you feel as big as a house and are a little nervous about what is to come.  I have a much different perspective now.  Pregnant moms rock and deserve every party they can get.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday.  Don't forget to count you blessings and let a grandparent or two know how loved they are.

Rainy Sunday

After a wonderful date night but probably one too many glasses of wine, a diner-style breakfast was just what the doctor ordered, so I whipped up some fried eggs, hashbrowns, and a little sauteed spinach, to help me feel a little bit better about my meal.  With lots of hot sauce and some ketchup, it hit the spot! Oh, and lots and lots of coffee and water...

After a great church service, with a convicting message on pride using James chapter 4, we returned home to play with the kiddos on this rainy day thanks to Tropical Storm Isaac.  YUCK!  After play time was nap time for the boys and that meant time to tackle a workout I have wanted to try since I read it on the Peanut Butter Fingers blog and then saw it again on Facebook via FitFluential.  I get some great workouts from their posts.  This workout was AWESOME! I highly recommend you check out all her workouts.  I like her style!

It was super fun to workout with my husband.  We haven't done that in a while but we decided we'll dedicate the boys' Sunday nap time to Kick Our Butts time.  Sundays are cross-training days on my half-marathon training plan and this type of workout is exactly what I'm looking for.  My husband thought it was great too.  

Our recovery smoothie was as tasty as ice cream in my opinion, but much healthier...

 I combined the following in our Ninja blender:

• SunWarrior vanilla protein powder
• BIG handful spinach
• A couple mixed berries
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 scoop PB2
• 1 spoonful cocoa powder
• Pinch of xanthan gum
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• A big pour of unsweetened almond milk

It's the ultimate cure for an ice cream hankering...and it contains spinach!  Meal 2 of the day including spinach.  Woohoo!

When the boys woke up, we hoofed it up to Vero for the Twins Club meeting.  The weather scared most of the families away but we were able to chat with 2 other families who have twins.  Ours were the only boys in the group but they sure did love the cars at the mall.  We had a hard time getting them to leave.

While in Vero, we were able to hit up the outlet mall.  We love scoping out the deals at Carters (got some super cute jammies, halloween shirts, play shirts and the liquid powder I love) and found some Crocs for ourselves and a friend at the Crocs outlet.  Our boys love theirs so we decided it was time to get some for ourselves.  Check out the ones my husband picked out...He looks very manly in them :-)  

I had the best intentions of cooking up my spinach and swiss chard stuffed turkey meatloaf, which I prepared earlier in the day, when we got home from our outing but our stomachs had different ideas when we starting getting rumbling stomachs in Vero.  With fussy boys who had no interest in fine dining, we settled on some sandwiches from Nature's Table Bistro.  I was surprised by how tasty they were considering they came from the mall food court.  Guess we'll have to try for spinach in every meal tomorrow...

Before I forget, last night I picked up Shape Magazine latest issue and here's some facts from it that caught my attention... I thought you might appreciate their research as well.  

My takeaway was...

• When you compare cost of serving size, not per calorie, you'll see nutritious foods don't cost as much after all.  
• Agave nectar might as well be sugar...in my understanding of the article.  I've been reading more and more about it as such a good marketing ploy rather than being as healthy as we've been led to believe so I'm eliminating it from our house as well.  We already cut out sugar and use raw honey instead.  It's yummy.  I encourage you to try it. I wish I wouldn't have wasted so much money on agave.
• I'm going to be cooking in my cast iron skillet more often.  It's safer than teflon and can boost iron, something my boys and I both need.

There was also an intriguing article about Jillian Michaels.  Boy has she relaxed now that she's a mom!  Check out the issue if you get a chance. I used to get really annoyed by her but I might be coming around a little bit now.

Stay dry Floridians!  Find a way to move.  You won't regret it.