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.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I try not to save all my goal-setting for January 1,as I like to have mini-goals throughout the year, but it is a nice oppurtunity for a fresh start and a chance to recommit to being your best self ever, something I have been striving to do each year, a goal which never seems to be attained. So many of us are so terrible at sticking to our resolutionwas, yet we continue to make them. I was inspired to look at resolutions a bit differently today by a sermon at church this morning in which Pastor Brian reminded us our goals in life should be God-focused and the rest of our lives would fall into place according to His plan. One of his three main points was to let God be God, something I would definitely like to work on, considering I am quite the control freak and worry wart. There are a lot of times where I know I would be much happier if I would just relax know God is in control. Better him than me, I say! Like Pastor Brian said this morning, suddenly all those other goals we hoped to accomplish this year don't sound so hard. So I guess my resolution is to try to always remember that God is in control.

My new year is off to a great start. Like I said, I do like using January first as a time to recommit to being my best self ever and as a fitness fanatic, I decided I'd start the new year off my giving Jillian Michaels Making the Cut Workout plan a shot. I'm only doing the fitness portion of the program, not the diet portion, as I am still nursing and don't need to be dieting but rather focusing on eating a balanced diet. Today, after driving to the gym and finding it closed (doesn't seem like the best way to encourage people to stick to their new years fitnes resolutions, but what do I know?)I came home to complete the workout in the comfort of my own home. I had to make a couple of modifications--substituting a resistance band for a cable machine (worked great over the door for tricep pressdowns) and doing my MuTu exercises in lieu of the bicycle crunches (not cleared to do them yet til my diastasis recti is healed). It was a great workout that really got my heart rate up and my muscles burning. I'm anxious to see how day 2 goes. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Other than my workout and church, the day was a pretty lazy day, but that's what Sundays are for, right? I watched some football with my family; go Dolphins, way to end the season with a win! I ate some chicken wings---it's all about balance, right? Gotta splurge a little bit! And we ate a traditional New Years Day meal which included pork chops, homemade chunky applesauce, black-eyed peas, and a side of saurkraut. Delish! I was especially pleased with the pork chops which I often have a hard time cooking to my desired moistness. They turned out great after I seared them for about 3 minutes on each side and then poured in a cup of white wine. I let the wine reduce by about half, added a touch of better than bullion and turned the heat down a bit while they finished cooking. The result was a very moist and tasty pork chop. Score! It was a hit with the husband as well. Gotta remember to take pictures before inhaling my dinner.

Yesterday's Cross Training

The training plan for my half marathon involves 2 days a week of cross-training. On one of those days, I spin. Spinning rocks because it is a great non-impact, high-intensity workout. If you take Joan's class at the Y, you are definitely pushing your cardio to the max and improving your fitness. She rocks! The other day I try to make sure I do some serious weight-training. I weight train at least 3 times a week, but on my cross-training day, I try to really go hard core. Yesterday, I did a full-body workout but really focused on my legs, an area that needs some work on strengthening up. All the running, walking and spinning I do keeps my lower half very lean but I need work getting some more muscle down there. I think yesterday's workout has me on the right track since I've got some sore spots in my glutes and quads this morning. It's a good sore and nothing that today's run couldn't help loosen up. By the way, I'm getting faster... slowly but surely. This morning I clocked 5.57 miles in 45 min and 47 sec and felt great. Vero Beach Half marathon here I come :-) Anyways, back to the leg workout. Yesterday I did a combination of a couple of workouts I have found in various magazines. The combination of exercises was a nice one in my opinion. It definitely had my heart pumping and my muscles burning. I did 3 sets of the following exercises in a circuit which means I did one set of each exercise in order without resting and then repeated the series 2 times.

1. Single leg touchdown - (from Shape magazine) Holding a dumbbell in each hand at sides (I used 8 lb dumbbells), balance on right leg with left foot raised behind you. Extend left arm overhead with your palm facing forward. Squat on right leg as you reach your left hadn toward your foot. Rise back to the starting position and repeat. Do 12 reps, then switch legs to complete the set. This one really challenged my balance. I hope to improve and not have to regain my balance as often in the future. Slow, steady, and focused is the secret.

2. Bowling lunge (also from Shape magazine) - Stand holding a dmbbell in each had at sides with your palms facing behind you. Squat on your left leg as you step your right leg back and to the left. Lean forward from your hips and reach your weights toward your front foot. Rise and raise your right knee to hip height in front of you. Repeat with opposite leg. Do 10 reps with each leg.

3. Sumo Squat Jump (from Fitness magazine)- Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes pointing out like a plie. Squat, tapping the floor with your hands. From the squat, jump as high as you can, landing with feet together. Then, jump back out, landing back in the sumo squat position. Repeat 12 times.

4. Reverse lunge with bicep curl (from Shape magazine) - Stand with feet hip-width apart and hold dumbbells in your hands at your sides. Lunge straight back with 1 leg and lean forward over the other thigh, reaching weights toward the ground. Rise to the starting position and curl the weights toward your shoulders. Repeat 10 times on each leg.

5. Plie squat - Do plie squats on your toes, heels off the ground, holding dumbbells. (I used 15 lb dumbbells.)

After completing that circuit of 5 exercises 3 times. I did a push-up and squat ladder. To do this, I did one push-up, then 1 squat. Then 2 push-ups and 2 squats. Next 3 push-ups and 3 squats. I continued this pattern all the way up to 10 of each.

I finished it all off with some upper body super-sets, holding a plank as long as possible in between each super set. I paired up the exercises as follows, doing 3 sets of 12 with each super set:

1. Bent over rows paired with bench presses on a stability ball

2. Biceps curls paired with overhead triceps extensions

3. Overhead shoulder presses paired with lateral raises

It was a great workout. What do you like to do on your cross-training days? What keeps your running strong. I'd love to hear what works for you.