Playing Around and Finally, Some Energy

We made it to the Fresh Market in time to score some cheap ground beef last night but they were all out of the bacon...good thing they run the special every Tuesday this month.  Gotta get there earlier next week.  I got lazy and decided to cash in a coupon for a free burrito at Moes rather than cooking last night and ended up wishing I would have just made my own dinner....GRRRR!

I got corn salsa on my naked burrito and then started wondering about it on the way home, thinking maybe it was considered a grain, and therefore off limits on my whole30 experiment.  My hunch was right, and I had to pick all the corn off my chicken, avocado, and veggies....Major Pain!!!  It was pretty yummy, regardless. 

Before...                                                 and After...

Almost a member of the clean plate club...something I'm getting pretty darn good at these days.  Being the volume eater that I am, this plan is working well in that department.  

I played around with making a couple of condiments in the kitchen yesterday and am pretty happy with the results.  After looking for a chocolate sauce without high fructose corn syrup and failing miserably, I ended up making my own using a recipe Mickey tracked down at The Gracious Pantry.  

It was SUPER easy.  Just combine 1 cup coconut sugar (could sub honey), 1 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup water, and a splash of vanilla and simmer over low heat til a sauce develops.  Then, just store in the fridge and use as you would any other chocolate syrup.  I didn't taste it, since sugar is off limits on my plan but it got a thumbs up from the boys in their afternoon chocolate milk, which we make with almond milk.  

I enjoyed this instead...

...it's pricey stuff, but not as pricey as the adult beverages I'm abstaining from this month so I can justify it...and it's YUMMY!  I can't decide which is better, the ginger or the cranberry flavor...might have to do another taste test just to see. :)

I also made some Whole30 friendly ketchup.  Of course it's not as good as the real deal, but a good-enough substitute for me...not sure I'm gonna convince the boys to make the switch.  I do at least make sure their version doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in it.

We're gonna try it out on some sweet potato fries tonight along side some chipotle burgers I have prepped using the cheap ground sirloin from the Fresh Market yesterday (I ditched my original meatloaf idea when I realized it would mean another trip to the store...lazy!)  We'll be enjoying them bun-free of course.  :-) I used this recipe and subbed chipotle peppers for the jalepenos since I'm hoping for a smokier flavor.  It's a super-simple recipe and I hope it's yummy.  

The boys had fun playing with the mardi gras beads alongside me...

When I tell them to make a happy face, they stick their tongues out...silly boys!

I called it a night after my playtime in the kitchen and slept like a rock until the boys woke me up at 6:45.  Woops!  So much for getting up before them.  We hit the floor running and thanks to some already prepped veggies, breakfast came together in a flash.

Whole30 day 9 kicked off with two fried eggs and some egg whites on top of steamed collards and broccoli reheated with olive oil with a side of spicy avocado sauce and strawberries...and coffee with coconut milk, of course.

Our next order of business for the day was a stop by the gym for an upper body workout and a quick round on the elliptical.  I finally had some good energy today and put it into a fantastic workout...

I did 3 sets of each superset.  It felt great to feel energetic again.

We ran a couple errands quickly before heading home to meet some friends for a swimming play date.  They came bearing this awesome box-fort which the boys haven't stopped playing with since they left...

...if you ever have any giant boxes you're not sure what to do with, you can send them our way.  We LOVE them!

I was ravenous by the time lunch rolled around.  I had already snacked on some almonds and then polished off this salad...

...of mixed greens, avocado, strawberries, turkey sausage, and balsamic vinegar.  I also had some leftover cauliflower and the boys' rejected mango.  Hunger satisfied, finally!

Time to catch up on my bible study since I didn't get to it this morning and maybe catch another 20 minutes or so of the Bachelorette since I didn't get to all of it yesterday.  Why does that show have to be so darn long???  

Soup's On!

We had a great time on our date night last night.  Being the coupon queen that I try to be, I convinced my husband to go to Tony Roma's to use our Buy One, Get One Free Coupon.  I must say, my grilled salmon was some of the best I've had and the mashed sweet potatoes were quite tasty.  And since mine was the cheaper entree, it was free to boot!  If only we had sat in the bar to get the happy hour drink specials...next time!

We actually got dressed up for our date.  Check us out:

We weren't quite ready to call it a night after dinner so we stopped in Ian's Tropical Grill for a cocktail on our way home.  It's a cozy place to have a drink...if you have a coupon, which we did!

Today's a rest day on my half-marathon training schedule, so you'd think I would have slept in, but I was up and at 'em just after 5 am thanks to my new sleep pattern.  At least I got to read in bed for a bit before tackling the day.  

I also had time to play around with my blog a bit, as you probably noticed.  I've been thinking about changing the title for a while since my topics include way more than fitness and decided the best way to describe it was with the small tweak to the title.  What do you think?

Today's mission was to whip up a couple of soups for some go-to lunches using some of my organic produce.  I chose two different vegan recipes which turned out quite well.  I found the first recipe at Vegangela.com Her recipe for broccoli potato soup is just as satisfying as a bowl of broccoli cheese soup but much healthier.  You can find her recipe here.  

I also made a sweet potato and carrot soup.

Can you tell I've been playing around on picmonkey.com?  I'm not anywhere as gifted as my husband is when it comes to graphic design, but I can see why he loves his job so much.  It's fun!

The recipe is prettier than the soup but I promise it's delicious.  

After the soups were done, it was finally not too early to hit up BJs for some spinach, fish, mac n cheese and other necessities.  I can get carried away with the good deals there... like 12 boxes of organic mac n cheese for $7 with my coupons.  The boys will think they're in heaven with all the mac n cheese eating that is to come.  

We got home in time for a quick workout with my one and only client and then it was time for naptime for the boys and a little upper body workout for this mommy.  In my mind, rest days are for the legs when you're training for a half marathon and my arms had been neglected this week.  

I came up with the following workout and it felt great to pump some iron after almost a week off.

I used 20 pound dumbbells for the chest and back exercises and 15 pound dumbbells for the arms.  I ended up doing the last two rounds completely with the 20 pound dumbbells though since I was feeling pretty motivated.  

After my workout I enjoyed a yummy protein smoothie made by combining: 

• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 scoop SunWarrior vanilla brown rice protein powder
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 1 tsp honey
• Cinnamon, to taste

It was DIVINE--like pumpkin pie in a cup, and healthy to boot.

I'm meeting some girls tonight for a quick cocktail then hoping to spend the rest of my night on the couch.  I still haven't finished watching The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo so maybe I'll try to stay awake for the end.  I'm hoping to call it an early night though because tomorrow's scheduled run is 10 miles--double digits finally.  I'm a bit nervous as my last couple of long runs have been a bit of a struggle.  My plan is to get out as early as possible to beat the heat and to take things slow.  Hope it works!

I'm off to do some yoga with Fit2B Studio.  Enjoy the rest of your Friday!

Weekend Fun and an Elliptical/Upper Body Workout

We had such a fun afternoon and evening yesterday.  We walked around downtown and hit up the hot dog stand (for Daddy and Oma) and indulged in some frozen yogurt.  I got cake batter with berries and felt good about my healthier choice, but when my mother in law got full and couldn't finish her chocolate and peanut butter concoction, I didn't hesitate in helping her finish it off.  It was like dessert for my dessert.  Lucky me!

Thanks to a built-in babysitter, we also got to celebrate Coffee Bar Blue Door's one year anniversary.  It was so much fun to hang out with friends who have become like family to us.  We had some yummy champagne and wine too.  It was the perfect way to wrap up a wonderful Saturday.  If you live in the Stuart area and haven't checked it out yet, you are missing out on some yummy treats!

I tried out something completely out of character for me this morning, as I pretty much NEVER make baked goods from a box or can, but I kept reading rave reviews of bacon cinnamon rolls and decided to give it a try since we had company in town.  It got rave reviews.  I found the recipe here.  I served some scrambled eggs and spinach on the side to "healthify" things a bit.  I inhaled mine before remembering to take a picture.  It was YUMMY!

We enjoyed a great church service and came home to relax and let the boys play a bit before nap time, which served as my workout time today as well.  I love lazy Sundays.

Last week we decided that we'd dedicate Sundays to kicking our butts with cross training circuits, but I had to go to my back-up plan at the gym today since I'm pretty sure my mother-in-law wouldn't have wanted to witness our butt kicking session and I'll be honest, after yesterday's run, a lighter recovery workout sounded like a welcome relief.  Don't worry; I'll be tackling the "butt-kicking" workout with my husband tomorrow.

Today's workout involved a set of 15 lb dumbbells, the elliptical, and me.  I wanted it to focus on muscle recovery for my legs, a moderate upper body workout, and I wanted to get in some core work too.  It looked like this:

I left the gym feeling good for getting some movement in, but not depleted.  It was exactly what I was looking for.  SUCCESS!

While I was on the elliptical, I was multitasking and reading more of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  It's a real page turner.  I even continued reading it while I downed my lunch after I got home from the gym.  Talk about being anti-social.  Woops!

The boys woke up happy and hungry from their naps.  I whipped up some smoothies for them with banana, spinach, blueberry yogurt, and orange juice.  They enjoyed drinking out of their straws with daddy.  So cute!

I'm looking forward to our BBQ dinner tonight and more family time the rest of the day.  I'm SOOOOOOO glad we've still got another day left in this weekend.

Boredom Buster Upper Body Workout

I feel like I've been in a kind of rut with my workouts so I've been trying to change things up a bit in order to hopefully get me excited about working out again rather than just going through the motions.  Signing up for the half-marathon at the end of October was the first step.  I am already excited to start my training plan for that on Monday.  I am really hoping to PR in the race and that should help keep me focused.

We got in a nice family run this morning and I also came up with a new upper body workout that kept my interest this morning. It focused on the back and chest, the fat-burners as Jackie Warner calls them, but didn't neglect the arms completely.  It looked like this:

Some friends of ours are getting married this weekend so I'm not sure how much working out I'll get in, but I hope to squeeze in a quick run or two if nothing else.  A weekend of with a little rest wouldn't be too terrible either, especially since it's go time on Monday.  

I can't leave you without pictures of the boys and their crazy antics.  Colton's favorite thing to do these days is to climb on top of Mason.  Needless to say, Mason doesn't love it as much, but it does make for a cute picture every once in a while.

Happy weekend everyone.  Make it great!

Rammin' and Jammin'

I set out for my run this morning with every intention of coming right home and cranking out a chest and back workout while I was still sweaty but returning home post-run absolutely sweaty, a shower seemed like just the ticket, especially since I knew I had some free time this afternoon to squeeze in my muscle session.  I should have known how that would go, as it always seems to turn out the same when  I do that to myself...I kept on doing "just one more thing" before my workout and before I knew it, it was 5:00 and time to feed the kiddos.  I got them in their high chairs, with their dinner on their trays and decided to seize the moment.  I knew I had a maximum of 15 minutes before they were squirming to get down so an intense workout was just what I needed.  I decided to do the following exercises in a pseudo-pyramid fashion:

• Bent over wide rows
• Bent over narrow rows
• Push-ups
• Bench press on stability ball
• Chest flyes on stability ball

The pyramid involved 10 sets of each exercise using the following number or reps, resting for 10 seconds between each set, except for between sets 9 and 10 when I rested for 30ish seconds:

• set 1: 10 reps
• set 2: 8 reps
• set 3: 6 reps
• set 4: 4 reps
• set 5: 2 reps
• set 6: 4 reps
• set 7: 6 reps
• set 8: 8 reps
• set 9: 10 reps
• set 10: as many as possible (usually ended up being about 12-15 for me)

I used 20 pound dumbbells (except for the push-ups) and felt like I had gotten a great workout by the time I was done.  Mission accomplished...just in time to clean the boys' mac n cheese remains from their fingers, faces, and of course, the floor.  Talk about a nice cool down :-) Life is good!

Upper Body Blitz Etc.

Yesterday I got in a killer arm workout that has my arms still feeling the burn in a good way.  I knew I wanted to focus on my chest and back, but didn't want to leave my arms or core out in the process and I came up with this nice little workout that I will definitley be repeating again.  Hopefully it gets easier each time I do it because my arms were screaming yesterday as I tried to eak out the last reps of each superset.  My workout looked like this:

• Back Giant Set using bent over narrow rows, bent over wide rows, and bent over renegades. 
• 3 rounds:
• First round: 20 reps of each exercise followed by 100 reps of various biceps curls
• Second round: 15 reps of each exercise followed by 100 reps of various triceps exercises
• Third round: 10 reps of each exercise followed by 100 reps of various shoulder exercises.
• Chest Giant Set chest press, chest flyes and renegades, all done on an stability ball.
• 3 rounds:
• First round: 20 reps of each exercise followed by 100 reps of mountain climbers.
• Second round: 15 reps of each exercise followed by 1 minute plank with forearms on stability ball.
• Third round: 10 reps of each exercise followed by 2 minute plank.

I used 15 pound dumbbells for the back and chest exercises and 8 pound dumbbells for the arm exercises. Success!

Today's workout focused on legs.  I wasn't feeling too creative so I used the old standby--a Jackie Warner circuit workout which banged out the workout in 15 minutes.  Cardio included 40 minutes on the elliptical so I could finish up my book for book club tonight.  I highly recommend The American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. 

Tomorrow I'm due for another run.  After a 5k on Saturday, where I got a PR by the way, and a 10 mile stroller run on Sunday, my legs needed a couple of days off from running but they're ready to go for tomorrow.  Haven't decided where, how long, or whether I'll bring the stroller or not.  I guess we'll see what tomorrow and my two teething toddlers brings...

Make it a great day!

Quickie Workout

After a beautiful weekend filled with family time, two great runs (one 10-miler and one 2 1/2 mile recovery), happy hours and delicious food, it was back to the gym today.  I started off my workout with 25 minutes on the elliptical at a challenging resistance with varying inclines.  It got my heart rate up and warmed me up for the upper body workout that was to come.  My arms got a short, sweet workout that wasn't lacking in intensity and saved me plenty of time to continue to hang out with my sister.  My workout looked like this:

• Chest press and bent-over rows superset 
• 4 sets of 20, 15, 12, then 10 with weights increasing on each round
• Chest flyes and flat bench renegades superset
• 4 sets of 15 with moderate weight 
• Hammer curls, overhead presses and triceps kickbacks giant set
• 3 sets of 12 using moderate weight
• Tricep pressdown and bicep curl superset
• 3 sets of 12 with challenging weight on cable machine
• Windshield wipers and W arm extensions
• 2 sets of 12 with moderate weights (be nice to those tender shoulders :-) )
• 3 minutes of various plank exercises resting as needed

I was so glad I had my sister here to watch the boys so I could have 45 minutes to myself to get in a good workout at the gym while not having to give up my morning time with my husband.  A good sweat session truly does the body AND mind good.  I even came home to two sleeping babies.   I'm so spoiled.  Gotta love my sisters...all 3 of them!

Feeling the Burn

Today, I got in one last high-intensity weighlifting workout before my company gets here and I relax a bit and enjoy the weekend. I'm sure I'll get in a run or two this weekend, but there will be no heavy lifting on the docket as my body has earned a couple of days rest in that department. My last two workouts (inspired by workouts at pbfingers.com) looked like this:


Thursday's Upper Body Circuit:

• Bent-over Rows and Biceps Curls Superset-- 3 sets of 15 with heavy weight
• Push-Ups, Upright Rows and Side Shoulder Raises Superset -- 3 sets of 15 with heavy weight
• Chest Press and Front Shoulder Raises Superset -- 3 sets of 15 with moderate weight
• Skull-Crushers and Close-Grip Bench Press Superset -- 3 sets of 15 with moderate weight
• 5 minutes of various plank exercises
• 20 minutes on the elliptical at quick pace with a varying incline

Today's Lower Body Workout:

• Giant set using 15 lb dumbbells and 3 sets of 15 of the following exercises:
• Chair step-ups
• Squats
• Deadlifts
• Lunges
• Superset using a 35-lb kettlebell and 3 sets of 20 of the following exercises:
• Kettlebell swings
• Sumo squats
• Superset using body weight, a stability ball, and 3 sets of 15 of the following exercises:
• Hamstring ball curls
• Plank roll ups
• Stability ball planks
• Superset using body weight and 3 sets of 20 on an exercise mat:
• Side leg lifts
• Mountain climbers
• Plyometric circuit:
• 100 high knees
• 100 butt kicks
• 100 jumping jacks
• 100 jump ropes
• 100 heismans

I had an interesting conversation with a friend last night and we were discussing training approaches and injury risk. I have found that I do not get injured as long as I am training smart, which means listening to my body, giving myself rest days, not training the same body part 2 days in a row, keeping my mileage in check (I don't need to run 5+ miles every day, 2 or 3 easy miles once in a while is a GOOD thing), and I try not to compare myself to others. I'm only competing against myself and I see the biggest improvement when I train smart, which sometimes means more isn't always better. Sometimes the secret to getting stronger is getting some rest to come back rejuvenated to make some gains. Just some food for thought. Treat your body well--balance is KEY! Gotta throw some easy days into the mix. Happy Friday.

The Last 3 Days...

After a weekend with my sister in Naples, relaxing at the pool, enjoying happy hours, trying out new restaurants, my body was ready to get back to business this week. 

Monday was legs day.  I popped in a favorite DVD--Jackie Warner's Power Circuit Training.  I did the 15 minute lower body segment and am still sore from it today, 2 days later.  Guess I had gotten a little lax with my lower body workouts.  I love her approach--3 exercises for each muscle group: hamstrings, quads, and buttocks.  Do each exercise for a minute nonstop and then do a power burn for the fourth minute, which means you do all 3 exercises one more time for 20 seconds each.  You hit your muscles hard and are finished with your workout in no time which is just what this momma needs.  I also squeezed in a 4 mile run and the usual MuTu core exercises.  I really hope to feel confident enough to wear a bikini again this summer.  We'll see.  There's still a lot of work to be done there but time is on my side. 

Yesterday was my upper body workout day.  I started off the workout with a chest and back supersets routine.  I did 10 reps of each exercise for the first round, 12 reps for the second round and 15 for the 3rd round.  There was no rest until each superset was done, when I rested for about 30 seconds.  The supersets included the following exercises:

• Flat bench dumbbell chest press and bent over dumbbell row
• Incline bench dumbbell chest press and incline bench dumbbell row
• Dumbbell pullovers and bent over straight arm kickbacks

I then did 3 minutes of nonstop bicep exercises including narrow hammer curls, zottoman curls, wide curls, rotating curls, SLOW curls, etc. followed by 3 minutes of nonstop shoulder exercises including overhead presses, reverse flyes, lateral raises, front raises, upright rows, etc.   Finally, I finished up with 3 rounds of a triceps giant set as I still try to get my triceps in line with the strength of my biceps.  The giant set included 12 reps of each of the following exercises, completed one right after the other without stopping, with 30 seconds of rest between the giant sets:

• Flat bench triceps dips
• Narrow grip bench presses with a barbell
• Lying dumbbell triceps extension with dumbbells
• Triceps rope extensions on the cable machine
• Triceps kickbacks with dumbbells

I rounded out the workout with 20 minutes on the elliptical and 5 minutes of plank exercises.  It was  a GREAT upper body workout!

After 2 days of muscle-building workouts, I made today a cardio day.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical at a challenging intensity with some 30 second sprints and some good "hill climbs."  It made me a sweaty mess.  I'm off to do my 5 minutes of plank exercises and calling it a day. 

Make yours a great day!

A GREAT Workout Day

Yesterday's "day of rest and relaxation" left me itching for some fitness today, so today's sunshine and crisp temperatures were just begging me to put the boys in the stroller and run my little heart out.  After a quick doctor's appointment and story hour at the library, we hit the road for a 7 mile run out to the beach and back.  I love that I can walk to the library with the boys and we had a great time at story hour.  The boys are little social butterflys and it's SO fun to watch.  They got their exercise crawling all over and playing with the toys after the organized class and then it was time for me to get my exercise while they napped.  It was GLORIOUS!  I'm not gonna lie, the bridges are always a challenge, especially with the stroller, but the sense of accomplishment I get when I hit the top is so fulfilling, I forget how hard the ascent was.  I hope this cool weather sticks around for a while.  It definitely makes for a more enjoyable workout. 

Upon returning home, it was time for an upper body workout.  I did some light weights on Saturday but it felt like it had been a while since I had really challenged my upper body so I decided to hit it heavy and fast.  I did the following workout from Peanut Butter Fingers with a couple adjustments to suit my training goals. 

My biceps are my strong suit and my triceps need some attention, so I substituted tricep kickbacks for the barbell bicep curls at the end.  I also finished out the workout with 2 minutes of various dumbbell triceps exercises to really hit my target zone. 

As usual, I also completed 5 minutes of plank variations.  I'm still trying to tighten up and tone my midsection as I fix my diastasis recti.  One day at a time... 

I'm really looking forward to a leg workout and some speedwork tomorrow.  What are your fitnes plans for the week?  Make em great!