Workout C, Sweet Potatoes and Unfortunate Looking Vegetables

Workout C

On Sunday, Katie and I got together to conquer Workout C from Tina's Best Body Bootcamp. I really felt the burn on this one and super enjoyed it. I jokingly called this Workout "Let's do Sh*t on One Leg" because that's basically what we did the whole time. These were the two favorite selections from the workout:

This morning I was really feeling this workout in my glutes. I also think my Physical Therapist exercises contributed to the soreness a little bit. Soon I will take some pictures to share the exercises with you all. Yay hip and butt strengtheners. 

Sweet Potatoes

Okay guys, my life is changed. I discovered that I can cook sweet potatoes in the microwave. I know people have been doing this for awhile now but seriously, my life is changed. 

Here is a little sample of my experiments. 

Some other discoveries this weekend:

Frozen basil cubes. If you're like me and kill every basil plant you buy but really like the stuff, they have it frozen! IN CUBES! That you can melt into butter. Seriously. The only caution...there is some salt added so be cautious when adding additional salt. My new favorite way to eat these cubes? I melted it with some Earth Balance and put it on a microwaved sweet potato...awesome.

Okay, I know this isn't the most amazing picture, but you need to know what's happening here. I purchased the frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's. I was very skeptical about how delicious frozen rice would taste...well I'm here to tell you, it's amazing! 3 minutes and you will have perfect, firm brown rice with awesome texture. I added 3 basil cubes with some Earth Balance to this combo and then some roasted veggies. Yum!

Unfortunate Looking Vegetables

Right? It's okay, you can laugh...I did. 

I'm also trying to eat less sugar...this is how it's working out for me:

These are Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread cookies, Marty's favorite. Yum

And today in my office:

I'm a work in progress...

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever microwaved a sweet potato? 

Do you crave sugar in the afternoon? 

Devil Cake, Cardio Circuit and Surrender Squats

Today, I kind of mixed up my usual elliptical and tried a cardio circuit. I really wanted to do 60 minutes of cardio to "make up" for the fact I slipped and ate the Devil Cake.

It was filled with fudge, I am weak.

Cardio Circuit!

Like I mentioned before, I was feeling the guilt of the devil cake and wanting to get a good sweaty workout in without staying in one place for 60 minutes. I decided to do a 60 minute rowing and elliptical circuit. Here's how it worked. 

Every 15 minutes I switched from rowing to the elliptical and than back again. I did 2 sets of 15 on each machine. All together my heart rate monitor said I burned about 600 calories. To keep it fresh, I changed my pandora station for each set and changed the program. On the rowing machine, I changed the resistance and raced a pace boat. On the elliptical, I did a fat burner hill workout and then a 4-3 interval workout. I felt like the time was much shorter than 60 minutes and switching between machines kept it pretty fresh.

If you're new to the rowing machine here is a great video to assist with form:

This morning, I went to my physical therapist and talked about Tina's Best Body Bootcamp. I really enjoyed the first workout but I had a serious problem with Surrender Squats. When pushing up with one leg I felt pain in my IT Band. I showed my physical therapist the exercise and she suggested some ways to modify it and encouraged me to use a mat under my knees because it would cause pressure on my patellas. For those curious of what a surrender squat is, the lovely Katie has decided to model it. 

I'm excited to see what work out B brings tomorrow and am working to really dedicate myself to this program by making sure I complete both the strength and cardio portions. 

Questions of the Day:

Do you have a sweet tooth?

Ever tried the rowing machine?

Feel the Power of Strength Training

This Morning

There are few things that bring me more joy than manager special yogurt

Heck yes .49 cents. I may have purchased a few of these (10). 

This is a new brand of yogurt for me but overall it was pretty good. Creamy and delicious, like other Greek yogurts and not too high in sugar. I feel a little lost without my cranberry apple butter and plain yogurt. And you can't beat that price!!!

Other things purchased:

CRUMPETS (they were delicious, different but really good)

Yeah, I go to the grocery store and purchase a crockpot...this will be necessary for Superbowl Sunday.

Adorable baby butternut squashes. What's great? So small, basically single serving butternut squash! Love it.

Work it Out

Today while working out, my friend and I started talking about strength training and how a lot of women believe that lifting weights will make you look like a body builder. I started to think about how strong and powerful I feel when I lift weights and how much I have enjoyed Tina's Best Body Bootcamp because I have the opportunity to blend strength training and cardio. 

source

Why should women strength train? This article from LIVESTRONG gives really good reasons for strength training for women which include: strength, metabolism, bone health and heart health. You can read this article for the specifics: Women & Weight Lifting: Why All Women Need Strength Training

Exercise is wonderful and you should find what makes you feel good but there are some things things that make me feel uniquely athletic and incredibly strong. For me those things are strength training and running. An hour on the elliptical makes me sweat, but it doesn't make me grin when I leave the gym. 

Little peek of my muscles...and then....

BAM!

I don't just feel strong, I feel beautiful. Do what makes you feel good and take care of your whole self. Be Awesome!


Do you like to strength train?



Ever purchase half price yogurt?

Workout Buddy Power!

Today was a fairly busy day at work. I started off with some delicious fruit and carrots
(trying to increase my veggies).

You can tell my desk is super organized...

After a busy morning, I met some folks for lunch in the dining hall and enjoyed spinach salad with some chicken breast and oranges on the side. There may have been a peanut butter cookie involved that was not pictured.

Work out

Today was week four of Tina's Best Body Bootcamp and I'm not going to lie to you, I really wasn't feeling it. My workout buddy Katie felt much the same way. As we were going through our circuits I was thinking about how important and valuable it is to have a workout buddy. This marks the fourth week we have done this bootcamp and for the most part we have been very consistent. What's more important than the consistency of our workouts is the fact that we have challenged and supported each other through these tough workouts. 

Our workout synergy included matching workout tops...awesome!

In the end, finding someone to support you is really important. We didn't want to be there today but we got through it. Workout buddy power!

I followed 30 minutes of circuit training with 25 minutes of stationary rowing. Note to self...next time while rowing wear awesome gloves. I may be forming blisters. Not to mention wearing gloves will make me 3 times more bad ass which is 3 times more bad ass than I am currently.

My batwings look AWESOME!

For dinner I made this delicious concoction. 

Steamed broccoli, marinara sauce, Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs and a sliced apple. Yum! I love broccoli and marinara sauce. Who needs noodles? 

Do you have a workout buddy?


What do you do when you have an off workout day?

100 Push-ups, Affirmations and Last Chance Work Out

Today was the Endurance work-out C from Tina's Best Body Bootcamp. After my pep talk this morning, I was feeling ready to tackle this 100 reps endurance workout. I also decided to wear my heart rate monitor to get a feel for how hard I was working.

As I was waiting for my friend Katie to arrive at the gym, I decided to jog a little to test out my knee and warm up. I was able to run 3/4 of a mile with minimal pain so I think my IT band issues are improving. I am feeling pretty optimistic and think the strength training and stretching I have been doing is helping out.

Katie and I are considering running the Kiss me I'm Irish 4k race on March 9th. I think I should be able to run 2.5 miles by then.

Source

The Workout

My weigh-ins are on Sunday and so, inspired by the Biggest Loser, I decided Saturday work-outs were going to be "Last Chance" workouts. I love the message of giving it all you got. I'm trying not be so scale focused but I found the "Last Chance" workouts on the BL to be pretty inspiring so I wanted to give it a chance. Before we started I decided to write down some affirmations to motivate me through the reps. Here were mine. *please excuse the curse words

This workout was organized in supersets and took us almost an hour to finish. I made Katie take some embarrassing pictures of me after we were done.

Awesome...one more.

Please excuse my form, my legs were jello from the workout.

I bought that awesome stripy top last night as my reward for finishing three weeks of boot camp. I'm pretty proud of myself and loving all the strength training. I was able to do 20 regular push-ups and did the remaining 80 assisted on my knees.

After our workout Katie and I were ecstatic! Can't you tell?

We went to lunch at Chipotle and I decided we need to get ice cream from McDonalds as our treat. Katie passed but I love their vanilla cones, and at only 5 Points Plus it's a sweet that doesn't do too much damage.

I know, I look so awesome without makeup.

It's been raining here in Phoenix the past couple of days and you can tell the city wasn't really built for the rain.

The water was pretty deep.

Who says you don't need rain boots in Phoenix? You can use them at least 3-4 days out of the year.


I spent the rest of my evening in my Pro Compression socks working on homework.

What's your perfect Saturday?


Do you love strength training? 

Pep talk for Last Chance Workout

Hi Folks,

Hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday morning! I was in need of a pep talk this morning before my awesome Last Chance Saturday workout. Here's some words of encouragement for those who need it!

My favorite? "I wanna be on the road that leads to awesome!" and "we were all made to be awesome".

Whatever you're doing today remember "create something that will make the world awesome!

Rainy Days and Scrambled Eggs

Nothing like a rainy day to make the Southwest feel a little more like home.

After yesterday's elliptical work out I felt some strain on the bottom of my left foot. I've heard that using a ball on the bottom of your foot is similar to foam rolling for your feet. Hopefully no one noticed the tennis ball under my desk.

After work I met my friend at the gym and took enthusiastic pictures of myself while she used the bathroom.

What I was not prepared for was the pull muscles workout that Tina from Best Body Bootcamp had in store for me. I just couldn't seem to master these diagonal lunges: 

After a very sweaty 25 minutes of circuit training, I spent 25 minutes on the stationary bike. The second floor of my gym is overwhelmingly hot. I kept telling myself it was like hot yoga. Not really sure if it works the same. 

For dinner I ate Jamba Juice and scrambled eggs with broccoli. Delicious!

How was your evening?

What did you have for dinner?

Any tough workouts on the books?