A very active day

Wow, what an active day! I am spent. You’ll see why, but maybe this much activity is normal for most of you.

At 1 a.m., Karma the cat woke us up with his meows and from that point on, I tossed and turned. When I did fall asleep, I was dreaming that I slept through my alarm or that I went to the YMCA for Body Pump and the gym was closed again. At 5 a.m., my alarm went off and I realized I hadn’t experienced what I had been dreaming about. It was really time to get up and get dressed for the gym!

I quickly got dressed and grabbed some cereal plus half of a banana for some fuel.

I met my friend Laurie at the 5:30 a.m. Body Pump class. I was tired, but once class started, I woke up. It felt good to get a workout in by 6:30!

I fueled up some more with cereal and the other half of the banana plus a bit of coffee and coconut water. The TJ’s cereal was just ok–not mine or Craig’s favorite.

It was my first time trying coconut water and I liked it. I figured I needed something like that after Body Pump to get some electrolytes into my system.

I am glad I got my clothes ready for the day & my yoga gear packed last night, because then I had to meditate for 25 minutes after I showered, dried my hair and put on makeup.

I didn’t get to work until 8:30 and right away, I hit up the free coffee upstairs and found an unexpected piece of cake made by a volunteer at work. She was so cute–she said “since you’re one of the first ones here, I’ll give you this too.” She put the flag in my cake for flag day!

Lunch was a turkey and provolone sandwich, a peach chobani, and lots of red pepper and carrot slices.

After lunch, it was time for my second exercise session of the day–yoga! However, we had a substitute teacher and she combined tai chi, yoga and pilates. Oh man this killed me. The pilates work got me sweating! I am sure the stretching helped my post body pump aches and pains.

I also foam rolled at work just to be safe.

And after work, I cut the grass for about 45 minutes. Luckily, this was my last activity of the day and now I am plopped on the couch and relaxing!

Dinner was a strawberry smoothie with soy protein powder, Chobani strawberry yogurt, frozen strawberries, and skim milk.

That wasn’t enough for my very hungry tummy, so I cooked up something quick and made the gardein thai trio I got the other day.

I liked it and would buy it again. I only ate half, so I’ll have the other half to look forward to for lunch tomorrow.

We’re watching Master Chef and I kind of have a crush on Max. 🙂 I hope he stays on the show for some eye candy!

After such an active day, I am definitely declaring tomorrow a rest day! Looking forward to reading and lounging on the couch.

One down, two to go

My title refers to the fact that I am done with one work day and only have two more to go for the week! Wahooo! I am already making lots of lists for what I want to get done on my four days off, including updating my blog, writing and scheduling some posts, cleaning, shopping (maybe the outlets, we’ll see), and hitting the gym with my mama on Thursday morning.

Rewind to last night–we made homemade salsa that had cilantro from our garden and the standard ingredients. It didn’t impress Craig, but I liked it and it tasted fresh. Not sure how to change it to make it better next time. Maybe less jalapenos because our mouths were on fire?!

I watched “Life As We Know It” and it was just ok. Another movie that didn’t really impress me. I guess I am more of a foreign film and documentary fan than anything. Anyone seen good, new movies from either type of genre that they can recommend?

Breakfast this morning was Chobani 2% plain yogurt with Bonne Maman wild blueberry preserves, fresh blueberries and chia seeds. It was my first time trying the 2% plain and I couldn’t really tell much of a difference between that and the non-fat. When I can find the non-fat at Woodman’s again, I’ll get it instead.

I had my “usual” of iced coffee with almond syrup and half & half at work.

Lunch was a big salad filled with mixed greens, feta cheese, grape tomatoes, red onion, and red peppers. I also had a date and a vanilla Activia yogurt.

After work, I found the book I won from Kitchen Conundrum in my mailbox, which excited me. I paged through it and the recipes looked awesome. Can’t wait to make some of them soon!

I meditated and then snacked before heading to the gym. I had a bit of Starbucks ice cream. Love coffee ice cream and especially this flavor!

I also snacked on some TJ’s cheese & Jalapeno Jack Sun Chips. I needed something in my belly, but didn’t want to eat too much before going to the gym.

My workout was 22 minutes on the elliptical while watching HGTV, 18 minutes on the bike while reading Glamour, I lifted some weights and I did some ab work on the ball and on the mat.

Dinner was a TJ’s veggie masala burger without a bun and some grapes. You’ve seen it all before, so that went unpictured.

Better be off to read some blogs and then get to bed in about an hour! Tomorrow, I am waking up earlier than normal to go to the 5:30 a.m. Body Pump class with my friend Laurie. She just joined my YMCA and I am excited to be able to go to some classes with her. She’s never done yoga either, so we’ll have to hit up one of those classes soon to show her how great it is!

Donuts, Strawberries, and the Crohn’s/Colitis Walk

I felt like unplugging a bit this weekend, but I am back with a recap.

On Friday, I had to participate in National Donut Day by going to Dunkin’ Donuts to get a large iced coffee and a chocolate creme donut (which was free with the purchase of a large or extra large drink).

After work, I went to Trader Joe’s to stock up. For once, the store wasn’t jam packed, so it made for some nice shopping.

It was hot out, but cooled off later in the evening, so Craig and I took a nice walk around a neighborhood next to us.

Then it was time for a new episode Food Revolution! In case you missed it, here is what I took away from the episode.

-I forget if Jamie said this or if someone else did, but the question of “Why can’t we do better?” was raised in regards to food in our schools.
-I was prompted to think, “Why does the governmenet allow bad food in cafeterias?”
-It is clear that Jamie and others in this country have a passion for good, nutritious food, but they face resistance to implement using this food in restaurants and schools.
-Fear is stopping progress. I think Jamie said this during the episode.
-Jamie showed the need to educate kids on food education in schools. Why aren’t we doing this, especially when facing an obesity epidemic in this country?

On Saturday, I slept in a bit, relaxed around the house, and then made it to the gym by 10:30. I stayed there for an hour and a half and did a full circuit of weights, 35 minutes on the elliptical, and rowed for 10 minutes.

Later in the afternoon, we braved the heat and went to the West Allis Farmer’s Market.

We found lots of flowers and vegetable plants for sale.

The only veggie for sale for consumption was spinach. I’ll return to the market when more veggies and fruits are for sale.

We went there with the hopes of getting a hanging strawberry basket. We found one for $15, which may be kind of expensive, but we decided to experiment this year. If the basket is successful, we’ll buy our own plants and put them in the basket next year. Can’t wait for fresh strawberries from our backyard!

We have little bunnies in our backyard, so we figured having the strawberries hanging would be better than having them in containers, which allows easier access to the berries.

I also made Banana-Blueberry Bread from this book.

I like her “skinny tips” at the bottom of the recipe.

And I like that she includes nutritional information.

It turned out really well! Nice and moist and I like the addition of the blueberries.

And onto today. Had this for breakfast. Oh my gosh is that cereal addictive!

I am going to head to the gym for Body Pump this morning. I haven’t done it in a while and after reading parts of The New Rules of Lifting for Women, I am convinced I need to do it more often.

Later on today, I am meeting my friend Danielle for the Crohn’s and Colitis walk at Miller Park.

I did it for the first time last year and since I have Ulcerative Colitis, I need to support research efforts by walking and donating money to the cause. I wish the walk had as good as a turnout as the Breast Cancer walks in Milwaukee, but they market the hell out of those walks and women feel compelled to walk together.

Hope you have an excellent Sunday!

GO PACK GO!

Well, I have been so tired after two days on my feet at work. Sorry for not blogging, but I just felt so tired the last couple of nights.

On Friday, I walked 15,919 steps, which included about 12,000 at work and then 3,000 more when Craig and I went to the mall to get his eyeglasses ordered.

That totaled 6.76 miles and about 600 calories. I also burned some more calories at the gym on the elliptical and lifting weights on Friday night.

Last night was another story. No gym time for me. My body needed to lay on the couch and watch a movie, so that’s what I did. We watched The Girl Who Played with Fire and it was really good. Confusing for Craig because of all of the characters, but I could explain who was who most of the time.

This morning, I had a huge cup of coffee and a bowl of Stonyfield plain yogurt with chia seeds, a banana, and some strawberry jelly.

I was feeling really weak and tired today, but I met Angie at the Y to walk around the track, catch up, and head to Body Pump.

Weakness dominated throughout Body Pump too. I haven’t done it in a while and my body is still just needing to recover from two tough days of work and a one day weekend. Thank god we are heading on vacation to warm Florida this week and I only have to work three days.

I was ravenous when I got home from the gym and had this for lunch.

And finally, GO PACK GO in the super bowl tonight. I don’t think I have watched the super bowl in about ten years.

My father-in-law is coming over because we have a huge TV. He’s bringing sandwiches, soda and chips. Time to indulge with my monthly soda. Sometimes it just hits the spot, but I am glad I don’t drink one coca-cola a day like I used to five years ago.

Hope the green and yellow sweatshirt I am wearing is lucky for the Packers!

Vacation on my mind

I had a typical Sunday around here. Read the paper, watched my show (CBS Sunday morning) and then went to Body Pump at the Y. The new release was pretty good. I liked some of the songs, but didn’t love all of them. It was so packed that I had to go in a spot without a mirror, which made it tough to keep my form in check.

Before pump, I had Kashi Autumn Wheat and coffee for breakfast.

And about 1/4 of the PB & J Larabar.

When I got home from the gym, I had string cheese with a cup of greek yogurt, chia seeds, honey and almonds.

Lunch was a salad topped with tofu and a side of Food Should Taste Good sweet potato tortilla chips.

Then it was time to plan our February vacation to Florida! In 2010, we just stayed around Wisconsin and went to Chicago for our wedding anniversary. I am definitely looking forward to getting out of the cold Wisconsin weather and having a break from work in February. We found a good flight deal on Southwest (no baggage fees and nonstop, phew). We just have to find a hotel or condo to stay at in the Orlando area. We are on the fence about which type of place to stay at. There are pros and cons to both.

Now that we’ve booked our flight, it all feels so real and I cannot wait. I definitely have a week of vacation on my mind! 🙂

Dinner was penne pasta with mushrooms, artichokes, olives, & garlic.

I wish I had one more day off of work (like my lucky husband), but it’s back to the 40 hour work week tomorrow. 😦

 

Dinner at one of my favorite restaurants

I am behind on blog posts so I will recap yesterday.

It snowed overnight, so I shoveled a bit before heading to Body Pump at the YMCA with Angie.

I had coffee, cheerios and half of a Balance Almond Brownie bar before class.

Body Pump, Swinging and Christmas decorations

This morning, I read the Sunday paper, had a blueberry Chobani with pomegranate arils and chia seeds on top.

First Body Pump Class Recap

I did the usual Sunday routine this morning–watched TV, looked through the ads, and ate breakfast–coffee and an egg sandwich with cheddar cheese on a whole wheat english muffin.

We only watched half of the movie last night, so we finished the rest this morning. I liked the movie a lot, but Craig was confused since he hadn’t read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We watched it with the English dubbing and it wasn’t too annoying that the actors’ lips were not moving with the English words. We both couldn’t figure out why Hollywood has to release their own version, but we know it should be a big money maker.

Then, I did something new and outside of my normal Sunday routine-I went to my first ever Body Pump class this morning!

After class, my muscles were pumped!

I got to the YMCA a little early and told the teacher it was my first class. She told me to start with light weights (2.5 lbs. on each side of the barbell) and asked if I lifted weights currently, so after saying yes, 3-4 times a week, she told me I’d be fine. I am really glad I chose the lighter weights, but could have gone a little heavier for some of the exercises. For the squats, I took her advice and did a told of 7.5 lbs. on each side of the barbell. I really wish I would have known that the link above, the Les Mills site, has an introduction to Body Pump video. Oh well! I will watch it for some extra tips to use next time I go to class.

For my station, I just copied what other people had at their area–a step, an exercise mat, a towel and some hand weights. Most people had the exercise mat on top of their step and I assumed we would be laying down on the step to lift, which was the correct assumption.

Body Pump is a lot of fun and I think it’s a nice weight lifting class to attend if you get sick of the weight machines at the gym. We did squats, bicep curls, chest presses, triceps, abs, lunges, etc. Since I didn’t know the routine very well, I found it easiest to copy the girl two in front of me and mock her moves. After class, I thanked the teacher and told her I did that. She said that it takes 8-10 classes of Les Mills type of classes to get everything down pat. That seems like a lot, but I guess it sort of makes sense. Next time, I just know I want to be facing the mirror so I can see how my poses look. I’ll definitely try it again! I just hope my body doesn’t hurt for Boot Camp tomorrow. And, on November 3rd, I want to go to the Body Pump/Body Flow combination class. Should be fun!

This afternoon, Craig and I worked on some blog stuff (looking at SEO optimization) and now I have some more ways for people to find information on my blog. I am still clueless about a lot though, such as how to shorten my overall page so people don’t have to scroll all the way down and how I will ever customize my own header (Photoshop would work, but I don’t have it).

Tonight, we’re going to have dinner at the Indian restaurant and run a few errands. I need to get to the grocery store yet and I really don’t feel like going. It feels good to be home and relaxing. I don’t want the weekend to be over! 😦

Back later with a recap of the Indian Restaurant and probably complaints of a full (yet satisfied) belly.