Happy Pretend Birthday To Me!

Hiya! Man, am I in a good mood today! Today is my last day of work for 6 whole days, I get to see my dearly missed family in less than 2 days, I think I’ve finally kicked the head cold that’s been haunting me, and today is my pretend birthday! Yay!

You see, my birthday is on Christmas Day, so in order to be able to celebrate with my friends, I have to have a ‘pretend’ birthday. So tonight, a bunch of friends will meet up for dinner and drinks afterwards to celebrate my birthday! I could not be more excited.

Here are three random topics I’d like to talk about today:

1. Fitness! 

This morning’s workout was amazing! I really kicked butt at the gym:

I was back at with running today! I did 5 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking 3 times, then I alternated 1 minute of walking with 1 minute of running, upping the speed each time. I was pretty sweaty by the end, and feeling like a beast. Don’t you love that feeling!?

2. Books!

Since I got Happier at Home, I’ve been thinking about the lessons I learned from The Happiness project lately. In particular, the 60 second rule is one that I’ve always tried to follow since I read the book. Gretchen says that if anything takes less than 60 seconds to complete, you should do it immediately and not put it off. One thing I always, always do in the mornings is put the top of my hair up in velcro rollers to give it some body. Lately, I’ve been shoving the rollers back in the bag haphazardly or just not putting them away at all, so this morning I timed myself putting them away properly:

I’m happy to report that, even with taking the photo, it took me 45 seconds to put the rollers back into the bag in a way that they all fit and the bag snapped closed. Ok, this seems really silly, but the take away here is that I hate when things are haphazardly laying about and not put away neatly, so now I know that it takes less than a minute to do this and I will do it every morning — and I’ll be happier because of it!

I really can’t wait to review Happier at Home here, but I’ve got some other reading on the agenda before I can get to it:

I have 2 chapters left in The Fault in Our Stars, which is my Book Club book this month. It’s so good and has been an incredibly fast read. I’ll tell you more about this one after I’ve had my Book Club meeting. I almost forgot that I bought this Wally Lamb Christmas book earlier this year and put it on the shelf to read at Christmas time. Wally Lamb (who has authored bestselling books like She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True) is probably my favorite author ever. When I saw that he had a Christmas book, I had to snatch it up!

3. Coconut Oil!

So much for segues! Tropical Traditions sent over a huge jar of Coconut Oil for me to try out:

Which I immediately stuck my (clean) fingers in to moisturize my dishpan hands!  I’ve heard great things about how coconut oil isn’t only great for cooking, but also great for skin and hair! I’ll be trying it in a few different ways over the next couple of weeks, and then writing a review here. I may even have a surprise for my lucky readers! However, since this is my first ever jar of coconut oil, I need your help. Which leads me to the Question of the Day, which is:

What’s your favorite way to use coconut oil!? (Feel free to link me to recipes) 

Christmas is in the Air!

Despite still fighting this stupid head cold, I popped out of bed this morning to hit the gym. With the addition of cardio to the LiveFit Trainer, my gym sessions have become about an hour-90 minutes long, so I have to get to the gym as soon as it opens at 6:00 AM.

Here’s what I did today:

I am running out of ways to share my workouts with you in a creative manner. Even I’m getting bored of showing you similar workouts over and over again. This LiveFit Trainer is effective, and I like it, but it’s pretty repetitive. I used to be the girl who liked to switch it up a lot (I still am!) so I’ll be glad in a week when I get to start doing HIIT and different exercises.

When I got to the cardio portion of my workout, I did not feel like running. I’m still feeling under the weather and just didn’t feel like wheezing through a run. So I walked hills and made up a pretty fun workout (if I do say so myself!):

*If I weren’t having IT Band pain, I would have done the run intervals with a 1.0 incline.

It was a fun way to keep alert on the treadmill and not get bored. Plus, even though I wasn’t running, I felt like I got a great workout.

Do you like my winter-themed graphics? I’m really starting to get into the Christmas spirit. This morning at work, a group of 2nd and 3rd graders came into the library where I work to sing Christmas Carols:

They were so cute! I absolutely loved listening to their carols. Adorable!

Today was also our office Christmas Luncheon. We all bring in a potluck dish to share:

Oh man. So much yummy food. I didn’t go too overboard, and I only had one dessert. So far! My favorite thing in the world is the veggie pizza that people make, that is like a biscuit crust topped with cream cheese and cut up, raw veggies. It’s so good! I had two slices!

I’m getting really excited also because tomorrow is my last day of work before the holidays! Tomorrow night, a bunch of friends will meet up and go out to dinner to celebrate my birthday (because Zach and I will be in Pittsburgh on Christmas Day, and everyone will be with their families anyway!), and Friday is Zach and Courtney’s Dad’s wedding! Then on Saturday morning, Zach and I will head to Pittsburgh to see my family! I haven’t seen them in almost a year, which makes me almost cry every time I think about it, but I’m very, very, very excited to see everyone soon!

Question of the Day:
Will you be travelling for the holidays this year? 

 

A Virtual 5k?

I’ll be honest, I haven’t really been in the mood to blog the past few days. Somehow it still seems weird being positive and upbeat online. I’m being positive and upbeat in my real, non-virtual life, though, so I guess it’s time to get a move on.

I read on Julie’s blog that an elementary school teacher in Connecticut is organizing a  5k, 10k or half marathon  (with a virtual component for those out of the area) to honor the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. I’m all for this, and I think I’m going to try to get a few of my local running friends to participate as well. If you’d like to participate, join this Facebook group to stay informed.

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Let’s recap what I’ve been up to, shall we?

I mentioned in my last post that I was still going strong with the Jamie Eason plan, and that I’ve been running without pain.  Today was leg day, and it was rough. I woke up wishing that I had cardio on the agenda, but today wasn’t a cardio day and once I was done with my leg workout I was glad. Leg day wiped me out!

Two things that were on the agenda today were the Abductor and Adductor machine, but I really don’t think my gym has those machines anymore. I’ve read a lot about how those machines are basically useless, so I subbed some exercises for them:

For the abductor, I looped a resistance band around my calves and did traveling side squats. It looks something like this:

Photo Credit

For the adductor, I simply did side lunges with the barbell:

Photo Credit

I’m not sure if it was exactly what I should have been doing, but I felt the burn. Legs are a hard day, no?

As for #Elf4Health, I haven’t been keeping up with the challenges like I should. Today’s challenge is to treat myself to something I’ve been craving — shouldn’t be too hard to live up to that one, but now I have to figure out what it is I’m craving!

In other news, this past weekend was my Sister-in-Law to-be’s annual Christmas party, aka the best party of the year. The food and drinks were fabulous (didn’t take photos, I’m a terrible blogger). The gift exchange was fun (we do a Secret Santa each year). I got this book, which I’ve been dying to read:

Photo Credit

I read Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project earlier this year, and I’ve been very excited for this to come out. If you haven’t read The Happiness Project, I highly recommend it. Even if you don’t do a strict, year-long Happiness Project like Gretchen did (I did not), there is a lot to take away from this book. Once I finish this installment, I’ll review it here.

Also at the party, Zach and I got our annual Christmas Tree photo made:

Photo courtesy of Courtney Bell Photography

We are a happy couple. 🙂

I’ll leave you with this photo of my bridesmaids (plus honorary bridesmaid, Mandee, minus my Maid of Honor, my sister Michelle) from the party. Love these girls!

Photo also courtesy of Courtney Bell Photography, but she does complain that this is out of focus. I’ll blame the fact that she’s in the photo for that.

Jamie Eason LiveFit Trainer Update

Last time we spoke, I mentioned that I have been having trouble running on the treadmill without IT band (knee) pain. Well, folks, that has all changed due to two things.

1. These babies came in the mail on Friday:

The Mizuno Alchemy 12’s I got from the Mezamashii project! I’ll tell you what, these shoes feel great on my feet. I just had to take them out for a mile around the park before I hit the weight room on Friday.

2. I read that to lessen IT band pain, you should run downhill. Since I don’t live in a very hilly area, I decided to start leaving the treadmill at 0% incline when I run, which they say is like running slightly downhill:

…again with the glare, but you get the picture. Two 30 minute runs, the second a little faster than the first, with NO knee pain! I really don’t know if it’s the shoes or the lack of incline, but I’m not going to change a thing. I have been taking it easy, though, I run for 5 minutes, then I walk for one. It works, so I’ll keep doing it for now.

As for the weight training portion of the plan, everything is going great. I’m still doing things I’ve never done in the weight room and I’m really starting to see definition in my arms. Today was shoulder day, and as I was doing Lateral Raises, I really saw that shoulder muscle definition. Yay!

I’m holding steady at a weight loss of 2 lbs, but I took my measurements yesterday and I’ve lost half an inch around my waist!

Question of the day:
What brand of running shoes do you wear? 

Hello, Friday!

Today’s post is going to be a mish-mash of randomness!

You know that feeling you get after a tough weights workout, when the muscle(s) you’ve worked feel like jelly and you just know that you’ll be sore the next day? That happened to me yesterday on leg day. All day, anytime I moved around (yesterday was a crazy day at work, so I was moving around a lot), I felt that jelly feeling. Then, by the time I was cooking dinner last night the first of the muscle ache started to set in. By the time I sat down after dinner, I was in full-on sore muscle mode!

Because of the sore muscles, I was glad to wake up early (even after a bit of fitful night of sleep — sigh) to hit the 6:15 AM yoga class at the gym. I did my Day 23 workout of LiveFit after yoga:

Back and biceps! I felt pretty strong today, even using 15 lb dumbbells for the hammer curls. I’m definitely upping my weight, and I feel stronger every day. Since I was at the gym a little longer than usual, I had to rush home, shower and cook breakfast super quickly so I could get to work on time. My breakfast turned out great though:

I basically just warmed up some roasted veggies (sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower) topped with a little cheese, put a slice of turkey bacon on top, and then made a dippy (aka overeasy) egg to go on top. Then I drizzled it with Sriracha, the condiment of the Gods. I paired it with a piece of whole wheat toast. Oh my yum. I wanted to make the egg overeasy so when I cut into it, the yolk would drip down onto the veggies. Good decision. I also ate one of the best pears ever. I used to be all about apples, but lately pears have my heart.

Speaking of breakfast, yesterday’s oats didn’t hold me over long. I was digging for a snack by 10 AM 😦 It’s such a bummer, because I really love oatmeal!

This weekend will be filled with fitness! I have two workouts planned for my LiveFit trainer, but I also plan to hit up my favorite Boot Camp class, which is held every other Saturday at  my gym, and Ashley’s yoga class, of course. I also plan on cheating on my no cardio rule to go for a very easy jog on Sunday if the weather is nice. Afternoon jogs when we’re having cool weather in December just can’t be avoided, I’m afraid!

Today, Haley at the Saucy Apple posted a great blog about how to make your weekend seem longer. This post really struck a chord with me, because I tend to get a little stressed on the weekends. There is so much to do, so little time to do it, and then Sunday comes around and I spend the whole day feeling bummed out that the weekend is over. But recently, I’ve been trying to really live in the moment on the weekends and, as my good friend Ashley said, “Not let my Monday ruin my Sunday”. It’s great advice, and every time I find myself getting the Sunday Blues, I remind myself of that little adage and it helps a lot.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Question of the Day:
I need to make a vegetarian main course for my book club this weekend, any suggestions? 

 

LiveFit Trainer Update

Good Morning!

I’m pleased to announce that my new push to get back on track after my recent weight gain has been a success for three days now! I have been eating well and my workouts have been on point. I’m treating each successful day like it’s own victory! As long as I don’t try to reward myself with food, haha.

I woke up bright and early this morning and walked to the gym. It was quite a bit colder outside this morning than it has been — there was a thick layer of frost on all the cars and when I got to the gym my ears were already numb. I don’t think I’m quite ready for winter yet!

I finished Day 16 of Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer:

Do you like my illustration for the Incline Dumbbell Curl? Sometimes I like to remind myself how to do an exercise if I think I’ll forget once I’m at the gym, so I draw little pictures. As you can see, I’m not much of an artist 🙂

Let’s talk about a couple of these exercises:

T-bar Rows:

Image courtesy of Bodybuilding.com; This is the exact set-up my gym has, by the way.

This is something I’ve never done before today. It took some trial and error to figure out how much weight to put on the bar. I initially tried with 2-25 lb plates, but that was pretty ambitious, so I took it down to a 35 lb plate. I did one set with the 35 lb plate and it was pretty tough so I took it down to one 25 lb plate, which kept it challenging but I wasn’t sacrificing form. I really liked this exercise! One thing I really like about the LiveFit Trainer is that it’s familiarizing me with the weight room at the gym. Prior to doing this program, I went to the weight room, kept to myself, and stuck to the exercises I know. Now, I’m using new equipment and asking for help from the people who work there. I used to be afraid to do this, but it turns out that they are more than happy to help — that’s why they are there, and otherwise they are just standing around. Plus, usually people who work at the gym are interested in fitness, so they give you pointers and show you new exercises. The same guy is working in the weight room each morning, so now he’s familiar with what I’m doing and he gives me tips on form,  and suggests new ways to do exercises.

Alternating Hammer Curls:

Miss Jamie herself, courtesy of Bodybuilding.com

This exercise was not new to me prior to doing this program, but I was pretty proud of myself this morning for upping my weight on this exercise. I usually top out at 12 lb dumbbells in the weight room, but today I thought I’d try the 15 lb dumbbells for this last exercise. It was tough, but I didn’t sacrifice my form! I know in order to see a change in my body, I need to be pushing the limits with my weights, and hopefully I can keep doing that with this program.

I have to say, I thought it was going to be much tougher to skip out on cardio for 4 weeks. Granted, I’m only on Day 2 of Week 3, but I haven’t missed it much. Like I mentioned before, I  haven’t totally cut out my cardio, but I have drastically reduced it (I think I’ve only done 3 cardio sessions total since I started). I haven’t lost any weight since I started (I did see a reduction on the scale, but it came back a couple days later — do fluctuations like that happen to anyone else?), but I have noticed that my body is looking — tighter. I had noticed some extra flab recently, and in week 3 of this program, I’m feeling tighter and definitely stronger.

I hope someone from Bodybuilding.com is reading this, because I have one request: An app! Look at this jumble of paper that I’ve acquired:

Yes, I could create my own spreadsheet or keep a notebook, but usually I just write down the workout at some point during the day, or print it out at work, so I’m never consistently in one place when I do it. It would be pretty cool to have an app so I could just punch in my weight and reps for each exercise. Plus, since you repeat some exercises but the workouts aren’t ever exactly the same, It would be easier to have an app because it could remind you how much weight you used last time you did each specific exercise. I’m going to try to sit down at some point today and organize this jumble of paper to see how I’ve progressed 🙂

Before I go, I’d like to tell you a bit about my breakfast this morning:

I first heard about this yummy concoction on Tina’s blog (one of my favorites — especially for pictures of her adorable Pug, Murphy). Since then, I’ve seen it quite a bit in the blog-o-sphere. You won’t believe the two ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 banana

Yep! Can you believe that there is no flour in this!? I definitely doesn’t have the ‘cakey’ consistency of a typical pancake, but it’s pretty similar.  I added a little pumpkin pie spice to mine and topped it with half a tablespoon each of Sunflower Butter and Honey. This pancake packs a protein punch: Mine had a whopping 16 grams after I added the sunflower seed butter on top, and it was so good! Like a protein pancake, it takes some maneuvering to flip without making it into a mess, but I was surprised how thick it became. After I took this photo, I cut it in half and put one half in a container to eat at work. I’m loving the idea of eating half of my breakfast at home and half at work. Although I’m eating the same amount of food, I think it keeps me satisfied longer…? That’s probably all in my head, but I’m a firm believer that it still works, even if it is all in your head!

Hopefully I’ll have a second post for you today, in the form of a veggie burger recipe round up!

Question of the Day:
What is your favorite breakfast?