Saturday, April 14, 2012

Some of my favorite things

I stole this idea from my fellow blogger friend, Cheurice :]  I thought it would be cool to share some of my favorite health and fitness related things as of late. So here goes! Right now I am crazy about...


1) Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Coconut Milk! I'm addicted to it. It has a light and refreshing taste- it's fantastic alone, in cereal, in coffee, whatever! And with only 45 calories and no sugar, it's guilt-free as well :] 
This stuff is delicious!!

2) Fresh popped popcorn. I pop it in a stock pan over the stove with a little olive oil and a little salt. It's my new go-to snack when I just need a little something to munch on between dinner and my cut-off eating time before bed.

3) Squats. My legs are strong and I love working them hard! Squat jumps, dead weight squats, weighted squats, lunge squats. Squat squat squat (ha, that sounds funny out loud). In fact, I did so much squatting and jumping the other day that my legs feel beyond sore. It's great.

4) Hockey playoffs :]  I've always been a huge Boston Bruins fan and it's so exciting to see them in the playoffs again this year!! I would absolutely love to see them win the Stanley Cup again! But how does this relate to my health/fitness favorite things? Well, watching the playoff games makes me SO nervous that I literally can't sit still. So what do I do? Jump. Cardio. Weights. Anything and everything to get out all my pent up anxiety as I watch them play. During the game on Thursday, I worked out so hard and so long that I burned around 800 calories! Woah! Plus, with how beastly hockey players are, they inspire me. Seriously! I can't even skate forget everything they do! It's nuts and it makes me push myself even harder while I workout. Thanks, playoffs ;]

LOVE the Boston Bruins!!!
Tim Thomas, like a boss.

5) My heart rate monitor. This Christmas gift from my brother has definitely become my favorite workout accessory. I loved watching my heart rate go up. I love challenging myself to keep it at or above a certain level for a designated amount of time. I love being able to see my total workout time, average heart rate and peak heart rate once I finish my workout. I also love being able to calculate my calorie burn based on my average heart rate! It's so encouraging. I use this website to calculate it. I know it isn't completely accurate but it is a good tool!

6) Finally having a new prescription so that my own sweat doesn't kill me :P haha. But for real.

7) Green tea with mint. Green tea is SUPER ridiculously good for you! I've been trying to drink more of it lately and this has become my favorite. I'm not usually a big fan of mint teas (I prefer fruity or chai) but my hubby picked this one out and I'm glad he did!
I drink it hot and black

8) This recipe: Protein Pancakes. These things are outrageously good!!! I love pancakes. Always have, always will. So I like trying new recipes from time to time. When I saw this one I saw instantly intrigued because it contains no pancake mix or flour. The first time I made it, I thought I screwed it up because the batter is suuuuper runny (let this serve as a warning to anyone who might attempt to make these now!). But I realized it's meant to be cooked in one skillet, almost like an omelette. At least, that's how I cook them, ha. They're so stinking delicious, they don't even need syrup or agave! Nothing. Just eat as is! I even made them for my brother and Daddy while I was visiting them last week. Everyone loved them. I make 'em with almond milk (see #1) and extra cinnamon. I also use a whey/casein blend protein powder- one is quick release the other is a slow burn- because that's the only protein powder I buy. I've also tried adding some oats, chopped nuts or peanut butter. Jake's favorite blend so far is oats and chopped walnuts because it's almost like banana nut bread in pancake for. I like a little Better 'n Peanut Butter in mine. Yummmm!

9) Planks. I've realized that by simply turning my normal blank hold into a decline plank (by propping my feet up on a chair) I work my lower abs much better. Which makes me extremely happy. I'm also determined to get better at doing side planks with a leg raise. Those killed me in P.A.P. Lower last week.

10) Beets. They used to weird me out but now I can't get enough of them! I particularly love them in a field greens salad with a little goat cheese. Now that is a fantastic lunch! Granted, cooking them always turns my hands (and my kitchen counter) pink, but they're worth it!
They're packed full of nutrients!


Okay, that's all I can think of right now :]  If you'd like, comment below and share some of your favorite things!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Chaos in my workout world

If it's not one thing it's another. You know? Last week I couldn't work out because of my skin infection so I was beyond ready to get back to working out this week! Well, I got a good workout in on Monday night (Drop 10 strength moves and my new tranversus ab routine). Then, my grandfather passed away on Tuesday morning :[  I was at work when I got the (hysterical) call from my poor Mom, she was a wreck. Fortunately, I have a wonderful job and boss who allowed me to leave then and there. So, Jacob and I packed our bags, straightened up our messy apartment and were on the road to Massachusetts within a couple hours. I know my Mom was very happy to have us come up right away. We were able to cheer her up and comfort her. I've been staying busy with her since I got here- trying to distract her but mostly just trying to be there for her. It's been rough. Needless to say, that has thrown a bit of a wrench into my exercise routines, yet again. I can still workout here (especially with all the workout DVDs my brothers have!) but it's tough to make time for it when I just want to be there for my Mom. I have managed to sneak in a couple great workouts, though!

Tuesday night, after getting up at 6:30am, working a few hours and making the 5 1/2 hour drive here, my brothers wanted me to workout with them. I had just eaten some lightened up seafood chowder (yum) and was in the middle of watching the Bruins with my Daddy but I figured I'd give it a shot. They're on the last phase of P90X2 right now so I knew the workout would be rough and awesome. I was right. On Tuesday, I joined them for P.A.P. Upper workout. P.A.P. stands for "Post Activation Potentiation". Apparently it's like the hottest thing in sports science today. It's all about combining strength moves with plyo-style moves or explosive moves. It's pretty intense! The workouts consist of two movements or blocks (I forgot what they actually call them) comprised of four moves. You repeat each circuit of four moves four times and that is one block. There are two blocks in each of the P.A.P. workouts. So, you do four moves back to back then repeat three times. And these moves are no joke! In Upper, we were doing push ups with rows in-between, plyo-push ups (you might know them as clap push ups), pull ups, planks balancing your feet on a medicine ball (okay, I didn't tackle it on the medicine ball but I did elevate my feet to make it a decline plank which killed to hold for 60 seconds four times!). It was nasty! I felt really good when I was done with it, though! So good, in fact, that I decided to try P.A.P. Lower with them on Friday night! I liked that workout a little more. I prefer lower body work since that's what I'm good at. I know I should focus more on my upper body in order to make it stronger, but I'll always love leg work. Mmhmm. Anyways, P.A.P. Lower was just as nasty as upper although I think it was easier than Legs & Back from P90X. Either way, it was still a great workout! We did this cool step up on a block, lift knee, step back down and go into lunge move that I liked a lot. We also did this miserable side plank, lift one leg and hold for 30 seconds move. Yep, couldn't do that one! I think I held it for like 10 seconds before I had to go back down to a regular side plank. That move was brutal! I want to get better at it now. I think overall the workout wasn't quite as strenuous as I imagined but it was still really good. It almost reminded me of Core Synergistics from P90X. But with a focus on lower or upper body strength, depending on the routine.

I'm glad that I was able to get a couple really good new routines in this week! I might try another P90X2 workout tonight just for fun. Maybe some Plyocide. Doesn't that just sounds torturous? I bet it sucks but is an incredible workout. Here's to hoping that I can get back into a more solid workout routine next week!