Well, I did Day 2 (a.k.a. 'Slimmer Sunday') of that Fitness Magazine workout.
This routine was sneaky. Day 2 looked a little easier than the previous day's routine, but the soreness quickly progressed and I'm more sore than I've been in weeks! Like the it-hurts-to-sit-down-on-the-toilet kind of sore, but also the wow-my-ass-is-perking-up-as-we-speak! kind of sore. Bittersweet, I suppose.
The fact that my body has clearly been challenged though has left me feeling strong (and simultaneously wussy). I'm good with that.
I was planning on swimming tomorrow morning, but honestly? I think I might just go to sit in the hot tub before work. Although, some medium-paced laps will probably help stretch out my muscles without adding any impact and making things worse. I dunno. We'll see. I've made up my mind to go to the 24SET class on Saturday morning, so I definitely want to be rested and refreshed, not all sore and busted. My excitement to try new [fitness] things is starting to catch up with me!
Also, some new food excitement to share... I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of my life-changing sandwich that I had for lunch, but since I totally ripped off the idea from KERF, you can view a much more appetizing version on her site.
We have a Great Harvest store nearby, so I was able to snag the Flax Oatbran (which I ended up loving more than I thought I would, btw), but I used slightly different cheese and jam than she did. I bought a small block of Cabot's reduced-fat cheddar and some store-brand (King Soopers) Triple-Berry fruit spread.
HOLY CRAP, PEOPLE! Loved this sandwich! I had previously tried jam on a turkey sandwich before, but with sub-par bread, sugar-free Smucker's and only-ok cheese. This new combo was just fantastic. I put one ounce of cheese on one half of the bread slice and microwaved it for 15 seconds; I wanted the cheese just partially melted so I could experience some different textures. Heaven.
I definitely savored each bite, but I also pretty much inhaled the whole thing between my hunger and the foodgasm-inducing flavor. I'll be having several more of these in the future (tomorrow for lunch again, perhaps?), so I'll set aside my laziness for some pics.
And as if my lunch wasn't enough to get me all giddy about food (and life, for that matter), I also came across more flavors of my favorite Famous Dave's BBQ sauce at the grocery store! At first I could only find the Rich & Sassy and the Sweet & Zesty flavors for a while, but today I squealed when I saw the Devil's Spit and Apricot Bourbon varieties. Granted, I can go to the actual restaurant and buy whatever flavor I want, but it's considerably cheaper to buy them at regular grocery stores (Wal-Mart & King Soopers, specifically).
That said, I think some sort of BBQ veggie burger is in my future for dinner tonight. Might break down and take some pics of that too... Stay tuned!
Showing posts with label kerf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kerf. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Insert clever title here.
Quick lil' update...
First off, I've been rockin' Overnight Oats this week, thanks to KERF's suggestion. Quick, convenient and delicious! My favorite combo so far has been mashed banana, diced strawberries, coconut flakes, cinnamon and vanilla extract. All of the natural sugars/flavors from the fruits get so well absorbed in the oats that the taste the next morning is like whoa. In the morning, right before I eat them, I'll add chia seeds, a couple teaspoons of some kind of nut butter and warm it up in the microwave just long enough for the nut butter to melt. Semi-cold, hearty, soggy cereal awesomeness. I've been taking my breakfast to work with me this week since I don't get really get hungry until 8 or 9 am, so this has been a perfect option for me.
Second, I got around to trying the Sleeker Saturday workout from Fitness Magazine this morning (ended up taking Monday off from exercise). HOLY CRAP! So much harder than I thought! I guess it wasn't hard in the sense that the moves were complicated, it was just super tough and left me panting- glad I only had to go through it twice! In the actual magazine version, they provide 3 cardio moves that you're supposed to do in between the strength intervals, so that's what kept my heart rate so high and my face dripping.
I'll try to remember to scan the page with the cardio info later and do a follow-up post; it would be easier than trying to explain it here.
I also did 1/2 mile jogs before and after the workout. My muscles are all tingly now. Love it!
Since the workout was so quick (about 26 minutes for the magazine routine, plus 12 minutes of jogging), I'll probably give the 'Slimmer Sunday' routine a try tomorrow, assuming I'm not all sore and busted.
Lastly, I got a chance to visit 24 Hour Fitness this week. I just did a mixed routine on the treadmill, step mill and bike. I did sprint intervals on the treadmill for the first time in ages and my ass was officially whooped! Need to start doing those more regularly again.
I'm planning on swimming Friday morning and trying out their 24 SET class on Saturday, if there's still room left. It's basically supposed to be based off of Biggest Loser workouts, so there will be a mix of cardio and strength. I used to avoid fitness classes before, but lately my own routine has become so, well, routine, and I'm much more open to trying some new things now. Plus, it would be cool to meet some fitness-minded people in real life. Hope it goes well! I also want to try TURBO-Kick and spinning sometime too.
I'm still on my trial membership, but assuming I dig the classes, I'm pretty certain that I'm gonna make the switch to 24 soon. (Sorry, Accolade!)
First off, I've been rockin' Overnight Oats this week, thanks to KERF's suggestion. Quick, convenient and delicious! My favorite combo so far has been mashed banana, diced strawberries, coconut flakes, cinnamon and vanilla extract. All of the natural sugars/flavors from the fruits get so well absorbed in the oats that the taste the next morning is like whoa. In the morning, right before I eat them, I'll add chia seeds, a couple teaspoons of some kind of nut butter and warm it up in the microwave just long enough for the nut butter to melt. Semi-cold, hearty, soggy cereal awesomeness. I've been taking my breakfast to work with me this week since I don't get really get hungry until 8 or 9 am, so this has been a perfect option for me.
Second, I got around to trying the Sleeker Saturday workout from Fitness Magazine this morning (ended up taking Monday off from exercise). HOLY CRAP! So much harder than I thought! I guess it wasn't hard in the sense that the moves were complicated, it was just super tough and left me panting- glad I only had to go through it twice! In the actual magazine version, they provide 3 cardio moves that you're supposed to do in between the strength intervals, so that's what kept my heart rate so high and my face dripping.
I'll try to remember to scan the page with the cardio info later and do a follow-up post; it would be easier than trying to explain it here.
I also did 1/2 mile jogs before and after the workout. My muscles are all tingly now. Love it!
Since the workout was so quick (about 26 minutes for the magazine routine, plus 12 minutes of jogging), I'll probably give the 'Slimmer Sunday' routine a try tomorrow, assuming I'm not all sore and busted.
Lastly, I got a chance to visit 24 Hour Fitness this week. I just did a mixed routine on the treadmill, step mill and bike. I did sprint intervals on the treadmill for the first time in ages and my ass was officially whooped! Need to start doing those more regularly again.
I'm planning on swimming Friday morning and trying out their 24 SET class on Saturday, if there's still room left. It's basically supposed to be based off of Biggest Loser workouts, so there will be a mix of cardio and strength. I used to avoid fitness classes before, but lately my own routine has become so, well, routine, and I'm much more open to trying some new things now. Plus, it would be cool to meet some fitness-minded people in real life. Hope it goes well! I also want to try TURBO-Kick and spinning sometime too.
I'm still on my trial membership, but assuming I dig the classes, I'm pretty certain that I'm gonna make the switch to 24 soon. (Sorry, Accolade!)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
No, I didn't melt. But that's a good thing.
Good morning! I'm just gonna dive right in. First off, more new DVD feedback. Today's weapon of choice?
Yoga, JM style. Now, I'm probably the last person that should be reviewing a yoga DVD because I'm still a novice and, despite my best intentions, am quite sporadic in my practice. HOWEVER, I think it's safe to say that this isn't your typical yoga workout.
My previous experience with yoga rests on the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga DVD (only made it through levels 1 and 2; still haven't tried level 3) and Baron Baptiste: Journey into Power Level 1 (which I actually grew to love last time I did it; need to make time for it again soon!).
So, after having done those yoga workouts, Jillian's was different, but not in a bad way. There are two 30 minute workouts and today I just stuck with level one. To be honest, I was pretty terrified because I didn't know what to expect. I thought it was going to be this hardcore burn session, set to industrial music or something. But it wasn't that bad at all.
Basically, Jillian sets you up with standard yoga moves (sun saltuations, downward dog, crescent, warrior 2 &3, etc.), but adds movement so you can perform reps of the move and then hold the move in place for 15 seconds. For example, when she takes you into warrior 2, she has you repeatedly bend and straighten your front leg so you get a little burn going and then you hold for 15 seconds with the front leg bent. She also has you do this with push-ups and side planks.
As typical with JM workouts, she has 2 helpers; one to show beginner moves and the other busting out advanced moves.
The thing I loved most about this DVD? The pace! That 30 minutes just flies by. She purposely moves through each interval quickly so you can benefit from a higher heart rate.
So how did I do? Well, not that great, haha. Since it's easily been a month (or more) since my last yoga session, my form and balance were pretty crap. I've never performed warrior 3 before, so I was getting really frustrated that I couldn't hold myself up and was grasping for the top of the TV to keep from falling. Pretty pathetic, but it only made me want to do the DVD more so I could increase my balance and benefit from body weight training.
Although I appreciated the fast pace of the workout itself, I do wish the cooldown stretch was longer and more relaxing, like the one on the Biggest Loser yoga DVD. Her stretches were definitely effective (I didn't realize how stiff and tense I had gotten over the past few days from my other workouts), but it would've been nice to hold them longer and focus on deep breathing. Yes, I can do that on my own after the DVD is over, but I like it when longer cooldown stretches are included. Ah well.
During the cooldown, Jillian starts to talk about how it's not about being perfect, it's just about practice. That really resonated with me. Obviously, such a statement can be applied to my life in various ways, but when applying it specifically to yoga, I really need to repeat it in my head. If I'm more patient with myself and don't get so frustrated when my form isn't perfect, my yoga sessions won't be so sporadic.
Overall? Another favorite, yet unique addition to my JM collection. She has motivated me, once again, to pursue this workout with more regularity. I'm also motivated to start doing my other yoga DVDs more often too. I think my goal between now and the end of the year is to be able to conquer level 2 of Jillian's DVD and level 3 of the Biggest Loser DVD. It's totally do-able!
Ok, on to food pics. Once again, I took all of my breakfast, lunch and snack pics this morning to save time. I'll try and do that from now on.
Breakfast:
A 3-minute oatmeal cookie & a hard-boiled egg. Thanks to Christie at Honoring Health and her Zucchini Bread Oatmeal, I decided to use up the last of our zucchini in an oatmeal cookie. Yuuuum! Totally loved it. It was like eating a pice of zucchini bread for breakfast. I tried to squeeze out as much excess liquid as I could from the zucchini, but it still made things pretty moist. Before adding the zucchini to the mix, I sprinkled it with splenda and cinnamon. I added about an extra tablespoon of oats, but perhaps more flour would've been better. The taste was awesome though. And I'm still kicking myself for not adding dried cranberries because I think that would've brought it all together. Oh well. Next time. And there will be a next time because I love zucchini and am all for adding it to my breakfast now!
Morning snack:
Good ol' banana and strawberries.
Lunch:
Leftover slice of spinach mushroom pizza (ended up having once slice last night and gave the rest to Doug; I'm officially over pizza this week!) with a spaghetti squash salad. Last night I hacked open a spaghetti squash that I bought a while back and stuck it in the microwave. I was hungry all day yesterday, so to keep from filling up on crap, I went for the squash because it never fails to fill me up.
There's still a ton leftover, so today I took some romaine salad mix and slapped some squash on top (when I cooked it last night, I added: olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder) and sprinkled it with fat-free feta for extra protein. Soooo looking forward to this meal!
Afternoon snack:
Pear and some string cheese.
For dinner, I'm planning on trying some Fiesta Flapjacks from Kath at KERF. I've actually been wanting to try the Kodiak Cakes mix for a couple of months now, so I was super-stoked when a) I saw that King Sooper's sold it and b) I saw this recipe a couple of days ago! Some things are just meant to be. I'll let you know how they turn out!
Yoga, JM style. Now, I'm probably the last person that should be reviewing a yoga DVD because I'm still a novice and, despite my best intentions, am quite sporadic in my practice. HOWEVER, I think it's safe to say that this isn't your typical yoga workout.
My previous experience with yoga rests on the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga DVD (only made it through levels 1 and 2; still haven't tried level 3) and Baron Baptiste: Journey into Power Level 1 (which I actually grew to love last time I did it; need to make time for it again soon!).
So, after having done those yoga workouts, Jillian's was different, but not in a bad way. There are two 30 minute workouts and today I just stuck with level one. To be honest, I was pretty terrified because I didn't know what to expect. I thought it was going to be this hardcore burn session, set to industrial music or something. But it wasn't that bad at all.
Basically, Jillian sets you up with standard yoga moves (sun saltuations, downward dog, crescent, warrior 2 &3, etc.), but adds movement so you can perform reps of the move and then hold the move in place for 15 seconds. For example, when she takes you into warrior 2, she has you repeatedly bend and straighten your front leg so you get a little burn going and then you hold for 15 seconds with the front leg bent. She also has you do this with push-ups and side planks.
As typical with JM workouts, she has 2 helpers; one to show beginner moves and the other busting out advanced moves.
The thing I loved most about this DVD? The pace! That 30 minutes just flies by. She purposely moves through each interval quickly so you can benefit from a higher heart rate.
So how did I do? Well, not that great, haha. Since it's easily been a month (or more) since my last yoga session, my form and balance were pretty crap. I've never performed warrior 3 before, so I was getting really frustrated that I couldn't hold myself up and was grasping for the top of the TV to keep from falling. Pretty pathetic, but it only made me want to do the DVD more so I could increase my balance and benefit from body weight training.
Although I appreciated the fast pace of the workout itself, I do wish the cooldown stretch was longer and more relaxing, like the one on the Biggest Loser yoga DVD. Her stretches were definitely effective (I didn't realize how stiff and tense I had gotten over the past few days from my other workouts), but it would've been nice to hold them longer and focus on deep breathing. Yes, I can do that on my own after the DVD is over, but I like it when longer cooldown stretches are included. Ah well.
During the cooldown, Jillian starts to talk about how it's not about being perfect, it's just about practice. That really resonated with me. Obviously, such a statement can be applied to my life in various ways, but when applying it specifically to yoga, I really need to repeat it in my head. If I'm more patient with myself and don't get so frustrated when my form isn't perfect, my yoga sessions won't be so sporadic.
Overall? Another favorite, yet unique addition to my JM collection. She has motivated me, once again, to pursue this workout with more regularity. I'm also motivated to start doing my other yoga DVDs more often too. I think my goal between now and the end of the year is to be able to conquer level 2 of Jillian's DVD and level 3 of the Biggest Loser DVD. It's totally do-able!
Ok, on to food pics. Once again, I took all of my breakfast, lunch and snack pics this morning to save time. I'll try and do that from now on.
Breakfast:
A 3-minute oatmeal cookie & a hard-boiled egg. Thanks to Christie at Honoring Health and her Zucchini Bread Oatmeal, I decided to use up the last of our zucchini in an oatmeal cookie. Yuuuum! Totally loved it. It was like eating a pice of zucchini bread for breakfast. I tried to squeeze out as much excess liquid as I could from the zucchini, but it still made things pretty moist. Before adding the zucchini to the mix, I sprinkled it with splenda and cinnamon. I added about an extra tablespoon of oats, but perhaps more flour would've been better. The taste was awesome though. And I'm still kicking myself for not adding dried cranberries because I think that would've brought it all together. Oh well. Next time. And there will be a next time because I love zucchini and am all for adding it to my breakfast now!
Morning snack:
Good ol' banana and strawberries.
Lunch:
Leftover slice of spinach mushroom pizza (ended up having once slice last night and gave the rest to Doug; I'm officially over pizza this week!) with a spaghetti squash salad. Last night I hacked open a spaghetti squash that I bought a while back and stuck it in the microwave. I was hungry all day yesterday, so to keep from filling up on crap, I went for the squash because it never fails to fill me up.
There's still a ton leftover, so today I took some romaine salad mix and slapped some squash on top (when I cooked it last night, I added: olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder) and sprinkled it with fat-free feta for extra protein. Soooo looking forward to this meal!
Afternoon snack:
Pear and some string cheese.
For dinner, I'm planning on trying some Fiesta Flapjacks from Kath at KERF. I've actually been wanting to try the Kodiak Cakes mix for a couple of months now, so I was super-stoked when a) I saw that King Sooper's sold it and b) I saw this recipe a couple of days ago! Some things are just meant to be. I'll let you know how they turn out!
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