Weekly Workouts

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Similar to "Bits & Bites", I'm going to start sharing a synopsis of my weekly workouts.  My hope is that it provides some fun ideas for you all to try! We all know it's best to have a diverse workout schedule, however, a lot of times we get stuck in the same old, same old. Mixing it up will keep you sharp, fit, and strong.

My workout regime has changed a lot over the years. Teaching group exercise multiple times a day ---> to post-college elliptical training and abs only ---> to taking group ex again ---> to running 6x/week ---> to boxing 5x/week and now... a nice mix. I've never been more confident in my fitness level and I think it's due to finding workouts I really love combined with taking more rest days, and ensuring that my workouts are diverse.

Last week:

Monday: Fighter Conditioning at Peter Welch's Gym (Brian's Class)

Tuesday: 2 mi steady run & some body weight exercises (light)

Wednesday: Fighter Conditioning at Peter Welch's Gym (Nick's Class)

Thursday: 3 mile run

Friday: Whipped out Tee Major's app and did body weight exercises: 2x15 burpees, 2x20 butt bridges, 20 sumo walks, 2x20 leg raises, planks with arm and leg raises, 20 push ups, and some shadow boxing for 5-10 mins. (If you haven't done so already (especially you Bryant friends) download Tee Major's new app! It has TONS of bodyweight exercises and includes his, now famous, "44 best bodyweight exercises". It is awesome!) 

Saturday: Fighter Conditioning at Peter Welch's Gym (Chris' Class)

Sunday: Rest

More recently, I've been taking about 2 rest days per week, but, last week I felt great and I had recently taken a lot of days off due to my neck injury. So, on Tuesday, instead of taking a rest day... I did a light workout.

How did you work out last week? Do tell!

Have a great week! xo

Indoor/Outdoor Workout & What to do with Leftovers

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I've been mentioning that I'm nursing a neck pull. It's going on two weeks, but, I'm finally feeling better! YAY! Guys, besides a couple of long walks, I took 5 days off from working out... FIVE... FIVE!!! Good thing it was 4th of July weekend and I distracted my urge to workout with sunshine, yummy food, and delicious bevs. Not exactly the healthiest way to take a break, but, it is what it is! 

Anyway, yesterday I went for a nice rainy run and did some minor lifting in the living room. Today, I'm still not 100% ready to go back to boxing :(. And, it's too damn hot and humid to just run for miles so I improvised with the following workout that I created and want to share since I think it's good for anyone looking for a solid indoor/outdoor body weight workout without any equipment.

Improvise as needed. You'll notice that the lower body work is heavier than upper body. As much as I hate taking a break, I KNOW that in order to get my neck back to 100%, I have to give it a rest.

After my workout, I still had those chicken thighs and a bunch of tomatoes/avocado/mozz leftover from last night so I chopped everything and put it on a brown rice tortilla and made it into a Mediterranean quesadilla! Mmmmm....

How have you all been handling workouts in this heat? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great rest of the week xo

Bits of Bites

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So many of you have been kindly asking how Stacy is doing since her surgery on Friday so I will provide you with a brief update. Her surgery was 6 hours long and everything went very well and according to the doctors' plans. She was in severe pain on Saturday, but, by the afternoon was feeling a little better. Stacy came home yesterday and is happy to be out of the hospital. I want to thank everyone who has reached out since reading the blog post last week. I have no doubt in my mind that the positive thoughts, vibes, and prayers that you sent through helped her get through this very difficult procedure. It is greatly appreciated by our entire family.

This blog post is going to be a bit disjointed, but, I have a lot to talk about!

The other big, big thing that happened this weekend was Jenn & Brett's wedding! It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and could not have gone more perfectly. It was truly incredible and I could not be more excited for Jenn & Brett! They are an amazing couple. I'll post a "life lately" post soon and update more photos, etc.

So, I'm starting a new series tonight "Bits of Bites". I've been asked so many times (especially since the Sugar-Free Challenge) to post meal ideas besides just dinner. Most health/fitness bloggers do post "weekly eats" or something similar, but, I didn't think you'd all want to look at my ugly food pictures. Well, I'm caving. The pictures won't be as attractive as my perfectly lit dinner posts, but, hopefully it will provide you all with some food ideas for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and super-fast dinners that can be made on the fly. Oh, and I won't show every meal, don't worry.

Locally grown strawberries I ate in about two sittings. (I eat a lot of fruit, especially berries)

This "smoothie bowl" consisted of raw peanut butter (about 2 tbs), frozen organic berries (cup or so), ground flax (tbs or so), chia seeds (tsp or so), shakes of cinnamon, and water (enough to blend). This was a breakfast last week. 

This was a Saturday morning breakfast consisting of organic buckwheat berry waffles from Whole Foods topped with a little bit of organic butter (no syrup even though I love syrup). Sliced kiwi and mango-ginger juice -- I just blended frozen mango with ginger and cinnamon with a lot of water. I don't own a juicer.

Lunch: Organic egg, organic raspberries, sugar snap peas, avocado, and goji berry nut mixture from Whole Foods.

Dinner: lettuce from my garden, sliced radishes, organic grape tomatoes, feta, sunflower seeds, grilled organic chicken, grilled peaches, avocado, topped with extra virgin o/o and lime juice.

Another typical lunch: half an avocado, 2 organic eggs, organic raspberries, sugar snap peas, pecans/cashews, and I think I ate that entire bag of GMO free popcorn by the time work was over, whoops!

Dinner: Chicken, Broccoli, artichokes, and Quinoa gluten-free pasta, meh.... I'll go back to Barilla Protein Plus. The pasta wasn't terrible, but, it wasn't great either. Oh and a glass or two of vino.

Lunch: I got creative at work and mashed together a half an avocado and leftover grilled organic chicken and put it on a toasted gluten-free english muffin with some salt and grapes. Pretty good!

Ok I think that about does it for tonight. My shopping list always has avocados, organic eggs, fresh and frozen organic fruit, and organic chicken. Right now, I'm loving my garden veggies!

Hope you all have a great week! xo