New Butt Kicking Circuit Workout!!

Last night when we got home from Marie's graduation I had this waiting at my doorstep:

I was so excited I attempted to flip through the whole thing in one night, until I realized it was over 400 pages long.  So let's just say I SKIMMED it. 

I was most interested in the section for total body workout moves.  I made my own little circuit workout for this morning at the gym.  I did three sets of this workout with a set of cardo work that I found on pinterest.

Big Book Of Exercises Full Body Circuit Workout

Dumbbell Straight Leg Deadlift To Row (15 dumbbells, 12 reps)

Single Arm Dumbbell Swing (single 12 lb dumbbell, 10 reps each arm)

Seated dumbbell overhead tricep extension (8lb dumbbells, 12 reps)

Side Lunge and Press (8lb dumbbells, 10 reps each side)

Split Stance Dumbbell Curl (10lb dumbbells)

Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch (15lb dumbbell, 10 reps each side)

My favorite new move was the single arm dumbbell snatch:

I loved this. I felt like I was in crossfit! PS I want to try crossfit so bad but it is rediculously overpriced.  $150/month...I think I'll stick with my $24/month gym membership.  Matt and I watched the Crossfit Games on ESPN this weekend and we were both like "I want to try that so bad!!"  Maybe someday when we are rich and famous haha.

Sooo anyways...after each round of my circuit workout I did this short but very intense cardio workout from the creator of Insanity, Shaun T.  This workout consisted of 7 different moves that you do for 30 seconds each with no rest in between.  Let me tell you, my thighs were on fire after this.

Pushup Jacks

Power Knees (30 sec each knee)

Ski Abs

Tricep Dips

Plank Squats

Power Jumps

Power Squats

I'm going to be totally honest with you, I couldn't do teh pushup jacks, so I cut them out of my workout.  My favorite move were the plank squats.

After three rounds of the circuit workout and three rounds of the cardio workout, I was dead. It took me 45 minutes all together. I ended my workout with about 10 minutes of ab work and lots of stretching.

The rest of my day was spent running errands out the wazoo.  The high point in my errands?? Purchasing these wedges from DSW (I had a $20 coupon).

And making homeade turkey meatballs for dinner :)

No method to the madness really.  Turkey, oregano, basil, an egg, panko, and parmesean.  Baked for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

That's right, I eat my spaghetti with a spoon.  All real Italians do lol. 

I only have 3 days of work this week and lots of little things to get done. I asked Matt to proof read the place cards that I made, and for one husband and wife I actually wrote Mr. and Mr. instead of Mr. and Mrs.  Oops. haha.



Two Day Post

Sorry for no post last night! In all honestly, I just didn't feel like it. I was too tired and I just felt like being lazy and watching a movie with Matt, so that's what I did!  But I'm back in the swing today so I'll catch you up on what's been happening the past couple of days.

I currently cannot walk without looking like an crippled old woman because of my workout sunday morning. I wanted to get a good stregnth workout in because I knew I woulnd't have much time for another until next weekend. Well, I may have pushed it a bit too far....oops. Here's what I did:

I went through this workout 3x, then did 15 minutes of random abs work, followed by 20 minutes on the eliptical to finishe it out.  I think the thing that really got me in the end were the squat swings.

This is pretty much what I did, except that I used a single 15lb dumbbell instead of a kettleball (because my gym doesn't have any) and only used one arm instead of two.  I did 10 with each arm and boy did they end up killing my legs, but in a good way!

After my workout I went to see The Avengers with Matt.  It was alright.  I really think I should have watched Thor first, because I had no idea what was happening sometimes.  When I got home from the movie, dinner was waiting in the crockpot!

It's a little hard to see, but I made Skinnytaste's Crockpot Buffalo Chicken.  I put mine on a deli flat and made a blue cheese sauce to go with it.  I combined 2 tbsp greek yogurt, 2 tbsp low fat mayo, 1 tbsp white vinegar and two tbsp blue cheese.  Perfect addition to the sandwhich.

salad on the side.

My Monday was nothing special, besides the fact that I woke up and coulnd't move.  I decided to go the gym anyways and take it easy.  I did a 20 minute abs workout and then hopped on the treadmill.  Bad idea.  My ankle had been bothering me a bit since our trail run on Saturday, and it still hurts a bit when I run.  I finished 1.5 miles in 15 minutes and decided to stop.  I got on the stationary bike for 20 minutes instead to finish off my workout.  I biked at random setting level 8 and tried to keep my RPM above 7.0 the whole time.  Tomorrow I am taking the day off so I can go pick up my wedding dress! I'm sure my muscles will appreciate it. 

For dinner I had something quick and easy planned.

Ready made tortelloni, mixed with shrimp, veggies and pesto sauce.

YUM. 

I'm trying to think of a couple of books to get for our honeymoon.  Any recommendations out there?? 



Circuit Workout and Addictive Oatmeal Cookies

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a good Monday. Mine actually wasn't half bad. I got a great workout in after work even though I'm still avoiding running until my hip is 100% (feeling so much better than yesterday already).  I was in the mood for a good circuit workout so I put this baby together and boy did it kick my butt:

I have a feeling I'll be sore tomorrow! This took me about 20 minutes to complete. Then I moved on to some cardio.  I did 15 minutes on the stairmaster and 20 minutes walking on different inclines from 0 to 10.  For some reason I always feel like I should be wearing leg warmers and a sweatband when I'm on the stairmaster, but it always makes me sweat. Nobody ever uses those poor machines, I feel bad for them sometimes lol. 

Dinner was leftover BBQ Blue Cheese Turkey Burgers from last week. Leftovers make my life so much easier!

Had my turkey burger on a peice of great harvest dakota toast .

and a salad on the side

It's that time of the month again folks......and that only means one thing. I need to bake.  I was craving cookies,  and this is definitely the time to give in to cravings or your body will just end up hating you more, at least that's my theory. I found this recipe somewhere and adapted it to what I had in my kitchen. They literally took me 20 mintues to make before I was shoving one in my face lol.

Addictive Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup craisins

3 tbsp egg whites

1 tbsp butter softened

1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately, then add dry ingrdients into wet and mix.  Make 12 cookies around a tbsp each and bake for 12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before devouring!

One last very important thing. Happy Birthday to my sister Melissa. Can't wait to visit this coming weekend and meet my neice!



One Day Personal Trainer

I went to bed at my usualy work time last night even though I took off today.  I knew I had a long day ahead of me.  I woke up at 7:30 to eat my breakfast before meeting my friend Stef at the gym for our "training session."

1/3 cup plain nonfat chobani, 1/3 cup pumpkin, oatmeal squares, craisins, chia seeds and a spoonfull of peanut butter added post-picture. 

Then I was off to the gym! Stef asked me to workout with her this morning before our big bachelorette weekend and I was glad to say yes.

me and stef this past summer

I had planned out in my head what I wanted to do. We start out with this circuit workout:

I'm obsessed with dumbbell bulgarian squats.

my ass hurts just looking at it!

From there we moved on to doing some abs work from the nike ap on Stef's Iphone.  And next we did 40 minutes of cardio.  We started off on the treadmill with a 3 minute slow jog and then we started the interval workout.  You basically run at a base pace for two minutes and then sprint for 1 minutes and then repeat, increasing srpinting speeds by 0.2 each time until you reach 20 minutes.  We finished up with 20 minutes on the stationary bike.

Then we headed to brunch on main st.  I forgot to take a pic of my food because I was starving. I ordered an egg white omlet with broccoli, tomatoes, spinach and cheddar cheese with wheat toast and potatoes on the side.  I devoured it.  After brunch I went to the grocery store (have I mentioned that I hate the grocery store?).  When I got home I felt like I was still hungy.  I don't know how but I've been eating so much today. I had an apple and part of a granolla bar for a snack. 

After cleaning my car, finally showering at 3:30pm and resting a bit it was time for dinner. I grabbed some food at a local sandwich shop becuase I was lazy.

My favorite salad on earth.  Roasted veggie salad with squash, zucchini, roasted peppers, onions, tomatoes, goat cheese and a curry vinagrette.  SO GOOD!!!

cup of vegetable chili on the side, although I swear I tasted meat.

I tried to eat extra healthy today since I am on my way to AC tomorrow for my bachelorette party! I have a feeling I'll be anxious to get in the gym when Monday rolls around hahah. Can't wait to see all my friends that live so far away! 2.5 months and counting until the big day!

Close Your Legs Woman!

My favorite part of the weekend is sleeping in and having time to enjoy my breakfast in the morning.

Apple Cinnamon Chobani Overnight Oats and Half Caf Coffee

After breakfast, I went up to Wilmington with the MOH to get her and my sister's bridesmaid dresses  (I haven't tried my sister's on yet, but it will happen).  Then Matt and I took Champ to White Clay for a hike since it's 60 degrees out...global warming like wooo.

Along the trail they had fitness stations that Matt and I stopped at to give a go.  Matt took some pictures of me attempting to to a pull up at two stations....there's a similarity between the two pictures.  See if you can pick it out.

One

Two

OMG CLOSE YOUR LEGS hahah.  I'm glad I never attempt these at the gym.  I think I need to work on my form ie keep my legs closed.

Matt schooled me...legs crossed and everything.

Another thing we discovered, Champ loves sticking his head out the window.

When I got home I did this workout from GOtheXtraMile.  I went through the circuit twice and finished up with some ab work for a 30 minute workout.

dead sexy