Weekly Meal & Fitness Plans: Back on Track

Oh Monday, how you always sneak up so quickly. It was so nice to have the last 5 days off of work and to be home with the families. But coming back to a full 5 days of work is sometimes a struggle. What's keeping me going? It's getting closer and closer to the wedding and I can't wait!

Last Week Recap

Last week I did really good with my fitness regimen. I got work outs in Sunday - Friday, running two races and completing all the strength days in Best Body Bootcamp. I took Saturday and Sunday off because my body needed it. My legs were extremely sore from running two races at a pace of under 8 min/miles.

I did not however do as good as I thought I would with eating 7-9 servings of veggies a day. Monday-Weds, I did great. But the rest of the week I really struggled to fit them into my meals when I didn't have as many options or have my meals planned out. It's not an excuse, but it was eye opening to see how I need to do better when traveling... even if it's just to my parent's house.

I am really loving the HBBC for keeping me accountable but also challenging me to set new goals and stick with them. I am looking forward to doing even better this week.

It's a New Week

When we got home I planned out our meals for this week and made sure it included lots of veggies.

• Monday: Chicken Sausage, peppers, onions and spinach "stir fry"
• Tuesday: Crock pot shredded chicken fajita bowl. Tortilla for the FH.
• Wednesday: Fish (TBD) + Asparagus 
• Thursday: Asian Stir Fry
• Friday: Wing It
• Saturday: Wing It

I also took some time (2 hours to be exact) to prep for my breakfasts and lunches this week:

Oven roasted chicken for salads

Salads (4)

Steamed broccoli for salads

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

Quinoa for dinner sides

Chopped pepper, celery, carrots for afternoon snack w/hummus

I also plan to add spinach to my post workout smoothies and eat a pear for my lunch "dessert"

Workouts for the week are courtesy of Week 6's Best Body Bootcamp. Only 2 more weeks to go :( I don't want it to end!

I think I'm ready to get back on track :)

Stuffed

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Each year always seems to be better than the last!

The FH and I headed back to our home town in Central Mass on Wednesday night. It seemed like everyone ended up heading home on Tuesday night, because traffic was non existent... fine by me! We ended up meeting up with a couple friends for bowling before calling it a night.

Thanksgiving Day
Thursday morning I woke up bright and early for my 5 mile road race. It was a little chilly at first, but the weather ended up being perfect for running and I even enjoyed the course despite having been very familiar with it.

My first mile was slower for me and once my legs warmed up I started picking up the pace a bit. I was planning to stay around the pace I held for my half marathon, but I somehow ended up running a lot faster like my 5K on Sunday. My RunKeeper stats were slightly different (what gives?) but official race  times ended up being 40:23. Overall I placed in the 31.2% coming in at 246/789 people and for my age group placed 18/85 in the 21.2%.

I'm pretty excited and proud of both my race times this week. I probably won't be running much more outside until spring, so I am happy to end my 2012 race season on a high note. :)

After the race I met up with an old friend for some celebratory (and well deserved) drinks at a local bar before heading home to finish up my Thanksgiving dishes and head to my aunts. It was a great day and even though I felt like I didn't pile on the food this year, I was still stuffed by the end of it all. We ended the night back at my parents house where we watched the Pats game before calling it a night.

Friday
After waking up today, my mom and I took Peanut on a nice 2 mile walk. It was just what I needed to get my legs moving, as they are definitely sore from the two races this week.

Earlier in the week I had planned to head to a local gym to complete workout C of BBB, but I know my legs need rest and a date with the foam roller. So I created my own little circuit and used some weights and a bench my dad has in the basement.

The circuit was adapted from arm exercises from BBB. I performed the weights in a ladder circuit  with a short burst of cardio in between each exercise. It looked like this

Arnold Shoulder Press

30 seconds Mountain Climbers

Chest Press

30 seconds Jumping Jacks

Plank Rows

30 seconds Mountain Climbers

Lat Shoulder Raises

30 seconds Jumping Jacks

Tricep Dips

30 seconds Mountain Climbers

Underhand Rows

30 seconds Jumping Jacks

Bicep Curls

30 seconds Mountain Climbers

The circuit took about 30 minutes and was exactly what I needed for the day! 

Another walk might be in order for tomorrow, but otherwise I will be resting as my legs really need it before I can tackle all the burpees in next week's workouts :)

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

Anyone score any good Black Friday deals? I don't brave the stores but I do make sure to check online :)

Just Checking In

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! Going to make this post short and sweet since I know a lot of people are probably trying to wrap up their work and get out of work for the extra long weekend. I know I am, but wanted to check in!

So far, this week has been incredibly motivating. The HBBC and BBB communities that I am a part of are so motivating. You already know I am a fan of the Best Body Bootcamp, but Holiday Bootie Buster challenge is proving to be pretty awesome too.

Workouts
So far this week's workouts have been going pretty good! I'm still feeling the DOMS from Sunday's 5K, so my legs have been really feeling the burpees and leg work in this week's BBB. I completed workout A on Monday and B today. Today I kept count of the burpees I did in between each round, and completed 130 burpees! I can't say they were the most glamorous (are burpees ever glamorous? probably not), but I pushed through each 60 second set and don't regret it now!

Last night I had every intention of going to a spin class at my favorite spin and yoga studio, Sweat & Soul Yoga. But traffic was so bad (early Thanksgiving commuters?) and by the time I got to the studio it was 7pm and there were no parking spots in sight.

I was pretty frustrated and knew that the FH wouldn't appreciate my bad attitude if I showed up at home, so I headed to the gym since I had the printouts from BBB with me and completed some hard intervals on the elliptical  followed by some ab exercise.

It looked a little bit like this:

• Warm up: 5 minutes at 8
• Increase resistance by 3 and hold for 5 minutes 
• Decrease resistance by 2 and hold for 2 minutes
• Repeat 3x

I couldn't even flip the pages of a magazine or read twitter because I was afraid if I let go of the handles, I wouldn't be able to start up again.

Working out last night after work really solidified for me why I like working out in the morning so much and why it's worth it to roll out of bed at 5:45am. There aren't things like traffic and a hungry stomach in my way.

Food
I've been really loving all the healthy Thanksgiving ideas this week, and was inspired to contribute to my Aunt's Thanksgiving menu with some healthy options:

• Sarah Fit's Ultimate Pumpkin Pie
• Healthier Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes - I'll be interested to see if anyone notices the difference!

Here are some great lists that I used for ideas this week:

• Iowa Girl Eats 30+ Thanksgiving Recipes
• Fitensissta Thanksgiving Recipe Round-Up
• Skinnytaste Thanksgiving Recipes

And a no-excuses workout that will take you a couple minutes in between prepping the food:

• Thanksgiving Week Workout - love this workout from Eating Bird Food. Exercise moves to get your heart rate up but a little strength as well! I might do this on Friday as my Cardio blasts as part of BBB's workout C.

Also, something food related I have been loving? Salads with hummus as my dressing. So much flavor! I can't get enough!

Alright, that was longer than you probably wanted! Off to finish some work and hopefully head out early for the long weekend! Tomorrow I have a 5 mile race on deck and then some cooking to do before relaxing and enjoying the day with family!

Have a great day!

Running for Rewards

TGIF! I'm off today and I'm loving it! I have become a big fan of days off with little planned. I love how I can take my time getting up, going for a run, making breakfast and getting ready for the day. I wish "corporate America" meant having 3 day weekends and 4 day work weeks. I think I would feel more balanced.

Anyways! I got up this morning and made quick and easy breakfast of plain Greek Yogurt, small handful of granola and a banana. I putzed around for about 45 minutes before getting ready, stretching, and heading out on my run.

My legs have been feeling pretty heavy while running this week. I keep thinking my miles are a lot slower, but they aren't. I have been feeling really good when I stop running. I definitely think I have built up my endurance a lot as I don't feel like I am dying huffing and puffing and out of breath.

I actually only had one thing on my mind after my run today. And that was an iced latte from a local coffee shop in the center of town. I strategically planned my run to end a block before the shop and made sure to stash my debit card in my zipper pocket of my shorts.

Peanut's reward for not wrecking havoc while I was gone (sometimes she acts out for being left behind)? A walk, obvi.

She loves them.

When we got home I finished up with some pushups and planks. By then I was ready for breakfast #2, Egg, cheese, and avocado on a sandwich thin.

Followed by some foam rolling...with Peanut nearby, of course.

Does anyone else have problems with doing at home exercises or moves because their dogs want in too? It's very hard to do pushups, planks, and foam rolling around here without Peanut thinking it means I want to play. Think she likes attention much?

I'm inhaling eating some lunch and then heading out the door for some errands. Tomorrow I am attending the Healthy Living Summit which is taking place in Boston this year. I'm hoping to learn a lot and also meet some great people. Unfortunately I won't be able to participate in all the activities set up because it's also a birthday weekend for my future brother-in-law and one of my best friends. I guess that's the only downside to attending a Summit that is in your own town, you try to fit your personal life in too! I'll be sure to update more tomorrow!

Have a great Friday!

What I Ate Food & Fitness Wednesday

I've seen What I Ate Wednesday around decided I wanted to join in on the fun. I thought it might be interesting to show you what I eat throughout the day. For the past two months or so, I've been going to the gym in the morning and then eating every 2-3 hours throughout the day to make sure I don't do a face plant and fall asleep on my keyboard.

Here we go!






First, fitness! I got up at the sleepy hour of 5:45am and went to the gym. There was a new morning class added that I wanted to try... 30 minutes of Tabata! What's Tabata? Well it was actually my first time doing it, but I had seen it over on the Fitenissta in the Summer Shape Up Series. The Tabata days didn't fit into my routine, so I didn't end up doing them. Anyways, Tabata is a form of high intesitivy interval training. Any exercise can be incorporated into the training, but it follows this basic format:

• 4 minutes long
• 20 seconds of intense training (pushups, burpees, jumping jacks, squats, etc.)
• 10 seconds of rest
• Total of 8 rounds

We ended up doing a bunch of rounds. Two different 4 minute ones, Two 2 minute ones, and a couple more 1 minute ones. We had two minute rests between each round. It was not easy, but it felt great after. It's also a good sign when the whole class was telling the instructor how much they liked it.

I also did some shoulder work outs before the class started. 7 month wedding countdown!

Speaking of wedding countdown, I also got my wedding shoes in tonight! And I can't contain my excitement.

Anyways, time for the food!

Breakfast: Coffee & Protein Pancakes with fresh berries

Do you like my coffee mug? My parents used to take these out when guests visited. When the fiance and I moved in together, they passed them down to us. Now they are my favorite mugs to give guests when they stay with us. I love their reactions :).

Morning Snack: Honey Greek Yogurt & Fresh Berries

Lunch: A Quinoa and Grilled Veggie Salad I forgot to take a picture of & Watermelon

Afternoon Snack: Apple & String Cheese

Dinner: Chicken Sausage Italian Stir Fry

I love this dish, it's so quick and easy! I cut up 1 onion and 1 pepper (I had yellow on hand) and placed it in the pan with some EVOO. Once softened I added in the broccoli and covered the pan with a lid. I stirred it a couple times in-between washing some dishes. Once the broccoli was cooked I added in some chopped Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe's. Then I stirred in a can of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes & Green Chili's until it was warmed through and started to boil. I let it simmer for a couple minutes. I typically serve it with some roasted sweet potatoes (and regular for the man), but tonight I put it over some brown rice and sprinkled some Parm Cheese on top. Delish!

Dessert: Consisted of a couple pieces of Mamba Fruit Chews. Have you ever had these? They taste like Starburst, so good.

So that covers my first WIAW! Hope you enjoyed it!

Xox. Kaylin

PS. You can read more about Tabata Training here!