Where's the Beach?

Working out After Sleepless Night  Ugh, last night I slept terribly for multiple reasons. I woke up around 12-ish and didn't fall asleep again until close to 3, then up at 4:50. I seriously have to find a new pillow this weekend. I keep trying to find one around the house that will work, but I'm spending my nights fighting with the stupid pillows and being uncomfortable. Also, dear sweet Madeline decide to eat her bed in her kennel. That dog will eat anything - no lie. So for whatever reason last night, she decided to treat the bed as a giant stuffy chew toy. And of course I could hear this commotion. GRRRRR. Anyway, I did reset the alarm, but since I wasn't sleeping, I just when ahead and got up to get my workout done. I started off with Cathe Friedrich's Cardio Fusion . I only did about 30 minutes of it before moving on to weights and abs. I know I've said it a million times, so before I get called out - yes, I recommend doing weights before cardio. However, ...

Step & Shoulders This morning I was determined to get in my workout to beat the heat. My legs are most definitely talking to me after the Part 1 and Part 2 leg workouts. Yikes. Oh, speaking of Part 2, I forgot to include a set of narrow-stance squats (3x10). Anyway, it's been at least three weeks since I've done a step workout. So this morning I decided to go for Cathe Friedrich's Cardio Fusion . Jason was getting up and getting ready at the same time to go for a bike ride with a friend, so I ended up getting started later than I had hoped. That meant I was only about to do about 45 minutes and didn't get my ab work in. I will readily admit that step aerobics with sore legs is probably not the smartest idea. But, I thought I could crank that out over a run in the humidity. It was a toss up really. Never fear though, I got it done after work along with shoulders. I was really wanting to lift today. I had planned on splitting out upper body into biceps/triceps/...

Cardio Woes This was one of those mornings when I felt like I could have easily slept another two hours. Maybe it's because most of the week I've been waking up at 5 am and not being able to go back to sleep. I am really starting to miss being able to run at lunch. I love summer, and I don't mind it being hot. But, it's just too hot to run at noon now. So I'm starting to feel like I'm flailing with cardio. I can only do so much kickboxing (I only have 3 kickboxing and 1 boxing DVD). Step aggravates my plantar fasciitis problem, so I've been trying to avoid step now. I love doing boot camp/HIIT/interval style workouts, but those are typically short. So what's a girl to do on a cardio-only day? Oh, that was a real question by the way. I have no answer. I don't have any cardio equipment at home. I have gotten to where I simply dread the mere thought of running on the treadmills at the gym. I will say that when we were on vacation and I ran at the co...

Cardio Tuesday Wow, Monday's are a piece of cake compared to coming back to work after an amazing 3-day weekend. I think we should have been allowed to just work a half day to sort ease back into things. Anyone else agree? Needless to day, there was most definitely no morning workout. It was about 90 degrees by 11:15, so no lunchtime run either. I ended up doing part of of Cathe's Cardio Fusion though. I wasn't super excited about a step workout, so I compromised with this one as it includes a variety of step workouts, "blasts," and boot camp style exercises. I was only able to do about 45 minutes of it though as I had to get back to work. It was hard making myself stop, because I was actually having a lot of fun and time was flying by. More Creamy Tofu I was really indecisive about dinner. I feel a bit scattered to be honest. We leave Saturday morning for the beach, and I feel like I have so much to do to get ready: running errands, packing, cleaning, using up...

Tough Start Last night I wasn't sure I was ever going to fall asleep. The last I looked at the clock it was 11:15. The next time it read 4:15 am. So I did at least get 5 straight hours. I had set my alarm for 5:15 to get in my workout so there I was tossing ideas around. Try to pretend to sleep for 1 more hour or reset alarm and forgo workout for possibly an hour and a half. It took about 40 mins before I gave up and got out of bed. I'm not really sure how I managed it, but I did Cathe's Cardio Fusion . That's a toughie, especially when low on sleep. It did energize me though by the end. I'll admit to a very rough start. In the end, I was glad to have gotten it done. The weather has totally turned around from the rain and 40 degree temps on Sunday. It was sunny and low 70's. So nice. Really made me wish that I had been able to run at lunch and enjoy outdoor exercise. However, I knew I wouldn't be able to run with Jason at lunch. The workday was a short on...

Fusion Friday - Cardio Fusion That Is I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get up at 5 am when Jason got up for swim. I slept terribly last night, so getting out of bed for my workout was definitely not an easy task (not that it's ever super easy, but you understand). I chose Cardio Fusion and only did 50 minutes then added on abs. All I can say is that I was most thankful that today was indeed Friday. The sun was out today, but much cooler, barely hitting 60 degrees. So, here we go with the temperature roller coaster ride. Again, at least it was finally Friday. Klutzy Thursday - Death of a Laptop I had planned on posting some product reviews for today, since I typically eat later on Fridays and post dinner on Saturday. However, Klutzy Heather struck last night. We don't know the full extent of the damage to the laptop yet. Trying to let it dry out (story in a moment). Our other computer is so old and out of disc space that it is absolutely painful to try to do an...

Fabulous Friday I managed to get up and get my workout in again this morning. It was easier because Jason had an alarm set for 5 am to go to swim. Not much point in trying to go back to sleep for an hour when it takes me 30 minutes just to drift off most of the time. So I chose Cardio Fusion . I like this workout because it is a compilation of 3 other workouts so you don't get bored. Just when you think you might, you're on to something else like football runs. I also got in a second cardio today when we had a fire drill. I'm on the 10th floor by the way. It took 10 minutes to get out of the building. We only have 5 elevators, so taking the stairs is actually must faster. Makes me very very glad to be in shape! It felt like such a great day, even if I worked 9 hours. I think it was the sunshine and warmer temps. Everyone seemed to be in better spirits. I plan to carry this energy over into the weekend. Tomorrow I plan on getting in a run outside. It's supposed to be s...

Sleeping in on Sunday Today I allowed myself to sleep in until 9:15! I usually feel really guilty when I sleep in past 8 am, but this past week was a long, sleepless one for me. I really needed the extra zzzz's. I opted for Cathe's Cardio Fusion today then a stability ball abs workout.  Sunday in the Kitchen Today we had to run a few errands, the ones we put off yesterday. I knew we should have finished them yesterday as it rained today. I guess we got what we deserved! After the errands, I spent much of the afternoon in the kitchen making a huge culinary mess. I baked Ciabatta bread, made some Eggplant Patties (with a few tweaks), and tried a new recipe for Black Bean Beet Burgers . This recipe is apparently based on some apparently amazing veggie burgers found at Northstar Cafe in Columbus, Ohio. I had originally read about them from The Healthy Hostess who also tried out the recipe recently. I actually made quite a few adjustments to the recipe. For the original, please...

Yawn - Morning Workout  This morning the streets were still slick in spots from the packed snow and ice. My car took forever to de-ice and thaw out. I decided to work 8-4 in hopes that the sun would come out and help with the de-icing of the car. Lucky for me, it's cloudy. But, at least it wasn't pitch dark when I attempted to get the old buggy going. Just cold! We definitely need some major doses of sunshine to get all this snow and ice off the sidewalks and streets. I think walking in to the office is the most dangerous part now. I took the opportunity to get in my cardio and abs workouts done this morning. I chose Cardio Fusion and abs from Cardio and Weights . Nice sweaty workout to get my energized for the day ahead. I'm sort of getting used to going in a bit later. Not sure how well I'll be functioning at regular time tomorrow. May end up not doing a morning workout!  We'll see how it goes. I do need a spotter for chest work, so if I do that early, then Jason ...

Thursday = Third Morning Workout So I managed to get myself up for a third morning in a row to get my workout done. It was a cardio only day. I opted for Cardio Fusion . The last time I did this workout, it felt like a disaster. I struggled to keep my heart rate up. It was just painful. This time, however, I tried to focus on the moment. I stopped myself from thinking ahead to the rest of the day. I don't know if my focus was the cause, but it was a great workout. My hear rate was back up where it typically is for that workout. Time flew by too. No clock watching, not heart rate monitor checking, not thinking about how I needed to get done so I could start getting ready for work, etc. I had planned on abs as well, but was starting to run short on time (the only downfall of morning workouts is that I do have some place to be). Saturday I have plans of going to the track. It's an hour away, and I'll be meeting up with my mom for lunch before hand. So, I may end up having to ...

Today ended up being a long one for me. It was a cold walk in again, but at least the wind didn't immediately undo my hairstyle. When I got to the office and saw my calendar for the day, I realized I pretty much had back-to-back meetings from 9 am until 2 pm. I opted to just stay through lunch and leave early (not really early as I put in my 8 of course). Crappy Cardio Day I was kind of excited about leaving at 3 and getting my workout done earlier. I thought I could put in a good cardio, some abs, then have time to experiment in the kitchen. Got a couple of ideas brewing that kept me up last night. Well, got home and started my workout - Cardio Fusion . It's usually a high calorie burner for me. I don't know what the deal was today though. I could not get my heart rate up and it'd drop the second I wasn't pushing all out. It was very frustrating. I've done that workout enough to know what my heart rate typically is throughout the workout. I was easily 5 and ...