Where's the Beach?

Mid-Day Monday Workout  Ok, so the time change thing really sort of sucks. It was pitch black this morning when Jason's alarm went off at 5 am, at which time I promptly rolled over and dozed back off. It was STILL pitch black as I walked the 3 blocks to my office at 7 am. I know that I'll appreciate the additional sunshine tonight (especially since it is indeed sunny today), but the morning are really going to stink. Since I didn't get up and do my workout this morning, I decided to do it during my lunch break. I went home and did Cathe's Shock Cardio Athletic Step and then an ab workout. It was nice to get the added boost of energy from a mid-day workout at least. How is everyone else handling the time change? Salsa Kind of Dinner We bought a pineapple the other day so I decided to make a dish I haven't made in ages. It sort of reminds me of spring, probably the salsa aspect. Quorn Cutlets with Pineapple Salsa with Colorful Black Beans and Barley with Tomatoe...

Sunday Leg Day Well with the time change, I woke up already behind for the day. Isn't that a daunting feeling. While I really didn't feel much up to it, I did manage to do my leg workout and then an easy run with Jason and the pups. This was their 2nd true run with us so it was still a little (or lot) herky jerky with lots of sudden stops and de-tangling. Legs were from Cathe's Pyramid Lower Body (sans DVD). It was the same workout I did last Sunday. 12, 10, 8, 10, 12 increasing then decreasing the weight with as little rest in between each rep. Step Ups Static Lunges Squats into Plie Squats Deadlifts Calf Raises(3 sets of 25 reps) Needless to say, the run wasn't going to be a fast or easy one even if we hadn't taken the dogs along with us. My legs were feeling a little heavy and wobbly. Sunless Sunday Today was supposed to have been sunny. Surprise, mostly cloudy. It was at least 5 degrees warmer than yesterday. We had to go to the grocery store after working o...

Did Someone Say Pyramid?  Sort of feels weird doing two posts in one day. I hope you all don't mind too much. This morning I got up and did Pyramid Upper Body (changing up the exercises, I'll explain). I started with the warm up from Shock Cardio HIIT Pyramid , hit the weights, and ended up doing the rest of the workout. The plan had been for my sister to come up and go for a run at the river trails. Alas, the weather people were really off (again) and it was cool, windy, and dreary. So, she decided to come up later and just do some shopping cardio. I wanted to do the Pyramid style workout again today, but decided to shake it up a bit (based on a concept I took away from the Total-Body Training Rotation I recently completed). So I kept the same set up of supersets for each muscle group doing reps of 12, 10, 8, 10, 12 and increasing then decreasing the weight. Chest - Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Back - Pullover into Underhand Rows Shoulders - Standing Dumbbell P...

So, now for those product reviews. I really enjoy reading reviews from fellow bloggers. It's nice to hear what other people think about a particular product before buying. It's also really nice to learn about new products that I may never have heard of or tried had someone not taken the time to write about them. So, I thought I would return the favor with a few reviews of my own. Review 1 - Healthy Cookies I'll start off with a sweet treat. I LOVE cookies. It's really sad that they aren't exactly healthy for me though. I did find these tasty treats at Whole Foods. The brand is Back to Nature . I had a coupon for buy one box of cookies and get a box of crackers for free, so why not... I chose the Granola Cookies - Cranberry Pecan . They are 100% whole grain and contain no hydrogenated oils, no high fructose corn syrup, and no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors. I absolutely LOVED these cookies. They aren't too sweet, slightly chewy, and completely delish...

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...

A Day of Rest This morning I woke up around 4:25 and decided to reset my alarm clock. So no morning workout for me. After being sick last week, my typical workout schedule got a little off track. I realized that yesterday's workout marked 8 straight days. I usually only workout 6 days straight then take my rest day and start over. While I really would like tomorrow to be my rest day, as is typical, I needed to take today to recover. I'll be up early tomorrow anyway since Jason will be up for swim. It was super sunny out today. Breezy, so not nearly as warm as yesterday. I really started pondering a lunchtime run. If Jason would have agreed to one, then I would have gone. I just keep telling myself it's for the best. I do plan on running Saturday anyway. This sudden warm weather and sunshine is giving spring fever in a major way. I'm almost depressed when I can't be outside, I mean seriously down in the dumps, no energy blues. But once I step outside, back to norma...

Pyramid Workouts Today I managed to get myself out of bed for another morning workout. It was easier since Jason was already getting up at 5 am for swim. Today's workout was kind of tough though. I started with the warm up from Shock Cardio HiiT Pyramid , did Pyramid Upper/Lower (sans DVD), and finished with the HIIT. Since the Pyramid Upper/Lower workout was pyramid up only (12, 10, 8), I went up with my starting weight. This was a very good decision for me as I pushed myself to near failure for most exercises. The premise of the pyramid up is that you start with the lightest weight for 12 reps, increase weight for 10 reps, heaviest weight for 8 reps. Here are the exercises I did. Lower body only had one superset, upper was all supersets with one tri-set. Quads - Squats into Plie Squats Quads - Leg Press Chest - Chest Flye into Chest Press Back - Dumbbell Pullover into Double-Arm Rows Quads - Leg Press (again) Quads - Static Lunges Shoulders - Rear Delt Fly into Lateral Raise i...