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The Living Room Workout
So apparently I have an accent :P Haha. Thank you so much for all the comments on my blogaversary and video post! Don’t forget to head over there if you want to win some free Vega bars and read all about the exciting trip Holly and I are taking, which you’re invited to!!!
After three full days off from working out, I got back to it today. Would you believe I still had lingering glute and leg soreness from my lower-body workout on Friday? Crazy. I decided to maximize on my sleep and keep the workout to my living room this morning.
I started with 20 minutes of intervals on the bike trainer, alternating between sitting sprints and standing sprints. Then I popped in Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred for the 20-minute Level 2 workout. Then I hopped back on the bike for 10 more minutes of sprint intervals.
This was my first time trying Level 2 on the DVD, and it was much harder! I was only using 5 lb weights and I was going to failure on everything but the bicep moves. And the lunges killed me. But they always do.
Brie asked me to explain my bike trainer setup. A wonderful question, as it’s a pretty sweet setup ;)
First, meet Scottie. My beloved road bike. Hi Scottie!
You’ll notice his front wheel is being held in place…
It’s just a little plastic thingy to keep it stationary, nothing fancy.
The back wheel is where the work is done.
The wheel fits onto a stand, which is screwed in where you would normally remove the back wheel.
The stand makes sure the bike is sturdy, and holds it up off the ground the wheel can spin freely. But a free-spinning wheel does not make for a very challenging bike ride. You need resistance!
At the bottom of the stand, is a small roller. Here, you can see there’s a teeny space between the tire and roller. But when I go to use it, I turn that little knob on the left and it pushes the roller up to press against the wheel. This creates some resistance while allowing the wheel to still spin.
There’s also a little tube that runs from the roller to a knob that attaches to the handlebars. Clicking the knob forward adjusts the roller, and creates greater resistance.
I can also use my gears to change the resistance too. Today I switched between the lowest and highest gear on my largest chain ring for the sprints, and it was perfect!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, you get really sweaty on a trainer! My basement apartment does not have the fancy air system of a gym. Thus, a fan and towel are required. You can also buy specialized mats to place them on as well.
Finally, I wear all my usual bike gear on it minus the helmet and glasses ;) My butt doesn’t get quite the beating without the bumps, but my cycling shorts are still required for the seat. I still have my clipless pedals in, so my shoes are attached to them. I think it may actually help my awful dismounting technique come spring!
The best thing about it is that I get to watch whatever I want on TV. Today was my usual morning news program – CBC New Brunswick First :)
Oh, and there are tons of different kinds of bike trainers. Mine is pretty basic, but you can get ones that measure your distance and even watt output. There are also bike rollers.
But they look like a death trap :P
After my tough and sweaty living room workout, I made a wonderful breakfast!
Smoked salmon, fried egg, laughing cow cheese on an english muffin with black grapes on the side (my favourite colour grape).
Another good day at work today! I spent it mostly in meetings and didn’t get any real work done. But I did get a much better sense of what I’ll be doing over the next couple months. I think I’m really going to enjoy working on some of the projects! I’m especially excited to be involved in some video projects. It will be a lot more fun getting interviews and footage without the stress of being a reporter :)
Dinner was one of my fave ways to shake up leftovers – on a salad!
Two of my mini turkey meatloaves heated and crumbled on a big ole’ bowl containing:
- romaine
- spinach
- red onion
- green pepper
- mushrooms
- tomato
- olives
- pickles
- toasted walnuts
- sundried tomato dressing whisked with mustard
Yup. It was gooooood. I find it strangely comforting to dive into a giant salad bowl.
I don’t usually have bars for my evening snacks because I’m at home at can make something better. But I was really craving a dessert-like treat tonight, particularly this Larabar!
The Peanut Butter & Jelly Larabar Chandra sent me as part of my Blogger Secret Santa gift. I cut it up into little pieces like a crazy person.
Bite sized!! This was my second time trying this flavour and I still really enjoy it. Definitely one of my favourite Larabar flavours now :)
Going to try something a little different tomorrow and go straight from the gym to the office in the morning. Usually I come back home to shower and eat. But showering at the gym and eating breakfast at work will allow me more time to sleep! Always a good thing ;) I’m just not sure what I’m going to do with my wet towel and stinky clothes :\
Question of the Day: Do you work out at home? What do you do? This is the first time I’ve had a piece of cardio equipment to use, and it’s pretty suh-weet. I went through a period when I scoffed at exercise DVDs, but I’m starting to embrace them again. Some day I’d like to get dumbbells!
Too Many Awesome Things To Give This Post A Title!!!
Why hello there! Hope everyone got a great start to their weeks! My Monday actually went pretty well, all things considered. Had a good day at work, which will hopefully turn into a good week! However, spin class did not happen today, I showed up and the class was full! So I’m doing my own spin class in my living room tomorrow out of spite. It’s going to be a million times better. And fret not Brie, I’ll explain the trainer!
Aaaanyways! I have a bunch of exciting stuff to get to so I’ll keep the yummy food pictures to a minimum. First up: waffles!!!
Who says waffles are just for Wednesdays? :P The usual ingredients were blended for the batter:
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup egg whites
- cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Torn up and eaten with my hands like a barbarian. Dipped in my favourite concoction – almond butter whisked with sugar-free maple syrup. Yes, sometimes, I eat sucrose.
Dinner was eaten in two courses! Started with a salad…
- romaine lettuce
- mushrooms
- tomato
- red onion
- green pepper
- olives
- pickles
- balsamic vinaigrette
The main course: leftover roasted zucchini, carrots + parsnip and mini turkey meatloaf!
I actually intended to make a proper loaf-sized meatloaf, but I apparently don’t own a loaf pan. The downfall of relying on roommates for kitchen supplies then moving out on your own. I found a decent recipe here which I basically followed.
Ingredients
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats (Quaker oats)
1/3 cup milk (2% but other can be used)water3/4 pound ground turkey1 pound ground turkey1/4 pound ground beef (the leaner the better)1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup diced1/4 cup minced1/2 cup shredded/chopped onions
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tablespoonDijonMustard
2 teaspoonsItalian Seasoningoregano + parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1teaspoonclove minced garlic1/2 teaspoon salt1/3cup Heinz Ketchup1/4 cup reduced-sugar ketchupDirections
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Lightly mist a regular-size muffin pan with olive oil spray. Set aside.
In a medium or large mixing bowl, combine the oats and the milk and let stand for 3 minutes (or until the oats are slightly softened). Add the turkey and beef, carrots, onions, egg whites, mustard, Italian seasoning, Worcstershire sauce, garlic and salt. With clean hands or a fork, mix well. Scoop the mixture into the muffin pan, making level with the top of the pan. Spread the ketchup over the top. Should make exactly 9 muffins.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the center registers 180 degrees (I usually put back in for 5 minute increments until it reaches 180 degrees, which brings the total cook time to 40 minutes).
Number of Servings: 9
My only complaint is they were a little mushy which is entirely my fault. I shredded way too much carrot and onion because I’m a shredding machine. My stats on them are similar though – 128 calories, 5g fat, 152mg sodium, 7g carbs, 1g sugar, 1g fibre, 14g protein for each one. Wouldn’t make for a bad grab-n-go snack!
Okayokayokay. MY NEWS!!!! Click to play please! Turn your volume up :) (also, why does You Tube always pick the worst screen shot of my face?)
Sooo, if you missed it, not only is it my one year blogaversary, but I’m giving away a package containing each of the three Vega Vibrancy flavours!!
In order to make it fair to bloggers and non-bloggers alike, I’m going to keep it simple. Just leave a comment on this post and I’ll pick a random winner on Friday, January 15. Pretty easy, eh?
My other big news is that my favourite Everythingtarian, Holly, and I are taking a bloggie vacation – and you’re invited!!
We’re planning a trip to Banff, Alberta, Canada in June. We’ll be eating, hiking, biking, and adventuring our way through one of this continent’s most beautiful areas.
Photo courtesy my mom, who says Banff is one of her favourite places on earth :D
If you’re interested in joining in on the fun, or at least part of the fun, e-mail myself at thegreatbalancing@gmail.com or Holly at healthyeverythingtarian@gmail.com. It’s going to be mind-blowingly awesome. I am SO excited!!!
Okay, that’s enough excitement for me, I’m about ready to bust :P On a sappier note, I just want to reiterate how much fun this past year of blogging has been for me. I started it as a way to track my progress to a fitness goal, and enriched my life in ways I never thought possible in the process. Most of all, I’ve met amazing people. Thanks for stopping by my little piece of the interwebs (almost) everyday. Blogging is often one of my favourite parts of the day, and I’m one helluva lucky gal to get to do it :D
Question of the Day: Well?? Do you want free stuff or not!?
Job-a-holic
TGIF!! Well, TGIAF. You see, I can legitimately say that now. I work a Mon-Fri job ;) For anyone who may be new, I used to work every Sat & Sun from 5am-1pm. It was lame.
In other (bad) news, my personal training classes next weekend got cancelled. Insert GIANT sad face here :(
In some ways, I think it’s just life’s way of straightening things out for me. Which is kinda weird, and starting to freak me out a little! I was scheduled to do a three-day course next weekend, then write my exam Feb 7. My original plan was to work at Starbucks till I got word I passed my exam and found work in a gym.
Then, I got offered this new job working communications at my old university until April 30. The next possible PT course runs for two weekends at the end of March, with the exam written on April 16. This is actually a better timeline for me! Again, I’m bummed to have to put it off, but weirded out that things are being all “serendipitous” again.
I’ll say it again – life works in mysterious ways!
Today is my “day off” from working out. Getting up at 6:30 opposed to 5:30 felt like such a treat! It called for a treat of a breakfast…
Custard oats in jar. Topped with candy marshmallow fluff and M&Ms.
The best thing about OIAJ is that you get peanut butter in every bite. I always find myself scraping around the edges for maximum nut butter coating.
I remember April saying she weighed one of her nut butter jars before and after putting oats in it – and discovered there was three tablespoons worth of nut butter in there! Truth is, I suck at saving any at the bottom, so my jars are already pretty bare by the time I get to them.
Work was busybusy today!! I’m realizing it’s going to take up a lot of my time…I ended up bringing my laptop home tonight so I can tie up all the loose ends leftover from today. On the bright side, I’m really starting to warm up to my coworkers – good crowd!
I’ve been craving a giant salad for a couple days now, so I finally gave in tonight! (no worries, the chocolate cravings are still existent too).
- LOTS of spinach
- red onion
- mushrooms
- green pepper
- tomato
- olives
- boiled egg
- grilled turkey breast (seasoned in the Kirkland no-salt stuff)
- balsamic vinaigrette
So simple, SO good. Hit the spot.
I came home to yet another bloggie gift today!! I flipped out when I opened it.
Some of Deb’s famous nut butters!!! EEEEeee!!! Thank you so much Deb!! Definitely worth the wait ;)
The nut butters include roasted sunflower seed butter (sunflower seeds), spiced hole mole (peanuts, dark cocoa powder, instant coffee, chipotle powder) and spice nutella aka The OMG OMG OMG (roasted hazelnuts, dark cocoa powder, stevia, cinnamon, cardamom).
I’ve stuck my finger in all of them and they are uh-mazing. I see some wasas with hole mole on it as my nighttime snack ;)
So remember back in the day (ahem, November) when I was all worried about how working at Starbucks would affect my usual eating and workout routine? Well, now I’m getting the same way about working my first office job! It’s like I’ve gone from one extreme to another. Running around at the Bucks all day, to sitting on my bum writing all day. At least when I worked at the radio station, it was a good mix of the two.
I can say that I feel really good about my eats this week. My working hours are conducive to a good eating schedule for me. My office has no temptations (minus that chocolate covered cherry I ate today) and I always pack nutritious meals and snacks.
But I’m tired. Getting up so early to workout this week has been more of a challenge than usual. Doing it after work is not much of an option for me. Especially if I have to stay late at work, bring work home, or just lead some sort of a normal existence.
Anyways, like all things, it will take getting used to. This is only my first week! I’ll get settled into my new routine. But gosh, this is technically my third job in just over a month. I’m starting to feel it!!
Question of the Day: Are you a creature of habit? Or are you a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of person? I’m actually more of the latter. I like not having a structured plan for myself. I purposely drive different routes every day, change the order I do things in the morning, etc. But at the same time, I do crave some form of stability!
