Hooray it's done

Ah...friday finally. Spin and sculpt this AM. Feeling stellar. Weather is gorgeous. The week is nearly done.
Yup, time for a bit of a holiday. Going to visit my Daddyo at the crack of dawn tomorrow. J can't come so it'll just be me and perhaps my brother and his wife...wish J could come, but I really want to visit my Dad. It's been waaaaaay too long since I've been up to see him. I can stay until monday night since Canada Day makes it a nice long weekend. Could do with some relaxing and reading and fishing. I plan to bring up some veggies and my running shoes and hopefully go for a jog through the woods while I'm up there and may grab my weights for a boot camp on the beach. We shall see. Usually my brother's wife drives me to run so I'm preparing ahead for a smooth visit to push any stress I have out my toes and back to the earth where it belongs. :)




trains

Dropped my friends at the train station this AM so no workout today after a lovely day of visiting with a few beer and a nice meal out (I had baked trout...mmm). Hoping I can fit in a workout at some point today but we'll see. Still mega stiff from yesterday so it reminds me to keep active.
Must run...later taters :)

BUSY

Quick post to log. Spin and sculpt class this AM. Kicked my butt.
Half day as my friends from the UK are here just for the evening so I have to cram a whole day into a half day so I can take the afternoon off to visit. The weather here has been crapola so hopefully it stops raining enough for us to be able to get out  and do things.
Must be off...later taters.

Hat's off

 I stayed up late just to finish my hat (few pics over on my much neglected non-fitness blog...).
Hee hee. It even fits. I was worried it wouldn't...could do with being a bit bigger but it fits so I'm happy. I like it.

Spent the evening drying to dry out J's soggy camping gear and get things sorted from his trip. Most of it is dealt with and the rest is drying on the deck (please don't rain please don't rain). Finished the day packed up ready for another day.

Today was spin class with the instructor I love, Jocelyn. It was a hard solid workout but still fun and afterwards I had 14 minutes free...so I tried to do today's Day 6 insanity workout from DailyHiit. I couldn't do 3 rounds due to lack of time but it was an ab workout so I could do it after spin. It was a tough one. Instead  of 3 rounds through I just did 40 of each thing and declared it done...my abs are quite perturbed with me at the moment...the workout was:
-situps (with 10Lb medicine ball)
-pike crunches (with 10Lb medicine ball)
-scissor hold crunches (with 10Lb medicine ball)
-reverse drop leg raise/crunches (both legs together) holding ball
-plank with waist twisted and dropped down to the side and back up
-up and down plank (elbows to arms)
-Bike toe touches
-bike toe tap each side + 2 leg crunch

Now I must dash. Insane day...but then aren't they all? :)

Doubling up

My J got home safe late last night after I spent the evening at my brother's visiting and watching a film. Over the weekend I got a lot done - dug up the flower bed and planted my baby raspberry trees, tore apart the remainder of my front deck and cleared all that up and then chopped the wood up into stove lengths and piled it in the yard. Even mowed the grass and helped (OK, watched) dad replace my broken doorknob. It's nice to see the work you've done after and know you've made your home better. Working with my dad is always fun. He likes to be busy and offered to come over to help and it was nice to work together for a bit.
Despite the late night last night I got up this morning to work out. One of the classes was on but I was feeling like more and it was an instructor that annoys me so I decided to get caught up on my DailyHiit workout 7 day insanity workouts. I did 2 together. Yup...insanity. It actually worked out as day 4 was lower body and day 5 was upper, so I made them into one long circuit of 50 seconds on 10 seconds rest with a few 10Lb weights. I did 3 circuits through and then did some inner leg and leg raises and crunches before stretching at the end. I feel wonderful. :)

Workout 4:
High knee box step up L leg
Shot put squat shoulder raise R arm
Shot put squat shoulder raise L arm
High knee box step up R leg
Burpee + tuck jump
Plie squat + side leg raise (alternating) with weight.

Workout5:
Plank on a box with tricep kickback L
Squat + tuck jump + 2 pushups
Plank on a box with chest row L
Chest press + Chest fly + full crunch on the box
Alternating lunge with arms overhead + bicep curl
Plank on a box with chest row R
High standing row (25 Lb bar)
Plank on a box with tricep kickback R


It was hard and sweaty, but I feel all badass now. I couldn't do all the planks and had to put a foot forward sometimes but I tried to do at least half the time in plank. Harder than it looked definitely! My timer needs a new battery and it died half way through but I still kept going using my watch. Not as easy, but it worked in a pinch.
ANYways...Time for a long day. Gotta run. Have a great day!

Cake of Rewarding +2

Yesterday was big brudders birthday- it was a happy 46th to one of the finest men I know. Nice backyard bbq with friends and my Dad. The birthday cake I whipped up ( after a first try where I was distracted visiting with dad and forgot the baking soda...oops) with chocolate mocha icing was nothing short of incredible...a glass of wine and a slice of heaven was the reward I have worked hard for these last few days :). It was seriously one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever made and it happened to be gf and df too. A keeper for sure for the recipe vault. It was deeeeelicious. The recipe is over on my food blog you are interested.

Now if you excuse me I am off to the yard get things done to beat the rain and work off my sugar coma. :)
Have a great sunday!!




Sparkle on

It's official. I am obsessed with sparkly clear nail polish. My "operation not bite my nails" has turned into "OMG SPARKLETIME!!!" Hee hee. In the lab the chemicals we use take the colors off, but clear with polish stays on pretty well and it keeps me from nibbling. And altho the tomboy in me is a bit concerned the rest of my brain is squidgy happy about all the sparkles. When I get stressed out I look at the sparkles...and breathe in and feel better. They can't take my sparkles from me :)

This morning I was in for spin & sculpt class. It was tough seeing as I'd worked out last night, but I worked hard and didn't complain too much and now it's a final long day of work before I get a weekend with my dad and family. If it would stop raining here for more than a few minutes we might get to spend my brother's birthday out in his gorgeous back yard...we shall see.
Tonight I get to make my GF chocolate cake and apple crisp and hang with my dad. Can't wait. I don't get to see him enough. WIth J away I miss him already and it's nice to have other family here to visit and keep me busy while he's gone. I'm really looking forward to the weekend.

Have a fabulous weekend all of you lovely peoples.

Sparkle on :)

Zzzz

Last night I as up late hanging with friends and then helping J pack for his weekend camping away so I am exhausted. I was up until 1:30 so I didn't work out this AM. I will at some point this evening, but sleep was a priority this morning to make sure I can deal with my day.
I must run. It's going to be a crazy day...

Much later...

Ah. I survived the day! Despite a crazy workday I made it home with some sparkly nailpolish and hammered out the first 2 Dailyhiit workouts from the 7 day challenge before supper. I've managed to make the house civil for my dad's arrival and am now sitting sipping tea, listening to Gomez and missing my J who is on his way to Manitoba for a weekend work and play. I'm trying to make the most of my  time and redeem the day and now that I think of it, I do believe the day is done I'm off to sleeptown.

'Night.

Just in case you'd forgotten where your booty is located...

My booty has awoken today to say a loud HELLO! So! Stiff! And guess what we did a bunch of in sculpt class today? Oh yes - more butt and leg work. Bwaha! It was a nice overall workout today and I feel fabulous.

Last night I helped my J prep for his weekend away doing lights at an outdoor festival, getting camping gear and food together. Even got suckered in to making him a batch of cookies to share with our friends while there. And did I give in and cheat and eat all the batter? Hells no I didn't!
Booyah!
In my quest to find a healthy low sugar granola bar snacky sort of cookie though for me I did make a batch of the healthy cookies though, from the recipe on the Daily Hiit site. I added an egg and some dried cranberries and used porridge oats (they have a bit of flax and bran in with the oats) and it made 2 dozen small granola cookie thingys. They're quite tasty, and gf/df and not super sweet like a lot of recipes I've tried. More spongy than crispy. I like them a lot and will try them again with some other nuts so J can have some too (he's not a fan of dried cranberries). My coworkers have agreed to be my guinea pigs for my granola cookie snack attempts and I'll get their feedback on these and tweak them some more. Heh heh. Kitchen science.

But for now...must dash. Busy day afoot...
Have a good one :)

This is a test of your emergency system. Do not be alarmed...

They were testing the fire alarms in the gym this morning (so very loud) so there weren't any classes on. Instead I could shove my headphones in my ears to drown out the noise, crank the psytrance and make up my own workout. I had a solid workout of 2 times through:
-30 good mornings (18 Lb bar)
-25 bent rows (18 Lb bar)
-15 dragon curtsey squats (each side) with 8 Lb
-15 competition burpees
-15 one legged dead lifts (each side) with 12 Lb dumbells
-25 overhead shoulder press (18 Lb bar)
-20 tricep extensions (10 Lb)
-30 deep squats
-20 clean and press (18 Lb bar)
-10 pushup + ski plank abs + pushup + plank lizard abs
-10 reverse leg raises (each side)

Then I finished off with 25 minutes on the elliptical interval program and some stretching. Whew! Had sweat dripping off my nose. Bwaha! I feel good knowing I have gotten in my workout for the day. My booty will thank me later :)
Last night after I ran some errands, I did a bit of weed control in the yard and worked some more on my hat (almost done...hope it fits after all this). I may catch up on life some day...but that day is not today :P

Must dash! Science awaits...

Just chillin

Here we go again!

Monday has arrived. How did that happen already?
The weekend flew by...lots done though. Worked my final shift to pay off my traffic ticket (woot!) and spent a lazy evening with J planning our summer. Sunday we went erranding and got a number of things we've been saving up for - solar panels and some other camping gear and (joy!) a small deep freeze. I've wanted a small deep freeze for ages and we finally got one. I was able to buy from a local business and not a big chain and it was a great deal too. Since it was only $10 more for a 7 cubic foot one, we opted for that over a 5 so we have a little more storage space...and it will be lots for us I think and still be a size we can carry and find space for downstairs. I am glad since it means I can be more proactive with prepping our food and freezing soups and such for lunches and buying 1/4 cows from the local organic farmer/butcher and just actually have freezer space you can put a pizza box in for once. Woo! Add in that a huge fabric sale at the local fabric store and I'm happy.
I even fit in a BBQ and knitting some more on my hat. Oh...and the best breakfast ever: put some pineapple rings in my regular pancakes before flippingto make pineapple upside down pancakes and ...oh. my. word. Didn't even need syrup.
Look at that goodness, eh?
Hooray to all of it!

This morning I prepped healthy meals for us both and came in for a spin and sculpt class with Mimi. She always delivers. I don't know how she does it but I loved it and was dripping sweat by the end...and here I was thinking I'd maybe do my own workout because I wasn't feeling challenged enough lately by the classes. I saw it was Mimi subbing in and got happy. Sweaty happy me FTW :)

Anyways...gotta run. Long busy day ahead.
Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. :)

zzzzz

OOps. Busy day. Forgot to post until now.
I did do a spin and sculpt class this AM with Mel.
AND, for once I'm not tired since I got home made supper and then accidentally crashed on the couch for 2 hours after. J was out with friends so I just made lunches and went to bed again. Boring, but I guess i needed it :)

Anyways, must dash. Just wanted to log to keep myself accountable.
Have a great weekend!

Old school

This morning class was cancelled because of fire alarm testing, so I had my own workout and kicked my ass thoroughly like the old days. I did a variation of  ZWOW 43 three rounds through with a 20 inch box plus 2 sets of back extensions and 30 minutes on the elliptical performance hill program at the end.  One round of the ZWOW was:
-15 side step ups (each leg)
-10 one legged tricep dips (each leg)
-15 one legged elevated lunge/bulgarian squat (each leg)
-10 burpees + step up for both legs (this was the variation since I couldn't remember for the life of me what 10 "chair climbers" were and had nothing describing it in my notes)

I feel most excellent. My booty is already a bit stiff so I know I've done my job today.

I am sad that Zuzka Light has started to charge for her ZWOWs and new Zgym program now, but I get that she has to pay the bills and she doesn't do a lot of product selling of equipment in her workouts  (well other than her new workout DVDs). I'm glad she's left her 70 odd ZWOWS online and hope she keeps up with the blogs and community she's built there. I still pop by the Bodyrock/Daily Hiit website sometimes too, but find they are missing a lot of the personal touches they used to have. I am always amazed at websites and people like that putting themselves out there to do so much work and build an online fitness group. It's nice having workouts there to challenge me when I need them.

Just going to go inhale some breaky and coffee and get to my day. Last night I woke up about 6 zillion times so I don't feel very rested (there is a nest of baby birds near my window and I will be SO glad when they're gone from the nest. SO LOUD those little birdies are...) but I'll keep at it and survive until I can head home and BBQ and have a nap :)

Have a fantastic day!

Mmmm...mouse poop

This morning was sculpt class with the deceptively tiny asskicking Petra. I've got that pleasantly burning feeling all over. Hooray. :) I tried me a new breakfast too...vanilla greek yogurt with some raspberry almond granola and Nature's Path bran/fibre cereal stirred in...mmmmm...I like. Definitely a repeater. The all bran looks a bit like mouse poop which (I'm not gonna lie) is a but distracting but it tastes delicious. I'm one of those wierdos who likes all-bran-type cereal dry...nutty and crunchy and filling. Try it. It's good stuff :)

Last night J and I made a pact with ourselves. Strict clean eating until my brother's birthday...the 22nd. That includes no beer or drinks on the weekend. Lately I have been stellar all week only to undo all my good work with weekend celebrations. Yes they were fun and most worth it, but a bit out of hand. There has to be a better way if I'm gonna shave off this 5Lb that's been hanging about for a while. You know when your clothes feel a bit funny? Yeah, well that's where I'm at and I've had enough. My sweet J says he loves me and can't tell. Aw. What a guy. :) For me it's all about how I feel, so if I can do a bit more to feel better then I will.

It helps that being the former baker (and still rather handy in the old pastry department if'n I do say so myself) I've been requested by me bro to make him a deluxe chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. Seeing as it will need to be gluten and dairy free to meet the allergy needs of my family I'm on the hunt for the perfect recipe. I could cheat and buy a gluten free mix but I won't. I think I've found a great chocolate cake recipe and a dairy free "butter"cream mocha chocolate frosting recipe so we shall see how we do. Finding dairy free margarine with no whey in it is impossible. Most margarine has whey in it...it's amazing what you learn is in foods when you have to hunt for it. Yet another reason for me to be as from scratch as possible.  I plan on making some raspberry sauce as well for this death by chocolate gf/df adventure too. A piece of this delicious cake and a glass of wine will be my reward for being oh so good the next while...definitely a goal to work for :)

Must run to a meeting and get my day rolling. Have a great day my good peeps :)



I should like a hat like that

Last night I started knitting my very first hat. It's a pixie ball hat. Simple pattern with some deep bluey greeney chunky yarn. Meep. Hope to have it done before we go camping July long weekend...think I'll be able to swing it. I find knitting relaxing. Don't think I'd have the patience for a whole sweater...but a hat I can do.

This AM I was in for a sweaty high tension spin class with Mel. Really enjoyed it. Feel very Rawr indeed. Felt good to sweat. Now for a good breaky and it's off for another busy day.
Hope you all have a fantastic day!

And remember - you're awesome :)

Life getting in the way

This AM I have to come in early to finish proofing a document and do a survey before I start regular work...unfortunately during my regular workout time int he AM. And as much as I think it could be a solution I can't get up at 4 to workout since I was up until 12 working last night. I just can't and function at work today.  So I will workout tonight when I'm home some time, walk home in stead of bus it and just eat well for the day. I had porridge oats with cooked apple and cinnamon this AM (just cook the chopped apple in the water a few minutes before you add the oats...mmm) and a bit of milk and maple syrup and now I'm hunkered down with some tea to get to work.
Here goes another monday!

YAY friday

Busy day. Popped in to log...
Spin and sculpt class. Good times.
Gotta run!

Wear a helmet

I am a bit stiff today from sculpt, but it didn't stop me from pushing myself in spin class with Jocelyn. It rained all night so everything smells fresh and green. Made for  a great walk to the bus this morning. After class I did a few things for my abs and back and now I am in at work ready for another long day.

Last night was fun but busy. Had a meeting with some friends for decor ideas for an underwater themed party we're throwing next month and got to hunt down some iron on black sparkly letters and a cheap red shirt so I can finally make my "Red Kangs Are Best" tshirt for the local comicon this weekend (if you can guess the obscure scifi reference I'll be giggly pleased!).

Also ran into my friend Mehta whom I haven't seen in a few weeks and was shocked to see that he was in a major random bicycle accident...and reminded me and made me promise to wear my helmet when I bike. He came down the bridge from the university and fell off his bike at top speed and hit a pole and then cement curb...and cracked his jaw in 5 places. Amazingly the rest of his head and body is OK and other than some teeth he lost and a few scrapes on one hand, now that his facial bruises are down he looks pretty good. He's rather fuzzy from not shaving and will still have his jaw wired shut for a month or so, but he was soooo lucky. He is still here, relatively unscathed and feeling very lucky indeed.

So yeah. Bike helmets. Wear them.
That is all.

Martha Stewart's got nothing on me

This AM was sculpt with Mel. Good class. I was crazy furry gym lady since my grey cat curled up in my gym bag last night (classy) but it was a good workout and I feel great. Last night was BUY ALL THE FOODS grocery night for the month so we're stocked up on healthy goodies.
In my attempt to get away from prepackaged things I got a lot of fresh meat and ingredients. I want to try my hand at some homemade granola/protein bars and even took the time to make a bunch of burgers fresh from scratch to freeze and have ready for BBQs. My Dad (being the awesome make-anything-guy he is) was feeling domestic and after making himself one to make his own burgers made me a burger maker after I used his and raved about it. He made the base with some cut/mounted plastic pipe and a stamper/presser on his wood lathe which he then varnished for me...stellar :) I've got 10 1/4 Lb burgers made and ready now. I am even tempted to learn how to make my own sausage eventually, but this is a good start for now. I like knowing what is in (and *isn't* in) the things I eat. Now for a chewey but not too sweet granola bar recipe...I'm on the hunt so if you know of one let me know.

Must run. Busy day. Still ahve my pumpkin oatmeal to snarf before I'm off for a full day of shenanigans. Tonight I will fit in some booty work.
Say it with me now...
Booty.

Yawn

We had the same sub instructor teaching spin today as yesterday. It was a solid workout but man...she was so...not inspiring. The girls in the class started cheering and encouraging each other on just to get a bit of Zoom Zoom in and feel inspired...fun and odd. After class I felt the need for a bitmore so I did some hanging ab crunches and back extensions and side bends and called it a day.

Natalie Dee



I'm in the mood to try something new so I think I'm gonna try a 30 day booty challenge and see what happens. I am, shall we say, less than inspired by my booty at the moment and I'm going to see what I can do in June to fix it.




I will still have my morning classes, but think in the evening I may do some extra booty work, and add in a weekend run now that the weather is so dang fine on the weekends. Running by the river in the morning is lovely...it will give me a kick in the butt to get some new trainers too. Feel like I need to beast up.
Last night I just felt bleh all night so I'm looking for a new thing...something to inspire me.
Onwards and upwards :)


Oh the moon in June is a big balloon...

Whew. Long weekend, but good. Another 8 hour day of working off my traffic ticket (1 day left!!) and then we went out dancing late saturday. Sunday...well mostly napping and errands. I had yard plans, but thankfully our virginia creeper is filling in and the yard doesn't look quite so bad, so I napped instead :) I finished up a book and made some healthy muffins and meals for the week and made some homemade whole wheat thincrust greek pizzas for supper last night.

J and I have decided that June is to be a healthy month. He is also feeling a bit round around the middle so we had a final relatively healthy pizzafest and are now going to buckle down a bit and dial in the food. He's going to start regular workouts again too. Good for him. I love him dearly no matter how he looks, but I want him to feel comfortable in his own skin. He said he noticed in Utah on the hikes he couldn't keep the pace like he used to and didn't feel strong or in control in some of the hiking spots and wants to fix that. We were talking when we got home and I was mentioning how I loved being in full snyc with my body and knowing what it could do while rock scrambling and hiking - it made me confident and strong and know what was safe and not safe to do. He said he missed that...and wants it back. For both of us fitness is all about living and being able to do what you want to do. We're not old yet, so why act that way before we need to :)

This morning it was spin and sculpt with a new sub. She wasn't the most engaging or talkative instructor, but the class was good. I like the sculpt a lot and feel like I got a solid workout. Trying not to feel forboding about today. Already I had my water bottle explode all over me when the lid popped off somehow while I drank from if after I refilled it after class (so cold...everywhere!) and forgetting to pack my bra (sports bra all day anyone??). Just going to trudge forward into a day of work and hopefully a little relaxing tonight. This week I finally want to watch the season finale of Doctor Who and am getting caught up on Game of Thrones so I feel like I don't have to ignore the web in case I hit spoilers anymore...

Hope your weekend was great :)
Later taters...I leave you with this quote I found the other day. No name I could find to credit it...but I wish Id written it. It inspires me and is exactly what I'd say to all of you...

"Dear Incredible Girl,

When you've done all that you can do, and you still feel like you have so much further to go, when you feel like all that you have to give still isn't nearly enough, when it seems that you will not be able to keep up everything that needs to be kept up for one minute longer --

Stop and breathe.

Look. Really really look at 
what you are expecting of yourself.

You are an incredible girl. You are amazing and strong and brilliant. But friend, you are also a human being. You cannot do it all. You cannot always hold everything together perfectly, and you cannot be perfectly composed every single day. It's okay to have 'off' days. It's okay to feel weak and overwhelmed and have meltdowns once in awhile. It's okay. YOU are okay. Everything is going to be okay. It is.

Let yourself have days to be a perfectly imperfect human being. Let yourself feel what you need to feel and process your life the way you need to process it. Let yourself BE.

Bad days will pass, overwhelm will dissolve, and the sun will come up again tomorrow morning, just like it does every day. There will be a brand new sparkling day waiting for your tomorrow, waiting for you to hold hands with all of the joy that it is offering.

You are just right. You are doing great. You are fabulous!

And you are very very very very loved."