100s workout

Do you want to get your sweat on today? 

Try this KILLER 100s workout! 

You don't even need to go to the gym to do this workout!

All you need is a jump rope, a front stoop, and a stability ball! 

*If you don't have a jump rope, just pretend to jump rope
**If you don't have a stability ball, do push ups instead
***If you don't have a front stoop, use anything you can stand on. The higher it is, the harder it will be!


100 - step ups (50 w/ right leg leading, 50 w/ left leg leading
90 - second wall sit
80 - jump rope rotations
70 - run around the block (I know that has nothing to do with the number 70 but who cares!?)
60 - squats
50 - bicycles (l + r = 1)
40 - step on stoop, bring knee up, step down, do a backward lunge (R leg leading 20xs, L leg leading 20xs)
30 - high knees
20 - stability ball pull ins
10 - jump squats

You can repeat this circuit as many times as you want!

Twice was enough for me!

As always, if there is a movement you're uncomfortable doing, feel free to substitute in any exercise you want! Example: planks, jumping jacks, sit ups, burpees, mountain climbers, etc...

ENJOY!

8 Things I Am Loving Right Now!

 

1. The Oxymorons Improve Troupe. This is the group my friend Randy belongs to. They are hilarious! Every second Sunday, they perform at ABC Brewery in Harrisburg. Tickets are usually $7 for what turns out to be about an hour and a half of laughs. Check them out on Facebook for more details about where you can catch a show!

The Oxymorons

2. Grahamfuls! Oh my word, they are so yummy! They remind me of eating cocoa and grammies as a kid! (Cocoa and grammies is then you heat up some chocolate milk and dip graham crackers with peanut butter in it!) Sadly, I got them at Amelia's, which makes me fear they have been discontinued... I hope not! Ps. Check out this blog. Dang, that girl HATE Grahamfuls! Well, I think she just wants people to know they are not the most wholesome thing to eat because they contain a fair amount of sugar. I consume Grahamfuls after a workout, though. And guess what my body needs after my workout? SUGAAAAH!

Nabisco

3. Running! I have not been running as much because apparently my body (well, my knee, to be exact), does not want me to do a ton of running! But lately I have been getting back into it, and it feels SO good to get in some miles!

4. Catchphrase! Our friends brought this game to our last game night and it is a TON of fun. One of the best parts is that you don't need paper, pencils, dice, or tons of equipment. Just this:

Electronic Catchphrase

5. Orange is the New Black on Netflix. The actresses on this show are SO TALENTED. Every episode has at least one "OMG" moment when you're thinking, "They did NOT just do/say/show that." We're about halfway through the season and I'm going to miss it once we've watched all thirteen episodes.


6. Playing the Piano. Confession: I never play the piano. (Unless I'm at work or demonstrating something at a piano lesson.) But I recently bought a book for a student and I am having so much fun playing from it! The music is easy enough that I can play it without really practicing, but it is difficult enough that I have to think and concentrate to play it correctly at the appropriate tempo.

7. Angel Food Cake!  I use it to make a healthIER strawberry shortcake.

8. Nia Shank's blog. It's a no-nonsense zone!

Previous Things I'm Loving Posts

8 Things I'm Loving RIGHT NOW! 8-11-13

8 Things I'm Loving RIGHT NOW! 7-20-13

8 Things I'm Loving RIGHT NOW! 7-5-13

What are you loving RIGHT NOW?

Strawberry Shortcake

You all know I have a sweet tooth! I love ice cream, cake, cookies, chocolate, and all that junk. I'm not afraid to indulge, either. I have dessert every night.

My desserts used to look like this:

I ate as if it was going to be my last dessert EVER! (Because usually I vowed that it would be.)

But now I have come to the conclusion that there is no reason to stuff myself as if I will never get to eat dessert again. Because I WILL eat it again. I'm an adult, I can have dessert whenever I want. (What a concept!) There never needs to be a free-for-all... as if at some point the opportunity to have dessert is going to go away.

Nowadays, dessert looks more like this:

Still yummy, but not CRAZY!

For some reason I haven't been in the mood for ice cream as much as I used to be. Never fear, I have a new favorite yummy dessert!

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!!!

Now, my favorite strawberry shortcake is the kind my mom made when we were growing up. She would make it with Jiffy Baking Mix. Then we'd pour sugar, milk, and strawberries all over it. It was so good.

I just started making my own version a few days ago. I use prepackaged angel food cake from Weis. Each little cake is only 70 calories and 16g of carbohydrates. I cut the cake up, pour 4 oz of milk on top, and finish it off with some sliced up strawberries.

It is DIVINE! It really satisfies my sweet tooth and it's a lot healthier than the ice cream cone pictured above! I'm sure I'll start craving ice cream again, but for now, I'm going to ride the strawberry shortcake train for as long as it lets me stay onboard!

When I looked at the nutrition label on the back of the angel food cake, I couldn't believe how low calorie and how low in carbs angel food cake is! I had to find out why! Was it a misprint? So I went to Google to get some answers!

Unfortunately all I could find was this article, which pretty much stated that since angel food cake is made with only egg whites (no yolks) and no butter, it is fat free. It's also pretty light, so a piece may look big to the eye, but since it's not as dense as other cakes, you're getting less calories.

Works for me!


What is your favorite strawberry shortcake recipe? 

Some Tough Love!

I hate this because it's true! One can work their tail off for an hour in the gym and ruin it with just one meal. This is going to be short and sweet, because I really think the quote above says it all.

If you aren't seeing the results you want, look at what you are putting in your mouth. Is the food you eat helping you achieve your goals?

Are you eating the right things at the right time? Are you eating too much? Are you eating ENOUGH?

Anyone can workout for an hour. What's hard, is making good choices about what goes on your plate the other 23 hours of the day!

What is the last yummy thing you ate that is helping you get the results you want?

The Top 10 Joys of Owning MY Cats

1. I'll never again enjoy a glass of milk or a piece of chicken without the pathetic, pleading eyes of Christmas cast upon me.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!?

2. My dining room chairs look like this:

3. Speaking of the dining room, there's a litter box in it.

4. At any point in my day, I could come across a precious sight like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or this:

Aw heck, here's some more...

5. There's always a cat ready puke on my $100 Boston Marathon jacket.

6. I can't sleep past 6am without barricading the closet door. (The cats scratch it to wake us up.)

7. They make me laugh!

8. It is not uncommon to find massive amounts of cat hair collected in the corners just moments after we vacuum.

9. They feel so at home that they don't mind drinking from our water glasses... even though they have their very own cat fountain.

Christmas will do absolutely ANYTHING for milk.

10. They love the crap out of us and we love the crap out of them.

Weekend Wrap Up!

 

It's Monday! My first day of school with the student. Now that I'm back at work, I am going to try to make the most of my weekends! Hopefully, that means more interesting "Weekend Wrap Ups"... but who knows!?

Here's what I was up to...

Friday

Friday was a lifting day! I headed to Planet Fitness. I can't say it was bright and early, but I can say it was DARK an early. Oh, how I wish it was light out during my morning workouts! I'm glad to be back at PF with the morning crowd, but for some reason,  people talk to me WAY more in the mornings than they do in the afternoon. I don't think anyone has said a word to me at PF all summer. I prefer it that way. I want to get in, focus on my workout, and get out. Well this morning, a gentleman struck up two conversations that annoyed me greatly.

I was warming up on the mats with some jumping jacks and push ups (old school, I know!) when the man hopped on the Lat Pull Down machine next to me and said, "So did you take a month off or something?" I explained that no, I'm a teacher, so in the summers I don't go to the gym as early. "Oh, so you're back to work now?" he asks. "Are you one of those teachers who complains about going back to work?" he asked with a little smile. I don't know if he was trying to be funny or what, but that's not funny to me. It's annoying. "No, I like my job," I answered, and continued with my jumping jacks.

Then he got me again while I was resting between sets of pull ups! I was writing down the amount of weight I used as I went along, and he goes, "Oh I wouldn't write down what I'm doing. I never write down what I'm doing, I just come in and do what feels right. I don't like to stress myself out, I do worse that way. I wouldn't write anything down if I were you."

DID I ASK FOR HIS ADVICE?

I just smiled and nodded, did a little chuckle, and continued with my pull ups. Luckily, that was the last he talked to me that morning. Unfortunately he is there a lot, so I will have to find a way to avoid him... suggestions welcome. (I do have headphones in, he seems to not care.) I just know that if I was a guy, he wouldn't be telling me how to workout.

Work on Friday was pretty simple. I had the whole morning to finish setting up my classroom and write lesson plans. I managed to get everything completely ready for the first six days of school. Woohoo! I stayed in my room for lunch and finished some things up and studied. I figured, the more I studied at lunch, the less I would have to study on the weekend! In the afternoon, we had a district wide meeting about how to keep our schools safe. It was very informative and I really liked the speaker.

After work I was exhausted because I had been staying up way too late and getting up way too early. I took a 4 hour nap! When I awoke, I was ready for some fun, so I met some work friends at Dockside Willies for a drink. That place is HOPPING on a Friday evening. There was a band and everything.

When I got home, my hubby and I got caught up on the latest episode of Dexter. I have been disappointed with the recent episodes. I feel like they are trying to make Hannah McKay a sympathetic character and she's NOT!

Saturday

On Saturday, we did our weekly disc golf/running date, except I didn't run. I lugged some dumb bells, a kettle bell, jump rope, and stability ball to Willow Mill Park and did circuits while Paul played disc golf. I would tell you about my awesome workout, but I am going to save it for a future post!

That afternoon, I visited with my family at my brother's house. He grilled some yummy chicken. I have to start marinating mine! It was fun to see my family and play with my niece.

I took a selfie of me and my niece.

Since there's two of us, maybe it should be called an "ussie"?

She talked ALL evening. I think I caught her mid-word!

Tyler is great at grillin'!

Mmmmm chicken!

Sunday

Sunday morning I did a 7 mile tempo run at a 7:25 pace. It felt GOOD! Then I went hiking with my hubby's family. We did a section of the Appalachian Trail starting at the top of Peter's Mountain.

The kids made sure we all had walking sticks.

What a view!

The next up and coming rock star... Princess Giggles!

AKA Timothy Cooney!

Me and the hubs.

I was exhausted after our crazy morning, but I had to do some grocery shopping for the week, clean, do the wash, and prepare my food for the next day. The key to eating healthy at work? TUPPERWARE!

Then I did some studying, whooped Paul's arse in Monopoly deal, watched Big Brother (YAY Elissa!!!) and ate this YUMMY dinner...

I call it a POWER MEAL.

Quinoa, ground turkey, chopped celery, tomatoes, cheese, and taco sauce!

I see many more POWER MEALS in my future!

I hope you had a fun weekend! It certainly was gorgeous!

What did you do this weekend?