Tabata Method

Raise your hand if you’re ready for the weekend!

You can’t see me, but both of mine are raised.

Tabata Method

Lately, I’ve been trying to take the 7:15AM spin class at my gym once a week, after finding an instructor that I absolutely love.  Yesterday, I decided to sleep in and shoot for the 8:45AM class.  Unfortunately, I forgot that this class is taught by an instructor that I do not absolutely love.  She’s very boring, has a monotone voice, and walks around for practically the whole class.  On top of that, the spin room is under construction at my gym, and they took out the black lights and removed the blinds from all the windows!  Um, hello awkwardly bright room…(spin connoisseurs know that classes are always dark!)

Anyways, I was determined to make the best of a less than ideal situation.  The class was off to a very boring start, but then, the instructor surprised us by introducing the Tabata Method.  She explained that this is a method of working out that activates both your aerobic and anaerobic pathways simultaneously, which optimizes results and gets you in much better shape in a significantly shorter amount of time.  The key to this method is doing a total of 4 minutes of extreme exertion- you do 20 seconds of an exercise at maximum capacity, recover for 10 seconds, and repeat 7 times.  That’s it!  The studies showed that people who did the Tabata Method 3 times a week lost more fat and were in better cardiovascular health than people who did 60 minutes of cardio per day, 5 times a week.  Pretty crazy, huh?

By the time our 4 minutes of misery were over, everyone was drenched and pretty fatigued.  We recovered for a song or two before powering back up for the rest of the class.

I don’t know if I believe the statistics, but I think it’s a very interesting theory, and I don’t see the harm in incorporating this method into my workouts.

Have you tried the Tabata Method?  What do you think of it? 

Breakfast

After class, I was more than ready for breakfast.  I was planning to have a yogurt bowl with strawberries, but this idea went out the window when I discovered that my fresh strawberries had frozen solid overnight!

Whoops.

Frozen fruit can only mean one thing- smoothie!

I made a chocolate strawberry smoothie by blending up:

– 1/2 cup skim milk

-7 frozen strawberries

– 1 scoop Chocolate Muscle Milk Protein Powder

– 1/2 tablespoon natural peanut butter

– Handful of ice cubes

Clearly, not my mug 🙂 .

Lunch

Lunch was a fabulous repeat, with a twist.

I topped a bed of Organicgirl 50/50! with tuna salad (1 tablespoon  Light Mayo, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard), garbanzo beans and…pickle chips!  I secretly love pickles on salads, even though basically everyone thinks it’s weird.

Dinner

I used the help of a box of Annie Chun’s 100% Natural Pad Thai for dinner.

I cooked the noodles according to the directions, while microwaving a bag of frozen vegetables.  After draining both, I mixed everything together in a big pot with 1/2 pound of shrimp and the sauce that came in the kit.  It was ready in 10 minutes flat!

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I also just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my fabulous mom!

I love you so much!

 

 

 

 

Workout Motivation

Sometimes, the thought of working out sounds about as appealing as doing yard work on a Saturday at noon in Florida in the middle of August (if you live here, you know what I mean.)

This week I’ve been extremely busy- the same day that I finished my last nursing pre-requisite course, I went straight to my first day of training to become a Certified Nursing Assistant.  I have to wake up really early to leave for class, so my morning workout routine has been a no-go.  Luckily, it’s just for this week (which is almost over- hallelujah!).

Anyways, I ended up skipping Monday and Tuesday’s workouts, and yesterday, I still didn’t feel like working out.  I was on the computer doing some browsing on SHAPE Magazine’s website, when I came across a series of “Behind-the-Scenes” videos of celebrities shooting their SHAPE covers.  Let’s just say that after hearing Kourtney Kardashian, Marisa Miller and Brooke Burke talk about their workouts, I basically bolted off the couch and went straight to the gym.

"I would still look like this even if I didn't work out."

Now, don’t get me wrong- my days of pouring over gossip magazines and taping pictures to my fridge are long gone.  I do not condone staring at celebrities and envying their bodies, because, let’s face it, that won’t do anything positive for anyone.  However, I think that reading or listening to someone talk about fitness and health is a great way to get motivated for your own workouts- and if it happens to be coming out of the mouth of a gorgeous celebrity who is living proof that it works, then, hey, we better listen!

What motivates you to work out? 

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Breakfast

I started the day with a toasted whole wheat sandwich thin, spread with a little peanut butter and a drizzle of honey.

I could’ve really used a banana on top, but clearly, we didn’t quite make it to the grocery store this week.  I also enjoyed a glass of almond milk on the side.

Lunch

Lunch was a random mix of small snacks that went undocumented, but it included baby carrot sticks, an apple and a turkey sandwich.

Dinner

When Corey got home from work, he fired up the grill at threw on two Top Sirloin Filets that I had marinating in the fridge with olive oil, soy sauce and garlic.

On the side, we had some steamed broccoli and Steamfresh Lightly Sauced Roasted Potatoes in Chive Butter.

Eggcellent

A few weeks ago, Corey and I were at our gym having coffee after our workout, and we accidentally did some eavesdropping.  We overheard one of the trainers explaining to a client why it is so detrimental to work out on an empty stomach in the morning.

As someone who almost always does this, I was intrigued.  Her reasoning made sense- basically, your body will use up important things that you need if it doesn’t have some sort of “fuel” to run off of before your work out.  She told her client that even eating one bite of something like oatmeal or yogurt is better than nothing.

Ever since overhearing that conversation, I’ve been making it a point to eat a little protein before my morning work outs.  Enter, the eggcellent hardboiled egg!

I just eat the eggwhite and throw the yolk away, and I’m ready to work out!

Egghead

Workout

Yesterday morning started with yet another BodyPump class.  Afterwards, I got on the elliptical for 20 minutes.  I barely noticed I was sweating because I was so focused on what was happening in the Casey Anthony trial!  It will be sad when this local entertainment is over.

Breakfast

It was ridiculously hot yesterday.  Pretty much every day from here on out is going to be that way, because summer in Florida is no joke.  The perfect breakfast for a sweaty day will always be a nice, cold smoothie.

Into the blender went:

-1/2 cup almond milk

-1 scoop chocolate protein powder

-8 fresh strawberries

-1 banana

-1/4 cup Greek yogurt

-1/2 tablespoon peanut butter

-ice cubes

Sluuuuuuuuuuuuurp!

Lunch

I had some spare time on my hands in the afternoon, and decided to take advantage of not being in a rush at lunchtime, like I usually am.  I got to choppin’ and threw together a big salad.

I topped a bed of chopped Romaine lettuce with tomatoes, raw broccoli, hardboiled egg whites, red onion, and reduced-fat cheese.  I drizzled some Organicville Sesame Goddess dressing over top and dug in.

Dinner

When Corey got home from work, we decided to go to happy hour at Caddyshanks.  I enjoyed a Magic Hat #9 while we chatted about wedding plans, work, and house-hunting 🙂 .

Sometimes, the things that happen to us are just comical.  Two weekends ago (when my blog space was dunzo), Corey bought a Groupon to a really expensive restaurant called Funky Monkey (strange name choice for a nice restaurant, no?) Even with the Groupon, we couldn’t afford a glass of wine each if we wanted to eat dinner there, too!  The food we ordered was seriously delicious.  As soon as we handed the Groupon to the waitress, she told us they weren’t taking them that night.  Of course!

The comedy continued last night when we decided we would go there again to actually use our Groupon.  We called to make sure they were taking it and the waiter told us they were, but they were completely booked until after 10PM!  When we were there last week, there were only 2 other people in the whole place.  Oh, well!

After our dinner plans fell flat, it started pouring rain, so we decided to stay at Caddyshanks and order food.  We split a cheesy calzone filled with veggies.

This was HUGE, even after we split it.  I could not finish the whole thing, even if I wanted to!

I’ve got a lot of studying ahead of me this weekend…oh, joy!

Workout Funk

If you take a look at my Workout Log, it’s not hard to figure out that I’ve been in a little “workout funk” lately.  Corey and I have both been waking up every morning with this weird feeling…I think they call it “laziness” ?

Before we moved, we used to wake up almost every weekday at the same time, and get in our prospective workouts at the gym before starting the day.  Lately, this has been quite a challenge.  I’ve been taking way too many days off, and I’m not happy about it!

I’ve decided the best way to get out of my funk is to set some small goals.

Here’s what I came up with: 

-Aim to work out every weekday, plus one weekend day.

-Add more outside running to my routine.

-BodyPump twice a week.

-Spinning at least once a week.

Some people set fitness goals based around their weight or appearance, and this is something I used to do all the time- but I’m at the point where that is just not a good idea anymore.  Setting body-related goals just causes me to obsess over numbers, and that’s not very productive!  I think getting my mind and body into a routine is the best way to ensure that I get my workouts in, and the benefits of that will follow.

Onto the food!

Breakfast

I toasted a whole wheat English muffin, and topped it with pear slices and a drizzle of honey.

A large cup of coffee was enjoyed alongside my pear sandwich.

I’ve been slowly trying to ween myself off of my beloved Coffeemate Sugar-Free Hazelnut Creamer in favor of  “raw friendly” almond milk, but I’m not gonna lie…it’s tough!

Lunch

Yesterday’s lunch reminded me of being in pre-school, possibly because of the finger-foods I had on the side, but it was still filling and delicious!

I toasted a whole wheat sandwich thin and topped it with Dijon mustard, a slice of meunster cheese and deli turkey.  On the side, I had some baby carrots and sliced kiwi.

Dinner

In favor of trying to eat more natural foods and stay away from processed crap, I’ve been browsing through the organic brands at the grocery store lately.  It definitely is more expensive, but I think a few substitutions here and there won’t break the bank.

I was craving some comfort food last night, so a bowl of macaroni and cheese sounded perfect!

I picked up a box of Annie’s Macaroni & Cheese, made with whole wheat pasta and natural cheese.  I was a little skeptical about how it would taste, but I was pleasantly surprised.  To spruce it up and add some extra nutrition, I added some roasted broccoli and a sprinkle of 2% shredded cheddar cheese.

Alongside, I had a salad made with chopped Romaine lettuce and raw broccoli florets.

I topped my salad with Organicville Sesame Goddess dressing.

I’ll admit that 87% of the reason that I got this flavor was the fact that it had the word “goddess” in it.  I’m a marketer’s dream.

 

Do you have any tricks for getting out of a “workout funk” ?