new path

I am always looking for new places to run, to keep my interest and shake things up a bit. I noticed that around my gym, there was a trail that went behind the building, so I decided to try it out this morning. I really had no idea where I was going, and I only got about 2.5 miles out of it, but it was definitely something different. It weaved me in and out of a bunch of office buildings and then took me through some woods. It wasn't anything spectacular, and I doubt I will do it many more times, but at least I know it is there.

After running, it was nice that I could head straight into the gym to finish up my work out without having to drive anywhere. I did my push ups and ab work out and then got ready for work. I have pretty much decided that my focus will be push ups and abs until later on in the summer. I might throw legs in every once in a while, but I have very little interest in being indoors or doing any other type of weight training right now. The push ups will give my back, arms, and core a good work out and hopefully the ab work out will tighten everything up.

I do feel like I am getting much better with my push ups. I am still doing the girl version, but I feel like I am in much more control when doing them now than I did before. I hope it is giving my arms and back a good work out.

This morning, after eating my overnight oats, I had some tea and chocolate covered sunflower seeds. I am loving the peppermint tea right now. It is so refreshing for a summer morning and it smells amazing.

It is looking like I will be called into the hospital tonight, and I am not too excited about that. I am still holding out hope, but they are pretty short handed from what I can tell and I am sure they are going to call me. I guess I just need to get excited for it, so that I won't be too disappointed when it happens. I am also working tomorrow night so this week will be kinda busy. Luckily, I got to sleep in until 7 (!!) this morning. I guess that is sleeping in these days. Ugh.

Last night was Italian themed night at our weekly bible study. I made sure to only get a small portion of each item, but everything was so delicious. I had a quarter serving each of pizza, lasagna, penne rosa, chicken Parmesan, butternut squash ravioli, and salad. It was still a ton of food and we were completely stuffed, but it was awesome.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday! Hopefully I can squeeze another post in tomorrow!

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (+) 175
Sodium (-) 165
Protein (-) 3

unexpected seven

Hello there! Hope your weekend was fantastical. :)

Ours was awesome. Being at home for an entire weekend was exactly what we needed. It made the weekend go by at a much more normal rate and we got a lot accomplished. Most importantly, our house is finally clean. Like the whole thing. Not just the main floor and bathrooms, but the whole thing is pretty clean (just don't check the closets or garage).

Mike got a lot of gardening done, but not as much as he would have liked.  He added another raised bed so we could plant some potatoes. Unfortunately, the weather didn't allow for us to actually plant them, so we will have to do that another day.

We also got to spend some good quality time with my mom for Mother's Day, so that was nice. This was her gift from Mike and I. Isn't the color awesome? I fell in love with this hydrangea, but there is no way I could keep it alive. My mom and her boyfriend do a lot of gardening, so I thought it would be perfect for her.

Friday night, after coming home from work, we changed clothes and headed out to meet my mom and her friends for the Zack Brown Band concert. It was a really fun concert and we had a great time. The weather was so cold, but since we were up and dancing, it wasn't too bad.

Saturday morning, I woke up and made french toast for everyone. Before breakfast was done, our GoLocal delivery showed up, so we were able to add fresh strawberries to our plates.

My mom, her boyfriend, and friend all left a little after 1, so we got a sorta late start to our day. I spent a good portion of the day just catching up on TV while Mike worked in the garden. I did get some good cleaning hours in though, so the day wasn't a total waste. We also made a trip to Lowe's to get some patio ideas.

After showering and prepping for dinner, Mike and I spent some time outside, drinking wine and listening to music with the pups. The weather was so nice, so we tried to spend as much time out there as we could.

He loves his brother...

By the time dinner was ready, we decided to head inside since it had started to get pretty dark outside.

 

Mike was in the mood for steak so I marinated his in a high sodium marinade for most of the day. I went with a salmon filet, since I knew I could keep the sodium pretty low and still enjoy it. I love steak, but I think I love the marinade more than the steak, so it is just pointless to me without it.

We also grilled some sweet potatoes which we had never done before. It was so easy and they turned out fantastic. They were on the grill for about 45 minutes and were so soft and piping hot when they were done. Mike sauteed some summer squash and mushrooms in olive oil for our veggie.

It was an incredible dinner.

Don't worry, I snagged a few bites of his steak for him. :)

We spent the rest of the evening sitting on the couch either talking or catching up on our sit coms from the prior weeks. We haven't been home, so our DVR is packed with shows right now.

--

Sunday was a really great day. Mike and I woke up before church and had time to actually eat breakfast. We packed a bag of running clothes and then headed to church for the first time in weeks. It was so nice to be back.

Afterwards, we had coffee/tea with a couple from church and just talked and caught up. Mike needed to get in a 10 mile run in this weekend and they told us about a fun trail that was exactly 10 miles long. We headed straight there to check it out.

Our run started at Shelley Lake, which is where Mike and I had ran the day after our first 10k. I planned on doing 5 miles and then doing some ab work outs while Mike did his 10. Running felt really good. I had to take both Friday and Saturday off since my legs were still incredibly sore from my last leg work out, so I think the break was just what I needed.

Our route took us around the lake, through some woods, and onto the Capital Greenway, so there was plenty to look at along the way.

We ran by water, over bridges, and through tunnels. Those types of runs just keep me so entertained.

When I got to the 5 mile mark, I felt like I had a little more left in me, so I figured I might as well get 6 in. When I got to 6, I was still feeling really good, so I decided I would just run until I couldn't anymore. Around 6.6 miles, my legs were starting to ache pretty badly and I kept tripping over the ground. I guess I really wasn't picking my feet up like normal. Since I was so close, I pushed through to 7 miles and called it quits.

That was the longest I have ever ran. Since I have been only doing 3-4 miles lately, I was really surprised and proud of myself for getting in such a long run. I felt really good the whole time too, and the only thing that stopped me was my legs aching. The awesome thing about the Nike + app is that if you put in a goal and you go past it, it gives you updates in post goal information. It was a pretty great feeling to hear "6 miles completed, you have surpassed your goal by 1 mile." :)

Mike continued on to finish his run and I headed out into one of the grass fields to do some stretching and an ab workout. I have had this app in my phone for a few months now, but have just recently started using it. Basically, you press start and follow the example on the screen. You can choose 5, 7.5, or 10 minutes and I have been doing 5 lately. I decided to up it to 7.5 yesterday, which was a pretty intense work out. My abs are definitely feeling it today.

I finished up with stretching and abs right as Mike was finished with his run and we headed home to make some lunch. We would have loved to go out to get Mexican for lunch, but old low sodium me wouldn't allow it. :) Instead, we went by the store and grabbed the ingredients to make some bean and cheese tacos.

They were delicious, and took no time at all. I had one black bean and cheese and one pinto bean (added a little milk and mashed to make refried) and cheese taco. Perfect Sunday afternoon lunch.

For dinner last night, we had planned to grill some boneless pork ribs with bbq sauce. We have really been in a rut lately with dinner, and we were ready for a change in the meat department. We bought the ribs a few days ago and pulled them out of the fridge around 6 pm last night. Since we have never cooked ribs before... we had no idea they took 3 HOURS TO MAKE! Needless to say, we had a meal change up at the last minute. We will have to start much earlier next time in order to make those in time for dinner. We went ahead and stuck them in the freezer since I am pretty sure we don't have the time for a 3 hour meal in the coming days.

Instead, we heated up the leftover beans from our lunch, scrambled some eggs, and sauteed some potatoes and onions for a 'breakfasty' dinner. I am always down with eggs for dinner, and the addition of beans and potatoes just made for a tasty and quick meal.

Have a good Monday, everyone!

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (-) 66
Sodium (-) 219
Protein (-) 8

Giving Up on Dry Beans

I was at the gym by 7 this morning and got in a stellar ab work out. I put in 30 minutes of hard core work, which I rarely ever do. I usually treat my abs like a side work out, only doing anything for them when I have time. I think I should take this approach more often, though, and spend 1 day a week working solely on just abs. I guess we will see how they feel in about 12-24 hours first. yikes!

When I was done with abs, I got on the treadmill and struggled through 30 minutes of interval running. Usually, interval running goes by so quickly and seems so much easier. I had a hard time getting through it this morning. I was tiring out quicker than normal, my legs felt heavy, and the run overall just felt sluggish. Maybe 3 days in a row of interval running is not a good idea? I managed to get through all 30 minutes, but they were certainly tough. Luckily, today was the last day I had planned to do intervals this week. Maybe next week I will space them out a little differently.

Tomorrow I plan to do legs without any cardio and then Friday I am taking a rest day. I have made it to the gym every day this week, plus I did some working out and cardio over the weekend, so I feel really good about this week. My upper body is pretty sore from this week's strength training as well, so I am looking forward to giving that half a little rest. Depending on the weather this weekend, I hope to get in some outdoor runs and a few gym sessions during this long weekend coming up.

Yesterday's Eats

I ended up saving the apple because I was stuffed!

So, you know that hummus recipe I posted yesterday? Seriously, go make it NOW! It is the BEST hummus I have ever made, and I would even say it was the best I have ever tasted. The roasted garlic is strong, which I love, but you can adjust that if needed. I tasted it while I was making it the other night, but when I put it on my sandwich yesterday, I couldn't get over how great it was. After sitting all night in the fridge, it tasted so amazing.

Let me give you a closer look at my sandwich...

So. incredible. And it makes me really happy that 3 out of the 5 ingredients on that sandwich were ingredients from my produce delivery box. :) Mike made the same sandwich yesterday and was also quite impressed with how wonderful it was. Luckily, I have enough ingredients to make one more sandwich for my lunch today. I am pretty excited about that.

Dinner last night was just OK. Keeping with the meatless thing, Mike had a good idea to make veggie tacos. I had prepped some dry beans on Sunday so that we would have black beans throughout the week, but I think I am giving up on dry beans. I have tried to make them so many times and they are always hard. I can't seem to get them soft enough to be very good. I follow the directions to the tee and have tried many different variations, but they never come out soft. HELP!

I decided to have my taco sans tortilla since we made some rice and potatoes. We have a ton of red potatoes right now and we are trying to get through them. It was one of those dinners that was good, but nothing to get too excited about.

B-Fast This AM

I have to get better about eating something before going to the gym. I am just so tired when on the way to the gym and food just sounds gross to me. So when I finished at the gym, I came to work and had another monster bowl of oatmeal. I love bananas in oatmeal, they seriously make the oats so much better. I swapped out the strawberries for raspberries today, since I am all out of strawberries. Still a great combination.

Mike is still feeling crummy and we headed to bed pretty early last night. I am surprised I haven't started to feel sick, but I am thankful for that. Hopefully he starts feeling better soon!

Have a great Wednesday, everyone! 

Yesterday's Stats:
Yesterday my stats were really good. I ended the day under in calories and sodium! I was short on my protein, but only by 10 g, so that isn't too bad. Maybe this meatless thing is a good idea. But, I don't think I will go down that road just yet. I enjoy food too much to cut out a huge section like that.

Calories (-) 101
Sodium (-) 518
Protein (-) 10

The Sore Abs Workout

This week is crawling by, as I suspected... I can't believe it is only Tuesday, it certainly feels like it is at least Thursday.

I got to work today and someone had brought in donuts... Although I know that I should not have one, since there are tons of cookies at home and we have lots of treats here at work, I still wanted one. I hadn't had one in a long time and it was delicious. Sprinkles are my fave. :)

I am a little sore today from yesterday's workout. Actually, I am a lot sore. Usually only parts of my stomach are sore, which tell me I am not getting a complete ab workout in. I took today off from the gym, so I don't over-do it and so that I could sleep in a bit. Plus, when Mike and I ride together, I don't have the choice of sleeping in, so I took advantage today since we rode separate.

I thought it might be helpful to post the workouts that work for me. I am no personal trainer, and really have no idea what I am doing, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. What works for me, might not work for you, but I always find it helpful when others let me know what has worked, especially when it comes to abs. Plus, I want to document what I did so that I can remember it. :)

Ab Workout:

• Side Bends - with 8 lb weight (I used to use 12 lbs, but I am starting light). I use the incline thing that you lean your hips on. Then I do 12 bends on each side for 3 reps.
• Stability Ball Front Lean and Rest - I try to do 3 reps of 20 seconds. Lean forward with both your elbows directly below your shoulders on a mat, clasp your hands under your chest for stability. Extend both legs out and on to a stability ball. Keep your balance and try to create a straight line from your neck to your toes. 
• Pelvic Lifts on a Stability Ball - Place both ankles/heels on the stability ball while lying flat on a mat. Leaving arms to your side for balance, lift your pelvis to the sky, creating a straight line from your neck to your ankles. 3 reps of 20 seconds. 
• Crunches - Good old crunches - I only do 3 reps of 12-15. I find that when I try to do more, my technique gets pretty bad and I am worried I will hurt myself.  I also use the stability ball to put my legs on sometimes to get a different area of my abs.
• V-Crunch - Sit upright on mat or bench. Lean back so that you are balancing on your tailbone. Lift legs with a bend at your knees. Crunch your abs with your legs, creating a V. 3 reps of 12.

There are a bunch more that I normally switch up with these, but this has given me one of the best all over sores that I have felt in a while. I think I will try to stick to it for a few weeks and see if it makes a difference. 

Tonight we are having a taco dinner with some friends while we exchange Christmas gifts. One of them is in town from NY, one is from Greenville and the other lives here in Raleigh. The 4 of us have been friends since high school but we became even closer in college and after.  It is always a fun get together and every time I am with them, we usually just tell stories and laugh our faces off.  My abs might just get in a little workout from all the laughing we will do. :)