Tag Archive | tone it up

BeachBody Day59 – Visualize

Apr16

Finally caught up on my Beach Body posts :-) I was able to get up early even though I was still wanted to stay in bed. I decided to weigh and measure myself because it was the end of the 8 weeks for TurboFire and the beginning of the Bikini Series. I knew that it wouldn’t be lower than the last time because I did take a couple weeks off from working out and I am on my period :-/ That always affects my measurements. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Week 8 –

Weight – 109.4 lbs

Waist – 25 inches

Hips – 33 inches

Thighs – 18 inches

Calves – 13.5 inches

Arms – 9.5 inches

Even though my weight is heavier – and I knew it would be. My measurements didn’t change much from the last time.  Not bad considering I spent two weeks eating out a lot and even enjoyed some cheesecake :-p

Today’s challenge was to do the Drop10 Toning and PlateauBuster workouts. I did the Drop10 x3 for my bootycall. It was a great way to wake up.  After dropping Gio off to school and taking Seppe to speech therapy it was Turbo time.

Turbo Fire Day 57 – First day of a month long of HIITs. Today was HIIT15/Sculpt30. The HIIT workout was tough – especially the last one. Lots of tuck jumps and it was hard for me to keep up. I tried to do all the jumps but I think it would have been better if I had done the modified version at the end. I was definitely out of breath at the end.  My biceps are sore from Sculpt30. I made sure to stick to the tougher resistance when doing the curls. Pushups were kind of hard for me today but I think it was just because I was tired from the HIIT. lol.

I was on a different schedule with my Drop10 workouts but for some reason last week, I stopped getting the emails that told me what workout was next. I had already done Plateau Buster on the treadmill last week but I decided to do it again.  I wanted to hit the treadmill but the two that my apartments had were broken so I did it on the elliptical instead.  I raised the resistance to 12 for the 3min interval and lowered in to 8 for the 2min interval.  If you have the resistance high enough, you will sweat with this workout :-) As usual, I end with my PlankADay – 2min.

PlateauBuster on Elliptical

Used GymBoss timer App this time :-)

Another Bikini Series challenge for today was to make a Vision Board for the next 8 weeks. I focused on quotes that motivated me and on people who inspired me – of course I had Karena, Katrina, and Chalene on my board :-) I use to think these were kind of pointless since I write my goals down and that’s good enough for me. But after making one and Seeing what I want to focus on, I see how helpful it is and I’m glad that I made one :-)  I’m not much of a cut out from magazine kind of person so I used my iPhone to make my vision board. I also made it my wall paper on my phone so I can be reminded of my goals every time I look at my phone – which is a lot! lol.

Vision Board created on my iPhone :-)

Meals –

M1: Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk with Almond Butter and Chia Seeds.

M2: Shakeology with spinach, blueberries, and peanut butter.

Enjoying my Shakeology after my TurboFire workouts.

M3: Tried out Trader Joes Chickenless Strips in a salad – spinach, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, carrots, and cucumber. Small amount of raspberry vinaigrette.

Chicken-less Strips - Not too bad. Actually has a chicken texture to it.

Yummy Salad

M4: Luna bar.

M5: Quinoa, chickenless strips, spinach, tomatoes, black beans, red kidney beans, and avocado mixed together with broccoli on top. Back to my Meatless Mondays :-)

Quinoa mix Bowl with Broccoli on top.

80 oz. water. Forgot my green tea again :-/ Not doing too well with that goal – gotta really start making an effort.

Sign up for the Bikini Series at ToneItUp.com

You can also still sign up for Self Magazine’s Drop10 Challenge

BeachBody Day58 – New Challenge

Apr16

Tone It Up started their 2nd Bikini Series on Sunday. And like all the rest of my wonderful ToneItUp Team, I am so excited! I started with their first Bikini Series last year and that was the beginning of a beautiful love affair between me and Tone It Up :-)

The Challenge for Sunday was to write down our goals for the next 8 weeks, to share two of them via twitter, facebook or the ToneItUp community, and to plan/prep for Monday and the rest of our week :-) I shared my goals in the community and two of them on Facebook.
Here’s My 8 Week Goals:
1. Complete my Big Sur 9mile race without stopping :-)
2. Drink 80 oz. of water everyday.
3. Drink at least 1c. of Green Tea everyday.
4. BootyCall Workouts 5X a week.
5. Try out new healthy recipes – especially from the BeachBabe Edition of the Nutrition Plan :-)
6. Finish my TurboFire Program.
7. Stick to Clean, Lean and Green Dinners.
8. Enjoy every moment I have with my husband and sons.

I am really looking forward to all the new workouts and other challenges for the Bikini Series :-)

Sunday Runday :-)

Workouts – Bootycall was a 3 mile run. I went without any music and had the best run I’ve had in two weeks. I don’t it was because I didn’t have music that had the  most impact on my run. I think I was more rested and better fueled. Despite an overcast day, we decided to go to the beach for a picnic. It was actually really nice.  Not too windy and cold.  The boys even went into the water and go wet.  Luckily I brought a change of clothes for them.

Boys playing in the waves.

Turbo Fire Day56 – I did Core20/Stretch 10 after dinner. I really made an effort to keep my feet up the whole time during the matt exercise. Stretch10 is always nice after a workout. It’s a short stretch but helps loosen you up.

I followed it with Tone It Up’s new Bikini Ab workout. And boy my abs were sore after that. There were a couple really tough exercises for me but I’m going to work on those.  I ended with a 2min plank.

2min on elbows.

Meals –

M1: Luna bar – something small before my run.

M2: Bowl of grapes.

M3: 6 inch Turkey Avocadio Subway on whole wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, olives, and cucumbers.  No sauce, mayo or cheese.

M4: Almond Coconut Kind Bar.

M5: Ben has to have steak because of all the blood he loss so he made some tri-tip for dinner.  I took a small piece and had some Quinoa mixed with bell peppers, mushrooms, and bean sprouts. Also had some asparagus.

Steak for dinner.

80 oz. of water. Didn’t get my green tea in :-/ It’s something I have to work hard on because I’m not use to drinking tea regularly.

Sign up for the Bikini Series at ToneItUp.com

You can also still sign up for Self Magazine’s Drop10 Challenge

BeachBody Day57 – A Long Day

Apr15

Saturdays are long days for me.  When many people get to enjoy sleeping in, I get up to my alarm around 6:30a. If I’m lucky, I can sleep until 7a and even 8a sometimes. I get up so I can I get a workout in before getting the boys up and ready for their tball games. This morning I did Tone It Up’s SelfMagazine Drop10 ToningX2 and their new Bikini Booty workout – from their BeachBabe DVD :-) My booty was feeling sore as soon as I finished!

I don’t get much of a chance to just relax at the boys’ games. I record the games and take pics so I’m on my feet the whole time walking around.  It gets very tiring. Today wasn’t that great of a day.  Seppe was fussy at the beginning of his game but cheered up eventually.  Gio was just a complete jerk to us, his coaches, and his team.  It was really embarrassing and it upset me quite a bit :-( Their games were far enough apart that we were able to come home for lunch after Seppe’s morning game.

Turbo Fire Day 55 – I decided to get my Fire45EZ and Stretch10 out of the way  before Gio’s game started.  For not having any fire drills this one still works up a really good sweat – especially if you Push yourself. I can’t really decide which combo I like the best because I really like them all :-)

After Gio’s game, I was really tired and upset. I probably should have gone for a run like I had planned on, but I didn’t. I just tried my best to relax and get through the rest of the day. It was nice that Ben prepared dinner because I didn’t feel like doing anything. PMS probably has something to do with that too :-P

Ended with a 2 min plank. So glad this day is over!

Meals –

M1: Went for a big breakfast – Egg whites, Whole Wheat toast with raw almond butter and half a banana sprinkled with cinnamon, and fruit (grapes and strawberries).

Big Protein Packed Breakfast :-)

M2: Luna bar.

M3: Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich with tomato, spinach and bell pepper.

This was Delicious :-)

M4: dark chocolate raisins w/ almonds.

M5: Left over Salmon with asparagus and quinoa.

80 oz. water and 1 c. of green tea.

BeachBody Day55 – Stretched Out

Apr15

It’s amazing what foam rolling and a hot shower can do to worn out muscles! I woke up Thursday morning and my legs felt much better. I could walk without pain.  I’m glad that I took it easy yesterday after my long run.  I was able to get up and do a bootycall workout :-) I went with Bikini Blast – 20 reps X3sets. I was planning on starting the new  5 Day Slim Down from Tone It Up’s Beach Babe Edition but I realized that with my training for my Big Sur race coming up in a couple weeks, I would need to eat more.  I decided to wait until after my Big Sur race to do the slim down :-)

That didn’t stop me from trying out the new recipes though :-) For breakfast I tried the Banana Split recipe.  I didn’t have carob chips but I did have Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk so I used that instead. I also added some chia seeds.  This was soooo good!! After I dropped Seppe off at school, it was time for some Turbo Fire.

Decaf Green Tea w/ Stevia to start my day.

Turbo Fire Day 53 – For Core 20 I really pushed myself.  The floor exercises are always hard for me but I really made an effort to keep up with them today.  It burned so bad! I know it’ll be worth it though :-) Stretch40 was amazing! It was exactly what my body needed.  Even though the beginning moves work up a sweat, by the end of it, I am completely relaxed and all stretched out :-)

Last Interval before cool down. Love the Seconds Pro App!

Afternoon workout was Tone It Up’s and SelfMagazine’s Drop10 Engine Revver HIIT workout.  Since it was cold and rainy out, I headed to the gym.  I don’t mind running in the rain, but my knees needed a little break from pounding pavement. The elliptical isn’t too bad when doing a HIIT and it was actually easier for me to do the workout on the elliptical instead of the treadmill. Ended my day with a 5min plank for PlankADay.

Elliptical HIIT - Drop10 Engine Revver

Meals –

M1: Banana Split with Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk and chia seeds.

Banana Split from Beach Babe Edition

M2: Apple

M3: Chicken Cranberry Walnut salad from Carls Jr. Had to be out of the house during lunch while our carpets were being cleaned.  This is what Ben and the boys wanted so I made the best of it.  The salad wasn’t too bad.

M4: Luna bar and chocolate Zico.

M5: Salmon Burger on whole wheat sandwich thins with mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach and bean sprouts.  Ben made dinner :-) I added the mushrooms and the bean sprouts.

Salmon Burger made by my hubby.

Did not do well with my water today :-( Only 40 oz. and 1 Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day50

Mar25

I’ve decided to take Saturdays off from blogging/social networking. It’s a busy day for me with the boy’s tball games and I like to enjoy the day with my family without worrying about my blog, Twitter, and Facebook. As much as I love being online, I think it’s good to unplug and focus on what is most important :-)

But since, it’s Sunday – I’ve plugged back in. lol. Yesterday wasn’t too bad of a day. I enjoyed sleeping in. I tried out Kale Chips for the first time. Yum!! And Ben liked them too so I will definitely be making more :-) I also prepped a kale salad using the salad dressing from Karena’s recipe.  I would have loved to make the exact one they have on their blog but I didn’t have all the ingredients. I put in what I had and I’m looking forward to having it for dinner tonight.

1st Time making Kale Chips - success!

Salad prepped for Sunday dinner: Kale, carrots, tomatoes, kidney beans, and black beans.

Workouts:

Mad Abs March Day 24 – 37 pushups!! Yikes! I’m actually sore from it today.

Went for a 4 mile run.

Easy pace for my run.

Can you tell that I got rained on?

Ben and the boys at the spa while it rained.

Tone It Up’s Self Magazine Drop10 Toning Workout – used 5lb. weights and a 10lb.Kettlebell. I was going to use my usual 6lb. medicine ball but Gio convinced me to use the heavier kettle bell for a challenge.

Turbo Fire Day 48 – Fire45 is more like a dance party to me than a workout.  This has the Best music and is so much fun!! I’m always singing “Boom I Got Your Boyfriend” for the rest of the day :-) I really wish I could get the soundtrack to these workouts to have on my iPhone.  I’d probably bust out doing the moves when I hear it.

2 min plank – 30 second on hands, 30 second each side, 30 seconds on hands. I really didn’t feel like doing it but I made myself.  Doing these PlankADays has really helped my core and if I skip more than one day, I’ll keep on skipping. Gotta stay on top of it.

Meals:

M1 – Mini Luna bar. Needed to put something in my stomach since I slept in.

M2 – 2 Buckwheat Banana Pancakes with Maple Syrup and 4 Apple Chicken Sausages.

Smile :-)

When I'm craving syrup for my pancakes I turn to TJ's Organic Maple Syrup.

M3 – Left over Trader Joe’s Turkey Chili with Beans on top of Brown Rice with spinach added in.

Warmed up the Brown rice and Chili, added spinach and mixed. The heat softened the spinach up.

M4 – Peanut and Dark Chocolate Kind Bar.

M5 – Quinoa with Turkey and Spinach Red Sauce

60 o.z of water and 1 Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day49

Mar23

What a Long day! I could have really used a nap today. Today was Gio’s last day before his 3 week Spring Break :-/ I will have to change up my routine a little bit and hopefully I will get a week break with them at Grandmas – fingers crossed. lol.

Day Started at 6a – Bootycall: Day 23 of Mad Abs March – 36 pushups, 44sec side plank, and 46 crunches + MiyaTv Beach Workout with Tone It Up – 20 reps eachX3 sets. Used 6lb. medicine ball during lunges and 5lb. weights for dead lifts.

Self Magazine & Tone It Up Drop10 Diet Inch Eraser HIIT workout. Incline set at 3 during the workout and at 5 during the cool down. Jogging pace was 6.5mph and Sprint pace was 8-8.2 mph. The last few 90 sec sprints were tough.

Tone It Up and Self Magazine's Drop10 Challenge :-) Join Now!

Week1 Workout2 - Inch Eraser 90 sec Sprint/ 3min jog Repeat 6X with 5min cool down

Tone It Up’s Friday Happy Hour Challenge – 40 of your Favorite Exercise Every Hour! – I chose to do tummy tucks :-) Started at 9a ended at 10p. Missed a couple hours but made them up by adding an extra set the following couple hours.

Turbo Fire Day 47 – Did this a lot later than I usually do. Fire55EZ is a long workout but I went all out today.  I had an audience with Ben and the boys watching me the whole time :-/ Lol. I felt like I jumped really high during the tuck jumps today! I could feel my feet actually leave the ground :-) Tuck jumps are super hard for me so I’m really happy that I’m improving.

That pretty much wiped me out. Ending with a 2 min plank.

Meals:

M1: Leftover protein pancake with almond butter, banana, and cinnamon with a side of fruit salad.

Last protein pancake and fruit bowl.

M2: 1/4 c. of Dark Choc Almonds – on the go.

M3: Finally tried the Avocado Egg Salad from Self Magazine Drop10 menu. It was soooo good!! I only used plain Chobani Greek yogurt and mustard. I haven’t had a whole egg in a while but it was nice to have it again. I like that it only calls for one egg.  My 5 yr. old loved it and wants it for lunch tomorrow so it’s definitely a keeper :-)

Avocado Egg Salad from Drop10 Diet Menu

M4: Post workout shake – Chocolate Shakeology with almond butter and frozen blueberries. Seppe decided to drink a good portion of it too. lol. He loves Chocolate Shakeology.

~ While at Seppe’s practice, I got a little hungry. I reached in my bag for a power bar but got an almond Snickers bar. It’s been in there for about a month. lol. I decided to eat it :-) I haven’t had a candy bar in a Long time and I needed some “happy” food.

M5: Didn’t have anything prepped for dinner and I was super tired.  Ben wanted Panda and got some for him and the boys. I went for some Trader Joe’s Turkey Chili with Beans. The can is 2 servings so I just had half so I only had 1 serving :-) It was  actually very filling and yummy.

Trader Joe's Turkey Chili with Beans

80 oz. water and 1 Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day48

Mar22

Despite a rough emotional night, I got up at 6a and did Tone It Up’s Self Magazine Drop10 Toning workout and Mad Abs March Day22. The 35 pushups were extremely hard. I think it’s because I did Day21 last night instead of yesterday in the morning. My arms were still fired from the 34 pushups.

Turbo Fire Day 46 – I think I’m doing better with the bicep curls in Tone30. I think I’d do better with weights than the band especially since it’s only 1 set of 12 followed with a set of 8. I think the band is working though. I guess I just want to see faster results. lol. I think I’ve got Fire30 down! Had so much fun today. I always have fun with the Fire workouts.  It’s dancing and kickboxing mixed together with HIIT to great music.  I really wish I had someone to do it with.

I kind of swapped my days on my Drop10 Challenge.  Today was suppose to be a Rest day but since all I did was run yesterday, I counted that as my Rest Day.  I wanted to do the second HIIT workout, but just didn’t have time. I’m glad though because my knees and legs are still tight from yesterday’s long run.  I did do the Toning workout earlier and Tomorrow’s schedule is the second HIIT so I will definitely be doing it :-)

Ben wanted to brush up on his basketball skills before playing with his coworkers tonight, so we went to the park and played a couple games of 21. Let’s just say that I have a slight Disadvantage with Ben being a whole foot taller than me :-/ Lol. He was nice enough not to just stand by the net and score off my many missed free throws. I did score some points by taking advantage of his missed shots thought :-) It was a lot of fun. We went back to the park with the boys but I did an NTC workout (Fighter Fit) while he played with Gio.  I chose one that didn’t require any equipment and it was really nice to workout outdoors.

I didn’t want to do my Plank for today.  I had already done one during the MadAbs workout and during the NTC workout.  But I made myself do a 5 min plank to end my night. For the last minute I did hip dips and tried a move Chalene Johnson posted.

“Start on your elbow in plank. Slowly rotate and drop your left hip allow the right foot to lift and hips to stack. Alternate slowly dropping, rotating to tap each hip."

Meals:

M1: Mutligrain Raisin Oatmeal w/ cocoa almond butter, blueberries, and chia seeds.

M2: Fruit Salad w/ handful of almonds.

Fruit for a big salad I made for Gio - and me :-)

Added a handful of almonds for some protein.

M3: Salmon, brown rice, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms.

Salmon Rice bowl topped with avocado.

M4: Larabar

M5: Salmon, broccoli, and asparagus.

60 oz. of water and 1 Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day46

Mar20

I forced myself out of bed at 6a today. I think my main problem is that I stay up way too late. Lol. Gotta make an effort to get to bed earlier so I have the energy to do my workouts and deal with Life.  Started with Day20 of MadAbs March. 32 Pushups!! It’s slow going once I hit 20, but I manage to do it all on my feet :-) Did Tone It UP’s SelfMagazine Drop10 Toning workout – used 6lb. medicine ball again for Side Slimmer and Kick Outs. The Total Transformer Move was really hard on my knees this morning so after the first set, I modified it by bending my knees and doing one leg at a time.

After dropping the boys off at school and doing some grocery shopping, it was time for Turbo Fire.

Restocked my Fruit Bowl

Turbo Fire Day44 – Started with Sculpt30. I really focus on making the bands tighter for the bicep curls. I want to have some guns :-) Lol. Mini ones at least. Did some more pushups on my feet for this workout.  After doing 32, a set of 4 and a set of 8 wasn’t too bad. The tricep exercises were tough today because my arms were sore from doing the Drop10 workout.  I went all out for Fire30.  Did all the jumps and turns.  I Punched and Kicked hard. Having so much fun now that I know all the moves.

Before dinner I hit the gym to do Tone It Up’s Max Burn Pyramid X2. For the 5 minute runs, I did it an incline of 5 – to get some hill training in. I was drenched with sweat at the end. I’ve been wanting to do this workout since it was posted. I love it.

Total Miles doing Max Burn Pyramid

Counting the Side Planks from this mornings’ Mad Abs Day20 and the two planks for the MaxBurn Pyramid as part of my plankaday. I’m just way too tired to do a separate on tonight. I’ll make sure to do a long one tomorrow.

Meals – Fuel up day for my long run tomorrow so a little more carbs.

M1: Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk w/ almond butter and chia seeds.

M2: Half a banana that Gio didn’t want to eat for breakfast, a small pear and 6 dark chocolate almonds.

Fruit, Nuts and Chocolate :-)

M3: Left over Seafood, Veggies, Quinoa, and Black Bean Collard Wrap w/ frozen grapes. Seppe ate half the grapes – looks like someone else has realized how yummy frozen grapes are :-)

Collard Wrap with Grapes

M4: Almond Coconute Kind Bar

M5: Whole Wheat past with ground turkey and spinach red sauce.

Whole Wheat pasta to carb up for tomorrow's long run.

80 oz. of water and a Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day45

Mar19

I decided to join Tone It Up and Self Magazine’s Drop 10 Challenge. I’m not looking to lose 10 lbs – only 5 at the most.  And if I don’t lose any, I wouldn’t be disappointed either. I am always looking for new and fun ways to get toned.  Self Magazine and Tone It Up had a great workout last year so I knew this one would be a good one too. I checked out the workouts and the menu first.  The meals really got my attention. I am dying to try the Avocado Egg Salad.  I would have made it today if I had the ingredients. I will be heading to the store to stock up on ingredients tomorrow :-)

I missed my bootycall workout this morning though. I turned my alarm off and fell back asleep – before I knew it, it was an hour later O_o Lol. It was a rush to get the kids to school.  After Seppe’s speech therapy, I decided to get my TurboFire workout done. I did Day19 of Mad Abs March first – 37 sec side plank, 38 crunches, and 31 pushups. Oh man the pushups were hard today, but I am determined to do them all on my feet.

Turbo Fire Day 43 – I really focused on my intensity with Fire55EZ today.  I punched hard and kicked as high as I could.  I jumped with the high low punches and did all the tuck jumps :-) The hour just flew by and I was a little sad when it was over.  I seriously have so much fun with these workouts.

For my afternoon workout I did the Toning and Cardio HIIT workouts for the Drop10 Challenge. When I looked at the toning workout, I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be.  It looked pretty straight forward. It turned out to be tougher than I thought :-/ The Total Transformer move was killer, along with the Super Plank.  My favorite was the Kick Out and Side Slimmer. I added a 6 lb. medicine to the Side Slimmer and to the Kick Out. I used 5 lb. weights for the other exercises. I think I’ll be doing this workout for bootycalls. The HIIT workout was 15 min with 8 sec sprints and 12 second recovery.  I think I sprinted for about 10 sec at a time.  I added a 3 incline during the intervals and did a 5 incline for the 5 min cool down.  It was short but I was drenched in sweat when I was done – that’s why I love HIIT workouts.  They don’t have to be long to get your sweating :-)

Drop10 HIIT workout - 15min w/ 5min cool down at incline 5.

To makeup for missing my bootycall workout, I did two NTC workouts – Ab Burner and Shawn Johnson’s Stretch Guide.  The stretching felt great. I’m no where near as flexible as Shawn Johnson but the moves really stretched me out. Ended with a 2 min a plank on my hands.

Meals – I didn’t have everything I needed to follow the meal plan for the Drop 10 but I will definitely be picking up ingredients for the recipes that I want to try. And there are quite a few recipes on the meal plan that I want to try out :-)  I am really enjoying my Meatless Mondays. It’s really not that hard to find other sources of protein.

M1: FlaxPlus Oatmeal with 1/2 tbsp of cocoa almond butter, chia seeds and strawberries.

Just a little bit of cocoa almond butter goes a long way.

M2: Red Pear – this was really sweet and juicy.

Mini Red Pear was sweet and juicy.

M3: Black beans, brown rice and spinach sautéed together and topped with avocado and tomato.

This was filling and yummy :-)

M4: Veggie and Flaxseed Tortilla Chips with Olive Tapenade

I love these Veggie Flaxseed Tortilla Chips from TraderJoes.

M5: Teriyaki Tofu browned and served with brussel sprouts.

Tofu and Veggies.

80 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day42

Mar19

This is a few days late because I took a little break from blogging. I needed it.  I’m always on the move – always having to do something.  There is always so much to do and very little time to do it all. Life can easily pass us by without us even knowing it. So as much as I wanted to blog, edit videos, and do more workouts, I put on the breaks.  My brother came for a short visit and seeing as I haven’t seen him since before he was deployed to Afghanistan and that I have no idea when I’ll see him again because he’s moving to Texas, I decided to spend my Friday night hanging out with him :-)

The boys with their Uncle PJ :-)

I don’t see my family much. Not because I don’t want to – it’s just how we are. We’re all very independent from one another. At one time, I did wish we were different and more like families who saw one another regularly. But I’ve come to accept how my family is. It’s not that we don’t love each other.  This is just how we are.  We value the time we do spend together and know that we can count on one another when we need help. Now if only certain people could accept how my family works and stop trying to change that. Lol.

My brother didn’t arrive until dinner time Friday so I got most of workouts done before he arrived.

Bootycall was Day16 of Mad Abs Marc: 34s side plank, 32 crunches, and 27 pushups (all on my feet – and yes it was very hard for me)

ToneItUp’s SandCastle Workout – 20 reps each X3 sets with 5lb. weights.

3 Mile run – only got rained on a little bit on the way back.

After my 3 mile run heading up 4 flights of stairs.

Turbor Fire Day40 – Fire55EZ: I’m liking this one more and more every time I do it :-) Probably because I’m able to do almost every move correctly now. I’m really pushing myself – especially during the fire drills.  Doing all the tuck jumps and star jacks.

Happy Hour Challenge – 1 min plank every hour from 8a – 10p. Missed one at 7p so I did a 2min at 8p to make up for it.

8a Plank

9a Plank

10a plank - had to do it a little early.

11a Plank - running a little late.

12p Plank

1p Plank

2p Plank

3p Plank

4p Plank

5p Plank

6p Plank

2min plank for 7p and 8p

9p Plank

Last Plank for the Happy Hour Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meals – Did pretty good. I made a special dinner for my brother with Lumpia and pot stickers, but I made a lean dinner for myself.

M1: Chobani Honey with granola and almond butter.

My quick go to Breakfast - Chobani, granola and almond butter.

M2: Luna bar.

M3: I was craving some protein pancakes so I made some :-) These wound up being the best ones I’ve ever made. I wound up using a whole banana because it was a little over ripe but I think that helped it turn out so well.  Topped with a small amount of cocoa almond butter. I just put enough on so that the strawberry slices had something to stick to.

Batter turned blue after adding frozen blueberries.

Made 3 smaller pancakes instead of 1 big one.

They turned out perfect!

I only ate 2 - topped with cocoa almond butter and strawberries.

M4: Almond Nut Thins with olive hummus and olive tapenade.

Nut Thins w/ Hummus and Olive Tapenade

M5: Left over Salmon and asparagus w/ quinoa.  I did enjoy 2 pieces of lumpia with my brother. Keeping myself to 2 was hard because I Love lumpia. Luckily my brother ate a lot of it so there wasn’t much left.

Salmon, asparagus and quinoa.

80 oz. of water and 1 Zico.