Tag Archives: healthy-living

Spring Cleaning, Body edition

So not only is my plan to clean the house from North to South to East to West before Easter (which this year is March 31st!  I know right!!!)  But I am also re-re-committing myself to healthy living.  *I probably should add a couple more re-re’s on there since I’ve committed many times already.  Like I’ve said before I’m not completely unhealthy – but I do like to snack and my snacks are usually in triangular salty form…  Hee hee.

My nemesis...

My nemesis…

I mean I can’t help myself…I say they are for HunBun but do you think that HunBun actually eats those Hint of Lime Tostitos?  Heck no…that’s all me!

Anyway.  I’ve renewed my quest for a balance of living healthy and healthy living.  I am really motivated this year to get my 2:00 goal time at my next half marathon (Disneyland in September).  I’ve been working on speed intervals on the treadmill combined with weighted & body weight exercises.  This morning I did 8 sprints at 7.0mph with 5.0mph rests between with a 7.7mph on that last one.  I did each sprint/rest at 1 min each.  My plan is to do that for a week then increase those sprint/rest times to 1.5 min and up and up until I’m running at 7.0mph for long stretches of time.  I think that gradual approach will get me used to turning my feet over faster and keeping that speed consistent.

To support my running/toning plan I’ve returned to my blended approach to eating.  I use the Tone It Up plan for both eating and exercise.  I also refer to a great book I read, S.A.S.S. Yourself Slim by Cynthia Sass, which helps with balancing each meal with healthy elements.  Both are super easy plans and don’t ask you to give up anything – which I like a lot.  Here’s what I’ve been eating the last 2 days (Oh, I didn’t take photos of the 2 handfuls of peanut M&Ms I shoved in my piehole after dinner, HA!).

Protein pancake and fresh fruit

Protein pancake and fresh fruit

Yesterday's snack - blueberries & coffee

Yesterday’s snack – blueberries & coffee

Bought something new for quick lunches...and Gluten Free to boot!

Bought something new for quick lunches…and Gluten Free to boot!

Rice & Bean Veggie bowl for Lunch

Rice & Bean Veggie bowl for Lunch

Tuesday's breakfast.  Oh yeah, that is a green pancake.

Tuesday’s breakfast. Oh yeah, that is a green pancake.

So I’m doing pretty good and feeling pretty good too.

Later today after work I’ll be doing a crafty project to get all my race bibs out of the drawer and on display.  I’ll post the finished product when it’s all done(hopefully this week  🙂  ).

Crafty project for later

Crafty project for later

See ya later!

Cathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, monday. la laa la laa laa laaaa

Not sure if you all know that song but it sure is something you can hum along too…since I don’t know any words but Monday and La.  🙂

Janathon…Janathon…Janathon.  I didn’t get my Saturday post in within 24 hours, but that’s because I didn’t do any “exercise“.  Did a bunch of walking around the house and ran some errands – but nothing you would define as “exercise” for the day.  Bleah.

Sunday, January 13th: Ran 5.5 treadmill miles.

Push up challenge:  10 FU’s and a bunch of planks.

Who out there as an iFit enabled piece of exercise equipment?  Well ever since iFit changed their website my treadmill has not communicated at all with my iFit website.  So annoying when you pay for a service that no longer works.  I sent an email with my issues a bit ago and am waiting for the response.  I have another issue to write in about – “Unable to download workout – Error” that I got on my machine this weekend.  ARGH!

Monday, January 14th: A.M. free weights for the arms.

Push up challenge: 10 FU’s and a few chaturanga’s too.

I’m going to take a run/walk up to the Starbucks at lunch time to get 2 miles in and hitting up Vinyasa Flow this evening.

This weekend HunBun and I are headed to Disneyland so I can run the 5K and Half-Marathon.  We’re hoping the weather stays clear so the Grapevine (I5 route’s through the mountains) is easy to drive.  Last weekend they closed it down for 20 hours…and people were stuck!  No thanks!

Enjoy your Monday!

See ya later.

Cathy

 

Janathon Day 10 update…and Day 11 start

What up Janathoners!  So long as you’re getting active for this first month in 2013…that’s the best thing.  🙂

Janathon imageThursday, January 10th: 5-6pm Muscle & Flow

Push Up Challenge:  9 FU style!

Friday, January 11th: …nothing yet…

Push Up Challenge: 10 FU style and 20 Knees!

I’m making sure to do a little something every day.  This weekend I’m going to mentally prepare for those 2 little races noted on the right side of this post.  You see those?  Yeah, the NeverLand 5K and Tinkerbell Half are next weekend!  I will freely admit that I have not maintained my training plan.  Did not complete near the number of distance miles that I should have.  I have maintained levels of fitness by yoga’ing and circuit training – so I am hopeful that I will be carried by that and the excitement of running with thousands of others.  I will prepare myself not to be disappointed with my time…but plan on pushing myself to accomplish my goals.  No giving in here!

I enjoyed the green smoothie starter for every meal.  Certainly kept me filled up and hydrated at the same time.  I’ve been using water in the smoothies to keep them light.  Although yesterday I made a batch of date balls…must have had 25 finished balls….this morning I only had 2 balls left.  Whoops!  Guess they are a little too tasty.  🙂

See ya later

Cathy

 

Janathon Day 9…starting off on a new foot for Day 10

Yesterday I was lame on the exercise and eating front.  Boo!  😦

Janathon image Wednesday, January 9th: Firm Your Butt workout.

Push up challenge: 8 FU Push ups.  I totally forgot to do the knee ones, since I procrastinated on those and said I was doing them “later”.  Boo, #2!

I went into the office yesterday because I needed to switch out my work Blackberry.  Yes, I am still on a Blackberry for work.  It works for me – in fact works very well – when I don’t have one that sucks battery juice like it’s the sweet sweet nectar of the gods.  Well the first replacement BB could not be registered…the second replacement BB was an extremely old model that sucked battery juice like it was that sort of sweet & sour drink that you want to chug but can’t.  So yesterday’s visit to the office was to work with the super awesome ladies who always get it right.  Now I’m just waiting for the Helpdesk to call me back to set up my corporate email account so I can be productive when I’m away from my desk.

All that busyness went on past the time I wanted to leave – so I missed my Vinyasa Flex class.  Boo, #3!

I need to just face the simple fact that I am a morning exerciser.

morning exerciseYesterday morning, or Janathon Day 9 – I did this Firm Your Butt workout from Self magazine.  I would love to have this workout give me this butt.  Seriously.

firm-your-butt-00-fiss431**This is also why I’m starting off the day with a green smoothie – because no matter how much you exercise it is really what you eat that matters.  Anyhoo…

So yesterday morning I grabbed my exercise ball and told my butt to get lost.  Let me tell you something, it is not easy to get your balance on those exercise balls.

wpid-IMG_20130110_063050.jpg

The first exercise was not too difficult because you had really 3 touchpoints with the ground, your knee, your foot and the ball you were leaning on.  But the rest all have just 2 touchpoints – which means you have got to go slow and focus.  Your core is essential to maintaining your balance on these balls.  The “easiest” one?  Booty pop for sure.  I can booty pop my brains out – but good gravy the others required much more concentration.

Janathon Day 10 started off with 9 FU push ups.  I’m planning on going to my Muscle & Flow class tonight – then going to do the Tone Your Gut workout from the same Self magazine if you’ve got the physical copy – or just clickety-click on that link up there for free.

Breakfast started with a green smoothie…and a hot cup of cinnamon & honey.

wpid-IMG_20130110_063137.jpg

I’ve been reading about the benefits of cinnamon & honey so started to drink a “hot toddy” with those two delights in the morning.  Looks like you’re drinking reddish brown water – but tastes pretty nice.

Now I’m ready to start the day.  Only 3 conference calls on the docket today – but I’ve got a lot of thinking and writing to do so I can finish up my strategy document.  I expect some staring into space will occur.

See ya later

Cathy

So unmotivated…..UGH!

I’m hoping that as I do my Janathon Day 7 update it will motivate me to do my exercise for Janathon Day 8.  Still hoping……

Janathon image

Monday, January 7th: 5-6pm Vinyasa Flow class at XploreYoga

Push Up Challenge:  7 FU’s (full-on style, just so you know I’m not swearing at you acronym style) and 20 Knees.  My yoga instructor may have chaturanga’d my arms to fatigue in class because it took me a while to get my 7 FU’s in and then to maintain my baseline of 20 Knees.  Eeesh.

I watched the Biggest Loser Sunday night and Monday night.  While I love Jillian Michaels…she sure turned on the beast factor this season.  I mean I get the need to motivate people – but it became apparent that these folks were not responding to her “in your face/drill sergeant” style of motivation.  On Monday when they had their little pow-wow and she agreed to modify her approach to better suit the needs of her team I was quite surprised.  Although it didn’t help as she is now down to 2 in just 2 shows.  Super Yikes!

Sooooo… I haven’t gotten motivated yet for more exercise on Janathon Day 8.  The only thing I have done is a ton of squats while on a conference call (otherwise I’d feel like a total slug) and 8 FU pushups at around 430pm.

I really need to NOT hit the snooze bar in the morning and just get my butt into that freezing cold garage and run or circuit my way to a warm sweaty state.  I’m so lame.

Tomorrow…Day 9 I predict will be much more sweaty than Day 8.  Count on it!

See ya later

Cathy

Janathon – Day 6 (quick update)

Supposed to do 8…did 4.  BLEAH!

Janathon image

Sunday, January 6th: Treadmill 4 miles (SSSSLLLLLLOOOOOWWWW) and my PU (push up) challenge.  I did 7 FU (full on) PU’s and 20 knee PU’s!

Whoopie!  I did 2 more FU PU’s  than I completed Saturday so I am super jazzed about that.

I keep my arms close to the side of my body – similar to a yoga chaturanga (I posted a Lululemon link for reference).  I feel more confident in my form when I keep my arms close, it allows me to move slowly through the move and not just collapse down and then wobble my way back up.

How to Chaturanga

I do my FU push ups first because that allows me to go until fatigue – or my form gets all janky.  Plus this is what I want to improve so I’d rather have my full arm strength (what little I have) available to do these.

Once my FU form is lost I transition to my knees to do as many knee style push ups as I can (trying to maintain at least 20 since that was my baseline).

Once I get super strong…maybe I’ll do these…  Heck Yeah!

See ya later…with my Janathon Day 7 update.

Cathy

 

Oh yeah…it’s Freedom Friday!!!

Another chilly start to a Bay Area morning.  Brrrr.  38° at 8:10am?  Bleah!

Janathon imageSo a Janathon update is in order!  If you don’t know what Janathon is, click on that handy hyperlink up there and check it out.  It’s a super fun way to keep you moving and help with the accountability part (yeah the sucky part).    What you do is you blog (or FB post or Tweet) within 24 hours of completing your daily exercise.  So like I said yesterday I kinda bombed on the 24 hour update on January 1st…but then caught right back up with yesterday’s update.  So I’m here again to be accountable for not sucking.  😀

Last night I headed to XploreYoga for my normal 5-6pm Muscle & Flow class…unfortunately my instructor was out sick so I did another 5-6pm Vinyasa Flex with Elise.  I love the flex class but was hoping for some core and super sweating.  So Elise nicely added in some power yoga sequences to her normal flow.  I’m getting much more confident in my Wheel poses – not as worried I’m going to snap my neck because of my weak arms.  So bonus for me.  😀

Then this morning I dragged myself out of my warm bed…for which I shall thank my overheating body.  I don’t know what’s the deal but I get so hot when I sleep so it’s either on with the covers or off with the covers.  Drives HunBun absolutely nuts.  So I was too hot to stay in bed – which means I got dressed in my warm work out clothes to go freeze in the garage.  At least freeze until I got all warmed up from jumping around.  I did my 30 minute circuit (12 cycles of 1 min on and 10 sec rest for 2 circuits.  I did a bunch of old school calisthenics for the first circuit and focused on arms and squats (lift that butt up!) in the second circuit.  I held my forearm plank for the very last minute – WHOO WHEE!  That was a nice finish!

So Janathon report – Complete!

Thursday, January 3: 1 hour Vinyasa Flex class with Elise

Friday, January 4: 30 minute circuit in the garage!

For breakfast I ate some gluten free overnight oats I made up yesterday.  Super simple: 1/4 cup Oikos greek yogurt, 1/4 cup GF steel cut oats, chopped up apple, chopped up pecans and some pumpkin pie spice.  Stir it up and put in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.  I put it in canning jars with the screw lid to make it easy.   I prefer the GF steel cut oats – gives it more chew.

So that’s it for my Friday morning.  I must say I’m off to a great start!

See ya later!

Cathy

 

Happy New Year and all that stuff!

It’s been a while for sure.  I decided to take a break from practically everything binding during the holidays.  I just flopped here & there depending on how I felt or what someone in the family decided they wanted to do for the day.  It was really cold up here in Northern California (I know 30’s are not cold to many of you…but it was hecka cold to us)…so we didn’t want to spend too much time out in that cold and brisky air.

I did run a 5K on the 29th and came home with a runny nose and stuffy head for the next 2 days.  I didn’t realize how cold it was going to be waiting for our start.  Then after you heat up while running it certainly doesn’t help to stop and cool down so suddenly.  But oh well.

So I decided on my 2013 resolutions.  2012 was sort of successful….but not completely – especially the financially based resolution.  I know most folks say the best resolutions are S.M.A.R.T – Specific  Measurable  Actionable  Reasonable  and Time Bound.  Mine are sort of SMART….

2013 Resolutions

I do like them a lot.  I have some health…some wealth…and some well-being going on.  They are all things that are hard to wiggle out of – which is excellent for me but also things that I need to pay attention to.  I’ll do a 6 month review to see how far I’ve come.  🙂

I did join the Janathon as a way to stay motivated at the start of the year.  Of course I failed on the first day…not doing the exercise but more the blogging after it.  So I’m going to catch up right now!

Tuesday, January 1st: Took a 2 mile walk with the HunBun to Starbucks.

Wednesday, January 2nd: 1 hour Vinyasa Flex class with Elise at XploreYoga.

Thursday, January 3rd: 30 min treadmill intervals & 20 min arms circuit.

So I’m going great for the Janathon AND resolution #1.  I do have to go to the grocery today for some milk and cold cuts for 12yo’s lunch and breakfasts…but not really buying a whole lot else – so that hits resolution #2.  I’ve also acknowledged myself at the end of the last 2 days – so ka-pow #3!

Whew!  Now to translate all this productivity and accomplishment to the work day.

See ya later!

Cathy

 

 

 

 

Goodbye rain….or that’s what the weather folks say

Yesterday was full of rain, rain, rain.  I dislike driving in the rain not only because the roads are slick but because of people who act like the rain requires them to drive as ridiculous as possible.  It’s either folks driving really fast, switching lanes and kicking up walls of water OR it’s the folks who drive extremely slow no matter the lane and brake like 40 feet before any car or intersection (no matter if the light is still green).  UGH!

The weather folks say that we had our last band of storms yesterday…so I’m expecting a return to normality on the California freeways and roads.  Fingers crossed.

So I finally opened the swag bag I got at the Athleta store opening on Tuesday night…I know I took a while.  Some pretty nifty stuff in there.

Athleta swag

Athleta swag

I need to start using my regular camera to take photos for the blog.  My Instagram App pictures are just not cutting it.  Bleah.

Snack Attack

So yesterday I was in a snacky mood.  So I poured a handful of cashews, dried cherries and dark chocolate baking chips onto a plate to eat while going through work emails.  Then I made myself a Swiss Miss Dark Chocolate cup of cocoa.  That instant mix is definitely one to try.  Tastes rich and creamy even when made with water.  I haven’t made with milk yet which I may try today with almond milk (cause of my tummy), if I’m craving cocoa later today.

 

 

 

Eats

I’ve been eating my normal protein pancake breakfasts and my random veggie lunches.  I am always envious of folks who have left overs to warm up but usually make just enough to feed the family with maybe a teeny tiny bit that wouldn’t fill anyone’s plate for a next day meal.

 

 

 

Pumpkin pancake

Pumpkin pancake

Pancake with some new toppings

Pancake with some new toppings

Veggie lunch

Veggie lunch

Sweats

I did a circuit workout yesterday morning to start the day right.

Warmed up with 2 minutes of sun salutations, followed by 12 sets of 60sec/10sec of plyometrics and old fashioned calisthenics (jumping jacks, high knees, etc.), then ending with 12 sets of 60sec/10sec of upper body exercises.

Whew!  Sweaty delight.  I like moving so quickly from one exercise to the next, doing that gets your heart pumping and keeps it pumping until the very end.

Then I went to Vinyasa Flex over at my yoga studio, Xplore Yoga.  The instructor focused on hamstring flexibility – which is great for my half-marathon training.  I always find I am more comfortable with my form when I continue with my yoga practice.

Finished the night by cooking some dinner for the family, trying to read all the blogs I subscribe to (didn’t) then falling asleep around 9:30pm.  I pressed some button on my alarm clock and couldn’t figure out what was happening with it.  It just showed 0:09.  Wha?!?  So after 10 minutes of fiddling with it HunBun said “hey maybe that’s the time you set for the snooze”.  Der!  As soon as I hit the snooze button the time showed up.  ARGH!

This morning I did a hill workout on the treadmill followed by 10 minutes of upper arm/back exercises with 3lb dumbbells.  I’m working hard to get that little jelly spot tightened up, you know that piece right under your arm pit?  Yeah that one.  It’s getting smaller…so I’m on the right track.  🙂

Anyhoo….gotta drop the boy off at school then get to working!

See ya later

Cathy

 

Back…with a new word!

I know right?!?  That’s what my 10yo would say and I find most appropriate here.  Long break again where I just didn’t find a moment to log in and jot stuff down.  So let’s catch up shall we?

It wasn’t a Staycation it was a Projecation

So last week HunBun and I took time off from work to do a bunch of stuff that we had procrastinated long enough on.  You know how you do “around the house projects” and then look back and say “why didn’t we do that last year (or 2 years ago)?”  Yeah, that’s us.  So with the wonky weather in the Bay Area, CA last week we decided that it was going to be filled with long awaited projects – Whee!  Bleah!

The weather was a major decider in what we dd every day.  So with Monday being projected as rain-free, we decided to tackle the dirt square by the front door.  Now it hasn’t always been a dirt square, but over time the plants got all janky and we moved the big tree that was the focal point…so that gradually it became that uneven dirt/rock spot RIGHT WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE!  It irritated HunBun to his last nerve…so we decided to do this.

Now that's a welcome

Now that’s a welcome

We planted 3 palms and then covered the dirt with some landscaping river rocks.  We have to get taller pots for the 3 plants we’ll have in the back right under the window.  The current plants are in shorter pots and we need some height change for effect.  Thanks HGTV!

We should have kept going on the other side of the door where we have a rectangle planting area under the other window.  But this project took us about 4.5 hours and we were hecka tired from lugging rocks and placing them.

Then the rain came….

wpid-IMG_20121130_094905.jpgwpid-PANO_20121202_094243.jpgwpid-IMG_20121202_085328.jpgSo when it was cold and wet outside we spent the days inside doing everyone’s favorite maintenance activity – touch up painting – YAH!  You know those projects where you can’t tell you did anything?  That’s what touch up painting is.  I mean I guess the crown and base looks shinier…and we don’t have those random pencil/scuff/chip spots in the hallway, office, master bedroom, master bathroom, front bathroom, laundry room.  But really you can’t tell that we spent 2.5 days doing touch up painting.  Well except in the laundry room where the door and casing went from a yellowish straight from Home Depot color to a crisp clean white.  And in the hallway where we unfortunately, for us, used a different paint finish on the touch ups and can now see blops of color here and there.  UGH.  We’ll have to re-touch the hall when we do the front room where the Christmas tree is since both rooms are the same gray color.  I don’t have any pictures for you…since it’d look like I was just showing you pictures of every room in our house.  🙂

So my new word, projecation is really because we did a whole bunch of projects while on our “vacation” or “staycation” as they call it now since we didn’t go anywhere.  Well projecation can cause some provocation of mini arguments and irritations.  Too much together time?  No more like two people who like to do things a certain way and expect the other to be a mind reader to know exactly what we’re going to do as soon as we decide to do it.  Nothing major…just a bunch of long loud breathing and forced quiet to calm down.  🙂  I’m sure any of us in a relationship totally gets it.

Sweats

I did a couple of runs and circuits during the projecation.  Nothing too jazzy or exciting.  Just used my interval clock and did a bunch of random things until sweat started dripping all over. 

I did get to 2 yoga classes during the week.  My favorite Monday night Vinyasa Flow class from 5-6pm then did a new class Xplore Yoga just added – Wednesday night Vinyasa Flex from 5-6pm.  I liked the new class a lot.  Building up some flexibility and the instructor was fantastic.  Xplore also added a new class on Friday night – Crossflow, a blend of cross fit and yoga.  I wasn’t able to get to the class because 12yo had his first band concert.

wpid-IMG_20121130_182225.jpgYes.  That is my 12yo.  Currently taller than me and I’m 5’10”!  They had the church sanctuary decorated with white christmas trees in groups of 3.  It was really beautiful and the concert was lovely too.  HA!

Eats

On Saturday I did the Dr. Oz 3 day cleanse, where all you do is drink 4 smoothies a day.  It’s pretty easy to stick to and the smoothies did fill me up and kept me satisfied.  I didn’t do the epsom salt bath every night though, not sure what impact that would have on the detoxifying.  It must have worked because by the 3rd day my tongue felt perpetually coated with guck.  It was probably the easiest “cleanse” or “deprivation” style diet I’ve ever tried.  I call it a deprivation diet because you deprive yourself of certain types of food.  So on the last smoothie of the last day – I quit.  I know right!  Well the reason I quit was because I made this tasty delight:

Easy Dinner

Easy Dinner

4 ingredients (+ salt & pepper): Red potatoes, Hilshire Farms Hardwood Smoked Chicken Sausage, Leeks, Fuji Apple.  Instructions:  1) Slice everything up – the potatoes, leeks and apple into thin slices for quick cooking.  2) Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to pan and saute the red potatoes until almost cooked through.  3) Add the chicken sausage to get a nice brown color and warmed through as the sausage is pre-cooked.  4) Add the leeks and apples at the same time and cook for another 5-6 minutes until the apples and leeks start to soften.  EAT!

It smelled so good and I really wanted something warm and hearty to eat instead of another cold veggie smoothie.  So I said goodbye to Dr. Oz and hello to warm delicious food that I could chew.  🙂  This dish was a big hit and as soon as I posted it to my FB I got a bunch of questions from family about what I made and how to cook it up.  Winning!

My other eats since Monday have been my norm, protein pancakes and wraps.

I forgot the banana

I forgot the banana

Cukes & Carrots for snack

Cukes & Carrots for snack

Roast Beef wrap

Roast Beef wrap

Then last night 12yo and I headed to the Westfield mall down in Santa Clara for this:

Oh yeah!

Oh yeah!

Althleta opened up a new store and I got an invite to the grand opening.  .  So I asked HunBun if he wanted to go.  He said “uh, no”.  So I asked 12yo and he said “Sure”.  Don’t you love kids?  I appreciated it because that meant we could blaze down in the car pool lane since we’d be heading toward San Jose at 5pm – smack in the middle of commute traffic.  Sweet!

We got a parking in the first row we turned down – Winning!  Then did a quick search for the store, since we got there at 530 and the invite said the opening was from 6-8pm.  Well once we found the store we saw that they were letting the invitees in the doors.  So instead of heading to the food court 12yo agreed to go in to the store.  😉  It’s like a healthier candy store!  They offered some little bites and wine/sparking water as you roamed the racks…which made it difficult to try things on.  Good thing I had an extra pair of hands….which meant that he drank up my sparking water.  LOL

I found some cute new winter running gear that I can’t wait to sweat on:

Sweet new gear

Sweet new gear

Goody back with purchase

Goody bag with purchase

After enduring my shopping activity – which included 12yo holding my purse, belt and sweater at different points as I tried on 3 tops; we headed up to the food court to find something to eat for dinner.  He got a sushi platter and I got Chicken Pad Thai.  It was so much food that he and I shared my Pad Thai with some left over for his school lunch today.  It was really tasty…but next time I’d order without the protein.

Food court Pad Thai

Food court Pad Thai

We grabbed a hot drink from Starbucks and headed home.

It was a great week off from work and hopefully I’m back in the routine – early wake ups to exercise, blog, work, yoga, cook, chill, sleep – Repeat.  🙂

See ya later

Cathy