Hello Monday....

As blue as I am that it is Monday, it is a short week!! Thank you Thanksgiving!! So really, today is more like Wednesday, and for that I am grateful.

This past weekend was pretty uneventful, which is just the way I like it. The older I get the busier I seem to be, and this weekend the only thing on the agenda was Friends-Giving and a lot of football. YES!

Friendsgiving was a great success. It was a unanimous choice to do the event at our house, but it was somewhat of a Potluck Friendsgiving, which made it much less stressful.

I was so busy in the kitchen all day that I managed to completely forget to take pictures the entire night. FAIL. Luckily, my roommate instagrammed the turkey once it was ready! Thanks Chris!!

The spread was delicious. We have turkey, brussel sprouts with Bacon, Roasted cauliflower, sweet potato au gratin, mashed potatoes and stuffing for the non-paleo eaters! HAHA. Afterwards there was also Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Pecan Pie. I must say the chocolate pie was amazing!!

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Moving right along, on Sunday I decided to get out a little bit and go dress shopping for my upcoming holiday party at work. It's kind of like our own little prom, everyone gets really dressed up and its kind of a big deal, so I thought it might be a good idea to start looking at dresses ahead of time...

I found some cute ones, but I'm not in love with anything just yet. One thing I AM enjoying very much is that dresses actually zip up all the way on me now, and I'm not even at the largest size!! That was a good feeling. If I needed any motivation to keep going, that was it. By this time next year I'm going to have the body I've always wanted, but until then, I'm going to keep enjoying these little moments of bliss in the dressing room.

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And now it's Monday (actually it's already halfway over!)
I'm already done with my cardio boot camp workout -  and boy was it a doozy. Mondays are always hard... my legs always feel twice as heavy on a Monday! Haha

Today's Boot Camp workout:

1/2 mile warm up run

10 squats
10 lunges with a hip flexor stretch

Run 0.5 miles (2 laps around park)

10 deadlifts (each leg)
10 lunges with a hip flexor stretch

Run 0.5 miles (2 laps around park)

10 "good mornings" no weight

10 walking lunges, each leg

Run 0.5 miles (2 laps around park)

10 sumo squats

10 lunges with a hip flexor stretch

Run 0.5 miles (2 laps around park)

1/2 mile cool down run

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Stick a fork in me I'm done!!!! 

Wednesday Workouts: Spartan Training

I've decided that every Wednesday I am going to post workouts that I LOVE. This will be a great way for me to keep track of workouts that were effective, and share them with anyone who is interested in trying them.

Here is my new favorite: The SPARTAN Training Workout
(I did this on Monday as training for a Spartan Race Mud Run I am doing in January)

Warm up:
10 minute jog

Main Set:

10 pushups
10 body weight squats
10 burpees
10 full sit-ups
30 seconds high knees
30 seconds plank

Repeat 3 times

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Let me tell you that this sounds a lot easier than it really is. Try to limit your resting periods in between exercises to 15 seconds... that way your heart rate will stay up.

If 15 seconds isn't enough time, a great motto for exercises like this is:

"Work until you can't, rest until you can"

Happy Wednesday!!!

love mud run 2013

On Saturday, my friends and I went down to Temecula, CA to run the Love Mud Run. I had done one mud run (a zombie 5K) before, but something about being chased the whole time by muddy/bloody people pretending to be ravenous un-dead folk distracts me from the actual FUN of crawling/trudging/swimming/running through mountains of MUD.

This run was all about love.

{before the run}

{after the run..... absolutely filthy and loving it!}

I'm gonna tell you right here and now, this is one of the funnest ways to work out and have some fun with your friends!! I am a big believer in doing workouts that distract me from the pain/fatigue because of all the fun that is being had!

Mud-running is my new favorite hobby, hopefully my wallet can keep up.

My goal for 2013 is now to train for an actual Tough Mudder!!!!

{that's 12 miles of this madness!! eeeeeeeeek}

Friendly reminders...

some friendly reminders of why i'm doing this... 

for whenever i am feeling weak...

or hungry...

or defeated...

i have images like this to remind me

:)

workout update...

i've been on a very good running schedule. i run about 2.5 - 3 miles almost every day. i can see a serious improvement in my legs and just feel a little bit better when i wear certain things. i was doing an amazing job with the running when BAM... a nasty cold, followed by stomach flu, followed by moving to a new apartment happened. a solid two weeks of minimal working out went by and i lost my momentum.

as of this week i am officially back in the saddle, and ready to get this running going again. even more exciting news: I AM OFFICIALLY SIGNED UP FOR THE NORTH FACE 10K in SAN FRAN!!!!

there's some motivation if i ever needed it. 6.2 miles, 1000 ft elevation gain. here we go!!!!

so, i'm back to blogging on the skinny diaries.

Am I crazy or what?

Sooooo I've been a crazy-gym-goer since I joined the LA Fitness... so crazy in fact, that I do believe I've been to the gym 5 days a week the past few weeks!! Crazy right?

My crazy gym schedule:


Monday: Step Sculpt Aerobics


Tuesday: 30 minutes elliptical, 1 hour Yoga


Wednesday: 30 minutes elliptical, 1 hour Pilates


Thursday: 30 minutes elliptical, 1 hour Yoga


Friday: rest


Saturday: rest


Sunday: 1 hour elliptical, 30 minutes free weights

told you I was crazy... I plan on taking some measurements after 1 month at the gym (so about two weeks left) just to see the results of my insanity.  : )

Let's see how long I can keep this up!!

A Partner in Crime . . .

Yesterday I received a text from one of my besties that she had joined the same gym as me, and wants to start taking the body sculpting classes, and pilates, and yoga.... Apparently she went to go buy new jeans, and she decided she wasn't going to allow herself to buy a new pair of jeans until she needed a smaller size... so she used that money and joined my gym!! YAY

I get waaaaaaaaaay better results when I have a gym/workout partner picking me back up when I slow down... this seriously is so motivating!!  I'm thrilled.

Body Sculpt class tonight, Pilates on Wednesdays and Sundays, Yoga on Thursdays and Saturdays.... look out everyone, I'm becoming a gym rat!!!