Get a leg up

Now that I’m finished with my marathon and my half marathon is a few months away, I’m kind of in workout “limbo” and focusing on creating and doing some of my own workouts! I definitely neglected serious weight training while working towards my marathon, so it’s nice to get back to some focused weight training as summer rolls around.

Last week, I came up with a few new workouts, including this leg workout. I love circuit-type workouts that help keep everything moving and your heart rate up! I added in some plyometrics (squat jumps, jumping lunges, box jumps) for an additional challenge.

 

What are your favorite circuit workouts? What’s your current fitness challenge? 

A WIAW-less Wednesday

This is officially my second Wednesday without doing a WIAW — crazy, I know. I can hardly believe it either.

I’m not sure what my problem is…I recorded a full day of eats both this week and last, but for some reason, really wasn’t feeling like they were WIAW-worthy. In addition, this week has just been so busy so far that blogging was put on the back burner.

I know I’ve been MIA for a few days (and things don’t look like they’re going to slow down at all this weekend), but I did want to check in quickly while I had the chance! (P.S. Now, I am so glad I did all that food prep over last weekend!)

Since I no longer have to adhere to a strict training plan, I spent some time this week mixing it up at the gym! I started off Monday morning with a 20-minute interval workout on the elliptical, followed by a version of my “Feelin’ the burn” leg circuit workout. I added 30 jumping jacks to each round & then did some sprints at the end. It definitely got my heart rate up!

Yesterday morning, I did 5.5 miles before 6:45 a.m. at a local park — and it was daylight the entire time! I. love. summer. weather.

After work yesterday, I headed straight home to PA. I was asked to speak at my high school’s scholarship foundation banquet, which was really exciting! Not quite sure why I have the weirdest look on my face in every single photo though…

 

I was grateful for the opportunity to speak and loved speaking to all of the students afterwards — what I wouldn’t give to be their age and be ready to do college again! Luckily, I had my mom as my date last night…

 

I ended up sleeping in PA last night and getting up early this morning to get back to Delaware by 8:15 for work! (It was a two-hour drive…I am so tired right now. Boo.)

However, today is the hubby’s birthday so once I got home, we headed off to the mall to get him some new clothes as a birthday gift. We eventually decided we were hungry and stopped at a Chic-fil-a on our way home. As far as fast food goes, Chic-fil-a is by far my favorite (I actually don’t eat any other fast food anyways), but I was surprised how great their newest salad was! I had the Market Creation Salad which was made with a mix of romaine and spinach, apples, strawberries, blueberries, carrots, and grilled chicken with a zesty apple vinegrette, which was awesome…

 

I highly recommend it for a fresh option on-the-go!

The rest of this week/weekend is jam packed as well, but I know I’ll be making a few new recipes for Memorial Day Weekend, so I’ll definitely be back to check in with those. And even though I’m slacking on the WIAW front, there’s a ton of great bloggers who aren’t so head over to Peas & Crayons to check out their yummy eats!

Warming up for winter break with this circuit!

Remember when I promised you a circuit workout earlier this week? Well, it’s time to make good on that promise!

I created this circuit last week, and the best part is that it requires no equipment — just a little bit of space and a lot of water to keep you hydrated! Perfect to do at home or on vacation when you’re not around to use your gym.

Challenge yourself to do the 50-40-30-20-10 and then work your way back up (10-20-30-40-50)! Those back-to-back burpees get me every time!

How you staying fit this holiday? 

Thankful for this Post-Thanksgiving Plyo-Cardio Circuit

Sure, I was pretty thankful this Thanksgiving — I do have a lot to be thankful for. (Including my holiday eats!) But, I think I was equally thankful to be able to hit the gym this week with some great post-Thanksgiving workouts.

Yesterday morning, I hit the gym with one intention: cardio. I completed four pyramid HIIT intervals on the elliptical that looked like this…

Minutes –> Incline

0 – 5 –> 5.0

5 -10–> Pyramid One (7.0, 9.0, 11.0, 9.0, 7.0)

10-11 –> 5.0

11-16 –> Pyramid Two (9.0, 11.0, 13.0, 11.0, 9.0)

16-17 –> 5.0

17 – 22 –> Pyramid Three (11.0, 13.0, 15.0, 13.0, 11.0)

22-23 –> 5.0

23-28 –> Pyramid Four (13.0, 15.0, 17.0, 15.0, 13.0)

28-30 –> 5.0

That last pyramid was pretty tough — my legs were working like crazy! After the elliptical pyramid craziness, I hopped off to complete this 10-minute, plyo-cardio circuit. I sure was a sweaty mess for 6: 45 in the morning!

After the gym, I showered, headed off to work, and anxiously awaited 4 p.m. so I could get home and go CHRISTMAS shopping with my hubby! We needed lights, garland, stocking, ornaments, (basically everything!) so it was quite a fun shopping trip. I’ll be sure to post some photos when we finish up!

What I haven’t shared with you is that I was busy cooking (healthy!) foods this weekend when we got back from Thanksgiving with our families, so I have recipes for Roasted Spaghetti Squash, Vegetable Crab Soup, and Garlic Cheddar Biscuits coming your way later this week. In the meantime, be sure to check out my brand new Recipes page for some healthy eats and sweet treats!

My first What I Ate Wednesday post & a HIIT treadmill workout!

I’m excited for my first “What I Ate Wednesday” post! Never heard of it? Head over to Peas & Crayons to find out what it’s all about…

My WIAW looked something like this…(From yesterday)

Breakfast: 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1 tbsp. chia seeds, 1 tbsp. peanut butter, unsweetened vanilla almond milk (not pictured: a tumbler full of Starbucks coffee — mmm!)

Morning Snack: Banana

Lunch: Pepper quinoa with roasted vegetables and baby carrots

Afternoon Snack: 5.3 ounces of fat free vanilla greek yogurt, 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese, 1/2 honeycrisp apple, granola (I was guest lecturing in a night class, so I had to find something with a lot of staying power to get me to 8 p.m. — luckily this was the perfect choice!)

Dinner: I had a great dinner with a friend and enjoyed a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad (dressing on side!) and whole grain bread from Panera. One of my favorites!

Dessert: I was up on UD’s campus to teach my class, so I couldn’t leave without a stop to Yogo Berry, a favorite frozen yogurt shop! I had a little bit of vanilla, chocolate, and coffee frozen yogurt (my favorite!) topped with graham crackers, animal crackers, and a little bit of chocolate!

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Today, I woke up at 5:45 a.m. and headed to the gym for what ended up being a great workout! I did a 30-minute HIIT workout on the treadmill that looked like this…

I followed it up with this 10-minute cardio & ab workout from Peanut Butter Fingers and another round of ab exercises. Needless to say, I was a crazy, sweaty mess by the time I left!