Tag Archive for health

Weekly Fitness Plan + Whirlwind Weekend

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Whew! I apologize for not posting the last two days, but I had a crazy little weekend followed by a crazy start to my work-week! I’m short on sleep, but hoping to make up for that at least sometime this coming weekend!

This past weekend was my Grandpa’s Memorial. It was a really beautiful celebration of his life. Instead of being a sad, mournful occasion (I mean, of course we were all sad he wasn’t there to celebrate with us!),  the service was filled with highlights of all of his many talents and accomplishments through his 92 years of life. Can you believe that at the age of 91 when his health started to deteriorate, instead of just stopping his daily routine, he cut down his gym time from 5 days a week to 3 days a week?! At 91 freakin’ years old he still didn’t give up!!! I’m sorry, I just can’t get over how awesome he was. 😀

What 6:30am looks like from the sky

What 6:30am looks like from the sky

After 3 hours of sleep, we were up at 4am on Monday morning to catch a flight back to LA. Monday then turned into an 11 hour work day for me and I somehow managed to also fit in a heavy lifting session, 20 minutes of cardio, and a bouldering session. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a good idea considering how exhausted I was, but somehow I pulled off a REALLY great lifting session. I PR’d on hip thrusts with 211lbs x 6 reps too. Woohoo for strength! I love lifting heavy!!

Getting ready to thrust away!

Getting ready to thrust away!

 

Weekly Fitness Plan

Although work has been crazy and I ended up taking Tuesday off from exercise, here is what my week tentatively looks like. I am hoping to get back to doing 3 bouldering sessions per week. It’s just so much fun and so great for an overall body workout.

Monday: Heavy Lift + 20 minutes Incline Walking + Bouldering

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 30 minute run + Crossfit + Bouldering

Thursday: Heavy Lift

Friday: 30 minute run + Bouldering

Saturday: Full Body Conditioning

Sunday: Hike?

A lot of this will all depend on how my body feels. If I’m super sore from Crossfit, my heavy lift will likely get moved to Friday and I’ll do something a little lighter on the body Thursday. Just have to see how things go!

Ab Progress: They’re coming…slowly but surely they’re coming….

Ab Progress January 14, 2014

Ab Progress January 14, 2014

I leave you with a picture of the cutest freaking boy in the world. I love my nephew, Matthew, so much!!

My heart.

My heart.

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Crossfit + Bouldering = Blister City

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Hey guys! Hope you’re getting a good start to your weekend! I’m finishing up some work and then I have a quick little weekend trip for my Grandpa’s Memorial.

Tonight, my boyfriend is playing a gig at local bar, so we’re heading to that and somehow going to get up in the morning to make a 9am flight. Did I mention I haven’t packed yet? Oops.

Workout

Last night’s bouldering sesh was fuuuuunnnn! My girl Ally and I always have a blast when we climb together. We are both total goofballs and at the same time want to be the baddest climbers in the world, so we make a good motivating team.

Look Ma, no hands!

Look Ma, no hands!

photo 1Since I took a little break over the holidays from climbing, my hands are still getting used to it. My hand/grip strength has stayed pretty well, but my callouses are much weaker! By about an hour into the session, it starts to feel like the wall is covered in razor blades. Fun fun.

Moving on to today. I had to take my boss’s car into the shop, which just so happened to by right near the Crossfit gym I go to in Burbank. I somehow tricked my boyfriend into picking me up and taking the 12:30pm class with me. I made the mistake of looking at the WOD before class the other day and may have chickened out, so I made sure not to make that mistake again today. I’m glad I didn’t because I probably would have chickened out again!

We did a pretty good long warm-up and then went onto the workout:

WOD

7 minute AMRAP

Reps: 3,6,9,12…….

Barbell Thrusters (I used 53 lbs)

Pull-Ups

For pull-ups, i can do some one my own, but I haven’t mastered the whole “kipping pull-up” thing yet. This means I do them strict, so I can usually only get about 2-3 in a row. I used a purple resistance band to help me for the reps I couldn’t do on my own. I ended up with 9+21 reps for the workout. It was tough! I think the hardest part was actually the fact that my hands were KILLING ME. More razor blades. Hopefully in another week or so, my callouses will have become strong enough that I don’t run into this as much.

Note to self: Bouldering the night before crossfit MIGHT not be the most genius idea I’ve ever had.

I’m very new to crossfit, but I do enjoy it a lot! I’ve done a lot of crossfit-style workouts, but as for doing them in an actual box with a group, this is only my 3rd class. I’m very competitive and athletic, so this sport is right up my alley.

Do i think it is for everybody? No. Some people do not like this style of working out. And that is TOTALLY okay. You should do something you LOVE so that you will actually do it and enjoy it!

Do I think beginners should jump into it without proper mastering of technique? No. Form is everything. If you don’t know how to use your body properly, the margin for error and injury becomes huge.

Do I think it’s worth a shot for anyone? Absolutely! I think if you’re new to working out and are interested, you should take a few beginner classes so that you can become familiar with the moves. Many people who think they wouldn’t enjoy crossfit, end up as die hards.

So what about you? Have you tried cross fit? Do you love it? Hate it? Tell me your thoughts!!!

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Restless & Clean Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

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Hey guys!!

We’re almost to the weekend, so that’s something to be excited about, right?! It’s been a realllyyyyyy  busy week for me, but a good one at that! This weekend, I’m taking a super quick trip to Arizona for my Grandpa’s Memorial. He passed away a few days before Christmas at the ripe age of 92. It’s sad, but at the same time he lived a really long and fruitful life. He was a Holocaust survivor, and until the age of 91, was still going to the gym 5 DAYS A WEEK. That right there should be inspiration to anyone that you just don’t have an excuse!  I will miss him a lot, but thankful for the 25 years I got to have him in my life. He is a true inspiration to me and definitely gave me the exercises genes!!

Grandpa at his 91st birthday party at the gym!

Grandpa at his 91st birthday party at the gym!

Workout Plans

Tonight I’m headed to the rock climbing gym for another bouldering session. I plan to get a 3 mile run in beforehand too. Woohoo!

While I was supposed to hit up Crossfit yesterday, I knew my body was just not into it. I’m trying to do a better job of listening to my body so that I don’t overtrain. When I finished working yesterday, I headed home and decided I would take a needed rest day. Once I made some dinner and surfed the net for a bit, I just couldn’t sit still anymore and ended up heading to the gym anyways! I just walked on the treadmill for a while, but thought it was interesting that I just can’t sit still. I am not very good at taking rest days, but I am trying to learn! Do you have trouble taking rest days? If I’m busy enough, I can do it, but if I’m not it’s nearly impossible!!

Since I skipped Crossfit yesterday, I plan to go tomorrow around lunchtime.

Recipe

I was craving something sweet last night, but didn’t want to wreck my diet. I mixed together a few ingredients and ended up with a delicious frosting!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

2 TBSP PB2

1 TBSP Unsweetened Pure Cocoa

1 Packet Stevia

Water

Directions:

Combine the PB2 and Cocoa in a small dish or bowl. Add  a little bit of water at a time until you get the consistency of a frosting. Then enjoy!

This can be eaten by itself, or you can top toast, muffins, pancakes, and more with it! Here’s the best part:

choc pb copy

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Simple Teriyaki Chicken

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Hello friendssss! Last night’s workout was quite sluggish if you ask me. I actually had a good amount of energy, but my body was just worn out. I think the bouldering session on Monday night did me in!

Even so I was able to eke out this workout (and selfie haha):

Chest/Legs Supersets!

Chest/Legs Supersets!

 

Try it if you’d like! It moves pretty quickly! (Always check with a doctor before starting any new fitness routine.)

When I left the gym, I stopped at the store to try to figure out what to make for dinner. I didn’t want something that took a long time, but knew chicken needed to be involved. (I love chicken!)

After some back and forth texts with the boyfriend, we agreed on Teriyaki Chicken. It turned out SO well and was so easy to make that I just had to share!

Simple Teriyaki Chicken

Serves: 2-3 people

Ingredients:

-2 Chicken Breasts

-Veggies of your choice (I cheated and picked up an asian stop-diabetes-meds.com from the produce aisle)

–Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce

-Brown Rice (as much as you’d like)

-Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)

–Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce

Directions: 

-Cut up the chicken breasts into cubes and marinate in Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce for about 15-20 minutes

-Spray a frying pan with your choice of oil and cook the chicken on low until it’s done (about 10 minutes). Add red pepper flakes!

-While the chicken is cooking, fill a pot with water and add brown rice (2:1 ratio). Cook until rice is soft and water has been absorbed (about 10 minutes)

-When the chicken is almost done, throw the veggies into a separate frying pan with a little bit of soy sauce and cook until they start to brown.

-Fill a bowl or plate and enjoy!

This recipe was so easy and it was really freakin’ delicious!!! Let me know if you try it out!

Do you have really simple chicken recipes? If so, send me the links!!! I’m always looking for new ways to make chicken. 🙂

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Run, Climb, Recipe!!!

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It’s a beautiful Tuesday here in L.A. I know most people are having less-than-stellar weather this week, so I’m definitely soaking this up and feeling thankful. I’ve been feeling really productive this week and I’m hoping to carry that on through the rest of the week and even month. I’ve got a lot of things to do, so the more motivated I am, the easier it will be to get done!

Fitness

Last night, I got done working around 6:30pm and headed straight to the rock climbing gym. Even though it was later than I’d planned, I wanted to get a run in and wasn’t going to let anything stop me. Since my mud run and 5k races, I’ve basically taken a long hiatus from running. While most of my fitness activities stay pretty constant year-round, running is the exception. I’ll run several times per week for months and then one day I’ll just stop and I won’t run for just as long. I am always curious to see how my stamina stays up when I don’t run for long periods of time. The conditioning and lifting that I do should technically keep my running shape decent, but you never know. 

I arrived at the gym around 7pm and decided to just run outside in the neighborhood around it. I used a new running app (RunKeeper) and have to say I like it much better than MapMyRun. I was noticing towards the end of my last running streak that the timing and distance seemed to be a bit off (i.e. I was running sluggishly and still hitting a good pace). RunTracker seems to be much more accurate, so we’ll see how it goes!

I’m happy to report that I felt REALLY good during my run. While I was just trying to take it easy since it had been so long, my body felt like it could have gone much faster and harder. I don’t feel like I’ve lost much stamina and that makes me a happy chica! Yay for running!(kinda.. ;-)) I ended up with just over 3 miles. 

photo 1

Last night’s run

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, I headed into the rock climbing gym for a bouldering session. So much fun and such a great overall body workout. Can’t wait to do it again Thursday!

When I got home, my boyfriend and I made our signature dinner. By signature, I mean we make it like 3-4 times per week. We are a bit obsessed. I promise I will take photos of the process sometime, but here is a recipe for you!

Better Than Chipotle, Chipotle

Ingredients:

2 Organic Chicken Breasts

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Green Bell Pepper

1/2 White Onion

Brown Rice (as much as you’d like)

Black Beans (as much as you’d like)

Spices: Pepper, Cayenne Pepper (optional), Paprika, Garlic Powder 

Hot Sauce (your preference, we use La Victoria)

Directions: Timing is EVERYTHING

-Preheat Oven to 325 degrees

-Place Chicken on a Cookie Sheet and add desired spices. Then bake for about 15 minutes – 20 minutes (until it’s done of course!)

-While chicken is baking, chop up bell peppers and onion.

-When the chicken has about 10 minutes left, boil water (2:1 ratio) and add brown rice. Cook until the water has evaporated and rice is soft.

-When the chicken has about 5 minutes left, spray a frying pan with the oil of your choice and add veggies and spices to the mix. Cook until they start to slightly brown. (Note: if you cook too long they get soggy, so make sure you watch them!)

-While veggies are cooking, heat up black beans (in microwave or pan)

-Finally: ASSEMBLE. Do this however you want, but we like to do: Brown rice, Black beans, Veggies, Chicken, Cheese, and Hot Sauce!!

This picture is not exactly appetizing, but I promise the meal is delicious!!! (This is also my boyfriend’s serving. It’s enough for at least two people, but he eats it all.) 🙂

Charlie's Ginormo Plate of Food

Charlie’s Ginormo Plate of Food

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me know if you try it!

Do you run? Do you like running?  

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Weekly Fitness Plan & Bouldering

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It’s Mondayyyyyyyyy! Are you excited? I am actually. I like a fresh start to the week!

This weekend was busy, but a lot of fun! Between the enlistment day for The World’s Best Bootcamp-Burbank, a girl’s night, recording session, and a fun workout, I slept like a baby last night!

 

console

Recording Console at Ultimate Rhythm Studios in Los Angeles

My Weekly Fitness Plan:

(This is tentative, but I like laying it out for the week so I have some type of plan in mind.)

Monday: Bouldering (see below) & Run

Tuesday: Heavy Lift

Wednesday: Crossfit + 20 minutes of cardio

Thursday: Bouldering & Run

Friday: Heavy Lift

Saturday: Rest Day (Travelling)

Sunday: Possibly Hike

So that’s what I’m planning! This is actually a lot more cardio than I’ve done in a while, but it’s just so nice outside that I feel like I should take advantage of it and run!!!

What is Bouldering?

So I’ve gotten a few questions on bouldering. Mostly along the lines of ” What is bouldering?!”. Bouldering is similar to rock climbing, but you are not attached to a rope or harness. The walls only go about 8-10 feet high, so if you fall, it’s not a big deal usually. There is a great deal of technique involved in this sport.

Benefits of Bouldering: 

-First of all, it is like doing a puzzle on a wall. There are techniques to bouldering and figuring out how you are going to take the path to the top can be tricky and take some trial and error. While many people think it is all about strength, it is all about efficiency. Technique is what makes being super-efficient on the wall possible.

-Overall body strength: You literally use your entire body. Your core, arms, back, legs, etc. are ALL working. Bouldering has increased my strength in a HUGE way. For example, when I started bouldering a few months ago, I could do 0 pull-ups. I can now do 3 in a row. 

-Mental Zen: There is something about bouldering that has a yoga-like effect. I think part of it is the fact that you are working your body and mind at the same time. For me, I know it is a HUGE stress reliever.

-FUN: Because what about climbing and hanging on walls ISN’T fun?!

It may not be for everyone, but I can tell you that I absolutely love it. If there is a rock climbing gym in your area, I highly suggest trying it out! There are always veterans there that are happy to give advice and help you with your technique. The bouldering community is  very friendly!

bouldering

Me just “hangin’ out!”

So that’s that. I’m working my day away and then heading home for a run and bouldering session. Hope everyone is having a great start to their week!

Have you ever tried bouldering or rock climbing? Are you afraid of heights?

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The Weekend Has Arrived!!!

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Hello fellow fit fam! It’s Friday!! (As if you didn’t already know….)

Today was a good day of closing out the week and preparing for the weekend. While my weekend is going to be pretty busy, there is a lot to look forward to! More on that in a minute, but first let’s talk about some workouts!!

After being in Kansas for 10 days and not having any weights to lift (save for one day that I was able to go to a gym), I’ve been LOVING being back around the iron. (Both literally and figuratively, as my home gym is Iron Gym). Here is what my week of workouts has looked like:

Monday: 30 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill + bouldering at Rockreation

Tuesday: Heavy Lifting Session (Deadlifts, T-Bar Rows, Chin-Ups) + Metabolic Conditioning (Cable SLDL Row superset with medicine ball thrusters and snatches superset with push – ups)

Wednesday: Hike at the beautiful Temescal Canyon!

mechartemescalThursday: Crossfit 

Friday: Heavy Lift (plus some shoulder exercises I threw in for good fun)

So I mentioned a busy weekend. Part of that is the 2nd platoon of The World’s Best Bootcamp – Burbank starting their 6 weeks of camp! I’m so excited to see all of the new faces and cheer them on for their baseline workouts. I remember my Day 1 and how nervous I was! It was such a blast and I can’t wait to be on the other side of that tomorrow. Troopers, get ready to take measurements and see where your starting point is! Get ready for an amazing 6 weeks of camp!!!

boot camp day 3.1

Any weekend plans? Aside from cheering on the bootcampers, tomorrow the Chiefs are in the playoffs! Hoping to catch the 2nd half of the game. 🙂

 

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Crossfit + Dentist

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Hey guys!! How are the last few days of “vacation” going? While I’m still working away, the traffic in LA has been SO easy. Can it always be a holiday week here?!?

Guys, the last night was roughhhhhh. My wisdom tooth starting bothering me a few days ago, and it kept me up ALL night with pain on Wednesday night. I woke up Thursday morning practically in tears and had my boyfriend call the dentist for an emergency appointment. Turns out it just got infected and they cleaned it out. I’m still a bit of a chipmunk, but the swelling is slowly but surely going away. Major crisis avoided! (For now..)
20140102-224815.jpg

(Look at my cheek!!)

After my dentist appointment, I decided to go workout at Crossfit High Voltage. I just joined, and since my dentist is literally around the corner from the box, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to start. I headed over for my first workout: Cindy.

If you’re unfamiliar, Crossfit workouts all have names. It is kind of cool because you start to learn them and know what they entail. It is helpful to see how you progress too!

Cindy

AMRAP 20 (as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes)
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats

Surprisingly I was able to do most of the pull ups on my own, and what I couldn’t, I used a band for assisted pull ups. It was tough, but I made it through 6 rounds + 27 reps (3 shy of a 7th round!!!). Can’t wait to see my improvements in a few months!

Tonight I am in the studio with my boyfriend recording a drummer, bass player, and guitarist for some upcoming video. All in all, a really good day for me!! (Aside from the whole wisdom tooth debacle…)
20140102-224928.jpg

Hope everyone is excited for the weekend!
Any weekend plans to close out the holidays??

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Holidays, Exciting News, and Wisdom Teeth

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Hey all! I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year’s! Mine was really low-key and I’m totally fine with that. I’m battling a nagging wisdom tooth today and doing whatever I can to try to relieve some of this pain!

Holiday Recap

This holiday season had me in Kansas with my boyfriend and his family. It was also pretty low-key and while we did do a bit of shopping and running around, there was also a lot of down time as well. We spent time with his family, shopped, cooked, baked, played games, went to a Chief’s game (in 9 degree weather!!!!!) and relaxed. With two full time jobs that have me running around Los Angeles every day, it was a real nice change of pace. It snowed for a day or two, but after that the weather was pretty clear.

I enjoyed the break and am finding it difficult to motivate myself to get back into the swing of things. Eek! This is a problem considering all of my pending projects that I’d like to accomplish in the coming months!

chiefs game

Exciting News

I wanted to share some exciting news with you guys!! While in Kansas, I only had a access to a gym for one day. The rest of the time, I was able to create some super-effective workouts that were done in the living room with NO equipment. I even got the rest of the family to join in for some of them. I can tell you that they were some really TOUGH workouts, but they were easily scalable and took anywhere from 15-45 minutes. I am also happy to report that I actually LOST a pound while on vacation. Of course, the scale doesn’t mean much to me, but I do use it from time to time just to know where I’m hanging out. It truly is JUST a number and not a true representation of anything, but it can be a guide to see where your body tends to stay and what makes it fluctuate most.

Anyways, with that said, I couldn’t help but think that I’m not the only person to go on a vacation and not have access to a gym. It can be awkward to ask to borrow a family member or friend’s car to go to the gym, and the day passes can be costly. While this has been in the making for quite some time, I finally decided to put together an e-book called TravelFit that will include workouts you can do ANYWHERE with NO equipment required along with some healthy snacking/meal tips for when you’re on vacation or out of your normal routine. It should be available towards the end of January and I cannot WAIT to share it with you all!

2013-07-15 21.42.25

The e-book will include: 

-15 different workouts that can be done ANYWHERE with NO equipment required

-Healthy Snacking/Meal Tips for when you’re out of your normal routine

-Ways to scale any workout to make it easier and/or harder, as well as to accommodate any weaknesses

Weeee!!! I hope you guys and others will enjoy this! It’s something I’ve been putting a lot of effort into over the past few months and finally putting it together has been really fun for me!

Thanks for a great year! While I didn’t post quite as much as I’d hoped, one of my goals for 2014 is to change that. I’m focusing on making some changes in my life in the near future and blogging regularly will be a part of that change.

Did you travel anywhere for the holidays?

How do you keep your fitness goals in sight when you’re on vacation? 

xmas photo

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Coughing Sucks and Workouts for the Week

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Today starts the beginning of week 3 of boot camp, but I thought I’d recap the first two weeks of it.

These workouts are FUN! I’ve never worked out in a setting where partner work was such a big portion of it. Sure, I’ve worked out with other people or in groups, but you always went off and did your own thing. This is different because the work is done with a partner very often. I’m finding that this “i like to work out alone” girl is quite enjoying this change of pace!

Unfortunately, I’m battling a gnarly cough at the moment. It started with flu-like symptoms (minus the puking, thankfully) and by the 3rd day, the achiness had left and the coughing had begun. I’m on day 7 and really, cough, any day now would be a great one for you to get the hell out of here! Regardless, I’m still pushing through. Taking more rest days than I’m used to, but trucking along nonetheless.

 

boot camp day 3Doing abs after the workout Saturday

This week’s workout plan: 

Monday: Rest (coughing lungs up, no bueno)

Tuesday: 30 minutes of cardio; WBBC

Wednesday: Strength Train; Bouldering

Thursday: 30 minutes of cardio; WBBC

Friday: Strength Train; Bouldering

Saturday: WBBC

Sunday: Rest or Yoga?

I have a really hard time settling down for yoga. I just have never been able to get into it. Maybe it’s because I’m not good at it? Any tips to help me “find my center?” Everyone says its all about the teacher. I’ve tried several and while they’re great, it’s just not me. I like to run and jump and lift heavy things. But I do think it would be good for me. HELP!!

 

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