Cables & Cardio Workout + WIAW

After my not-sure-I-could-ever-be-a-stay-at-home-wife post from Monday, yesterday turned into quite the whirlwind! I woke up to drive Terry to work, came home to work out, then spent most of the day with my friend Katie and her gorgeous baby girl Ainsley. We went for a walk, ate lunch, and baked Carmelitas from Pinterest. Katie and I are both guilty of pinning delicious recipes and then never actually making them, so I loved her idea of picking something sweet and going for it!

And ooohh my, were these soooo sweet! Definitely a once-in-a-very-long-while treat. But the spoonfuls we devoured right out of the oven tasted like caramel pizookie. I need more Pinterest in my life, apparently!

In addition to yesterday's excitement, I've been enjoying some fantastic workouts around here. I've really been feelin' it this week, so I completed this one on Monday (Terry and I are both STILL sore, two days later--perhaps I should thank the 150 jumping lunges we did?):

Some notes on this workout:

• For each set, you complete the same cardio blast after each strength exercise. So on the first set, you do the cable upright row, then one minute of jumping jacks, then the cable overhead press, then one minute of jumping jacks again, then the cable biceps curl, back to one minute of jumping jacks, etc. When you move to the next set (starting over again at the upright rows), you switch the cardio blast to the jump rope.
• All the strength exercises can be done using dumbbells if cables aren't available to you. For the straight-arm lat pull down, switch to a wide row.
• No jump rope? No problem: do tuck jumps instead.
• We didn't have a timer with us, so we just did 60 jumping jacks, 60 jumps on the jump rope, and 30 alternating jumping lunges for each round. You can approximate based on your fitness level.
• Make it easier: Lighten the load for your weights for the strength, but do your best to get to 10 reps for each round. For the cardio, reduce the amount of time (45 or 30 seconds), and rest as needed.
• Make it harder: Increase resistance/load for your weights. For cardio, increase the amount of time, try jump roping on one foot at a time (I did 30 jumps on the right foot, then 30 on the left), or switch the jumping jacks to star jumps.

I love using cables because they are a safe way to challenge your muscles. Much as I love dumbbells (and I sure do!), cables offer plenty of variety too. Your core is more engaged because it's a less stable environment, so you're getting a well-rounded workout. If you try it out, let me know if you're as sore as I am!

In other workout news, yesterday I hopped on the treadmill for the following:

• 1 minute walk
• 3 min run
• 2 min faster run
• 1 min even faster run
• Repeat three times for 28 minutes total

And today I ran about four miles around our neighborhood. It feels good to be on track with my workouts!

Other goings-on:

Ridiculous LA traffic. Note the time. WHY??

This delicious, simple, perfect-for-summer meal, thanks to Daily Garnish. Great way to incorporate all our farmer's market vegetables!

Crunchy Vegetable Sesame Noodle Salad

Our apartment is sweltering. We're having trouble sleeping, and poor Scout just can't get comfortable. He walks around, lays out, then gets up and looks for another place to try. 

The aforementioned Katie recommended this Trader Joe's coconut milk ice cream yesterday. It's seriously delicious and creamy and the perfect texture. Ideal for these hot summer days!

Today's treat was homemade lemonade, made with honey instead of sugar. Perfect for my husband, who's home sick today.

And now for today's WIAW:
Check out the other WIAWs!

Breakfast: French toast with slivered almonds, maple syrup, and tea

Half of a KIND bar for pre-run fuel

Lunch: Leftover crunchy vegetable noodle salad (above) - I ate it cold and it tasted perfect after a hot run

Snack: a peach, plus cereal

Snack #2: that lemonade I mentioned (yum!)

 Dinner: BBQ salmon prepared on a cedar plank, which we soaked in pinot noir, plus pancetta Brussels sprouts

Terry kept raving about what a great combination these were, and I completely agree. He did a fantastic job with the cedar plank salmon, and I'm getting the hang of these Brussels sprouts!

And dessert: Carmelitas (mentioned above) and vanilla ice cream--I'm off to enjoy that now! Have a great Thursday!

Of possible interest: 

• Homemade Fudge Pops (100 Days of Real Food)
• Raw Honey Lemonade (Organic Spark)
• Photographic Series Showing What 200 Calories of Food Looks Like in Different Foods (ArtFido)