Back on Track Week and Goals

I've written about it before, but morning workouts rock my world. Honestly, yes, some of the changes that came with morning workouts leave much to be desired: racing to get to sleep by 9:30, snoozing the alarm at 4:35 am, sneaking into our apartment complex's gym because it technically doesn't open until 7, rushing to get ready for work because I never actually get up when the alarm rings and therefore don't finish my workout until about 6.

Breakfast needs to be quick around here. 

But when I'm feeling tired midday or when I'm sitting in traffic on the way home or when I desperately want to sit on the couch after work, it's suddenly totally worth it! Plus, once the dreaded act of dragging myself out of bed is over, the workout itself is not different from any other workout--in fact I'm just slightly less tired because I haven't already experienced eight hours on my feet and lots of tough questions from teenagers.

Getting back to the morning workouts (after a few weeks of being less than diligent in waking up early) was part of this week's action plan for healthy living. I think I'm generally a healthy person, but I seem to work in cycles where I'm super healthy, then semi-healthy, then not-so-healthy, then back on track. Well, here we are again at the start of another "back on track" week. I'm trying to figure out what works best for me in maintaining healthy habits. So far, I've figured out:

• Rewarding myself, or basking in the natural rewards, like the ones mentioned above for morning workouts.
• Planning ahead so there are no excuses. 
• Assessing my progress regularly and patting myself on the back for a job well done.
• Encouragement from others.

Whatever my goals, these motivational tools help me stay on track. So this week's goals are:

• Morning workouts each day.
• Drink 148+ ounces of water daily.
• Eat 5 fruits and/or vegetables each day.
• Hit 10,000 steps daily.
• Stretch 20 minutes every night.
• In bed by 9:30 each night. 

So far, we missed the morning workout yesterday but made it today, and I have done well in all the other goals. I'm still tracking my steps with my FitBit and find it a great tool to keep me active.

Despite its many functions (calories burned counter, time, weird emoticons), I really only use the pedometer. Since I aim for 10,000 steps daily, and I usually churn out about 4,000 to 5,000 steps during my workout, I use the FitBit to push me to stand and walk more. Instead of sitting at my desk to input grades, I'll walk across the room after each set of papers. I'll also walk to the farthest bathroom and find errands I can run during my conference period. Any little bit helps!

Do you notice that you're stuck in a cycle of fluctuating between healthy and unhealthy habits? What do you do to combat those returning shortcomings? 

The Unexpected Killer Workout

Hello folks! In case you missed it, this weekend was all about Terry's birthday. Yesterday we hosted Terry's parents for brunch and also saw the Jackie Robinson movie 42, which was absolutely incredible. We all loved it--go see it!

Even with all the fun birthday plans, I was still eager to squeeze in a few workouts. But we honestly didn't have a ton of time for long runs or full hour-plus sweat sessions, so I designed a super quick treadmill workout that turned out to be a beast!

Seriously, I was sweating like mad and panting up a storm by the middle of this workout. No running? No problem--the inclines and quick pace made it plenty challenging.

This week is all about staying on track with workouts (including morning workouts--although today was a bust and we hit the gym at 5:30), drinking lots of water, stretching every night, and getting in my five fruits and vegetables every day. Here's our menu:

• Monday: leftover shepherd's pie (I made Terry his favorite meal for his birthday last night)
• Tuesday: grilled zucchini pasta with spinach salad
• Wednesday: perhaps soup or something equally simple--maybe even take out!
• Thursday: grilled turkey sandwiches with sweet potatoes
• Friday: out

We also have a crazy week again, mostly for Terry, hence all the quick and simple meals. Lately my grading schedule has felt out of control, so I'm trying to be more disciplined about how I spend my time at home. Unfortunately, that strict time schedule may result in fewer and/or shorter blog posts, but I hope not--blogging is such an awesome outlet and stress reliever for me! I have so much fun writing about new topics and sharing healthy tips--and hearing from you!

And with that it's off to bed for a good night's sleep before tomorrow's early workout. We have cardio scheduled in keeping with Tina's Best Body Boot Camp, plus an ab circuit that just about made me cry last week. Tina knows how to kick our butts, but I love it!

What's on tap for this week? Any fun workouts planned? Any new recipes? Do share!

Terry's Birthday Weekend

Terry's birthday is tomorrow! To celebrate, we organized a couple of different fun outings, starting last night with a night in Santa Monica. Our first stop: Bar Chloe. 

A little hipster, but we thought the bartender went out of his way to make me an off-menu drink. In the end, both of our cocktails tasted delicious and refreshing, a perfect way to begin the evening.

Our dinner at The Lobster, a Santa Monica landmark, hit the mark in a big way with the food. Terry started with (unpictured) oysters, and I ordered a bowl of very authentic clam chowder.

Unlike any chowder I've tasted, I liked this hearty bowl of soup and thought the clams in their shells made the starter more fun. And then it was on to the main event:

Terry's three-pound grilled Maine lobster

My lobster ravioli, a little too rich but still quite tasty

We enjoyed it all with a bottle of Alpha Omega Chardonnay, a very generous gift from my parents. :-)

After our late night (the dinner reservation wasn't until 8:45 pm), we still woke up early this morning for a workout (I'll share it with you tomorrow--it was a doozy!) and then hit the road around 9 am for San Diego! Terry absolutely loves craft brews and has become something of a beer snob connoisseur. So he picked out three breweries for us to visit today.

Our first stop of the day: Ballast Point Brewery.

 We each tried a few different brews and liked the general setup of this place. They have plenty of tables set up inside and out, and since the weather turned out to be gorgeous, we snagged a spot in the sun.

I wasn't a huge fan of the options I tasted, but Terry liked his enough to purchase some. I thought the brewery was brilliant to have a partnership with a pizza company. The pizza looked tasty, but we opted for a different lunch option.

Terry had seen an article about Urge Gastropub in a magazine, Beer Connoisseur, and it was only about five minutes from Ballast Point.

This place, though in a super unassuming shopping center, pleasantly surprised us. I ordered the Burger of the Gods:

And Terry went off the Market Menu to have the Off Duty Foodie Burger with grass fed beef and chorizo in the patty.

We didn't take any photos at AleSmith, the next stop, but we did start to notice the parade of party buses and stretch limos that had chosen the same breweries we had so far. It's pretty hilarious to people watch at breweries.

Anyway, our final stop of the day was Green Flash Brewing Co.

This place was our favorite of the day. The selection was more varied and offered plenty of different types of brews to taste.

This brewery was also the largest of the three and had an impressive indoor and outdoor space for relaxing and tasting. Plus we could spot the barrels and tanks in the back rooms.

We headed home quite satisfied with a fun day. I took the wheel (and of course made sure to be a safe designated driver!), and we ended the evening with some Downton Abbey and leftover pizza. Our plans for tomorrow--Terry's actual birthday--include a brunch with Terry's parents and a movie. Should be a fun day!

How do you usually celebrate birthdays? We like to keep things fairly calm, but we also love celebrating with some traveling or dinner. I love to spoil Terry, and he always spoils me--even when it isn't my birthday--so he deserves a great celebration!

Proud to Be an American

The Best Version of the National Anthem I've Ever Seen

Times are tough. Bad stuff happens. But this country--and the good people in it--will prevail.

What My Husband Ate for a Week

So how about something a little bit different? I have gotten questions (mostly from my mom) about how much Terry eats. It's funny, because he's gained a reputation around my family, his friends, and his coworkers for being something of a garbage disposal. But, as you'll see below, that's not his usual routine.

Fun observations I've made about Terry's eating habits since I met him almost seven years ago:

• Terry tends to eat big meals, and he's not really much of a snacker. 
• He can eat around three times as much as I eat in a sitting, but he also tends to skip meals, or he'll just eat what's easiest, which isn't always very much food. 
• He eats more at night than during the morning. A lot of times he'll eat a single piece of toast for breakfast, which is probably not nearly enough to keep him satisfied, but I think that's again what's easiest.
• And he's not the type to scavenge for food. If I put out a big plate of snacks, he'll munch away, but otherwise he will just go without eating for hours. (I find this contradiction so strange, likely because I'm constantly thinking about food: What should I eat next? When is my next meal? What are my options if my planned meal doesn't work out?)

I mentioned this idea of Terry tracking his food awhile back, and I finally remembered to ask Terry to log his food intake for about a week. He was totally on board--as always--and we set up a Google Doc where he could write in his meals, snacks, and desserts. Terry is a super disciplined guy, so when he sets out to complete something like this, he has no problem remembering (with the exception of Friday, but we left for our trip that night, so I can't blame him). So anyway, here are Terry's meals for a regular work week in lieu of the usual What I Ate Wednesday, but please note:

• This week was during Lent, and we weren't eating meat but were eating fish for Lent this year.
• Terry also gave up alcoholic beverages for Lent.
• Terry works out about 5 days per week, a combination of cardio and strength.

What My Husband Ate for a Week

Note: Overnight oats contained about 3/4 cup oats, 2 T almond butter, 2 t honey, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup yogurt.

Note: Vegetable lasagna recipe here; minestrone from Ina Garten

So there it is! I asked Terry how he felt about this week of food. His response: "I could definitely eat more." Yep! I completely agree. Aside from adding back in the meat (I'll post soon about our experience as pescetarians, but we definitely won't be going that route full time), my totally amateur analysis of Terry's meals suggests that he definitely needs to eat more.

Terry has already agreed to log another week of meals now that we're done with Lent, so I'm really excited to see if there are big changes or if the week looks similar to this one.

Special thanks to my awesome hubby for being up for tracking his meals for a week! I'm a big advocate of writing down what we eat now and then, just to have a sense of what we're putting in our bodies. I'm glad he found it helpful, too!

Do you like to write down what you eat? Has it led to realizations you wouldn't have otherwise figured out?

Yes, You Can

First of all, a little shout out to our friends, Katie and Corey, who became parents to a beautiful little girl on Saturday. They are going to be incredible parents!!! Congratulations, you two! (And thanks for reading my little blog!)

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Today, on the treadmill, I got halfway through my planned workout and just about gave up. It was my first "regular" workout in about a week, and I just wasn't feeling it. The TV wasn't working on my treadmill, my music wasn't pumping me up, and my legs were like lead. I considered switching over to the elliptical, mostly because I felt like continuing to run would be too hard.

But something clicked in my head before I clicked off the machine: This is the whole point. Pushing myself, sweating a lot, feeling uncomfortable, hurting a little bit (within reason)--that's all part of the deal. Working out isn't supposed to feel like a spa day. As Jillian says...

(Source)

So I launched into the second half of my cardio and pushed a little harder. Rather than increasing only the speed, I kicked up the incline, too. It SUCKED. Seriously, by the time I was at 8.0 mph and 3.0 incline, I felt ready to hop off the machine and curl up on the couch. But when I finally reached the end and completed my strength workout, too, I couldn't help smiling. Honestly, nothing beats a tough workout for making me feel accomplished in an hour or less.

We need to give our bodies more credit. We are capable of so much more than we even know, but we can only figure out our limits by pushing past the usual barriers. Most of the time, those obstacles are simply mental blocks--telling ourselves we can't. But we can! Whatever your fitness level, consider pushing yourself just a little harder during one workout per week. See what your body can do! Of course, stay safe and know your limits (heart rate monitors are a great way to track your stress level during a workout), but bumping your weights up by 5 pounds for that last set or increasing the speed on the treadmill by 0.5 mph are simple ways to push yourself. And you'll feel so great afterward!

So here's today's cardio workout, inspired by Tina's Best Body Boot Camp.

The first time through, I skipped all the inclines, so you could try that, or you can push it and climb those hills! To make it easier, slow the pace (you can even walk!) and/or only increase each speed interval by 0.1 or 0.2 mph. To make it tougher, increase the speed and/or the incline. Remember that you should feel at least a little uncomfortable!

I also wanted to share some pretty awesome articles from around the Interwebs:

• Fitnessista: How Much Cardio Do You Need?
• Tina Reale: Find Your "Happy Weight"
• PBFingers: Exercise Obstacles
• Buzzfeed: 20 Reasons Why Going to the Gym is a Huge Waste of Time (hilarious)

What's your favorite way to push yourself in a workout?

Hope you have a great day today! 

More Good

Tonight was supposed to be my "I'm back" post, all about my weekend and what I've neglected to post  over the last several days. But the events of today's Boston Marathon overshadow any trivial events I may have discussed here, and I hope you don't mind one more irregular day on here.

After school today, another teacher and I commiserated about the lack of humanity in the world and how tragic these events are. We discussed how difficult it is to teach teenagers about peace and tolerance and justice when the real world sets such devastating examples.

But then I can't help but think about all the good. There is so much good. As easy as it is for me to feel disappointed, heartbroken, jaded, pessimistic--I still can't help seeing the good.

Events like these, while difficult to digest and impossible to understand, bring out the best in some people. We see unlikely heroes, strangers comforting strangers, and neighborly compassion. I want to focus on that part, and I think I naturally gravitate toward those stories. Whenever there is a tragedy I find myself asking about the first responders, the police officers, the paramedics, the fire fighters. I wonder about the people who don't know anything about first aid but tried to find a way to help anyway. I think about the messages pouring in from across the world to show support for the victims.

I'm sad to say that these events will likely continue to happen and that the world is far from achieving peace. But I also know that there are still more good people than bad and that the good people will prevail. Meanwhile, I'm praying for the city of Boston, for the heroes and the victims and the runners and the good people who will outweigh the bad in this world.

Edited to add: If you're looking for some good, check out this article.