workout

Twist and Shout

/ foodsweatandbeers / 6 Comments

Happy lunchtime, y’all!!

This post will be a brief one, as I have loads of packing to do for the weekend!!  Knocking that checklist down, slowly but surely.

That being said, today’s workout was an early morning one, my favorite kind!  I headed over to the gym a little before 7 am for my favorite BodyAttack class at O2 Fitness .  The instructor, Javier, is FANTASTIC and always manages to pump me up despite it being over an hour before my average wake-up call.  Today, though, did not go as smoothly as usual.

My workout looked like this:

Notice anything different?

About 15 minutes into the workout, during a little ski jump agility action, I twisted my right ankle.  Sort of like this:

You know what that feels like, right? MISERY!

Having broken that food in 10th grade (and the other foot 6 years later), I knew not to mess around so the second I twisted it, I fell to the ground, hobbled over to the side, grabbed my stuff, and left.

I finished the workout with some weights, situps/ab work, and even some pushups (hear that Michelle?! I’m trying!!) Here’s proof that I did pushups for once in my life without an instructor demanding them of me:

The proof is in the BEAUTIFUL picture!

I was feeling particularly snarky at the gym after twisting my ankle, when I saw the posters that encourage me to join a group fitness class.  And I decided that would make a hilarious blog post.  So expect it on the horizon, because sometimes… Jordan’s just gotta be rude and bwitchy.

Breakfast was provided by Meghann and Attune Foods from winning on the Healthy Living Summit blog.

De-lish!

The Uncle Sam cereal is delicious, I loveee the flax seeds in it, and it pairs nicely with some blueberries.

Ok, off to pack!!

Ever had a workout related injury?

Learn Something New Every Day

/ foodsweatandbeers / 8 Comments

Good evening friends!

I loved reading about your opinions regarding the Bridal Party BYOB decision, I think that the final decision will be a fun six pack of beers, with a cheapy bottle of champagne for the fun of the trolley ride.  It’ll be good for pacing myself and even better for deliciousness and options.  I also plan on bringing some water bottles and a tasty snack or two.

So the day went swimmingly well, though not exactly as planned.  Sometimes that’s how the best days work, right?

Around 3pm, I had my work buddy drop me back off at Jiffy Lube.  I know it’s less than a quarter of a mile from my office but honestly, in this nasty heat, even that would’ve left my outfit so drenched in sweat it would not have been work appropriate.  They changed my oil, rotated my tires, and I had a coupon for $10 off.  I got back into the ol’ cav and it drives like a dream!!

Maybe not as good as it drove in 2006...But I definitely don't have many pictures of my car.

I have had my Chevrolet Cavalier for a while now (pushing on 9 years), and it’s gotten me everywhere I’ve needed to go, and back again.  However, it’s also dealt with its fair share of nicks and bumps and rear ends in the time, so it’s always nice when I can give it a little TLC.  I think it’s a girl car, so it wears one of my tiaras on the back.  And this princess is ready for her long journey to Pittsburgh and back.  960 miles on the agenda.  Luckily, though, that’s round trip.  And honestly, having done the 700+ mile trip to Ole Miss and back, I’m not too worried (except for the part where I have to wake the beau up before 6am… that won’t be pretty.)  Oh well, I started packing tonight and hopefully we’ll have everything ready by tomorrow so we can just wake up and go.  That’s the plan.

The plan for working out was AbSculpt followed by BodyPump.  Alas, AbSculpt turned out to be a totally different experience, as the substitute instructor was (GASP) a pilates princess.  Real talk, this woman was flipping her legs around and doing core workouts that my puny ab/back muscles struggled to handle.

Really, what person thought "Hey, this probably works out some muscles." then just did it? (Source)

The craziest part?  The woman instructing the class was just casually chatting the entire time, like she wasn’t even doing more than standing in line at a coffee shop.  Meanwhile, I was gasping for breath as I tried to “inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth.”  Read: choke an occasional exhale out and sound like a pregnant woman in Lamaze class as you inhale… Cute, right?

What did I learn from the class? I learned that Pilates is HARDCORE. Much more than I ever thought. I definitely gained a new respect for Pilates…. as well as the desire to take BodyFlow, because I sense a challenge to my muscles (and my drive to have a stronger core… something I could really use.)  I learned that my abs…. they need a lotta work.

Since I got more of a muscle/core workout and less of a cardio blast in, I skipped Pump and hit the elliptical instead.  A hard fought 33 minutes later, and I was drenched and exhausted enough to head home.

610 calories, and I forgot to turn my HRM on until halfway through ab-class

I thought I would have some sort of protein shake or something like that when I got home, but all my Almond Milk was at the office… Next option?

Kiki the Kiwi. Wait, you don't name your food before you eat it?

Here’s another thing I learned. I don’t really like kiwi.  I don’t mind it as a topping in my FroYo, or in a giant fruit salad…. but alone, it just doesn’t do it for me.  Oh well, so glad I only bought one.  Save those tasty oranges for the long trip to Pittsburgh.

Now I’m off to watch The A-Team… maybe I’ll learn what boys see in this kind of flick?  Luckily, I don’t need to learn what I see in it… I’ll give you a hint.

Ok, it was a big hint.

Hee hee hee….

Did you learn anything today?

Have you ever done pilates? TELL ME YOUR WAYS!!!

The Little Meal that Could

/ foodsweatandbeers / 14 Comments

Good morning friends, neighbors, and countrymen (and women).

Last night was a blast as Ry and I watched the first episode of this AWESOME new show called Alphas (which is GREAT, if you like sci fi [or syfy] or super powers like X-Men, or anything wild like that), and oops, I did end up drinking the last Endo IPA from Carolina Beer Company.  However, I was informed that they are now owned by Foothills Brewing (which I have a super sweet glass from, woo!) so maybe the beers will improve (thanks, Michael!)

Well, before I sat my booty down on the couch to watch the show and drink too many beers for a Tuesday night, I decided that it was a great day to Zumbaaaaaaaaaa at the gym!!  AKA I really wanted a chance to rock my new Zumba shirt:

You like? I like!

PS I promise, I was off the clock when I took this picture and that’s why I’m playing dress up in my office.

Anyway, the workout was fantastic, though it made me painfully aware that I am not a dancer and merely an athlete trapped in a Zumba-phile.  Oh well.

771 calories burned? Don't mind if I do.

Then, when considering the food left in the pantry post work, and after meeting up with the beau in the grocery store…. it hit me.  What to have for dinner.

Chicken Cordon Buffalo Bleu(s)!!

Here was my plan:

  • Take some chicken breasts, knife them hollow
  • Marinade them in some sweet Ken’s Buffalo Sauce Marinade
  • Dredge them in some egg mixture
  • Stuff em with some stuff (Laughing Cow Blue Cheese n’ bacon for me, cheddar n’ bacon for Ry)
  • Then panko bread crumbs
  • Fry them in some EVOO
  • Eat them up

Seems foolproof, right?  Woops.

I skipped the egg mixture, coated in bread crumbs, stuffed em with some stuff…. then went into the pan.

Well, the panko bread crumbs fell off nearly instantly.  And some of the cheese came outta the stuffed breast.  And this is what it looked like:

Beautiful? No. Delish. Mhm....

I’ll be honest, I won’t even bother giving you a formal recipe, because I think that you can kinda understand it was sort of a bust, appearance-wise. But trust me, it hit in all the right tastebuds.

I paired it with some steamed vegetables (corn/carrots/peas/green beans) and voila, dinner of champions.

Ok, worktime followed by oil change time.  Knocking that list down one at a time.  You love it. I love it.

Ever have any cooking blunders that ended up delicious?

Are you a fan of buffalo chicken anything?

I go nuts over the stuff.

Quick Update: Confession Edition

/ foodsweatandbeers / 12 Comments

True story….  I just have a moment to write this before I head off, but I really needed to share this with everyone.

On my lunch break today, I rushed home for a quick workout.

This is what I look like when I am a sweaty moster:

Instagram did its best to make this picture cute. A for Effort.

Can I just say how difficult it is to workout listening to stand up comedians on Pandora?  Laughing builds abs, right?

Speedy Demon

377 calories in 28 minutes, Mama likey….

Second confession:

Whipped Cream. A dangerous canister.

My snack today was a Southwest Airlines bag of pretzels and whipped cream with sugar sprinkles on top. Much more whipped cream than this was consumed.  Having access to a full canister is dangerous business.

Life’s all about balance, right?

The Death Deck

/ foodsweatandbeers / 10 Comments

Love decks of cards, but Egyptian Rat Screw not quite intense enough lately?  Have I got a workout for you!!

After a long day at work, the gums weren’t feeling 100% but definitely a little better than earlier, so I popped a few Advil (that claimed to be expired…  I like to live dangerously), threw back many glasses of water, and knew I was ready to hit the gym, and hit it hard.  Luckily, today I had a friend! Melissa, a new employee at my office, came off as a fit gal from first meeting, and when I mentioned how much I love my gym, O2 Fitness, and how there was a contest going on if you brought a friend in to win a year of free gas, she was totally down to come with today. We got changed at work and hit the gym hard.  After giving her a little tour of the facilities:

Here's where I spend like... 5 days of my week. It's getting pretty serious.

we steered clear of the group fitness room and went our separate ways for the first 20 minutes. I got my race on with the strangers next to me on the elliptical (and kicked everyone’s asses, duh) for 2 miles, and then hopped off to join her in something she called “The Wreck Deck.” I didn’t hear her fully when she first told me the name, so I thought it was called “The Death Deck”. Little did I know how right I was…

Death Deck Setup: Prepare for your doom...

Here’s the way it works:

  • Take a deck of cards, any deck will do. 52 and 2 jokers is all that’s required.
  • Each suit is a different exercise
  1. Clubs are legs. Squats or lunges is the exercise she had listed, with weights or not, whatever makes you comfortable.
  2. Diamonds are pushups. Chest, tricep, diamond, cat (for numbers 6 or less). On your toes, on your knees, or if you are as EXTREME as Melissa, put your toes on one medicine/bosu ball and each hand on another. Then you will impress everyone around you.
  3. Spades are abs. We did these things she modified from V-crunches where you sort of balance on one butt check (easy enough if your butt cheek is a cushiony pillow of joy like my own), then in the middle, then the other butt cheek. That’s one. (Here’s a video of a V-crunch, even though that’s not exactly what we did: V-Crunch!)
  4. Hearts, ironically enough, are Burpees. Or mountain climbers, when you are less extreme or feeling extremely tired. For every one burpee that I didn’t do, I tried to do 2 mountain climber sets. Hopefully it evened out.
  • For the numbered cards, do one rep for each number (aka a 8 of hearts means 8 burpees!)
  • For the Face cards, a jack = 11, a queen = 12, a king = 13, an ace = 15 though!
  • For the jokers, do five reps of each exercise
  • DO THE WHOLE DECK!!

Here’s Melissa drawing the last card (we were both super elated at this, and I’d only down half the deck!)

ONE.... MORE.... CARD!!

Of course, it was 5 burpees. we pushed it out, gave each other copious amounts of high fives, and felt more boss than ever!!

Death Deck: You and I will meet again.

I was proud as a peacock and, to end the day at the gym, Melissa did me a solid and signed up for a membership (translation: new workout buddy andddddd a free month!)

To sum it up, this was basically the coolest day at the gym that I’ve had since I discovered My So-Called Life streaming on Netflix. Admittedly, that wasn’t at the gym, but it felt equally as cool.

Have you tried any new workouts lately?

How do you choose to get swoll?