Short Day, Shorter To-Do List

Today was a short day for me! One of my meeting’s got canceled, so I decided to leave an hour early from work to get a head start on my to-do list (excuse my chicken scratch!):

See? I would be just getting home right now, and look what I’ve already crossed off! There’s just something so gratifying about crossing items off of a to-do list, don’tcha think?

I made sure to take a break to give some lovin’ to Niko, too:D

Poor tired monkey just woke up from a nap.

Now I just need to wash my make up brushes, sync up my iPhone with my laptop (for instant wireless internet anywhere,) and add one more item to the list – making a meal plan.

Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point inspired me to make a system for meal planning. I always go to the grocery store, and spend way too much money, only to get home and realize I don’t have everything I need for a recipe. So, I’m adapting her version of meal planning (well, the binder part, at least) and putting my own spin on it. Thanks for the idea, Caitlin! 😀

Work was fairly mundane again today (don’t worry, tomorrow it’s gonna be a crazy one :-/) However, I totally forgot my breakfast on the way out the door! I was planning on having Nature’s Path Optimum Zen cereal. Thankfully, I keep a stash of Dark Chocolate Dreams in my desk drawer, and I grabbed a banana as I ran out the door, thus breakfast. 😀

Of course, that didn’t satisfy me for long, so I grabbed an Oiko’s with honey, and noshed on some peanuts.

Evidence 😉

I used what I made for dinner last night as a variation for my lunch today. I simply took the eggplant part of the meal and sandwiched two sliced between an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin, along with some raw goat cheddar.

With an apple on the side. SO good! I’m glad I switched up the ol’ leftovers:)

After lunch, my sweet tooth was nagging at me, so I quieted it with two of these little treats:

Then did a little more work and called it a day! I wish every day could be a short day.

I just finished doing some strength training – legs and glutes today, so I did my butt-boosting routine. I haven’t done this in a while, so I expect to be in some (good kind!) pain in the morning 😉

I use the 15 pounders for these exercises (I wish I had 25 lb dumbbells!)

Now I’m off to start preparing Chicken Enchiladas, a la The Fitnessista!

Question: Do you always have the same workload each day at work? Or are some days super boring and some super crazy-busy?

Happy Monday=Success!

Hola! I am proud to say that I did not catch myself feeling stabby once today! I think that’s a first for me on a Monday. Putting forth the effort to be optimistic on a Monday did, however lead me to notice how crabby and rude others can on Monday. I didn’t let it bother me though. I mean, let it slide right? It’s their right to be crabby on a Monday?

Anyway, today was pretty status quo. Work wasn’t insane like last week which is nice. I got some “house cleaning” stuff done there, which is something I haven’t been able to do for a while.

I finished my “butt-load” (heh) of pancakes this morning for breakfast. They were just as good the second day! After scarfing them down, I had about one bite left and thought, “oh, I forgot to take a picture!” No worries, to see them in their delicious entirety, they’re right here.

Lunch was spent running errands, so I had to grab it on the go and eat it back at work. It ended up being a Quiznos oven roasted chicken chopped salad. Probably not the best choice, but it was sure yummy 😀

Since it was somewhat nutritionally void, I followed it with a banana dog.

I keep a jar of this stuff at my desk now! Haha (Dark Chocolate Dreams PB)

After cleaning up some cabinets at my desk, I noticed it was already time to go home, so I grabbed my Peanut Butter Cookie Lara Bar. Mmm (unpictured.)

I’m glad I kept myself busy, because I tend to get a little snacky at work when things are a little slow.

Work it Out!

Today’s workout was abs, legs and some elliptical!

Abs was a whole lotta planks and side planks! I was going to put in an ab DVD, but I was too busy watching the Real World (gotta say, I’m not too impressed with this cast.)

I just did my usual butt-boosting work out for legs and glutes. Then, I finished it off with an easy 35 minutes on the elliptical.

It was a nice Monday workout for me! I take Monday workouts a little easy because usually my long runs are on Sunday. How are your workouts on Monday? Back to the grind and all out? Or do you ease back in to it like I do?

Fight the Flattening!

I love, love, love, to run. It’s become my favorite form of cardio, hands down. I also love what running does to my legs – hello shorts season! The only thing I don’t really like about running, is what’s been doing to my back side. Basically, flattening it.

To counter balance the deflation of the bootay, I do 5 main lower body strength training moves. For all of them except for the lunges, I use 15 pound dumbbells, and I do 2 sets of 10 – very slowly. I find going with heavier weights and slower reps, really gets the results I’m looking for in this specific workout.

Oh, and please pay little attention to my looks – this is me on little sleep and little make up!! 😀

Dead lifts – make sure to keep a flat back and keep your knees slightly bent. It seems I really have to put my mind in the muscle that I want to work while doing dead lifts, because they can also work to tone the hamstrings if focusing on those muscles.
I love these, because they seem so easy while doing them, but then the next day I really feel it!

Dynamic lunges – step forward and lunge with right leg, step back and lunge with right leg – this is one rep. I do 2 sets of 20 on each leg.

Bowlers lunge – This is from Chalean Extreme. These really work the outter glute. Take one leg, and sweep it behind the other like a bowler’s stance, and lunge. Pay extra attention to your knee, and make sure it doesn’t go over your toes.

Standard squat – just make sure to stick your butt way out and don’t let the knees come close to those toes!
One-legged squat – this is probably my favorite. Just stand in your standard squat position, and lift one heel off the ground to really work the other leg. Focus on that leg, trying not to put hardly any weight on the other leg at all. I also frame the leg I’m working with my weights – it’s just more comfortable to me, but YMMV.

Sometimes I’ll just do 2 or 3 of these exercises, mixed in with some other lower body exercises that work different muscles like the quads or inner thighs, but if I’m really wanting a butt-boosting work out, I’ll stick to these five.

I hope you try and enjoy!

What are your favorite lower body workouts?