Weekly Workouts & Healthy Meal Ideas #5

Good morning! I hope you are coming off of a great weekend.

I didn’t do much worth writing about. I did, however, enjoy celebrating a friend’s (semi-surprise) birthday with a sushi dinner on Friday. That was delicious. (Happy Birthday Natalie!)

The spent most of my weekend around the house after work Saturday morning. I finally cracked open the books for my BCS certification (I’m a third of the way done – woot!), worked on the computer, and watched about twelve episodes of Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. My productivity comes with a balance on the weekends.

To be fair, I have seen all of the episodes before, so I had it playing in the background while I cleaned the entire house and I am currently halfway through the eleventh season. I’m almost caught up (again) to current episodes, so it’s addicting at this point. #dontjudgeme

Anyways, enough about my crazy boring weekend, let’s dive into this week’s edition of #WeeklyWorkouts!

For the newbies, I like to share what I have been up to on the workout front in a weekly round-up. My goal is to inspire you to try something new! No two weeks are the same, and right now I am enjoying being outside as much as possible while it’s still warm out. I’ve also been loving breaking a sweat at home with resistance bands and workout DVDs.

If you’re not into running, check out my Cardio Workouts page for more cardio workout ideas as well as the Circuit Workouts page for more bodyweight, dumbbell, and in-gym workouts!

 

Weekly Workouts

(September 21 – 27, 2015)

 

• Monday – 4 mile run with Scott

My running endurance isn’t what it used to be y’all. I realize this every time I leave Roadie at home and go for a longer(ish) run with Scott. He smokes me, and I feel like a fish out of water gasping for air the entire time. Ugh. So frustrating.

Simply put, I’m just not pushing myself like I used to. You probably already know why. There will be a time where I push myself to get back to my normal pace and train to run long distance races again. It’s just not right now. 😉

(For the record, I’m happy about this pace… I’m just sayin’… I ran my last half marathon at a 9:00 pace. It’s definitely not the same go-getter mindset!)

Also, I’m starting to wonder what’s going on with my normal 4 mile loop. I mean, it’s pretty close, but my watch clocked in at 3.89 miles, not 4. And it always says 4 on the nose. I want to test the exact loop again to see if it’s really supposed to be 4, or if I’m just going crazy.

It could very well be the later. Does this ever happen to you?

 

• Tuesday – Rockit Class Workout

I taught this class on Monday and took advantage of it still being up on the white board the next day. I got through it at a steady pace, but it wasn’t exactly easy.

Here’s a quick glance at the exercises:

 

sit-ups

medicine ball (overhead) slams

push-ups

stability ball knee tucks

air squats

dumbbell dead lifts

stability ball bent leg bridges

TRX rows

kettlebell swings

jump ropes

 

The forty reps were the hardest for me, but it was a good one!

(And by good I mean a tiring one with those high reps back to back. Woof.)

 

• Wednesday – At-Home Resistance Band Workout

I shared this workout on the blog last Thursday, and it was a big hit! It looks like you guys like training with resistance bands as much as I do. (By the way, today is the last day to enter the giveaway to win a set of your own!)

I completed the circuit three times, and my body was sore for the next few days.

I didn’t expect to be sore from little ‘ol resistance bands, but I was. I love that and will be turning to this one down the road for sure.

 

• Thursday – 3 mile jog with Roadie

If I said “run”, I would be lying. Well, we had a good mile of a solid run, but the rest was very stop and go. Let’s average the walk and run time out to a nice jog.

It was beautiful out. I could have stayed out for another two miles, but Roadie had other ideas of stopping to sniff everything every two seconds. There’s no way I could take an entire 4 mile loop of it, so I just let him do his thing and enjoyed the slower pace.

(And I wonder why I can’t keep up with Scott’s pace these days… ha!)

 

• Friday – 2 mile walk with Roadie

I normally complete another circuit workout Friday or Saturday, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t want to go running either, so I listened to music and took a long walk with Roadie around the neighborhood. We’ll take this weather for several more weeks, please!

 

• Saturday – REST

 

• Sunday – 2 mile walk with Roadie & Ballet Beautiful workout

We took another stroll around the neighborhood in the afternoon, then I turned to a Ballet Beautiful workout you can stream  several hours later.

Longtime readers will remember my love for this ballet (and barre) inspired workout created by the very talented Mary Helen Bowers. I was lucky enough to meet and take a mini-class from her at the Reebok Skyscape Launch Party in New York City last year. I loved it and immediately tried the workout at home a few days later.

source

The best way I can describe it is a calm and graceful full-body workout meant to focus on, tighten and tone an area at a time, without the use of weights. It felt great to get in a low-intensity workout that still burns like crazy before bed!

 

Healthy Meal Ideas

 

A (large) majority of readers enjoy seeing What I Ate Wednesday posts, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to feature more food throughout the week and include some quick and easy healthy meal ideas that didn’t make the blog in this round-up.

Here are some meals you could throw together in a pinch!

 

(I shared this on Instagram because I was that excited about it…)

(And I might actually turn orange from the pumpkin and sweet potato overload…)

 

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes:

pancake: 1/2 cup protein pancake mix, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup pumpkin

topping: two spoonfuls applesauce, two spoonfuls pumpkin, pumpkin spice (mixed and spread), drizzle of honey

(Check out this healthy pumpkin protein pancake recipe without the mix, too.) Yum!

Gluten-free chicken tenders with a side salad (spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, shredded cheese in a Greek dressing – not pictured) and sweet potato cubes sprinkled in cinnamon

Spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, black olives, veggie pasta, tomato & basil feta cheese & ground pepper (oil & vinegar for dressing – not pictured)

Sweet potato with Amy’s lentil vegetable soup topped in shredded cheese

I realize the last one looks horrendous, but I promise that it tastes delicious. Isn’t that usually how it works with healthy meals pictured at night?

 

Previous Weekly Workouts recaps:

• Weekly Workouts & Un-Pictured Meals

• Weekly Workouts & Healthy Meal Ideas #2

• Weekly Workouts & (New) 12 Minute Core Strength Workout

• Weekly Workouts & (New) EMOM/Tabata Gym Workout

• Weekly Workouts & (New) Stability Ball & Dumbbell Circuit Workout

 

I guess that’s it for now! I’m off to bake #allthepumpkinthings and will be sure to share the recipe with you if it turns out. Happy Monday!

 

Questions of the Morning

• Do you enjoy workout DVDs at home, or prefer to keep active at the gym?

• Would you like to see more resistance band workouts on the blog?

 

Generally, I try to complete some kind of class, circuit, or strength training workout 3 days a week and get in at least a few (3+ mile) runs for cardio. There was point in time where I went the gym to exercise 4-5 days a week and completed a long training run (8+ miles) on the weekends, but that hasn’t been what I’ve been up to in quite some time.

In short, it is important for me to stay healthy and fit, but I am not planning on running races or pushing my body towards intense training right now. If you would like to know the longer version – read on.

 

Disclaimer: I am not a registered dietitian. Although I am a certified personal trainer, I am not necessarily your personal trainer. The workouts I post are what work best for me and might not be the right type of exercises for you. If you decide to give these workouts a try, please listen to your body and rest or modify as you see fit. I always recommend consulting a doctor or health professional before making changes to your diet or fitness routine.