Happy Turkey Day Eve!

Good Morning Gym Rats and Happy Thanksgiving Eve! It’s a dark and dreary Wednesday morning here in Portland with torrential rain outside but I’ll take it over the SNOW we got yesterday! I’m not ready to switchover to my snow tires just yet so I basically rolled / fish-tailed my way into work yesterday morning, cursing the world around me all the while. Luckily the temperature today is in the low 50’s, a sharp contrast to yesterday’s 20’s, so there’s no freezing rain or black ice to cause any of yesterday’s road hazards.

The office is extremely quiet today and I just pray it stays this way. I’m hoping to get out of here early this afternoon and hit up the gymmer for my mid-week StairMaster and core sesh. I’m flying south for a few days in early December and have been adding cardio to my lifts each day so far this week in case I make it to the beach. I looked in the mirror the other day at the gym and decided I wasn’t quite shredded-up enough to don my teeniest bikini in full confidence so I’m on a 2-week shred right now LOL. After Monday’s chest sesh I did 30 mins on the elliptical where I alternated 4 min segments peddling forward and 2 min segments peddling backward. Then after yesterday’s leg sesh I again did 30 mins on the elliptical but this time I did a HIIT routine which repeats 90 secs rest at low-intensity, 60 secs fast at mid-intensity, 30 secs slow at high-intensity, then 60 secs fast again. I NEVER do cardio on or after leg day but I’m pushing through this week for the sake of my 2-week shred as well as to combat any delicious desserts I decide to indulge in tomorrow! Thank goodness my shin splints haven’t been acting up too badly lately. Tomorrow morning I’ll be hitting my bi’s and tri’s and likely also doing the special Thanksgiving morning “Turkey Burn” spin class at 8:30. Come Friday my legs will probably be useless but that’s okay because I’ll take a few days off from cardio again until Monday (Friday – back / Saturday – off / Sunday – shoulders). I’m loaded-up on coffee and Ibuprophen this morning as my lower back is hurting from yesterday’s stiff-leg deadlifts and I think the pre-workout I have taken the past couple of days is what has caused me to wake up at 4:30 in the morning both yesterday and today. No pre-workout today though; just straight-up BCAAs in my shaker! 

I’m not sure if it’s the increased cardio, the pre-workout, the decreased sleep, a combination of the above or something else entirely but my tummy has not been happy these past few days. It seems to be the worst right after I drink my mint cookie whey so I’m taking a break from that for a few days to see if it makes a difference. I think maybe I’m just experiencing whey overload right now and need to cut back but I wonder if whey goes bad after a while? The massive 5-lb bag I bought early October is almost out so I may as well finish it but I think I’ll stick to smaller quantities in the future! The casein I make pudding with at night doesn’t seem to bother me at all thank goodness. Love my “clean” desserts J

Tonight I’ll be making my orange-cranberry sauce to bring to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner. It’s super easy to make. All you have to do it boil down whole cranberries, add sugar or a sugar substitute to taste (I like approx. ¼ cup sugar to 1 bag of berries) and then grate in orange rind. I use a potato masher to break down the berries and once it reaches the desired consistency I pour it into a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. Sooo easy! Just make sure that if you make it you aren’t wearing white clothing as the berries will burst when they heat up and spray their juice all over the place! Cranberries are excellent antioxidants, low-calorie and high in vitamin C and fiber. I add them to all sorts of recipes like pumpkin bread and apple sauce, crisp, or pie! Cranberry sauce is also a great alternative condiment to top your turkey with as opposed to the fattening gravy on the Thanksgiving table! 

What’s your favorite dish to eat on Thanksgiving? Will you be making a “clean version” of it this year? Are you changing your workouts at all this week to combat the calorie overload? Please share in the comments section below. Have a safe and happy holiday everyone!

Coffee, Groceries & More

I have a serious issue with coffee consumption. But then again, if it's not hurting me or anyone else, is it really an issue? I think not. I'm sitting inside on this bright but frigid Saturday afternoon wrapped in a fleece blanket and drinking my 4th cup of the day. Today's brew is Coffee by Design (a local coffee company) in what I think was called Pumpkin Pie Spice. I LOVE Coffee by Design. It's a bit pricey but I find it's the only company that sells flavoured beans that aren't too weak.

Today is my off day and aside from working my PT job this morning, I have absolutely no obligations and I love that! After work I stopped into one of my favourite local cafes for lunch, Market Street Eats, and picked up my favourite pita wrap called the Red Rooster. Its a pita filled with freshly carved chicken breast, bacon, provelone, lettuce and a dab of spicy Thai mayo then warmed in the over for a minute so the cheese is melted. It's soooooooo good! Definitely a bit off-diet for me but I get it once a month at most so I don't feel too guilty. After lunch I did my weekly grocery shop which was a bit of a nightmare since it is the week of Thanksgiving but I survived. I pretty much buy the same foods week-to-week so I am usually in and out of there in under 20 minutes for a full week's worth of groceries. I think it takes me longer waiting in line than it does to zip around the store picking up my groceries! I often get asked what kinds of foods I eat and/or to make suggestions for what to buy by people who are trying to eat clean so this week I am sharing with you my grocery list:

2 Bananas (I only like them the one day or two when they turn from green to yellow)
1 bag of clementine's (I love buying seasonal fruit and plan to add some of the rind into my cranberry sauce that I'll be making later this week)
Veggies: Sweet potatoes, Baby carrots, Baby spinach, 1 sweet onion, asparagus, 1 red bell pepper, 1 cucumber, 1 avocado
1/2 lb salmon
1 family-size pack boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bag coffee (I opted for Dunkin Donuts Cinnamon Spice flavour this time since it was on sale)
1 jar unsalted cashews
1 carton Blue Diamond coconut-almond milk (this stuff is sooooo good in a chocolate whey shake or added to coffee like I'm enjoying right now!)
1 carton egg whites
1 dozen eggs
1 container plain greek yogurt
1 bag frozen blueberries
1 bag frozen mixed stir-fry veggies
1 Pecan Pie flavoured Cliff Bar as a high-carb seasonal treat :)
1 lottery ticket - Hey, it's the only gambling I do. I have faith it will payoff one of these days :P

I always keep a list going in the notes section of my iPhone so that I never forget anything. Multiple trips to the grocery store throughout the week seem to always cause unnecessary spending. I mean, who goes in for 1 item and actually leaves with just that 1 item? Certainly not me. Those pesky high-carb bananas are always calling my name LOL! Some other staple items that I always have on-hand at home but did not need to purchase this week are the following:

Instant brown rice
Quick Oats
Cans of tuna
Ezekiel bread and english muffins
Stir-fry sauce, salad dressing, various spices
Lots of whey & casein protein of course!
All-natural almond or peanut butter
Quest protein bars

So as you can see I eat pretty simply. Eating clean is not rocket science; it simply requires planning and commitment :) Once home I took Mugsy for a walk down Ocean Avenue which will be my only physical activity for the day. Poor guy doesn't belong in this climate any more than I do. He's having skin issues again (likely due to the dry weather I'm guessing) despite my still sneaking the melatonin into his dinner. I think I might have to go buy him some Omega-3 oil at the vet again or else try adding a few droplets of olive or coconut oil into his food. He doesn't seem to notice or be in pain but his coat gets so flaky and patchy this time of year and he starts to look like he has a disease. Between his and my hair and skin issues I don't know what else to but move south!

Anyway, that's enough of that grossness. I am so excited for tomorrow morning as not only is it shoulder day but my favourite yoga instructor from years past has returned to World's! She now teaches a Sunday morning class at 8:00 am and it is fantastic! I did her first class last weekend after my shoulder sesh and left the gym feeling so relaxed and accomplished. Since I don't have any plans to go out in this wind-whipping bitter tundra tonight I'll probably be up at the crack-of-dawn and hit my shoulders again pre-yoga...and maybe a tan if I have time :) I do love to get all of my training out of the way before most people are even awake! This coming week in general should be a nice relaxing week for a change because my boss is out of the office and my work group is done doing fiscal year-end system reviews which have made the past 3 weeks an exceptional living nightmare for me. Thursday is of course Thanksgiving and I always look forward to a plate full of turkey and cranberry sauce! I saw a sign for a special Thanksgiving morning spin class at 8:30 so I may just have to hit that up in addition to my bi's and tri's sesh that day to make sure I am in a sufficient calorie surplus to splurge on dessert hehe :) In general I don't find Thanksgiving to be a total diet killer because I'm not a fan of most of the casserole-esque dishes on my family's dinner table so I pretty much stick to my turkey overload. Not gonna cry over extra protein! I do have a mad pumpkin pie craving right now but I think I'm the only one in my family who likes it and I don't want to make a whole pie and then have to eat the whole thing on my own! Anyway, I'll cut it short here since I'm starting to just ramble on off-topic. Maybe with the office quiet this week I'll have time to do a pre-turkey day post. If not, I hope all of you Gym Rats have a fantastic Turkey Day filled with lots of delicious food, family & friends! 'Til next time, happy gymming! xo

Blogging Delays

So my home computer is in the repair shop, i.e. sitting on a techy-friend’s kitchen table awaiting the delivery of a new hard drive as 5 years appears to be the maximum life span of a Toshiba laptop and I am not in the position to go purchasing a new one right now! That, in combination with my new desk at work being in direct view of my nosey manager, is the reason for my blog posts becoming few and far between lately.

I am also in the midst of planning a major life change which I am not ready to announce on here but if all goes well there will be some great new Gym Rat Adventures in the new year! I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment and am just trying to focus on one thing at a time. Thank goodness for the ability to de-stress in the gym every day! Today is chest day which oddly enough, despite my lack of interest in building my chest muscles (I’m sorry but bulging Pecs just aren’t a part of my dream female physique), chest day is perhaps my favourite day in November’s lifting plan.  Here’s the split:

-Incline hammer press

-Flat bench press

-Flat bench flyes

-Standing dips

-Dumbbell pullover (lying flat)

-Standing calf raises

-Seated calf raises

Last week I really felt a burn from it so I can’t wait to get after it tonight! Plus there are a ton of new benches in the gym this week (in addition to some fancy-looking but functionally sub-par replacement equipment…IMO) so finding and waiting for the right one shouldn’t be an issue anymore. I’ve been listening to the Britney Spears Pandora station a lot lately. Go ahead and judge me, I can take it LOL! There’s just a ton of motivating songs on there with good beats that keep me in my super focused do-not-disturb zone! I really enjoy anything from the Christina Aguilera album “Stripped”. Anyway, just a quickie update today as I had a few minutes to spare here at my desk and felt momentarily motivated due to my 2:00 pm coffee…Green Mountain Mocha Nut Fudge flavour is really doing the trick lately!

What is your favourite day at the gym and what artists are keeping you motivated these days? Please share below with our Gym Rat fam and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @PortlandGymRat …Happy Gymming! #GymRatFam #FitFierceFun

Quest Bar Dreams

Welcome to Monday Gym Rats! It's so deceiving here in Portland today; bright and sunny through the window but absolutely frigid with a cold and bitter whipping wind as soon as you step out the door. Seriously considering a move south at this time...my body just can't take this torture anymore. Good thing I have a nice warm gym to look forward to in just a few hours!

 

Yesterday I began my November lifting plan with shoulders. I think I mentioned this in my last blog post, but this month I am following the plan that was supposedly Jay Cutler's regimen as he prepped for the Olympia this year. I really enjoyed workout #1 which incorporated several moves I had never done and a lot more delt work which is definitely a weakness for me. I'm not super sore today but I can definitely feel it in my delt / upper back area. Today is all about legs. I was debating moving legs to Tuesday because I'm still a little sore from doing legs on Saturday (I opted to hit the October legs plan one last time rather than taking an off day last week) but they aren't so sore that I am crippled and my upper body is in more need of a rest so I think I'm going to go for it. Bring on the squats, lunges and DLs!

 

This weekend was Daylight Savings and while everyone else seemed to be basking in the glory of having an extra hour of sleep, I have been unable to get a decent night's sleep for three days now! There's just so much on my mind lately job-wise/life-wise that I'm feeling overwhelmed again. Deeeeeeeeep Brreeeeaaaaaatttttth! I even broke my amazing 2-week streak and opened up the pre-workout yesterday morning. I'm thinking a major life change is in-order. Word of advice to anyone in their early 20's...do not tie yourself down with major purchases and responsibilites unless you are 100% sure you will want them at least 5 years in the future. Life would be a lot simpler if I could just pack my bags and skedaddle without a care in the world!

 

Anyway, as usual I'm writing my latest update with prying eyes on my computer screen so I'm cutting it short. Plus, it's almost time for  my afternoon Quest Bar and today I have my new favourite flavour, Double Chocolate Chunk. This one is so phenominal is tastes seriously bad-for-you. The other day I had the amazing (IMO) idea for a white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake Quest Bar seasonal flavor so I tweeted them up with my proposal. All I got was a "favorite" but I'll remain hopeful LOL. I hope all you Gym Rats get off to a great week of workouts! 'Til next time, happy gymming!