One Year + Weekend Recap

What's up you guys?  I hope you had a good weekend.  My weekend was all good.  I was off my normal routine this weekend and didn't have the best weekend with my eating or my fitness goals, but I'm back on it starting tomorrow.

I did get a mile walk in tonight, but it was burning hot and I couldn't keep going.   I will get back out there in the morning when it's cooler.

MapMyRun

I was looking at the MapMyRun app tonight and I noticed that I just recently hit the one-year mark on the app.  I found a chart that shows my mileage each month.

It will be interesting to see how my numbers come in for August and into the fall.  Once things start to cool down, I think my mileage will really start to go up again.

I love using these tech stats to motivate myself to keep going.  Keep pushing harder and making these charts look better.  Keep adding to the step counts, the mileage, the calories burned.  That's what motivates me.  That's what this blog is all about.

What health and fitness stats do you track?

Did you meet your fitness goals this weekend?

Read more »

Sometimes You Just Need a Cookie (Alternate title: Everything in Moderation)

Most of the time, I can eat fairly clean and healthy.  But sometimes I just need a cookie.  We had these cute little soccer cookies at a birthday party tonight.

I wish I could say that I worked out extra hard today so that I could eat this cookie, but the truth is that I didn't.  I only got about halfway to my step goal.  But I will make up for it in the coming days.



It's okay to eat a cookie as long as you're willing to put in the work to make it right.  Everything in moderation.  That's the key.

What's your favorite treat?

Do you keep up your fitness routine on the weekend?  I tend to take advantage of the days that I can sleep late in the mornings, but try to make up for it on other days.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Read more »

Weekly Wrap Up + Ugly Ducks

Hey Hey!  I haven't posted in a few days, but rest assured that I've been keeping up with my consistent fitness routine.  I got early to walk every morning this week.  I didn't hit my 13,000 step goal every day, but I got at least 10,000 steps every day.  Now, that's not counting the weekend.  I was out of town over the weekend and didn't do quite as well, but I'm still on track.

I also completed a kettlebell workout two days this week.  The first day, I worked my legs hard.  Lots of squats, lunges and single leg deadlifts.  The second day, I worked my upper body with lots of one arm rows, presses and cleans.  I did some ab work both days.

For some reason, the kettlebell felt extra heavy this week.  I still used the 25 pounder, but it felt extremely difficult to lift this week.  Isn't it interesting how the same move can feel so different depending on your mood/week/hormones/life at that particular time?  I admit I don't understand it all yet.

Ugly Ducks

So, the neighborhood that I live in has a community pond.  It's home to a lot of different fish, turtles, ducks, geese, and other wildlife.  But there are these particular ducks that are super friendly, but they are also just really ugly.  Sometimes they'll come right up to me while I'm walking.  They won't even get out of my way.  They just stand there like they own the place.

According to the neighbors, they are Muscovy ducks and they're all females.

How was your week?

Suggestions on Kettlebell moves?

Read more »

Well, Today Did Not Go As Planned + My Fitbit Blaze

Well, today did not go as planned. I woke up at my normal time, but I was not even out of bed before I heard the thunder out the window.  I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

A few weeks ago, I woke up on a similar morning and got dressed and went out for my walk and I immediately noticed that it had recently rained.  It was much cooler than the previous mornings so I thought "Oh! This is wonderful, I will have a fresh cool walk this morning."  And how naive I was.  I was about a half mile from home when there was a huge crack of thunder right behind me.  It scared me half to death and I took off running back toward the house.  Of course, it started pouring down rain and I was soaked to the bone by the time I got back to my house.  I am just glad I made it home without getting struck by lightning. I think getting struck by lightning is one of my biggest fears.  Completely frightening.

That day was on my mind this morning when I decided to sleep in instead of working out.  I got out of bed with just enough time to take a quick shower and grab my breakfast before time to get to work.

But my schedule was off and my day did not go well. I think it was at least partly because I didn't get my workout in and my day just started off behind the curve.  Work did not go well.  Nothing really went my way today.

We're nearing the end of the day and I am not even at 3,000 steps for the day.  This is by far my worst step day in a long time.

Do you like my Fitbit?  It's a Fitbit Blaze.  I love this thing!  I got a new metal mesh band for it so that it will look a little dressier than the blue plastic band that it came with.


I like the fact that it tracks my steps, my sleep, my heart rate, and so much more.  And it's right there on my wrist. I don't even have to look at my phone.  It also alerts me to phone calls, text messages, meetings, and alerts.

Fitbit also has a new iPhone app. I like their new dashboard layout.  It has a nice clean look but shows everything I need to know at a glance.  I like it a lot better when  my stats are up to par though.



Do you have a Fitbit tracker? If so, which one?

What's your biggest fear?  

Read more »

A Rare Treat + Weekend Recap

Guess what?

I don't always wake up at 6am to workout or sit around in my workout clothes all day.

Today, the hubby and I went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch.  I am a terrible blogger! I didn't take any pictures of my food.  Isn't that what bloggers do?

Since I was planning to have a piece of cheesecake, I wanted to get something lighter for my lunch. I ended up getting one of their flatbreads. It's under 490 calories and really tasty. I got the sausage and ricotta flatbread and I was not disappointed.

As I mentioned, I also had a piece of cheesecake.  I often choose healthy food, but I also think it's healthy to indulge a bit from time to time.  This time around, I chose the fresh banana cheesecake.  It was good, but probably not my favorite.  I usually get the Dulce De Leche Caramel cheesecake.  That's probably my favorite.

On Saturday morning, I woke up super early and put in my three miles.  Then Saturday night I put in another 2.6 miles.  I doubled up so that I could take the day off on Sunday.  I didn't do any kettlebell workouts over the weekend.  I'm trying to give my body a little break, but will be back at it this week.

Read more »

Weekly Wrap Up + Another Kettlebell Adventure

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful week and met all your fitness goals.

My goals this week were pretty straightforward -
1. Walk at least 13,000 steps per day on average.  I missed my goal one day, but made up for it on the other days and ended the week at 14,960 steps her day on average.  YES - Exceeded goal!
2. Complete 3 kettlebell workouts.  DONE!


Pretty proud of myself

Once again, I started my day off with a 3+ mile walk.  Unfortunately, the MapMyRun app didn't record my walk.  That basically means it didn't happen.  FAIL!  I hate it when that happens.

But I did complete my 3rd kettlebell workout of the week.  I was pressed for time today so I did the sets at different times throughout the morning.

#	Movement	Reps
1	Two-hand Kettlebell Swing	20
2	Overhead Press	8 left, 8 right
3	Front Squats	10
4	One-arm Rows	12 left, 12 right
5	Kettlebell Rolling Sit-ups	20
6	Kettlebell Situp	20
REPEAT CIRCUIT 5 TIMES

Yep, I was able to do 8 reps on the overhead presses with the 25 lb kettlebell today.  I'll take that progress any day of the week.  Especially on a Friday.

Maybe I deserve a rest day? Or two?  Can I get an amen?!

Now it's your turn - share your fitness accomplishments for this week in the comments.

Favorite kettlebell move?  Do you track your steps?

Read more »

I'm Nothing If Not Consistent + A Fruitful Recipe

Well, I hate to be redundant, but I started my day off with a 3.15 mile walk.  I'm nothing if not consistent.  Earlier this afternoon, I was thinking that today's walk was 3.15 miles ... a smidge longer than a 5K race.  I can do the distance. I just can't do the running part.

And my first mile is always the slowest.  I think it's because it takes a mile for me to really wake up and get my body moving.  Then the second mile I'm just on cruise control and walk at a nice happy pace.  Then the third mile is where I have to hurry up and walk fast so that I can get home on time. My numbers definitely show it, too.

The other night, I made a peanut butter yogurt dip to go with my fruit.  It's just three simple ingredients, but I thought it was really tasty.

Fruit Dip

8 oz plain greek yogurt

3 Tbsp natural peanut butter

3 Tbsp honey

Combine ingredients and mix well.

This recipe made a thick dip and it's perfect with apples, bananas, pears, etc.  You could thin it out with a little milk if you'd like.  YUM.

Have you ever run a 5K race?  That's on my bucket list.

What do you like on your fruit?

Read more »