Spontaneous 1.5 Hour Add-On Workout and Heart Rate Charts

So, yesterday didn't go as expected. But I loved it and embraced it nonetheless. :)

My sister dropped by early in the morning, baring goodies. Panera's Artichoke & Spinach Souffles. I haven't had one of those since last fall. They're fairly high in calories (~420 cals, I think) and sodium, but oh-so-delicious. 

Then she asked if I wanted to go to the gym with her in the evening to go to the CXWorx class (mentioned in a prior post). I agreed and she said she would call. She woke up at 3, so she had to take a nap and it wasn't set in stone.

I sort of figured she would back out, since she would be exhausted. So, I did a ~40 min Insanity workout (Plyo).

What I said before about the plyo workout not feeling very plyo... I actually completely forgot about the 2nd/last circuit. The floor in & out abs count as plyo, right? And so do the ski abs (or, as Jillian Michaels calls them: moguls). For the plyo, my heartrate remained lower than usual, in the lower 80% the whole time through, which is still fairly hard.

Anyway. I was thinking of doing some Pilates, but wanted to call my sister to ask if we were still on for the gym. If we were, I was just going to skip Pilates because the CXWorx class involves a plank circuit.

She said to go ahead and cancel, and so I did these (focusing on lower-body).

~7 min. Oh man. Lunges. I've done this workout a few times, but forgot what it entailed. I sort of have a love-hate relationship with lunges.

~14 min. This was my first time doing this workout. I liked it. Using the books was a little awkward, but a new way to add weights to my workout (you rest it on your hips while in the bridge position).

~10 min. I've done this one countless times. I tend to really like cardio. More lunges, which was fine... until we did the lunge split jumps. I can't do them fast like her, haha. Also, there are 10 burpees (actually, 9, I believe, as she accidentally miscounts) at the beginning and 10 at the end.

~4 min. Did this again. Love it. I did this in the park once, after a 10 mile run, haha. People were sort of staring, but I don't care. I was wearing capris, so it wasn't that awkward (as opposed to shorts). It's easy to remember the routine.

So, afterwards, I jump in the shower. Right as I'm getting out, my sister calls. It's 5:35 and the class starts at 6:30 (I live about 25 min. away) and asks if I'm still up for the gym for 1 hour. I'm always up for the gym, haha. I didn't feel particularly sore, so I agreed.

When we get there, I ask if she wants to try Zumba afterwards. I didn't think I was up for running and really enjoyed the one Zumba class I took with my friends at a YMCA. She agreed to stay for half of the class... and we ended up staying the whole time. It was more enjoyable than the YMCA class I took. That one was comprised of mostly elderly women and it was the middle of the track (no walls), facing the weights. Sooo awkward, as the class involved some outward pelvic thrusting and other moves. While we were facing the bodybuilder-type guys. 

Anyway, my gym's set-up is a bit nicer... you're in a room that the weightlifters can see inside, since the back wall is made of glass, but during the Zumba class, they turn off the lights, so no one outside can see in. This made me less self-conscious. And most of the moves/other students were my age, which was nice and didn't make me feel as out-of-place. Going to try to make this a weekly thing, as we both really enjoyed it.

Oh, and side-note. Somehow during the CXWorx workout, I busted open one of my fingers. I didn't even feel it/see it until the end, when we were putting up our weights/bands/yoga mats and it was already dry. Wonder how I did that?

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Wednesday Food

Breakfast: Panera Artichoke & Spinach Souffle. Not healthy, as I mention above. But definitely soul-food. I get this about once every few months.

Lunch: Avocado w/lime, pepper, hot sauce and a little bit of cheese.

Snack: Following my workout, I had a green smoothie. Juiced 3 carrots and 1 tomato and blended it with 1 scoop of Trader Joe's Very Green Supplement, 1 scoop of Muscle Milk Light Vanilla Whey, 1 handful spinach, 1 handful of mixed berries, a touch of coconut milk and tart cherry juice (maybe 1 TB each as I'm running low) and the rest was filtered water.

Dinner: Chipotle! Again. My sister is stubborn. Her fiance wanted Subway and I said that was fine with me. But she said that if she didn't get Chipotle, then she wouldn't eat. Like I said, stubborn. Ha. I like that Chipotle's food is not processed/fried and that the veggies are local and the chicken is antibiotic free (the steak, I believe is grass-fed). I got brown rice w/chicken, black beans, lots of fajita veggies (bell peppers and onions. It was late and they had a lot, so they didn't mind piling them on), pico (mild salsa), sour cream (I never eat sour cream, but Chipotle's is really great) and lettuce. I opted out of the guac, since I had an avocado already that day. Beware of using too many of the hot sauces/pico (I used to ask for extra pico), because the sodium levels tend to run high.

Dessert: Yogurtland. I like Yogurtland because many other froyo places are too sweet (I can't eat OrangeLeaf anymore as it is way too sweet for me). Also, it's more affordable and not all of the yogurts are super-tart (as some other yogurt places tend to be), making it the perfect balance for me personally. I usually only spend ~$2 per visit (1-3 times a month).

They had some specialty "Around the World" flavors, so I had the Tiramisu with Polynesian Vanilla with a little bit of Reese's and sliced almonds on top. I've been getting the sorbets/fruit flavors with fruit added in, so I thought I'd try the limited versions today and indulge in some chocolate. ;)

Overall, since we ate out, it was higher in calories than what I normally eat, but... I had a really light lunch to even it out and worked out 2h45min. So crazy. At least the gym classes were not high-intensity, but still worked up a sweat.

...I don't eat out as often as it seemed this past week. I usually only eat out once every 2 weeks, but haven't in a month. Then, this past week it seems it all happened at once. At least the places I've been eating out have been healthier options, right? Though, I do try to avoid eating out too often.

I saw this post from the Sweaty Betties on Facebook.

"Just so you all know, I am NOT a food PURIST. 
As much as I would love to say that I eat ALL organic, non-gmo, fresh farm grown food every day, I don't. 
I would LOVE to, but thats not always feasible (nor would my sweet tooth like it). 
Do I preach against artificial sweetners? Sure. But then I had half a bag of Gummi Savers yesterday.. does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe.
Here's the deal--- there is a LARRRRGE spectrum of healthy and non-healthy and a WHOLE lotta grey area. 
Most of us live in the grey.... Most days I live in the lighter grey, sometimes, its just BLACK.
But I will say this, Black/White & All/Nothing eating is only going to frustrate you.
Do your best, make the best choices you can with where you are.
I want to just educate you, so that you KNOW why some things are healthier for you or less healthy and then YOU can choose how often you allow that in your body.
No judgement here and no food police, just realize that we're all on the spectrum and as long as you're trying and improving yourself inside and out then you're doing better than 95% of the rest!"

Love this stance. I try to eat healthy as often as possible, but it would drive me up-the-wall-insane if I was too strict on my diet. I do avoid and am against processed foods, but will eat it occasionally. I find that I don't crave it much though. Except for chocolate and ice cream. It took me a long time to get a handle on those cravings.

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These heartrate charts might prove useful. I use my heartrate monitor (it gives me %, which is nice) to determine if I'm pushing to hard and I need to slow it down.

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I was expecting to feel incredibly sore today. Not the case. My arms are slightly sore (planks?), but otherwise I feel fine. Haven't done my workouts for the day. Will post on that later. Cardio Recovery. And probably some pilates afterwards.

Stay healthy,

Marie