summer solstice

(this post is all over the place - i'm clearly antsy for the weekend)

happy first day of summer!!!

i love picmonkey.

so how did i spend my first day of summer?

i woke up at 5:45 and kicked it on the elliptical!

 

30 minutes of hard hills and then 20 minutes of weights - shoulders and chest since i've really been concentrating on arms and legs and butt recently.

 

nothing too difficult - just sets of overhead presses and butterflies using 2 10 lb free weights

 

i think next week i'm going to try and do 1 set with the 20 lb weights

 

oh and we were watching an old season of the amazing race the whole while

 

oh oh- and while i finished up on the weights

 

bill was werkin it.

i've been trying to come home and do at least 20 more minutes on the elliptical everyday (and succeeding) and bill has been running 2-3 miles in the afternoon - i can't wait to be back out on the pavement with him!  it's so weird how sometimes i hate running so much in the act of doing it and after an extended break i really miss it.

moving on to last night's eats

no pictures, but bill already prepared some jasmine rice so i had a cup of rice + 1/2 cup of canned black beans topped with red chili sauce and 1/4 of an avocado - delish!

i also mustered up the energy to prep dinner for tonight!

i threw the ingredients into my stand mixer for pizza dough, let it rise, and then covered it and put it in the fridge for tonight

i always use this recipe from king arthur - and it's a sure fire - i substitute 3 cups of all purpose flour for their ap flour + semolina mixture (i've never even tried semolina but am tempted to pick some up) and i also omit the pizza dough flavor 

 

so all i will have to do when i get home is shape, top, and bake!

 

speaking of eats, i've been wrestling with the idea of going back to a vegetarian or vegan diet.  

 

i hate labeling my eating habits in such a way, because i seriously don't always care if there's fish sauce in my pad thai

 

but one thing i really liked about going vegan (for a year) is it made me pay attention to every single thing i bought (food wise - i still had leather products) and ate

i think vegans get a bad rap for being judgey, and it's less about animal rights (i do love me some animal rights) for me, and more about mass produced food and practices - and weird ingredients.

and also the perk of being more conscious of adding veggies to every meal

so while many of my meals will probably be vegan or vegetarian i'm going to slowly ease myself away from turkey sammies

changing gears again

i need some help with some laptop recommendations

i was kind of looking at the chromebooks - that are cloud based?

anyone use a chromebook?

 

and i don't think i'll spend my money on a macbook...even though i'm kind of lusting after one.

 

i would like to keep the price under $500

 

primary uses are blogging and photo editing

 

help?

 

just werking on my fitness

so i somewhat mentioned bill and i starting a project yesterday

and this is it

our wall of good intentions

bill and i are very similar in our ebb and flow of on again- off again fitness and health levels

we both make it a priority to eat well and get regular exercise

but sometimes we have fat days

and sometimes those fat days turn into a fat week

and before i knew what happen

i was out of shape and we were eating a lot more "beige" foods than usual.

what typically happens is one of us will go on a "kick" and the other doesn't latch on, and thus the other's "kick" burns in a fiery hole.



but when bill mentioned crafting our chalk wall to be a workout/diet/inspiration wall

i latched right on

once we're both committed to something we're both pretty headstrong

but we also need a few nudges from the other every once in awhile.

we recently purchased an elliptical -

which we've both been using regularly - a great win for the both of us.

however, i wasn't as religious about using it as bill was

i have no motivation to workout after work and my commute home

bill typically wakes up while i'm showering in the morning, but has an easier morning since his day doesn't start until 1 pm

bill is able to leisurely find time in the morning for a run, weights, or elliptical work out

back in the day i worked out in the morning and loved having it done and over with

but now i just want a few more minutes of sleep or to lay in bed



bill understands this, and has agreed to wake up in the morning with me (so i'm not the only one suffering at 5:45 am)

so to break it down in three parts:

THE WORKOUT

this week we have 2 alternating workouts up on the wall

i thought it would be fun to throw in "just dance" on the wii as a workout - which could be considered "easier" days.  trust me though - you work up quite a sweat!  and it's a lot of fun to well, just dance and be silly

the other workout we have utilizes the elliptical and weights - 30 minutes of one of the TOUGH pre-programmed workouts on the machine + a workout i found via pinterest via fitness magazine via bob harper - it involves lots of squats and lunges (which after monday's workout i can tell you it was pretty hard and my thighs are still burning)

saturday we've designated as a rest day

and sundays, weather permitting, we have planned to ride 15+ miles on the bikes.  i think we are both interested in riding further, so perhaps a progression schedule will be in the works.

the plan is to switch up the workouts a bit weekly - throw in a yoga dvd, throw in some body pump, do the elliptical with a new weights workout after - etc. (i also discovered Jillian Michaels workout dvds on amazon instant prime download last night and tried doing a few minutes of the 30 day shred (1.99 for 20 minute workout, not bad) - it burned so good and will definitely be in the rotation)





or...some prancercising


THE DIET

i don't think we need to do a complete overhaul in this area - for now we're writing up our daily meals on the wall

bill has decided to cut out the potato chips and cookies (i am proud to say there are zero potato chips in the house) - i would never eat the chips and somehow 2-3 bags a week would be consumed.  ahem... 



(i also just realized i have 2 potato dishes on this day i photographed - may be switching that up)

our biggest goal in this area is to make sure we have healthier snacking options

and bill has kindly offered to make my breakfast in the mornings while i shower after the workout.  my breakfast of choice is usually yogurt and fruit or oatmeal and fruit+nut butter

for lunches/dinners my aim is to keep it vegetarian.  many lunches will probably include a turkey sandwich, but on the nights i cook with leftovers to be had - i want to keep it vegetarian.

this used to be more of an issue, but over this past year bill has actually decided he likes pan fried tofu - which basically makes me jump for joy - because one of my most favorite vegan dishes is veggies +rice+ tofu dump.  i also love a sweet potato with beans.

 

this not only frees up my guilt of "what is bill going to eat?" but means bill can help and learn to prepare these dishes on his own - and we can share them together.

THE GOALS

for now we have short (ish) goals (3weeks)

our immediate goals are pretty much to workout and follow our meal plan

and trust me, waking up for the workout is trying enough

if we stick with the plan for 3 weeks

bill gets to see the new superman movie

and i get frozen yogurt

if we miss a workout our "prizes" get set back 1 week per 1 missed workout.

i know.

harsh.

my mini side challenge is to not have any sweets at work (seriously, there is every kind of candy imaginable in the cubical next to me, and there are always birthdays being celebrated.  birthdays=cake)

for every indulgence i make i have to do jump rope intervals at home.

i'm just going to avoid them all together.

we decided we would eventually create a long term goal (6 months +) but we haven't decided what it should be - a trip? a new camera? laptop? european bike tour? half marathon in a city we've never been to?

some of our "prizes" are pretty cash dependent so perhaps we need to create a way to save along with working out

i like the idea of setting "month-end" goals - it's just long enough without seeming too far away which helps me stay focused.

i'll try and do 1 post a week on our progress and the exercises we're doing that week (i'm all for some recommendations)

i also kind of want to picture what i'm eating daily to hold me accountable - i realize many of you could give a flying toothpick...

so i probably won't "advertise" when i post something like that - but feel free to check back to get some meal ideas

so that's our action plan and so far - 2.5 days in- bill and i are in the zone!

it's required coffee on my part (which i had quit for a few months)



but other than that it's been really fun to workout with bill - it's another excuse to spend time together and get something accomplished as well

did you read any of that or just scroll through for the gifs?  i completely understand.