Weekly Menu, #21 +T25/P90X3 Schedule Week 3

Before I get on to business I feel like this weekend's epic-ness deserves a little recap..

Friday I wasn't at home all day. I started it off with a 5 a.m. bike ride picnic with the teenager. It was the best. Next time we do this we are going to bike all the way downtown to see it over the Ij. The teenager thinks I'm a little insane but deep down I know she loves it. 

Then, I rode a total of 36km +/- with my friend to Muiderslot Castle. 

After that the teenager and I headed to the beach. Still pretty epic, but as soon as we got there the skies opened up on us. We still enjoyed the opportunity to sit in the ocean-front restaurant and enjoyed watching the storm. 

We did manage to put our feet in the ocean before we left though!

Saturday we went to a polish-style housewarming. I brought my typical Dutch treat housewarming gift/what I lay out for guests when they come to our house the first time and are new to The Netherlands. It consists of Vla, these s'more's -ish waffles, and stroopwafels, usually I put some haggelslag in there as well, but I forgot sadly.

Sunday was Amstelanndag which was a festival highlighting all the fun stuff to do near my house. This is the same area as I take you through in my post from last week, a Spring Bike Ride through the Dutch Countryside.

It was a packed weekend, I am hoping to make this next week a little more low key, but since quite a bit of sun is predicted I doubt that will happen! haha

One more thing before moving on..if you haven't linked up your travel posts with our #Reasons2travel link-up please to so here!

Last week was very successful. I joined a group of ladies who are determined to work out everyday this month, even if it is just an easy walk or stretching. Just doing something everyday to keep in the fitness groove and remind us why we aren't hogging down on hot dogs and m and m's! haha So, even though my workout schedule wasn't exactly like I had planned here is what I did do...

Sunday: Rest/Stretch-Yoga
Monday: T25 Alpha Cardio/P90X3 The Warrior-Piyo Sweat (late, late, late at night) plus 10km biking running errands
Tuesday: T25 Lower Focus/P90X 3 MMX
Wednesday: T25 Ab Intervals/P90X3 Agility X + 50km biking and sight seeing-I was exhausted
Thursday: T25 Speed 1.0/P90X3 Pilates-Workout with the teenager-HIIT Run and a half hour stair workout
Friday: T25 Total Body Circuit/P90X3 Dynamix-36+km bike ride sightseeing...I decided to sleep when I got home to recover after being in the hot, hot, hot sun all day.
Saturday: Blogilates 100 Burpee Burnout/T25 Cardio-Yoga. I was really sore and my hips were all out of whack.

I've learned a bit about myself this past week. I am going to keep up the double workouts as I've been completing a lot, but I do need to focus and start getting up earlier to get my workouts completed before I start going for the day. I hate working out late in the evening, so getting up with the sun will be helpful for me I think. 

This week's workouts:

Sunday: P90X Stretch

Monday: Dynamic core/MMX

Tuesday: Speed 2.0/Accelerator

Wednesday: Core Cardio/Decelerator

Thursday: Pilates X/Cardio

Friday: Total Body Circuit/Agility X

Saturday: X3 Yoga-then we are sight seeing so keeping it short :)

Goals

Last week: 

• Get gifts mailed out (one is really belated, so I really have to get to the post office)-Done!
• Stick to workouts and menu-Done!
• Get the courage to list a few items I've made in my Etsy store-Still not done :(
• Visit two more museums on my list-Done! I managed the Hermitage and Amsterdam Museum
• Take two bike rides-Done! One to Amsterdam Noord, the other to Muiderslot.

This week:

• Visit two more museums on my list
• Sight seeing trip to Enkhuizen
• Stick to menu and workouts
• Increase unique page views by 100 this week
• Actually list the items in my Etsy shop
• Find at least 3 link parties to link up to each day
• Post more content on my Facebook page, increase interaction

Breakfast:

• Sunday: Granola with banana slices
• Strawberries and cream oatmeal x2
• Acai Bowl x2
• Friday: Egg scramble with toast
• Saturday: French toast with berries

 Lunch:

• Sunday: Omelettes, toast (homemade bread), nectarine slices
• Monday: Half a baked potato topped with mixed veggies
• Tuesday: Sandwiches
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Sandwiches
• Friday: Leftovers
• Saturday: Picnic of hard boiled eggs, bread and butter, fruit, cheese

Dinner:

• Sunday: Tacos/taco salad
• Monday: BBQ chicken breasts with sugar snap peas and brown rice
• Tuesday: Lentils topped with BBQ chicken (leftover), and mixed veggies
• Wednesday: Hubby's last night here so we will eat out
• Thursday: Coconut crusted fish with mango rice
• Friday: Veggie pad thai with any leftovers
• Saturday: Eat out...will be doing a lot of sight seeing so hope to find some where scenic and unique to eat dinner.

That is it for me this week! Tell me, what makes for the perfect weekend for you?

P.S. Linking up with Mommy Run Fast, Jill Conyers, and I'm an Organizing Junkie and Single Mother Ahoy.

WIAW #20ish +the week in workouts!

Welcome to the 20th-ish edition of What I Ate Wednesday!

I say 20th-ish because I didn't label some of them, the last one I labeled was #17 so I think I am around #20! I have also remembered to take more pictures of what I've been eating since I've really upped my greens and other veggies and fruits!

First, let's address the workouts this week. Even though we are close to Christmas I have tried so hard to finish out this T25 strong and so far I have done great. I seriously haven't missed a single day in all 10 weeks! I am so proud!

My workouts this last week were as follows:
Wednesday: Speed 2.0 & Upper Focus
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Core Cardio
Saturday: Dynamic Core
Sunday: Stretch day
Monday: Rip't Circuit
Tuesday: Core Cardio
Today: Rip't Circuit (again)

I will say now that I am in the 10th week of this programme I can definitely see and feel a major difference in my core. There is a lot more definition and I can do all of the exercises as instructed. I am feeling strong and awesome!

Now on to the food!!!!  

Almond Butter and banana slices and some chocolate Shakeology.

On this day I was clearly in dire need of that coffee. Instead of pouring the grounds into the press, I poured them straight into my cup. :-/

As part of our advent calendar we made gingerbread cookies.

Some hard boiled eggs I made for snacks for the week!

Yum! Paleo hot cocoa with some vegan friendly marshmallows as a treat!

Protein balls!!! These are so yummy! I made mine with vanilla protein powder.

This was part of our advent again...Red & Green themed dinner!! Spaghetti squash with homemade meat sauce & cucumbers!

This was after the kiddo's cheer competition, we had dinner at Red Robin. I healthied it up as much as possible with a Caesar salad and a lettuce wrapped turkey burger.

A spinach and butter lettuce vegan riblet salad. It was really tasty!

S'mores Pops! (Go check 'em out!)

Just a nice basic salad in a delcious apple cider vinegar italian dressing!

This was the small spread at the kiddo's sleepover. It was quite tasty, they all enjoyed it!

Finishing with some vanilla shakeology! Yum!

So, that is it for What I Ate Wednesday! What was your favorite meal of the week???

An Honest Account: Focus T25 Beta

Rip'T Circuit

So, this is my second round of T25. The first round I must admit I was not impressed with...at all, sadly! In fact I was ready to sell my DVD's. However,  a woman I greatly admire became a beachbody coach and was putting together a T25 group that she didn't require drink Shakeology which was awesome so I decided to join her. I also made a pact with myself to work as hard as possible during every single 25 minute workout. After all, you only get out of a workout what you put into it.

Here are my before T25 Alpha and after T25 Alpha...

It doesn't seem like there is a huge difference but there is definitely some thinning in my abdominal area & my legs are losing fat & gaining a ton of muscle. I will admit too this is with minimal diet changes too. I still have some sort of chocolate after lunch (usually a homemade paleo PB cup or some paleo hot chocolate lol) and often times a small dessert in the evening. Friday's during our new restaurant visits I get pretty much whatever I want...but I am naturally a veggie lover anyway so that helps ;)

Anyway, moving on to beta!

This is my second week in beta. First week was killer...incorporating weights/resistance into the programme really gives the workouts some dimension. Now I go a bit heavier than I normally would simply because you aren't using the weights for terribly long so I felt like I could up the weights a little.

Rip'T Circuit I feel is closely related to Total Body from Alpha Round. It gets the whole body but when you work on an area I feel like it works it a little deeper than the total body. Plus, it has less push-ups than total body! HA! Rip't has definitive arm, leg, ab movements. I also feel like the moves in this one are all new. During alpha round I could totally tell when something was just a variation from Hip Hop Abs, Rockin' Body, Insanity, etc. But, this time around things just seemed new & fresh for this workout..plus, it is only 25 minutes! ;)

So, that is my assessment of rip't. It's a great DVD and is slowly but surely becoming one of my favorites! What is your favorite workout?

What I Ate Wednesday +my week in workouts!

Well, welcome back to another edition! I have to be honest I have been horrible about recording what I eat...which is probably why my diet hasn't been 100% here lately! But, I resolve to take more pictures to share that will also help me eat a little healthier too! ;)

Lunch last Thursday: leftover pizza, apple, and spinach and mushrooms with hummus. I actually only ate half that pizza lol

This beauty was from our new restaurant Friday. So delicious and totally warmed me up!

I *had* to make some alfredo the other day because I needed a few pictures for Friday's blog post. I served it with whole wheat noodles. It was delicious.

This morning's breakfast with my girl. I only ate half and gave the other half to a homeless gentleman that fell asleep in a booth. It was worth it to #halfitup. 

Now for the week in workouts. I have to say I am working ten times harder in T25 this time around than last time. My muscles are feeling the work for sure. They are fatigued, but in a very good way. Heck sometimes I don't even know a patch of muscles is aching until I start my next workout! So I would 100% recommend you doing this IF you are dedicated to working hard and pushing yourself. So, anyway this is my week in workouts...you can see last week's here...

Wednesday: Rip'T Circuit

Thursday: Dynamic Core

Friday: Exhausted so I took a rest day. After a few late nights & the Xbox One launch the night before I too the day off!

Saturday: Upper Focus & Core Cardio

Sunday: Yoga at lulu lemon

Monday: Dynamic Core

Tuesday: Core Cardio

Wednesday: Back around to Rip'T Circuit

Starting tomorrow watch for a series I will do that will again give my unbiased (since I am NOT a beach body coach) opinion on T25 Beta. When I reviewed it in the summer I got busy and had forgotten to write about the beta round! Oops! So, watch for that!

I hope all of my United States friends have a very happy thanksgiving tomorrow...enjoy yourselves and take lots of pictures to share! Also, come visit me over on Facebook!!!

What I Ate Wednesday is BACK!!! +WOD's

Happy Wednesday, folks! What I ate Wednesday is finally back! I sort of got out of my blogging groove there for a bit, but I'm back in full force!

I will admit, I actually fell out of the habit of photographing some of what I was eating, so since I forgot last Wednesday to take pictures I figured I would feature what I ate this past weekend. It's a doozy of a weekend since it was my birthday! ;)

Friday, for my birthday the hubs and I went out and did a little shopping, we needed some nourishment so I got a beet smoothie from Jugo Juice. I love Jugo juice, it's basically Jamba Juice, but they have juice with beets! Yum!

This was a post workout lunch one day last week. It was a one egg omlette with 2 or 3 egg whites. It's filled with spinach, zucchini, onion, and a little ham. I had some toast with it. 

These next two beauties are from my birthday celebration. We went out with friends for my birthday, one of my friends actually has the same birthdate as me so it was fun to go celebrate together! 

These two above are from a place called the Bellagio here in Vancouver. It was ok. The lobster in it was amazing! I prefer a creamier mac & cheese though, but all-in-all not a bad treat on my birthday! 

Last is yesterday's lunch. It was from whole foods...some mac & cheese (super creamy and absolutely perfect) and a stuffed piece of tofurkey. It was really, really good! 

My workouts here lately have consisted of Focus T25. I joined a fitness challenge group that an amazing woman who runs this awesome page on Facebook (go like it!) started and this time around I am really seeing results! I think because I am in a group and am reporting my daily workout and how I did, plus I feel like I have workout buddies so it makes me more motivated to get going and workout hard! So, here is my schedule for the last week...I actually never took a rest day!

Wednesday: Total Body Circuit & Ab Intervals

Thursday: Cardio

Friday: Total Body Circuit & Lower Focus

Saturday: Speed 1.0

Sunday: Yoga at Lulu Lemon

***Start T25 Beta***

Monday: Core Cardio

Tuesday: Speed 2.0

Today: Rip'T Circuit

I am seeing some serious results this time around for T25, can't wait to see my results from Beta, especially since I am really trying hard to focus on nutrition this time around and not eat too much bad stuff (yeah, I'm laughing since this last weekend for my birthday I totally went all out & treated myself!).

What is your favorite workout you've done this past week?

What I Ate Wednesday/WOD's #16

Well, well, well back around to....

Hard to believe it is that time again from last week...here's a peek:

Mmmmm....Via Pumpkin Flavour! So yummy and easy to make! Basically a hair under a cup of milk mixed with the packet! I use almond milk so it's a nice 100 calorie snack!

Halloween came early in my latte at breakfast Saturday morning.

Went to Dunn's Smoked Meats for our New Restaurant Friday. Got a grilled cheese, I took off most of the meat lol 

Breakfast Tuesday morning. Two hard boiled eggs, crackers with jelly, berries, and milk

I have been forgetting to take pictures of my food this week. I have been keeping on track and keeping it pretty healthy. Will be doing more cooking in the coming week so will have a lot more to post ;)

 Just finished up week one of the Focus T25 Beta Cycle!

This is what my week looked like:

Wednesday: Core cardio, awesome. Probably my favourite video.

Thursday: Speed 2.0

I believe this is from Speed 2.0. In this video there are different rounds that have two levels. Then at the end your work your way continuously through all the exercises. I am going to do a full on write up of it like I did for Alpha.

Friday: Rip't circuit. Finally got some weights in, thought my arms would fall off! ;) 

Saturday: Rest day, was tired and didn't want to do anything! I did manage to stretch though! :D

Sunday: Dynamic core. Standing core and horizontal core...tough stuff.

Monday: Doubles; upper focus and core cardio.

Made for a great workout! Loved these two together!

Tuesday: Rest day. Did some walking.

Coming up for this week: 

I want to get back on a Monday through Friday workout schedule so for week two of Beta I will be doing doubles Wednesday, Thursday, and of course Friday. I then will take Saturday and Sunday as "rest" days. Then pick up the following Monday with Week 3. I say "rest" because on Saturday the teen & I are running...

We are so excited and can't WAIT! Should be a blast. I will also stretch Saturday. Sunday, if I wake up on time I will go to Yoga at Lulu lemon, but we'll see...I'm not putting any real pressure on making that happen! 

So, what are your goals for the upcoming week? Anything special?

What I Ate Wednesday's/WOD's #15

Whew! This has been one busy week in my world! Between having company in town, getting ready for back to school, and doing a blogging challenge I've really been hopping!

But, for the good stuff...I'm super proud of what I accomplished this week in fitness. We had family come into town, but I didn't let that get me off track...I kept on truckin'! It was my last week of Alpha Round of T25 so this is what it looked like....

Wednesday: Total Body Circuit
Thursday: Ab intervals
Friday: Total body circuit, lower focus; lots of walking in the evening with the hubby to find a new restaurant to try
Saturday: Active rest; walked, and walked, and walked with family that came into town. I'm pretty confident we walked at least 9 miles.
Sunday: Cardio; again lots of walking.
Monday: Active rest again, quite a bit of walking
Tuesday: Was supposed to be total body, but since I injured myself during that one once I don't really enjoy it so I did Speed 1.0
Wednesday: Start T25 Beta-Core Cardio

Goals for the upcoming week: Use my pear heart rate monitor when doing all workouts; participate each day in a fitness challenge, and remember to drink my protein shake and get in one salad a day!

Now for the other fun stuff....

I should mention...these are in no particular order lol....

Monday's Breakfast at the Elbow Room

Sunday's breakfast at Urban Fare..just egg whites and a delicious multi-grain bagel

Last Saturday's Dinner...Korean BBQ 

Tuesday's Lunch...Pho...I'd never had it before so stepped out of my comfort zone. I loved it with this delicious sweet almost teriyaki type sauce and a little siracha. This was at Lemongrass Cafe in Richmond, BC. 

Lunch at Cora's in Richomond, BC last Friday when taking the kiddo to a sleepover. It was potatoes, all kinds of veggies, two over easy eggs, and fresh fruit!

The Stanley Park salad, from this little bistro in Stanley Park. It was delicious. It had raw hazlenuts and dried blueberries along with goat cheese and a maple vinegarette!

So, that is the highlights of my week in food in fitness....how was your week?