New Years Eve/Day Recap!

New Year's Eve was definitely one of the highlights of 2014. Some friends from our home town were visiting so we all bought tickets to a local club that serves a full menu and then they have dancing after dinner. 

Escape is normally one of my favorite places during the day, on a nice day to sit outside and have a drink and enjoy Amsterdam. I had never actually had anything to eat there, I was pleasantly surprised though! 

The table was adorable. The night's menu and some winter confetti. So fun!

Dislaimer: I didn't take a photo of everything we ate. I honestly forgot some of the time because we were having so much fun!

First course I didn't get a photo of was a duck breast salad...it was delicious!

Next course you could get either beef or fish..I opted for the Cod.

....and I stole the sweet potato puree from hubby's beef plate haha

Next we got some sort of bubbly something or other....I'm guessing this was a bit of cava. Whatever it was made me extremely bloated! Ugh.

Last came dessert...it was "sparkling"

Sorry, I know it is blurry, but how cool are all those desserts on "fire"! It was pretty hard to breathe in the room though after these went out haha

The full dessert was a chocolate moose with a white chocolate ice cream rolled in white chocolate shavings and some sort of fudge cake with nuts. It was very delicious.

After this we went upstairs to the club part for dancing. It was packed and hot but we had a great time!

Our one friend is ridiculously tall, I stole this picture from him. haha

Such a fun night. I won't post the picture we had someone take of the four of us just before we left at 2am...we were so sweaty it looked like we'd just done a full workout! ha! But, felt great and was such a fun way to bring in the new year.

New Year's Day we decided to make use of our unlimited movie passes and went to see Interstellar, which was fantastic! ...and since I was feeling lazy we went out to eat too.

These were the spiciest meatballs I have ever eaten. It said they came in a spicy tomato sauce but failed to mention there were also giant red pepper flakes in the meatballs as well. ha!

Somewhere under all that cheesy goodness is a vegetable lasagna ;)

Then, on the way home hubby stopped and picked us all up some mini Ben and Jerry's to nosh on while we cuddled in bed. 

Such a great way to start off the new year...now though we are back to reality...

....which isn't so bad.

Now, since it is the new year, lets talk workouts!

January 1st I was supposed to start Insanity Asylum, but I was tired so I took a "rest day" haha but, here is what Jan 2nd on has looked like:

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: Speed and Agility

Saturday: Back to Core

Sunday: Vertical Plyo

Monday: Speed and Agility

Tuesday Back to core

Today: Vertical Plyo

*there is a Strength DVD I am supposed to be doing but I don't have a proper band so I need to pick one of those up. asap. Here is a break down of all the DVD's I've done so far and what I think of them. It is important to note I have completed all of the P90X series multiple times and I have done Insanity 5 times, so some of my opinion(s) may need to be taken with caution:

Rest Day: was awesome haha

Speed and Agility: It was tough, but seemed just like a tiny bit more advanced version of insanity. The moves were a bit more advanced, loved the progression moves like in and outs where you'd start on the first rung of the ladder then move to the second and then the third. I thought that was a great way to measure your movement and go from easy to advanced.

Back to core: This one may have been my favorite. I still didn't think this one was super difficult. It starts off with three different types of jumping jacks, all of them working the back. After the jumping jacks you moved on to monkey squats...I LOVE these things. I could do them all day every day (ok, probably not but they are my favorite exercise haha). The reverse planks at the end I found the most difficult move of the workout. There are some one legged bridge moves, no matter how in shape I am these kill my hips so I modify them. I do a few and then just do regular glute bridges. I figure no reason to injure myself over one move. I will say though the more I practice doing the one legged glute bridges the stronger my hip gets! I used to only be able to do one then I'd throw my hip out of whack and couldn't do any thing for weeks, but now I can do four before I feel a "pull" and know I should stop..so YAY!

Vertical Plyo: I am pretty sure this is the DVD where Shaun-T lost his freaking MIND! I found it EXTREMELY difficult..could be too I was just exhausted from the other days and was surprised by how much more advanced the moves could get. I cannot express how insane this workout is. So you know power jumps where your legs are wide you squat down and jump up both knees coming up and feet off the floor? Well, here you do one legged ones of those. Yeah, those are insane, you have to be really, really, really careful. At the end as I am flinging myself all over the mat during one move I was totally regretting saying any of these workouts seemed "easier" than I imagined. 

So, that is what my week has looked like...what have you been eating, and how have you been moving?

P.S. I'm linking up with Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for WIAW, come on over and check out the party ;)

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???

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'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?

What I Ate Wednesday/WOD's #14

Hello! Welcome back to another edition of....

Over the last week or so I have really wanted to start focusing on nutrition again. When I lived in Santa Monica it just sort of came easy for me. Not quite sure why, maybe it was because I was constantly surrounded by fitness, it was warm all the time, and we had a lot of "fast food" places that served good, whole foods. Plus I had an objective in mind to be super healthy. Once we moved to the land of the rain I just sort of fell off the healthy eating bandwagon and wanted to know how many dark chocolate hot cocoa's I could drink in a day ;) They sure were good, but my thighs don't agree! But, I've taken my time to plan and prep this week. I've also really slowed down when it comes to meals and have been enjoying cooking really healthy foods again. I forgot how much I love to prepare and gently cook all those yummy fruits and veggies! So, anyway...here is the deliciousness I've consumed this week....

Beet Lemonade: Two small beets, one lemon, one apple put through the juicer. Very tasty! Plus, who can resist this guy's hot pink fabulousness?!

Last Thursday hubby & I had an impromptu date night and this bad boy was Flambéd right at our table. Totally worth the splurge!

Shrimp I had right along with the cheese. So yummy!

So, this was dinner the other night. Vegan pate, homemade vegan spaghetti o's , watermelon, grapes, and zucchini. The kiddo loved the spaghtetti o's! She's had several more servings since! haha

This is from an all local food truck. It was basically a salad in a pita (I just at the middle lol). It was super tasty, had 3 different types of fish in there!

This was my entree from our New Restaurant Day. It's a salad with some sort of maple dressing, and a veggie burger with all the fixin's. Very, very tasty, especially with that fried pickle! ;) Almost felt like I was back home....

Appetizer from our new restaurant Friday (which was really Saturday lol). Pretzel with mustard dip, the other was a bacon peanut butter dip, it was ok....

And one of my favorite things from the last week....Skinny Strawberry Margarita!

Those were my food choices. Some great, some eh, but getting to the better choices as the week goes on. ;)

My workouts have been going much better! Thank goodness I didn't injure myself too badly a few weeks ago when I fell during a workout  so I've been able to resume my workouts 100% with no issues and I've been going at them well! Here's what it's looked like for me:

Wednesday: T25 Cardio, Nooner Yoga at Canada Place, plus morning and afternoon stretching

Thursday: T25 Total Body Circuit, a little foam rolling (just learning, played with it a bit)

Friday: T25 Ab intervals and Speed 1.0 (by far my favorite workout from the series!)

Saturday: Lower Focus, lots of walking with the hubby and the kiddo around town

Sunday: Total Body Circuit, lots of walking around town with the kiddo stretching in the am & pm

Monday: Was supposed to be a rest day but I did a squat challenge in one of my fitness groups, 20 deadlifts on each leg from this silly exercise "game" where you share an exercise on your page & have to do 5 of the exercise for every like, then I found a new app called 7 that gives you a 7 minute workout everyday, then I did my T25 Stretching. It wound up being quite the "rest" day....Tuesday was super sore!

Tuesday: Super sore, but knew I had to get moving. We did a 3 mile walk to the aquarium, then I did my 7 minute app, then did T25 stretching. 

 Starting today I am in Week 5 of the Alpha Cycle of T25. I have a write up coming of what I think of the program thus far...a part of my honest account that got side tracked while on vacation. I'll start the week off with total body. This is my least favorite & I have it 3 times this week...as Shaun T says I'll have to dig deep ;)
I am also sad because this is the last week for Nooner Yoga at Canada Place. I am not sure it will happen because the weather is supposed to be fairly icky. But, I am glad for the bit of time I did get to join in. There is still yoga in the evenings at the same place on Tuesday & Thursday until Sept 12th, but it was canceled yesterday due to weather, I am not sure if it will resume :-/ I guess we'll see what Mother Nature has in store for us!

Fitness Goals for the week: Stick to my T25 schedule, work on my splits each day, and only put good, whole foods in my body!!! What are your goals for the week?