What I Ate Wedenesday/WODs-Travel Edition #10

Hey Everybody!!!

I've been on vacation so my posts are kind of crazy! But, here I am with another What I Ate Wednesday!!!

First, we'll talk about workouts, just because I've been on vacation doesn't mean I've been slacking in this department. I can't remember exactly what workouts I've done so far since last Wednesday as we've been super busy, but here's what I got:

Thursday: Focus T25, 1 mile run/1 mile walk

Friday: Focus T25

Saturday: a little over 6 total mile run

Sunday: 5 mile run

Monday: Day off knee was hurting but walked a solid 4 miles on the beach at least

Tuesday: Day off but probably walked a good 8 miles between the beach and after dinner in town. We also did a ton of swimming in the ocean and pool.

Today: 3 mile run, walking at the farmer's market and will jump waves in the ocean and do a little boogie boarding

Here's what I've been eating. I will say I am eating a little more white bread than usual, but after yesterday's lunch I won't be having any more of that. But, I've been enjoying myself and sharing good meals with my family. I'm keeping it fun, but definitely watching my portions. 

My mom and I split this egg and cheese bagel it was so tasty!

Sampler dinner at IHOP with my extended family. I ate every last bite after hours at the beach and pool!

Hummus, peppers, spinach, avocado, sandwich thin for lunch at the beach!

Watermelon Cake....that's a real life watermelon under that frosting!

BBQ Dinner...used a Hawaiian bun for my hot dog, some pasta salad and baked beans. After a day in the sun at the beach and pool + a 6 mile run I needed those carbs!

Coffee at our favorite little seaside restaurant.

Breakfast at our favorite little seaside restaurant....review to come! 

Local place in town where we are vacationing. They use all local ingredients! It was amazing...review to come!

I personally didn't eat these, but my kiddo did! She was needing some serious chocolate last night so I made her S'mores...my Mom (her Nanya) bought the world's biggest marshmallows! ...that's a s'more!

Well, that's it for What I Ate Wednesday! I hope you all have a good one!

Menu Plan Monday...♫On Holiday!♫

Does anyone else sing this song when they hear that phrase???? I love Green Day...always have, always will ;)

Anywhoodles, so we've been on vacation so my posts have been quite sporadic. I'm not going to do an update just yet as I want to make sure it is super organized. We've been doing some super fun stuff that I want to tell you all about and think many of you would enjoy the activities as a vacation too!

Without further ado....

Image Credit

Breakfast

Monday: 1 Egg+2 Egg Whites, fruit salad, nuts

Tuesday: Creamy banana almond oatmeal

Wednesday: Bacon/sausage, egg, and cheese on sandwich thins with fruit salad

Thursday: Fruit salad with yogurt and toast and sausage

Friday: Creamy almond oatmeal

Saturday: Eggs, bacon/sausage, toast

Sunday: Breakfast out

Lunch

Monday: Spinach salad, spaghetti o's for the kids

Tuesday: Leftover fish/pulled pork with side salads

Wednesday: Italian coleslaw/spaghetti o's for the kids 

Thursday: Late lunch/early dinner at the Floridian

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Leftovers/or BBQ and Coleslaw

Sunday: Something light and easy to use up any food in the fridge from the week at the beach

Dinner

Monday: Fresh caught fish, wild rice/quinoa blend, zucchini

Tuesday: Spaghetti with sweet Italian sausage, mixed salad, garlic bread

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Late lunch/early dinner at the Floridian

Friday: Some sort of BBQ with S'mores for dessert!

Saturday: Easy dinner out at a local beach place or pick up BBQ from a little shack up the street

Sunday: Leftovers

So, this is a busy week. This is just a basic outline of what our week will look like. We don't want to eat out too much as we want to spend as much time as possible on the beach an try to get in some surfing and kayaking, as well as tons of running! 

Hope you all have had a great start to your week!

What I Ate Wednesday/WODs-Travel Edition-#8

So, this month the kiddo and I are on holiday for the month! Well, not quite a full month, but 24 days, pretty darned close! As I said in my monthly fitness schedule post I was not going to slack on my workouts while on vacation as they just make me feel too darned good! I've deviated from my original monthly workout plan because I got Focus T25 in the mail last week and couldn't wait to start it! So, I’m mostly doing that, but also incorporating some things from my original schedule into the mix. Just trying to keep it fun! So, here’s what my workouts have looked like since last Wednesday:

Wednesday: Focus T25 Day 1

Thursday: Focus T25 Day 2

Friday: Travel day; some light stretching once I got to our final destination; squat and plank challenge

Saturday: Focus T25 Day 4; 2 mile run, light stretching, squat and plank challenge

Sunday: Focus T25 Day 5; squat and plank challenge and a one mile walk

Monday: Focus T25 Day 6 (one hour); squat and plank challenge (I should be almost caught up by this point)

Tuesday: Focus T25 Day 7 (stretching) squat and plank challenge and a two mile run

Today: Focus T25 Day 8; squat and plank challenge, and moving stuff in and out of my parents condo to get ready for our week at the beach! It was hot, muggy and there were two flights of stairs and we made about 5 trips! :-/

Now, here’s a look at what I've been eating:

Healthy snacks for the plane ride!

My mom left chocolates on our pillow ;)

Chick-fil-a! No chicken sandwich anywhere can compare to this! LOL It was quite the treat!

After the sandwich was this amazing peanut butter milk shake. It came with a side cart...I couldn't drink it all!

This was my meal with the milkshake! I At the salad it came with, almost one whole chicken tender and half of a half of the biscuit. I felt awful after, but it was so good!!!! LOL

Then, some redemption! ;) Apple pie protein shake!

Some of this isn't the best, but I am on “vacation”. I am trying to avoid high sodium foods and when I can’t (like the day I HAD to have Chick-Fil-A I got someone so split my sandwich with me and I had a salad on the side with dressing I brought from home. I don’t drink soda or anything of the sort so that does me some favours ;) 

I hope you all had a fab hump day!!!

Also, check out what everyone else is eating over here:

Best Bathroom Organization Tip

This is my second bathroom organization post. My first one can be found here along with a tutorial for naturally cleaning your make up brushes. I thought when I did that post that I had figured out the perfect storage for under my bathroom sink. But, within just a few days our vanity was just as junked up as can be. It was very, very frustrating. So, I thought on it for a few days and *thought* I may have found the *perfect* solution. I was skeptical and didn't post about it right away as I wanted to see how it worked out. I am happy to report folks that it did indeed work!

After hubby and I get up in the morning and get ready for the day, I am not dealing with mounds of toiletries or make-up being left all over the counter. There is no going back later to put everything away and clean off the counter. It just sort of stays clean! It’s really quite awesome.

This little “makeover” cost me a whopping $2.65 CAD. So those of you in the states will be about $2.14. I walked my little booty to the dollar store and got a couple of divider caddies with a handle in them. I put the Mr.’s toiletries and razors in one and mine in the other. I even went and bought up separate toothpaste so that wasn’t sitting out all the time either. Sounds silly I know, but I really was sick of constantly cleaning off our vanity. It was quickly becoming the bane of my existence. Here are the caddies all packed and ready for the day:

As you can see I have my Dr. Bronner’s based face wash, my lavender coconut oil moisturizer, my exfoliating pads, deodorant, and dental picks on one side. In the smallest compartment I put my floss, toothbrush, and toothpaste and my razor. I do dry my toothbrush off before I put it away. In the last compartment is my Moroccan oil protector for my hair, hairspray, my wide tooth comb, my hairbrush, and a couple of bun picks.

In hubby’s he has on the left side his razor and trimmer and in a small snack size baggie I put all the attachments to his trimmer, this side also keeps his hair gel. In the smallest compartment is his floss, toothbrush, toothpaste (I don’t think he dries his toothbrush prior to putting it away, but I’m taking that one step at a time lol) and for whatever reason he keeps his deodorant in there too. In the last compartment is all of his contact stuff: two small bottles of solution, his current contacts in their case, and his extra contacts.

Here is a final look at the entire underside of the sink:

As you can see our caddies fit perfectly right in front so we can grab them easily and put them away just as easily. On the left I keep all of my sample products I get for traveling in the bottom shoe box, just above that is all of our sun care stuff. In the red and black tackle box is our first aid kit. It’s a little full right now. The bottle of Advil I bought was a bit bigger than I thought so now the box doesn't close all the way. But, at least it is all there and easily accessible. In the back are my spiral rollers and my face steamer (this this is a godsend in the winter). On the bottom right are my everyday use hot rollers. On top of that is my big box of hair crap. I think I am going to make my way over to home depot and do this for my hair irons, but for now this keeps them corralled and in one spot. I also have my hot roller pins in here along with various other hair accessories.

I think the toiletry baskets have been essential to our success in keeping clutter off the vanity. Even the Mr. manages to put the basket away most days, if he doesn't at least its quick to grab and throw under the sink for him because he always puts his toiletries back in the basket.

What is your best bathroom organization tool???

Focus T25...an honest account Day 5 and 6

Day 5

AB INTERVALS!!! Yup, this pretty much says it all....

25 Minutes of nothing but abs :-/ I do not have a strong core and I hate ab work. But, this was very doable. Thank goodness Shaun T, like me, hates crunches. I couldn't have done 25 minutes of crunches. I'd have hurt myself. Seriously. So, moving on to the meat of the workout:

Once you get through the bombardment of Shakeology commercials you will need a "beachbody mini mat", I used a regular old fashioned yoga mat. Most of the exercises don't have much modification I noticed. So, if you are pregnant you probably want to substitute this with another DVD. There was one exercise, the double leg hand to foot, that I did have to modify as my core was getting a bit tired by that point. I do love though that every few exercises there is a "cardio recovery" to complete. I really like this break and it does give you enough of a break that you can continue working hard without straining your core muscles. At the very end there is a 3.5 minute cool down.

This was me at the end: 

This one you don't do a whole heck of a lot of sweating in, but your muscles do get worked super hard!

Day 6

Yup, it was already that day...Doubles Day.  I thought about breaking it up, but really wanted to be able to stretch and relax on the 7th day so I got up and just knocked out the 50 minutes back-to-back.

First, I did the Cardio DVD so that way I'd be nice and warm for the lower focus as I figured there would be a lot of squats-and there was. But, to talk a little more on the Cardio, something I didn't elaborate too much on during my first account of the cardio dvd is the burnout. At 15 minutes there is a burnout. It's a 2-3 minute non-stop workout of the previous 4-5 exercises you've just done. This happens again at 5 minutes. Then, the final 3 minutes are "power moves" where you work all the major muscle groups, but you keep going for all three minutes.

Last, I did the lower focus. I hadn't done this one yet. It was of course a 25 minute DVD and starts with a nice warm up, much like the one in the Cardio DVD. This is basically the equivalent of leg day. It works the lower abs, booty, thighs, calves, etc. There is a burnout at 13 minutes where, for the next 2-3 minutes you consecutively do the hardest version of all the previous exercises. Then, you move on to learning the next set of exercises. However, after the lunge progression at about 9 minutes or so I don't know what happens as 4 times my DVD kept skipping to the last minute. So, after much backing up and rewinding and restarting I gave up and just did the final minute and called it a day. I am going to try cleaning the DVD before sending it back, though. I will say, this workout is a fantastic lower body workout. It is full of balance exercises; focusing on calf toning, and lots and lots of squats!!! As for modifications, I'll be honest I was trying to keep up (I was tired and sore lol) so I didn't pay too much attention, but I know she didn't modify a whole, whole lot. A good majority of the time the modifier was doing exactly what the rest of the crew was doing.  The cool down is 3 minutes 10 seconds long. This cool down is more of what I am used to in way of hip flexor stretching, forward bend and stretching to the left and right to work those hamstrings. 

I really didn't mind the double day and enjoyed the sweat I worked up. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of what I looked like after as we were in a hurry to get out the door, but I was definitely a hot and sweaty mess and my mom razzed me about sweating all over her floor. LOL!!!

So, are you doing T25? Do you like it?

Menu Plan Monday-Vacation Edition!

Hello, Friends!!! I am writing from beautiful Florida! It is so nice to sit on my parents porch and enjoy this amazing weather. It hasn't been nearly as oppressive as I thought it would be! Here are a few photos from our journey:

Great view of some city we were flying over (taken from my plane window with my iPhone)

Being goofy before our first flight took off!

Me and my Mr. at a 50s style diner...there was karaoke and some amazing milk shakes. not to mention great company!

Anyway....what you came here for! 

Linking up at OrgJunkie

Since we are on vacation this will apply to everyone in my family. :)

Breakfast:

Monday: one egg with two egg whites, half a bagel, watermelon 

Tuesday: Paleo Breakfast burrito (basically an egg stuffed with peppers and then it has a piece of ham or turkey wrapped around it) with green beans/fruit

Wednesday: Bagel breakfast sandwiches

Thursday: Oatmeal with berries

Friday: Whatever is leftover as we leave for the beach house that day

Saturday: My brother and his family will be in town so we'll probably do a breakfast casserole like this.

Sunday: Out to breakfast.

Lunch

Monday: Errands, grab something out.

Tuesday: Steak burrito with tomato's, cucumbers, cheese.

Wednesday: Meet up with a friend for lunch at her restaurant: Mitad Del Mundo

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Be super goofy and dress up like a cow with my parents and go get free chick-fil-a! 

Saturday: Big BBQ with hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, and all kinds of other delicious goodies!

Sunday: Leftovers

Dinner: 

Monday: Turkey burgers with leftover pasta salad and fruit

Tuesday: Eat out with the in-laws possibly or just something easy like breakfast for dinner

Wednesday: Pan of roasted veggies with any leftover meat or crumbled turkey.

Thursday: Lasagna and salad (this is my husband's favourite meal my mother-in-law makes, it's fantastic! I'm going to cook with her to try and learn how to do it! It involves lots of cheese so you can hardly go wrong! LOL)

Friday: Slow roasted pulled pork with baked beans and veggies

Saturday: Leftovers from the BBQ!

Sunday: We'll take it easy and either go into town or just heat up leftovers. 

So, my week is an interesting one. I was going off what my mom said she would make. Plus, this is a week of reconnecting with people we haven't seen in a while. So, having big meals others will prepare and trying to go light and easy when I can in other areas. 

I hope everyone has had a great start to their week!!! 

Focus T25...and honest account Day's 3 & 4

I am doing two days today because we were busy traveling yesterday and honestly I was way too tired to link up and think about doing a post yesterday. So, you get two day's in one today!

Before I start on my reviews of the last two day's I thought I'd give a little more information on the full programme itself.

The programme is broken up into three parts: alpha, beta, and omega. Alpha and Beta come with the initial order, Omega you can order separately. The Alpha phase is the first 5 weeks, which is what I am in now.

This is the first week's schedule:

Day 3: I took this as a travel day (we'll say STATurday) and relaxed. Thank goodness T25 is a 5 day a week programme so I was able to relax and not worry about wanting to take the day off! After everyone went to bed I did do some squats, planks, and some stretching. It felt good after a long day of travel. I did not record my stats. I do those once a month. I have been taking pictures though over the last couple of days as a way to record my progress. I am not one to weight myself a lot and do a ton of measurements as they tend to make me goofy and nervous whenever I want to eat so I just stick to recording once a month.

Day 4:

This was truly, a total body exercise! I was a bit jet lagged. Everyone went to bed at 12:30 EST, which is only 9:30 PST. So, I laid down at 1:30 finally, and was up when the Mr. came in from visiting his family at 2:30 am and we were up chatting for at least an hour, then I was up at 8:00 am, which felt like 5 am! So, this one felt a lot tougher than I think it normally would have. I did take 2 little breaks, but a quick pep talk of "hey! this is only 25 minutes move your booty!" really got me going. There is only one spot that really requires some coordination between your brain and body-the moving jabs. You are sort of faced to the side and jump backwards as you jab. For whatever reason my body was just not cool with that move today. I felt like an idiot and my mother kept laughing and telling me how I was doing it wrong! LOL I wish I'd thought to take a pic of myself at the end because this was definitely the sweatiest of days! The modifications were very low impact. The push up's were modified and done on the knees and they had a really cool modifications for the burpees where you were in plank, lowered your knees (like a modified push up), then raise them again. I'd never seen that before, I thought the modifications were great for anyone suffering from injuries or if you are pregnant. Of course, if you are either of these, use your brain and consult your doctor first! ;)

Coming up tomorrow is "Ab Intervals"...this one makes me nervous because I don't have a very strong core ;)