NEW LOCATION

I'm now over at wordpress!

http://livingwellthebestrevenge.wordpress.com/

Or follow me on tumblr at:

http://ifitwasnteasy.tumblr.com/

Better!!

Packed:

Snacks:

Going to Pittsburgh for the weekend to see my sister!!

Sick

I woke up this morning at 6:30 ready to bang out a leg workout before my internship. But I felt AWFUL. I was sore and nauseous and my head and throat hurt. I took some Tylenol Daytime and Maalox and laid on the ground for awhile to see if I would feel better. Then I finally decided to go ahead and go to the gym, figuring that would either make me feel a lot better or a lot worse.

At the gym, I did squats and leg presses...then ran to the bathroom to throw up. Oh hi, last night's spinach! (No there's no picture haha).

Then I walked back to my apartment, called in sick to my internship, got into bed, and slept for the next 9 hours.

This is seriously the WORST time for me to be sick. First I can't afford to miss my internship (I'm going through resumes and pre-screening applicants to replace me this summer), second I have a group presentation for my Financial Management class at 9am tomorrow, and most importantly I'm supposed to visit my sister in Pittsburgh this weekend. We haven't seen each other since Christmas, and I was really looking forward to this.

Finally around 6:30 pm I got up and ate some greek yogurt with raspberries and walnuts:

x2 because it was the only thing that sounded appealing. It felt really good on my sore throat. Then I went to the business school to spend a couple hours putting together a powerpoint for tomorrow's presentation.

I'm going to finish up some economics homework that's due tomorrow, then get to bed early. Please, please let me feel better in the morning!

EDIT: I ate a bowl of strawberries + walnuts + soymilk before bed!

5x5, Upper Body Edition

I woke up Tuesday morning feeling SO sore from Monday's leg workout and decided not to go to the gym, which was good timing because I had a lot of work to do anyway. Wednesday morning I got up bright and early to work out my upper body before class.

Upper Body 5x5

• Bench Press: 45 lbs, 55 lbs, 55 lbs, 55 lbs, 65 lbs (8 reps each)
• Seated Military Press: 20 lb dumbbells, 8 reps x 5 sets
• Chest Press: 20 lb dumbbells, 8 reps x 5 sets
• Pushups: 10 x 5 sets
• Tricep Dips: 10 x 5 sets

I love working out in the morning! It's so much easier now that the days are getting longer and warmer.

Breakfast was the usual:

2% greek yogurt with raspberries and walnuts:

+ unpictured egg puff

My snacks for the day were a grapefruit and half a cup of almonds:

Plus this new protein bar:

Check out the nutritional stats:

It's less protein than I normally go for in a bar (I shoot for 1g per 10 calories) but I like that it's relatively very low-carb and low-sugar. And it tastes just like a vanilla wafer!

My last class was cancelled which was awesome because I was SO tired. I came home and slept for 4 hours. When I woke up around 8:30 it was time for dinner: spinach, salmon patty, and mango. 

I mixed up half of bag of Trader Joe's frozen chopped spinach with 2 egg whites and feta cheese and baked it at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. I saw the recipe somewhere in the blog world but can't remember where--I'll link to it later if I do!

Plus a bowl of strawberries while the spinach was baking.

And half a square of dark chocolate after (unpictured). I watched The Biggest Loser on my laptop while I was eating, then went to bed around 10:30--super early for me!

Oh and my booty is coming back!

It goes into hibernation during the winter when I stop running, then comes back for the spring. Meaning that I go up/down a pants size from summer to winter, but I think its worth it! :)

5x5

Spring is finally here! We hit a high of 85 today. I was super-excited to break out my shorts for class:

Button-down: Express
Tank Top: H&M
Belt: Express
Shorts: Express
Flats: Tory Burch

(Sorry for the horrible quality picture, I just really liked my outfit!)

So I spent the weekend doing LOTS of reading about weightlifting, and based on my research I am going to focus my lifting on two things:

1) Performing compound moves like squats, deadlifts, bench presses and pull-ups that work multiple major muscle groups. (Bonus: this is how you get abs!)

2) Lifting heavier weights. Performing 15 reps means that my weights are too light! I am going to shoot for a weight that I can lift 8 times and see if I can feel my muscles give out at the end.

Also based on my reading, I decided to try a 5x5 for today's lower-body workout: 5 exercises with 5 sets (of 8 reps each). I was so excited all day to do this new workout!

Lower-body 5x5

• Barbell deadlift: 65 lbs (including bar), 8 reps x5
• Barbell squat: 35 lbs (including bar--might have been more), 8 reps x5
• Barbell hamstring deadlift: 55 lbs (same),  8 reps x5
• Barbell sumo squats: 35 lbs (same), 8 reps x5
• Split squats: 40 lbs, 8 reps/leg x5

All I can say is WOW! I almost never sweat that heavily from weights alone but I was soaked and I think I was even dripping sweat on the floor (I know, I'm gross). I have to admit I was intimidated walking into a weight room full of guys and doing a "man" exercise that I've never tried before. I was worried that I would embarrass myself with bad form or puny weights, but I just reminded myself to stay focused and not worry about anyone else. And I know that my strength and form will only improve as I practice.

Speaking of which, I definitely could have squatted heavier weights--I just couldn't get the barbell picked up over my head! Hopefully as I improve my upper body strength, I'll be able to squat more too, but in the meantime I think I'm also going to utilize the Smith machine to squat higher weights.

This took about 35-40 minutes. I followed up with stretching and some quick abs (x2):

• 60 second plank
• 15 crunches with 16-lb medicine ball
• 20 twists with 16-lb medicine ball (feet off ground)

I wanted to go on a run afterwards because it's FINALLY warm outside (85 degrees) but my legs were just too tired! I had to remind myself to not feel guilty for squandering a nice day because the weather is going to keep getting better and there will be plenty of time in the future.

For dinner I had 7oz tilipia, a whole bag of roasted broccoli, and a mango:

Other meals consisted of:

• Breakfast: 2% Fage greek yogurt with walnuts and raspberries and 2 egg + 2 white puff
• Daytime snacks: Apple, 1/2 c raw almonds (even better than roasted!), 2 protein bars
• After-dinner snack: 0% Fage with walnuts and raspberries

You might have noticed that I don't eat lunch--on Monday and Wednesday I have classes from 9:30 to 4:45 with no breaks so I would rather carry snacks that I can easily eat in class. Same for Tuesdays and Thursdays when I am out of the house from at least 9-4 including metro time. I try to eat a "real" dinner with veggies and lean protein to balance it out!

 Well I'm off to bed--I might have another yogurt before I go to sleep because I'm still hungry! Night!

Outdoor Run and Grocery Run

Today is my rest day from lifting weights, so I decided to go to a park about 10 miles away to run outside:

(From internet--it's not this spring-y yet!)

I ran around the park and some of the trails and probably did about 3 miles. It took me awhile to find the park itself and then to figure out the trails so all in all it wasn't the most efficient workout, but Trader Joes was right on the way home so I was able to stock up on groceries for the week.

Produce:

• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• Fuji apples
• Broccoli
• Baby broccoli
• Carrots
• Brussel sprouts

Everything Else:

• Plain unsweetened soymilk
• Eggs
• Tofu
• Raw almonds
• Greek yogurt
• Mango black tea
• Protein bars

I love shopping at Trader Joe's--they have all my staple foods at cheap prices and it's small enough that I can get in and out in 20 minutes.

For lunch I had a whole block of crispy tofu (I'm obsessed!) and the baby broccoli. All I did was slice the tofu and spray the broccoli with cooking spray. So easy!

The funny thing about this meal is that it looks and tastes really high fat--the broccoli seems kinda oily and the tofu seems fried. But actually the only fat comes from the tofu itself--18 g and that's for a whole block! (Not that I am trying to avoid fat--it's just oddly deceptive.)

Followed by a giant bowl of strawberries--some of them were mushy so I wanted to cut them up right away.

And some dark chocolate:

I also tried a cup of my new mango tea and it was delicious--I'm about to make another cup to drink while I get started on my homework. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night!

Short + Hard

On Fridays I have class from 2-5, so it's the one weekday I can sleep in AND still hit the gym in the morning. I took full advantage today and slept til 11am.

Before the gym I ate a cup of greek yogurt:

I decided to do something new today and try a shorter workout with more weights and barbells instead of dumbbells:

Lower Body Workout

• Hamstring deadlift: 30 lbs on barbell, 15 reps x 3
• Squat: 20 lbs on barbell, 15 reps x 3
• Single leg split squat: 20 lb dumbbells, 10 reps per leg x 3
• Smith squat: 40 lbs on machine, 15 reps x3
• Reverse lunge: 20 lb dumbbells, 10 reps per leg x 3

I finished up with a few planks. 

The verdict? Hard! Even though this is less exercises than normal for me I was sweating by the end and really feeling it. Plus it only took me 30 minutes. If I can work out more efficiently that's fine by me!

I replenished my protein with eggs (2 yolks plus 2 whites), a 7 oz tilapia filet, and a pear.

Actually got too full to eat the pear, so I brought it to class with me.

Along with my favorite protein bar.

After class I came right home and started studying for Business Law. I have an exam next week and I did poorly on the last one so I want to do well on this one. I have to say that B-Law is my least favorite class. It's the only class where I have to FORCE myself to read the textbook. But I managed to read and take notes on three chapters, and make notecards!

Dinner was half a block of tofu with broccoli and carrots tossed in olive oil:

The tofu was perfectly crispy and so easy--all I did was slice it and bake for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees. I always used to stirfry tofu, but I think oven beats stirfry hands down.

Well back to work--Happy Friday!