Drop in demand

Move that body: 25 minutes of Jillian Michaels’ “No More Trouble Zones”

FYI for my fellow preggos: NMTZ has lots and lots of floor work, and you basically can do only half the workout.

I realized something very troublesome this morning: My mornings of OnDemand/Exercise TV workouts are numbered.

Boo!

I have just three more mornings where I can hit the “OnDemand” button my cable remote and scroll through workout after workout. Three more mornings of looking for something that piques my physical interest. Three more mornings of Jillian Michaels.

Boo!

You see, we’re not getting cable at the new house – at least right away. And it was my idea. I thought I would just be giving up “Top Chef Masters” and hours on end of HGTV. I didn’t realize I was going to give up my access to a bajillion workouts.

Boo!

My saving grace will be my willingness to use my library card and that dang Jackie Warner DVD I’ve been avoiding like the plague. I may need to get 3 pound weights to make it through but it will be something. Of course, Jillian Michaels could be super nice, read this blog and send me her entire catalog of workout DVDs. I’m sure she’ll sympathize with the preggo plight.

In other news, guess what made it into my bag o’ food two days in a row now?

And get your minds out of the Dairy Queen.

Baby carrots. Once my friend, then my preggo foe. I’m determined to start snacking on better foods throughout the day – or at least less carby foods – and so I picked up a bag at Aldi’s, along with a jar of salsa. Salsa makes every thing taste better. Except Thin Mints. Thin Mints taste good all on their own. I was forced to eat some today. Yep, I was. All in the name in cleaning out the fridge before the move.

Also in my bag o’ food (and, by the way, when I say bag I mean BAG as in a reusable grocery bag): green beans, an orange and peaches in extra light syrup.

Do you take a bag of snacks to work? What’s in it?

Three Things Thursday

Workout: "30-Day Shred" minus floor work and 1.2-mile walk with Denali. I also plan to walk to lunch (about 1-mile roundtrip) and do a short family walk after dinner to get in 3 miles for the day.

1. I wanted to run today. Wait. Scratch that. I really wanted to run today. It was 45 degrees and sunny, and it had been three days since my last run. I made myself a small oatmeal breakfast and turned on last night's "Top Chef Masters" to fuel and wake up. Halfway through the show, my body began to clue me in that it had other plans for the day. Plans that did not include running. My stomach was in knots and ... yeah. Let's just say that while I have resigned myself to the fact that one day I may "dribble" during a run, I'm not about to completely let myself go if you know what I mean.

2. Desperate to get in a workout of any kind, I went back to my old standby: Exercise TV on OnDemand. I picked Jillian Michaels' "30-Day Shred" to get in some good weights but skipped the floor work and added in some tricep moves and extra bicep curls. Gotta get these guns ready for baby!

3. In non-workout news, I'm a bit excited because today we get to do a walk through of the house. Most of the repairs have been completed and we need to check on them or so says the Realtor. I really just want to go in and measure the windows so I can commence curtain/blind shopping.

What are your 3 Things Thursday?

Path least taken

Pre-workout fuel: Slice of whole-wheat toast with Amish cherry jam and cup of half-caff coffee.
Workout: Ran 4.01 miles in 37 minutes, 4 seconds; average pace, 9:14. Fifteen minutes of "Incredible Abs 7" with Cindy Whitmarsh, courtesy of Exercise TV.

I woke up this morning with the urge to do something different. Something exciting. Something new. Or make something old new again.

I leashed up Denali for our 4-mile run and instead of hopping on the Greenway, I took us on a tour of a residential area that we haven't seen in awhile. I like the Greenway because it's easier to avoid traffic lights/crosswalks, and I know which way to go depending on how far I am scheduled to run. However, the same stretch, especially after seeing it for 9 miles on Sunday, didn't appeal to me. Crosswalks, I welcome you!

We set out a slow pace as I was still a smidge sore from my long run. About a quarter-mile in, though, I remembered why we avoided residential areas. At least on Tuesday. Garbage day! I felt like I was on an obstacle course as we tried to navigate the sidewalks and grassy areas to avoid the big cans. I ended up going through a lot of yards in that first half-mile as to avoid Denali leading me straight into a can or getting scared by the garbage truck's noise and pushing me into it.

Once we got into an addition, the run seemed to get better. I didn't have to dodge garbage cans (ran in the street), I got to look at some cute houses and I found my legs! I still let comfort dictate my pace and kept my eyes off the Garmin (for the most part). I was even surprised that we didn't have to stop for a crosswalk until 2.5 miles in and only stopped once more at 2.85 miles.

We didn't see many runners along this route but we did see plenty of kids walking to school. Fall is just around the corner, folks! Hip ... hip ... HOORAY!

In store for tomorrow: Tempo ... yay ... I think!

Surf's up, dudettes

Pre-workout fuel: Water before yoga and breakfast of vegan banana muffin and Stonyfield Mango Honey yogurt before walk with dog.
Workout: 20 minutes yoga, 2.2-mile walk with dog, 20 minutes upper body and 10 minutes abs (on the ball).

I don't know about you but I love, love, love to workout in my bikini.


I found this little gem on OnDemand. Surf Girls: Malibu! Right on! I've always wanted to be a surfer girl ever since seeing that reality show on MTV, oh, like 7 years ago. Seeing as I live in Indiana and the closest I get to surfing is giving Denali a bath, I figured I should grab my board shorts and go for a ride. Or do Quick Shred Arms, which was 5 minutes of toning to get me bodacious for bikini season! Totally gnarly!

OK. That's enough of that. The workout was lame. The Exercise TV version had you doing biceps triceps and just a touch of shoulders. There was also a "coffee curl" - my favorite ... of course. It worked the area between the biceps and triceps or so the "instructor" said. She seemed a bit confused, as any good stereotyped surfer girl would. Her companion seemed a bit more off, just throwing up the weights with no purpose - easy to do when you're curling 2s.

Needless to say, I finished up my upper body session with Cindy Whitmarsh and will be sticking with her and her "Tank Top Arms."