Month: March 2014

Weekending: Lots of dining out {again}, girl time, date night & finally taking time to breathe

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This past weekend was another whirl-wind, but it was all super fun stuff so I can’t really complain 🙂

On Friday, my upstairs neighbor, Lisa, and I went into the city for drinks and dinner at Sip Wine Bar.

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I had been once before, but not in a few years, so I was excited to go back! We had to wait a bit for seats at the bar to open up, but that was fine, we had cocktails and lots of catching up to do to pass the time.

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I love Sip because you can have a “sip” of wine, a half glass, whole glass or bottle. After my bubbly, I did a white wine sampler.

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Yummy 🙂 We shared the Ahi Tuna Tacos and the Mushroom Flatbread, both of which were delicious! Seriously, I don’t know if it was the truffle oil on the pizza or what, but I could’ve eaten the whole thing on my own.

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Thanks for such a fun night, Lisa!

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After my going to Pursuit on Saturday morning, I met up with some college friends for lunch at Margarita’s in Medford. Sheila and I were both craving Mexican, so it was the perfect place to go… my wine headache needed chips and salsa. Like, needed them. A margarita didn’t hurt, either 😉

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When I got home, I whipped up a batch of the most delicious gluten free, dairy free oatmeal chocolate coconut pecan no-bake bars!

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Saturday night was date night! We went to Eastern Standard, which is one of my favorite restaurants/bars in Boston. I got all dolled up and even wore contacts- it’s so weird when I don’t wear glasses. I feel like I don’t look like myself at all!

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We scored seats at the bar and enjoyed some cocktails before finally ordering some food. We ordered some shrimp cocktail to start, and I wound up getting the cheese burger. Say, what?! Yeah, I was just graving red meat, but not in the form of steak, so the burger was a great option- it was so good.

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Such a fun night! Sorry I missed you, Steph and Alice 😦

Sunday morning started with much needed yoga, followed by a day to myself. Between my crazy weekends and week days, I really, REALLY needed/wanted a day to myself to catch up on life. Yoga, grocery shopping, meal prep, blogging, workout prep, cleaning and laundry… may not sound that exciting, but it was perfect for me!

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And that about sums it up! This past weekend was a better balance of fun things and relaxing things- I needed that.

Questions for you: Have you been to Sip or Eastern Standard? What was something fun that you did over the weekend? Truffle oil- are you a sucker for it like I am?

This Week: Workouts {lots of teaching again}, Review of Velo City & Pursuit Boston, Things I’m looking forward to

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Hi, friends! Happy St. Patty’s Day! Is anyone celebrating? Did anyone go to the Southie parade yesterday? I opted out of it this year- it was cold and I really just needed/wanted a day to myself where I could catch up on life (cleaning, blogging, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.), not to mention I didn’t want to be tempted to drink too much because my day today is too long to be hung over! I’ve got lots to talk about today, so let’s get right to the workouts 🙂

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I decided to go to the gym during my lunch break to get in a quick 30-45 minute upper body and core workout. I was SO happy I did this because I ended up having a horrible end of the day at work and stayed late talking to my manager, so it was great knowing I could just go home after work and have a huge glass of wine make dinner, blog and do laundry.
  • Tuesday- I used my ClassPass membership and tried out a new-to-me studio: Velo-City. I’ll share more on it below, but I liked it!
  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED (did most of the workout with them, but skipped out on the cardio) and Kickboxing.
  • Friday- Nothing 🙂
  • Saturday- I went to Pursuit Boston, which is a new spin studio in the Back Bay. I LOVED it. It was especially fun since I ran into someone I went to high school with and met u with my new blog friend, Lucy. Sweating with friends is so much better!
  • Sunday- I went to Exhale Spa for a 75 minute yoga class and it was wonderful. My body and mind needed it in a bad way! So happy I have my ClassPass membership so I can jump around to all these studios 😉

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- By the time this post goes up, I will have taught my 6am Muscle Work class and I am subbing the 6:30pm cardio kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC after work. Happy Monday and St. Patty’s Day to me!
  • Tuesday- I’m going to a 6:55am class at B-Tone Fitness in the Back Bay. I’m trying to use my ClassPass to try new studios I may not otherwise try, I’m excited about this class. After work, I am training someone who wants to get back into shape now that she’s had her baby!
  • Wednesday- Maybe some light cardio before teaching UXF Burn
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and then cardio kickboxing
  • Friday- Rest 🙂
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA
  • Sunday- Not sure. I’d like to get something in since I’ll be traveling the next week, but I haven’t figured out what I want to do yet.

Velo-City Review

As I mentioned above, I went to an indoor cycling studio in the Back Bay on Tuesday night. I had never been, but it came up on ClassPass and there was a class at a good time for me, so I decided to try it out. The staff was SUPER friendly, and the instructor, Megan, was actually someone I knew when I used to work at Prana Power yoga- small world! I loved the music Megan played and really loved a lot of the song choreography that she had- we did some things that I hadn’t done at any other studio, so that was fun- I always love learning new things. I also loved that the studio had black lights…. I just wish I had worn something white! The one thing that was kind of a bummer was the fact that the class was not filled, so it felt like the room was a bit empty. I like when these types of classes are full because I can feed off of everyone’s energy, which I wasn’t able to do on Tuesday. Otherwise, though, I really liked the studio and would definitely suggest going, especially since they offer a free first class!

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Pursuit Boston Review

Saturday morning I headed back to the Back Bay for another spin class, this time at Pursuit Boston, which just opened in January. I loved the studio because it was on the second floor in a building on Boylston street, so it was really bright and sunny. They had showers (huge plus for me), changing areas, a weights/stretching area to use if you wanted to do something before or after class, and really great specials (5 classes for $59!!). The only downside is that they don’t rent shoes, but they do have a handful of shoes you can borrow, which I ended up doing because I hate spinning without spin shoes now.

The class at Pursuit was a traditional spin class, so we didn’t use weights or anything like that, which I thought was a bummer at first, but by the end, I didn’t mind at all. It was only a 45 minute class, but I was legit spent by the end. I was sweating SO much and my legs barely got me down the stairs after class- I call that a success 😉 The instructor was great and really encouraging and I liked that she jumped on and off the bike a lot to get closer to us to push us harder. I definitely suggest checking out this studio as they have different kinds of “rides” (they are going to start a spin boot camp class, which I think is totally up my alley) so you can pick one based on what you’re looking to accomplish in your workout that day. They do a free first class, too!

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Thing I’m Looking Forward To

Last week was SO fun, so this week definitely has big shoes to fill! I’m excited to try out B-Tone fitness on Tuesday, as well as train my friend’s sister-in-law. It was so sweet of her to reach out to me for help losing her baby weight, so I’m excited to put a plan together for her. I’m looking forward to my sister coming home on Friday- she will have been gone for 2 full weeks! On Saturday, I’m going to a wine tasting with my friend Jessi, Cristina and Lauren (and maybe my sister), which is going to be a blast! Nothing better than a wine-filled afternoon (heads up to my kickboxing class on Saturday- we will be working out for me to earn my wines… you’ve been warned!).

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? Did you try out any new classes or studios? Do you like regular spin classes or do you like indoor cycling classes that include weights? What are you looking forward to this week?

For the next 40 days…

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Well, at this point, it’s the next 31 days, but who’s counting?! Anyway, as a Catholic (not as much of a practicing Catholic as I should be…), we “give something up” during the Lenton season, which lasts 40 days. Over the years, I’ve given up gum, ice cream, chips, French fries and soda, to name a few.

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This past year, though, when I thought about what I wanted to “give up”, I was stumped. I thought about a lot of different things, but wasn’t really sold on anything; I just couldn’t find something that I thought I should give up (well, besides texting while driving, which should be an every day thing, not just a Lenton thing). Instead, I decided to add something. Something that I knew wouldn’t be easy, but that I knew would be beneficial to me.

What is that, you ask? Meditation.

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Say, what?! The girl who doesn’t ever stop, is always adding more on her plate and complains about those two things all the time probably too often is adding meditation to her schedule?

Yup. It’s true. I’ve decided to take 10 minutes of my day to just be still. No tv, no music, no iPad, no computer/blogging, no Facebook/Twitter/Instagram. Just me, being still and focusing on my breath. Inhaling and exhaling for 10. whole. minutes. You may not think that would be that hard, but for me, it’s been incredibly hard! As soon as I shut my eyes, my mind starts racing sounds a little something like this:

“Shoot. I forgot to do respond to that email.”

“What am I going to teach in kickboxing tomorrow? I like that burpee-kick move I’ve been doing.”

“Should I work from home tomorrow?”

“What should I wear to the gym tomorrow? New blue pants?”

“What time do I have to get up?”

“Monique. You’re just supposed to be breathing here, not thinking. Breathe in, breathe out. There you go. I should have a snack before bed….”

As you can see, it has been a real challenge for me to turn OFF my thoughts and to focus on my breath. But, at the end of the day, I think this is really good for me. It’s time every day when I can just sit, without any distractions. And, you know what? It’s getting easier! My thoughts have slowed down and I really look forward to those 10 minutes of my day. I’ve also been sleeping better since I started doing this, and I have to attribute it to the fact that I’m giving myself time to decompress before I go to bed. Normally, I am blogging or catching up on social media right until the time I go to bed, which means when I get in bed, I spend a good chunk of time trying to unwind from the day and slow my thoughts before I’m able to actually fall asleep.

Since I’ve seen some positive changes and I’m only a week in, I’m interested to see how the next 31 days will go with this challenge. If you’re like me and could agree with anything I said in this post, I urge you to try it- turn off all electronics, set your timer and close your eyes for 10 minutes. I’d love to know what you think and how it makes you feel!

Questions for you: What did you give up for Lent, if you’re Catholic? Have you ever meditated? Do you do anything before bed to help you relax?

I hope you all have a great St. Patty’s Day weekend! If you’re looking for tips on how to stay in control and to make good decisions, check out the post I wrote last year: Tips to Stay [Relatively] Healthy on St. Patrick’s Day… there are some good tips to keep in mind 🙂

A jam-packed weekend full of working out & dining out

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Do you ever have those weekends where you’re so busy you feel like you need another day just to breathe and catch up on everything you didn’t catch up on over the weekend? That was me last weekend… and, well, all of last week, actually. I have spent the majority of the beginning of this week catching up on everything I wasn’t able to do last week or this week- my floors need to be washed desperately, but that keeps getting pushed further and further down my list, which is totally ok 🙂

Anyway! After work on Friday, I met up with someone for drinks at Vintage Lounge, which I hadn’t been to in years! From there, we headed to Sakurabana for sushi (as a Catholic, I’m not supposed to eat meat on Friday’s during lent, so sushi was a perfect option!).

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Saturday started with kickboxing (loved seeing Jen, Mary, Valerie, Dani and all the other familiar faces!) as my first workout and then I met my sister at Exhale Spa for a Core Fusion Cardio class with my sister. We met up with our friend, Jessi, for lunch at Anthem. It was such a beautiful day in the city- perfect for walking around and having lunch out (actually, who am I kidding- any day is a great day for lunch out in my mind!). We shared a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, the Fondue (cannot go there without getting it- SO SO SO good) and a pizza.

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I did some serious bar/restaurant hopping on Saturday night, which was great at the time, but not so great when I had to wake up at 7:45am on Sunday to teach a 9am class, after having gone to bed at 1:30am and losing an hour of sleep due to the time change. Womp. Oh well, I made sure to not drink too much so at least I wasn’t hungover! My Saturday night locations included: Prima E Dopo, Back Bay Social Club, M Bar at the Mandarin Hotel and finally Towne… phew! I wasn’t kidding when I said I hopped around 😉

Sunday I taught my 7th class of the week, puttered at Target and then did my CPR recertification. Not really my favorite way to spend a Sunday, but I didn’t really have a choice!

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Lunch at Pizza Etc. after the recertification did make me happy… I’ve missed their Greek salad with grilled chicken. When I lived in Brighton, Rachel and I would get that salad once a week!

By the time I grocery shopped and got home, the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner. I ended up going to Santarpio’s to grab pizza… not the healthiest choice, but I had been craving it for a while so I decided to just do it. It did give me a crazy bad stomach ache later on- I wonder if it was the pizza or just the fact that I had eaten out literally all weekend.

By the time Monday rolled around, I was so ready for my usual clean eats! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating out and would never deprive myself of it, but my body just likes it better when I don’t eat out consecutively for days in a row. I used to let it bother me when I would eat out a lot, but at this point in my life, I’ve gotten to a place where I just let it go and enjoy it because I know as soon as Monday rolls around, I’ll be back on track with my eats. No better way to do that then kale & onion stuffed turkey meatballs served over spaghetti squash and sautéed veggies, right?

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I’ve been enjoying this all week!

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Did you try any new workouts/classes/studios? Did you go to any new restaurants? Have you been to any of the ones that I went to over the weekend? Do you beat yourself up after indulgent weekends of eating out and drinking? What’s the first thing you do to get back on track?

Wednesday Workout: 4 Move Mini Strength Sets & A Treadmill Workout

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I’ve got two workouts for you AGAIN this week… I’m on a roll here 😉

The first one is a workout I threw together just a few minutes before teaching it in my SHRED class last week. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to teach, but decided on picking 4 exercises for each “set” and repeating each set 3 times before doing a tabata cardio burst. I tried to incorporate upper, lower and core exercises per set to mix it up since I usually do all lower in a set or all upper.

4 move mini strength set

I’ve been loving squat with halos lately (I recently posted a workout with that move and when I saw it in Athena’s recent workout post, it made me want to do them again!)- I think they are such a good full body move! The wall sits with knee raises came from Kim’s Daily 44 workout and I’m a BIG fan!

If you’re running short on time, feel free to only do each set once, skip the cardio or only do the cardio twice (beginning and end). Lots of ways to modify the workout based on how long you have for it! No excuses 🙂

Most of these moves have been on the blog before, but if you need clarification, don’t hesitate to ask me! One you may not know is the burpee kick cardio move- all you do is drop down into a burpee, come up and do a right kick, go back down to a burpee and come up and do a left kick. I’ve been doing these in kickboxing and they’re great (thanks to a reader, Lori, who told me about this move!).

Overall, the workout left us all incredibly sweaty and beat by the end. I’m always so jealous of everyone when they get to be done their workout after that class, haha it’s sometimes hard to know I’ve got a whole other hour of cardio before I’m done 😉

Treadmill Workout

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a treadmill workout (last one was the 4.5 Mile Treadmill Run (or walk!)… mostly because I’m boring when I’m on the treadmill and tend to keep my incline and pace the same from one treadmill run to the next…. it’s hard for me to push myself on the treadmill! I changed it up last week and came up with this workout, which passed the time quite nicely.

25 minute beat boredom treadmill run

Now, just use my speeds as a guide- if you want to walk it, knock your speed down to a challenging walk pace for you. If you run faster than I do and my speeds aren’t challenging enough, run faster! It’s your workout- I’m just here to provide inspiration to help you get through your workout and to help you change things up!

The incline was definitely a challenge by the end of the 5% interval, but it felt good!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite move at the moment? Do you like to change up your speed and incline on the treadmill or do you usually keep it the same the whole time you’re on it?