Month: May 2014

Wednesday Workout: Run/Walk & Superset Workout

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Good morning! I don’t have a long post for you today because I’ve been mentally fried this week and haven’t had it in me to spend a lot of the time on the computer after work, but I did want to pop in quickly and give you a workout that I originally planned to do last night. I say “planned” to do because I did it once and then forgot about it throughout the rest of my run. Womp.

With the weather seemingly on a turn for the better, though, I’ve been trying to take my workouts outside when I can. Last night wasn’t particularly great weather, but I still couldn’t stand to go run on a treadmill so I threw a long-sleeved shirt on and hit the pavement. I haven’t run more than 4 miles for as long as I can remember, but I decided to step it up a notch this week and run 5 miles. It felt surprisingly really good!

This workout can be done by walking or running the .5 mile increments and you can do it on a treadmill or outside.

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I did my push-ups and triceps dips on a park bench and it was perfect!

Let me know if you try this. I plan to put a list together of all my favorite outside workouts soon!

Questions for you: Have you been working out outside lately? Do you prefer to run or walk outside or on a treadmill?

Weekending: Dining, drinking & celebrating mom

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Weekends are usually pretty great, but this past weekend was especially great and I think the combination of being surrounded by lots of family and the weather was the reason behind it. I’ve been trying to cut back on weekend recaps because I’m not sure how much you enjoy hearing about my play-by-play weekend adventures, but this one was filled with trying out new restaurants and celebrating someone very special so I figured it was worth sharing 😉

Friday night, I met the boy in Central Square and he brought me to a little hidden gem: Green Street Grill. This little restaurant/bar was tucked away on a street parallel to Mass. Ave right in the heart of Central Square. We were lucky enough to snag 2 seats right at the bar (our favorite) and enjoyed some vino and delicious (gluten free) dishes. I had had a very stressful (but good stress) day and it was so nice to be able to relax, have a few wines and not think about anything for a while.

Saturday morning, my sister and I went to a class at Flywheel and, just as I expected, Ann taught a phenomenal class. I’d love to say that I had a great ride, but for some reason, my legs felt like lead and I just didn’t have it in me to push myself and pedal faster. I wanted to- so badly- but my body had another thing planned. Oh well. It was still fun riding next to my sister and we left there hot yoga sweaty!

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After class, we shopped around a bit (I got a new dress for Miami!) and then had lunch at Sonsie. The weather had cleared and we got seats right near the open windows- felt so nice to have warm weather!

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I can’t say any of what I ate/drank was healthy, but life is all about balance, right?

Saturday night was date-night. We went to his brother and sister-in-law’s condo in the South End for roof deck cocktails and baby snuggles before having dinner at Stella, which is also in the South End. My friend Jess recommended it and it turns out it’s one of his favorite restaurants, so it was a no brainer to try it out! Even better? They have a whole gluten free menu. We had a drink while waiting for spots at the bar to open up (the Bruins were on. I couldn’t care less, but I wasn’t going to take him away from watching). For dinner, we shared the sausage and broccoli rabe, the arugula salad and the braised short ribs. They split that for us, which was so nice! They also served it atop gluten free penne instead of GF mashed potatoes which was totally fine.

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Yum. I can’t wait to go back- I dream of that dish. Okay, not really, but it was SO good.

Sunday was a fun day filled with pampering mom! We were lucky enough to have them agree to come down for the day instead of us going up there since we’ve been a few times in the past month or so. Danielle and I made a pretty delicious brunch, if I do say so. We had an egg casserole (egg, milk, chicken sausage, sautéed peppers and onions, spinach and cheese- so easy, so tasty), warm kale salad (with EVOO and lemon juice as the dressing, craisins, goat cheese, grilled pear and candied pecans), fruit salad and Stonewall Kitchen blueberry muffins.

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One of the best parts of the day was the fact we got to spend time on my back patio, soaking up some serious sun!

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(terrible picture, but it was all I had!)

My mini patio set is, well, mini, but we squished to make it work.

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Yummm. I love brunch food! We had such a nice afternoon drinking wine (mom loves excuses to day drink!) and catching up. My dad is coming down next weekend to help get my garden started and I can’t wait! It will be so nice to have fresh veggies all summer- I’m lucky that he has volunteered to help!

And that about sums it up. Although it was a rather indulgent weekend, there’s nothing better than spending time with the people you love and food/drink indulgences are totally worth it during those times!

Questions for you: Did you get outside to enjoy the weather? What was the best part of your weekend? What did you do to celebrate Mother’s Day? What’s your favorite “hidden gem” restaurant? Do you ever have workouts where your mind wants it but your body doesn’t?

This Week: Workouts, Big Decisions to Make & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Good morning! How was your weekend? Besides the weather on Saturday, mine was really great. My brain was pre-occupied with thoughts surrounding a big decision I need to make, but luckily I was surrounded by lots of support which helped to ease my mind a bit. While I think I am a pretty good decision maker in that I don’t think I’m overly indecisive, there are just some decisions that aren’t as easy to make as a dinner reservation, for instance. Needless to say, there was lots of list making, lots of weighing of the various pros and cons, lots of conversations and lots of going back and forth.

Even though I was mentally fried on Thursday and Friday and didn’t want to workout, my workouts helped clear my mind a bit- it was nice to have that time as time where I was thinking about the workout vs. other things. Anyone else turn to workouts in times of stress?

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I went to my office gym on Monday for a quick lunchtime workout. The workout was fast, efficient and left me sore for a few days. Success!
  • Tuesday- I ran 4 miles before work… at a faster pace then the morning run the week before!

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  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles outside before teaching UXF Burn. It was my first outdoor run through Cambridge since last season and it was awesome! So many people had the same thought so it almost felt like I was running with people… almost…

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  • Thursday- I taught a SHRED class based off of the workout I did on Monday and then taught a kickboxing class I had taught a few weeks ago. I don’t like to repeat workouts in their entirety, but I just didn’t have the time or thought space left to make up a new one. I don’t think they noticed.
  • Friday- I did 10 minutes of random cardio exercises before doing 35 minutes of yoga. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to shut off my thoughts and focus on my breathing, but luckily, that wasn’t the case. Although I did have thoughts come through, they didn’t interrupt my flow or focus on breathing. It was actually a really good yoga sesh!
  • Saturday- My sister and I went to a class at Flywheel. It was such a fun way to start our Saturday. Now that we don’t live together anymore, we try to get together on the weekends for a workout and lunch when we can. Our instructor was Ann, and I picked her class because I loved it the last time I went!
  • Sunday- Nothing! I did a few standing ab routines while I was cooking for my mom, but other than that I relaxed and sat in the sun and spent time with my family. It was great!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I am teaching my 6am Muscle Work class today and then I’ll stick around and do 20-30 minutes of cardio after.
  • Tuesday- I will probably run… maybe outside?
  • Wednesday- Maybe another run before teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- SHRED followed by Kickboxing
  • Friday- I am going to a surprise party with the boy after work, so I think I’ll try to get in a workout during the day. Nothing crazy, just a little something!
  • Saturday- I was supposed to teach my kickboxing class at the Oak Square YMCA, but I decided to switch with the other instructor so that I wouldn’t have to worry about teaching in the morning while at the party on Friday night. With that said, I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing. I’d love to get to a BodyPump class, but we will see what I end up doing (if anything).
  • Sunday- What I do Sunday will be dependent upon what I do the rest of the week. I have a few plans during the day and at night, so I may not even have time to do a workout (rather, I may not want to MAKE THE TIME to do a workout… and that’s ok!).

Things I’m Looking Forward To

Making a decision! I’m looking forward to not having to go back and forth between various options and just picking something! I’m also looking forward to having a fairly open schedule after work this week. It’s nice to be able to have time to do things that I may not have been able to get done over the weekend. Lastly, I’m excited to go to a surprise birthday party (even though I won’t know anyone there!)… I don’t go out-out like that very often anymore, so when there’s a special occasion that warrants it, I get excited 🙂

Questions for you: Are you a good decision maker? What do you do to relieve stress? What was your best workout last week?

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Happy Mother’s Day out there to all the wonderful mother’s who read this little blog, but especially Happy Mother’s Day to the most wonderful, caring, sweet and loving mom a girl could ask for! Thank you for always supporting me and encouraging me to do what I love. So happy to host a special brunch for you! XOXO

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Spinach, Red Pepper & Cheese Stuffed Chicken

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Whenever my sister and/or I go home, our parents always ask us what we’d like for a “special” meal. It’s not that I don’t cook nice meals on my own, it’s just that there’s something about cooking when I’m home (or having my parents cook for me) that makes a meal EXTRA good. Amiright?

Over Easter weekend, my sister and my parents (I sat at the kitchen table, drank wine and kept them company….) whipped up a delicious stuffed chicken meal and ever since then I’ve been thinking of different variations that I could make. I think the key to making stuffed chicken meals even more delicious is including cheese in them, right? Lately, I’ve been a big fan of using Laughing Cow Cheeses in my dishes (Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Chicken with a Laughing Cow Cheese Sauce and Creamy, Cheesy, Sauteed Veggies), so I decided to continue the streak and use them in my stuffed chicken recipe.

Spinach, Red Pepper & Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients (serves 2-3 people, depending on how big your chicken breasts are)

  • 2 Chicken Breasts
  • 2 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges
  • 1 handful of spinach
  • thin slices of red pepper
  • 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2-3/4 cups marinara sauce

Directions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350*. Cut up your red peppers and onion and gather your spinach.

2. Rinse the chicken and cut a big slit into each breast horizontally (just make sure not to cut them in half!) so that you can stuff it with your ingredients. Layer the spinach first, then cut each wedge into smaller pieces and place on top of the spinach. Lastly, place the red peppers on top. Close the chicken breast and put a toothpick on either end to hold everything together.

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3. Heat a pan with a few tablespoons of EVOO. Once it is warm, place the chicken breasts in the pan as well as the onions. Let everything cook for 5-7 minutes.

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Clearly I didn’t have toothpicks and had to cut up some extra long matches to do the trick. Hey- whatever works!

4. When the chicken has browned on the outside, spread a layer of marinara sauce on the bottom of a baking dish and place the chicken breasts and onions on top. Bake for 20-30 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink).

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While this recipe did take some time to assemble (and requires touching raw chicken…), it was absolutely worth it in the end. I served my stuffed chicken along side a bowl of spaghetti squash, sauce and a bunch of wine-sautéed veggies. Ending my weekend on a healthy meal is the best way for me to get back on track for the week ahead. Anyone else do this?

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I’ve loved enjoying these leftovers all week- having a healthy dinner ready to quickly reheat after a long day and tough workout is my life saver!

Questions for you: What are your favorite ingredients to stuff chicken with? Do you like to end your weekend with a healthy meal or do you prefer to start fresh on Monday morning?