Category: Uncategorized

A New Take to Leftovers

3 Comments

Ugh. What a miserably cold, windy and rainy day! I am still not sure why I decided to wear tights and straighten my hair today (really, I had no real reason to do either of these things… except I didn’t wash my hair yesterday since I didn’t work out, so straightening it was the best option I had… shhh it’s not that gross!).  At least I had my cute Sperry Rubber Slip On’s on (does that make sense? I hate when 2 of the same words are next to each other in a sentence):

007

That’s really all I had going for me this morning, though. The T was delayed and the masses of people ON the T was horrific. I don’t plan on going outside for the rest of the day:)

Anyway, I need to tell you about my dinner last night! Tuesday’s are my “rest” days from the gym, so last night I went home, did 30 minutes of self-practice yoga in my room and then thought about what I could have for dinner.  I wasn’t really in the mood for stuffed peppers or taco salad, but I did want to use some of the leftover pepper stuffing.  Enter: a “Taco” Quesadilla! This week, I ended up buying these wraps. They are the perfect size (most are so big!) and really low in calories so it’s a great way to get a little carb fix in without feeling too guilty about it!

All I did was layer a little shredded cheese on half of it, some of the taco mixture from Sunday and then a little more cheese.

003

And, voila! A delicious and relatively healthy weeknight meal.  I didn’t even feel like I was eating leftovers- that’s the best part!

006

Now, if only I had something a little more exciting for lunch… This week I have been getting back to the basics with healthy salads, greek yogurt and fruit. My coworker and I call this “Moe’s Leaning Tower Lunch”.

001It’s quite the struggle carrying all those containers from the kitchen to the lunch room (it’s a much farther walk than you would think!).  Broken down, it’s a salad with veggies, quinoa and goat cheese, dressing, greek yogurt (really liked the Hannaford “Inspirations” brand!) and strawberries. Yum, yum, yum! (and, when I have a salad for lunch, I feel like I don’t have to worry about eating as many vegetables at dinner time… please tell me I am not the only one who uses that type of rationalization…)

002

I am excited to teach UXF Burn tonight- Hoping I have a huge turnout like last week.  I am feeling MUCH better and I am ready to kick people’s butts tonight:)

Hope you’re all staying warm and try!

Questions for you: Leftovers: love ’em or hate ’em? How is your week going?

My “Farewell” TBC Workout!

1 Comment

As I mentioned earlier, I taught my last TBC class at the Allston BSC on Saturday morning. Since the workout was a good one (and sure to make your glutes scream a little lot the next day!), I thought I would share it!

This workout is definitely more designed as a “class” type of workout due to the length and format, but if you’re familar with taking classes (and even if you aren’t!), you can totally do this workout on your own or with some friends!  As always, honor your body and listen to it- I want you to push yourself, but I want you to be safe as well.

Farewell Workout!

Equipment: BOSU ball, Body Bar, Heavy & Light Weights, Mat

Please note: If you do not have access to all of these pieces of equipment, that is fine! As long as you have weights, you can still do this. Perform the moves working from Set 1 to Set 3, OR, you can pick a set and go through it 3 times if you prefer. Your choice!

Farewell workout set 1 Farewell workout set 2 farewell workout set 3

I apologize that these are a little hard to read, but if you click on them, they will appear in a new window where they will be clear and ready for printing!

Questions for you: What is your favorite gym “tool” these days? Exercise you’re loving at the moment? For me, I’m loving the Dynamax Ball and BOSU balls. Favorite exercise? 1 legged & 1 armed rows- holy core work to balance!

Weekending…

4 Comments

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Mine, as always, seemed to go by WAY too quickly.  I am just now sitting down and “relaxing” (aka blogging and putting off studying) and it’s 4:30pm! Where did today go?! I’ll get to that, but let’s back up a minute…

Yesterday I taught my last TBC (Total Body Conditioning) class at the Allston BSC.  I was offered a position to teach Cardio Kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA every other Saturday at 10AM (vs every Saturday at 9am like I was doing at the BSC) and I accepted that position starting in March!  I used to go to that 10AM Kickboxing class every Saturday for the 3.5 years I lived in Oak Square so I am REALLY excited to have the opportunity to go back there and start teaching it:)  However, yesterday’s last class was definitely bittersweet.  My sister, Lauren and Jess came and that made it so much fun! I always like to hear feedback from honest sources (they may be friends and family, but I do trust them to give me their honest opinions!), so it was funny to hear them ask what the heck I was doing teaching a class that hard… what can I say?! I want to make people feel like their time at the gym was well spent!

Post workout, I met up with a new fitness friend for brunch at Russell House Tavern to talk all things fitness… twist my arm, will ya?! And, to make things even better, they had wine on tap?!

002I had to use some serious self-restraint as wine on tap for any member of the Gagnon family is risky business! Instead, I enjoyed a nice beer and this delicious omelet:

003Yum! I don’t really “do” brunch (I am always starving when I wake up), so this was a really nice treat, and well deserved after a tough morning class!

The rest of my Saturday was really not very exciting. I faced the masses of people at Market Basket for my weekly grocery shopping trip and then spent the rest of the night like this:

004

Don’t let that book fool you… I “pretended” to read/study, but in all honesty, I couldn’t pull myself to actually DO any reading or studying.  My kickboxing exam was originally scheduled for the weekend of the blizzard and has been rescheduled for next Saturday. Mentally, I am so checked out and bored with this studying, which is not something I am proud of, but hopefully I’ll get my act together and get my head back into the game this week.

Since I went to bed at 11pm (yes, I am 27 going on 67), I was wide awake at 8Am. Perfect! There was a boot camp at the Davis Square BSC at 10 that I would be able to go to. What a thought- me, taking a class that someone else was going to teach?! It had been far too long.

006

The class started out great (loads of cardio), but then we switched to partner type of work and it was really unorganized and the instructor was mean and almost rude and I really didn’t end up having that much fun. I am all about pushing people in class and yelling (anyone who has come to a class knows this), but he was straight up rude and did not offer any type of encouragement. He almost had an attitude where he was looking down on us. I was so disappointed because he had covered some classes for me when I was dying sick with pneumonia and I thought he seemed so nice, but I saw a different side of him that I was not a fan of. Anyway, it was a good thing for me to do and I did get some new cardio ideas so I guess it wasn’t a total waste of time (and, we did a ton of upper body stuff so I will be sore tomorrow!).

Similar to yesterday, post workout, I went to brunch (again! Twice in one weekend- who am I?!) with Lauren and my sister. We went to Back Bay Social Club and had a great time catching up! A glass of Prosecco was juuuust perfect for post workout refueling, right?

007

To eat, a delicious Turkey Sandwich with lettuce, tomato and avocado on wheat bread. Unfortunately, the bread was very buttery, but the turkey made up for it! So good!

009

Since it took so long to get our meals, the manager gave us a free round on the house… again, twist my arm! I really appreciate when restaurants do things like that because it definitely makes me more likely to go back soon!

I am about to set up an email account, Facebook account and Instagram account for Burpees to Bubbly… big steps for the blog this weekend and it makes me excited!! I appreciate everyone who has been reading and following along… it’s been a really fun couple of weeks!! For dinner: Stuffed Peppers (2 ways) and some type of taco dish… be on the lookout for a recipe early this week!

Questions for you: Are you a “bruncher”? What was your favorite thing that you did this weekend?

Catching up!

6 Comments

TGIF! What a week this has been! I think I am finally feeling totally better now… I thought I was better yesterday, but shortly into teach kickboxing, I realized it was a false alarm! I think the high impact, constant cardio mixed with trying to yell AND breath was what really did me in. Thankfully, the class has lots of “regulars” now and I don’t need to do as much of the class if I don’t have the energy (which, last night, I just didn’t).

Let’s do some catching up, shall we? Wednesday I worked from home because I was still not feeling well.  Since I am traveling for work 2 times in March and will be missing 2 Wednesday UXF classes in a row, I had to still teach at night.  Luckily, I am not supposed to actually do any of the class (Since it is so intense, I am supposed to walk around, coach, correct form, etc)… I usually try to do about 3/4 of the class because I think members like to see me huffing and puffing too, but on Wednesday, I really didn’t do any of it.  We had record numbers at the gym on Wednesday… Look at this group!

001I had 29 members in class!!! There is nothing like the energy from teaching a big group! I was so bummed I couldn’t sweat with them, but at least I could wear one of my new lulu tops;)

005

(Creeper spotting in the background!)

When I got to work yesterday, I was greeted with this amazing treat box:

006

Ummm… YUM! I received a Winston Flowers gift when I was first hired, so as soon as I saw the ribbon, I KNEW it was going to be good! Of course, as soon as I got home I had to open everything up and try a bite of them all (thankfully my stomach welcomed these bites with big, hungry arms!).

The Effie’s Oatcakes were by far my favorite. I remember when Athena had an Effie’s Giveaway on her blog… such a good giveaway because these things are amazing! Especially dipped in the chocolate hazelnut spread!

013

And, who doesn’t love chocolate covered Oreos??

012

This hot chocolate is legit little chocolate pieces, so I am not sure how I will like that, but I’ll definitely give it a shot!

011

Finally… marshmallow pops!!  I tried a bite of the Honey Pecan last night and it did not disappoint!

010 009

Phew! What I am trying to say, is that gift basket was amazing!

Today I am working from home and then teaching UXF Burn in Allston tonight.  My sister and roommate are both returning home today after a week of travel, so I have pizza dough thawing in the fridge now and cannot wait for homemade pizza night! Be on the lookout for that post soon!

Questions for you: Have you ever received a Winston Flowers gift package? Were your classes busy at the gym this week? What are your Friday night plans?

Have a great Friday!

Can’t catch a break!… and weekly workouts!

11 Comments

Ugh, what is it about this winter and sickness for me?! I came down with pneumonia and an ear infection on Christmas and just yesterday I came down with the stomach bug. These were my best friends last night:sick

Now, if anyone knows me well, you know that I cannot go more than a few hours without a snack or a treat… I have had 2 saltine crackers since lunch yesterday.  Yeah, not good.  I called my sister and apparently she had come down with the same thing! Poor girl is traveling for work, too:(

I stayed home from work today with the hopes that rest and not having to trudge through the city will help get me back to normal ASAP!

On another note, I had a friend suggest that I write a weekly “Monique’s Class Schedule” post where I would post the classes I am teaching and subbing for the week.  For those of you with the BSC Passport membership, you can come to any BSC classes that I teach, regardless of the location!

Here is my schedule for this week:

014

  • Monday- 7-8pm Dynamax Boot Camp at the Oak Square YMCA (this is a fee based class, but if you’re interested in what it’s all about, message me!)
  • Wednesday- 6:30pm UXF Burn at the Central Square BSC (I will be teaching tonight, but definitely not doing the workout!)
  • Thursday- 6:30pm Cardio Kickboxing at the Central Square BSC
  • Friday- 5:30pm UXF Burn at the Allston BSC
  • Saturday- 9am Total Body Conditioning at the Allston BSC

053

That’s it for the week! Much more manageable than the 7 classes I taught last week:)

Questions for you: What do your workouts look like this week? Would you like it if I posted my weekly teaching schedule?