Wednesday Workout: Pyramid Workout

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Hey there!! As I’ve mentioned, my posts will be light this week as I am still in the midst of settling into my new apartment, but I was able to put this workout post together for you since I know you all love Wednesday Workout posts, right?! 😉 I taught this last week and even though I forgot to go back DOWN the leg pyramid, it was still an awesome workout.

We worked our way up the pyramid, meaning we started with 10 reps then went to 20, then 30 and finally 40 reps. Before moving back down the pyramid, I had us hold a 60 second plank. In addition, I had us do 3 minute cardio blasts before each pyramid- a great way to get the heart rate up!

Pyramid workout

Now, I realize that it looks like you’re going DOWN the pyramid first, but when I wrote it out with the 40 rep exercise at the top, it looked weird; my eyes looked immediately to the top exercise in a diagram, meaning it made me think I was starting with the 40 rep exercise, so I switched it. ANYWAY… clearly big issues 😉 I hope you get the idea of what I mean by this pyramid workout: 10, 20, 30, 40- 60 second plank- 40, 30, 20, 10. Makes sense, right?!

Once I get myself some weights for my new apartment, I look forward to doing this workout in my living room when I don’t want to go to the gym.

Speaking of gyms… Look what I came across during my evening jog:

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Love it!! The class schedule looks ok, but more than that I love that I’ve found a gym a 1/2 mile from my apartment. There’s also an awesome park with lots of great running trails- makes me so happy!

Let me know if you try this workout 🙂

Questions for you: Have you ever done a pyramid workout? What’s the gym closest to your apartment? Do you choose your gym by the location or the classes/equipment offered?

Weekly Workouts: An exhausting week

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Hey there! I wanted to pop in quickly to say hi since I feel like I’ve been totally MIA from the social media world (besides posting a few Instagram photos). As most of you already know, I spent the weekend moving into my new apartment! I’ll post about that hopefully later this week (once I get real internet- I’m connected to my work iPhone’s hotspot right now and it’s SO slow!). I’m incredibly thankful for my parents and sister for helping me move, though- there’s no way I could have done it without them!

But let’s get to the workouts, shall we? I was SO sore yesterday- a mix from doing Tabata TRX abs before teaching kickboxing on Saturday and moving all weekend- yikes!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I ran 3.5 miles before work. Again, I ran pretty much as fast as I run when I run after work. It must be because my body is getting used to waking up and working out first thing.

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  • Tuesday- I was out late on Monday night so my plans of getting up to workout before work went out the window. I was going to go after work, but my sister reminded me that I hadn’t really rested much lately and when you pair that with being tired, she suggested I rest. So, I did. We met at my apartment and she brought champagne and treats- so nice of her!
  • Wednesday- I worked from home on Wednesday so I had extra time in the morning to workout. I’ve been rather stagnant with my running, doing just 3-3.5 miles each time, so I decided it was time to up that. I ran 4 miles and although it wasn’t fun, it wasn’t terrible! I then taught my UXF Burn class and introduced the new 3-2-1 format. I don’t think people really liked it that much, but I am not sure if it was because it was new or they just didn’t like it. Regardless, I ended up doing most of the workout to try to keep the energy up and the class exciting (yes, that means running and jumping around like a crazy person).

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  • Thursday- I taught a pyramid workout in SHRED that I hope to post on Wednesday for you. I loved the workout, but was so bummed when I realized that we never went back down the pyramid on the legs section. Ugh! That drives me crazy!! I used to get so annoyed at instructors when they lost count or forgot to do something, but I find myself doing that now. It’s so hard to talk, instruct AND count AND remember everything, right?! After SHRED, I taught kickboxing!

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love this shirt!!

  • Friday- I went for a 5K run after work and made a new PR (personal record) of 25:46. I hit stop, but apparently it didn’t stop, hence the time on the watch. It was fun running after work for a change.

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  • Saturday- I taught the same kickboxing routine that I taught on Thursday and then I spent the rest of the day moving. So many things carried, so many stairs run up and down, so much shopping and lifting. I was literally spent by the time we got home at 7:30pm. Talk about a long day!

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  • Sunday- More moving, lifting, carrying, shopping, walking. I didn’t stop besides sitting down to eat lunch with the family.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I am working from home in the afternoon and taking the morning off since my life is still relatively in shambles (although I am REALLY impressed with how well my apartment came together in such a short amount of time) and I need to deal with Comcast. After work, I’ll head to the Wellington BSC to lift and do cardio (would love to make it to the 5:30 BodyPump class!)… unless I’m exhausted, then I’ll rest or maybe walk around my neighborhood.
  • Tuesday- I would love to run around my new neighborhood after work, but if I don’t rest today, I’ll probably rest tomorrow.
  • Wednesday- I am subbing Kate’s Sports/Cardio Conditioning class at 5:30 and then teaching my UXF Burn class- come join me for a double:)
  • Thursday- Another double. Woof. SHRED then kickboxing.
  • Friday- Potentially another rest day, especially if I feel like I want to run errands and/or meet people for dinner.
  • Saturday- Probably BodyPump and cardio since I’m not teaching!
  • Sunday- Depends on how the rest of the week went. If it was heavy on the workouts and I feel like I need rest, I’ll take it, otherwise I’ll do something.

Questions for you: What’s your least favorite part about moving? Do you like doing “two-a-days”? Are you someone who counts in class and/or gets annoyed when instructors don’t count and forget stuff?

Photo Shoot with Kapitol Photography and a Weekly Catch-up

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Hey there! TGIF 🙂 This week started out fairly busy, but calmed down throughout the week. As of the end of work today, though, I will be gearing up for a very busy weekend consisting of teaching, moving and doing lots of shopping.

You may remember me mentioning my coworker/friend, Tim, in my Stowe, VT recap. Well, he was up here for business again at the beginning of the week and decided to come up Sunday evening instead of taking one of those deathly early flights on Monday morning (don’t those flights always seem like a good idea when you book them? And then you are rudely reminded of how awful they are when your alarm goes of at 4am, right?), so we got together and grabbed dinner and drinks at the Yard House in Fenway. I thought it would be go to Fenway since Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake were playing there. It was packed, but since the Yard House is huge we didn’t have a problem getting a table. I was a bad blogger and didn’t take any photos, but Tim did take this video that I’ll share.

IMG 4712 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.

It was pretty cool that you could hear the concert so well!

I was able to get up Monday for an early 3.5 mile run before work. After work, since Tim was still in town, we grabbed drinks at the Alibi Bar which is in the Liberty Hotel. The drinks were delicious!

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Since most coworkers were on vacation this week or out of town for client site visits, we didn’t have a big group dinner like we usually do. Some of us went to Gaslight in the South End. I was hesitant of going there because the one and only other time I had been was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had! From the service to the wine to the food, I was utterly unimpressed. It bothered me so much because I’m usually pretty easy to please and the Gaslight has really great recommendations. With that said, this past visit completely erased the former bad memories associated with the Gaslight. The wine was delicious and my dinner (Swordfish Roti–with couscous, heirloom tomatoes & cucumber gazpacho) was amazing!! Some of the best swordfish I have ever had. So happy they redeemed themselves!

On Tuesday, my sister met me at my new apartment after work. She was so sweet and brought champagne and treats! I’ve been avoiding moving or even thinking about moving (I’ve had my keys since August 1st and hadn’t even stepped foot in the apartment since then. Clearly I’m having issues with moving!), but having her there and seeing her be so excited for me helped to get me out of my pending move funk and actually make me excited! So much so that I started making my “need to buy” list. Yuck!

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The rest of the week was as they all are: work and teaching, but I did want to take some time now to show you the amazing headshot photos that I got back from my friend, Dan Brown (aka, Kapitol Photography). Dan and I went to college together and via Facebook, I realized that he is an incredible photographer. Not long after I started my blog, I realized that I wanted to get some professional photos taken so I reached out to Dan. He was more than happy to help! It took us forever and a day (ok, not really, but it took a while) to get a date that worked on both of our calendars, but after seeing the photos, it was well worth the wait. We headed to Acorn Street in Beacon Hill and then made our way to the Esplanade. Here are some of my favorites! I’m looking to pick one to use as my B2B headshot- please vote for your favorite in the comments! 🙂

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The two photos above were taken on Acorn Street, which is the most popular street to photograph in the city of Boston! It was absolutely beautiful and we were lucky enough to have it to ourselves the entire time we were there. We walked up and down the street and Dan got photos from all different angles, but these two were my favorite (very similar- I realize that 🙂 ).

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These two were taken as we left Acorn Street and made our way up and down various other streets in Beacon Hill. The brick buildings are my absolute favorite! How great would it be to live in Beacon Hill?! We also tried a bunch of serious face photos, but I looked terrible in them! I am just not one of those girls that can pull off the straight/serious face photos.

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We took these right as we were about to cross over the bridge and photograph on the Esplanade. I feel like these have the real “city” image so I like them for the background, but they aren’t my favorite in terms of strictly headshots. By the time we made it over to the Esplanade, the sun had unfortunately set a little more than Dan would have liked. I was really impressed with how he was able to know where to put me, how to have me angle my head and my body (did you know if you put both your hands right on your waist, vs. on your hips, it makes you appear thinner in photos? These are things us ladies should all know 😉 ) and how to maneuver his way around different places in the city to get the “right” shot.

We are going to do another shoot, but instead of focusing on the “professional, Boston living, work hard/play hard” side of me, we are going to focus on the fitness side of me. I’m super excited for that shot because it means I get to buy new Lulu, right?! Big thanks to Dan for taking time out of his busy schedule (he’s getting married in 2 weeks!!) to take these photos and allow me to share them with all of you! If anyone is interesting in having Dan shoot photos, he can be contacted through all forms of social media:
Facebook: Kapitol Photography
Instagram: kapitolphoto
Twitter: @KapitolPhoto

That about does it for me today! I am not sure how much I’ll be blogging throughout the next couple of days or so since I’ll be moving, but I hope to get some regular posts up next week!

Questions for you: What is your favorite Fenway bar? Where is the last restaurant you went where you had a horrible experience? Have you ever had professional photo’s taken?

Zucchini & Summer Squash Parmesan

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Hey there! Are you sick of me posting recipes revolving around zucchini and summer squash? I am 😉 This will be the last one- promise! I have just about used up all of the zucchini and summer squash that I grew in my garden, which is a really good feeling!

Both my mom and her friend, Jean (not to be confused with her other friend, Jeanne, haha), suggested that I make zucchini parmesan back when I posted my Summer Squash and Zucchini Lasagna recipe a few weeks ago, so I decided it was finally time to do that! I had a perfect zucchini to use (not too small and not obscenely big) and also decided to cut open one of the HUGE summer squash to see if it would be edible; good news- it was!

Even though the zucchini and summer squash parm would have been enough if they were just placed atop pasta, I’m trying to up my protein (still trying to figure out what protein powder to buy!) so I decided to make a meat sauce, too. Now, when I say “make a meat sauce” all I really mean is browning ground turkey and adding it to a jar of store-bought sauce. I swear, I will make REAL homemade sauce, but when you’re in a time crunch in the middle of the week, cheating a little is necessary. I also decided to add MORE veggies to the sauce because we can never have too many veggies, right? I put together the meat and veggie sauce right away so that it could simmer on the stove while I prepared the rest of the meal; this is a great way to enhance all the flavors and thicken everything up so it feels like you’re really eating homemade sauce.

Zucchini and Summer Squash Parmesan with a Veggie and Meat Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb ground turkey (or beef, if you prefer)
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 large summer squash
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 cup green pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup broccoli, chopped
  • 1/2 a box of whole wheat spaghetti
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 cups marinara sauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2-1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • fresh mozzarella cheese
  • herbs/seasonings

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1. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the back. While that is cooking, chop your veggies and cook them until they are mostly cooked (about 5-8 minutes). Remove from the pan and add the ground turkey to that same pan and cook until the meat is no longer pink.

2. Add 2 cups of marinara sauce, 1/2 cup of white wine, veggies and ground turkey to a pot. Add about 2 tbsp of Oregano, in addition to any other herbs/seasonings you may want to add (sea salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, etc.). Keep the heat low and let the sauce simmer while you prepare the zucchini and summer squash medallions.

3. Slice your zucchini and summer squash into 1/4-1/2 inch slices (you want them to be thick enough to feel “meaty”, for a lack of better words).

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4. Whisk the eggs together in 1 bowl and add the panko bread crumbs to another. Take each piece of zucchini and summer squash and coat them in the eggs first and then the panko bread crumbs. Meanwhile, have a big pan (coated with EVOO) heating on the stove. I like to brown up each side of the medallions to “crisp” them up before baking them in the oven. I did about 3 minutes on each side.

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5. Once they are all browned, layer them in a casserole dish, placing thin layers of mozzarella cheese in between layers (you can never have too much cheese!). Bake at 350* for about 30 minutes, or until the zucchini and summer squash are cooked. Broil at the end for a few minutes to brown up the cheese.

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6. Place a serving of spaghetti on the bottom of a bowl, top with the veggie/meat sauce and then the zucchini and summer squash parmesan medallions. I also added some red pepper flakes because I love them!

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This meal was delicious! There’s just something about eating veggies from your own garden that is really cool, and fresh mozzarella makes everything better 😉 Already looking forward to leftovers!

Questions for you: What’s growing the best in your garden this summer? What type of recipe would you like me to make next?? I’d love suggestions!

Wednesday Workout: Mini Circuit Workout

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Hi there! I hope you all enjoyed last week’s “Wednesday Workout” post, which focused on burpees! I heart burpees. A lot.

Anyway! I wanted to give you an actual workout to try this week. I taught this in my SHRED class and really enjoyed it. The workout itself actually came from Fitnessista, but I added my own touches with the cardio blasts and changing up the reps a bit.

Mini Circuit Workout

Everything should be pretty much self-explanatory, but if you have questions, obviously leave me a comment or shoot me an email.  For the step-ups, I had my members stack 6 risers under each side of the bench and hold a weight while they stepped up. This is KILLER for the quads and glutes; I’m totally obsessed with step-ups now. I gave the class the option to do whatever burpee they felt like doing- so nice of me, right?! 😉

Let me know if you try this! I foresee this being a new “go to” at-home workout as you don’t need much equipment to complete it.

Questions for you: What’s your favorite leg exercise? What’s your favorite fitness blog?