Weekending…

February 24, 20134 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?!

I 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:

Yum! 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:

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.

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?

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!

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?

Friday Night=Homemade Pizza Night!

February 22, 20131 Comment

Hello again! Two posts in one day… how fun! I teased you in my post earlier today when I mentioned homemade pizza night, so I thought it was only fair to blog about it as soon as we finished eating. For those of you who are Facebook friends and follow me on Instagram (Mgagnon85 if you want to follow me!), you’ve seen LOTS of pizza pictures. Guilty as charged: we LOVE making pizza. In fact, on Christmas Eve, we have a bunch of family friends over for a BIG pizza party… few pics from this past Christmas Eve:

Cooking at the Gagnon’s is NEVER done without wine in hand!

Mahoney boys and Gagnon girls. Wouldn’t be Christmas Eve without this crew!

While I was home in Maine last weekend, I went grocery shopping with my mom. Hannaford carries Portland Pie Company pizza dough, which is by far the BEST pizza dough (unless my dad makes his pizza dough because, really, nothing beats homemade pizza dough), so I grabbed the Garlic one to bring back to MA with me.

If you don’t have access to this delicious dough, you can usually find a store brand dough in the deli section at the grocery store… they work juuuust fine.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 450*. Sprinkle some flour onto your clean working surface and start to spread out the dough. I do this by hand to start and then use a rolling-pin if I need to.

2. We have a pizza stone, which is one of my favorite kitchen items! I usually cook the dough a little before adding toppings. This isn’t necessary, but it helps to eliminate soggy pizza:)

3. Top with sauce, cheese and any toppings of your choice! We always add a little oregano to the sauce… it really makes a difference! If we top with veggies, we usually sautee those a little before putting them on the pizza. Tonight we went simple and just put peppers on one half, and turkey pepperoni on the other half.

4. Pop into the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese has browned up a little.

Make sure your cat doesn’t get stuck in the fridge since you’re in and out of it so much (my sister had the camera and caught this- I was not happy about it!)…

Personally, I like to enjoy my pizza with some veggies or a salad, pita chips and hummus, and wine- of course! Enjoy!

Catching up!

February 22, 20136 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!

I 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;)

(Creeper spotting in the background!)

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

12 Days of Fitness Workout…

February 21, 20133 Comments

… a little late! I did this workout right around the holidays and recently got a request to put it up on the blog, so here ya go!

The “12 Days of Fitness” workouts were flying around all over the blog world for a while, so I decided I had to try one and see what the craze was all about. I did a bunch of research and ended up putting together, what I think to be, a pretty good workout! Most of the “12 Days of Fitness” workouts that I saw started with the “1” move first and then worked their way up to the “12,” but I decided to start with the “12” and work out way down to the “1”. What can I say? I wanted to make my class work harder:)

Yes, you did the math correctly: in this workout, you will do 144 lunges, 121 bicep curls, 100 mountain climbers… you get the point!

This workout can easily be done in the comforts of your own home… or at a gym with a friend! Let me know if you try it:)

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

February 20, 201311 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:

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:

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

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?

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