Tag: Kickboxing

Weekly Workouts- {Hopefully} Back At It

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Hey everyone! How was your long weekend? Was it just me, or did it feel like the 4th of July festivities went on and on and on? Not that I am complaining, it was just a long string of celebrations! It felt great to have some time off to be home with friends and family- just what the doctor ordered (literally).

Although I was sick at the beginning of the week, and therefore couldn’t work out, by the middle to end of the week I was feeling good enough to bring in some light workouts to my schedule. It felt great. It’s amazing how much I need workouts for the mental aspect in addition to the physical aspect. Don’t get me wrong, I love the feeling of sweating and leaving the gym physically exhausted, but I really love the feeling of a clear mind after my workout and feeling great because of all the endorphins flowing through me. Who else feels this way?

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Nothing. I had to cancel my visit to The Studio Empower because I had a sinus infection and was severely dehydrated. What a bummer!
  • Tuesday- I went for a 2 mile light walk after work. Tuesday was one of those days were I NEEDED exercise mentally more than anything.
  • Wednesday- I went for a 2 mile light jog in the morning and then went to Jackie’s Ballet Barre class with my mom at 5pm.

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  • Thursday- I got up and did my 4th of July Workout before my 2nd workout, which consisted of candy sprints at the parade.
  • Friday- I got up and did Athena’s Red, White and Blue workout. It felt great to get some lifting back into my schedule (since mom only has 5lb. weights, I doubled them up for the upper body exercises and did unilateral lifting).
  • Saturday- I tried to get a last minute sub for my kickboxing class in Brighton since I had decided to stay in Maine for the weekend, but I couldn’t get one so I made the trek to Brighton, taught and then drove back to Maine. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and there were 25 people in class so that made it worth it!

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  • Sunday- Nothing. I thought about working out but decided that since I had a hectic weekend (lots of driving and sunning and BBQing), it was probably a better idea to rest, especially since I had 4 days in a row of good workouts. I shopped around Kittery a little bit because I wanted to get a new suit since I am doing a lot of work travel this month (Stowe, VT, Toronto, Canada and Atlanta, Georgia).

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Jess and I are filming July’s “Mommy’s Moves” workout during my lunch break and then I am finally going to get to The Studio Empower for the class they invited me to take. Can’t wait!
  • Tuesday- I am going to try and get up and run or do something else since I have plans with someone to get drinks after work.
  • Wednesday- I think I will finally be able to get in my own cardio session before teaching UXF Burn- it’s been a while!
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and Kickboxing at the Central Square BSC- missed my classes last week because of the holiday so I’m pumped to be back!
  • Friday- Attention Allston BSCers: I am subbing my old class this Friday!! 5:30pm at the Allston BSC- please come so it can be like the good ol’ days!
  • Saturday- I don’t have to teach, so I am going to go to BodyPump in the morning- I really like taking a day to focus on weight training!
  • Sunday- Probably a rest day or active rest day.

Feels great to look at a full schedule again!

Questions for you: Were you able to get in any workouts during the 4th of July? Is it hard for you to keep your schedule when you’re traveling or going home or away for the weekend? Do you like BodyPump classes? Ever been to The Studio Empower?

Weekly Workouts: Being Sick= Way Fewer Workouts

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Hey everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty boring because I was sick, but I think it’s exactly what I needed. I did get out of the house on Friday night for a roommate dinner at The Granary Tavern in the city (LOVED it there- awesome menu, great outdoor dining and the inside was awesome as well), but besides that and a short trip to the beach, target and the grocery store on Sunday, I was pretty much stuck to the couch watching tv or sleeping; I did a LOT of sleeping this weekend.

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Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I wasn’t feeling up to a workout, but I ended up pushing myself to go and was so happy I did! The only cardio I did was 10 minutes of rowing throughout my strength sets, yet I still left sweaty and tired! I used the TRX band, kettlebells, Dynamax Balls, dumbells… all sorts of stuff! I picked leg workouts to do first (2 sets of 15) then worked through lots of upper body stuff. It was great!
  • Tuesday- I finally made it to the “two-a-day Tuesday” that Athena always mentions on her blog. When I lived in Oak Square, I was a regular in Liz’s kickboxing class (I think even before Athena started going to it?), so it was fun to be back at it! I was surprised that I remembered as much as I did 🙂 After taking Liz’s class, I taught Athena’s class… Wasn’t my best performance, but I was feeling pretty icky (shouldn’t have done Liz’s class first since I wasn’t feeling well). Whomp, whomp.
  • Wednesday- I knew I needed rest on Wednesday since I woke up feeling more sick than I had on Tuesday, so I merely instructed my UXF Burn class… well, mostly instructed.

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  • Thursday- I worked from home to try to rest a little more since I knew I had to teach 2 classes that night. I know, I know, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t get subs. Well, I have to get a lot of subs this summer for work trips and it’s hard to find subs for kickboxing, so I just loaded up on meds and did what I had to do to get through it. I did stations in SHRED and didn’t do the workout and taught the modified version of kickboxing… wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be!
  • Friday- Nothing. I felt awful all day so I decided to nap instead of workout. The nap did help!
  • Saturday- Nothing. I woke up feeling better and decided I would go to BodyPump, but as soon as I got up, I got really light-headed/faint, started sweating profusely, face went white and my hands got all tingly/numb. It was easily the scariest feeling I have ever experienced! My sister thought it might be a panic attack, but it lasted WAY longer than the 7-10 minutes panic attacks last, so I don’t think it was that. I think it had something to do with the very strong cough syrup I took during the night. Needless to say, I rested all of Saturday and slept more than I can ever remember sleeping in a day. I literally could not keep my eyes open! I started feeling better around 7 and was able to eat, so that was a good thing.
  • Sunday- Nothing, again. I woke up feeling a little better, but I was still so stuffed up and coughing a lot so I decided to rest, even though I wanted to go for a walk or something! I did clean up the apartment and do laundry which required walking up and down a lot of stairs, but other than that, it was a rest day.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I was invited to take a class at The Studio Empower”, which I am really excited about!! My friend Athena went recently and has raved about it ever since!
  • Tuesday- I feel like I’ll be in the mood for cardio and weights/core, so it could be a long workout day!
  • Wednesday- My class was cancelled for the holiday, so I will have to do my own workout. A lot will depend on whether I head up to Maine on Tuesday or Wednesday. If I go up on Tuesday, I’ll go to my mom’s YMCA on Wednesday, but if I wait until Wednesday, I’ll go to my gym after work to lift and do cardio and head up after that to wait out the traffic!
  • Thursday- Does collecting candy at the parade count as exercise? 😉 Jk… kind of! Since I know I’ll be eating and drinking by the pool in the afternoon, I’ll probably try to do something quick in the morning at my parents!
  • Friday- Not sure- may head to the gym with mom, may rest… I’m going to see how I feel!
  • Saturday- I have to head back to MA to teach my 10AM kickboxing class.
  • Sunday- Will depend on how my workouts for the week went… if they were good, I’ll rest. If they were light, and I have time to do something, I will!

So, there you have it! As you can see, my workouts this week are mostly TBD since I am not sure when I’ll head to Maine, how I’ll feel and how much time I will have. That’s ok, though. As frustrating as it is to “get off track” with workouts, my body was definitely telling me I needed to slow down and rest last week so I am trying to listen to that and not overdo it this week.

Questions for you: Holidays and working out- do you take them as rest days or are they motivation to workout since you know you’ll be eating more indulgently? Do you go to any parades on the 4th of July? When’s the last time you had to rest for more than a couple of days because of sickness?

Pedicure, Hair Appt & Christy’s Bachelorette Party in NH

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As I mentioned yesterday, I had a busy weekend! I was literally in bed before 10pm on Friday night since I was so beat from the week and wanted to be rested for my busy Saturday. I slept like a freaking rock and woke up at 8 ready for the day! I headed to Brighton to teach my 3rd week in a row of Kickboxing. The members in that class are SO nice. One lady said that I must teach a good class if she’s made it to a Saturday class 3 weeks in a row- what a nice compliment! Ashley was also there, which was a nice treat:) Hope your dress fitting went well!!

After teaching, I showered quickly and headed to one of my old stand-by mani/pedi salon in Oak Square. Since moving to Somerville, I haven’t been able to find one that I like so I was happy to have time between teaching and my hair apt to get a pedi!

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I didn’t have time for a full mani, but they said they could quickly paint my nails. Talk about being pampered!

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From there, I headed into the city to get my hair cut at Mitchell John Salon. I love Janet, who cuts my hair, but didn’t love that she had gone up in price AGAIN. I’m going to have to start going back to Maine to get my hair done… it’s about a third of the price!

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#selfie 😉

Sheila and I carpooled to NH for Christy’s Bachelorette party. Christy’s fiancé has a beautiful, huge home in Hampton, NH so we all met up there to have apps and cocktails before dinner.

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I tried to stick to the veggies, but Kia brought her healthy spinach dip again so of course I chowed face on that too. Kia, you need to send me the recipe… or maybe guest blog!? Everyone would love it!

After we snacked a bit, we had Christy open all of the lingerie gifts we brought her. This was a really fun idea and it was nice that some people bought practical items and some bought silly ones 😉

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Before the driver came, we took a few pictures. Christy and AJ aren’t technically “SMC girls”, but they’ve been around with us for so long that we have adopted them.

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(Sheila, AJ, Christy, me and Kia)

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(Christy and her Maid of Honor, Kerri)

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(My girls! Kia Amy, Christy, me, Sheila, AJ. Sheila thought a prom pose was appropriate.)

The bridal party organized a lovely menu and dinner at Roberts in Kittery. I have driven by there a million times, but had never eaten there.

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I was happy that they set up a fixed prix menu for us… made the decision so much easier!

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I went with the Haddock and it was delicious and felt really light and healthy. Perfect meal for a night when you’re going out!

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The girls all got fun cocktails, Amy got a fun beer flight, but I was boring and stuck to Chardonnay! We had Margs and Sangria before we left the house, so that was my fill of fun drinks 😉

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After dinner, we headed into Portsmouth to start the festivities. No bachelorette party is complete without fun gear! Look how stinking cute Christy was!

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We started at an outdoor bar that was on a deck on the water. I didn’t know that Portsmouth had a whole line up of places on the water!

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From there, we decided to go to the back patio at Gas Light. My family has gone to the Gas Light so many times, but I had never been outside at night- it was a happening place!

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After that drink, we headed up to the 3rd floor which is basically a club. We went there after Rachel’s wedding and it was so fun… last night was no different!

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Whoops! 😉 No idea how that happened. It may look like we all got crazy, but I think everyone actually stayed in control! Sheil and I drank waters for the rest of the night- best.idea.ever. We couldn’t bring drinks on the dance floor anyway, and that’s where I wanted to be! So fun.

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Bars close at 1 so we had our driver get us around 12:45 and immediately snacked on all the apps leftover from before dinner. I hate drunk eating, but when you’re with all your girls and rehashing the night, it makes it worth it 🙂

Thanks for such a fun night ladies! Christy, cannot wait for your big day… it’s going to be a blast!

Questions for you: Do you have a lot of bachelorette parties this summer? What is your drink of choice when you’re at a bar? Favorite restaurant in Portsmouth?

Weekly Workouts

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Hi! I’m sad to say that Monday has, again, come too fast! Between my busy week last week and busy weekend, Monday snuck up much faster than I would have liked! As last week was a little indulgent (out to eat way more than usual and lots of wines), my goal this week is to get back on track! Having an “off” week isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a good reminder that even though it’s fun, it is tiring! I like having a schedule so I am looking forward to clean eats this week and no bevvies!

I’m happy to report that I was still able to get in some awesome workouts last week! I woke up sore on Friday and on Sunday- love it!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I ran a 5K in the morning and then lifted after work. If you don’t have time to get a full workout in before or after work, I suggest breaking your workout up into cardio and weights and fitting them in when you can.
  • Tuesday- Rest day, besides lots of walking in the airport. I always take the stairs and walk to the terminals… every little bit counts!
  • Wednesday- I got up and ran another 5K before work. I also did 20 reps of the following exercises: biceps curls balancing on 1 leg, triceps extensions, side dips, dead lifts, squats, plié squats, reverse fly and a whole bunch of ab/core exercises. So sweaty by the end! I also walked 2 miles to the T and then taught UXF. I didn’t do much of the workout since I didn’t want to get sweaty and have to re-shower 🙂

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  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and Kickboxing. I’ll post SHRED’s workout soon- it was compound moves supersets, followed by 1 min of abs and cardio tabatas. Fun!
  • Friday- Nothing. I got the worst shin splints at some point between Wednesday and Thursday and by Friday they were REALLY bothering me.
  • Saturday- Taught Kickboxing… remember, I won’t be there next week!
  • Sunday- I went to the gym to do some light, steady-state cardio, which was just what I needed mentally. I felt like I should’ve apologized to the people around me since I’m sure my sweat smelled like Chardonnay, margarita and sangria. Whoops! I did 40 minutes of cardio and then focused on core. I did 2 ab tabatas using the TRX bands (plank & plank w/knee tuck for 1 of them and right and left side planks for the other)… best ab work ever!! I also did side dips and stability ball v-sits. Love those!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Not sure- probably go to the Wellington BSC and do some light cardio (still nursing my shins) and strength?
  • Tuesday- I think I am going to make it to the Oak Square Two-A-Day Tuesday!! I am subbing Athena’s class at 7:30pm and would like to go to Liz’s Corp Basics Kix class at 6:30. It’s VERY different from the type of kickboxing I teach, but it will be a fun change!
  • Wednesday- Cardio and UXF Burn, the usual.
  • Thursday- SHRED and Kickboxing… again the usual.
  • Friday- I think I am going out on Friday night so I would like to get in a workout in the morning or during the day and maybe take Saturday as a rest day?
  • Saturday- Rest OR just BodyPump. I miss it!
  • Sunday- Will depend on how the workouts turned out during the week. If they were good, I’ll rest, but if they were not great, I’ll probably do something!

Questions for you: After an indulgent week, what’s the first thing you do to get back “on track”? If you are going to the gym for your own workout, do you usually stick to cardio or weights or both? Have you ever had shin splints? Tips on how to make them better?

It’s Been A Busy Week!

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Hey there! Happy Saturday! So, I have a secret to tell you: I wrote all of my posts this week on Sunday. Since I knew I was going to have a super busy week with really no blog time, I spent a few hours on Sunday getting all of the posts set for the week. SUCH a great idea! But, since I didn’t share anything from the week, I figured I’d fill you in now!

On Monday, Jess and I were supposed to get together after work to film “Mommy’s Moves,” but the weather made a big turn for the worse and we were rained out. I had plans with Jess and some other friends to visit Lauren on her shift at Ironside Grill to watch the Bruins, but that wasn’t until 8pm, meaning I had some time to kill after work. I had gotten up and ran a 5K before work, so I figured since I had my gym stuff, I’d head up to the gym at my work and do strength and abs to complete my workout for the day (also, it was pouring rain and thundering and lightening so I needed to wait that out). As I was finishing my workout, Sheila texted and invited me over for dinner prior to the bar- perfect! I showed up and she had an awesome meal all ready to grill!

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YUM! Thanks for a delicious and healthy dinner, Sheil! And, on top of a great meal, there was a double rainbow as we were heading to the bar!

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I seriously love rainbows. They totally amaze me! Anyone else see it on Monday?

I wasn’t able to stay out very late because I knew I had to get up at 5am on Tuesday to head to NYC. I had to go for the day for a client meeting, which is fine, but it makes for a long day! Especially when your 5pm flight gets cancelled and delayed and you don’t leave until after 9pm. Yuck. Needless to say, I worked from home on Wednesday. I went for another run before I started working and boy was it hot! Nothing like sweaty legs, right?

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I’m still amazed every time that happens. It’s so weird! Anyway! I finished up work around 5:30 and walked the 2 miles to get the T at Davis Square since I was meeting work people out in the city when I finished teaching. Tim was up from Florida and Chris was up from Texas, so I promised them that I’d join them for drinks and dinner. We had a blast and I stayed out later than I do on the weekend… I’m getting wild and crazy I tell ya! 😉

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We had dinner and drinks at Remy’s and then went to the Cigar/Hooka bar later on. I hate the smell of smoke so it was a little gross at first and my eyes were burning, but I got over that quickly.

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(Mom- the boys wanted to take that for you since the glass of wine was SO big. They said it was Momma Gags approved!)

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Fun night- thanks guys!

On Thursday, I left work and taught my double and then went BACK into the city to meet up with the whole team for dinner at Smith and Wollensky. Even though I was exhausted, it was nice to have a big group dinner! I had Chris order me salmon, which was just OK. It was too salty!

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Tim wanted me to share a picture of his meal. I can only imagine how awful that rich, creamy sauce was for you, but I love sauces and had to at least try a bite!

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THAT was a yummy meal. After dinner, it was my job to show them a good time again, but the bars we went to were not that busy! Very strange for a Thursday night. As always, it’s so fun when we all get together!

Friday was another exciting day… I signed the lease papers for my new apartment starting on August 1st!

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I am moving to East Boston and I am really excited! The apartment isn’t perfect by any means, but the kitchen and bathroom are recently renovated which is huge for me. Also, the area is really nice! There is a path along the water for walking and running just 5 minutes from the apartment building. I can’t wait to explore!

To celebrate, I made pizza! My stomach has been wacky since Sunday and my appetite has been off, but pizza sounded good so I went for it!

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That’s not even an Instagram photo! So, so good. In fact, it smelled so good that Charlie woke up from napping in his new spot to see what was going on

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Now THAT is a cat after my own heart! Gotta love the Lulu 😉

Today is another busy day. I am teaching Kickboxing at 10, I have a hair appointment at 12:30, I need to get a pedicure and something for Christy’s bachelorette party in NH that night. We are doing dinner in Kittery and then going out in Portsmouth- I can’t wait!!

Questions for you: Did you have a busy week or relaxing week? Where is your favorite bar to watch sports games? Ever been to a hooka bar? Know of any good restaurants in East Boston?

Have a wonderful Saturday!!!