so i decided to make the switch to wordpress because i like the set-up and think it's easier to deal with then blogger. :)
http://www.essentialingredient.wordpress.com
head on over!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
intimidated by the pull-up bar
Mom, I'm surprised you didn't comment on my last post. If you comment, I'll bring you a treat next time I come over to do laundry. :)
today i am feeling GOOD! the weather is amazing, my workouts are awesome, my eating is going pretty good for the most part, and my cold is quickly leaving my body. (i hate having a cold when it's nice outside. makes it feel so much worse.)
i am just all about embracing life today.
i plan on getting some things accomplished....like...
- selling my textbooks via barnes and noble. check.
- cleaning the apartment (much needed....it's been neglected because of school & finals week)
- organizing apartment (i got way too much crap. time to go to goodwill)
- work on my new managerial activities! (got a promotion at the gym :) i am now "service desk coordinator" and get to train staff, communicate with all departments, come up with new ideas, and basically be an assistant to my manager)
- practice my step n tone routine for my first class tomorrow. CHECK & it went awesome!
that's about all the time i have for today.....might have to some tomorrow too.
moving on.
bootcamp because i love to post my workouts. :D
okay..so this morning i wasn't feeling it as much as monday. it seemed intimidating. but i still pushed through and felt great after as usual.
we had 6 different stations. 1 minute at each station. we rotated through the whole thing 3 times.
#1: slideboard mountain climbers (these are much harder on a slideboard!)
#2: squat w/ 25 lb kettlebell (easy enough..until you get to round 3)
#3: pull ups (i put my knees in a resistance band to do assisted pulls up because i can't even do one pull up) it looked like this:
scary, right? i though the band was going to come up and slap me in the face each time i was done.
#4: hanging knee tucks. again.....intimidating. but do-able. i almost felt like a trapeze artist. gosh..they are strong..
#5: rope exercise that looked like this
why do all the pictures on google feature males? well..i guess it makes me feel even more badass.
this one suzi (wednesday b.c. trainer) kept telling me to make big circles. these things are heavier than they look. especially right after holding yourself up from doing hanging knee tucks.
#6: run two laps with a heavy sandbag. enough said. felt like i was on the biggest loser carrying their weight that they lost. power to them....that sucked.
speaking of the biggest loser....i have cried at literally the past 3 episodes. it makes me so emotional.
obviously i need to go into this field of helping people live a healthy lifestyle.
last night i went to dinner with my dad & his fiance, val, and they asked me what i would want if they won the powerball lottery. (they buy tickets all the time and are convinced that they're going to win at some point.) i said i wanted to own my own fitness studio for group fitness classes like kickboxing, yoga, step aerobics, cardio intervals, and much more. i also want to help people learn how to make nutritious choices and just basically counsel them into living healthier lives. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO. why am i not pursuing this more?
anyway back to bootcamp...
we did all those 3 times then headed in straight to core work. suzi is the champ at teaching core and i think mine has gotten much stronger because of her. i no longer hate doing core exercises and can hold a strong plank for more than 1 minute.
we did...
bicycle crunches for 30 sec.
basic crunches for 30 sec.
plank pose for 30 sec.
all 3x
easy enough. :)
she came around and tried to push us over during planks. ha
alright..well off to tackle my to do list. & watch little fockers at the same time.
today i am feeling GOOD! the weather is amazing, my workouts are awesome, my eating is going pretty good for the most part, and my cold is quickly leaving my body. (i hate having a cold when it's nice outside. makes it feel so much worse.)
i am just all about embracing life today.
i plan on getting some things accomplished....like...
- selling my textbooks via barnes and noble. check.
- cleaning the apartment (much needed....it's been neglected because of school & finals week)
- organizing apartment (i got way too much crap. time to go to goodwill)
- work on my new managerial activities! (got a promotion at the gym :) i am now "service desk coordinator" and get to train staff, communicate with all departments, come up with new ideas, and basically be an assistant to my manager)
- practice my step n tone routine for my first class tomorrow. CHECK & it went awesome!
that's about all the time i have for today.....might have to some tomorrow too.
moving on.
bootcamp because i love to post my workouts. :D
okay..so this morning i wasn't feeling it as much as monday. it seemed intimidating. but i still pushed through and felt great after as usual.
we had 6 different stations. 1 minute at each station. we rotated through the whole thing 3 times.
#1: slideboard mountain climbers (these are much harder on a slideboard!)
#2: squat w/ 25 lb kettlebell (easy enough..until you get to round 3)
#3: pull ups (i put my knees in a resistance band to do assisted pulls up because i can't even do one pull up) it looked like this:
scary, right? i though the band was going to come up and slap me in the face each time i was done.#4: hanging knee tucks. again.....intimidating. but do-able. i almost felt like a trapeze artist. gosh..they are strong..
#5: rope exercise that looked like this
why do all the pictures on google feature males? well..i guess it makes me feel even more badass.this one suzi (wednesday b.c. trainer) kept telling me to make big circles. these things are heavier than they look. especially right after holding yourself up from doing hanging knee tucks.
#6: run two laps with a heavy sandbag. enough said. felt like i was on the biggest loser carrying their weight that they lost. power to them....that sucked.
speaking of the biggest loser....i have cried at literally the past 3 episodes. it makes me so emotional.
obviously i need to go into this field of helping people live a healthy lifestyle.
last night i went to dinner with my dad & his fiance, val, and they asked me what i would want if they won the powerball lottery. (they buy tickets all the time and are convinced that they're going to win at some point.) i said i wanted to own my own fitness studio for group fitness classes like kickboxing, yoga, step aerobics, cardio intervals, and much more. i also want to help people learn how to make nutritious choices and just basically counsel them into living healthier lives. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO. why am i not pursuing this more?
anyway back to bootcamp...
we did all those 3 times then headed in straight to core work. suzi is the champ at teaching core and i think mine has gotten much stronger because of her. i no longer hate doing core exercises and can hold a strong plank for more than 1 minute.
we did...
bicycle crunches for 30 sec.
basic crunches for 30 sec.
plank pose for 30 sec.
all 3x
easy enough. :)
she came around and tried to push us over during planks. ha
alright..well off to tackle my to do list. & watch little fockers at the same time.
Monday, May 16, 2011
random eats. banana almond butter muffins. bootcamp relay.
whoops. it's been a while. finals, babysitting, working at the gym & coffeeshop, and practicing my step aerobics routine has taken over my life.
doesn't leave too much time to blog about it.
i did take a few pictures, however, of my recent eats. so ill start with that. then end with a recipe of muffins that i made & i took to work & were gone within a couple hours!
favorite bowl of oats: 1/3 cup oats, 1/2 whipped banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp chia seeds, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp chunky natural pb, & 1 tsp unsweetened coconut
i bought so many strawberries. used them for my protein shakes. gonna be sad when june is over & the
some steamed broccoli, carrots, chickpeas all drizzled w/ ranch? & sweet potato wedges
mexican salad w/ romaine, tomatoes, black beans, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, and sweet potato
another mixture of steamed veggies drizzled with ketchup
my love of roasted sweet potatoes
these are seriously crack.
random salad w/ leftover quinoa
and feta because feta makes it betta
kale artichoke ricotta pie. this was delish. i got the recipe here
so i was at wal-mart the other day. (hate that place). and i spotted maranatha almond butter for only $4! couldn't believe it. this stuff is not that cheap. it's usually $8-10 for a jar at the co-op. i snagged a jar & decided to use it with some ripe bananas that were sitting on the counter in hopes of making a delicious baked good.
i couldn't decide until i came across heather's recipe. yes please.
Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Banana Muffins
adapted from heathereatsalmondbutter
grinding the oats took about 30 seconds
mash mash mash....
i took about 8 of them to work and they were gone by the end of the day. :)
this weekend was pretty good. i worked, practiced my routine, did an off day workout that consisted of this:
12 push-ups
12 deadlifts (i used 45 lb bar)
12 tricep pushups
3 rounds of stairs
all 3x
12 chest press (did this on stability ball w/ 15 lb dumbbells)
12 sumo squat w/ 15 lb dumbbell
12 chest flies (on ball w/ 15 lb dumbbells)
run 2 min. fast
all 3x
12 bent over row w/ 15 lb dumbbells
12 lat raises w/ dumbbells
12 russian twists w/ 12 lb med ball (each side)
all 3x
12 kettlebell swings
12 box jumps
12 burpees
all 3x
GREAT workout.
today's bootcamp this morning was also awesome. we competed against the cy-fitters. (Cy-fit is a group exercise class that consists of 30 minutes on the spin bike followed by 30 minute strength moves)
we all got into pairs and did a relay race. we each had a card with markers in different orders and we had to run around the gym finding the cones with the colors and each one had an exercise we had to do.
krystal was my partner & this was our order:
15 side band steps each leg, 15 monster walks with bands & backwards
50 kettlebell swings (25 lb)
20 burpees
30 tricep dips
side shuffle long side of track, lunge forward & backwards on the short sides
sled push down & back
30 pushups
30 ball tucks
20 wall balls
it was fun!
doesn't leave too much time to blog about it.
i did take a few pictures, however, of my recent eats. so ill start with that. then end with a recipe of muffins that i made & i took to work & were gone within a couple hours!
favorite bowl of oats: 1/3 cup oats, 1/2 whipped banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp chia seeds, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp chunky natural pb, & 1 tsp unsweetened coconut
i bought so many strawberries. used them for my protein shakes. gonna be sad when june is over & the
some steamed broccoli, carrots, chickpeas all drizzled w/ ranch? & sweet potato wedges
mexican salad w/ romaine, tomatoes, black beans, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, and sweet potato
another mixture of steamed veggies drizzled with ketchup
my love of roasted sweet potatoes
these are seriously crack.
random salad w/ leftover quinoa
and feta because feta makes it betta
kale artichoke ricotta pie. this was delish. i got the recipe here
so i was at wal-mart the other day. (hate that place). and i spotted maranatha almond butter for only $4! couldn't believe it. this stuff is not that cheap. it's usually $8-10 for a jar at the co-op. i snagged a jar & decided to use it with some ripe bananas that were sitting on the counter in hopes of making a delicious baked good.
i couldn't decide until i came across heather's recipe. yes please.
Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Banana Muffins
adapted from heathereatsalmondbutter
Ingredients:
- 3 ripe mashed bananas
- ¼ cup almond butter or your favorite nut/seed butter of choice
- ½ cup sugar or 1/4 cup stevia (i used 5 packets of pure via)
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 ½ cups oat flour (I pulsed 2 cups old fashioned oats in my food processor)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt (omit if using salted nut butter)
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped pecans (i left these out since i didn't have any)
Directions:
Mix first 5 ingredients until creamy. Stir together oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients to banana mixture stirring to combine. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Bake at 350 degrees 18 – 20 minutes in paper lined or greased muffin pan.
Yield: 15 muffins. (i only made 12 muffins)
grinding the oats took about 30 seconds
mash mash mash....
i took about 8 of them to work and they were gone by the end of the day. :)this weekend was pretty good. i worked, practiced my routine, did an off day workout that consisted of this:
12 push-ups
12 deadlifts (i used 45 lb bar)
12 tricep pushups
3 rounds of stairs
all 3x
12 chest press (did this on stability ball w/ 15 lb dumbbells)
12 sumo squat w/ 15 lb dumbbell
12 chest flies (on ball w/ 15 lb dumbbells)
run 2 min. fast
all 3x
12 bent over row w/ 15 lb dumbbells
12 lat raises w/ dumbbells
12 russian twists w/ 12 lb med ball (each side)
all 3x
12 kettlebell swings
12 box jumps
12 burpees
all 3x
GREAT workout.
today's bootcamp this morning was also awesome. we competed against the cy-fitters. (Cy-fit is a group exercise class that consists of 30 minutes on the spin bike followed by 30 minute strength moves)
we all got into pairs and did a relay race. we each had a card with markers in different orders and we had to run around the gym finding the cones with the colors and each one had an exercise we had to do.
krystal was my partner & this was our order:
15 side band steps each leg, 15 monster walks with bands & backwards
50 kettlebell swings (25 lb)
20 burpees
30 tricep dips
side shuffle long side of track, lunge forward & backwards on the short sides
sled push down & back
30 pushups
30 ball tucks
20 wall balls
it was fun!
Monday, May 9, 2011
outdoor bootcamp
i took a few pictures of my recent eats from the past week. its been a busy one!
finals this week. AH.
greek yogurt w/ fresh strawberries & bagel thin with lowfat cream cheese.
this would be tofu w/ salsa & spinach. i drenched and spiced the tofu like crazy. it tastes like nothing if you don't.
and a tofu scramble.
inside two la tortilla factory tortillas.
this was my cinco de mayo lunch.
gotta celebrate with my favorite food.
outfit that i wore on cinco de mayo. just for fun.
my favorite bowl of oats.
1/4 cup oats, 2/3 cup almond milk, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, chopped green apple, cinnamon topped w/ peanut flour sauce & chia seeds
mmmmmmmm.
snackage: green apple slices on top of a sandwich thin w/ almond butter.
today, however, i had unpictured protein pancakes.
bootcamp was outside this morning! loved being outside. :) the work out was a killer too.
run two laps around the gym
squat and flip tires
15 squats
roll tire back
15 tricep dips on tire
1 lap
squat and flip tire
15 incline pushups on tire
roll tire back
20 cross over mountain climbers
1 lap
squat & overhead press w/ resistance band (1 min)
rows w/ resistance band around pole (1 min)
chest press w/ resistance band around pole (1 min)
suicide runs
x 3
1 easy lap
ab work
easy lap
DONE.
holy burn. im going to be sore tomorrow.
time to study for finals. :(
finals this week. AH.
greek yogurt w/ fresh strawberries & bagel thin with lowfat cream cheese.
this would be tofu w/ salsa & spinach. i drenched and spiced the tofu like crazy. it tastes like nothing if you don't.
and a tofu scramble.
inside two la tortilla factory tortillas.this was my cinco de mayo lunch.
gotta celebrate with my favorite food.
outfit that i wore on cinco de mayo. just for fun.
my favorite bowl of oats.1/4 cup oats, 2/3 cup almond milk, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, chopped green apple, cinnamon topped w/ peanut flour sauce & chia seeds
mmmmmmmm.
snackage: green apple slices on top of a sandwich thin w/ almond butter.
today, however, i had unpictured protein pancakes.bootcamp was outside this morning! loved being outside. :) the work out was a killer too.
run two laps around the gym
squat and flip tires
15 squats
roll tire back
15 tricep dips on tire
1 lap
squat and flip tire
15 incline pushups on tire
roll tire back
20 cross over mountain climbers
1 lap
squat & overhead press w/ resistance band (1 min)
rows w/ resistance band around pole (1 min)
chest press w/ resistance band around pole (1 min)
suicide runs
x 3
1 easy lap
ab work
easy lap
DONE.
holy burn. im going to be sore tomorrow.
time to study for finals. :(
Monday, May 2, 2011
8.8 mall to mall
I FINISHED! & I ran the entire thing! :)
i am still on runners high a day later.
i can't believe it.
8.8 miles in 1:28. this is crazy for me because i do not consider myself a runner. (now i do.)
i have never ran more than 4 miles straight. [i ran the 5 mile july 4th race last year, but had to stop and walk]
i didnt even think i was going to run. i thought i would just walk it. maybe it was the fuel from 1/2 cup of oats + banana? nah..it was just my DRIVE! i kept repeating in my head "mind over matter, you can do this, sharelle. its all mental."
well i stayed at a pace of 10 min/mile the whole way and did it. i am so proud of myself right now. im just..speechless.
i placed "50" because it was a time prediction race. the winner was the person who came closest to their predicted time. they were 2 seconds off! my mom & stepdad were 20 seconds off!
i was 2 minutes faster than my predicted time. :D
i also was the youngest runner there. [there was one 16 year old but everyone else was 25 or older.]
i have been grinning ear to ear these past 24 hours.
after the run, i went to work at the coffeeshop for 9 hours then came home and finally got to crash, put some biofreeze on my legs and fall into a deep slumber.
woke up for bootcamp & actually did pretty ok!
for our work out we did 5 minute rounds at each station:
station #1:
sled push (high)
sled push (low)
20 pushups
20 situps
run 1 lap
station #2:
25 jumping jacks
20 goblet squats
15 diamond pushups
10 burpees
run 1 lap
station #3:
40 mountain climbers (total)
30 tricep dips
20 incline pushups (using a step with 3 risers)
10 plank up downs
run 1 lap
#4:
20 sumo deadlift high pulls (20 lb barbell)
20 push press (20 lb barbell)
20 arm wide pushups
side planks (30 sec each side)
run 1 lap
#5:
25 decline pushups
20 ball tucks
15 ball pass
plank hold (30 sec)
run 1 lap
#6:
prisoner lunges (20 each leg)
20 side ball throws (each side)
10 ball slams
walk 1 lap
stretch
i hardly did more than one round of each. my muscles were on fire today!
breakfast [sticking with my meal plan!]:
1 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt w/ 1 cup strawberries [about 185 cal]
1 bagel thin w/ 1 tbsp low fat cream cheese [180]
total: 365 cal
also had 2 cups black coffee.
ready to tackle this day. after catching up with reading blogs all morning im about ready to start on some much needed homework. health psych is my first final next week so im going to focus on that first. i just got an email about the exam and its 5 essay questions. (1 for each chapter)....actually excited about that. i rock essay tests in comparison to multiple choice.
i am still on runners high a day later.
i can't believe it.
8.8 miles in 1:28. this is crazy for me because i do not consider myself a runner. (now i do.)
i have never ran more than 4 miles straight. [i ran the 5 mile july 4th race last year, but had to stop and walk]
i didnt even think i was going to run. i thought i would just walk it. maybe it was the fuel from 1/2 cup of oats + banana? nah..it was just my DRIVE! i kept repeating in my head "mind over matter, you can do this, sharelle. its all mental."
well i stayed at a pace of 10 min/mile the whole way and did it. i am so proud of myself right now. im just..speechless.
50 | Sharelle Allamand, F21 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 1:28:03 | 1:30:10 | 2:06 | 10:00/M |
i was 2 minutes faster than my predicted time. :D
i also was the youngest runner there. [there was one 16 year old but everyone else was 25 or older.]
i have been grinning ear to ear these past 24 hours.
after the run, i went to work at the coffeeshop for 9 hours then came home and finally got to crash, put some biofreeze on my legs and fall into a deep slumber.
woke up for bootcamp & actually did pretty ok!
for our work out we did 5 minute rounds at each station:
station #1:
sled push (high)
sled push (low)
20 pushups
20 situps
run 1 lap
station #2:
25 jumping jacks
20 goblet squats
15 diamond pushups
10 burpees
run 1 lap
station #3:
40 mountain climbers (total)
30 tricep dips
20 incline pushups (using a step with 3 risers)
10 plank up downs
run 1 lap
#4:
20 sumo deadlift high pulls (20 lb barbell)
20 push press (20 lb barbell)
20 arm wide pushups
side planks (30 sec each side)
run 1 lap
#5:
25 decline pushups
20 ball tucks
15 ball pass
plank hold (30 sec)
run 1 lap
#6:
prisoner lunges (20 each leg)
20 side ball throws (each side)
10 ball slams
walk 1 lap
stretch
i hardly did more than one round of each. my muscles were on fire today!
breakfast [sticking with my meal plan!]:
1 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt w/ 1 cup strawberries [about 185 cal]
1 bagel thin w/ 1 tbsp low fat cream cheese [180]
total: 365 cal
also had 2 cups black coffee.ready to tackle this day. after catching up with reading blogs all morning im about ready to start on some much needed homework. health psych is my first final next week so im going to focus on that first. i just got an email about the exam and its 5 essay questions. (1 for each chapter)....actually excited about that. i rock essay tests in comparison to multiple choice.
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