Cardio therapy

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind words on my last post!!! I almost didn’t post last night because I didn’t want to be a Debbie Downer. I want this to be a fun, sometimes informative blog, but I also want it to be real. Everyone breaks down sometimes, and I think it’s perfectly okay to do so!

Jenna put it really well, “most of the time when I do [cry], it’s out of frustration not sadness.”

Totally. There’s been a lot of frustration happening ‘round these parts!

But, I’m a firm believer that life is what you make of it. We’re all in charge of our own happiness. So today, I woke up with the goal of making it a better day.

And what’s a better way to start an awesome day than to skip on over to the gym?

That’s a total lie. I stumbled, puffy-eyed, sleep-deprived, and for some reason, really hungry. But once I got into it, I really got into it :)

Duration: 1:02
Calories: 498 (I note this only because it’s pretty high for a gym sesh!)
Max HR: 173
Avg HR: 146

Warm-up:
5 minutes easy on the elliptical

Elliptical (front-drive, for the record ;) ):
1 minute level 6
2 minutes level 4
1 minute level 7
2 minutes level 5
1 minute level 8
2 minutes level 5
1 minutes level 7
2 minutes level 4
1 minute level 6
2 minutes level 3

Strength:
3 alternating sets of jump squats and tricep dips, 10 reps each

Treadmill:
2 minutes 5.5 mph
2 minutes 5.8 mph
2 minutes 6.1 mph
2 minutes 6.4 mph
2 minutes 6.7 mph

Strength:
3 alternating sets of back extension and cable horizontal woodchop, 10 reps each

Rowing machine:
10 minutes, alternating overhand grip and underhand grip every 2 1/2 minutes

Strength:
One 2 minute and 15 second plank. Boo. Ya. :D

Cool-down:
Stretching

This was basically a workout for someone with ADD :P I loved mixing up the strength and cardio instead of just splitting it into two parts. Good times at the campus gym. I’ll miss that place…

 

Oh, and the mood lifting didn’t stop there. It’s Waffle Wednesday y’all!!

Hello gorgeous! Two waffles with almond butter, yogurt, a sliced peach and cinnamon. Eaten on a paper plate because my real ones are in a box. Also eaten in bed because my table is gone.

I also want to mention that I tried making my daily iced coffee with cold water overnight. Usually, I brew iced coffee in the french press by pouring boiling water over the grinds, steeping for 4-5 minutes, pressing, then leaving it in the fridge overnight. But after reading Kath’s post where she used cold water, I wanted to give it a try, figuring it would save me the step of boiling water. It was a no-go. I let the cold water steep with the grinds in the fridge for 8 hours and it was much weaker. Some things I read said to soak it for at least 12 hours. But I like my coffee strong!!

I cut myself off from buying groceries this week so I wouldn’t be moving a bunch of food. I did however stock up on a few bars to replace the usual fruit I bring to work. Bad, I know. But they’re easier to pack than fresh fruit,

I should know better than to buy products called Slim Down, but this one intrigued me (and was on sale). It has 13g of protein for 180 calories. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the bar itself, because I ate it while walking somewhere (no time for a sit down snack, busy work day!). First off, I didn’t read the ingredients carefully enough in the store, and didn’t realize it had high fructose corn syrup. Secondly, the taste was “meh.” Kinda chalky. I still have this bar in another flavour to eat, but I otherwise won’t be buying them again.

 

I was staaaarving when I walked in the door at 4:30 pm and decided to just go ahead and make something to eat. Given the grocery and dishes situation, it was still pretty decent!

Soup! I forgot that I still had a few containers of this stuff in my cupboard.

I added a can of tuna and a couple spoonfuls of garbanzos to “beef” it up a bit. Not too shabby. Couldn’t even distinguish between the chicken and tuna!

Dessert was the last of my protein popsicles.

There will be more experimenting with this when I’m in my new place. Just think of the possibilities!

 

So I wouldn’t say I’m 100% a-okay yet. But I’m definitely 50% better than yesterday. After working nine days straight, I have these next two days completely off to prepare for moving this weekend (which I still have to work). Having some spare hours to myself should help a lot.

So today’s question is, what did you do for yourself today that made you happy? My gym session was definitely my highlight. I really realized how much I rely on exercise now to release my stress and anxiety. Much better than the full-blown panic attacks I used to have.

Oh, and I woke up this morning to discover my cable’s been shut off! Not cool! How am I going to watch the Real World tonight!? :P

Hope you had a great hump day!