This body clock needs a snooze button…

Hey! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!! I had a wonderful Saturday off. Although, considering it’s been many moons since I spent a Saturday off at home, the bar was set pretty low ;)

I stayed up even later last night after being wound up from my busy night at work. It takes me a while to settle down and get in “sleep mode.” So after falling asleep at 12:30 am, my body clock had me up at 5:45 am. I hate you body clock.

I just rolled with it and made a spooky looking breakfast to eat in bed.

Two fried eggs on a toasted bagel. With some yogurt and frozen blueberries. Then I promptly fell back asleep for nearly two hours. Ridiculous!

I felt much better after waking up the second time. Spent the morning in bed looking at cameras on the internet. My mommy is buying me a new one for Christmas!

I eventually left my cozy bed to get ready for the gym. Made a pre-workout snack of peanut butter and banana.

With crushed M&M’s sprinkled on top. Of course!!! :P

I was so not feeling the gym today, and was tempted to stay home and try out one of my new Jillian Michael’s DVDs instead. But my legs are pissed at me from working all week, and I’ve heard the squats and lunges in those videos are killer. Upper body it was!

Warm-up:
15 minutes on the elliptical, increasing the resistance every 2 minutes

A1 – One-arm dumbbell snatch:
3 sets @ 20 lbs x 8

B1 – Seated cable row:
3 sets @ 50 lbs x 10

B2 – Dumbbell chest press:
3 sets @ 20 lbs (ea) x 8

C1 – Wide-grip lat pulldown:
3 sets @ 55 lbs x 8

C2 – YTWL:
3 sets @ 7.5 lbs (ea) x 4 each letter

D1 – Back extension:
3 sets @ 9 lbs x 8

D2 – Cable horizontal woodchop:
2 sets @ 35 lbs x 10

D3 – Hanging leg lift:
2 sets @ bw x 8

Cool-down:
Stretching

 

I wanted to do some sprints on the elliptical or treadmill after, but my hips started hurting, again. I don’t think they enjoyed pushing through the high elliptical resistance in my warm-up. Ugh ugh. At least I now know not to push through the pain, and they thankfully feel as good as new after an otherwise inactive day today. My body is just having a hard time adjusting to standing at work all day. Hopefully it adjusts soon – I want to run sprints dammit! :P

Met up with Chris for lunch after. I was craving a giant salad with a big hunk of meat on top – so we went to our friendly neighbourhood pub, The Lunar Rogue. I enjoyed their festive spirit. I’m doing much better at embracing the Christmas cheer this year!

I ordered the “Mediterranean salad” with my dressing and feta cheese on the side.

Those pickles are from Chris’ plate though – I love ‘em! I know this looks like a very simple salad, but pita bread + cheese + protein + crispy veggies is almost like the perfect meal for me.

Chris got a very “Chris” meal – “The Rogue Burger.”

I had several of those fries. I think they’re frozen and oven baked here. They never taste greasy.

Chris’ burger though was HUGE!!! He had a hard time manoeuvring it.

In the end, he claimed defeat. It’s rare that boy can’t finish his plate.

After lunch, I went to a local spot and partook in arts and crafts activities for a solid three hours. I can’t disclose where or what I was doing though, because the end product will be Christmas gifts for people who may or may not read this blog!! I’m quite proud of my handiwork and will show photos after Christmas though :)

I have to say, working on the gifts were in some way a gift to myself. It was so nice to have a quiet afternoon to myself, leisurely working away on my projects. I also had a couple decaf hazelnut coffees to keep me warm :)

I was staaarving by the time I got home and threw together a quick teriyaki shrimp stir-fry for dinner.

In the dish is shrimp, green beans, mushrooms, onions, black sesame seeds, sesame oil, Bragg’s and some of this vegetable mix:

Europe’s Best “Imperial Blend.” It’s got edamame kernels, snow peas, bamboo shoots, shitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, carrots and red peppers.

And the sauce:

Diana’s Marinade in teriyaki. Diana can do no wrong in my eyes. Everything she makes is delicious.

 

Fun Facts!

So, remember in my morning workout tips I mentioned I come home and shower after the gym? Well, apparently, I may be doing myself a disservice by driving home in my sweaty gym clothes! FitSugar posted an article saying that going out in the cold in damp clothes can weaken your immune system. They recommend changing into dry clothes before going back out into the winter weather, instead of just throwing pants on over your sweaty gym shorts. Interesting!

I’m also learning tons of interesting info going through my personal training textbook. While we’ve all been told warming up before exercise is important, I’ve now learned exactly why. Simply put, our muscles demand oxygen. When exercise begins, our cardiovascular system must respond to this new demand in oxygen. How quickly it responds to this demand depends on how much oxygen was required before exercise began. So, if we all of a sudden go sitting to sprinting, our brain and heart can’t respond quickly enough to get the oxygen the muscles suddenly need. Thus, your muscles crap out on you, and you tire out much sooner than had you eased into exercise.  

So there ya go! Two interesting tidbits for your weekend blog reading :) I will definitely continue to share the info I’m learning through this personal training course. I mean, I’m doing it to help people after all!

 

Question of the Day: Do you have a question for me?? Anything you’ve been wondering for a while, or think I should answer in a post? Something completely silly and off topic? Serious and thought provoking? Ask away my friends!