Back in Aggressive Form

Ever since I got to Korea and even more so after I started experiencing more stomach issues after my arrival, I haven’t had that much of an appetite and when I do have one it hasn’t been sticking around past one meal tops. However, today, that has suddenly changed.

My appetite is back and it means business in a bad way. It has come back in aggressive form!

Morning Snack

A few hours after breakfast, I was struck with a hunger for a morning snack, something that hasn’t been the case at all since I have been in Korea, so I ate the second half of my cinnamon raisin bagel toasted with some peanut butter and honey.

Lunch

A couple of hours later, after workout part II and a skype chat with one of my best friends back home, I was back in the kitchen whipping up a chocolate covered blueberry protein smoothie.

I threw tossed the following into the blender and let it do its thang.

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1.5 cup frozen blueberries
• spinach to the brim

This ended up making so much smoothie that I had two glasses full. Hopefully it fills me up through some afternoon studying!

Workout – Part II

Workout part II on the day was Body Revolution, phase 2, cardio 2. I’ve actually come to memorize this cardio routine since this was my fifth time doing it so I didn’t even need to turn the DVD on.

I just set up an online tabata clock for 16 thirty-second circuits with only two seconds rest between them and repeated the 8:32 minute cycles (including the 2 seconds to switch exercises) three times through as in the workout DVD.

So much easier than going through the hassle of turning the DVD on and even made the workout go by faster and kept me going at a faster rate since Jillian tends to talk a little between exercises and circuits! 😉

Off to (finally) shower and get my afternoon cranking!

Question:

When you have a raging appetite, do you go with it or try to suppress it? Often times I will try to drink more water or eat more filling meals to keep me full but after not eating much food of substance since I arrived and with feeling better now, I know my body needs the nutrients so I’m not fighting it!

Two For Two

Day two of no snooze button and I was up and at ’em again at 5:10 a.m. Both mornings so far, I have wanted to hit the snooze button and stay in my warm bed but I have fought the urge and got myself up. I won’t lie though, each morning I tried to think of as many excuses or ways around the snooze button as possible.

“If I just lay here and fall back to sleep, that won’t count as actually hitting snooze, right?”

Or

“If I reset the alarm that is totally not hitting the snooze button.”

However, in the end, no excuses were made and no ways around the snooze button were implemented.

Two for two.

And 38 more mornings to go.

Workout

I started with this familiar treadmill Tabata workout:

Each Tabata was four minutes, including 8 reps of each sprint/rest set. The two-minute recovery periods were completed at 6.7 mph instead of 6.5 mph. Moving out of my comfort zone. 😉

After my cardio session, I loaded up the Playstation with the workout 1, phase 1 DVD of Body Revolution.  Since I am now on my second (and final) week of workouts 1 & 2 in phase 1, I decided for every exercise that has a modification that can make it harder, I am doing so.

My shoulders are already aching!  I guess (and hope) Jillian is pulling through for me once again! 🙂

Breakfast

I woke up thinking about the whole wheat baguette that I served last night’s eggplant parm on and knew I had to incorporate it into breakfast somehow.

I sliced five small pieces and toasted them before spreading a Laughing Cow cheese wedge and blueberry jam between them.

Along with the awesome toast bites, I had one over-easy egg.

And a bowl of mixed blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Obviously these berries aren’t local but wherever they came from, I want to be there now. They are so flavorful and plain delicious. Yum.

Brian said the fruit in Japan is amazing right now. Hopefully it is the same in Korea when we get there!!

Question:

What is your #1 excuse for not getting out of bed when your alarm goes off?

What is your #1 way to convince yourself to do it anyhow?

The Weeeeekend!

Good Morning and happy weekend!! 🙂

Last Night

Last night ended up being such a fun time celebrating our friend Jamie’s birthday at the bowling alley.

Fun socks, BYOB, karaoke and duckpin bowling!

What a great night with great friends!

Also, last night (well early this morning), I got a call from Brian to let me know that he made it to Seoul, South Korea! They landed at 5:00 p.m. local time and have to be on a bus at 5:00 a.m. back to the airport to leave for Japan. I’m not envying him today!

We didn’t get to talk much but from what I did get he said the flight wasn’t that bad and that he sent me a ton of pictures that he would explain to me when we got to talk later.

As soon as we got off the phone, my email started going off like crazy. He definitely sent me a ton of pictures and I can’t wait to hear all about the flight, the food and the accommodations!

One thing he scouted out for me?

Baskin Robbins ice cream in the airport. Does this guy know me or what?! 🙂

Workout

I started this morning off with a quick workout on the treadmill that mimicked this sprint workout from last week.

As soon as I was finished with that, I came back home and popped in Jillian’s Body Revolution Phase 1 Workout 2 DVD. This workout utilized the resistance band and hand weights and targeted abs, glutes, biceps and back.

My arms were feeling workout 1 this morning so that is definitely a good sign!

Breakfast

I have a hair appointment and then lunch and hiking plans with Telli and a friend so I kept breakfast light and easy.

Peanut butter Cheerio’s with half of a sliced banana and almond milk.

Off to clean up the house a bit before a busy day!!

Question:

What did you do on your Friday night?

What are your Saturday plans? Anything fun?

It’s Not Goodbye

Whew! What a weekend it was! Too bad now it is Monday and my fun in Arizona is coming to an end. 😦

In case you missed any of the happenings from my weekend here with Brian, you can now catch up:

• I was able to workout in a fitness center with gorgeous views of sunny Arizona!
• We had an early Valentine’s Day with presents and dinner and pizookies at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse
• I ran my longest consecutive run since the Vegas Half Marathon back in December!
• We had dinner at Fleming’s Steakhouse Saturday night followed by breakfast Sunday morning at The Good Egg. (We need to NOT focus so much on food in our relationship!)
• I kicked Brian’s butt (no so much!) at bowling and had fun hugging a cactus!
• We enjoyed working out while watching the Superbowl back in the hotel room together.

Unfortunately, this morning I had to say good-bye to my Hanwha Eagle (in full team gear!) for a few weeks until I meet him in Korea in March.

We made the deal not to be sad but it’s hard saying goodbye for so long. So, I’m looking at it not as “goodbye” but as “see ya later in KOREA!”. Ekkkk! Just the thought of that is crazy!!

Workout

My flight isn’t until this afternoon so I had some time to kill after Brian left for practice and put it to good use with a workout, of course. No way do I want to be flying for six hours today without getting my body moving at some point!

I started off on the treadmill with three miles mixed with some sprints, Tabata style.

I did the complete one mile plus the Tabata a total of three times through for 3 miles plus 12 minutes of the sprints.  After the last Tabata, I walked out my workout to round the total treadmill time to 45 minutes.

After my run, I laid out a mat and did an intense plank workout.

Six straight minutes of planking! Whew!

I wanted to do the complete set 2-3 times through but I’m a baby and my arms are pretty sore from yesterday’s arm workout and the pushups with the Superbowl Fitness Challenge and the planks were doing them no favors. I ended up phoning it in after one set. Don’t follow my lead though, push yourself through the complete sets with 2 minutes rest between, I’m already jealous that your abs already look 10x better than mine!

Breakfast

In addition to the half of a Lara Bar I ate before my workout, breakfast was another thrown together hotel room meal.

Chobani honey yogurt, a banana and peanut butter.

All mixed together for a yummy combo!

Now I’m debating some time in the hot tub to give my muscles a little extra pampering before showering and heading to the airport!

Question:

What was the highlight of your weekend?