These angel girls 

#evenssonly

Scholarship weekend, 16 years later

It's bizarre enough to know it's been 16 years since mine. But this view never existed bc the building didn't!

Body forward: postscript

So I've kept up with my shakes and until the last two weeks of travel, my workouts! It was great for the last two months to know that a doughnut or skipping a day of the gym wasn't going to derail all my progress. 

This week my travel season is officially over so my scheduled workouts are officially back! I have lunch prepped for the week, snacks ready and can't wait to get my hands back on a barbell. Baby Sarah I'll post my workouts and what I'm eating just for you!

Greek marinated chicken

I don't really measure unless I'm baking. So...

I made this new chicken and I loved it.

I mixed 1 cup plain greek yogurt with juice of one lemon and a little bit of the zest, lots of garlic (I assume fresh or not would work), parsley, salt and pepper, about two tablespoons of olive oil and a little bit of oregano.

Put it in a container with chicken, making sure all the chicken was coated. I let it marinate for two days and when I pulled it out it smelled AMAZING. I had to use a spoon to take out the excess and spread it over the chicken.

I baked at 375 (boneless skinless) for 30 minutes and the texture wasn't what I wanted so I turned on the broiler and put it back in for a good 5-7 minutes. It got nice and brown and made the mixture more solid on top of the chicken instead of slippery.

It was awesome! It's supposed to be a good grilling recipe and I don't usually grill with dairy so I'm interested to try it.

Hybrid Day 3

3 sets, 12-15 reps each:

Barbell Stiff-Leg deadlift
Dumbell flyes (incline)
Wide-grip lat pulldown
Push ups
Dumbell alternate bicep curl

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To be fair, I read my workout wrong when I was setting up my weights so I also did 3 sets of incline bench press as well. I did my ab workout too:

Hover on all fours
Plank
Side plank

This time I actually added it into the workout instead of doing it separately and really enjoyed the core workout alongside my weights.

Yesterday I had TOO much food. Still finding the balance between my meals and my day so I overpacked. I had my Ionix Supreme and shake for breakfast. Pre-workout I had my boiled egg and spinach brownie but after my workout it was lunch time. So I had my leftover salmon and saffron rice from dinner, but was not quite hungry enough for my salad or my green beans. I'm out of almonds so my morning snack was just my apple.

We had a birthday party at work in the afternoon and I had piece of cake. About halfway through it I KNEW it was too much sugar and put it down. I love cake but this was too sweet and it make me feel gross.

Because I had eaten enough all day I wasn't starving when I got home for dinner. I ate chicken with roasted red pepper dressing as a marinade, green peas and 1/3 cup mashed potatoes. I don't think I quite hit my goal on water yesterday but I did put down a pretty good amount.

My cake-a-palooza pushed me right over the edge to a Cleanse day. If you read my blog during the challenge, you know I hate a cleanse day and REALLY couldn't see the benefit of doing on. I learned a lot during my challenge but so much more afterwards. One of the things I learned is that it really is a good way to reset your body and I've had a long three weeks of junk-then-getting-back-on-track. I have been thinking about doing one for a week and committed to doing it for Thursday this week.

I would like to be clear that there's nothing wrong with cake! I haven't cut the fun stuff out of my life, I'm just more mindful of it. And this stuff was way way too sweet. I love a couple of Skittles from my candy jar, a glass of wine, a cupcake...I'm not giving up any of that stuff for good like I did during my challenge. I'm just in a much better place with it mentally and paying attention to what I eat!

Hybrid Day 2

Tuesday's workout:

3 sets, 10-12 reps:

Barbell deadlifts
Plates raise
Cardio sprints (25 seconds)

3 sets, 10-12 reps:

Barbell full squat
Barbell bench press
Cardio sprints

3 sets, 12-15 reps:

Dumbbell bicep curl
Cable tricep pushdown

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Tuesday I packed more food (ha) and it seemed to workout better. I did have a random midday visit that kind of threw me off but luckily I had almonds in the car. So this looked like Ionix supreme early morning, shake and 80 oz of water before noon. I had an apple at 930 and then almonds. For my pre-workout snack I had a boiled egg and a spinach brownie. I worked out at lunch and then had my soup again, salad later. For the afternoon I had a spinach brownie and more water! This time, when I got home I wasn't starving.

For dinner I had a chicken breast that had been marinated in greek yogurt, lemon and spices (recipe later!), green peas, 1/3 cup of alfredo noodles (the kind in the little bag that are like 10/$10...don't judge, I'm a busy mom) and I thoroughly enjoyed my yeast roll! Again, I'm not in competition prep. If my challenge taught me anything it's to be mindful of what I'm eating but not to restrict myself to the point that what I'm doing isn't fun or sustainable. I love bread. No regrets.

I totally planned on doing a second workout but HOLY COW I was so sore and tired. So I took a cue from my muscles and rested instead. My first workout (above) was a BEAST with heavier weights than I'm used to and I really felt accomplished when it was over. It feels so good to be back on a manageable schedule where I'm making time for myself!

Hybrid Day 1

My typical Monday workout:

3 sets, 10-12 reps each:

Dumbbell squat
Incline bench press (barbell)
Cardio Sprint (25 seconds)

3 sets, 10-12 reps each:

Leg press
Standing straight bar military press
Cardio sprint (25 seconds)

3 sets, 12-15 reps each:

Plates raise
Close-grip lat pulldown

*I also do Abs on Monday which was 3 sets of 30 seconds each:

Hover on all fours
Plank
Side plank (both sides)

I try to work past 30 seconds for each rep and in some places (side plank) I can get up to 45 seconds.
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This week I've been really inspired by some of my fitness friends and their success at the competition level last weekend. While I don't want to compete myself, I'm so proud of their progress, hard work and confidence. So they are really motivating me to be strong and on track!

Monday I added weight to every set, went the full 12 or 15 reps on each exercise and really pushed myself. For cardio sprints I did jumping jacks, high-knees and jump rope.

Monday also began my "normal" schedule, aka not traveling so I'm able to pack my own food again. I started with Isagenix Ionix supreme in the morning, which really sets the tone for my day and speeds my metabolism up. I have SUPER slow metabolism so every little bit helps. I had my Isalean chocolate shake and started in on water, which I'm trying to get back up to speed with.

I had an apple for a snack and 12 raw unsalted almonds. For lunch I had a cup of homemade chicken noodle soup. I love soup weather! I also had a "spinach brownie" which isn't a brownie at all of course. I'll post the recipe tomorrow. Let's be clear that this is more of a treat than a clean meal, because of the butter and milk, but it's a good way to get more spinach in my diet and it also tastes delicious. This is when I realized I didn't have enough food, because I needed post-workout fuel.

I was definitely starving when I got home and realized I needed a bit more food throughout the day. Small meals for me speed up my metabolism so I essentially eat all day. I got home and ate a handful of everything in sight, which was not in my plan but I felt SO hungry! I remember a Reese cup, handful of Gardetto snacks, 7-10 skittles and a spinach brownie while I was cooking. Oops. For dinner I had 6 oz of grilled salmon, 1/3 cup saffron rice and green beans, as well as a small spinach salad.

I opted for a second, short workout Monday night that was part of my usual Friday workout. It's simple, quick and I can do it at home.

3 sets, 8-10 reps

Dumbbell side lateral raise
Dumbbell front raise
Dumbell Bent -over raises
Dumbbell shoulder press

3 sets, 8-10 reps

Dumbbell zottman curl
Dumbbell bicep curl
Dumbbell hammer curls

I only have 8 lb weights at home but it was a good way to end the day. Here's to being back on track!

Sarah, this is exactly how I worked out and exactly what I ate :-)