Yesterday morning I decided to sleep in a little (if 7 am can count as ‘late’?). I am trying to get better, and longer sleep. One of the cool things about my Fitbit is that it tracks how long I sleep, how many times I’m awake, and how many minutes I am restless during the night. It has made me realize that I am not a good sleeper. I don’t usually wake up during the night– except when the people below me are screaming on their porch, got to love college apartments– but I am a very restless sleeper, averaging 30-45 minutes of restless sleep during the night. That could be almost an hour of sleep I’m missing out on! Some of my goals for this week are 1. Go to bed earlier; 2. Avoid screens/electronics for ~1 hour before bed.
After dilly-dallying around for a few minutes, I got ready for research, made breakfast, and headed out the door. I gave up my usual morning walk in trade of extra sleep!
Breakfast
I was running behind, so I threw a piece of Paleo Pumpkin Bread (recipe coming at ya soon!) and a few pieces of nitrate-free turkey bacon. Simple and definitely an easy eat on the go.
Lunch
After troubleshooting lab equipment all morning, I was ready for a lunch break. Yesterday’s salad featured romaine, kale, Trader Joe’s Balsamic Vegetables (frozen– I cooked these up Sunday for easy use throughout the week), blue cheese crumbles, and turkey.
Workout
This week I am starting a new-ish workout plan- basically to increase my strength training and decrease cardio. I want to build more muscle this summer, and be strong. Running a half marathon was awesome, but I don’t think focusing on cardio/running is the best path for my healthiest self!
That said, I am not a weight lifting aficionado. I have a few routines I use when I want to lift weights, but I’ve always stuck to more circuit training style strength. My boyfriend is much more into weight lifting, and he’s going to help me over the next few weeks as I adjust to heavier lifting. Yup, he’s pretty cool.
Yesterday’s workout was all legs and it was a good one.
K.O. Leg Workout
- Warmup- 5 minutes on the treadmill/bike. 2 minutes easy, 3 minutes moderate.
- Stretch 5 minutes
|
Move |
Reps |
Sets |
| 1 |
Standing Throws |
50 |
2 (1 per side) |
| 2a |
One-leg dumbell deadlift |
12/side |
2 |
| 2b |
One-leg sqauts |
12/side |
2 |
| 3a |
Lying leg raise |
To failure |
1 |
| 3b |
Side Plank |
To failure |
2 |
| 4 |
Ab throw downs |
To failure |
1 |
| 5 |
Hamstring ball curls |
15 |
2 |
| 6 |
Leg Press |
12 |
3 |
| 7a |
Leg Extension |
12 |
2 |
| 7b |
Leg curl |
12 |
2 |
| 8a |
External leg swing with resistance band |
10 |
3 |
| 8b |
Internal leg swing with resistance |
10 |
3 |
This workout was pretty intense! By the time we got to the abductor/adductor exercises at the end, my legs were ready to give up on me. I definitely got a great leg workout in! And the ab work thrown in there was a nice extra challenge.
Snack
Kale chips! I bought a huge bunch of kale last week and finally got around to cooking them up yesterday morning. Kale, a little coconut oil, and some natural sea salt. It’s a perfect summer snack!
I saw this at the store and had to snap a picture… could this be more of a contradiction? Fat-free mozzarella cheese.. there is nothing natural about that! And it is really frustrating that Kraft (and lots of other companies) are selling products like this. Tricky, slippery wording like ‘all natural’ that make people believe this is healthy for them. Not cool!
And finally.. a quick snap of my post-workout change to grocery shop and cook dinner with the boy. A quick white J.Crew tee from the sale and an infinity scarf from the Gap. Not a church outfit, but still cute enough to go out in public. {ps. don’t forget to add deodorant 😉 }.
Question of the day:
How important is strength training in your workout routine?
eat, pray, and work it out. 