Two Pounds a Week » elliptical workouts

Fit for a Queen

Meg — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:22:45 +0000

We are hunkered down in the house today, due to the possible threat of these:

The weather has been the hot topic around the Southern region today, and tornadoes, hail and severe storms are predicted for our area until late this evening. We already had one big thunder and lightning show this morning, but right now, it is bright and sunny outside? Scratching my head over this one, but maybe this was what the calm before the big storm looks like. Good thing JD and I have a lot to do around the house to keep us busy, and I have several books that need to be finished! I am disappointed though, because we were going to get started on our baby registries today. That’s a FAIL, Mother Nature, big fail.

I woke up absolutely famished this morning, and craving pancakes. The husband kindly went to the grocery store for mix, (he’s the best!) and came back with about 5 bags of groceries. Gotta love him — he never returns from a market trip with just a single item!

While I jumped on the elliptical for a 30-minute workout, he started a Saturday meal fit for a king and queen!

Big pancakes with fresh, mashed-up blackberries mixed in, scrambled eggs, sausage and applewood bacon. I LOVED the pancakes — the blackberries made them sweet + tart!

We rarely have a big breakfast like this, so it was a nice treat! And I kept my portions in check to be full, but not stuffed. It’s all about moderation, right?

I still have strength training to do to round out my workout for today. My legs feel great after cardio, but I love the burn of squats and lunges! I think Denise Austin’s 20-minute prenatal strength training session will be the way to go today. I like having a guide so I know I’m doing enough reps. How about you? Do you like doing your own strength training routines, or do you use a video, podcast, etc.?

A few other things on my indoor Saturday to-do list:

Clean, polish, scrub and vacuum our house
Coax our cat out from under the bed so we can give her meds (she had surgery on Thursday and has to be on antibiotics for a week. I don’t know if anyone of you have ever had to give a cat medicine, but it usually involves lots of meowing, hissing, scratching and overall unpleasantness.)
Keep an ear out for tornado sirens, or something that sounds like a train coming straight at us. Yikes!
Finish season 4 of “The Office.” And possibly brave said weather to go get season 5.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and for anyone with bad weather coming their way, be safe!

Massage FAIL

Meg — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:54:03 +0000

Happy Wednesday, guys! Hope you are having a good one! As for me, I scheduled another massage with Katherine for this afternoon. (I can’t believe it has been SO long since my last appointment!) I was looking forward to it all day, especially since my right shoulder blade has been giving me a lot of problems. I have a throbbing pain in that area a lot, and ice/heat don’t seem to provide any relief. Maybe toting around an entire house of stuff in my purse is catching up with me? Ha!

I thought a good massage would do the trick, but then I got a voicemail from Katherine saying she had to cancel so she could pick up her child from daycare. Completely understandable, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed! This momma-to-be needs a little zen after a stressful week at work! Oh well…good thing appointments can be rescheduled.

I did do a 50-minute workout tonight that left me feeling refreshed and relaxed…not as much as the massage would have, but hey, whatever works, right? I battled through hills for 30 minutes on the elliptical, and then spent some time with Denise Austin doing 20 minutes of toning as part of her Fit & Firm pregnancy DVD. I swear, she sounds and looks so much like one of my favorite “Real Housewives”:

Vicki!

{Source}

Ever seen Real Housewives of Orange County? It’s so my Thursday night guilty pleasure! And every time I turn the Denise Austin DVD, I almost expect her to start trash talking Gretchen or something. Ha Ha!

I’m pretty proud of myself, because I’ve already gotten in three days of exercise this week! Only 2 more to go, and then it is reward time. For those of you who don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, I get a reward, i.e. shoes, new nail polish, etc., if I work out 5 days a week. It’s an incentive to keep me exercising during my pregnancy, since I’m having a hard time staying awake and battling nausea, which doesn’t make me want to get moving!

So, since exercise is accomplished, how about a few pics of today’s eats?

Breakfast: Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal with lowfat milk, and a big bowl of honeydew melon. I’ve been craving fruit like nobody’s biz!

Lunch: 6-inch veggie patty Subway sandwich on Parmesan bread and a side of jalapeno chips.

Snacks: A (undocumented…sorry!) bag of light popcorn sprinkled with Cajun seasoning, and a serving of string cheese

Dinner: The husband was craving Arby’s, so we got plain roast beef sandwiches, and topped them with horsey and Arby’s sauce. I paired the sandwich with a salad drizzled with light raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I may or may not have had three of JD’s jalapeno poppers as well. Those things are crazy good!

I’m off to dream land now. (Big surprise, right?) I hope you all have a great rest of the week! And congrats to these amazing ladies — Brittany, Candy and Lorrie, on their weight loss achievements! Way to go!!

Snow and ice make the day nice

Meg — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:45:37 +0000

We have some wintry conditions blowing through the South, so work called it a day early before the roads got too icy for all of us to get home. What a nice Friday surprise! My husband luckily got to leave early as well, so we had a relaxing day in the warm comfort of home. So nice!

Tex loved having us home! I spent a little time on the computer while he snoozed, then I joined him for an afternoon nap.

He’s not spoiled at all.

While we napped, JD braved the roads and got us 6 movies to watch! The weather is expected to stay around through the weekend, so we thought we better have plenty of things to do if we get stuck in the house. He played some Wii while I made myself get up and get moving on the elliptical. My legs have been so sore from climbing the stairs to the 10th floor at work, so I thought a good workout might ease the pain in my calves a bit (which it did). Elliptical time is also great for catching up on some reading!

Ok, let me just say, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” had me so freaked out! The first few chapters are about what can be wrong with your baby, and how all these factors (one being cleaning the cat litter box) can be harmful during pregnancy. I hope it gets a little lot more positive in the later chapters! Luckily my sister called, and was able to talk me down from the ledges. Thanks, Sis! Being pregnant is such a joy, but it can be frightening too!

Tonight’s dinner was simple but satisfying — salads with sauteed shrimp, walnuts, raspberry vinaigrette and a few sprinkles of Parmesan cheese.

We saved some of the shrimp to dip in homemade cocktail sauce, which is super easy to make! You just mix horseradish, lemon, hot sauce, ketchup and Worcestershire — tastes way better than the bottled stuff in my opinion, and you can make it as spicy as you like.

While we watched “A Perfect Getaway,” (I’d give it a 6 out of 10…pretty good, but predictable) JD and I shared a dessert of fresh cherries.

We are on to movie number 2 now — “Defiance.” Here’s what it’s about:

Daniel Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski, an ordinary citizen turned hero, in this action-packed epic of family, honor, vengeance and salvation. Defiance is a riveting adventure that showcases the extraordinary true story or the Bielski brothers, simple farmers — outnumbered and outgunned — who turned a group of war refugees into powerful freedom fighters. Tuvia, along with his unyielding brother, Zus, (Liev Schreiber) motivate hundreds of civilians to join their ranks against the Nazi regime.

What a powerful story so far!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, whether indoors or braving the cold outside! Night!

It may be cold outside…

Meg — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:56:35 +0000

…but I’m good and toasty after a workout! My first “real” one since Saturday, to be exact. (I did go for a short walk on Sunday, but don’t really count that as anything more than good quality time with the husband and puppy.) I managed to keep my peanut butter on toast snack down and eyes open for a 30-minute cardio challenge on the elliptical, PLUS squats, lunges, and several reps of curls for the ol’ arms. I feel fantastic and proud! See?

(Please excuse the colossal bump that has decided to set up camp on my cheek. I’m hoping a little facial exorcism performed by Mary Kay this evening will do the trick.)

I don’t want to just rely on the elliptical on the really cold winter days, so tonight, I found some new friends on Amazon.com. (Sorry, Jillian!)

and

{Both photos courtesy of Amazon}

These DVDs got rave reviews, and I like that they customize the exercises for each trimester. Now I don’t have to worry that I’m doing the wrong workout and jostling the baby! Peace of mind is always a good thing.

We are crossing our fingers and toes for a snow day tomorrow. It doesn’t come easy in the South, but maybe we’ll see some flakes in the morning.

Any good workout DVDs you are currently doing? Do you stay indoors, or brave the cold to get good exercise?

****

On a very special note, I’d like to wish my niece, Elizabeth, a VERY happy 4th birthday today! Aunt May-May loves you bunches!

Point 5

Meg — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:27:35 +0000

I had my weekly weigh in today, and I was down half a pound. It’s not a lot, but I’m happy for a loss! No goose eggs this week. I even managed to take a progress picture this morning. (Sorry for no photo last week…the husband, a.k.a. resident picture taker, was out of town, and I figured that sort of thing was not something to share on a public site. LOL)

5.5 down -- 17.5 more to go!

I don’t know if this dress was just slimming or what (one of the many reasons I love gray and black!) but I had several people at work notice and ask about my weight loss today. And last night, JD and I went to my niece’s preschool Christmas program (hands down most precious thing I’ve ever seen), and my family was telling me they could tell a big difference. Isn’t that such a good thing to hear when you work so hard? It definitely was for me! So much in fact, I put on workout clothes as soon as I got home and did a 30-minute session on the weight loss track on my elliptical. I followed that with some ab work, and an awesome dinner compliments of my love:

Turkey sausage stir fry, a few shakes of teriyaki sauce atop 1/2 cup brown rice

I wanted a second bowl! But, I resisted since I had half a piece of cheesecake at our work luncheon today. I’m trying to successfully get through eating season, and so far, I think I’ve done pretty well. A few more parties to go. (Including another work appetizer/dessert bash on Friday…I’ve got to start planning for that!) Tis the season for food.

Off to watch the rest of the Top Chef finale. I’m so sad it’s over. Boo.

How are you fairing through eating season? What Christmas food favorite do you let yourself indulge in?