Getting myself some oooooom-ph

Hello you all! Hope you're having a great sunday! Mine has been a blast so far :)

I started the day by sleeping in (which I almost never do) and getting a healthy start of the day by blending myself a smoothie and cooking up some oatmeal with maple syrup, cinnamon and a shredded apple. Nothing better than oatmeal in winter time, yum!

In the spirit of healthyness, I then went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the treadmill, followed by an hour and a half of yoga. My legs felt like noodles afterwards, but it's all for the best, right?

I'm still keeping on track with my diet and fitness regime, and I'm so impressed with myself! But I'm also getting annoyed with the gym because it's January! Meaning that there are TONS of people now! Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I get a little antsy when I have to wait in line in order to get on a treadmill and torture myself.... hmmm. Oh well, I guess by mid-February this will all be over, eh?

Happy sunday :)

Breath in, breath out....

I have actually been a very good girl when it comes to my workout regime! I have been running, bicycling, rowing and going to aerobics classes. Today, I felt that I needed to do something a little bit more relaxing, so I took a yoga class together with a good friend of mine.

Now I've been to yoga before, even in real yoga studios where it won't get any more intense than that. But today, man did I not know what was coming! Instead of having a 90 minute long relaxing workout, it was a 90 minute long toughen-up-and-power-through class! After the first 25 minutes, we really felt like leaving, but my friend and I agreed that it would probably be rude to leave in the middle of things.... oh and also, we were quite sure that the instructor would have chased us down the corridor and dragged us back to finish the class, so we decided to stay and work through the pain and the zillions of very awkward positions.

We were pretty wasted when we came out of there, but in the end, pretty darned proud of ourselves that we stayed! We celebrated with a chai-latte - ya know, since it's Christmas and all. But I probably won't go back to this particular yoga class any time soon! I mean I don't mind getting yelled at during my nasty boxing-combat classes (tae-bo), or screaming really bad words during my not-so-relaxing runs on the treadmill, but as far as yoga goes, I'll hang on to my more relaxing sun greetings' classes.

A lazy day

This morning when I got up, this is what I saw from my window:

Pretty darn grey, eh? 

Ya, and friggin' cold! Actually, they predicted snow later in the day! So after having walked our dog, let's call him Little Louis shall we, I sank into the sofa. Even Little Louis didn't feel like doing much:

Since I now am unemployed, I was pretty happy not having to get dressed and get out in that weather again. Instead, I prepared a nice smoothie (banana, frozen strawberries and blueberries), a hot cup of coffee and whole wheat Ciabatta bread with black olive tapenade (my new obsession!).

 

Doesn't it look nice and healthy?

Actually, this is part of my new, healthier lifestyle. A few months ago, I vowed to start every day with a big glass of water and a dairy-free smoothie. And surprisingly, I actually stuck with that ever since! Usually, my morning smoothie consists of:

1 banana

4-5 frozen strawberries

2 tablespoons of frozen blueberries

1 glass of water

In summer time, I used fresh berries and varied them a lot. I also LOVE mango in the smoothie! And mint! Although not at the same time.... or? I also like to add 1 tablespoon of almond butter to the smoothie, it gives it a creamier texture. A little bit of coconut milk is also delicious. Sometimes I blend in a peeled apple as well, or a handful of fresh baby spinach (yo, don't make that scrunchy face! It's really good.... well you don't actually taste the spinach when served this way!).

Another big decision that I took New Year's Eve last year, is to go vegetarian. I have also honored that commitment ever since! More power to me ;)  I feel great and haven't missed meat or poultry at all, quite surprisingly, but I admit that I have really missed fish and seafood, so I'll have that about 2-3 times a month, until I'm ready to phase it out completely. Also at some point, after learning about the life of milk cows, I also avoided all dairy, but I couldn't hold it on the long term. What I missed most? CHEESE! I. love. cheese. Since I'm originally Swiss, I guess it's in my genes! So I now allow myself a good, organic cheese once in a while, and I buy organic milk (which I only use in my coffee). Maybe one day I'll have the strength to completely give up milk and cheese....

Since the weather calls for a lazy day, I'm getting all cozy in the sofa, with Little Louis, and I'll surf for wedding dresses on the net. I probably should work out later.... we'll see how that goes with all that laziness.... 

Following up on my workout

So I just thought that I would pop by to tell the world (well, if the teeny-tiny audience that actually reads this post can account for the WHOLE world....), I actually exercised yesterday! Not today though.... but that's not the point, I worked out for a full 60 minutes yesterday. Congrats to me!

Please forgive me if I am boring you to tears with my workout & diet posts (because there will be many more to come!), but since it is a big part of my journey to my wedding day, it also takes up a huge space in my head right now. And it will probably stay that way until I'm firmly routed in my routine.... (great choice of words ;) So here's yesterday's workout:

Cardio:
30 minutes on the cross-trainer (equals 300 kcal burned, yeeesssssa)
Weights:
the 25-minutes arm workout from Kathy Kaehler's book (which she trained Jennifer Aniston with, so if that will give me Jennifer's arms, then hell I'll do the workout every day from now on! Let me just deny genetics for a little while, pleeeease! I mean look at her, sooo pretty)

(source)

....and that dress, wooaw! I really like it.... it could be a wedding dress, couldn't it??

Well, moving on. So, I didn't exactly plan a "rest" day today, but it sort of happened to become one, so here is my workout for tomorrow:

Cardio:
30 minutes on the cross-trainer
Weights:
The same arm workout (I told ya I was goin' to do that every freakin' day!)
Kim Kardashian's lower body workout (the dvd - and who doesn't want her bootylicious body ;)

For the upcoming week-end, I'll probably do some more cardio on both saturday and sunday (I might go to the gym this time, to run on the treadmill - which is like the most boring way of exercising ever!) and I'll throw in some Pilates, which I absolutely LOVE. I love the calming pace of the exercises and the its effectiveness; plus it is the only workout that has ever given me a flat and trimmed tummy before! But that's a few years back unfortunately, ahem! Jumpin' right back on the wagon!