I've taken a break (obviously!) from this blog to focus on a new one:
Run to Raise

Awesome Workout Day

Yesterday I only ran and was feeling a little lazy because of it so today I decided to step it up a bit.  I have a ton of fitness channels that I subscribe to on YouTube; all of which have really fantastic workouts.  Today I decided to go with The 20/20 Workout from Blogilates.  Great workout!  There are 20 moves which you do for either 20 reps or hold for 20 seconds depending on the exercise.  It went by super quick - it took me 15:12 to complete - and had my heart racing and ready for the treadmill.  (side note: I keep trying to embed it into my post but then every time I add another link to something else, it goes away...what gives!?)

After the 20/20 workout, I ran an easy 5 miles with the sprints peppered in.  After that, I turned to YouTube again for a workout I actually found on Pinterest a few days ago. This one is with Bob Harper (don't you just love some Bob?!).  It's his 7 minute AMRAP workout.  He does quite a bit of talking about the workout in the beginning so I'll give you a quick run down.  There are four different workouts in the AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible).  You do each workout for the given number of reps repeating until the 7 minutes are up. 

In this one, you perform 30 forward lunges with a weight overhead, 20 mountain climbers, 10 side to side planks, and 30 air squats.  I did this workout for the first time on Saturday before my run and really liked it.  It is quick - obviously...only 7 minutes! - but gets the job done.  On Saturday, my count was 2 and 29.  In other words, I completed 2 full rounds plus 29 forward lunges.  Today my count was 2 and 30.  I'm not really sure how I managed to get one more rep than I did on Saturday because Saturday I had fresh legs and today, it was the third of my workouts and my legs were toast.  Especially during the air squats.  Ouch.

After all three, I wobbled up to the kitchen and made a massive smoothie!

Green Recovery Awesomeness
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 cucumber
1/2 banana
1/2 pear
2 big kale leaves
2 big handfuls of spinach

There is something about pear and cucumber together.  This is by far one of my favorite smoothies! Feeling pretty pumped up about my workout success today.  And soon the kids will be back in school so I can get back to my regular routine - yippppeeeee!

It's Like Christmas Morning!

I'm anxiously awaiting the newest edition to the Tone it Up Nutrition Plan that is due to come out today.  According to their post in the community section of their site,

The update includes new grilling recipes, superfood snacks and entertaining dishes to share with all your girlfriends. We've also included new ice-cream pops & fruity summer treats... YUMMM ♥ Remember, all new updates and new editions are free for members of the Tone it Up Nutrition Plan.

 I have hit 'refresh' on my email no less than 9 million times since I got up this morning.  Since they are in California, I know this is a waste of time since it probably wont come until lunch time but still....so excited!  The updates to the nutrition plan is one of the reasons why I finally plunked down the $150.00 for it.  Love that they do regular updates and once you pay for the plan, you are a member for life.  Sooooo....I'll keep hitting refresh then do a blog update as soon as it comes letting you guys know what I think!

Awesome Workout Combo!

After yesterday's rest day hangover day, I felt particularly motivated to get my workout on this morning.  Nothing like sitting on the couch shoving carbs in your face all day to get a girl moving!  After downing my big 24oz cup of water, my TIU Meta-D and a mug of green tea, I decided to try the Sunrise Circuit Workout from Peanut Butter Fingers.  Side note: you really should follow her on Pinterest because she posts some awesome workout ideas!  The circuit looked innocent enough by I have to say, once I finished, my legs were shaking big time!  I did the workout exactly as instructed.  The only change I made was for the jump rope portion.  I don't have a jump rope so I did the air jump rope move.  I really liked this circuit.  It's quick (only took me about 13 minutes) but very effective.

After that, I made a smoothie for breakfast.  Check out the purple gorgeousness!

In it is 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used this which I love), 1/2 frozen banana, handful of blueberries and some ice.

After getting my older son off to camp and doing some mom-chores, I hit the treadmill.  I haven't gotten the sprint challenge in since Tuesday so I really wanted to include that in my day; I'm obviously not going to get all five done this week, stupid wine.  I decided to combine the sprints challenge from Sweaty Beatties with the Tone it Up in 30:00 workout that the TIU girls sent out on Tuesday.  Their workout calls for 8 minutes of cardio followed by five strength moves for 60 seconds each, a 2 minute sprint then repeat (total workout to be done 3 times).  I chose to do the sprints challenge first then tack on the TIU in 30:00 workout.  I warmed up for 3 minutes at 6.8, did my 5 30-second sprints at 9.4 with a 45 second rest in between. Now for the second workout.  I dropped the speed down to 7.0 and ran for 8 minutes then did the strength moves.  After three rounds, I was seating like mad, huffing and puffing like a 3-pack a day smoker and ready to be done! This was a killer combination.  Both workouts took me about 40 minutes total.  Of that, 24 minutes were spent running for a total of 3 miles.  I really need to be running more miles but workouts like this just feel so much more effective to me.  I'm always short on time - my younger son was upstairs while I got this in - so what time I do have, I really want to get the most of it.  Once they are back in school, I'll start working on upping my mileage.  Until then, I'm loving these interval workouts!

I was starving after my workout.  Lunch was a giant green salad along with a piece of toast smeared with hummus and a few slices of avocado.  I had a handful of nuts as well.

The toast with hummus and avocado has got to be one of my favorite things.  So simple but oh so good!  Now I have to vacuum the house.  Does that count as a third workout of the day?  I say yes!

Need. More. Coffee.

Last night was girls night; a good friend had several of us over for wine Wednesday.  Sounded innocent enough.  It quickly turned into 'drink every bottle of wine in the house' night.  Holy hell.  Today is going to require an IV of caffeine.  How the hell am I supposed to get my sprints challenge done today?  I gotta get my ass together and quick.  I'm starting the process with the breakfast of champions:

Gatorade (my #1 cure all) followed by a smoothie with 2 packets of instant coffee, a banana, spinach and a scoop of PB 2. I'm getting too old for this.

New to Me Deal Site

I just discovered GroopDealz.  Have you seen this site?  Like other deal sites, there is a different deal each day.  If you purchase something, you receive a link to share with friends.  Anytime three people purchase from your link, you get $5 off a future purchase.  Today I bought this in yellow:

Love that yellow!  I typically wear very neutral colors but this fall, thanks to being inspired by Pinterest, I'm determined to add pops of color to all my outfits this fall.  Hopefully once it arrives, it wont be one of those things I love but don't have the actual guts to wear.

This pin is what prompted me to purchase the yellow necklace:

While I wait for my new necklace to arrive, I'll just have to wear this outfit I put together with a new yellow scarf I found at The Gap:

Trying to rock color

Not sure why I'm standing like my bored 12-year-old.  Anyway, the tank is blue, kind of hard to tell in this photo.  I think I like the green/blue/yellow combo.  But is it too much color?  Hmmmm....

Speaking of Pinterest, I've already mentioned that I'm totally obsessed and spend way more time browsing then I care to admit but now, thank you Pinterest, I'm even more obsessed with Polyvore!  It is similar to Pinterest only with clothes.  You can follow members, 'like' their sets and collections, and create your own perfect outfits.  I tried to create a couple outfits but it just stressed me out....I am horrible at dressing myself, that's why I need Pinterest and Polyvore....so I am sticking with following, liking and pinning.  I've gotten a ton of great ideas and I think it really helped when I was cleaning out my closet.  I had a better idea of what to keep and what to toss once I started putting outfits together.  What a concept, I know.  Now my 'My Style' board on Pinterest is becoming as full as all my food boards!

Closet DONE!

It's done!  I am so stinkin' thrilled with how the closet turned out!  It feels so fresh and clean and I can find stuff and did I mention clean??  I no longer walk in there and feel my blood pressure rise.  Now I feel totally calm and actually say, "Ahhhh".  Such a great feeling.

Yes, yes I do color code my clothes, doesn't everyone?

 The dressers that we got at Ikea, Hemnes, also come in black which my husband originally wanted but I'm glad I stuck to my guns (and won) with the white.  We bought both the 6-drawer chest and the 8 drawer dresser.  

His side - apparently no, not everyone color codes.

My beautiful dresser!

At the last minute, we decided to also get the Brimnes 4-drawer chest.

It matches the Hemnes pieces perfectly, fits that small space by the door and is perfect for both our towels and my sports bra collection of approximately 9 bazillion.  We swapped out the handles for those little silver numbers to personalize it a bit more which I really love.  I have to say that all three of the pieces are really nice.  They look way more expensive (especially the dressers) than they were.

It feels so bright and big in there even though it isn't a huge closet.  I still need to hang the bar for my necklaces but other than that, it's totally complete!  At this point, the only thing I would have done differently is to have had my husband hung his shirts higher.  I don't love that they kind of brush the top of his dresser but whatever...now I'm just gettin' picky!

Once we got all out clothes back into the closet, it made me take a hard look at our bedroom.  Holy clutter batman.  I have 9 million books on a shelf by my bed and in a basket on my nightstand AND on the floor in between.  90% of them I have already read, several more I started but didn't like. So why do I still have them all?  I don't re-read books so it is time to donate.  I purged like a mad woman and now, I get that same, "Ahhhh" feeling from my closet when I look at my side of the bed.  I wish I had taken a before picture of that mess...you can kind of see it in this picture (can't see the bookshelf but you can see my night stand with the overflowing basket-o-crap):

And now:

Yay!  When Purple Heart comes on the 17th, whoever is driving that truck is not going to like me.  I have so much stuff ready to go.

All those brown bags are books!

Totally not closet related, I got my Sweaty Betties sprint challenge done yesterday (that's a first for this week...4 more to go)!  I'm loving this challenge.  It forces me to get on the treadmill when I really don't feel like it.  My mojo has been non existent for a while now.  Yesterday I did the challenge plus a few more intervals along with some lower body strength training (squats and lunges).  It was a short run but with the sprints and intervals plus the squats and lunges, I felt pretty good after.  Today I get to go to Body Pump again - second time since Sunday, I feel so spoiled!  My plan is to get there a little early so I can do the sprints.  Five times in a week remember!