Menu Plan Monday: August 31

Time for Menu Plan Monday!  Not quite sure how this week will pan out but this is what we came up with so far.  It might change but since we didn’t have a chance to grocery shop this week, we’ll try to make do with what is already in the house.  We are going to try to hit up the Thursday Farmers Market though so maybe we’ll find some goodies there.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday-

Macaroni and Cheese & Hot dogs

Tuesday-

Breakfast for dinner (pancakes maybe)

Wednesday-

Chicken breast, veggie, sweet potato fries

Thursday-

Breakfast for dinner (eggs)

Friday-

Dirty Rice filled green peppers (ground beef)

What is on your menu plan for the week?

 

Bloggy Love: The Fitnessista

Bloggy Love

The August 2009 Bloggy Love award goes to Gina, The Fitnessista.  I would consider Gina a fitness and healthy food blogger.  I love to give away these Bloggy Awards because it’s nice to show how much of an impact these bloggers really truly have on their readers.

I have been following Gina’s blog for quite some time now and I believe she is quite deserving of this award. Gina inspires me in so many ways and once you start reading her blog, you’ll figure out many of the reasons why.

Gina is a personal trainer, spin and Zumba instructor and more!  She’s amazing and really does it all.  I love that Gina freely shares her workout ideas, music play lists and more.  She’s just really cool! I might have to take a trip one day just so I can get a personal training session with the fab Gina.  It’s so much fun to hear about Gina’s gym escapades and her crazy workouts.  I love it!

Gina has so much to offer on her blog.  Be sure to check it out at The Fitnessista! The workout page is awesome along with her weight loss story.  I am always intrigued with how healthy Gina eats and secretly wish she would come teach me how to cook up all of her yummy meals.  Gina loves spicy foods, a girl after my own heart.  And I swear one day I am going to try Indian food.  It always looks so yummy when she blogs about her Indian dinners out on the town.  Wonder what Indian foods she would recommend for a beginnger? *wink*

I absolutely enjoy seeing how in love Gina is with her pilot (her hubby).  They have a great fun loving relationship which is a breath of fresh air to see.  I love to hear about their travels, quick road trips and their pets.  Never a dull moment in Fitnessista land.  You can follow Gina on Twitter to see what I mean.

Lastly, you have to check out The Fitnessista breakfast cookie and try one for yourself.  Soooo good!  In fact, I need to make myself one this week.

Be sure to visit Gina’s blog, The Fitnessista and add it to your reader.  You will be inspired on so many levels.  Enjoy!  Also, don’t forget to share the bloggy love with your favorite blogs and link back when you do.  Another fabulous blogger will be highlighted next month so come on back to see who it will be.

 

Where is the reset button?

Reset Button
Photo credit

So here we are on August 30th and due to unforseen circumstances I was not able to complete the August challenge I set for myself.  Pretty bummed about that but life happens and I’m ready to move on to September.  Need to find the reset button and move along.

The only workouts for this week that I have to share with you are from yesterday and today.  So here we go.

Saturday-

*Spin/Cycling class
Time: 1 hour 6 min.
Calories burned: 711

Sunday-

*Spin/Cycling class
Time: 1 hour 2 min.
Calories burned: 692

Oh and I did do a 15 min. walk one day last week too.

It was a long week but I’m feeling so much better although still a bit exhausted from everything that transpired over the last week or so.  I am back on target for my daily exercise so September should be good for workouts and goals.  I’ll be posting my September goals and challenge (s) on Tuesday so be on the look out.  Hint: It’s all about The Biggest Loser and more!

I also wanted to say thanks once again for your kindness, notes, emails, etc. in regards to the loss of our sweet Basset Hound.  Our hearts ache every day but it gets a bit easier with each passing day. We remember all the fun times we had with him and laugh (and cry!) about those daily.  Hugs to you all!

How did your workouts go this past week?

 

RIP my sweet Caleb

I’m sure most of you know by now that we had to make one of the hardest decisions to put our sweet Basset Hound down last night.  We have been very emotional and as you can see I haven’t posted to my blog since Sunday.  I’m taking some time but hopefully you’ll see a guest post on Friday. If not, I’ll be back to blogging on Monday.

Caleb was a huge part of our life and had been sick over the years and just recently went downhill with kidney disease. His kidneys were giving out, he wasn’t eating or drinking and it was time.  I had bought a domain a long time ago for a Basset Hound website and I worked on that a little today.  It helped a little to think back at the great times and even the struggles we had with him.  Hope I’ll have that up one day soon and I’ll be sure to share the link with you.

Many of you have followed the story on Twitter and Facebook and we appreciate all the love, prayers and good thoughts.  The Internet is an amazing thing.  You all are so special to me!  Here is a picture of Caleb to show you what a loving ‘baby’ we had. He lived 9 years and we were honored to be his mommy and daddy!

RIP Caleb-Nash Newton

RIP Caleb

I’ll be back blogging soon!  Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Angie

 

Workouts went downhill this week

So the week started out good but went downhill as far as workouts go.  I feel bad that I did not get any exercise in from Thursday-Sunday but I think I’ll be ready for this coming week.  My plan for Thursday was to take the day off because I totally overdid my lower body strength training at the gym Wed. night but I was still in so much pain on Friday that I took that day off too.  Thought I could make up 8 miles of in home walking over the weekend but that didn’t happen.  We missed spin class on Saturday due to taking our Basset Hound who has been quite sick to the vet and spent almost 5 hours there.  Before we left though I opened the truck door on my knee (oh my gosh did that hurt bad and I cried like a baby) and it ballooned up like crazy and is bruised.  It still hurt pretty bad this morning so Kev went to spin class alone while I stayed home to heal and take care of our sick dog.

The story of my life!  ha ha  I sure hope this week turns out better and I can meet my goals.

Workout stats for the week of August 17-23, 2009

Monday-

*Walk Away the Pounds 2 mile Walk Slim
Time: 35 min.
Miles: 2
Calories burned: 302

*Strength training (upper body/abs)
Time: 15 min.

*Elliptical
Time: 40 min.
Miles: 3.47
Calories burned: 450

Tuesday-

*Walk Away the Pounds 5k With a Twist (3.1 miles)
Time: 45 min.
Miles: 3.1
Calories burned: 422

*Walk outside
Time: 20 min.

Wednesday-

*Walk Away the Pounds Walk Slim 3 mile
Time: 45 min.
Miles: 3
Calories burned: 398

*Walk outside
Time: 20 min.

*Strength training (lower body at gym)
Time: 30 min.

*Elliptical
Time: 30 min.
Miles: 2.60
Calories burned: 348

Thursday-Sunday

Nada, zip, zilch

How did your workouts go this week?

 

Fast and Fun Whole Body Workout

Welcome Friday! It’s time for your Fit and Healthy Lifestyle tip and today it’s brought to you by one of my online fitness buddies.   Today you get a whole body free workout plan courtesy of Scott.  Please help me send out a warm welcome to Scott.

Hi there, my name is Scott Tousignant and I’m excited to be your guest blogger today. What I love most about Angie’s site is her use of the term “Loving It” when it comes to embarking on a fat loss journey. Fitness is meant to be fun and for that reason I am going to share with you today, 8 exercises that I really enjoy doing in the comfort of my home office.

1) The Shuffle Step – This is a great cardio movement that can really get your heart pumping and thighs burning.

2) Walkout Push Ups – This is a fun exercise to work your chest muscles as well as your ‘core’.

3) Piston Rows – This exercise is a variation of the standing dumbbell row and focuses on working your back muscles. There’s something about alternating arms with the Piston Row that makes this exercise so much more fun than a traditional row.

4) Ball Leg Curls – This is a fun exercise for the back of your thighs (hamstrings) as well as your butt, calves, and ‘core’. Try one leg at a time for a more challenging movement.

5) Shoulder ‘Y’ and ‘W’ – This is a fun exercise to work various areas of your shoulder.

6) Killer 3’s – This is a fun and very effective exercise for the biceps.

7) Ball Triceps Push Up – When you place your hands close together and keep your elbows close to your body, this exercise becomes very effective for working your triceps. The balance and co-ordination makes this exercise fun.

8 ) Plank on Ball – I just love doing the plank on the ball. Because you are holding the position for several seconds it gives me time to get ‘in-tune’ with my body.

You can actually perform this series of exercises together without taking any rest and repeat it three times for a very fast and fun whole body workout.  Give it a try and report back to me on how fun this routine is and how you feel after wards.

You ROCK! Enjoy the experience,

Scott Tousignant

About The Writer

Scott Tousignant, BHK is the creator of Fat Loss Quickie Home Office Fitness For Busy Work-At-Home-Moms and Dads. It’s the fast fun home office fitness experience that will quickly transform you into the super-focused, highly productive, beautiful person you really are!

Scott and his wife Angie are a dynamic duo who pride themselves on keeping it real when it comes to health and fitness. Together they created “More Love Less Fat” – A Couples Guide To Transforming Your Body and Relationship.

If you would like to get to know Scott and Angie better you should definitely visit the Fat Loss Quickie blog where you will frequently see their two young children Shayne and Noelle, along with their cat “Charlie” jump into the picture when Scott and Angie are demonstrating their fast fun home workouts.

Thank you Scott for a fun guest post.  This whole body free workout plan is awesome and would be perfect to do while watching TV.  My favorite moves were the love shuffle, piston row and the killer 3′s but they are all going to be great workout moves.  YEA!

For anyone who is on Twitter, you can find Scott there too.  In the video my website was mentioned as Loving It and Losing It but it’s actually Losing It and Loving It.

Thank you Scott for a great guest post!

P.S.  I had a few inquiries about where to find a balance ball. You can find them at your local sport store, Wal-Mart or even purchase a balance ball through Amazon.