Banana, pre-Body Pump.

The 2nd week of Body Pump version 73 was great.  I like the music and all of the tracks.  I’m noticing my mom is getting stronger.  I need to increase my weights before she’s lifting more than I am!

I ordered a vegetarian wrap from the HealthWorks Cafe and snacked on a free sample of Pop Chips.  It was Member Appreciation Day at HealthWorks so there were food samples as well as a lululemon trunk show that offered 10% discounts.

2 squares of dark chocolate for an afternoon snack.

Jared and I went the the Union Bar and Grill for a restaurant week re-do.  When I made the reservations, I didn’t realize that Union and Gaslight are both owned by the same company.  Uh oh…

While making our meal choices, we nibbled on fresh corn bread and butter.  Can’t go wrong with that!

I started with the Warm Green Bean Salad.  I loved the pancetta and the toasted hazelnuts.  This was light and tasty.  I also chose a glass of Malbec red wine, one of my personal favorite types of wine.

Jared ordered the Split Pea Soup and seemed to enjoy it.  The one bite that was shared with me was good, and much warmer than the bisque I ate on Tuesday night.  He also liked his glass of Cabernet.

My Grilled Hanger Steak entree was amazing.  I loved the balsamic glaze.  It added great flavor to the juicy meat.  Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables so the spears were eaten quickly.  And though I’m not normally a potato person, these wedges were flavorful and I ate every bite.

For dessert, Jared and I shared the Lemon Glazed Butter Cake and the Bread and Butter Pudding.  The bread pudding was the winner, hands down.  It was covered in a cinnamon syrup and served with vanilla ice cream.  Yum, yum, yum.  I ate until I couldn’t take another bite!

I’m glad Union proved that Restaurant Week can be a great meal.  Great service, amazing food, and a romantic and cozy atmosphere.

It was a great Going Away meal because I’m leaving for the weekend.  I’ll be in Baltimore at FitBloggin!!!!

Even though we ate our dessert first (remember I had JP Licks fro-yo as soon as I finish my run last night?!?), Jared insisted on making dinner when we got home from grocery shopping.  He made Annie’s version of hamburger helper.  I topped my spinach with French dressing to go with the green and orange Irish colors as a final hurrah to my St. Patrick’s Day.

I’ve been missing my Chobani!  It was great to mix vanilla granola into the strawberry Greek yogurt and call it breakfast.

Thank you Ryan and the folks at POM Wonderful for sending some samples my way.  I’d love to try some recipes, but for this Thursday morning, I’m sticking with a cup of juice.

Here are some facts about POM Wonderful

• All natural = contains no added sugars, preservatives, colors, or cheap filler juices
• The pomegranate fruits used in these juices have all been picked by hand
• Contains antioxidants (antioxidants neutralize free radicals which cause damage to your body’s cells)
• Pomegranates symbolize health, fertility, and rebirth
• Over $32 million has been spent on 45 published studies and drinking 8 oz of POM Wonderful has been found to produce many health benefits

POM Wonderful, thanks again for the samples and cheers to good health!

Thursday means I’m heading to Body Pump at noon.  But since it’s Member Appreciation Day at HealthWorks, including a lululemon trunk show and food samples, I may need to hit the gym early!

I was super full last night, but felt hungry by the time I fell asleep.  I woke up with a growling stomach.  Stove top oats were needed to keep me full until after Body Pump later in the afternoon.  My oats contained:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 cup of frozen blackberries
• 1 tablespoon of peanut butter

This is my go-to combination.  So filling and I love the flavors!

I sipped on a small coffee and snacked on some almonds before going to the gym.

My mom rocked out at Body Pump!  It was great to share the class with her.  We had a lot of laughs over her poor posture during a lot of the moves, but she still did awesome.  I’m waiting to see if she’s sore tomorrow.  When we walked back to the locker room after class, my mom mentioned she could tell that she’d worked her legs.  The lunge track really is killer!

In grad school, I took a course about nutrition and aging.  Weight training is so important for older adults.  My mom is still very healthy and active, but working out with weights would be a great idea to prevent problems before they even start.  Weight training will help maintain bone density and strength and decrease the risk of osteoporosis.  It’s also been known to boost immunity and wellness.  I need my mom to keep taking care of me for years so come so her health is really important.   Love you, Mom!

I made mental notes of how much weight I used for each muscle group.  Now that I’m taking Body Pump classes consistently, I need to focus on getting stronger.   Right now I pick sort of light weights so each exercise starts off a little too easy and finishes feeling difficult.  Paying attention to my body, I think I could up the intensity a little bit so I’m working in the beginning and then really pushing myself at the end!

My mom and I shared a meal and some chitchat after class.  I had a vegetarian wrap with goat cheese and hummus.  Mmm, so fresh and delicious!  And I think my mom and I worked just as hard at gossiping as we did during Body Pump. 

I didn’t get hungry until pretty late in my work day.  I snacked on a Clementine.

I’m going out for tapas at Masa because they offer 50 cent specials on Thursday nights.  They also offer salsa dancing lessons starting at 10 pm, but I think that’s a little too far past my bed time!

I was excited to try Pacific Naturals’ Tuscan White Bean Soup for lunch.  Maybe I was just craving tomato soup too much.  I hated this and had to stop 2 bites in and get rid of the bowl.    I felt bad because I love 3 of their other flavors.  This one had an overpowering bean taste.  Ugh, I wasn’t feeling it.

I bought a small cup of turkey chili and ate that with some Newman’s Own Organics pretzels.

It took a while to realize the pretzels were Ns.  Aww, creative touch.

It was snowing when I left for work this morning so it was the perfect opportunity to wear a puffy vest.  Simple style.  Besides, I wanted to stay warm while I cleaned my windshield.

I kept my workout clean and simple also.  I lowered my speed to 6.3 mph and jogged for 20 minutes and walked for 5.  Then I stretched and used the foam roller.  My right glute is still really tight!  I sat in the sauna for 10 minutes before calling it a day.

I day dreamed about my leftover Pad Thai on the drive home from work.  No matter how many times I say it and you guys agree, I’ll still repeat that Asian food always tastes better as leftovers.

I watched last night’s episode of the Biggest Loser while Miles attacked a bone.  He didn’t stop gnawing until he ate the entire thing.  And I was worried that he had a tooth problem?!?!  During each commercial break, I did various weight exercises to  help that Pad Thai move through my system.  I felt like I overate (I saw it coming cuz my portion size was way beyond what I normally require), but moving around definitely helped me get over it.

HealthWorks challenges its members to bring a HW t-shirt on vacation and take a photo wearing the t-shirt.  Photos posted on their fan page will be judged and the winner gets $100.  Since I’m leaving for Cancun next Wednesday, I picked up my HW t-shirt this afternoon.  Several HW team members had helpful and creative ideas for my photo so we’ll see what inspires me when I get to Mexico!

(FYI, the little bugger saw his shadow so that means 6 more weeks of winter)

To have more time to get ready for work, I saved my breakfast for the office.  I added granola to my vanilla yogurt, and after a few bites, I added a spoonful of Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter.

Even though winter is supposed to last for 6 more weeks, I wore my olive green pants to start ushering in the spring.  It’s difficult to tell in this photo, but today was all about texture.  I’m wearing a maroon thermal shirt, a thick knit sweater, rope/toggle buttons, and a woven leather belt.  It’s a lot going on, but I think it works.

The many textures help add so much interest to the outfit that I didn’t have to bother with jewelry, aside from the 2 rings I always wear and a simple pair of earrings.  I’m not a fashion guru but I like to think about clothes and I feel happy when I put extra time and effort into an outfit.  Yeah, I even IRONED these pants last night.  Go me!

I convinced my mom to be my guest at HealthWorks on Thursday.  We’re going to take a Body Pump class and then I have some fun things planned for her including trying to ride the spin bike and using the foam roller.  I’m excited for her to check out where I spend my time exercising each afternoon. 

*Dinner on 2/6/2010*

We have reservations at Grezzo on 2/6/2010 at 7 pm.  Please e-mail me and let me know if you are definitely planning on coming because Grezzo is small and would prefer an exact count.  I based my original number off of responses from when I posted about this dinner last week.  (I had to put a credit card down for the reservation so this is kind of super important!)

Thanks and hope you see you there!

I tried to pack better foods to eat at work. I snacked on the NY apple (Mmm, much better!) around 11 am and then ate the burrito at noon.

I was ready to head to HealthWorks by 12:45 pm. All I had to do was grab my gym bag and walk out through the building’s main lobby. HealthWorks was about 15 steps away from the front door.

Crappy shot of my view of the Chestnut Hill HealthWorks. Cars were backing out and looking at me like I was a crazy person for standing in the driveway and taking pictures.

I got a brief tour of the workout facilities and the spa-like locker room. Then I was on my own! I brought Budget Travel magazine to read during my cardio. I chose to use the Elliptical machine for 22 minutes. It seemed like a safe bet. I hate working out in new environments. I get really nervous and I can’t focus on what I’m doing. Today I was more interested in looking around, trying to figure out where the wipes were so I could clean the machine when I was done. As I become more comfortable, I have lots of options so I can vary my workouts. Boredom won’t be a problem!

After cardio, I found a nice little corner with free weights and all the ab workout items I could ever dream of. I didn’t have a plan in mind and I just played around with everything. I did a little bit of bicep/tricep/shoulder work, 3 sets of leg lifts on that stand where you balance on your forearms (does that make sense? I don’t know what it’s called), and then I stretched on a mat.

I almost got lost trying to go back to the locker room and find my stuff. I feel SO spoiled at this gym. I know I’m paying for the membership but I don’t feel like I deserve to be working out somewhere so nice. I changed my clothes and listened to soothing classical music. I even sampled some of the body lotion that was by the makeup mirror. Even though I skipped the sauna today, I still feel pampered and even rejuvinated. Definitely ready to take on the rest of my day!

Someone left free vegetables by the mailboxes. I can’t turn down fresh from the garden produce! I took a big zuchini and two little baby squashes. Now I need to think of ways to use this in my meals for the rest of the week. Mmm hmm….

I had an early morning doctor’s appointment in RI so I ate breakfast in the car.

I am FINALLY dealing with my lower back pain that has resulted from 11 years of gymnastics and 8 years of cheerleading. I’ve been bothered for as long as I can remember. Now I have some Flector patches to try wearing at work. The right side of my lower back bothers me when I sit for long periods of time. It doesn’t exactly hurt, but I’m uncomfortable, almost as if I need to twist and stretch and pop something into place.

I have to try 2 weeks of physical therapy and/or a chiropractor. If I don’t see any positive results, I’ll have to go for an MRI. I hope that this gets taken care of soon. I’ll stretch and do PT. I haven’t done any serious tumbling in well over a year and I’m tired of feeling like I’m falling apart at 26.

After the doc’s, I had a dentist appointment. My mom is my hygienist so I didn’t mind going. She made the appointment quick and relatively painless. Though she did force me to wear the fluoride trays usually reserved for little kids! I “borrowed” 3 magazines from the waiting room including one about running in a desperate attempt to get some 1/2 marathon pointers.

No groceries at my parents’ house = I ate grilled cheese and Tostitoes with salsa for lunch.

Here’s a shot of the Flector patch I rocked while working from home for the afternoon.

I drove back to Boston around 4 and hit traffic on 93, grrr! I went to HealthWorks to take a tour/sign up for a membership and to attend Tina’s How to Blog seminar.

I work next to the HealthWorks in Chestnut Hill so this is going to make my lunch hour so much better. (I love that the showers are equipped with everything you could possibly need: shampoo, conditioner, body wash!) Sorry to have to cancel on my old gym but I am saving myself time and gas during my lunch hour.

It was great to meet Tina and learn about her blog Carrots ‘N’ Cake. She shared a lot of great blogging tips. I was super excited and asked a bunch of questions. Hopefully I didn’t embarrass myself and come across as crazy obnoxious. I’m really excited about HealthWorks‘ blogging program. They’re selecting 5 members to blog for them. Fingers crossed! Regardless of whether I get picked or not, it will give me more fun stuff to read when I have free time.

Jared is making dinner now. Once I eat, I have to unpack the stuff I brought back with me including a new pair of booties (hopped on that trend band wagon) and a few belated birthday gifts from my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad!