From the category archives:

Working Out

Update: Working Out!

by agirlandhermutt on November 17, 2011

*YAWN!* For the past few days I have been dragging myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 5:45am to be at the GYM by 6am. Who am I?!

One of my November goalswas to hit the gym 3x/week. I have a gym membership and I really wanted to get the most out of it. Unfortunately I work normal office hours and often don’t get home until 6p. Add hitting the gym after that and that gets me home for the night around 8pm. Ugh. Not cool for me and certainly not cool for Kork. The Scientist suggested morning workouts and I figured why not give it a try. So far I have learned 2 big lessons.

1. People are lying when they say exercising in the morning gives you bursts of energy. I need a nap by 11 and again by 3. I’m sure this will change but right now I’m exhausted.

2. The people who work out in the morning smell fun-ky. Brushing your teeth is not optional fellow gym go-ers.

Oh, and a bonus lesson.

3. Working out in the morning makes for a more exciting social life after work and getting to work earlier than normal.

clip_image00161_thumb1_thumb[1]

When I get to the gym at that time I’m typically still a little dead to the world and not with it enough to be able to participate in a group class. I like to stick to the basics and do the things I can get the most from in the least amount of time.

I’m still pretty into my elliptical workouts (courtesy of FitSugar). These workouts are quick, easy to follow, and effective.

I’ve also decided to branch out and try some of the other intimidating cardio machines in my gym. First up was the Cybex Arc Trainer machine. It kind of looks like a modified elliptical machine. You look like you are running in the air, but the top part of your body is pretty stationary unless you have a Cybex with the moveable arms.

I have read a few little articles about Cybex and their big claim to fame is that you can burn more calories in less time than most cardio machines because you are focusing on the larger muscle groups like your upper legs and glutes. I don’t know how true that is, but I do know that I can sweat up a storm on that sucker in 20 minutes flat.

In addition to the mega sweat that I’ve been experiencing on the Cybex, I kind of feel a little like Tony Little. Ponytail and all.

Does anyone remember him and his gazelle? Boy. Late night infomercials are the best!

There are two more machines at the gym that I haven’t used so I have a date with them in the next week or so.

So my workout update all summed up…

Working out before I used to even think about waking up and sweating it up on a machine that makes me feel like I’m “As Seen On TV”.

clip_image00161_thumb1_thumb[1]

Hope you guys are having a great week. Tonight I am going out to dinner with my old roomie and trying a new restaurant. Double Score!

Have you ever bought anything from a tv infomercial or a home shopping network?

{ 10 comments }

Wrapping Up Summer in Boston…

by agirlandhermutt on August 26, 2011

Lets do a quick Erin History & Geography lesson.

I’m originally from Florida. Right down there are on the bottom of the map on the Gulf of Mexico. Lovely little city but right in the eye of a few hurricanes and recently a tornado too. Eek.

I now live in Boston. Right up there near the top of the map. You know, the area that supposedly has four seasons but has to deal with lots of snow.

Typically when you see reports on the news about hurricanes you see maps that look similar to this. This is not an unusual map to pop up on the nightly summer news when you live in Florida.

However, today I woke up to THIS map on my morning weather update. Yea. We, as in Boston we, is under hurricane watch for Sunday.

It doesn’t look like it will be major for us. Just a lot of rain, but people are freaking out. Possibly because we also got to feel a little bit of an earthquake this week? Where is just a little bit of the snow and my four seasons?! Winking smile

Seriously though…I’m glad my VA and DC friends were ok after the earthquake and fingers crossed things go ok for my East Coast friends really in the line of Hurricane Irene.

Fortunately before all this weather hits I got a chance to enjoy the great outdoors in Boston. Oh yea..ZUMBA on the Esplanade! The Esplanade is about 3 miles of park along the Charles River and is a great spot for concerts and other fun events.

It was a beautiful night on Tuesday so there was quite a big turnout. LOTS OF MEN. I realized that night that one of my most favorite things in the world is watching a man being introduced to Zumba. I loved it!

My exercise dates were Karen and Tiffany. These ladies are both training for races in the Fall so this was their chance to do something besides run, run, run. I’m happy to oblige.

The class itself wasn’t the most intricate choreography but it was fun to be outside and pretty challenging to do it in the grass. I was pleased! By the time we were done the sun was setting and Boston was looking pretty picturesque.

I wish there had been more nights like Tuesday this Summer so I could have enjoyed the outdoor events a bit more. I’m going to keep trying for the next few months.

Boston Locals…The Esplanade Association has tons of events coming up until the beginning of October. Check it out!

In addition to the Zumba I also got a chance to get together with my girlfriends. 12 of them to be exact! We all met up on Thursday night at Anthem Kitchen & Bar in Faneuil Hall for some drinks and dinner.

[source]

I got there a bit early so I noshed on some marinated olives and a Villa Wolf Pinot Noir Rose. Both were fantastic! The rose was so crisp with tons of classic Pinot Noir flavors. Really unique!

For dinner I ordered the Greek Salad Pizza. It was topped with grilled chicken, olive tapenade (olive overload!), cucumber & tomato salad, and feta cheese. I ate one piece and was STUFFED!

I also enjoyed a little bowl of their clam chowder. Anthem was the 2010 Chowderfest Best Chowder in Boston winner so I couldn’t pass this up. Two thumbs up. Creamy, a bit heavy and chock full of clams. I wish I could have split this with someone!

A few of the girls enjoyed the bread pudding dessert but I was still stunned by one of the menu choices…Fried Twinkie! I could feel my heart seizing on me as I read the menu. How do people come up with these ideas?!

We drank, ate and laughed a ton. It was so nice to get together with everyone. It had been WAAAAYYYY to long since we had all been together. Anthem was the perfect spot for us. Their service was fantastic, the food was tasty, and the drinks even better. I can prove how much we liked it. Winking smile

Nice work ladies, nice work.

I left Anthem with my face hurting from smiling so much. I was stuffed and had lunch for the next day. If that doesn’t scream GOOD NIGHT OUT then I don’t know what does?!

I hope you all had a great week! This weekend I don’t really have solid plans in case this hurricane thing really happens. I DO have a spa day scheduled for tomorrow so I’m hoping that works out. Please, please, please work out!

Ok the big question of the day…Would YOU have tried the Fried Twinkie?!

PS. Don’t forget to enter the Robert Mondavi Wine Tour Giveaway. Today is the final day! Check it out here.

{ 10 comments }

Tossed!

by agirlandhermutt on March 30, 2011

Remember how I mentioned that Sundays were for things that started with “S”? Well, that totally includes shopping. WOOT! (Not Poop.)

It was a beautiful day in Boston. I woke up and bounded out of bed ready to take on the day. I took one step outside and realized it was COLD AS CRAP.

When life gives you cold weather, I go shopping. Winking smile The Pru was calling my name and I was answering. My goal destination…Sephora! I’m on the hunt for a specific eye shadow palette and so far have been unsuccessful in finding it.

My trip to Sephora (and a few other stores) was half successful. I managed to spend some $$ but alas no eye shadow. By the time I was done, I was famished!

The PR folks for Tossed, a salad joint straight out of NYC dedicated to healthier eating, had invited me to stop by to give their goods a try and Sunday was as good of a day as any. I was at the Pru. Tossed was at the Pru. It was a match meant to happen. Packages in hand, I stepped in to fuel up for round 2 of my shopping trip.

I immediately noticed when I was walking up to Tossed that this area was so much more relaxing than the food court area. Plenty of seating but still plenty of people watching. AND! A Dunkin Donuts is just right on the corner. Score.

I walked in, got overwhelmed at the whole “Design Your Own Salad” mega options and went for the Southwest Blackened Chicken salad (86 the chicken). It was a lovely little combo of romaine, feta cheese, black bean corn salsa, tomato, tortilla strips, avocado and citrus chipotle dressing.

I watched as they made it and was sure that they were going to split it into two salads. Nope. ALL FOR ME! This sucker was massive.

When I finally got this baby opened I was shocked to see that the avocado included was HALF an avocado. They don’t skip on those toppings. Way to not be cheap Tossed!

While it doesn’t look that pretty, it tasted deeeelish. It was all nice and mixed together.

Tip: I think they usually include their dressing in the mixed salad. I asked for it on the side. I’m not a big fan of over dressed salads and prefer to be in control of my calories.

The citrus chipotle dressing was much lighter than I expected. It had a surprising bite to the taste and was definitely a nice addition to this style of salad.

Of course, no meal is complete without a drink. Mine came in the form of a wildberry smoothie.

I wish I would have gone for another flavor of the smoothie. Entirely too sweet for me. Next time I’m trying the mango!

I sat. I ate. I drank. I rediscovered my goods. Isn’t that one of the best parts of shopping?! Checking out the goods later in the day!

I only have one *tiny* little complaint. I had to practically commit a crime of breaking & entering to get into my salad. It wasn’t until I was almost done with lunch that I saw this little goodie on the lid, “Break Tab To Open”. Ugh…Either I’m a moron or this was hard!

Tossed was a welcome lunch break. I don’t work close to the area, but I can totally picture this being a regular stop for me if I did! Thanks Tossed folks for having me! I’ll beeee back (said in my best Terminator voice).

clip_image001

In other healthy living news, I’m ready to announce that I’m working on the Couch 2 5K program. C25K baby!

I’m not a runner. I love the elliptical. I love group fitness classes. I love spinning. Running…not so much.

I figured if I can walk 40 miles (Avon Walk 2010 Alumni here!) then I can run 3 miles at some point.

I’m a long time sufferer of bad knees. I had surgery many moons ago and I think I still tend to baby my knees. I decided that I wanted to have a goal/program and the C25K seemed like it lined up best with my personal goals. Honestly, I feel a little goofy running but I’m slowly getting over the whole being embarrassed that some people walk faster than I “run” attitude. Getting embarrassed doesn’t help me get to 3.1 miles any faster, does it?!

Today I slipped on my sneakers to start week 2 of the program and I’m feeling good. I’ll keep you posted on how its going every now and then.

Has anyone done this program or something similar before?!

clip_image001

Happy Wednesday kids! I’m ready to hit the sack and call it a day. Smile