le's leg day circuit

man my heart rate was already up as i walked into the gym today!  i got into my fat burning zone right away as i warmed up on the elliptical for about 10 minutes before hitting the weights.

to get the blood flowing in my legs, i did:

leg extensions / leg curls superset -  4 sets of 12-15 reps using med-heavy weight.

next, 4 sets of 12-15 reps of seated leg press with heavy weight.

1st heavy set w/ feet shoulder width apart,

2nd heavier set with feet shoulder width apart

3rd heaviest set with feet shoulder width apart

4th burnout set with light weight (kept going until it buuuuuuuuuuurned) with my feet shaped in a v (heels together).

now for the fun stuff!!!

 i went into my gym's empty group fitness room (take advantage if your gym allows it and there's no class going on) and did the following 3 times each: (burned over 500 cals after all this!)

*****le's leg circuit*****

using 25 lb. dumbbells,

and a step bench w/ 5 risers on each side,

*i mentioned on IG that you can add more risers if you'd like, but i'm super clumsy and went with 5 today.  it was still a nice height, trust me.*

do the following straight through w/ no breaks.

• 1. 20 squats holding the dumbbells in each hand and squeezing your glutes the entire time.
• 2. walking lunges going forward (i used the length of the room, bout 30 ft i guess!?! i'm horrible with estimations), then backwards ( no, don't turn around, stay facing forward but just lunge backwards. do your best to push yourself up back up to standing and maintain that balance.)
• 3. 20 deadlifts (feet shoulder width apart (1st set) narrow stance (2nd set) wide stance (3rd set))
• 4. 20 box jumps onto your bench. drop the dumbbells first please!  be careful and land softly by putting all your weight into your heels.  drop your glutes as low as possible and get into that squat before you jump back down.

 after a round of that, my heart rate was easily over 170 according to my watch!  i walked in two big circles around the room and let my hr drop to around 130 before i started again.

lastly, i finished up legs with 3 sets of 20 reps of jumping lunges.  make sure you drop that back knee down- no slacking.

i said i'd do abs at home (i always say that lol) cause i had to hit the grocery store before i could even get home.  making progress, but i need some separation in my upper abs since i have NONE.  that's my goal for this week.

 1hr of fat burning cardio on the elliptical later, leg day was over.

startin' the week off right!!! have a GREAT evening and try this workout and lemme know what you think!

treadmill workout + spinach spaghetti squash bake

this was today's 30 min treadmill workout:

Time	Incline	Speed
0-2 warmup	2.0	4.0
2-3 walk	4.0	4.0
3-5 run	4.0	7.0
5-6 walk	5.0	4.0
6-8 run	5.0	7.0
8-9 walk	6.0	4.0
9-11 run	6.0	7.0
11-12 walk	7.0	4.0
12-14 run	7.0	7.0
14-15 walk	8.0	4.0
15-17 run	8.0	7.0
17-18 walk	9.0	4.0
18-20 run	9.0	7.0
20-25 walk	10	4.0
25-30 walk	15 (highest)	3.0
3-5 min cool down	0.0	2.0

print it, cut it out, and take it with you! burns over 400+ cals.

and this was tonight's dinner: spinach spaghetti squash bake.

the stuff:

• 1 shallot
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cups of 2% or low/no fat mozzarella shredded cheese
• 1 log 99% lean ground turkey
• 1 bag frozen spinach
• 2 chopped tomatoes OR 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 red pepper
• 1 can Amy's low sodium chunky tomato bisque
• 1 spaghetti squash
• salt, pepper, tony's c's to taste

do this:

first and foremost, turn on your oven (350 deg) and throw the squash in there. it needs to cook at least 45 min first. in the meantime,

brown your shallots, onion, and turkey in a pan, and season it with the salt, pepper, and tony c's.

chop up all your veggies and toss them in.

microwave the spinach for about 5 minutes, then put it in a colander and press all the water out. add.

finally, pour in the soup.

grab your pan(s) and start with the squash- that'll be your 1st layer.

then, meat sauce.

and finally, my fav, plenty of cheese.  now, repeat until you run outta stuff.  remember to top it with cheese!

ready after 15-20 min in a 350 deg oven. so good, so healthy, so light, so filling.

we killed this pan but thank goodness i made two.  hitting the sack NOW- weights class in the early am!

le

90 mins in the saddle

my hat goes off to MS150 (150 mile bike ride from houston to austin, tx) participants and pretty much cyclist EVERYWHERE as i barely got through the 1.5 hr. spinning class i took this afternoon.  and don't even let me get started on that bike seat, my goodness.  once you get past that (it really shouldn't bother you anymore after the first few times) the positives totally outweigh the negatives and the benefits of cycling are pretty awesome.  i don't own a performance bike yet, but i do a cycle class (also referred to as spin) 3 or 4 times a month to shock my body, change up my workout, and to keep from plateauing.  also, it's:

• easy on the joints vs. running and still burns tons of calories
• builds stamina and muscular endurance.  really tones and sculpts your glutes, calves, upper thighs and hamstrings which makes for awesome, shapely legs
• heart healthy! improves overall cardiovascular fitness
• http://www.livestrong.com/article/381796-what-are-the-benefits-of-spinning-workout-classes/

i don't know any unicyclers, but i love how this chart shows various body weights and different types of cycling. the more detail, the better.

Activity (1 hour)	130 lb	155 lb	180 lb	205 lb
Cycling, mountain bike, bmx	502	598	695	791
Cycling, <10 mph, leisure bicycling	236	281	327	372
Cycling, >20 mph, racing	944	1126	1308	1489
Cycling, 10-11.9 mph, light	354	422	490	558
Cycling, 12-13.9 mph, moderate	472	563	654	745
Cycling, 14-15.9 mph, vigorous	590	704	817	931
Cycling, 16-19 mph, very fast, racing	708	844	981	1117
Unicycling	295	352	409	465
Stationary cycling, very light	177	211	245	279
Stationary cycling, light	325	387	449	512
Stationary cycling, moderate	413	493	572	651
Stationary cycling, vigorous	620	739	858	977
Stationary cycling, very vigorous	738	880	1022	1163

looking to slim down overall?  mix up your workouts and try spinning as your cardio component sometimes.  don't worry, you don't have to go buy those special cycling shoes if you don't want to.

 most gyms have the bikes with the dual pedal, so you can't use that excuse.  just go try the class!

i went grocery shopping with my mom and aunt yesterday (hey, it's what we do) so i have a fridge full of goodies.  this morning before church i had a small bowl of yogurt with some blackberries, almonds, pumpkin flax granola from WF, and my prenatal vitamin.  didn't need any honey as the granola was sweet enough.

but back to our grocery shopping trip yesterday-  HEB had this awesome soup we sampled and i snagged the recipe card for it:

it was so, so good. creamy, cheesy, all that.  after actually reading the recipe card tho, i see why. velveeta cheese and 1 WHOLE pint of heavy cream!!! i love you regardless, but really HEB?   since they didn't supply the nutritional stats, i did them myself.

8oz of velveeta - 672 cals

1 jar of tortilla soup - 280 cals

1 can black beans - 300 cals

1 pint heavy cream - 1642 <----WOW

i haven't even added the darn chicken yet and we are already at 2894 calories.  i knew i could do better, so you know i did. i used just two chicken breasts instead of an entire bag of fajita chicken thighs (284 cals vs. 720).  i threw them in the crock pot and sprinkled them with just a little of my ranch dressing mix.  they were cooking while i was suffering in that cycle class.  after about 4 hours or so on high they were good to go as white meat normally cooks faster than dark.

 i took them out and let them cool before shredding. please know you can also pop them in a 350 deg. oven for about 45 mins or even grill them until they are cooked through evenly if you are short on time.

there's the jar of soup (280 cals), the sodium-less black beans (about 300 cals), and the half and half (71 cals for 1/2 cup).

pay no attention to that expiration date- i tasted it first L O L. i discarded all the leftover liquid from the chicken breasts, but i didn't wipe the crock pot clean. no need, as those flavor bits help to enhance the soup. i added all the ingredients back in, including the 5 laughing cow cheese wedges (175 cals total) i forgot to include in the pic.  then, i dumped in green onion and fresh cilantro.

i let it cook on high for just 1 hour so the wedges could melt- turned out as creamy and as fabulous as HEB's version, and i saved us over 600 calories a bowl. 903 vs. 277 to be exact.

topped it with some tortilla strips and pow.  (you get a free bag of strips when you buy the jarred soup.)

this will be our lunch for tomorrow- if we don't finish it all tonight!

le