In honor of the almost one-year anniversary of my first ever Flabby to Flabulous Files blog, I am going to attempt a four-day weekend/four-day blog. We happen to be in Monterey Bay for a teacher conference, and I find being away from home to be more difficult, because it can be difficult to find healthy meal choices, and the hotel gym, like the one where we are staying, can sometimes not be ideal for actual workouts. Luckily, Sean and I like to play outdoors, so that is how we chose to get our fitness in today.
After attending the sessions at the conference, we decided we needed to work out before dinner. For us, working out after is never a good idea. We usually go to Crossfit on Fridays, but leaving our house before 5 AM this morning for our drive to Monterey made this impossible today. The Workout of the Day (WOD) at Crossfit is always posted on their website, so we decided to do a modified version. We warmed up in the gym by running on the treadmill, doing sit-ups, stretches, and doing our daily double under jump ropes. The rest was a little trickier. We decided to skip the weight lifting portion and go straight to the WOD because the weights at the gym were not good for push jerks. So off we went to the beach-side deck to tackle the WOD: squats, box jumps, push ups, and a 125 meter run (first 21 each, then 15, then 9).
The amazing part of today's workout was that we were facing the sunset over the bay at this point. We would do our squats, then our box jumps onto the second step of the deck, suffered through push-ups, then ran down the stairs onto the beach, up to the water, then back up again before staring on the next repetition. I was beat by the end, but the scenery was amazing and having my husband by my side made it even better.
Tonight, we went to a restaurant with eclectic decor called The Whole Enchilada. The food is amazing and the atmosphere even better. They even had guitar music to entertain the guests while they waited for a table. One thing I am learning on my journey, is that when we are on vacation, I cannot completely deprive myself of the yummy food that is available. I just have to be smart about my choices. Sean and I shared a margarita...I hate to drink my calories so this was a big splurge for me. We shared a steamed artichoke with balsamic dressing and salsa as an appetizer,. It tasted decadent, but was a very healthy alternative to most fried appetizers.
For my actual dinner, I decided that I really wanted a tamale. This is not always the best choice, but like I shared earlier, sometimes you need to have what you want so you do not feel deprived. I had the sweet corn tamales, but they were covered in a tomatillo salsa instead of a cream sauce. I also only ate one, saving the other for lunch tomorrow, and I asked them to substitute a side salad for the rice and beans. I had what I wanted, I just made smarter choices.
I am determined to get this last 20-25 pounds off before my 45th birthday in June. In order to do this I have to make some sacrifices--exercising instead of extra sleep, and watching my snacking between meals. But if I want to keep this weight off I also have to learn how to have fun sometimes. Like most things in life, balance is a key to success. Going to extremes--either by over indulging or over depriving oneself--will only lead to failure. So tonight, we had a margarita, good food, but we also got in a good workout and made reaonable food choices. Balance.
After attending the sessions at the conference, we decided we needed to work out before dinner. For us, working out after is never a good idea. We usually go to Crossfit on Fridays, but leaving our house before 5 AM this morning for our drive to Monterey made this impossible today. The Workout of the Day (WOD) at Crossfit is always posted on their website, so we decided to do a modified version. We warmed up in the gym by running on the treadmill, doing sit-ups, stretches, and doing our daily double under jump ropes. The rest was a little trickier. We decided to skip the weight lifting portion and go straight to the WOD because the weights at the gym were not good for push jerks. So off we went to the beach-side deck to tackle the WOD: squats, box jumps, push ups, and a 125 meter run (first 21 each, then 15, then 9).
The amazing part of today's workout was that we were facing the sunset over the bay at this point. We would do our squats, then our box jumps onto the second step of the deck, suffered through push-ups, then ran down the stairs onto the beach, up to the water, then back up again before staring on the next repetition. I was beat by the end, but the scenery was amazing and having my husband by my side made it even better.
Tonight, we went to a restaurant with eclectic decor called The Whole Enchilada. The food is amazing and the atmosphere even better. They even had guitar music to entertain the guests while they waited for a table. One thing I am learning on my journey, is that when we are on vacation, I cannot completely deprive myself of the yummy food that is available. I just have to be smart about my choices. Sean and I shared a margarita...I hate to drink my calories so this was a big splurge for me. We shared a steamed artichoke with balsamic dressing and salsa as an appetizer,. It tasted decadent, but was a very healthy alternative to most fried appetizers.
For my actual dinner, I decided that I really wanted a tamale. This is not always the best choice, but like I shared earlier, sometimes you need to have what you want so you do not feel deprived. I had the sweet corn tamales, but they were covered in a tomatillo salsa instead of a cream sauce. I also only ate one, saving the other for lunch tomorrow, and I asked them to substitute a side salad for the rice and beans. I had what I wanted, I just made smarter choices.
I am determined to get this last 20-25 pounds off before my 45th birthday in June. In order to do this I have to make some sacrifices--exercising instead of extra sleep, and watching my snacking between meals. But if I want to keep this weight off I also have to learn how to have fun sometimes. Like most things in life, balance is a key to success. Going to extremes--either by over indulging or over depriving oneself--will only lead to failure. So tonight, we had a margarita, good food, but we also got in a good workout and made reaonable food choices. Balance.
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