I just realized it’s been over six months since I’ve shared a workout with you all! Not that you all need it — in fact, I’m often left in awe of all YOUR workouts! But I have to say that lately my favorite way to get my sweat on has been through HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. This kind of training provides excellent conditioning, improves athletic ability, burns fat, and gives you that runner’s high without all that, you know, running. And since there’s nothing I love more than blasting music and zoning out during a sweat session, how could I not love it?
This particular workout was inspired by one of my best friends, Weggy. She claims she didn’t come up with it but I certainly didn’t so I have to give her all the credit. Regardless of who came up with it, I was sore for two days afterwards — HIIT can have that effect on you.
The Weggy Workout requires nothing more than your body. You can do it anywhere, anytime. It is completed in a tabata style, aka 20 seconds of hard work followed by 10 seconds of rest. You simply work through the initial HIIT circuit of burpees, high knees, mountain climbers and hip twists (aka planks + side dips) in a 20/10 pattern for four minutes. After each round, you work on arms, legs, abs. This can come from whatever group of exercises you like — we’ve included suggestions on the right. My favorites are dips (arms), squats (legs), and bicycles (abs). After you’ve completed the HIIT round (4 minutes) + one circuit of arms/legs/abs, REPEAT it four times. Writing it out makes it sound so much more complicated than it actually is. My suggestion is to create a playlist via Spotify of tabata-specific songs. They have recordings that tell you when to start your exercise, when the 20 seconds are up and your rest begins, and then when the ten seconds are up and it’s time to move on to the next exercise.
The Weggy Workout
Warm up with 200 jumping jacks. Music by Kesha suggested, not required.
20 seconds burpees, 10 seconds of rest
20 seconds high knees, 10 seconds of rest
20 seconds mountain climbers, 10 seconds of rest
20 seconds hip twists (aka planks + side dips)
Repeat 2x (total of four minutes)
Complete arms/legs/abs circuit (use suggestions in attached image)
That equals 1 round.
Complete four rounds!
Cool down with a 1 mile run. Prancing around your neighborhood singing “American Girl” by Bonnie McKee suggested, not required.
Wow I’m going to be the worst personal trainer. Must. Improve. Workout. Sharing. Skills.
Disclaimer: Tabata workouts are not limited to Tuesdays, although the alliteration certainly is charming.
….I’m just approximately 10x cooler now that I have my own apartment downtown.
Just kidding I’m approximately 10x poorer but it is so, so worth it.
The move went as smoothly as possible — minus the hiccup of forgetting all my electronics at home — I guess I was just so excited to make the move that I left my laptop, charger, iPod and phone charger on the kitchen table. Talk about scatterbrained.
But nevertheless I am officially a resident of Chicago. Living that 60657 life, yo.
This is the before pic of my new habitat. It has so much potential and I love it 🙂 I’ve already made it my own with race medals, travel posters. candles and a variety of French paraphernalia. The best part? The light. I know very few things in life but one thing I do know: I can’t live anywhere with limited natural light. I’m a “who needs curtains let’s let the sunshine in at 5am just because it’s magical” kinda gal and this place does just that. Have I mentioned how happy I am and how lucky I feel?
Even better than having a nice space to rest my head at night is that I’m living with two wonderful people. Megan, who you’ve seen around these parts a lot, is my best friend from high school. We’ve been friends since we were 14 and always said we’d live together — who knew it would actually happen. And Colleen – Megan’s friend from college – is a hoot and a half. The three of us have only lived together for 72 hours and we already had a night of ugly Christmas sweaters. champagne and decorating.
I’m on cloud nine.
Trust the timing of your life
When I moved home six months ago, I couldn’t see past the pain. It was like a wall that I couldn’t get past – I just kept hitting it, clawing at it, trying to jump over it or run around it. But it’s once I finally sat down and rested against the wall for a little that it finally disappeared and I was able to see the light on the other side.
There is nothing worse than being in the midst of a storm and someone telling you “everything gets better with time.” It makes you uncontrollably, inexplicably angry. But it’s true. And unfortunately all you can do is weather the storm for as long as it takes.
Now that I’m on my own, all set up in my new place that I am paying for on my own, going to a job I love every single day, and thriving in a community of like-minded fitness junkies, I couldn’t be more full of joy.
Now I just need to figure out how I’m going to fit my high-maintenance grocery demands into my budget. Woof.
Thank you for being the one day a year when people appreciate food the same way I do.
Thank you for bringing my friends and family together for a meal. From Friendsgiving late last week to our family dinner last night, I am in awe of how lucky I am.
Thank you for being an excuse to drink mimosas and finger appetizers at noon on a Thursday.
Thank you for being the unofficial start to the Christmas season.
The past week has been a whirlwind of family, friends, and food and it was beautiful.
I was particularly happy that everything went so well because I’m moving in just a few days. It was great to have a monumental holiday that centers around family just before I make the big move. Not to mention that I did the impossible and went out for Black Wednesday and still managed to make green bean casserole, mop the floor, prep some appetizers AND get a run in on Turkey Day before the big meal.
Proud. Grateful. Joyful. Complete.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are in full holiday mode now!
“Oh shiiiiiit is she about to get political?” Nope. Calm thyself. It’s just storytime, that’s all. Take from it what you will.
A woman’s journey to refill her birth control**
**a pill used for preventing pregnancy, helping get rid of acne, having fewer periods, and providing relief for many health conditions such as Endometriosis, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and painful cramps
Day 1, Hour 1
I leave a phone message at Walmart’s pharmacy. “Hi, I’d like to refill my birth control prescription.”
Day 1, Hour 5
Walmart calls back. “You have no more refills. Please make an appointment with your primary care physician to get a prescription.”
Day 1, Hour 6
I make an appointment for three days later with my primary care physician.
Day 4, Hour 1
I go see my primary care physician. I pay a $20 copay. I see my physician for 20 minutes and receive my prescription refill. She tells me she thinks it will be cheaper at Walgreens so she gives me a paper prescription so I can take it there.
Day 4, Hour 2
I arrive at Walgreens. I wait in line for five minutes while an elderly couple complains that their flu shot has taken so long/ “Sam’s Club would have never taken that long.” I go to the counter and hand them my prescription. The pharmacist informs me that they don’t have my brand at that particular location but insists that she has one that “is pretty much the same thing.” Any woman who has been on birth control knows that each and every pill has TOTALLY different side effects so I call bullshit. I’m not going to gain 15 pounds or get permanent acne scars on my face again like what happened when they put me on Yaz. I’m hesitant but feel uncomfortable because I’m holding up the line with this very public conversation and the pharmacist is very insistent that she can give me a good alternative. I make the decision to leave and try Walmart.
Day 4, Hour 3
I call Walmart from my car on the drive over. They have what I need but by the time I get there the pharmacist will be at lunch so I have to wait.
Day 4, Hour 4
I’m told that they only have one pack’s worth of my birth control but I’m more than welcome to pick that up today and come back on Friday for the next two packs. Another hoop to jump through but I’m just grateful that they have what I need. I decide to just leave and pick them all up on Friday because I’m almost late for work.
Day 6, Hour 1
I pick up my birth control. Thanks to good insurance I only pay $27.
So six days, many hours and almost $50 later, my birth control is finally in my hand. Lucky girl!
A man’s journey getting birth control**
**used solely for preventing pregnancy and STDs
Man walks into Walgreens. Man selects from dozens of condoms. Man walks up to counter. “That’ll be $10. Have a nice day.”
Happy Friday from my homegirl KP! Who’s ready to celebrate? I’m going to my group of friends’ annual Friendsgiving dinner so I couldn’t be happier!
Thanks to Kaylin for tagging me in this questionnaire! It’s been floating around the blog world for awhile now and I’ve loved reading everyone’s responses. Now it’s my turn – and I’m excited for the opportunity for you to get to know me a little better.
Four Names That People Call Me (Other Than My Real Name):
Lo – Not sure where this came from but multiple people call me that now. I love it, actually!
Lela – My best friend Kaitlin’s name for me growing up.
Pumpkin Head – my Dad called me this growing up. I always thought it was a “cute” nickname but in actuality it was all about my giaaaant dome. Thanks, dad.
Leehock – people in high school called me that. Not a lot of nicknames have come my way in life haha I guess Lauren just fits me too perfectly
Four Jobs I’ve Had:
Server
Barista
Writing/production intern for “The McLaughlin Group”
PR intern
And now I’m currently an educator at lululemon and in January (fingers crossed) I’ll be a NASM certified personal trainer!
Four Movies I Have Watched More Than Once:
National Treasure (1 and 2)
The Patriot
Horrible Bosses (Jason Bateman is the best)
White Christmas (it’s that time of year!)
Four Books I’d Recommend:
Gone Girl
50 Shades of Grey (because, I mean, come on)
Life of Pi
Bossypants (Tina Fey for the win)
Four Places I’ve Lived:
Madison, WI
Washington D.C.
Paris, France
Champaign, IL (#college)
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and in two weeks will finally have my own place in the city! So let’s add Chicago to that list, shall we?
Four Places I Have Been:
Belize
Prague
Spearfish Canyon and Sioux Falls, SD (it’s BEAUTIFUL there)
Captiva Island, FL
Four Places I’d Rather Be Right Now:
LA
Washington D.C.
Nashville
Scottsdale, AZ (my friend Jordan just moved there and I miss her like crazy)
Four Things I Don’t Eat:
Red meat
Dairy milk (unless it’s my only option or it’s an ingredient in a dish – but otherwise I don’t drink it)
Beets (NEVER)
Sour Cream
Four Of My Favorite Foods:
Seafood (tuna melts, fish tacos, GET AT ME)
M&Ms
Nuts (I almost always carry a bag of nuts around in my purse. This also includes pb)
Roasted sweet potatoes
Popcorn
Eggs
Chocolate covered pretzels
Spinach Dip
Carrot Cake
wait was I supposed to stop at four?
Four TV Shows That I Watch (or have watched):
Arrested Development
Modern Family (one of my all-time favorites)
Seinfeld
Scandal
Four Things I Am Looking Forward To This Year:
Getting my NASM certification and finding a job in the fitness world
Traveling to Scottsdale to see Jordan (as long as the ol’ wallet allows it)
Baking perfect French macarons. What can I say I set my sights high.
Training for the Chicago Marathon
Four Things I’m Saying:
“Totally”
“Wait let me get a picture of that”
“Thank you” (I say thank you for eeeeeeverything)
“Sorry” (ever seen this video? Totally me. See what I did there?)
I’ve gotten into an unfortunate habit of eating out. A lot. Not 5-course meals or anything, but $5, $15 there, thanks to the usual suspects: a quick spinach-feta wrap from Starbucks, a last-minute happy hour, you know the drill.
And since I’m neither A) Daddy Warbucks nor B) the next Hilton heiress, it’s time for me to reign that habit in – even just a little. I’ll never apologize for my love of eating out. It’s not just about the food – even though nine times out of ten the food is superb and I think food is something in life that’s justified spending money on. I love going out to eat because it usually means I’m catching up with an old friend, meeting up a group I haven’t seen in awhile, or developing relationships with a new community of people. Restaurants are my happy place! You never go out to eat and then spend the whole time frowning or complaining. You go out and celebrate the present, laugh while you reminisce about the past, or muse about future possibilities. I love the whole idea of it. To me, giving up going out to eat would be sacrificing more than just food – it would be sacrificing time with people I love. And I’m not one to sacrifice that.
That being said, I definitely can wake up 20 minutes earlier and pack a lunch for the day or spend an hour roasting potatoes and veggies to go with a piece of fish. It’s not that hard. So that’s where I want to make a few changes. So for today’s WIAW, it’s more about What I’m Eating Lately: Home Cooking Edition. Otherwise known as “Saving Dough Edition.”
Roasted sweet potato + my South of the Border Frittata
Chicken baked in TJ’s garlic simmering sauce, roated green beans a faux-“fried” crispy potatoes
Veggie sandwich: white bean basil hummus, lettuce/onion/tomato, and a slice of swiss cheese on Ezekiel bread.
Pumpkin oatmeal with chia seeds and topped with crunchy pb
Hickory baked salmon, roasted fingerling potatoes and green beans
Chicken noodle soup (amazing on 18 degree days like today!)
Leftover Lou Malnati’s veggie pizza (parents’ leftovers so it doesn’t count 😉 )
Homemade tuna melt – the worst picture in the history of the world but so, so soooo good
Frozen Grapes
Egg sandwich (deconstructed)
Veggie burger with, you guessed it, roasted potatoes
Hot chocolate with a side of bad TV
PB/banana Skoop protein smoothie
Oriental Chicken – you can find the recipe in my Food section
Pasta with parma rosa sauce, Parmesan cheese, chopped tomato and spinach. Pinot grigio on the side.
Aaaaaand a Reese’s peanut butter cup for good measure 🙂
I think my roasted potato love has hit Arman levels. But hey – they’re one of those foods that tastes oh so bad for you but aren’t at all. It’s like fries, but without the greasy fingers afterwards 🙂
So as you can see, it’s all about a little extra effort/time for me. I really can’t wait until I’m in my own apartment (two weeeeeks!) and I can meal plan again just for myself.
Questions:
How often do you eat at a sit-down restaurant?
How many days a week do you find yourself grabbing something quick? i.e. a latte from your local coffee house or a cookie from Potbelly.
Sometimes I worry that eventually you’re all going to get sick of my weekend updates which end up usually like “look how much food I ate!!!!”. In this particular nightmare of mine I show off all the glorious snapshots of my meals and snacks and I come back to check the post and it’s crickets (well, besides my family commenting that I’m taking good care of myself and “looks like you’re having lots of laughs”).
So thank goooooodness I have something to else to share this time around. I had a wonderful weekend full of winter-running, body-sculpting, and museum-exploring. Classy, right?
I had my first bout of winter running which luckily I was able to make happen before the snow fell today. Yes, it’s currently snowing in the Windy City. But while it wasn’t snowing this particular day, it was in the 20s and I started out FREEZING. Thankfully, as usually happens with winter runs, I warmed up after the first mile or so, but those first ten minutes of freezing fingers is no fun at all.
Yep, winter is here. Which means my bed and I are about to become even better friends.
I was a good little runner and stretched/iced my knees and shins before hopping on a train downtown for a night at the museum. I enjoyed a little pre-museum cocktail on the train because it doesn’t get any classier than mini bottles of wine on the train.
Thursday nights in November are free at the Art Institute of Chicago (recently rated #1 museum in the world!) and there’s a local bar nearby with 1/2 off bottles of wine so my night was basically decided for me. I mean, you don’t stumble upon deals like that very often in the city.
The one time in the history of mankind that being an Illinois resident SAVED people money.
My beautiful, beautiful city in the background. With a side of smirk. That is the face that still gets carded for R-rated movies so I’m not sure what I was trying to do here.Megan learning about our favorite piece in the museum (that we saw. That place is HUGE and we’ll have to go back). The folks at the Art Institute mean serious business. There were at least five security guards in every room of the place, and if you got too close to the art (ahem, my bad!) a quiet but noticeable alarm went off. I mean, if you’re going to be #1 in the world I suppose you should preserve the art. Understood.
The rest of the weekend wasn’t nearly as exciting, but I did learn a few valuable lessons that I thought I’d share:
1) Don’t sit next to the heater in hot yoga sculpt.
So. much. sweat. I could SEE the heat blowing into the room above me. Oh, don’t forget your water bottle. Oh, and wait until everyone is out of the room before you take a mirror selfie. I wanted to turn around and say IT’S OKAY I HAVE A BLOG DON’T WORRY! I JUST HAD TO DOCUMENT THE SWEAT!
2) Don’t show up at a pizza place ten minutes before it closes because they’ll be almost out of deep dish and instead of two slices of the good stuff you’ll be forced to have one slice of thin crust. Thieves.
Thin crust being smothered by its deep dish counterpart. Crushing the competition since 1943.
3) Don’t assume no one can hear what music you’re listening to. Because you’ll end up listening to this song on repeat and then realize everyone around you can hear and is actually getting pretty sick of the song. I have so many new friends on the train!
I learned some valuable lessons this weekend, scored a great deal on a classy evening, and even worked out a bit. All the best things in life! Also, lucky you, you got to see my face FOUR times in one post – I’ve definitely hit my quota for the week.
Better late than never! Let’s get those Thursday Thoughts out there.
First things first:
Can we please bring back the high-waisted workout leotards? Can you imagine? Crossfit boxes would be forever changed.
My new apartment downtown is closest to a Jewel so I’ve started going there recently in the burbs to get used to shopping at any store that isn’t Trader Joe’s. It was tough but I powered through somehow. I’ve been trying to focus on those damn veggies lately because I know that this time of year I pretty much just want to roast potatoes, cover them in cheese and call it a veggie. So a veggie-fied week it was.
The loot included: sweet potatoes, white beans, coconut La Croix, bean sprouts, carrots, plain 2% greek yogurt, tuna, green beans, avocado, spaghetti squash, bananas, brussel sprouts and fingerling potatoes. But of course there are some things only TJ can provide so I swung by there afterwards.
The usual suspects: Ezekiel bread, British muffins, white bean basil hummus, soy creamer, chicken, pb pretzels and liquid stevia.
Plus some new friends: coconut cream (not sure how I’m going to use this), garlic simmering sauce and coconut oil cooking spray.
And some of the best nuts I’ve ever had. If I ever overdraft on my checking account it will because I can’t control myself around da nuts (that’s what she said). But seriously – those thai lime & chili cashews are killer.
On the workout front, I started back up at a Crossfit box downtown (okay technically it’s not Crossfit because there’s not Olympic lifts but I’m not sure what else to call it. I’m sure the Crossfit police are out there monitoring the internet for every misuse of the word Crossfit so I guess I’ll just call it bootcamp).
We arrived to a seriously fun tabata workout. We started off with a sprint warm-up which reminded me of my old basketball days when I would get suuuuper competitive with everyone around me and try to win every time we had to run suicides. The workout then consisted of 20/10 work/rest increments of power balls, v-ups, broad jumps, rows and man makers or burpees (your choice – I chose burpees. Not because I have a death wish but because I didn’t understand what man makers are and I didn’t want to look like a fool).
Oh my gosh it was a BALL. The only downside: I’m STILL sore. I took a rest day Wednesday because I legitimately couldn’t think of a workout to do that wouldn’t make my body cry. That was one full-body workout. Oh, and broad jumps are my new favorite thing. If you need me I’ll be doing them in my kitchen.
I need your help. Thoughts and opinions, please. I have terrible, terrible skin. Acne on the face and eczema on the arms. Yep I’m just that blessed. With that being said it always hits its peak horrible-ness (I’m really going for a Pulitzer prize today, aren’t I?) this time of year and I’m just sick of it. I’m tired of wearing long sleeve shirts all winter. I’m tired of being embarrassed at the gym in tank tops. I’m sick of itching my arms constantly and wondering if I have any red patches on the back of my arms that I can’t see. I’m sick of lathering on six creams before bed. So, I’m seriously considering going to a tanning bed once a week or once every two weeks. I know, I know, CANCER BOX. But I also have spoken with a dozen people or so who say that, like anything in life, moderation is key. I even spoke to one woman who said her dermatologist recommended a tanning bed twice a month to help clear up her eczema. What are your thoughts of tanning beds to help skin problems like this? I would love to hear all opinions, but would appreciate personal experience and/or educated comments even more, thanks! I have no intention of becoming the next “Tan Mom” but I’d love to not hide my arms like an amish woman for the next five months.
I don’t know how much I talked about it last week but my mom’s knee surgery went well – she’s kicking butt (not literally, of course, with the new knee and all 😉 ). I have no doubt in my mind that her 25-pound weight loss helped immensely. It makes me so proud to see her taking control of her health. This is EXACTLY why I want to be a personal trainer. I spent years and years with my fingers crossed, hoping my parents would get on board with eating healthy and being active. Once you know how amazing that kind of lifestyle is, you just want to go up to everyone who’s not doing those things and just shake them, saying YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GREAT THIS FEELS! But you just can’t. The healthy living journey is something that people can only fully appreciate once they make the decision for themselves. There’s a little mental switch that needs to be flipped. So now that I’m seeing my parents fall in love with vegetables, cooking, and portion control, it makes my heart smile a little bit. Not to mention I want them to be around for a longgggg time, so this new lifestyle only helps. I can’t wait to be a certified personal trainer so I can help people who take that first step and decide they want a healthier lifestyle, and walk with them through their journey.
I’m going ham on that frittata, folks. Sometimes I want to share recipes because I have a mini panic attack that I haven’t shared one for awhile and, what kind of blogger would I be without sharing a good recipe every now and then? But this one is truly one of the best things I’ve ever come up with in the kitchen. I’m so proud. It’s like my little frittata baby.
I typed in Frittata Baby into google and all I got was a baby eating frittata.
I go into work for six hours without my phone and this is what I come out to. Friends, you are hysterical. Reading through a group text that you haven’t been a part of for half a day is basically the same as watching a 30-minute sitcom on TV, so thanks for that.
It’s officially winter in Chicago. I broke out my blizzard parka yesterday and it was glorious. We also have legwarmers at lululemon now so I’m thinking it’s going to be a flashback to an 80s winter this year. It’s also the season of “I don’t need any more coffee in my body but damnit I really need to hold a cup of coffee to keep my fingers from falling off.”
And finally, a quick story. I temporarily joined a gym in the suburbs three years ago via Groupon. It was an amazing bootcamp-style workout that my friend and I took advantage of when we were home on winter vacation from college. I could tell from the beginning that the owner was salty about us “Groupon-users” but he was always pretty kind and helpful so I chose to ignore it. On our last day, however, I’ll never forget how he went into a rant to the whole class as we were jumping rope about how Groupon users were taking advantage and not serious about the program. IN FRONT OF US. It was so random and completely inappropriate. 1) YOU are the one who put up an offer on Groupon. If you don’t want people to use it, don’t do it. 2) Why would you EVER say that kind of stuff in front of the people who did nothing wrong except buy a Groupon? At least wait until we’re gone to trash talk us. My friend and I were absolutely mortified and I’ve resented that gym ever since. Why am I telling you this? Because I’ve been on his listserv ever since so I’ve been getting 3+ years of fitness advice, workouts and recipes sent to me for free. And I just had to express the poetic justice in that. I know it’s immature but every time an email from him comes through I just feel this evil grin come onto my face. Free stuff for an advantageous Groupon user? Don’t mind if I do.
Starbucks Studying
Sweat on State — like a jungle gym for adults!
Coffee by the cup – Starbucks Christmas blend, ground espresso-style
I will never ever get sick of eggs
i had a big lunch 
