Weekend Review–off my game

Good morning friends!

How was your weekend? Lovely and spooky I hope

Want to know a tidbit of information?  I only have 16 more work days before maternity leave (until March 19 2012)!!!  Meep!

But back to the weekend.  This weekend was just plain off.  Yes there was some good, but I’m tellin’ ya, something in the stars were just not aligned for me.

Allow me to explain…

Friday:

Friday was an off-Friday from work, which means errands and more errands.  Well I meant to write my half of the rent check (yes separate bank accounts with the hubby) and realized I had no more checks.  Usually I plan ahead for these things.  Where was my mind?  Guess hubby is getting this month (mwuahahahah).

Then while running errands, I witnessed a 3 car crash just before my nail appointment, which had me a little frazzled.  And then my  shellac mani took about 75 minutes, which meant I was running behind for the rest of the day.   At least it looks good

Pink jammies, French mani, and protruding belly

I quickly ran into the grocery store to pick up a few items needed to make some pumpkin bread, only to get home and realize I bought more cloves instead of nutmeg.  This is the second time I assumed I was out of cloves and not nutmeg, requiring me to go back to the grocery store to get the dang nutmeg.  Argh. 

The pumpkin bread, however, was phenomenal – just follow this recipe.  I used 4 small pans and 2 ramekins to bake mine and it took about 53 min.

Saturday:

Saturday morning started out well enough.  We had our maternity photo shoot and did half the photos in the nursery and half up at Stanford.  From what I could tell she got some pretty good shots, but we won’t know for 2-3 weeks.  I may have some previews later this week though  

Since wed what we already up in Palo Alto, we decided to hit up Pluto’s for some salads and then of course had to go to Yoppi.  Remember that creation I mentioned last week?  Well I went for it: Pumpkin pie froyo, granola, graham cracker crumbs, and cinnamon life cereal with caramel on top.  So freakin’ good.  I can’t even begin to tell you how yum this was

Then things went down hill…

Either the froyo didn’t agree with me or the salad didn’t, because I was having major stomach issues.  We’ll just end that talk right there because anything further is TMI. 

But we had to forge ahead and figure out our Halloween costumes for that night.  I wanted to be a pregnant nun and have Zach be a priest, but there were no costumes!

Since that didn’t work, I figured I’d be a white trash drinking/smoking preggers girl and set out to Target for some fake tattoos.  What did they have?  Nuthin’.  Sigh.

By the time we got home, I was oddly exhausted.  Like couldn’t stop yawning and crashed on the couch.

Needless to say, we didn’t end up going to the Halloween party and I feel like such a butthead.  I just got into a tired funk and couldn’t move.  You can check out pics from last year here though (Halloween Part 1, Halloween Part 2)

Sunday:

When I woke up Sunday morning, it was so bright in our room and I was a bit confused, but didn’t think anything of it.  After I fed the pets and took Naava out, I came back in only to see the microwave clock read 941a!!!  Huh?  I just woke up to my alarm at like 817a. 

Well my alarm is too smart for its own good and has pre-programmed Daylight Savings dates, but that was the dates like 8 years ago…they’ve since changed. So my silly clock set itself back an hour.  Ooops.

The rest of the morning was good, albeit a little off from getting started so late.  After my workout, I figured I’d hammer out some baby shower thank you cards by the pool.  No sooner do I walk down my stairs, do I realize I locked myself out.  Meaning I can’t get into the pool.  I walked to the leasing office and they won’t be back for an hour!  Zach just left to golf, so I’m, err, well, screwed.  Luckily I found a way into the pool area and hung out there until I could get back in. 

I feel like it’s just one of those weekends where I was meant to stay in the comfy confines of my house all weekend.

So that was my weekend…

What did you do this weekend? Share your Halloween stories!

What was your last ‘off’ moment?

Get movin’

Hooray for Friday friends!  It’s my off-Friday and I have tons of odds and ends to fill up my day, including a much needed manicure in preps for my maternity photo shoot tomorrow (Squeal!). 

We have a fun weekend in store with dinner at Zach’s boss’s tonight and a Halloween party to attend tomorrow.  Do I have a costume yet? Nope, sure don’t.  I’ll be figuring that out today as well.

Let’s move on to what this title is all about, mmmkay?

Usually in life I subscribe to quality over quantity, but when it comes to a good workout, I think the line is a bit more blurred.

I wish I was the type of person that could slap my alarm at 445a and hit the gym for an uber sweaty workout, but alas, I am not and never have been.  My sleep is oh so very precious that I can’t deny that extra hour in favor of a workout.

That being said, my workouts take place in the late afternoon – at about 5p. 

Pre-pregnancy, this was perfect because I had a lot of energy to work off from the work day.  Now that tune has changed just a wee bit since I seem to be carrying about 19-20 additional pounds.  Oye

So now, my theory is just  Get Movin’

If you work a rather sedentary desk job like me, it’s all about how the little things add up.  Here are my tips:

• Drink a ton of water – why?  Well not only should you for the good digestion, hydration, but also so you have to PEE.  And that means getting your booty up to hit up the restroom.
• Tilt your seat forward : It helps with your posture and engaging your core muscles.  Or better yet, get a large bouncy ball to sit on.
• Stop emailing and go talk to someone instead.  Yep, I know it’s far easier to email than it is to talk face-to-face, but if you have a spare moment in your day, walk over to your coworker vs sitting on your behind.
• Do small leg lefts under your desk.  I’m a big fan of these – I’ll alternate each leg, picking it up about 5” off the floor, hold it for a second and release.  This engages both the core and leg muscles.
• Chair dips – Granted, you may look a little cuckoo doing this if you’re in a public area, but if you have an office or your cubemates are away, knock out a few sets of 15-20 dips and give the triceps a chance to burn
• Walk, don’t drive.  I’m not talking about to work, but rather in between buildings at work. If you work somewhere like me, it’s a huge campus and the inter0building meetings are awfully far away, but use that as an excuse to get walkin’ (and be green!)
• Get a dog!  Alright, that’s a bit more of an investment, but if you have a dog, that pooch need to be walked and in turn, you burn some extra cals.  It’s a win win!
• Embrace the 20-30 minute workout.  And you know what?  It doesn’t have to be a HIIT.  As long as you are movin’, your body is benefiting.  I swear!  I upped my pre-preg 4 day /wk workouts to 6 days / wk, but have dropped intensity and duration. 
• Make double duty of TV time.  It’s no secret I like to watch a lot of tv.  But I cannot just watch tv alone – I have to be blogging, reading, emailing, doing laundry, making dinner, etc at the same time.  I also use that time to do some workouts using the couch, ottoman stool, and coffee table as my equipment: like step ups, dips, leg raises, etc.    Totally mindless.  Totally easy.
• Sit ups while sitting in traffic?  Well maybe not sit ups, but you can engage your core for 10 seconds and release for 10 while you’re cursing at the ridiculous Cali traffic on 101.  And the added bonus is that all that clenching and breathing helps relieve stress.

And there you have it – simple, easy ways to get movin’ without having to break one heck of a sweat for the benefits.

Tell me your tips?

When it comes to workouts, do you balance quality and quantity, or are you more one or the other?

What are you going to be for Halloween?  Any ideas for me?

Popchips Winner!

Good evening!

Using Random Generator, #19, Liz at I Heart Vegetables is the winner of the Halloween trick-or-treat Popchips giveaway.  Congrats friend!

Please send me your full address by tomorrow 8a (email = shannamccord (at) gmail (dot) com).