Cupcakes and Fitness

Hey Ya'll. Just doing a quick little check in since we are barreling towards Sunday which mean...back to school or the ever popular #BTS2015. I am actually looking forward to going back to work and seeing all the ladies that I work with. I also have some great ideas that I hope to introduce to the school this year and of course, I am completely looking forward to catching up with everyone. That is always my favorite part of pre-planning is the chit chat of summers, traveling, big news, and all that fun stuff. I am excited to hear about everyones traveling. You can bet that I will be taking my travel planning notebook with me to write down some great ideas for future travel.

Not much is new on the home front other than these mongrels I have living with me again. Just kidding! I love these sweet fur babies but they are obviously traumatized since they follow me everywhere. It used to just to be the bathroom (weirdos) but now it is up the stairs, to the kitchen from the couch, and they have to constantly be near me. It does get a bit old but I completely understand. One day mommy was there and then boom 9 months later they make the trip of a lifetime; I am cutting them a bit of slack with the obsessive neediness. And I might like listening to them snore 24/7.

My hubby and I want to start something like the 21-day fix plan to kick start our fitness routine here in the next week. However, I suggested that we finished out the groceries that we already have and really plan ahead for it so we are totally prepared and we have everything we need. So we should  be ready to go by Sunday which is fine by me because school definitely helps me establish a routine. I am refusing to buy the color-coded containers so I am finding containers that are the appropriate sizes and labeling them. I have also dug through Pinterest to find how to determine your calories needs so we will know what to eat. I tell you Pinterest is the goldmine of the internet right now. There are so many freebies on there to print out to help with not only the 21 day fix but any thing else you need. I remember back when Pinterest was the new kid on the block and you had to have an invite to join and it took like three days to be 'approved'. Ahhh, the good old days.  The reunion with the KitchenAid stand mixer may or may not be partially to blame for the delay in the heath wagon coming around again. Not my best work but I will figure it out with the difference in ingredients. They are quite tasty though! Minions Muffins (Banana) on the left and my quite popular Oreo cupcakes on the right.

And what is a little random post without a picture of the amazing sunset here in Abu Dhabi with cranes galore! Lots of building going on all over the place. I can't wait to see some of the new things that are planned.

Back at it

Greetings friends! We are back in Abu Dhabi and back in the swing of normal life after our adventures in Bangkok for spring break. I will be getting more of Bangkok posted up on the blog this week after I finish sorting through the 800+ pictures that I took... what can I say, I was a bit photo happy. We did have a nice time yet we will never return to Bangkok unless there is a fantastic reason (read: free trip) to go. I'll update why in my post this week.

So we got back to Abu Dhabi and finished out spring break by just relaxing, getting the house cleaned up and filling the fridge back up with groceries. Gosh, we are so old. I will say that since moving to Abu Dhabi we have started grocery shopping together and I am pretty happy with this relationship accomplishment. In the states, I couldn't bribe my way into a shared trip to Publix if I tried. My husband hates grocery shopping at all cost. Yet, since moving here we go every week together and it is actually nice. I hate figuring out meals (he is the chef) so his input is nice. Also we found a great vegetable and fruit market where we load up each week on produce. Did I mention it is super cheap? We bought a whole watermelon, 12 bananas, 5 huge oranges, 12 plums, 5 pears, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, a crate of carrots, ginger, celery, 5 ears of corn, 2 things of strawberries, 5 pounds of grapes, 2 pounds of green beans, green peppers, onions, and some other things for less than $40 usd. This is a great help since we are trying to eat better each day. I am still surprised by how cheap the produce is here. It makes life so much easier when trying to eat better and you can actually not break the bank buying the foods that you want to buy.

We've also started going to the gym together. We bought Fitbit HR's about a month ago to try to help us stay on track. If I could just remember to charge mine. I wore it in Bangkok and took it off, it went dead and it was stuffed in a bag so hopefully tomorrow I will have a fitness rundown at the end of the day. I need to get some workouts nailed down so I can go to the gym with a focus each time we go. Yesterday I did arms and cardio, today I did legs, arms, and cardio. My arms are so freaking sore and heavy today. I am sure tomorrow I won't be walking because my legs are already beginning their protest. I am posting each day on Instagram to keep me accountable using my hashtags #instafitgoals and #sparklesgetsfit. Feel free to follow along or leave some encouragement.

I'll get some of Bangkok recap up this tomorrow .... inshallah ;-)

Makeover time

So a confession.... I've kind of let myself go.

I know, it happens to everyone from time to time but this extended period of ridiculousness is just that: ridiculous. I think back to a little over a year ago and I was hitting the gym hard. Twice daily to be exact - 5am and then boxing at night. I was really motivated and I was feeling great. I have never been comfortable in my own skin and I was so pumped to finally be doing something about it. I had an amazing boxing trainer and I think that I owe much of my motivation to him. I didn't want to let him down by not showing up, I pushed myself hard because I wanted to show I was strong and I could work hard. But I guess I lost track that I really needed to be showing myself the strength and I need to be my own motivation. I ended up hurting my Achilles tendon and that shot in my tendon is something I NEVER want to experience again. It really scared me because I went back to the gym after but I was always so cautious. I didn't want to get hurt again, I didn't push as hard and I stopped seeing a lot of the results. End of story: I got discouraged and I quit on myself. I slipped back into old habits, packed all the weight back on and then I got really mad at myself because I had worked so incredibly hard to lose it. So here I am. Irritated with myself, uncomfortable, and starting over...again. For the last.damn.time.

So we have a gym here in my new digs in Abu Dhabi and I plan to start visiting it this week. I finally found some shoes since I left all my tennis shoes back home on accident. No really - it was an accident. I tried to start wearing my Jawbone to find that it no longer holds a charge (annoying) so my husband and I both bought FitBit HR bands which I am really liking so far. I like seeing an in your face accountability for moving, calories, and steps. I also have started logging food in MyFitnessPal again. Coincidentally, one of my friends invited me to a "Spring Fitness" group on Facebook so I gladly signed up and I am hoping to use that as a motivation and accountability as well. Plus, I will blog my journey and use this as accountability as well.


 So here are my goals:

96 oz of water to start per day (I found a 24 oz. bottle so that is my reasoning - 4 bottles a day)
Trying to phase out sugar but I've gotta figure out a happy medium
Gotta stop soda. Like yesterday. No more soda.
8,000 steps a day
at least 4 workouts per week





Keep in mind these are my goals for this week. I think I am also going to do daily fitness goals and post on Instagram daily. That is always a good daily accountability & it reminds me each day to accomplish something. A big driving force is when I go home for the first time in December. I want to look and be a completely different, better, and healthier me.

Feel free to cheer me on, follow me on Instagram for my daily goals, and hold me accountable. Any challenges out there that I can join - comment below!

Will orange eliminate the black?

Off the jump, this post would probably be centered around the amazingly, awesome Netflix series, "Orange is the New Black" which is a show depicted around females in Prison that is taken from a true life story and has a little Hollywood dramatization added. However, I decided to peel my summer self off the couch and away from my Apple TV long enough to check out the other new Orange Craze... Orange Theory Fitness aka the ass-kicking that you become a glutton to and just keep going back for more.

If you have not really heard of Orange Theory it is basically a 60 minute workout that consist of interval training {shoot me} that is done in a class format. Of course you can do interval training on your own but there is a trainer who is leading the class, switching the exercises, upping the incline or speed on the treadmills so all you need to do is listen. They are also super savvy as they have the directions posted on the mirrors in front of the treadmills so you know what level you should be at for what prompt. It is actually very easy. The theory behind the workout is the interval training pushes you into the "Orange Zone" or higher. This creates the after-burn, or for those technical terms peeps: Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. Layman's terms - the calories you burn after you limp out of the workout room because your ass has been kicked. 

How do you know when you're in the orange zone? Well, for me it is when I can barely breath - but for an easier gauge, everyone wears a heart monitor and there are huge flatscreen TV's all over the rooms. So you can see what level you are falling into: White (hello, are you moving?), Blue (thanks for walking in the room), Green (Nice of you to join us, start sweating), Orange (I can't breath!!), and Red (death...okay, maybe not death but I am pretty sure it is close).

I will tell you as someone who hates interval training, this is a great work out and the monitors in your face really push you. I am definitely a visual person and seeing myself in the blue or green makes me push myself. It also gives your calorie burn which I also push to get to the next highest round number. Yeah, it is weird but it just helps me push little more. 

So after the initial 26 minutes on the treadmill, you usually get on the water rowing machine. That machine is an asshole. I had never used one before and that exercise is no joke. I will never say, "Oh, I could totally do that" when watching those poor souls on the biggest loser anymore. If you are a bigger person, it is not comfortable and it quite frankly burns...but a good burn.

So after about 800 rowing meters (death) you move to the weight room. This is really my favorite portion because I love lifting weights but I never know what exercises I should be doing together. They do all the thinking for you so all I need to do is show up and participate. I was actually able to do 5 burpees yesterday without stopping. A small victory - I hate those because the up and down motion makes me feel so sick, but I've determined it has to be mind over matter. Or at least that is how I got through. There are several different blocks that you move through and the objective is to move through the 3-4 different exercises in each block quickly over and over again... hence, interval training. 

After my first OT class.. I was dying... but a good dying. And I was rocking my new Fav. Workout shirt from Val @Fabulous Chick Gets Fit.

I think my favorite part of OT is their use of technology. As I am walking out of the studio each day, I get an email with a breakdown of my workout that I can keep which is great because I am all about comparing notes, did I push hard today compared to yesterday, etc. I usually go all out when I first start a good fitness routine which is great in theory but it can lead to injuries. With OT I can actually see my progress and if I am not performing or keeping my heart rate up, perhaps I need a rest day. Sometimes I have to see something to make me take a day off.  Here is a look at the graphs that they send. 

This was a pretty good workout, but my goal within the next week is to get to and stay at 40% in the Orange zone. 

OT also offers an app in which you can view the schedule and book yourself into classes right from your phone. I LOVE this part because this means that I am making a schedule and if you are booked, you need to go otherwise you will get charged a non-cancel penalty. Well, I like my cash so that keeps me accountable and attending. I went ahead and scheduled myself out for the next week which you don't have to but it helps me with planning the week.

Overall, I am really enjoying Orange Theory Fitness. I think that it is a perfect mix of motivation and training that I need to reach some of my fitness goals. I would highly suggest that if you have an OT near you, give it a try if you are looking for a challenging workout. It is not for the faint of heart, but I can't wait to see my results after 30 and then 60 days. Hopefully this orange will help me begin to cancel out my favorite, slimming wardrobe color, black.






*Orange Theory did not sponsor nor pay for this review. All opinions are my own and derived from my personal experience.