WWU: 2

Thursday, 1/24 - 30 minute HIIT treadmill 30 second sprints (474 calories burned)

Friday, 1/25 - 5k (669 calories burned - I accidentally let my hrm run an extra 32 mins)

Saturday, 1/26 - Pop-Pilates dvd (383 calories burned)

Sunday, 1/27 - 65 minute Elliptical incline 10 resistance 7 (719 calories burned)

Monday, 1/28 - Rest

Tuesday, 1/29 - Decemburrr Circuit Workout (409 calories burned, plus carpet burns on my arms from the plank jacks)

If you ever want to know more specifics about my workouts, let me know! Or maybe I'll start sharing that info anyways...hmmm

Silver Linings Playbook, Parker and One for the Money



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I really liked this movie. It's kind of a twisted comedy. Like the jokes aren't flat out jokes more like sarcastic lines, but they sure do make you laugh. The movie really was happy, sad and funny all at the same time. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it! B. Coop and J Law are really good in the movie. The entire movie was cast really well...all the way down to Julia Stiles playing an uptight house wife.

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Well Jason Statham can act, but I can't say the same about the rest of the cast. When I say he can act, I mean play his usual 'hit me all you want and I will still kick your butt and win" role. J-Lo shouldn't have been cast in this movie...I don't know what she should stick with really but I do know it's not acting. Oh and the way the movie made people from Texas look was horrible. Excuse me, but we aren't all from the show Dallas. Anyways...if you want to see Jason Statham kick some butt, then watch the movie. If not, go watch Pitch Perfect again just skip it and rent it later.

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I know this movie had horrible reviews, but I actually liked it. Yeah, the accents were bad and it wasn't the greatest acting in the world, but overall it was pretty cute. I actually tried reading the book back in the day and never got into it, but I might give it another go. It reminded me a lot of The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler (another one that got bad reviews, but I actually liked). It's new on Netflix, so if you have that then you're good to go.

Weekly Workout Update 1

To keep me motivated I've decided to start documenting my workouts. Hopefully, I can keep up with this...finger's crossed. This isn't a link up, but feel free to join in on the fun and let me know what you've been doing!! Plus, I love discovering new workouts!

I will try to link to as much as I can, but some stuff I make up on my own :) Also, I typically wear my heart rate monitor so I will start adding calories burned behind each workout...that is if I remember to write it down.

Monday, 1/14 - Pop-pilates dvd

Tuesday, 1/15 - HIIT treadmill 30 mins (30 second sprints) and biceps

Wednesday, 1/16 - Cardio Ballet YouTube Video

Thursday, 1/17 - Rest day

Friday, 1/18 - 5k run (gotta train for the rodeo run)

Saturday, 1/19 - Pop-pilates dvd 

Sunday, 1/20 - 5k run

Monday, 1/21 - Cardio Ballet YouTube Video (451 calories burned)

Tuesday, 1/22 - HIIT Circuit found here (458 calories burned)

Wednesday, 1/23 - Rest day

A little back story: After I graduated college, I started going to an all women's gym with my Mom and got myself a trainer. I absolutely loved my trainer! She really pushed me and instilled a really good workout ethic in me. Then I started dating my bf... I was still working out, I just wasn't going as much because I liked going on dates with him after work. Also, my training sessions were over and my trainer found a job at another gym (tear)...

After a few months of that, a brand new gym opened by my house and it was cheaper than my current one. I decided to join the other gym which I think was a big mistake. There was no one there to keep me motivated and it was one of those gyms that you almost had to already be in shape to fit in there. After not going to that gym for months on top of months, I finally decided to cancel my membership and just work out at home...

At home I never had a plan. Depending on my mood I would attempt a workout outside, go run/walk the track at the elementary school or do Wii Fit. I discovered/tried the Nike training app for about 2 weeks and gave that up. My Dad won me P90x in an auction and I stuck with that for about 2 weeks as well. My bf through all this had lost his workout mojo too and all of a sudden we were both being couch potatoes...

Starting 2012 he was bitten by the workout bug again and started going back to his gym regularly. I guess this motivated me to start working out for real again and last March (yeah it took me 3 months to get motivated) I started the LiveFit program. Like I said in this post, it was probably my most successful workout program even though I wasn't able to completely finish. But since then, I've been dedicated and have been going to the gym 4, 5 or even 6 days a week. Then I went on a few vacations and it was holiday time and the gym habit slowly died...

Since the start of the new year, I have slowly been getting my butt back into the gym on a regular basis and that is why I wanted to document my workouts. Like I said above, this is to help me stay motivated (and to not feel so guilty about indulging my sweet tooth). I promise...this will be the longest post I write on the subject...if you made it through this novel you deserve a medal!!

Blondies!



Yesterday was national blond brownie day! To celebrate I whipped up a batch of blondies for an after dinner treat! I found the original recipe over at Sweet Tooth Sweet Life, but added one thing and omitted a few others.

Blondies

click here for the original recipe from Sweet Tooth Sweet Life

1/4 c butter

1 c packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 T milk

1 large egg

1 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray an 8x8 baking dish (mine is glass) with non-stick cooking spray. In a small sauce pot melt the butter on low heat. Once melted, take the pot off of the burner and add the brown sugar, vanilla, milk and egg. Stir until combined. Next, add the flour and baking powder. Pour into the 8x8 baking dish and cook for 25 minutes. The blondies should be golden brown when done. Let cool for a few minutes and then dust them with powdered sugar.

*these are listed as low-fat so you don't have to feel too guilty eating one or two :)

Red Dawn, Wreck it Ralph, The Artist and All Quiet on the Western Front

Finally...the last 4 movies I watched in 2012...


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 So I know this movie got horrible reviews, but I went and saw it anyways! I enjoyed this movie even though it was pretty ridiculous. I mean who has a cell phone that the battery lasts for days?!?! Anyways I liked the action and the few surprises that they threw in there.



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 I had heard good things about this movie, so I decided one weekend I would go check it out. It was just ok for me. Maybe it was because I don't like John C Reilly, but there was just something about it that bored me. It did have a good message so all you peeps out there with kids, this would be a good movie to take them to.



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A mostly silent movie... Since watching all the Oscar winning movies is on my bucket list, I had already watched 2 silent movies and thought I was done...until this movie won last year. I wasn't really looking forward to watching it, but I actually liked this movie. And the dog was really cute (which I had heard before).



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Another Oscar winner...this completed my 5 for my 2012 goal list. While I still find it hard to understand the accents people had back in these days, I did understand most of it. This movie is about how war changes someone. You see a group of friends who are encouraged to serve their country (to get out of school) and what they go through during their time in the army. It also shows what happens when they get to go home and how people back home don't understand what it is actually like on the battelfield. All of which is still true today. 

Hamburger Spinach Salad

Last night I decided to think outside the "bun" and made a hamburger salad instead of just a plain ol hamburger. I filled my plate up with lots of spinach, a cut up hamburger patty, half an avocado and some homemade mustard dressing!

I didn't get a picture of my dressing by itself, but in case you were wondering this is what I used...

Olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, yellow mustard and pepper. I'm not sure exactly how much of each I used :( I can tell you that I used a mini round glad storage container to make it in...

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I filled the container about half way with olive oil. Then I added 3 good squirts of lemon juice. A few shakes of garlic powder. Two squirts of yellow mustard. Then a few shakes of ground black pepper. Mix it all up with a fork and pour a little over your salad and save the rest for another day.

If you happen to have dijon mustard on hand, I would recommend using that instead of the yellow mustard and pepper. Or try both ways :)

House at the End of the Street, Katy Perry, Brave and People Like Us

Now that I'm back on track with blogging, I can get back to one of my favorite things...movies!! I saw eight new movies to round out 2012 and here are the first four...(sidenote: all of these were watched on a plane)

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I had originally wanted to see this close to Halloween, but my scary movie buddy and I couldn't ever find a time that worked. Instead I was a crazy person and watched it on a plane...ha ha. I actually liked it. I didn't see the twist coming towards the end which I really liked.

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This will probably be as close as I come to ever going to a Katy Perry concert. But yet I still had fun. Yes. I was the crazy person dancing in my seat while watching a movie. I think my mom secretly wanted to watch it with me because she kept looking over at my screen even though she was watching her own movie...ha ha. It was mostly a really up beat and fun movie. Except the part where her relationship went down the crapper. I mean it is Hollywood and that is kind of the norm, but watching the movie I actually felt sad for her.




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Disney/Pixar did not disappoint. This was a cute movie. It's about a teenage girl who doesn't see eye to eye with her mom and when she tries to change things, events happen that could change her entire life and not for the better. It becomes about them having to work together and form a new bond.



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I have mixed feelings about this movie. The reason I  wanted to watch this movie at all was because of Elizabeth Banks and Chris Pine and not the story line. However, the story line probably should have been the most important factor...ha ha. Overall it was a decent movie, but I just couldn't get on board with Chris Pine's character and didn't really care if he changed his ways or not. I did however like Elizabeth Bank's character. So yeah...mixed feelings...ha ha.