Happy halloweenie

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

This post has nadda to do with Halloween but I bet you giggled at “halloweenie” – no?

Maybe this will get you giggling then…

If that fails, this one compliments of my sister might do the trick…

Classy.

Other than those photos and a few pumpkin treats, there wasn’t much about my day that suggests it was Halloween. I’m not too upset…

I started my day sweaty, not spooky, with a session at crossfit. Deadlifting day is my fav and today was no exception! My 5RM is up to 215 and I managed to eke out 4 consecutive pull ups again today. That in itself would make for an accomplished morning but we also did rope climbs (love!) and the conditioning was 50 burpees for time or 3 minutes of awesome suck (3:06 to be particular)!

I popped into GFC to get checked and then was ready for a busy day. I also fuelled up with a banana and some raw almonds while I ran a few errands this morning.

Does anyone else think raw almond suck? I’d much rather have them roasted. And roasted in a nut butter would be best…but in terms of overeating I’m sure it looks like this in terms of worst offenders: peanut butter (roasted, salted, sugary, hydrogenated, etc.) = all holds gone > roasted natural nut butter > roasted nuts > raw natural nut butter > raw nuts. Hmmm…

I think I’ve gone through a half a jar of almond butter this week and you’ll see why if I fill you in on my meals for the day:

breakfast: eggs (with coconut milk), almond butter, apple, dried cherries

lunch: pork with kale, squash and raisins and cinnamon

snacks: 2 almond flour muffins (one with chocolate, one with raisins) + a pumpkin cookie I didn’t snap a photo of (but my bootcampers and my fellow CrossFitters approved of my second go at my paleo pumpkin cookie recipe)

dinner: pork chop and almond butter, straight out of the jar

At least I know what I could have done better: less nuts, more veggies.

I spent the afternoon on campus talking to some of my former writing professors about journalism, grad school, and all that kind of jazz. It feels good to be moving forward with my applications–I’ve got a lot of work to do but I’ve done it before and I am excited to write them again! It also felt good to be on campus, even I dare say it to be in the library working on my next freelance article about the paleo diet and cycling. It’s due in a week so I’ve got to get an outline and a draft together soon–it’s not like I’ve got a whole lot of free time to work on it!

I did some work but I definitely could have been productive. I got sucked into the Whole 9 website again and was reading all kinds of entries on it when I “shoulda” been working. Whatevs. Now I can share with you the link that got me sucked into the website…it was the blog “Lies We Tell Ourselves” and sheesh it was awesome. I clicked over to the posts about being addicted to stress, which really rocked my socks. I like that they include actionable things in their posts and that they’re personal about their writing. I like that The Whole 9 takes a big ol’ simple approach to things: either something makes you healthier or it doesn’t. Remember my realization that there’s no sideways/standing still in life? Same thing! What they talk about is a lot like Eat by Design and is probably the most user friendly stuff I’ve found in my reading. I have “It Starts With Food” and of all the “paleo-ish” books I’ve picked up, it might be my favourite recommendation for someone thinking about experimenting with their diet.

Anyways, now that I’ve rambled a bit…back to my day! I called it quits on campus mid-afternoon and came home to clean my apartment a bit. I was greeted by my level 1 certificate from CrossFit! I already knew that I’d passed but to have the certificate in the flesh feels pretty legit.

This evening I made it to a Moksha Flow class across town by the gym where I teach bootcamp. It was a sweaty hot class (I’m aware this is obvious) and we did lots of hip openers in what felt like an “easier” flow class. I really can’t complain–I probably needed more of a yin class than anything today since I’m pretty sore! The time was perfect though and the owner of the studio was teaching (always a treat!) so this class could become a regular thing for me. I had just enough time to shower and to eat a nanner before I headed across the street (literally) to teach bootcamp. I put my recruits through a tabata workout today (squats, pushups, lateral jumping, running, step-ups or box jumps, and planks). They didn’t like me but I had the pumpkin cookies to win them back over once we had stretched and cooled down!

And now here I am…ready for bed. For a day off, today sure was busy! Tomorrow I’ve got plans to get writing, a bootcamp to teach, some shopping plans with a few lovely lady friends, and a workout in the mix. If I’m feeling too much writer’s block a yoga class in the evening (yin, maybe!) could be just what I need.

Have a happy halloween!

What’s your favourite kind of nut butter?
Did you do anything to celebrate Halloween?

No apologies

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

“Accept everything about yourself–I mean everything. You are you and that is the beginning and the end–no apologies, no regrets.”

-Henry A Kissinger

Another day down…where did this week go?

I started my morning with breakfast and shopping. I bought more shoes — this time two pairs of boots. I know it’s only August but when I can find boots for $30 a pair, I’m in. Gosh I need a bigger closet!

egg scramble with mixed veggies and potatoes

I bought this. And a quilt. Bring on the new bedroom…must. start. apartment. hunting!

We also made a pit stop at Starbucks and got the car washed…a girl needs her caffeine!

bubbles!

this is fun

We were home by a late lunch time. I had a life coaching appointment–it was bomb and inspiring and you know there’s a post coming about it–and then went to the park for a workout.

My mom met up with me there and brought my gramma’s dog, Duke. He was great company during my Tabata fun.

We played on the monkey bars once I finished and even went on the swings. It’s been so long since I just hung out with my mom — very fun and very funny when she wanted off the rotating thing (I bet it has a name but I have no idea what) but I wouldn’t stop it. FYI, making your mom throw up is mean–but pretty entertaining! Also entertaining was when a girl walked by with a sheep. There’s a photo on my mom’s camera but it’ll have to wait…but it was just a casual afternoon walk with her sheep, apparently. She wasn’t phased by us but we thought it was just the funniest shit…bahhhhhhhh!

After the fun in the park, we were hungry so it was dinner time! I made pork chops, zucchini, and asparagus. With some salad and then a bit of tomato sauce, I had a weird but tasty mix (the fam also had spaghetti!).

Dessert today was more Reese’s. And after a lot of thinking about such a small thing, I’ve settled on this: I like chocolate. My mom likes it, my grandma likes it, etc. We were talking about health bars and the stuff that people eat when they’re trying to get healthy (shakes, meal replacement bars, etc.) and it came to this: me saying that those things aren’t really all that healthy–REAL FOOD would be better. So it’s alright to eat chocolate, froyo, beer, etc. and to own it. And not to be stupid about the fact that these things aren’t actually fuelling me — they’re just tasty. I do a pretty good job of eating plenty of real food and I’m definitely working on doing better daily so rather than beat myself up, I’m just going to give myself some props for getting real about this all.

Hence the quote of the day I started with today. Rather than try to make excuses, why not just own it? It is what it is–whatever it is.

It’s hard to believe how quick this week (especially today!) has gone by. We’re packing up early tomorrow so I’ll be back in the great white north (ha ha ha) soon. Maybe it will be boot weather…

What are you sick of apologizing for? What would happen if you just owned it?

Good and bad and everything in between

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Hi! I’m back to London (and a computer) and I’ve been dying to make a real post, but there’s a lot on my mind so it could get messy.

I think a quote is in order to start this off and to let you know what page I’m on:

“I believe that everything happens for a reason.
People change so that you can learn to let go,
things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right,
you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself,
and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

- Marilyn Monroe

Tough Mudder was in a word: tough. I don’t even think I can do a full race recap right now because I’ve blocked it out of my memory…but I’ll try !

We got up bright and early and hit the road after some breakfast–our drive was supposed to be about an hour and a half and it was a nice morning with a pretty sunrise.

Nina, Andrew and I carpooled and met up with Sonya and Sarah and their spectator friends to go to the race site (on a school bus — fun right?).

Once we got there it was all about getting pumped up (aka waiting around for our 9:50 start time).

To start, you actually had to hop over a mini wall. Funny. I used a boost.

After they totally pumped us up (lots of cheering, some anthem-singing, high fives, etc.), we were on our merry 16km way. Up and down and up and down and up and down and then up and down hills. Our 6th member, Steve, found us right away — and we were off! Ski hills, not bunny hills. So when I say that we “ran” the course, you can infer that it was a mix of running, walking, trudging, and crawling. Plus swimming, technically…

There were 20 obstacles (I think) and the ones that stick out as the most fun were the arctic enema, funky monkey (monkey bars over water which I totally made it across with a smile!) and the mud mile. There was also essentially a giant slip and slide down mud on a hill which was just plain old fun, but I’m not sure what that one was called!

For those 3 fun obstacles, there was also plenty of hills to climb and some really shitty obstacles. Like being zapped. Over and over again in two different obstacles — electric eel and electroshock therapy. Yeah, I survived, but I won’t lie to you — I cried. And I got cranky. And I had to apologize to my team for it and move on and thank god the hardest of the shocks came at the end. I literally crawled to the finish but whatever. Done and done.

We were lucky enough to have spectators who snapped some photos of us in action, but we look pretty dirty (and you can see my cranky face !).

after you…into the ice!

In the ice bath, Sarah popped her shoulder out. Then she put it back in and went on with the race. Definition of epic.

The venue was gorgeous!

Those wires look little…but don’t be fooled. OW

Beer helped bring back the smiles.

I probably wouldn’t do another tough mudder real soon. I’m not just shook up by the electroshock, it was also expensive (over 150$) and one of those things I think you can check off your bucket list and be done with! I am glad I did it — but I heard a story about a guy who did it 3x this weekend in Toronto and I think he is psycho. That is all. We did have fun hanging out after the race with our matching shirts and sunburns!

After we kind of relived (whined about) the race for a while, we packed up and hit the road. The traffic back to Mississauga sucked, to put it nicely.

We pulled over for snacks (it was almost 3 and breakfast and the bananas, LARA bar, and apples I’d eaten weren’t cutting it). I had chili at Tim Horton’s and was much less hangry driving the rest of the route to drop Nina off.

Even though we were late getting back to London, we met up for sushi. It was my first time! And it was delicious, but I’m not a big rice girl so I mostly ate meat and tempura. It is what it is.

Afterwards, some of us went out for drinks. I don’t know how I was still awake–but I guess the coffee (which may or may not have had Bailey’s in it) did the trick. Today I had nothing important to get up for so I was in bed til lunchtime. So lunch was breakfast! I hung out with Angela and got my car checked out (it was making a hella funny sound but it’s okay and all fixed up), rebuilt my bike, and half-unpacked/repacked for Pennsylvania).

lunch: sausage over kale, apples, and some maple dressing with dried cranberries

snack at Starbucks

Now I just finished a quick dinner and am going to head to yoga. My body is NOT in the state to feel good teaching spin–my hip was a mess after the hills and the car ride yesterday and I feel like a train hit me (or like I got tough muddered…). I did get to the chiropractor today which left me feeling energized (though it might have been the positivity and the fact that I got to whine for a few minutes about how tough the race was !) and like I can move my neck again!

pork over swiss chard with raspberry vinaigrette

Dessert: digging into my awesome chocolate find from the conference and trying out some cranberry tea!

Things I’m sick of include living out of a suitcase and eating tons of dried fruit and nuts. I am craving a little bit of routine but I know going to my grandma’s for a few days is going to be fun and relaxing. I’m looking forward to getting away–if that makes any sense since I’ve hardly been home–since where she lives is so rural and simple. I plan on reading, journalling, blogging, etc….all the good stuff I feel like I’ve been missing out on lately! I am bringing my TRX and my kettlebell and leaving my bike here–if I do much I think I’ll take it to the park or find a trail to run on while I’m there. I’m still tired from everything that’s been going on I think and one thing I am learning to take to heart is that if you’re tired or sick or injured, what’s the point in stressing yourself out with a workout that you feel like you SHOULD do? (Hint: there’s not much point for me!).

Anyways, it’s zen time! I hope you enjoyed my whining and ranting about the race and that you’re all happy since I’m back.

Have you ever done a Tough Mudder Race? What’d you think?
Do you do well with travelling?

Saturday start

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Oh hey there!

It was a sunny start to things here in Banff.

I started my morning the best way possible: an inappropriate selfie.

Just kidding. The best way possible = scenery and sweating.

So after that nanner, I laced up my running shoes and hit the trails. I didn’t run very far, but I was out for a while since I stopped to take lots of photos. I think today, scenery > sweating.

…wouldn’t you agree?

After my quick jaunt around Tunnel Mountain (one day I wanna run some of the awesome trails I saw leading off the ones I did explore today), I did a circuit in the hotel gym. Which blows. There’s just a bowflex, no free weights, but at least there’s a pullup bar! And at least I’m staying in a hotel in a beautiful town on the side of a mountain. Things could be worse !

While I was running I saw lots of people getting active — sheesh it would be nice to get out here again when I’m not embarking on a 500km trek on my roadbike. I bet there are people who trail run, mountain bike, and do crazy workouts outside. I googled crossfit banff and there’s not much. Business opportunity? Haha…

After my little sweat session, we had a breakfast buffet. I loaded up my plate with two breakfasts worth, but I ended up going the more adventurous (for me) route when I realized the granola was stale and not what I remembered. My tastes might be changing…or since I am embracing bacon maybe that’s just what was up.

Anywho, I polished off the bacon/sausage and eggs and had some of the fruit. I want scrambled eggs like it’s no one’s business, but I made do with the one from the eggs benedict. Haha, re-read that sentence. “Made do with the one from the eggs benedict.” God, it’s a rough life…there was also copious quantities of coffee, which left me with a hella happy belly.

After we were sufficiently stuffed, we picked up my bike. The shop was a zoo (they do rentals) and there was of course ~5 guys who I decided would make FINE future husbands. Something about this mountain air…

Now it’s time for us to get our golf on! We’re playing at the Canmore Golf & Curling Club, which appears to be out of my league, but ya know…I have lots of potential as a golfer, my dad likes to say. I guess I’m just tapping into that!

Wish me luck. How many balls do you think I’ll lose?

Do you golf?
What’s your fav breakfast food if you’re out to eat? At home?
If you could live anywhere for a summer, where would it be? I’d choose here! I’ve been to Banff in the winter before–and I think I could make do if I had warm enough clothes and a hot enough husband. Hahhaa…

Start it right

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Morning! I’m feeling particularly accomplished this morning.

I had three boot campers with smiles (or something like that) on their faces this morning, including Bee whose blog, Bee Goes Bananas, I’m sure you’d love if you aren’t already a reader!

After bootcamp, I decided to go for a morning run. It’s not uber hot out and I was feeling energized and pumped up (I guess my girls’ awesomeness rubbed off on me), but I was also feeling hungry so I had a quick energy gel and then hit the trails.

…and then the trails hit me.

It’s not as bad as that looks but I was dirty. I hustled home and to prove that there might have been blood and sweat but not tears, I snapped a photo. Girls don’t sweat, they glisten…remember?

If this isn’t a good look for me, I’m so shit out of luck because I glisten like a pig every time I work out! I think this morning I probably did about 5 or 6 miles (we ran in our bootcamp workout–the one I posted yesterday) but I’m not sure since my garmin was dead and I frankly don’t care.

I refuelled with last night’s yogurt plus some kamut puffs and a banana. It was yummy, but it got yummier when I threw in some almonds and some chocolate soy milk. Oh hey, creating it as you go, you’re delicious! The hungries I felt after my run are just proof that cardio = working up an appetite. All of a sudden it’s seeming kind of weird that people start working out and training for marathons and triathlons and all that to LOSE weight. I eat MORE when I train — not only physically do I need the extra calories but I definitely justify some things (i.e. the chocolate in this break) based on the workouts I do. Hmmmm…thoughts?! I think it was in Gary Taubes’ book that I read something about this whole phenomena…about how silly it is that we take up endless endurance exercise to lose weight when people also work out in this way in order to “work up an appetite” for instance if they have a big dinner to look forward to. Very interesting. Still, I loved my run this morning, I like riding my bike, and I enjoy swimming…so since that’s not my motivation I’m not crazy, right?

Now it’s time for me to get organized and get down to business on my writing! I promise myself not to blog ALL DAY LONG but that doesn’t mean I won’t probably get distracted reading blogs and all that fun stuff…oh well! I have this spare time, I might as well enjoy it. Starbucks here I come. After my life coaching session, I’m going to hit up a yoga class since my workouts are done for the day. My main goal: stay upright, since I have a knack for falling over these days!

Have you ever bailed on a trail run? Did anyone see? No one was around when I fell so I had to laugh at myself instead of having the pleasure of providing entertainment for someone else!
What do you do with free time?

Shopping, smiling, sweating, and switching

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Hi again! You know I’ve got free time when you get THREE posts from me in one day…

I spent most of the morning at Starbucks plugging away on my random to-dos. So much for freelancing, but yay for crossing lots of my to do list!

After lunch, which I’d packed for the day, I took advantage of the air conditioned mall and did some damage at lululemon. Oops. Don’t you know a girl can never have too much spandex? Believe it or not I never had one of the no limits tanks that every girl who works there seems to own in multiple colours. So this was like a rite of passage for me PLUS I am teaching my butt off these days PLUS I can’t pass up this hot hot pink colour. So I got the cool racerback and the power y tanks in the same shade and I’ll return them if remorse sets in but somehow I don’t think it’s going to!

chard, sprouts, sirloin, and spicy mustard

I look good in pink, right? Just tell the Visa man that…

I smiled a lot when I got free chocolate from Laura Secord, even if it was probably on the verge of expiry from Valentine’s Day. Om nom nom things that are free taste better and chocolate really never tastes too bad to me!

I ran some more errands/dealt with some appointments and then had myself an early dinner (like 4:30pm grandma/grandpa style) so that I’d have time to digest before heading to the park for bootcamp. It was uber hot so I tried to find a workout that wouldn’t make anyone ACTUALLY pass out, even if it made them feel a little like they might .

kale, pork, dried apricots, and avocado

I came up with the following…

Warmup

5-10 minutes walk/jog (around the park at own pace)

dynamic stretching (arm circles, hip circles, deep breaths, shoulder rolls, etc.)

Workout

1. Lower body circuit = 10 jump squats / 20 hamstring activations (10/side) / 30 reverse lunges with a leg lift (15/side) / 40 step ups / 50 body weight squats –> repeat 2-3x

10 minutes run/jog

2. Upper body circuit = 5 plank walkouts with a pushup / 10 burpees / 15 decline pushups (feet on park bench) / 20 triceps dips / 25 super mans –> repeat 2-3x

10 minutes jog/run

3. Core circuit = 45 seconds on/15 seconds off each of extended plank / plank up down / forearm plank / left side plank / right side plank / forearm plank

Cooldown/stretch

…but no one showed up! So I’ll be saving that for tomorrow! I ran into walmart really quickly to grab some batteries and some other random things I needed before I went to the gym. I got my workout on in the air conditioning and it wasn’t so miserable–I guess when you only hit the weight room every once in a while it’s not so boring any more. My workout was:

warm up (squats, lunges, high knees, jumping jacks)

circuit x 3 12 – 15 reps each of barbell squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, medicine ball swings, medicine ball slams, medicine ball pushups (passing the ball so one side is uneven), medicine ball roll ups, oblique twists with the medicine ball, and weighted crunches

spin class!

So even though I had 0 participants at bootcamp I’m not too upset. It was something ridiculous like 40 million degrees outside anyways and I’m not taking it personally. Aren’t I resilient? I say that cuz in the past I’d take this as a fail–but now I’m taking it in stride instead.

I’m also smiling because this sad face I tried to fake to sum up the whole no participants thing proves that not only is happy healthier for me, it’s also way cuter.

NOT a good look for me!

And I’m smiling because I have a happy belly.

Post-spin, I snarfed some grapes and then started in on this bowl of yogurt with some chocolate when I realized I really wanted something chocolatier and was NOT feeling the yogurt.

So I put it away and whipped up a power ball — kind of like the ones I made earlier this year around Valentine’s day but without any real recipe or guide, just my belly as intuition. Rather than eating fake hershey kisses, why not toss together whole foods and good ingredients and enjoy something I made myself? Walking the walk! Warning: if you’re scared of fat, these aren’t for you! But note: you shouldn’t be scared of eating fat!

In the mix: 1-2 spoonfuls each of ground flaxseed, coconut (unsweetened), maple syrup, cocoa, and cashew butter plus a pinch of salt!

As you can see, after mixing everything together and rolling the result into a ball, I rolled it in a bit more coconut. And tah-dah, a simple and delicious snowball dessert that hit the spot. It was actually pretty big even though this thing looks tiny. I used almost 2 tbsp of cashew butter (I forgot how good it is). It’s been a long time since dinner…

On the agenda for tonight: sleep, sleep, sleep! Tomorrow I have bootcamp, a life coaching session, and a bike ride to look forward to. Looks like I’ll have time to share the playlist from spin tonight as well as maybe get down to work on that freelancing stuff I meant to start today. Wish me luck, and cross your fingers that bootcampers realize the early bird gets the worm!

Where is somewhere in your life that you’ve learned to stop taking things personally?
Do you go to the gym in the summer?
Do you shop at lulu? What’s your fav tank?
What’s your favourite colour to wear?

PS – Steph and I made it onto the London Free Press’s article about yesterday’s yoga event! How zen do we look (bottom row, I have the red top on and she had the pink pants that I loved and almost bought today).

Silver linings

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

At one of the gyms I work, we often do an exercise at our staff meetings where we go over “The good, the bad, and the ugly.”

Yesterday was good, bad, tiring, and weird. That’s the best summary I can give.

I’ll start with the good:

I got to go on a pretty awesome, sunny bike ride to Port Stanley with my friends. It’s about 95km round trip, so it was nice to have company!

THREE BIKING BOYFRIENDS! JK. But three biking friends = still good!

We slept in and hit the road later on (as it was not sticky hot for once!). This means I got to eat breakfast first. Simple pleasures.

I felt pretty good during the ride, even if the hills and anticipation of Virginia got me a litttttttttle discouraged. I did a good job of eating and hydrating, methinks! Bonus.

There was a flat tire but there were also plenty of tubes, CO2 cartridges, and skills (none of these on my behalf) so we didn’t get too held up!

I went to Sunfest yesterday afternoon–it was a “cross cultural arts festival” and a big ol’ party all weekend in the park! There was the most delicious lemonade of my life (hello re-hydration and carb refuelling), friends, and sunshine. Win, win, and did I mention win?

My other eats (a bedtime snack of cottage cheese and nut butter and leftovers for dinner) were not so beautiful in photo, but pleased me perfectly!

My mom came down and spent the night. We had a bunch of quality time and of course that meant stupid pictures.

I got to hang out with another friend for a few hours yesterday and got to look at some very cool photos he took–a sneak preview in his words. Aren’t I special? Well, you don’t really need a sneak peek to see his work, but still.

Now for the bad…

I fell at the end of our ride. My scrapes don’t really phase me — war wounds are cool, right? — but my head hurt a lot yesterday and my helmet showed the damage. Falling off your bike sucks. 90km in I was tired, there were geese, it was bumpy, and that’s all I’ve got in terms of an explanation. All of a sudden I was on the ground. Hmmmm….

I don’t know how but I managed to scrape my lip. I guess I was smiling or laughing when I went down. Moral of the story is–I’m okay, I could have hurt something serious, and at least I got hurt on a really awesome ride and close to home. Oh, and wear a fucking helmet. And yeah, f bomb necessary. My brain would have been donezo if I wasn’t wearing it, and I was going “slow” on a trail, so you KNOW I’m not taking the excuses you’re trying to dummy up in your brain.

So I really like the good bad and ugly exercise and the chance to vent, but I really want to change the ugly for me to the silver lining.

Like I said, I got quality time. ER trips are more fun with friends — my photographer friend broke his finger (not fun) so I took him. I was going to get checked out at my mom’s urging (can you see where this is all making sense now?) but after 4 hours in the waiting room and more to go, I gave up. Bedtime was 2am, but whatever.

I feel better today, by the way, so I think my head is okay! My mom woke me up a few times and there was nothing wrong – other than being sore, nothing to worry about, I don’t think. I have the advice of countless google searches (;) – kidding!) and some friends who know what they’re talking about. Andddddd I have an excuse to buy a new helmet. One silver lining! Amen. The thought of hurting my brain conjured up these images of the slides from my sports injuries class back in 2nd year. Sit in a dark room with no TV or computer or thinking. Hi, isolation. I realized how much worse that would be than a broken arm or not being able to bike or getting hurt. And then I felt a twinge of “holy shit, stop complaining about your hip, stop complaining about the cellulite on your thighs, stop worrying about whether you’re 130 or 150 or 170lbs and start appreciating the fact that you have a working body and that you can literally do whatever you want with your head”. If that’s not a silver lining, I don’t know what is!

Now that that’s out there, I’m letting it go. Like I said, I’m sore today so I’m going to keep my teaching to just a bootcamp (come on out if you’re in London) and I’m lucky enough to have someone covering my spin class. Too intense, I think, and I’m appreciative that I can take the day off. I’m going to run my errands today — since I leave tomorrow, I need to get things checked off. Any exercise I do is going to be light and I’m good with that. I’ve got tons of biking ahead.

First on my agenda: breakfast, obviously. Caffeine: check. Next up: as many to dos as possible to fill the day til it’s time to kick butts in the park.

One last time: wear a helmet. Be grateful. It could always be worse — I got a big ol’ reminder of that!

Have you ever had a fall on your bike? I fell a few summers ago. 1/3 years is not a bad ratio and I’ve not been seriously hurt so I’ll take it!
What did you do this weekend?
When’s the last time you went to emerg?

More fun with friends

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Today’s bootcamp was another small and mighty one. I had two eager ladies out for a morning session. I’m telling you folks, working out while most of the world is still sleeping feels oh so good! I was up at 5 so I had myself a full breakfast and did some random reading and tweeting and started my day at a leisurely pace before heading to the park.

oats, almond butter, greek yogurt, banana = perfection

Animal Farm or makeshift gym? You decide…

Since I knew my participants and since they’re friends (i.e. wouldn’t complain if I made them hold hands or work together during the workout), I used the small group as an opportunity to try out some partner moves! I think they did the trick, although I was hoping to get through three rounds of the circuit. That just means the next time this kind of workout comes up, the better the challenge will be!

Warmup: cones –> jogging, side shuffle, criss cross, high knees/butt kicks, lunge/jog, skip/toe touches

Workout:

a) Circuit: 1 minute each

1. partner squats (face each other and hold hands, lean back so weight is in your heels, squat low and trust your partner!)

2. side shuffle with a ball pass at chest level (throwback to your basketball camp days)

3. circle lunges (forward R, side R, reverse R, reverse L, side L, forward L)

4. jumping jacks

5. pushup with a high five (face your partner and give high fives with opposite hands after completing each pushup)

6. burpee/mountain climber combos (5 mountain climbers/1 burpee)

7. sit ups with a ball pass (sit with your feet facing each other, take the ball overhead and pass in the middle)

8. plank up downs

REST 1 minute before repeating

b) Core: Marathon abs (20 reps each)

1. crunches with legs extended to the sky (push out through heels, crunch straight up)

2. oblique cruches (reaching for shoelaces like you’re climbing a ladder)

3. leg raises

4. bicycle kicks

5. situps or crunches

Cooldown/stretch

Oh sweaty! I didn’t do the workout with them but I still felt accomplished just starting the day in an active way. When I got back to London, I grabbed coffee (this is where all my money seems to go), ran to the store for a few things, came home, and got busy in the kitchen (prepping the leafy greens I bought, cooking up lunch, and baking up a recipe I’ll share later–but am sharing with my massage therapist NOW). I’m off for my long awaited massage.

kale, avocado, apricots, and salmon

Life is good.

Have you ever done a partner workout?
What’s your favourite partner move?
Do you like morning workouts?

Bootcamp and can I get an amen!

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Tonight’s bootcamp was small. i.e. it was me and one guy who didn’t expect to get so much attention.

Seriously though, I would do this whether 1 or 100 people showed up. I decided to opt out of my planned workout and step it up a bit for this friend, who I know is in good shape and who I thought would like something a bit different than my normal routine. Plus, since there was just him, I could do something out of the ordinary so I went with it! And since I felt a little weird just playing personal trainer and full of energy myself, I did the workout with him.

Without further ado, tonight’s workout looked like this:

Warmup
With a jog to the playground looking for monkey bars.

Workout
10, 9, 8,…,1,10 each of pull-ups, sit-ups, pushups, burpees, and squats
10 minutes of running (approximate, there’s a nice loop in Canatara)

Cooldown

This might sound familiar because it’s a take on my workout from Monday. I thoroughly enjoyed it (again) and I think I perfected the order–heart rate stays up, arms aren’t dead dead dead, and you want to quit but can make it through it. Luckily tonight it was a bit cooler in the shade and with some breeze, so the workout flew by! I’m hoping for a bigger group tomorrow, but like I said, I’ll take everything with a smile.

After bootcamp, I’ve been sitting around reading and listening to podcasts and just enjoying a low key night. I had a bowl of greek yogurt/peanut butter mix and have a happy belly, happy heart, and is it bedtime yet?

I mostly posted because I’m I abso-freaking-lutely am having one of those “oh my gawd you took the words right out of my mouth” moments right now.

I’m listening to a Life By Design podcast from January. Go to number 29–”Turning Resolutions into Results”. These guys are speaking to everything that I’ve been realizing about focusing on the behaviours when you’re trying to get to a new goal instead of focusing on that end goal and that alone:

“It comes back to…Cause vs. effect. Your resolutions are not causes, they’re effects. You look at what you don’t like about your life, what you don’t like about yourself, you look at what you don’t like about yourself and you say, ‘I wanna change that,’ but you never actually change the behaviours that would actually lead to that.”

Whatever you’re doing, you should probably just be listening to this.

And now for my final move: the faceplant. Nighty night!

Shopping, school, sunshine, and sweating

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

This morning I got all ready for school, excited even, and then headed up the hill to Brescia.

I made sure I had a good breakfast (cocoa oats with peanut butter and banana and egg whites) and the sun was shining.

Turns out my classmates and I were keeners and we only had afternoon class today.

I briefly thought about going for a blissful bike ride and was going to complain about having to teach spin and needing to save legs until I decided not to.

So instead I did what every girl in her right mind would do and went to the mall, where I proceeded to buy myself new shorts that fit (I had a tough time with this yesterday when my summer clothes–which are either a size too big or two too small so are not flattering and not serving me, really) and a bunch of cheap but cute bathing suits that I can mix and match with others in my closet.

I’m calling it back to school shopping and saying it was just plain necessary. To be honest, I have to say that it was needed. I was upset yesterday about going to the beach because I didn’t have anything to wear that fit comfortably, not because I didn’t want to be seen in shorts or a bathing suit. That’s new for me — even when the smaller stuff fit, I didn’t feel good. The picture from yesterday is one I actually love–and I take that as proof that this whole adjustment thing is actually happening. I honestly just needed clothes that make me feel comfortable. It’s not my body that I was upset over yesterday, it’s the fact that I didn’t have stuff to dress THIS body. And that made me feel wrong. And that’s not okay. Hence, those clothes aren’t serving me. And since I love shopping, buying new ones was easy as pie. I am not trying to brag, just to say that it does get easier to like your body. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops: I like how I look in a bathing suit! Weird tan lines, a little bit of pudge, strange bruises and all!

My eats today were random — an apple during shopping, a salad with carrots/sprouts/cherries/canned salmon for lunch that just didn’t do it for me. Blahhh. In fact it threw my stomach off.

After school finished, I met up with Andrew for a playground workout. It was kind of awesome to be swinging on monkey bars and playing in the sun, not to mention I haven’t run around like that in a while…

I was finally hungry after this workout so I had a quick dinner of a sandwich before heading to spin! The class was small but it was good nonetheless! Afterwards I went to the grocery store. Bad idea to shop when you’re tired. I think I took twice as long as normal! But if that’s the price I pay for having too much fun to go to the store this weekend then so be it.

When I got home, I immediately dove into the chocolate. I’m not going to lie, it might be subconscious stress over this summer school stuff/buying bigger clothes/being so happy (that sounds weird but it makes sense to me — though I’m reminding myself happy is where we are supposed to be)/the lack of an afternoon snack catching up with me, but I was kind of a chocolate monster tonight.

I gave up on the plain chocolate and decided to make it into a substantial/kind of more nutritious snack by adding in greek yogurt, cocoa, and coconut.

Success!

Well, with a home made coffee/cocoa concoction, success. I think I’m done with the chocolate for the night…

One thing I know: this isn’t a reason to beat myself up. It’s not a binge. It’s not proof that I’m out of control. It might be proof that I’m normal, in fact!

Anyways, as you can tell I’m getting delusional. And it’s another school night — so I think I’m heading to bed (if the sugar rush lets me sleep, that is).

How do you deal with chocolate cravings?
Do you like bathing suit shopping?
Have you ever realized you like your body and wanted to shout it from the rooftops?

PS – I added a new page with a bunch of inspirational cheese. Enjoy!

Happy is the new healthy

Tag Archives: workout