Springtime Madness

Disclaimer: this is an opinion post, based entirely off of the heaps of research I've read, and my own life experiences.

It's that time of year. The sun has finally started burning through those dreary winter clouds that lingered around for way too long, the snow is long gone, and we are all starting to get antsy to shed those coats and pull out our flip flops.

It's an exciting transition, from winter into spring. Everyone seems to have a little more pep in their step, and the sun is finally staying up past 4 pm. We’re all dreaming and planning and starting to make epic summer plans.

The summer plans then lead to the reminder that warm weather = less clothing. It's pretty standard to sometimes pack on a few extra lbs during winter, I know that I do. And I also know it's not the end of the world; I typically start logging more miles come March/April due to weather changes, put the holiday/birthday binges behind me, and eventually return to normal.

Here's my soap box.
Because of this seasonal cycle, I've also noticed that March and April are the times when I see the most bullsh@t out there in regards to "quick fixes".  "Here's how to get flat abs fast"... "Drink this a week straight and you'll drop ____ lbs" .... "The best workouts for a beach booty.”

Just saw this on my Twitter feed....

If you're on ANY form of social media, you know what I'm talking about. The list goes on, and on, and on.

I called it bull because that's what it is; there is no quick fix, that term is garbage. I mean, TECHNICALLY it may be a quick fix, but if it is, it's not sustainable. If you want a healthy body, then you must be healthy. Clean up your diet, and get off your butt. Refuse to accept excuses: go for a run, ride your bike, do a cardio circuit in your living room, go to your gym.  “I don’t have time” just isn’t going to cut it.

Furthermore, there's really no such thing as "targeting problem areas"... It's another garbage phrase. You don't lose love handles from obsessively doing side-crunches, you lose them by doing fat burning, full-body workouts.  Odds are, you're going to have to sweat to see results.

Even more importantly, stop eating processed garbage. And if you do (I sure do) which we all pretty much do let's be honest; do so in moderation. The less ingredients on the label, the better. And remember, the phrase "you can't out-exercise a bad diet" is so, so true. Pizza for dinner five days a week, no matter how much you may be working out, will always catch up with you. Abs are 75% made in the kitchen, and that's the truth.

And last but not least, drink your water. Lots of it. It keeps your crazy awesome body really happy.

That's all. Believe me; this rant was just as much for me; I'm far from perfect. Just figured we could all use a little bit of Spring motivation. And remember, if it doesn't seem sustainable, or reasonable... Well, that probably means that it isn't.

Cheers -

Kait

Tuesday is the new Monday

Hey pals! Welcome back to the work week. And welcome myself back to the continental US.
Isn't it fabulous when Tuesdays are Mondays? It makes the week much less intimidating in my opinion...

sneak peak

I can't wait to ramble on about Puerto Rico and encourage you to all you visit yourselves ASAP, but that post will get lengthy and I've gotta link up for the last Tuesday in May!

Ya. June is next week. What.

The final challenge with Rebecca and Chelsea  is to share your favorite workout from another blog. NOW, one of my go-to blogs for workouts is Brooke over at Babbling Brookelyn - she has some fab workouts in her fitness section. Same with Jessi over at Not The Average Bear. If you need some sweaty freaking circuits, they are your girls.

However, my all-time favorite workout to pull out of my back pocket on a rainy day is this guy:

 It's a great one to pull up on your computer screen, pump up some jams, and get to work.

Or I'll go for a shorter run/bike ride first, and follow up with the above circuit. Possibilities are endless.

I'm outtie. Hope you enjoyed the May linkup, hopefully it gave you some new ideas for getting sweaty?

Cheers to a four day work week -

K8

Pruney

What up hooligans? I hope your weeks are off to a fantastic start. I don't know about you, but my Monday started off with a little extra pep in my step thanks to some sunshine filled deck time on Sunday afternoon. 

I can almost taste you summer. 

Last night I spent a solid 90 mins plus in the kitchen getting after some serious food prep. I would say my favorite item that came out of it was hands down my paleofied version of banana prune muffins. 

You heard me right, prunes. 

I'm a fan of prunes, and raisins, and dates. Pretty much all food. Now if you're a prune hater, that's fine, but let me encourage you to actually try them if you haven't within the past few years. I feel like they get a bad rep for absolutely not reason at all. 

Banana Prune Muffins

-1/2 cup coconut oil

- 2 ripe bananas

-1.5 cups of almond flour/meal

-2 eggs

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp baking soda

-1 cup chopped pitted prunes

Let's be honest, I'm no chef. I literally just mashed/mixed all that stuff together in no particular order, poured into muffin liners, baked at 350 for 15-20 mins, and gobbled them up. Delicious, moist, healthy.

In case you forgot, I'm linking up every Tuesday in May with Rebecca and Chelsea to present to you a favorite sweaty exercise. This Tuesday is favorite arm/upper body workout. 

I gotta be real; I'm not an upper body girl. I've been working on it, and I'm starting to take some pride in the little bit of tone I've gained. I don't have an entire arms circuit that I follow; I tend to mix push-ups, tricep dips etc., into the interval-type workouts that you've seen me do. 

bicep is that you!?

My single favorite arm/shoulder/back/core workout? Plank rows. 

"Kait that's cheating you only like it because it incorporates ab work too." 

Sue me. 

man does she look pumped to be doing plank rows.

I typically hit plank rows with 10 lb dumbbells, 15 if I'm feeling sassy. Start out with a weight you feel comfortable with - even 5 lbs works. 8-10 reps each arm, rest, repeat. I normally go through it two to three times. 

Get it girl/dude.

Cheers to some sweaty rows, followed by some prune muffins- 

Kait

An InLinkz Link-up

May Challenge - DA ABS

Tuesday. I hope you all had an excellent Cinco de Mayo, and didn’t load up on too many sugary drinks. My Cinco was personally uneventful, outside of a Trader Joes run, and about eight miles total after work.

I wore a scarf and my glasses to work yesterday and a few people told me I looked like a librarian. Is that a compliment? You guys tell me.

skeptical selfie. it's been awhile.

Anyways, it's linkup time, as I'm cohosting a May fitness challenge with Rebecca and Chelsea and today the challenge is to share your favorite ab workout. 

Now this is hard, because I love abs... and do all different kinds, 5-6 days a week. I’ve been doing 100 sit-ups every day for about … five years now? When it comes to favorite complete ab workouts as a whole, I feel like p90x full ab ripper x is always a killer. And, as mentioned last week, I’m following the Strong like Susan challenge throughout the month of May, which never fails to leave me sore.

Susan is Strong.

But, when it comes to my favorite singular ab move, it would have to be side bends with a dumbbell or kettlebell. See below.

Runner-up is planks, duh  J   #planksohard

Link up and tell us your favorite ab move – a sista can never have too many, especially with those bikinis screaming out names

Drink that water, and have a stellar Tuesday.

Cheers –

K8

An InLinkz Link-up

Spring Cleaning & Stuff

I don’t get to say this very often, so I will right now. This week freaking flew by.

Guys it’s Friday. Let’s start with a workout, shall we?

On Wednesday it was warm out after work and I was fully prepared to completely punt on my afternoon workout and have an early date night on a patio with some wine. However, Andrew text me around 5 telling me he was about to head to the gym, so I pouted for a few minutes and then decided I may as well get a workout in as well.

After some brief Pinterest scanning, I got a few ideas, made my own modifications and came up with this:

15/30 Min. Total Body Sweat Sesh

I did this twice through, with a water break in between, coming out to 30 mins total. The second time around I did the second exercise listed just to mix it up. Feel free to alter depending what equipment you have on hand. I turned up the music, jumped around my room like a moron, and am proud to say that I'm sore today.

#success

The workout was actually followed by date night, during which we ate pizza in a park, and I discovered that the trees are starting to bud…

#spring

Another Pinterest success – these guys:

I made them on Monday night and have been snacking on them all week. They. Are. Delicious. I made them with turkey bacon (no reason in particular) and highly recommend them if 1. You love bacon 2. You love paleo 3. You love bacon

A new addition to my April to-do list is to clean out my closet (yes, just like the Eminem song) and pull out those warmer weather clothes. And maybe even buy some new spring-wear. However, per a recent conversation with my sister, I realized I have more catching up to do than I thought…

Bri: crop tops and kimonos ALL SUMMER

ALL SPRING

ALL FALL MAYBE EVEN

nah kimonos will prob be out by fall

my dream kimono is at urban but its 80 dollars and i dont deserve

i search state street and michigan avenue consistently for another perfect kimono but cannot find

im on a failing kimono hunt

kcomiskey: i dont know what a kimono is

Bri: sigh

this is the summer of kimonos so you need to learn

its basically see through flowy things youll wear over croptops

kcomiskey: oh yes i saw one at target once i liked it

I suppose I’m on the market for a kimono. And a croptop. Seeing that I own neither.

Any direction in this fashion issue is more than welcome. Tell me, what spring cleaning tasks do you have on your list?

Cheers to kimonos?

Kait

Train the Brain

I wrote this lame half-assed post on the flight back from Dallas on Sunday, and then realized it was boring as crap and deleted it. You’re welcome.

Bye Dallas!

Instead, let’s talk about how it’s April.

You know how my crazy little mind works at this point, so you’re probably waiting for me to rattle off a series of things I’m going to strive for in this new month. Well let’s get to it – there are 3 (three).

I’m estatic to be back in Baltimore. The weekend in Dallas was awesome, but most certainly not restful. I’m ready for my routine again this week.

the Friday night performance

One awesome takeaway from this weekend was a speaker we had – John Foley. He touched upon a lot of motivational/teamwork/leadership type of topics, but also mentioned the power of positivity, basically on training your brain to be positive. This may not be exactly how he phrased it, but he described that if you wake up every morning and think of something you are grateful about, that after 24 – 27 days you will automatically start waking up with a positive mindset.

Yes, I love that.

First April goal = work on that positive brain.

Second and third goal kind of go hand-in-hand...

Goal #2 = no running in April.

I actually haven’t run in over a week now. It is just time. Little nagging injuries (including a big toe that’s been bothering me since September) just ain't getting better. And while I CAN run with them, I just don’t think they are gonna go away until I drop down to zero for a while.

                                            

me as I write this.

Between a road trip to Indiana, a visit from my sister and her boy, Easter, and a weekend trip to Colorado to see Andrew's new nephew (YAYY), I predict the month will fly by, and I will survive. Plus I already have a tentative pool date booked for Friday. Never said pool running was out of the picture.

After a month or so I will reevaluate with caution. It's the reason I've yet to schedule a race this year - I'm tired of losing money due to getting hurt. I would love to say by mid-summer/fall I'll have something on the agenda, but that's all speculation. And I'm ok with that. In the meantime, it's strength training, swimming, spinning, the usual. My Crossfit living social deal ends this week which I'm bummed about, but a monthly membership just isn't in the budget right now.

Sigh.

Anyways, goal #3 is to stick to other sweaty options since running is ixnayed. Last night I started the Jillian Michael’s 6-week six pack – it’s a 35 min video on Youtube (part I) – thanks to a recommendation from Kat. I actually really enjoyed it (I don’t normally love the fitness video thing) and am going to commit to doing that, or any other fitness video I stumble upon over the next month or so, 2-3 times per week. Probably in the mornings, because nothing puts me in a thankful mood quicker than starting my day with a little sweat (See what I did there?).

Well this has been fun. Tell me your April goals? Share your fav fitness videos? And have an amazing freaking day.

Cheers –

Kait

Weird Wednesday - Banana Edition

Hold on tight, things are about to get weird.

First, let me quickly recap my workout yesterday evening, when it was – wait for it – 66 degrees. 

Amazing.

Workout = Run 20, circuit workout, bike 20, circuit workout, run 20, circuit workout.

(circuit workout = 10 push-ups, 10 squats, 10 sit-ups, 10 burpees, 2x)

Boom. This warmer weather is such a mood booster, and man did I forget how much I love doing circuit workouts in the park.

In case you are really into banana news (I know my coworker Cort is), Chiquita is going to to buy Ireland’s Fyffes Plc to create the world’s biggest supplier of the fruit for about 403 million euros ($559 million). Cool!

Bathroom squats are back in the picture for this girl. I forgot about them for awhile – I think I mentioned like two years ago that I used to do them – and I’m back on the bandwagon. Pee Use the toilet – 5 squats – wash hands – back to desk.

Does anyone else have moments like this?

(in reference to Steve Jobs)

Last weird fact – I’m trying out oil pulling with coconut oil. You can read a couple good articles/blogs about it – here and here. And here's one on coconut oil in general. In short, you swish oil (I am trying coconut oil, there’s also sesame and sunflower oil) in your mouth for 15-20 minutes, and it’s suppose to pull out toxins, whiten your teeth, and do a lot for your oral care in general. Make sure you spit it out. It’s interesting, weird, and I figured why not try it out?  I prefer to know firsthand my opinion on it, and it just so happens I have 20 minutes to spare every morning on my way to work.

I’ll report back if I find anything worth reporting.

I’ll leave you with this quote, because I love it.

And of course, a couple questions. Has anyone else notice a change in their commute with this Daylight Savings shift? It seems more people are jumping on my 7 AM – 4 PM hours, as traffic was crawling this morning, much more than usual.

Anyone else tried oil pulling? Thoughts?

Cheers to Hump Day – we’re halfway homies.

K8

Anuli & Juma

Howdy ho, it’s Friday, we did it. Last day of the work week, last day of the shortest month of the year! 

First thing’s first, how did Fabruary go? If you followed along, let me know your thoughts below, I’m curious. I think I missed a day at some point, but overall was happy to have something to keep me on track.  I’m currently in the process of making up some March goals, hoping to have them pinned down by Sunday.

there i am, writing my goals!

Andrew’s awesome roommate & GF signed me up for a subscription to Baltimore Magazine for my birthday, and the first copy came yesterday. Don’t worry, I was immediately informed via page twenty-something that the Maryland Zoo has TWO NEW female giraffes – Anuli and Juma.

More amazing info. on them here. Must meet them.

I really like prunes. Is that weird? I feel like the word ‘prune’ normally makes people wrinkle up their nose and scream ‘gross!’ but I honestly like them. I keep this bag in my snack drawer and usually eat a couple per day. Pruney and Proud.

In case you are interested, the Crossfit Open started yesterday. I didn’t officially sign up through the website or anything like that, but each week for 5 weeks they will post the workout of the week, and you can try it out and compare your scores to others, if you’re interested and want a challenge. Andrew and I are going to use it as an opportunity to compete against each other. Neither of us are officially crossfit gym members, but will hopefully figure out ways to complete the workouts with the equipment at our normal gyms…. That’s the plan at least.

Crossfit is actually on the docket for 4:30 pm this evening, followed by a fun evening full of green. More details to come.

I leave you with another #backthatazzup jam – one of my favorite songs from the new Dierks Bentley album this week. Nothing screams Friday like ‘Drunk on a Plane’

 

Cheers –

Kait

Two Days

It’s snowing again today. I suppose I can’t really comment, as I’ve stated in the past that my personal rule is I can’t complain about snow until we hit March.

Two more days 'til March guys.

I realized that the combination of a beautiful weather weekend followed by three crappy cold snowy days of weather this week was been the perfect concoction for a bad attitude, and not feeling so hot. I have literally been a Debbie Downer to the point that I googled ‘things to do to make me happy’ … and super unmotivated to the point that I considered going to bed at 7:30 pm last night.

Instead, I went over to Andrew’s in full-fledged pout mode, and he did two things that I really needed.

• Got me a mini cheesecake from Whole Foods
• Told me to stop being a pansy

Fair enough. So I guess instead of sitting here being a crying pansy, I will do everything in my power to share positive things.

I’m feeling good about the workout balance that I’m finding over the course of this past month. Andrew and I recently bought a Bikram Hot Yoga Groupon, so that will now be implemented 1 – 2xs per week, on top of my twice(ish) a week spinning, running, and crossfitting. Pretty solid balance if you ask me.

source

Speaking of crossfit, here is my most recent WOD:

4 sets, for time

15 thrusters (45 lbs)

15 burpees over the bar

Total Time, 12:36. Shoulders are still feeling sore today.

I discovered a few challenging looking treadmill workouts on Ashley’s blog - I think I may try the one below out this week. I’ve been trying a little harder recently to find more blogger friends who I enjoy reading. Another is Becki over at Bites & Brews who is currently hosting a Craft Beer book giveaway if you’re interested!

original source

Last but not least, one of my favorite ways to stay positive is to find quotes on Pinterest and share them, set them as my phone background, write them down, etc. I find a lot of power in simple words, so I shall leave you with a few.

and my personal favorite - 

Cheers to being halfway –

Kait

#BestFoot

Happy President’s Day! If you’re lucky (unlike myself) you’re still at home in bed, enjoying a warm cup of coffee. However I really can't complain, after two straight snow days (working from home in my PJ's) this past Thursday and Friday, I am ready to get back into the office.

This morning I’m linking up with #bestfoot forward 2014, and giving you a quick summary of what my past week of workouts looked like:

-Monday: Crossfit, 40 mins of spin, Fabruary

-Tuesday: Elliptical/row, weights, Fabrurary

-Wednesday: 60 mins spin, Fabruary 

(was supposed to go to the gym to run, forgot shoes at home. fail.)

-Thursday: Snowed in - 65 mins spin, Fabruary

-Friday: 60 min run around the park, weighted abs, Fabruary

-Saturday: SKI!!!

-Sunday: Spin 25 mins, Run 25 mins, Spin 25 mins, Faburary

Does skiing count as a workout? I want to know thoughts on this. We went up to Wisp near Deepcreek, MD, and the conditions were excellent. Like most mountains, they’ve gotten dumped on this winter, and it snowed the entire day we were there.

cold but happy, I swear.

I also decided this weekend that it's time to buy my own skis. Any advice on best time/places to find great ski discounts, please share!

In case you didn’t hear, this weekend is Restaurant Week in Baltimore. We are trying out Mezze in Fells Point tonight with some friends – it's Mediterranean food, and I’ve heard great things.

Enjoy your Monday, whether you have it off or not. Cheers to a great week –

K

White Stuff

Did you hear the news? Today is my two year anniversary of living in Maryland! Mother Nature decided to throw a celebration for me - it snowed all of last night - granting pretty much the entire East Coast/MidAtlantic a snow day!

The kind handsome man on the left shoveled me out this morning. The kind young lad on the right lent us his shovel for $3. What a bargain  ;)

Maryland actually declared a state of emergency yesterday morning - hours before the first flakes even began to fall. As for Andrew and me, we decided to celebrate our impending snow day with some Guinness Stew from a local Irish Pub.

Good stuff.

Apparently we are suppose to get some more white stuff tonight - we'll see what happens. Until March hits, I will always welcome snow with open arms; it makes me happy.

In other developments, tomorrow marks the halfway point for Fabruary. Have you been following along? 

SORRY I had to cut off Day 1 to make the calendar fit  :)

I find that as the numbers get higher, it's easier for me to break it up into sets. For example, today calls for 110 squats and 45 push-ups, so I will most likely do 35 squats, 15 push-ups, 35 squats, 15 push-ups, 40 squats, 15 push-ups. Makes it a little less intimidating in my opinion. Also quick note - knee push-ups are better than no push-ups. Tailor the workout to what works for you!

Running was suppose to happen today, but I'm really not looking to get sopping wet in the current piles of slush that have taken over B'more... so it looks like the bike trainer will happen instead. Weather changes out here more often than Taylor Swift changes boyfriends (sorry Tay, love you) - they are actually calling for a high of 60 one day next week. Until the meltage subsides, the workouts will remain indoors.

Hope you're staying dry and warm - wherever you are. Enjoy V-day tomorrow, and remember that it doesn't just have to be about your significant other. Love everyone and anyone - it's an instant mood booster.

Skiing is on the docket for Saturday, fingers crossed that all of this snow doesn't change those plans.

Cheers -

K

Weird Wednesday & A Workout

I wasn't planning on writing tonight. My plan was to actually find some new music to throw onto my iPod while I laid in bed, because my workout playlists are starting to bore me half to death.

Then I started daydreaming in the shower and thought of a few things I want to talk about, realized they were all weird, and then realized that it's Wednesday.

Shall we have a weird Wednesday together?

Let's begin with the fact that I'm writing this from my new sleeping bag. 

I haven't owned a sleeping bag since I was pretty young. It had blue and red flowers on it and wasn't actually made for camping outdoors; I'm actually pretty sure I would have froze in it. But it was pretty and I liked it.

That's kind of how I feel about my new REI sleeping bag, except it's kind of cool that it's actually made to withstand cold temps. Andrew dragged me into REI this past weekend knowing that a lot of their sleeping bags were on sale, and told me to pick out an early birthday present.

We plan to do some camping this summer. Stay tuned.

Anyways, rewinding a little bit... while in the shower, two things happened. 

1. I stared at this sign that I hung up which my doctor recently gave me:

the how-to-check-your-boobs-once-a month-sign

I'm not saying the sign itself is weird. At all. Breast cancer is no joke - it's on both sides of my family, and my sweet grandmother passed away after battling it for quite some time. It's just a little weird intense now that I have a boob check sign hanging in my face every evening or morning when I shower. Intense, a little weird, but good. Really good. Love your boobies ladies. 

2. I scrubbed angrily at my right armpit with shower gel wondering why it's been itching now for at least a month. Consistently. Right armpit only?

Any thoughts? Dry skin? Is it normal to put lotion in your armpits? 

Looking for some guidance here people.

Another weird awesome thing? This video that my mom sent me tonight:

Jane is weird, and I love that she has found a way to entertain herself when the weather is too cold in Chicago for my mom to take her on her nightly walk.

Ok, moving away from the weirdness and onto the workout. I really love doing biking type intervals on my trainer, and hopping off after a certain period of time to switch up the heart rate. My friend Greg helped me to throw this together:

Bike to 15 min mark (keep watch running) - 5 push-ups, 10 squats, 15 sit-ups (x4)

Repeat at 30 mins, and 45 mins. I then finished off and biked after the third set until I hit 60 mins total.

I also signed up for the Daily Hiit 30 Day Challenge which has been emailing me some badass high intensity interval training to try out. While I'm not strictly following the challenge, they offer some really creative workouts if you're interested.

That's all I got. Actually I lied, I have a pretty awesome recipe but I'm going to save it for Friday. Stay tuned.

Cheers -

K

Dreams Come True

Remember last week when I was crying about how I was ready for snow?

My dream came true.

Twice actually, as it snowed again today!

Other dreams that recently came true include hugging a near life-size stuffed giraffe -

Cooking an epic egg-casserole this morning when our office closed due to snow -

A cold frosty winter run this evening for about six miles...

Followed by this quick circuit:

-15 burpees

-15 (20 lb) KB swings

-10 pushups

-30 skaters

-12 tricep dips

 x3

Followed by this:

Andrew and I checked out Vaccaro's in Little Italy.
So. Good.

This is short and sweet, and possibly boring. My week is a busy one with training for work followed by a weekend away in West Virginia to ski - I'm pumped!

Cheers -

K