More Fun Birthday Things

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Achieve with Athena

Tomorrow I turn 26. That doesn’t have to count as “upper” twenties, does it? I think I’ll still say I’m mid.

I took the day off and since I already had my birthday celebrations with my friends and family this past weekend, tomorrow will be a nice day spent with Tim. We are going to go to the beach, I’m getting a much needed massage (which will hopefully help with the shoulder/arm pain I’ve been experiencing lately – GRRR), and then we are going out to dinner. Should be a good day. I’m still teaching my 6am class on Thursday morning.

Random Birthday Things:

Uncle Chris and Uncle Dan sent me a really funny food-related card:

Totally appropriate for me and my friends 🙂

At work, Colleen surprised me with a new workout headband (matching to one she has of course!) and a lululemon lunch bag. One of those red ones that has all those inspirational quotes on it. I’ve actually wanted one for a long time and was so excited for the bag that Colleen was like “UMM there is something IN the bag, Athena.” I love them both! I’m sure Katrina does too since I’ve been stealing her lunch bag every day 🙂

Aren’t these quotes fun?

And my new headband and CBC tank top?

Creepy self portrait? Not so much.

Question of the Day: What’s your favorite inspirational / motivational / healthy living quote?

Have a great night everyone!

The Awk Spot: The Time I Needed Mothballs and Pantyhose

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Achieve with Athena

Hi friends,

Hope everyone has survived the hurricane! My heart goes out to those whose homes were unfortunately damaged by the storm.

Weird/Awk Story of the Day

Sometimes my uncles tell me that I should have a TV show because the weirdest things happen to me. Today’s “episode” is car related. When driving my Camry on Saturday, I noticed this awful stench emanating from the front of the car. I almost gagged by the time I drove the short five minutes across town. Since it was a Saturday night and Irene was coming on Sunday, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take it anywhere until this morning. All weekend I was conjuring up horrible images of what dead animal could possibly be in my car. And then I actually started panicking that there was a human body in my trunk (I always think worst case scenario). There wasn’t.

I took the car to Meineke this morning. Side note, if you need a car guy, Eddie at Meineke is THE MAN. Good work, good prices, and never overcharges or tries to rip you off. Anyways, of course the mile drive down Faneuil Street this morning took FOREVER: garbage truck backing up, dog in the road, red light, etc. I was dry heaving by the time I parked my car at Meineke and jumped out. Long story short, there was a dead mouse in my blow motor assembly. Pretty gross, but probably better than the half dead hissing feline I was envisioning stuck to the bottom of my car or the rat’s tail I was picturing all tangled in the engine parts. Luckily the mouse didn’t chew up any of my wires, but good old Eddie told me that now one mouse decided to set up camp in my car, there is a greater chance for more mice friends to join. The obvious solution? Purchase moth balls and pantyhose so the Meineke men can disperse them throughout my car parts. Apparently that combination keeps the mice away!? So random.

The awkward part? Not realizing that handing a car repair man a used pair of nylons is extremely awkward.

Anyways. That’s my episode of the day.

Food of the Day

Today’s meals consisted of:

Breakfast: Plain Chobani yogurt w/maple granola and blueberries
Lunch: Mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, and mozzarella cheese. With light balsamic vinaigrette. And grapes on the side.

I had a lunch date with Brett at work and told him if he subscribed to my blog I would give him a shout out. He told me I could use him as an example of “what not to eat” but I am not that mean! Plus I couldn’t judge because he was hungover. He went with turkey, provolone, chipotle mayo, lettuce and onions on a sun dried tomato wrap. And some pasta salad on the side.

Afternoon Snack: Almonds.
Afternoon Snack: Luna Bar
Dinner: Cereal. BORING but I had to pick up the mothballs at Home Depot after work so I didn’t get home until late.

Exercise of the Day

Today’s workout was Perfect Lines & Kix. I haven’t been to CBC in a few weeks, so I was happy to be back.

Remember back when I asked you all to vote CBC as the # one kickboxing class in Boston? Well, we won!

This is kind of old news, but I was waiting to post this for when I wrote about CBC again. So it’s been a few weeks since the announcement was made. Still exciting!

Also exciting – my new tank top!

Question of the Day: What’s the weirdest thing to ever happen to your car?? Please share!

Hurricane Irene

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Achieve with Athena

…wasn’t really that big of a deal here in Brighton. Just some rain and wind! No lost power, luckily.

It was kind of fun to have an excuse to stay inside all day. I never do that… so as much as I wish it were a beach day, I probably needed some veg out time. I camped out at Tim’s all day. He made fun of me for over preparing for the storm. I did come over with my laptop, workout clothes, a book in case the power went out, and an excessive amount of “just in case” food. Whatever! I’m a planner. Could have been worse about it! 🙂

I did some work on my blog – I added two new pages at the top. Check them out! Both are works in progress, but I was happy to finally add some other pages to Fitness & Feta besides my About Me page.

Favorite Links: This pages shares other blogs I read often, my favorite links, etc.
Recipes: This page shares my favorite recipes and links back where I originally posted them.

I got a few other productive things done today too that I’ve been meaning to do but just kept putting off. I was also proud that Irene didn’t keep me from eating healthy and working out!

BREAKFAST

Tim made me an egg white omelet, and Jamie brought over iced coffees for everyone! My omelet had egg whites, peppers, mushrooms, onions, and shredded mozzarella cheese.

EXERCISE

I was planning on being the only person in MA that went to the gym today, but when I signed on Facebook this morning, I got the Oak Square Y update:

The Oak Square YMCA will be closed on Sunday August 28, 2011 due to the impending hurricane. We will make every effort to make up all classes. Please check back with us for additional information on Monday. Stay safe!

Good thing for Exercise TV instead!

Since Brett had a few last things to move into Tim’s apartment, I knew I’d be in the apartment myself for about an hour. Perfect time to do a 50 minute Exercise TV workout. I chose Jillian Michael’s “Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism.” Despite the spelling error in the workout title, it was a good workout for an at home exercise sesh.

The workout description: “Fire up your metabolism with TV’s top trainer Jillian Michaels, and lose big with her fierce formula that adds strength and ab moves to dynamic cardio for increased fat loss. This 40-minute circuit workout blasts your heart rate with challenging intervals to turn up the burn and peel off the pounds. Whether you’re just getting started, or ready for a hardcore workout, this program will ignite your metabolism and incinerate fat to reveal a ripped, lean body!

THE WORKOUT CONTAINS

5 Min – Warm Up: Begin the metabolic burn by building heat in your body.
40 Min – Cardio Circuit: Broken into 7, 6-minute circuits, each move challenges your body to torch the metabolism, burn mega fat and drop unwanted pounds.
5 Min – Cool Down: Lower your heart rate with soothing moves and stretches.

I wrote down what moves each circuit contained so I can incorporate them into my classes. In the workout you do each circuit twice.

WARMUP

Arm Circles
Toe Touches
Arm Swings
Jog in Place

CIRCUIT ONE

Squats + Side Kicks
Alternating Front Jobs
Squats + Side Kicks (other side)
Jab, Cross, Hook, Elbow Combo
Alternating Front Kicks

CIRCUIT TWO

Burpees
Plie Squats: 3 pulses and a jump
Jab, Cross, Jab, Cross, Hop
180’s: Squat Jump alternating directions
Side Hops

CIRCUIT THREE

Butt Kicks
High Knees
Jumping Jacks
Standing Oblique Crunches with a Leg Lift

CIRCUIT FOUR

Mountain Climbers
Lying on stomach, arm/leg lifts
Lying on back, V Ups
Plank Twists
Plank Walk Throughs

CIRCUIT FIVE

Leg Swings
Upper Cuts
Back Kicks
Alternating Front Jabs
Knee Pulls

CIRCUIT SIX

Jump Squats
Ski Jumps
Scissor Jumps
Skater Jumps
Standing Mountain Climbers

CIRCUIT SEVEN

Twist Jumps
Pike Reaches
Knee Ins
Jump Rope

LUNCH

I made a sandwich/salad combo for my post-workout lunch. The sandwiches had oven-roasted turkey breast, shredded mozzarella cheese, and lettuce on 15 grain bread. I made my sandwich with artichoke hummus, but Tim preferred light mayo on his.

The salads had lettuce, mushrooms, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, and gorgonzola cheese sprinkles.

DINNER

Tim made chicken parm! The bad thing about Tim being a good cook is that he eyeballs everything so I can’t provide you readers with exact ingredients. What I can tell you is that he coated the chicken breasts in egg and coated both sides with Quaker Quick Oats instead of bread crumbs (a healthier option!), a little flour, italian seasoning, thyme, and a little bit of crushed red pepper. He heated olive oil in a frying pan and cooked the chicken until both sides were browned. Then on a pizza stone, he covered the chicken breasts with tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella.