Monday Funday

Happy Monday folks!  I secretly love this day of the week.  Maybe not as much as I cherish Fridays, but it comes in at a close second.  I have to admit that my self-discipline seems to slack off during the weekends so I’m always enthusiastic to get back into routine.  It’s kind of like a mini new year’s each and every week!  This past Saturday we were so fortunate to be blessed with some gorgeous sunny, warm weather right smack dab in the middle of winter so I took full advantage of it.  I went on a two hour hike at the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Trail in Tulsa, OK.  If you ever get the chance, you should definitely check it out.  Lots of beautiful scenery, furry four-legged friends and you get an immense booty workout throughout the whole thing!   

 

After the hike we were famished so we hit up a little Mexican restaurant. Delicious queso and yummy margaritas!  Probably not the best way to nourish the body after exercise if rendered by most healthy living enthusiasts but hey, I’m human. Sometimes my obsession with Mexican food just doesn’t get enough attention =)  When Sunday rolled around the weather quickly took a turn for more ‘normal’ January conditions so when it came time to go for a run, it was back to layers, gloves, and a thermal mask.  I tried a new route this week for my long jog.  This course started out with three miles of back to back hills.  By beginning this way, I did warm up a lot faster but I could certainly feel it in my hips towards the end of the run.  I was able to push myself 1.19 mi further than I’ve ever ran before (a total of 11.19 miles yesterday).  The wind was brutal and a lot of times I really felt like I was running in place because of it, but after it was all said and done I felt outstanding!  It took a about 20 minutes of stretching afterwards to get my legs loosened back up.  Don’t forget stretching is essential no matter what the distance. It will prevent you from feeling sore and keep your muscles from tightening up.   My favorite thing to do is take a scarf, lay on my back and pull my leg (one at a time, keeping the leg straight) up with the scarf just to the point where it hurts.  Then over to the right, then left and then repeat with the other leg.   The yoga pose downward dog is also an excellent stretch for all of your leg muscles after a jog.  If you still have the energy, throw in some crunches afterwards while your body is still in calorie-burning mode. 

 

And so here it is Monday again, and we’re back in the full swing of healthy living.  I started the day of with my favorite smoothie and for snack I enjoyed a cheese stick and an apple.    I’m so excited that some of my coworkers have agreed to start going to the gym with me during the week!  We broke away from the office today around lunchtime and spent 30 minutes on the elliptical – I tried to focus less on my speed and more on the incline – but man, does that work wonders for our day!  I will say though, midday workouts can burn up quite an appetite.  I brought a big salad today with an extra egg, the protein boost after the workout will help me from getting so hungry this afternoon.  This week I’m going to share some of my favorite meal ideas because I know by now salads can start to sound a little blah…… Have a good day!

 

This salad consists of:

Green leaf spinach

Sliced tomato

Sliced avacodo

Chopped green pepper

Chopped cucumber

Fresh green peas

2 hard boiled eggs

Light red kidney beans

Shredded cheese

And light dressing

Yummmmmmm!