It Doesn’t Mean Squat!

Welcome back friends! And happy weekend to you all 🙂

Yesterday was PURPLE FRIDAY here in good ol’ Maryland!

I participated with my purple coat and black scarf

And with my gym attire!

But before we get to the workout (you guys know I work out in the late afternoon), let’s talk about the day.

When I woke up I wasn’t really that hungry. But I always eat to keep my metabolism going. This is super important! I learned the hard way that skipping meals makes your body suffer. So I kept it light with some fruit and rice and corn cakes with my chia apple butter

After food, I headed to Wegman’s to stock up on my fruits and veggies, almond milk, and greek yogurt for the week. That was the plan! JUST those things. Yeah, well that didn’t happen…. I spend more money on food than any person out there. I can’t help myself! I’m big on stocking up on things too. I even grabbed one of those smaller carts and by the time I was finished things were spilling out over the top, whoops!

For those that keep searching for Freekah, that’s the package! So keep an eye out for it. You can find it in the same aisle as the pastas, rice and quinoa. It’s my absolute favorite grain because it doesn’t need any seasoning at all! It’s delicious on it’s own. Has the best sweet nutty flavor and cooks up really quick. They have other types of freekah with rosemary, but I don’t like rosemary at all.. yuck.

The supplement aisle is my favorite aisle of any health food store. I can get lost here for a good half hour looking at everything! If I ever went to a GNC I’d probably never come out!

I took the plunge buying some new meats too!

After putting away the groceries, Phoebe leaped into her bag, okay Phoebs I can take a hint, you want to go to G-Mama and Pop Pops 🙂

The girls were very happy to see each other as always. I lounged on the couch with a snack!

and some fruit

I also saw this on Facebook today! Hey this recipe looks familiar 😉

Then I headed to the gym for leg day! I really switched it up today and didn’t use any leg machines besides the calf raise. It’s really good to challenge your body every now and then, plus I wanted to work on my bum a bit so it was a SQUAT EXTRAVAGANZA!!! 

I started differently than normal days. I always go right to cardio, but I wanted to warm my muscles up a bit.

• Pushups on the bosu, 10 reps x 3 sets
• Mountain climbers on the bosu, 20 reps x 2 sets
• Squats on the bosu, 15 reps x 2 sets
• Stretching

Then I went on to 22 minutes on the stair master (2 minute cool down/ slow skip a step leg extensions).

Now for the squat madness, This is my EXACT routine from yesterday:

• Squats on the bosu holding 15 lb kettles in each hand, 12 reps x 4 sets
• Squats on the bosu without weights, 20 reps x 4 sets
• Plie squats with a 30 lb bar on shoulders, 15 reps x 4 sets, after each set squat down and hold, lift heels up, pulse up for 8
• Lunges with 30 lb bar on shoulders, 12 reps x 4 sets each leg, at the end of each set hold the lunge down for 5 seconds
• Overhead squats (bar straight up over your head) with a 30 lb bar, 12 reps x 4 sets (deep squat!)
• Squats without weight, 15 reps x 2 sets
• Side squats alternating (step out to one side and squat down, back to center, and repeat on the opposite side), 20 reps alternating x 2 sets
• Calf raises (machine) 80 lbs 10 reps x 2 sets (slow and controlled), then 100 lbs 10 reps x 2 sets (hold at the end of each set for 5 seconds)
• Alternate the calf raises with side bends using a 25 lb plate, 15 reps, 2 sets each side
• Side squats alternating with a 40 lb bar on shoulders, 20 reps x 2sets, then 10 reps x 2 sets (hold the last 2 sets for 5 seconds)
• Curtsy lunges (lunge with back leg going at a diagonal, like you are doing a curtsy!), holding 12 lb kettles, 12 reps x 4 sets each leg

Arc trainer for 30 minutes (I ended up splitting the above workout and did 15 minutes of arc trainer, more legs, then 15 more minutes of arc trainer)

Time for mat work!

• Leg lift abduction using a 5 lb kettle on foot, 12 reps x 2 sets each leg, pulse for 8 after each set

• Backward leg extensions with 5 lb kettle on foot, 10 reps x 2 sets each leg. This really works the area where bum meets hamstring

• Leg adduction with 5 lb kettle on foot (this is hard at first so you can do it unweighted), 10 reps x 2 sets each leg, pulse for 8 at end of each set

• Donkey Kicks with a 12 lb weight, 10 reps x 2 sets each leg

Stretch it out!

She’s got legs!

At home I was a cooking fool! I made a scrumptious dinner that included the pork tenderloin I purchased. Recipe will come tomorrow. I made a nice little Honey Apple topping for it!

I also made some more Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette so I could have a strawberry salad to go with my dinner!

Made my own peanut butter too!

And had to try it with an apple!

All these recipes will be coming soon, but I wanted to bring TEAM SPIRIT and I worked all last night and this morning on a great recipe for tater tots using my purple potatoes. Well, I refuse to put something on my blog that isn’t the best quality. If I am being honest, they were terrible! They looked unappetizing, lost their purple color once baked, and the flavor just wasn’t there. I even typed up the whole recipe and blog to go along with it, and then deleted it. I can’t put something on here that I don’t feel 100% confident about. So I nixed the recipe for today, sorry. You can’t win them all!

In the meantime, I updated my RECIPE page. I placed everything in categories by type of meal so it is easier to find things. The ones labeled (C) mean that it is a 100% clean recipe (no preservatives or chemicals).

At the end of the night, I gave Miss Buffay a chewy granola busy bone. She loves these 🙂

Today I will hit the gym again. Hoping to do back since I didn’t get to do it this week. It might be a shorter gym session since I killed it yesterday!

And just of note, remember to love your body no matter what. If you have people that try to break you, don’t let them. If you come across someone who is not supportive of your healthy lifestyle, or says negative things, it doesn’t mean squat! As long as you are happy, that’s all that matters 🙂

XOXO With a Cherry On Top,

-Minnie

P.S. Congrats DiPeppe! You did it! Not sure how, but you did. I love you! XOXO 🙂