Catch Up {early weekend countdown}

It's been such a long time since i've gotten the chance to sit down and write a post, and i miss writing and chatting with you guys so much! It's been crazy around here with schoolwork, work, writing my Mojo posts, and fitting in some time to have fun. This quarter time is flying - i can't believe it's already 8th week.

I have so much to catch you up on and so many photos that I want to share, so I thought I'd do a weekend countdown post a little bit early so that I could organize everything. prepare yourselves, this is a long one!

6 recent WODs

PIN IT

we only did 10 minutes of chelsea and everyone in my class was dying. i can't imagine doing the full workout! i used a band on the pull-ups, 105# for the deadlifts, and a 35# kettlebell. my partner and i finished 7 rounds in the 12 minutes so we each ended up doing 70 deadlifts! i did this workout yesterday and my whole body is sore today. 

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I got up to 85# on the power clean, and used 65# on the first round of push presses and then dropped to 55# when i realized i wasn't going to be able to keep my form with 65#. i also used a band on the pull-ups and made it through 3 rounds in the 10 minutes.

PIN IT

I alternated using a 40# ball with a 60# ball - when I used the 60# ball, I only did half a lap around the gym. My arms were so sore the next day! 

PIN IT

 I used a 16# ball for the wall balls, and my partner and i had 55# on our bar and 15# dumbells for the WOD. In the partner WOD, the first exercise determined  how long the person doing the second exercise would go (when the first person couldn't go any longer, you switched, and kept switching until the 5 minutes was up). 

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 The handstands were so much fun to practice in this workout! It was harder by the end of the tabata because of all the blood rushing to your head, but it reminded me of the old days when I was always doing gymnastics as a kid. For the AMRAP, i used a 20" box, a 26# kettlebell, and I made it through 4 rounds plus 10 extra push-ups. I was dying on the push-ups by the end - I did a total of 58 push-ups by the time I was done with the workout, and my arms were trashed. 

PIN IT

 i've been doing this workout a lot when i run out of time during the day and want to work out at night on the track (when there aren't athletes practicing there). there are pull-up bars at my track, but if you're doing this in a gym or outside, you could substitute 10 burpees for the pull-ups or something similar.

5 recent eats

 

native foods cafe with one of my foodie friends! i got their tempeh burger (with avocado, carrots, onions, and some other stuff i think) and sweet potato fries. it was heaven. 

 

addicted. the bag was gone in like 2 days. 

 

greek yogurt bowl with frozen raspberries, dried bluberries, almond granola, and barney butter. 

 

jamba when i was stuck on campus without food one day. i got their berry oatmeal (soooo good! and sweet) and a light razzmatazz smoothie with soy protein. 

 

one of the newer items our cafe is offering (see my post below about it!): mediterranean nachos! basically pita chips with veg, hummus, and tzatziki. soo good.

4 latest posts on Daily Bruin Mojo

• Q&A: A UCLA Dietician's Take on International No Diet Week 
• Interesting Ways UCLA Students Stay Active at the John Wooden Center 
• A Review of the New Bruin Cafe Menu  
•  4 Running Routes Around UCLA

3 random life updates

- i had so much fun at wango tango 2013 with my friends a few weeks ago. it was a concert put on by KIIS-FM with a bunch of popular artists, like Maroon 5, Flo Rida, Jason DeRulo, Demi Lovato, Bruno Mars, and more! i had a blast and we had so much fun that some of us bought tickets to see Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson next fall. 

-my parents are coming this weekend! i'm so excited to see them and eat some yummy food and sleep in a hotel bed. and i'm bringing them to the church i've been going to on sunday which i am really looking forward to.
-i'm seeing imagine dragons in concert next week - STOKED! can you tell i have a problem with spending all my money on concerts?

2 Bible verses
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17
"Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us" Isaiah 26

1 inspiring video to watch: 
i cried when i saw this video. it's so inspiring and was a beautiful reminder of how precious life is and how often i take everything for granted - my healthy body, my brain, and so much more.  
 

WIAW {10th Week}

 hey guys! happy hump day - i hope all of your weeks are going well!

 i've been slammed with work lately and am buckling down for the rest of my last week of classes before finals. which basically means coffee is water, wearing PJ's to class is totally acceptable, my hair will be permanently stuck in a bun until next friday, and lots of chocolate is going to be consumed. 

anyways - onto the recent eats! thanks for hosting jenn :-)

{thin mints totally count for this month's green theme, am i right?}

 

{greek yogurt with blueberry muesli, chia, seeds, STRAWBERRIES, sunflower seed butter, and vanilla almond granola}

 

{banana and cho}

 {greek yogurt with frozen raspberries and chocolate chips stirred in, topped with peanut butter and sprinkles} 

 

{smoothie with a new-to-me protein powder, frozen raspberries, greek yogurt, and almond milk}

 

{black bean, pork, and sweet potato bowl}

 

{italian salad with the rest of my PWO protein shake on the side}

 

 {my staple breakfast: greek yogurt with muesli and frozen raspberries topped with banana, peanut butter, and honey}

 

{lots and lots o coffee}

 

{yet another greek yogurt and muesli bowl with strawbs, ssb, and granola}

 {TJ's coconut chips and chocolate chips - always satisfies my sweet tooth!}

 

greek-style whole wheat pasta with chicken and a salad

 

vegan pizza - lots of veggies and vegan cheese!

 

 {a huge package that made my night last night - the lovely folks at Quest Bar sent me some bars and peanut butter cups to try out! i've been hearing all about these for the longest time now and can't wait to dig in. review coming soon!} 

i haven't posted about my workouts in awhile, but i've been going to 2-3 IFT classes a week and running on most of the other days. for the next week i know there will be lots of short treadmill sessions as i don't have a lot of time. but any movement is better than none! 

only 1.5 more weeks til break and i can't wait. disneyland and hanging out with the fambam is where its at!

thought of the day:

 

have a wonderful week! 

xoxo

weekend countdown returns!

a bajillion food pics that i haven't shared with you guys yet:

 

greek yogurt bowl with blueberry muesli, frozen raspberries, banana, almond butter, and honey bunches of oats

 

sweet potato with vanilla CHO and honey

 

oatmeal with banana and almonds

 

rice cake with peanut butter and almond m&ms

 

a huge pile of roasted brussels sprouts. i got SO excited when i saw these in the dining hall! #foodiealert

 

another bowl of greek yogurt, muesli, banana, raspberries, and almond butter

 

quinoa(!!) with steak and butternut squash

 

lentils with butternut squash and steak 

 

turkey, avocado, and veggie sub

 

yet another greek yogurt bowl with muesli, banana, honey, and granola

5 workouts of the week: 

sunday: 6 mile run
monday: IFT class
tuesday: 4.4 mile run
thursday: late night circuit workout to wake me up before my graveyard shift. super proud that i actually got this one in!

friday: 3.5 mile run

today i'm hopefully going to head out for a run later or do a quick speed session on the treadmill!

4 photos from my 3-hour adventure trying to find sprinkles cupcakes last night:

PSI: the metro is very, very confusing. thank goodness for unlimited ride cards!

3 favorite pins of the week:

 

2 things making me smile:

-that i get to facetime my parents today!

-the #SheReadsTruth soul detox plan. i am loving it so far even though i'm really behind!

 

1 question for ya'll: what's the best thing you ate/did/sweated out this week?

Recent Eats & Workouts.

my life lately = class + study + work + eat + sweat + sleep.

needless to say i'm so happy it's the weekend! even though all i'll be doing for the rest of the weekend is working and studying, it's a nice break from going to class.

i thought i'd stop in and share some recent eats (since i missed WIAW), and all of the awesome workouts i did the past week!

the friday special sushi bowl - sticky rice with carrots, cucumber, edamame, shrimp w/ spicy mayo, and AVOCADO! this bowl was so good - i wish it was offered on more days than friday!

obligatory friday froyo. peach & tart flavors with lots of strawberries, cheesecake bites, walnuts, almonds, pink & white cookies, and graham cracker crumbs.

tortilla with crunchy almond butter, banana, chia seeds, and honey

plain greek yogurt with TJ's blueberry muesli, a little honey, and frozen berries

lots of sweet potatoes with nut butter & honey! i bought a couple of sweet potatoes at trader joes last week - best decision ever :-) and they're really really cheap, too!

my favorite shrimp & corn chowder

whole wheat turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and dijonaise. 

another bowl of plain greek yogurt with muesli, frozen berries, and honey

an oatmeal bowl - i made it with a packet of maple TJ's oatmeal, milk, and chia seeds and then topped it with almond butter, banana slices, shredded coconut, & a few crushed up coconut cookie thins (from TJ's, best things ever!)  

workouts this week:

sunday: 6 mile run (longest distance i've run in who knows how long!)
monday: 20 minutes of elliptical, 1 round of kaila's workout, 1 mile treadmill run, stretches
tuesday: 2 mile treadmill run + 10 mins elliptical
wednesday: 30 minutes elliptical intervals (i was a sweaty mess by the end!) + abs in between classes
thursday: 3.4 mile run before class
friday: IFT WOD that looked like this:

warm up: 4 laps of farmers' carry around the gym with a 26# kettlebell
WOD:
complete each exercise for one minute before moving onto the next. rest for one minute in between rounds.
-slam balls
-KB thrusters
-double unders
-push-ups

i used a 16# slam ball and a 26# kettlebell for the thrusters. by the end of the workout i was DEAD. but super proud of myself because i did my first double under!! and managed to get four in a row in the last round!

all in all it was a great week for workouts considering that most days i didn't have much time to squeeze one in (but was always glad that i did!). today i'm SUPER sore in my legs from yesterday's workout so it's definitely a rest day. i might take tomorrow off, too, or do a yoga video on hulu or something.

oh & a random outfit pic before i go - it was raining a little bit this week but it was still warm so i went with leggings, a tank, a scarf, and boots!

and i'll leave you with this:

tell me: best thing you've eaten / best workout you've done this past week!