Virtual Breakfast Date

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

virtual breakfast date

…I would squeal that we get to chat over my FAVORITE MEAL OF THE DAY!

overnight oats in an almost empty pb jar + granola on top for crunch

…I might yawn and say, “excuse me,” because I woke up at 6am (which is E A R L Y for this night owl) to work out with my dear friend Elayne.

Elayne: “Oh my gosh are you limping!?”

Me: “No I just can’t walk this early in the morning.”

‘Twas so worth the sleepy sweat fest.

3 sets each:

10 DB overhead burpees (10#)
15 side plank hip dips (each side)
20 KB swings (25#)

1 min. burpees

10 renegade rows to plank jump
20 alternating single leg v-ups
20 overhead tricep extensions

1 min. burpees

10 bird dogs
10 plank kick throughs (each side)
10 tabletop sit throughs

1 min. burpees

…I would ask you if you saw the solar eclipse, even though you’re probably 120% done with that convo. Madre and I saw it from home in New York, where we had 76% coverage. My brother’s girlfriend kindly gave us the special eclipse glasses for optimal viewing!

AND for optimal photo-taking. (Hundred percent accidentally looked directly at the sun for a millisecond.)

I was so stoked to get this shot of the eclipse right around peak time for us!

…I would tell you about this weird breakfast I had at home, made with whatever we had on hand. I warmed up some frozen bananas, mashed them, mixed it with some brown rice Madre had just cooked, and topped it with cinnamon raisin peanut butter. IDK. It was delicious though! Rice-pudding-like.

…I would surprise you by saying that I bought running shoes (more accurately, Madre gifted me new running shoes – thank you ma!). I’m not currently planning on running any races or anything, but a pair of comfy Asics were on sale at TJMaxx, so I just went for it. I do run occasionally, so it’ll be nice to have proper running shoes.

I ran a couple miles in them on solar eclipse day, and then I played around with these pistol burpee handstand ma-jiggies:

…I would excitedly tell you that my family and I ate a fantastic Italian dinner as we got to meet my brother’s new significant other 🙂 So much love for them.

burrata to share as a starter (SO CREAMY AND DREAMY)

salad that came with my pasta

rich and delicious lobster ravioli with artichokes and roasted red peppers

amaretto cake (and unpictured profiteroles) to share for dessert

…I would say that I love my brother. We only had an hour to really hang out and catch up with each other before I had to leave for Boston, but it was great QT. Grateful for this goon!

are the feelings mutual? *shrug*

…I would tell you that I had homemade baklava with homemade skyr (Icelandic yogurt) for breakfast before driving to Boston. Ben’s girlfriend made a huge batch for all of us!! So sweet (literally and figuratively) of her. It was perfect.

…I would remark at this gymnastics/stretching mat that Madre bought for me as a surprise. My room is a mini PT clinic.

…I would proudly say that I finally picked a good pineapple. The last time I bought a pineapple, I had to drown it in honey and microwave it because it was THAT bad.

…I would talk about how grateful I am for Rachel. It’s been so good living with her again, because now we can have girl chat with a glass of wine (or sangria) on the couch at the end of the day. That might change once classes start for me, but for now it’s delightful.

proud of this working woman

…I would show you last night’s tasty dinner. I made Budget Bytes’ glazed pork chops, (← so easy and good!) roasted broccoli, and a random cheese quesadilla on the side (ended up dipping it in ketchup #sorry).

…I would say that God has reminded recently to not be anxious about saying “yes” just to the big things He asks me to do, but to more importantly say “yes” to the very little and mundane things He asks me to do in daily life. If I cannot do His will in little things, there is no way I can do His will in big things. Loving in the littlest ways is sometimes the HARDEST.

…I would squeal once again that I’m going to my friend’s wedding tomorrow! I LOVE WEDDINGS. AND I LOVE MY FRIENDS.

…I would ask you:

What did you eat for breakfast today?

What are some things you want to share? Happy, sad, cool, “aha” moments?

What are your favorite little ways to spend time with loved ones?

Plans for the weekend?

In ‘N Out

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Sorry to say…not the burger chain.

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No, I didn’t jet to the west coast to chow down on a Double Double. Although you’d probably be more interested in this post if I had…but please stay anyway! I’ve actually never had a burger from there when I have visited California, but I hear they are the bee’s knees (alright no one has said that exactly, but you get it).

Moves

Instead, I was in and out of the gym in less than 45 minutes, which is pretty speedy for me. I was trying to nap this afternoon since I didn’t have the best sleep last night, but I decided to be a little more productive since sleep is just not my pal these days. My mom needed the car by 5 PM to pick up my brother from work, so seeing that it was about 3:45, I needed to hustle!

As I was warming up on the elliptical, I was *this* close to throwin’ in the towel and going home because I felt so sleepy. But I just decided to go for something quick since I was already there. Thus, I completed one of my favorite fast and efficient workouts from Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean:

Yay for more burpees!

I subbed in thrusters for the squat to overhead press, weighted squat jumps for the negative jumps, and regular box jumps for the jumpovers. The complex movements and burpees made my heart rate escalate very quickly and it stayed pumping throughout all four rounds! Knowing I had a limited time at the gym helped me push myself to take minimal rest and move fast (with good form). ‘Twas a sweaty one and I didn’t feel sleepy by the end! But now I am, ha.

My whole family is actually pretty tired today because everyone was up for some reason or another in the middle of the night. Hope you are all well-rested though!

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Yesterday I said I was going to meet up with a friend from dance, but I actually remembered later that our date was today! We had a lovely time catching up and talking about dance company events coming up this year. I’ll be talking more about company next week when dance bootcamp starts!

Have a nice evening!

So tell me: Have you ever had a burger from In ‘N Out? What do you like to do for quick workouts?

I Like Burpees

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

I know what you’re thinking: Who ARE you?!

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Allow me to explain.

It has taken me a long time, but I have come to really like doing burpees and incorporating them into my workouts in some way or another. (For those of you who at this point think I am some kind of disgusting slob for liking “burpees,” I’m speaking of the cardio exercise called the burpee! Promise. Glad we cleared things up 🙂 . )

Now don’t get me wrong, burpees are still intense and some days are more killer than others, but I love that they are a super fast way to get my heart rate up and use muscles in every part of my body. Doing burpees to me is like running to others. It’s sorta my go-to exercise. And let me just say now, I DO NOT like running. I try, but I don’t think running likes me either. My brother is the opposite–he likes to run but is not a fan of burpees. He thinks burpees are harder than running, and I clearly disagree. I’ve just never been able to get into the groove with running…

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Thus, I would much rather do burpees and circuit workouts as my cardio. I’m sure if I stuck with running long enough, I would enjoy it. Right now I run occasionally….like once every two months. Maybe. Or in phys ed.

Moves

My moves (a.k.a. exercise; see the blog title reference? 🙂 ) today included plenty of burpees! After doing this as a warmup, I completed Michelle’s Sunday Surge Sunrise Workout and it was INTENSE. I did two rounds with 12 lb. dumbbells as suggested (anyone who does three rounds of this is a superhero) and was sweating puddles. Lovely.

The burpees in this workout were competition style, which means you lower yourself to the floor until your belly and chest touch. You can see how it’s done in this video. It’s different from a burpee with a pushup because you can use your whole body to get up, not just your arms…if that makes sense. It’s called the “efficient” pushup. You could do a real pushup after touching your chest and belly to the ground, in which case you would also be a superhero.

On that note, I love doing different kinds of burpees! There are tons of variations out there, and some of them are pretty scary. Like this one. I mean, even the name is scary.

I’m also trying to do Sweat and Orange’s burpee challenge this week. It starts with 10 burpees, and 10 burpees are added for the next four days until you get to 50 in a row. These are just the regular burpees with no pushup and no belly-flop.