Week in review #7 2020

Hello everyone. It’s another week in review, and boy, this week seemed to go by very slow. Last week was just Thanksgiving, and it feels like ages ago. This week started Vlogmas on Youtube. Do you follow me on Youtube? Vlogmas is where I upload daily vlogs (or not) every day until Christmas. I’ve been working hard on my videos every day, and it is a bit time-consuming. Vlogmas is a challenge this year because there are none of the regular holiday activities going on. Usually, I would run Rock n Roll San Antonio and a trail race, and there would be holiday programs and themed events and Tot’s birthday party. I’m not mad about it, because I would rather be safe than sorry.

Things are different, but I’m going to make it through Vlogmas.
So let’s get on with the post.

Quote of the week:

Week in review #7
I love my Peleton classes, and Alex Toussaint said this during class. It made me feel so good and thankful for waking up to get my workout done. This quote goes with anything in life, though. The hustle gets us closer to our goals/dreams. But it’s what we do when no one is watching that builds our character.

My meals this week:

Week in review #7
Eating this week has been on point. I used my Thanksgiving leftovers into chili. I ate Lean Cuisines for lunch and didn’t eat out until Friday, where I ate Chipotle. It was a great week for me, and I felt comfortable again. I lost did lose some weight, which always makes me happy. I’m going to work to stiffen up my diet over the next few months to get back in peak shape for running. I did end up eating grilled cheese and tomato soup with Tiny Tot. The cold weather always makes me want to eat something like that. I made my grilled cheese on Dave’s Killer Bread thin sliced bread.

I don’t ever talk about my “cheat” meals, which I should address. I allow myself to have two cheat meals a week, and I usually do it on the weekend. This weekend I had a chili turkey burger and cheese fries.

My workouts this week:

I didn’t feel well at the beginning of the week. I chose to listen to my body and adjusted my activities accordingly. Getting rest seemed to work well for me, and I could make five days of workouts.
Week in review #7

Monday: Rest day. My head hurt bad, and I needed to rest, so I did.
Tuesday: 5k walk + core workout. My head was still hurting, but I needed to get some movement. I went for a walk; my head still hurt when I pushed my pace, but I could make it through. I also set a goal to do more strength/core workouts to improve my running, and I popped in a core workout last minute.
Wednesday: 5 min warmup + 30 min Hip Hop Ride + 10 min cooldown. I couldn’t sleep, so I ended up waking up at 4:30 am to do a workout. It was a more challenging class than I expected. “Hustle in the dark to shine in the light.”
Thursday: 5 min warmup + 15 min Tabata ride + 20 min full-body strength. It rained, so I needed to do a workout inside. I chose a hard ride to do before a strength workout to change my mindset for this workout. Thursdays are hard for me to work out on for some reason, but I already took a rest day this week, so I had to work out.
Friday: 5K run + 1 mile cool down. This run was cold. I had to wear gloves, but it was nice to get outside. My average pace was 13:07 per mile.
Saturday: 5 min warmup + 30 min low impact ride + 10 min core. I intended to run, but it was 39 degrees. I have to ease myself into cold weather running. I chose an indoor workout to avoid the cold. It turned into a family event where I had to entertain the child while I got my sweat.

My outfits this week:

Week in review #7
I’m still making an effort on my outfits. I felt myself this week because it was colder, and I got to pull out some different clothes.

Everything else:

As I mentioned, Vlogmas takes up my extra time with the editing, so I don’t have much to report this week.
Week in review #7

I did manage to finish Virgin River season 2 on Netflix. I was excited for the show to return, and I burned through it very quickly. I was sad with how the season ended, and it didn’t seem like it was a season finale until the last 5 minutes.

I’ve been wracking my brain over Christmas presents this year. I love giving Christmas presents, but I do get some anxiety when it comes to buying stuff. I want people to like what I get them!

Also, Tot’s birthday is right before Christmas, and it’s hard to buy presents for both birthday and Christmas. I want to make her birthday special, especially this year since she won’t be having a party. It’s a bit controversial because I do know parents are throwing parties for their kids right now. I don’t feel comfortable having a party during a pandemic when we should be social distancing. When things are better, I will give her a party with all of her friends and family.

I tried the new Dunkin’ sugar plum macchiato. It’s a good drink, but it’s not my favorite. The app says it’s 280 calories for a medium, which is too much for my liking. It’s not a drink I would order regularly, but I wanted to be festive and order holiday drinks. I also tried the chai oat milk latte. I highly recommend that drink if you’re going dairy-free and enjoy a holiday feel.

Videos this week:

I post videos daily for Vlogmas. Subscribe to my channel and watch all the videos.

That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed the wrap-up. One of my goals is to post more on the blog throughout the week. I’ve been easing back into blogging with this week in review post. It may have been bad timing with Vlogmas, but I will work hard to incorporate other blog posts throughout the week.

How was your week? How are you treating yourself?

Is HelloFresh worth a try?

Is HelloFresh worth a try?

I wanted to do an honest review of HelloFresh to answer the question, “is HelloFresh worth it?” I received a free box by a friend referral, and I thought there was nothing to lose. My overall experience with HelloFresh is positive, but I want to dig into the details with a blog post. Price point: I received three meals of two servings each meal so I could have leftovers. I did get my first week free, but I did pay $61.93 for a second box coming this week. That is $7.99 per serving and a shipping cost of $8.99. For…

View Post

What healthy living means to me

What healthy living means to me

When I started my weight loss journey, I really didn’t know the world before me. The one thing I knew was we had to stop eating fast food for every meal and leave the sugary sodas on the shelf. Might we have also needed a bit more exercise? The jury was still out on that point. Quickly, I learned that people are health “know it alls”, and their way is always the best. Some people picked me because I still ate processed foods (aka my favorite Healthy Choice meals). Some people took offense I purchased Splenda and frozen vegetables and…

View Post

Focusing too much on losing weight?

Focusing too much on losing weight?

There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of focus, but sometimes it can get in the way.  Is it possible to have too much emphasis on a weight loss journey?  I may be living proof of the point.  The initial weight loss journey was strict.  I stayed on plan all the time because I wanted to lose weight so bad.  I lost the weight, but there were moments when I felt like I wasn’t living life.  In retrospect, I see I was a living a rigorous regiment and maybe that it was I needed to get over the hump of…

View Post

Frozen vs. Fresh: The Produce debate

Frozen vs. Fresh: The Produce debate

Back in the day, I use to buy everything fresh and just prep the crap of out of it.  Now I don’t really have the time to do that with the little one running around.  But I also don’t know how to get my veggies in the way I want them buying them fresh.  My broccoli was always too hard, or I didn’t cook the green beans long enough.  There was always a problem. And then I started buying frozen vegetables.  I never thought this was a problem until there was a recall on some frozen vegetables at my grocery…

View Post

Mother’s Day revelation

Mother’s Day revelation

I hope all the mommas out there had a good Mother’s Day  I wanted to make my return to blogging yesterday, but my site had something else in mind.  This morning things are back to normal (a bit) so I’m ready to dive in. Motherhood has changed my life completely and I feel like I keep saying the same things over and over. I don’t think I’m that interesting or what I do is anything special. But there are people who still follow me, who are interested in the journey, and just want to know. I need to share those…

View Post

Got weight loss goals?

Got weight loss goals?

It’s the new year and everyone is looking for those posts about achieving weight loss goals.  I’m going to go back to my roots to talk about what started it all, weight loss. My weight loss journey started back on January 6, 2011. I weighed 338 pounds, which I think was my heaviest weight.  I couldn’t be too sure because I never stepped on a scale until the day I started my weight loss journey. Now it’s 2019 and I’ve managed not to gain my weight back.  My biggest weight gain was from pregnancy, but I’m glad to say I’m…

View Post

Monday Motivation: Take the challenge

Monday Motivation: Take the challenge

Happy Monday everyone!  I’ve been trying to catch up on blog business so I can get back to do what I love.  It’s been a life-changing year for me and just when I thought I have my crap together, something else pops up. It’s all been a challenge but that’s what life is about, right? I encourage everyone to take on the challenge.  Don’t let the challenge knock you down.  Face it head on, tackle the challenge, and overcome the challenge. There are plenty of people out there in the world who tell say, “you shouldn’t, you can’t, you don’t have…

View Post

Race Recap: Rock n Roll Denver 5k

Race Recap: Rock n Roll Denver 5k

I received a Tour Pass to run the Rock n Roll Marathon series races this year.  The races may be free, but my opinions are my own. I am catching up on my race recaps.  I am starting with Rock n Roll Denver 5K and Half Marathon.  I had such a great time running this race.  I have run this race a few years back but I don’t think I took time to really enjoy the experience.  This time around, I was all about having a good time and just looking around. I did have a remix weekend of running…

View Post

That time I burned crockpot lasagna

That time I burned crockpot lasagna

I love making stuff in the crockpot because it’s a great way to get a home cooked meal without all the fuss.  That was until I decided I was going to make crockpot lasagna. I was intrigued when I was fell down the rabbit hole of Pinterest and found a crock pot veggie lasagna recipe. The great thing about the crockpot is setting and forgetting, but this time I feel like it was a little too much work. I was highly skeptical on Sunday while I was making this. I even posted on Instagram stories I wasn’t sure I would be…

View Post

Meal prep this week: Maple Dijon chicken

Meal prep this week: Maple Dijon chicken

I haven’t really been talking about my meal prep on the blog lately. I know it’s bad because people want to know about the meal prep. I haven’t really talked about meal prep in a long time but that doesn’t mean I’m not doing it. Meal prep has become a little less high maintenance these days, but it’s still getting done. I’m not fancy. I don’t create recipes on my own. If I’m doing some creating, I’m just throwing stuff together we have in the fridge and making it work. There’s nothing creative happening in my kitchen. I know the…

View Post