after spending 3 wonderful weeks of holidays, holiday parties, traveling to see family, having visitors, lots of eating, lots of drinking, lots of being "on the go".... we're finally home. and back to normal life.

even though that scene above is what we were greeted with when we got off the train from newark airport (after coming from sunny and warm florida), there was a comforting feeling of being home.  ...and i couldn't have cared less that it was cold, icy, and just plain gross outside.

the new year started last wednesday, but we've hardly had a chance to kick it off on the right foot until today.  mr p is going to try to eat healthier, i'm starting the whole living 28-day challenge (the one from 2012 is the best one i think!!), and we're both going to commit to working out on a regular basis.  the last 3 weeks have been ROUGH on us as far as going to kickboxing or the gym, but we're anxious to get back into it. 

i know, i know... it's "so cliché" to say you're going to "start the new year by getting healthy", but hey.. any excuse to want to change your life for the better is a good excuse, right? right.  i'll never knock on anyone for making new years resolutions to get healthier or shed those extra pounds... at least they are trying, right?

now that we're going to be at home for a while (at least a few weeks anyways), we filled the fridge with healthy veggies and fruit, lean meat for mr p, and healthy nuts. plus, almost the entire stash of holiday goodies have made their way inside our bellies, so there's not too much temptation of sweets and chocolate, there's only motivation for eating healthy because i know that it WAS there ONE day, and it's certainly not burned off of my body yet considering how much i ate and how little i worked out, haha.

happy new year everyone! here's for a healthy start to 2014!

cheers.
jenn

buy new workout clothes.

yes, it sounds silly, because pretty much ALL new clothes put a smile on my face.  but lets get real, friends.  great fitting compression pants and a figure-flattering top will make you want to go to the gym more than your cotton capris that always fall down, your 2-for-$8 sports bras from Wal-Mart that chafe your chest, and your baggy shirt from high school with the holes in the armpits.

last weekend mr p and i purged.  and i mean PURGED.  we got rid of so much stuff that i took 10 trash bags of donate-able stuff to salvation army.  with that, though, i got rid of a lot of clothes i used to wear to the gym with the intention of getting stuff i actually enjoy wearing.  i went through my drawer of "these are the ones i like" workout pants, picked out my favorite style, and vowed to get 3 more pairs. 

off to old navy i went!  although i can't always high five the quality of their normal clothes, i'll definitely high five the quality of their workout clothes .  the compression pants are pretty darn amazing.  i wish i would have taken a photo of myself in the fitting room.  if i was with my mom it would have been one of those laugh-so-hard-i-can't-breathe moments. i put on the pants, bent over with my butt towards the mirror, and tried my HARDEST to stretch them enough to see my undies.  i got into all kinds of funny positions just to make them stretch more, and it just didn't happen.  the pants priced at just $22.94 were NOT see-through, not matter how hard i tried.  move over lululemon , old navy is kicking your butt, and they DO accommodate "larger" sizes , for a fraction of the price. 

after feeling good about the pants, i decided to try on their compression tanks that were sports-bra-like on the top, loose on the bottom... perfect for this girl with non-washboard-abs!! i mean, come on, am i the only one not comfortable wearing a skin-tight tank when i work out!? this shirt is the best of both worlds. tight on top, loose on the bottom.




awesome new shirt , awesome new pants , instant motivation .

case in point: yesterday i get to the gym at 5:45am, 30 minutes from home, doors down from the office... as i grab my things to go inside and run my butt off, i realize i forgot a shirt. as in i don't have a shirt for work.  i had to make a choice.  go back home and get the shirt, and NOT work out, or suck it up, make do, and run...  this girl did NOT go home! she ran 4 miles and wore her coat all day at work.  BOOM.  new clothes = motivation.




what gives you instant motivation to get fit?  tell me about it! maybe i'll think about it next time there's bagels in the office (read: today) or the office buys me qdoba for lunch (read: today)

cheers to the weekend!
(maybe with all this extra motivation i'll actually work out instead of eating fried pickles at LB Burger Bar )

-jenn


p.s. since monday i've put in 8 workouts including running 15 miles and going to 4 kickboxing classes at JCTKD. does that mean it's ok to eat authentic japanese ramen for dinner? no? i'm doing it anyways, because it's date night tonight!

remember in january when all you see on tv is commercials for fitness stuff?  weirdo expensive diet plans, gym discounts, new home gym gadgets, weight loss supplements.... that's what i think about when i think of january.  i, too, have fallen into the trap a few times after packing on the pounds after the holidays (gosh we're surrounded by such great cooks and bakers!)

i want this year to be different, i want to get a head start on the fitness crunch before the holidays so maybe i'll already be in "dropping pounds" mode and won't go for that extra cookie (or 2 or 3)  ....so, i declare that my november is your January.

when i came home from working in boston, i knew i had to make a change.  mr p and i were more diligent about going to kickboxing after work, but it wasn't enough for my goals. i joined another gym, i've been running an extra 10-15 miles a week, and i've been guzzling down goopy green smoothies and eating salads at lunch. 

i'm still pretty terrible on the weekends, eating more than i should, working out less than i should (aka not at all), and drinking precisely zero glasses of water.  i'll be the first to admit that I have no boundaries when we travel.  i'll still choose that Redd's Strawberry Ale over a light beer (or no alcohol at all), and it's tough to say no to delicious home-cooked meals that you don't get everyday (mr p's mom is a pretty awesome cook, so is he, but their styles are so different)

so, i push myself so hard during the week, many days getting in 2 workouts a day, and slurge on the weekends. with the exception of a mini jersey city bar crawl this weekend with friends from philly, i hope to stay a little bit more on track.

how do you stay on track on the weekends? do you work out? do you eat better? where does your motivation come from? i'm struggling here!

if you saw the above picture on instagram, you know that my recent motivation/inspiration is joy johnson.  yes, she passed away, but she also ran the new york city marathon 25 times AFTER turning 59.  with that said, no excuse is a good excuse to not find time to work out or eat healthy on the weekends....

regardless, i'm 6 pounds down... i gotta keep it up!

cheers.
jenn

it's finally clicked. (i think)

a few weeks ago i weighed the most i have ever weighed.  i'm not telling you how much, because i'm not brave enough yet.  when i get to a confident weight, i'll tell you the highest number.  i successfully avoided jeans all summer by wearing skirts, dresses, or my favorite uniqlo leggings pants (aka fat pants)  ....but when this amazing fall weather started to settle in, it hit me.

"jenn, you're bulging out of your double-digit jeans. GET. IT. TOGETHER."

you see, there's nothing wrong with "double-digit jeans" if:
....you feel great
....you know you're healthy
....you know you're doing the best you can
....you know that's what's right for your body
(the proportions are different on a 5'-0" girl than a 6'-0" girl)

for me, it's not ok.
i FEEL overweight.
my BMI says i'm overweight.
my jeans are tight.
my arms don't fit into clothes that otherwise fit the rest of my body.
my calves don't fit into ANY (and i mean ANY) riding boots (i'm on my second year of searching)
the kicker: in an honest effort for mr p to calm me and to make me feel ok with my looks, he says "hey babe, you know who your body reminds me of?"   "....who"    "lena dunham"

(jenn bows her head in sorrow... you know, lena dunham can be praised for practically everything she does, even showing off her 'bod' on girls, but, ya know, that bod is not exactly something to strive for...)

he's totally right. round-but-not-SO-round waist, average height, small boobs.

mission STARTED!

(what does that mean, don't you already go to kickboxing multiple times  a week?)

well, yes, yes i do.  but it's not enough for this foodie mcfood-loving girl. you see, i have an amazing cook of a boyfriend who cooks amazing food (so does his mom) that i just can't turn down! seconds, you ask? no problem.  i'm great at eating my kale smoothies for breakfast and chowing on a healthy salad for lunch.  but when it comes to the weekend, i can't say no! if i'm going to go out to eat, i'm going to ENJOY that $30 meal!! who wants to spend $18 on a salad when they can spend $25 on a leg of lamb and actually enjoy it? who wants to sit at a late night ramen spot with no food while everyone else chows on the best ramen in NYC? not this girl!

that, my friends, is why I've decided to join gym #2.   gym #1 has kickboxing classes once a night.  that's it.  though i love it, it's a defined, limited workout, and it's obviously not enough.  i joined another $10/month, standard gym, with guidos grunting and all.  it's not ideal, but it's perfect for what i want: treadmills, ellipticals, and the occasional machine weights.

...but 2 gym memberships means 2 workouts a day. yikes! remember when i said it's all about " finding the time " to workout?  well now i've found myself waking up just 15 minutes earlier to get to the gym for a 30-40 minute workout (apparently i can get ready super fast when i'm in a hot humid locker room!) or filling that extra hour before kickboxing with a 2-3 mile run. 

i'm in it to win it this time... 5 pounds down so far. let's DO this!

cheers.
jenn

it's funny how if you really try, you can find those extra few minutes a day to burn an extra few calories.  when i'm not in the mood to work out, I "conveniently" don't have the time to work out.  it used to be that on days I couldn't go to kickboxing, I couldn't work out at all (then I would proceed to eat bagels at work, starting that slippery slope to bad eating first thing in the morning). 

recently I've been walking in the morning. even though it's "just walking" and I burn so few calories per hour compared to a normal run or kickboxing session, it's better than nothing . but it's not just about the calories, it's about setting my mood for the day.  getting my heart rate up first thing in the morning puts me in a good mood, makes me WANT to pack that salad for lunch, makes me WANT to find an extra 10 or 20 minutes later in the day to get in a walk or run, makes me WANT to refill my water bottle 8 times a day...

last night I found an extra hour before kickboxing that I would normally spend sitting on the sofa watching before-primetime tv (syndicated how I met your mother or entertainment tonight, both equally addicting time-wasters). instead of wasting time on the sofa, last night I went for a run down by the water BEFORE kickboxing, and man was I glad to get outside.  the weather was beautiful, the skies were beautiful, and I just felt awesome afterwards.

a new pair of compression pants, neon workout wear, and guaranteed beautiful views of the manhattan skyline help the motivation too ;)

what's your workout motivation? do you ever take advantage of those extra 10 or 20 minutes in the day?

cheers!
jenn

i've been working more hours than usual...
which puts a rut into my nightly routine (kickboxing, shower, eat, blog)
i leave late, which doubles my commute in rush hour traffic, i get home late, i miss the kickboxing class, and i can't blog.

so... wednesday night i decided i've had it! i'm not NOT working out just because i miss kickboxing class.

so... i... just... RAN (yes, just like forrest gump tells that sweet old lady in the movie)

i ran all the way to 11th street in hoboken.  round trip is just over FIVE MILES!
craziness, right? well, i guess i didn't run it all in 1 shot. when i got to the hoboken train station, i decided to take a peak inside the newly renovated space.  i was speachless!



it's gorgeous in there.  it's like a mini grand central station. AND it handles 3 different train systems, AND it's a bus stop, AND it's a ferry terminal. (i love that we have so many modes of public transportation!!)

so, running all the way to hoboken was totally worth having sore quads and calves 2 days after the run...

cheers to the weekend!
we're having our favorite "local" visitor visit this weekend!
and going to 2 bbq's
and going on a sailboat ride tonight!
i LOVE summers in the city :)

what are your plans this weekend!??