I've had such an awesome week! I'm so proud of myself for finally pushing myself and having the energy to plan out all my meals and have a great workout every day. It's only been a week, but I feel like I'm finally getting back in to being the crazy-workout-Margo I was a few years ago. LOVE THIS FEELING.
It's weird. The last half a year or so I've felt like I didn't have the energy to workout. I would often skip workouts that I planned on doing because I was too tired. Or when I would workout, I wouldn't put as much energy into it as I used to.
But once you really get going, you have so much more energy to workout more often and push yourself more! Seriously LOVING this energy.
So proud of myself for all my workouts.
Last Thursday, I tried my very first CrossFit class. It was cool, I guess. I would definitely try it again. But I feel like I have to think too much about proper technique in order to not injure myself. Then I felt like I was spending most of my class thinking and not as much working out. I honestly get a lot more sore from barre classes and I'm never afraid of badly injuring myself in those. But! Maybe CrossFit just takes more getting used to and I need to slowly learn technique. I will definitely go back. :)
Friday Rommel and I just stayed in and had a movie night. Maybe it's the cold weather (OK, it's not that cold I'm just a wimp because I've grown up in San Diego), but I've been loving staying in and watching movies lately. Good news because it's preventing me from going out a lot and spending too much money.
Saturday did Cardio Barre
Sunday went for a run
Monday I had an awesome Bar Method class with one of my fav instructors. I pushed myself much more last night than I have in a long time! Really proud of myself! I also had an energetic taiko practice later that night.
And tonight I had a really great Barre3 class
Can you tell I love barre classes? :P I'm really prepping myself well for my my Barre Battle reviews
Tomorrow, I'm planning on a run
Thursday, I have tae kwon do class and taiko practice.
And Friday, we are planning on a quick run then yoga to end the week on a good note :)
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Meal Planning
Meal planning - seriously one of the best ways to make sure you stay on track.
I know when I don't plan, I tend to stray.... I end up eating out or I binge eat any unhealthy things I can find in my kitchen.
Make sure your kitchen is always stocked with ingredients to make your meals. Make sure you always have quick healthy snacks on hand that you can just grab and munch on. And most importantly (for me at least), make sure you have something to satisfy your serious chocolate cravings... haha. I like to keep a bar of dark chocolate hidden away for absolute emergencies.... If I have a bad chocolate craving and don't have any chocolate, I will end up eating everything in sight and never get full until I have some chocolate..... it's really a problem.
If you're like me and tend to be very busy all the time, plan out your meals in advance! It will help you to stay on track, so you don't have to stress about it when you're hungry. And always have healthy snacks on hand too!
Examples:
I baked a big breakfast fritatta for Rommel and I to slice up and have for breakfast for the next few days.
Last night while making dinner and our breakfast frittata, I marinated some chicken, grilled it, chopped it up, then saved it to throw on my salad for lunch today.
For dinner tonight, we have lentil soup cooking away in our slow cooker right now :) I prepped everything for the soup last night so it is quick to throw in the slow cooker this morning. All veggies chopped up in a bag with herbs and dried lentils. Tube of tomato paste sitting on top of the bag in the fridge, so I didn't have to search for it. Chicken broth and all seasonings sitting right next to the slow cooker.
Tonight, I will marinate some flank steak, grill it, and chop it up for our lunch salad tomorrow.
Tonight, I will also start to prep dinner for tomorrow night. I will bake a spaghetti squash and get ingredients ready to make make marinara sauce in our slow cooker tomorrow morning. I also saved a little bit of the grilled chicken to mix in there.
Happy New Year! Eat well, plan well, exercise, and meet your health goals!
I know when I don't plan, I tend to stray.... I end up eating out or I binge eat any unhealthy things I can find in my kitchen.
Make sure your kitchen is always stocked with ingredients to make your meals. Make sure you always have quick healthy snacks on hand that you can just grab and munch on. And most importantly (for me at least), make sure you have something to satisfy your serious chocolate cravings... haha. I like to keep a bar of dark chocolate hidden away for absolute emergencies.... If I have a bad chocolate craving and don't have any chocolate, I will end up eating everything in sight and never get full until I have some chocolate..... it's really a problem.
If you're like me and tend to be very busy all the time, plan out your meals in advance! It will help you to stay on track, so you don't have to stress about it when you're hungry. And always have healthy snacks on hand too!
Examples:
I baked a big breakfast fritatta for Rommel and I to slice up and have for breakfast for the next few days.
 |
| Frittata (mostly egg whites) with broccoli, onion, jalapeno cheddar, and leftover ham from our NYE dinner |
Last night while making dinner and our breakfast frittata, I marinated some chicken, grilled it, chopped it up, then saved it to throw on my salad for lunch today.
 |
| Chicken breast marinated in lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, and dill |
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| Salad with heirloom spinach, arugula, grilled chicken, dill, green onion, lemon juice, and pumpkin seed oil |
For dinner tonight, we have lentil soup cooking away in our slow cooker right now :) I prepped everything for the soup last night so it is quick to throw in the slow cooker this morning. All veggies chopped up in a bag with herbs and dried lentils. Tube of tomato paste sitting on top of the bag in the fridge, so I didn't have to search for it. Chicken broth and all seasonings sitting right next to the slow cooker.
 |
| All the ingredients ready to go! |
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| Everything thrown in the slow cooker in 1 minute this morning! |
Tonight, I will marinate some flank steak, grill it, and chop it up for our lunch salad tomorrow.
Tonight, I will also start to prep dinner for tomorrow night. I will bake a spaghetti squash and get ingredients ready to make make marinara sauce in our slow cooker tomorrow morning. I also saved a little bit of the grilled chicken to mix in there.
Happy New Year! Eat well, plan well, exercise, and meet your health goals!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
DietBet
I'm participating in the Blogilates DietBet to kick start getting back to losing weight and getting fit for 2014!
There are a bunch of different games available through DietBet, but the game hosted by Blogilates has a pretty nice pot going. Currently, it is over $78,000 and it doesn't even officially start for 2 more days.
Put in $30, lose at least 4% of your weight in 28 days, then split the pot with the other winners. Not too bad, right? And money is always a nice little extra motivation :P
Join in on the Blogilates January DietBet here!
There are a bunch of different games available through DietBet, but the game hosted by Blogilates has a pretty nice pot going. Currently, it is over $78,000 and it doesn't even officially start for 2 more days.
Put in $30, lose at least 4% of your weight in 28 days, then split the pot with the other winners. Not too bad, right? And money is always a nice little extra motivation :P
Join in on the Blogilates January DietBet here!
Happy New Year!
2014 Goals:
- complete my first full marathon - 26 miles for 26 years old! woohoo!! what an awesome idea - thanks to my cousin!
- stop going out to eat / for drinks as much as I have been lately --> save money and stay healthy
- get back in to being the workout-like-crazy-Margo that I was in 2012
- complete my first full marathon - 26 miles for 26 years old! woohoo!! what an awesome idea - thanks to my cousin!
- stop going out to eat / for drinks as much as I have been lately --> save money and stay healthy
- get back in to being the workout-like-crazy-Margo that I was in 2012
Friday, November 29, 2013
Barre Battles
So I have this obsession with buying Groupon/Living Social/whatever deals or intro specials for all these different boutique gym studios.... I just love trying and comparing them all! And... I mean.... how can you resist a deal on a great workout? :P
When I first started trying out different barre classes, I tried looking up reviews for different studios and all of them say the same thing... "It's a great workout... blah blah blah..." But it was a little hard to specifics on what made that particular barre workout different than all the other ones. In my experience, all the different companies have a different emphasis and a different style. Even though they are all based on similar techniques, they can be very different workouts!
So here we are with the Barre Battles - my reviews on different barre workouts.
I'll break down each review in to different categories and then rate each category.
Categories to review will be: strength (10 points), cardio (10 points), instruction (10 points), facility amenities (5 points), facility cleanliness (5 points), value (5 points), and other extra notes (5 points).
A few of the studios I have tried and plan on reviewing are:
I will give myself a refresher of all of these over the next few months by taking a few more classes (if I don't currently go to them regularly), so I can write a more thorough review.
In the end, I'll let you know my favs! :)
When I first started trying out different barre classes, I tried looking up reviews for different studios and all of them say the same thing... "It's a great workout... blah blah blah..." But it was a little hard to specifics on what made that particular barre workout different than all the other ones. In my experience, all the different companies have a different emphasis and a different style. Even though they are all based on similar techniques, they can be very different workouts!
So here we are with the Barre Battles - my reviews on different barre workouts.
I'll break down each review in to different categories and then rate each category.
Categories to review will be: strength (10 points), cardio (10 points), instruction (10 points), facility amenities (5 points), facility cleanliness (5 points), value (5 points), and other extra notes (5 points).
A few of the studios I have tried and plan on reviewing are:
I will give myself a refresher of all of these over the next few months by taking a few more classes (if I don't currently go to them regularly), so I can write a more thorough review.
In the end, I'll let you know my favs! :)
Hi! I'm Margo
Hi everyone!! Before I get started on this blog again, I feel like I need a give a little intro to myself... My food, fitness journey, and a few other little random things about myself.
My name is Margo and to sum it up, I'm a food-loving, super short, proud San Diegan in my 20s.
I've grown up in coastal San Diego pretty much my entire life and I absolutely love it here.
I'm half-Filipino and half-white and I think my love and complete obsession with food comes from my Filipino side... If you are Filipino or have close Filipino friends, you know what I mean - food is a HUGE part of the culture. Also, my grandma was a cook, so that probably has a pretty big influence on me too - I got to grow up eating extra delicious Filipino food :P
I went to school at UC Irvine and picked up my B.S. in Public Health Sciences with a minor in education.
After college, I moved back to San Diego, sat around at a desk all day in my office, and enjoyed a LOT of going out, drinking way too much, then eating badly - typical for someone just out of college, right? Anyways, this resulted in a lot of weight gain. I was at 125 lbs at my worst. I know some people probably want to shoot me right now... Only 125 pounds and I'm complaining?? But I'm 4 FOOT 10 INCHES. 125 pounds put me in the overweight category on the BMI scale. This was a huge slap in the face for me to get in shape.
Like anyone wanting to lose weight, I started eating healthy and exercising a lot. This was two years ago. But over time, my weight loss journey, my obsession with food, and my education in Public Health kind of blended together and sparked this whole new interest in.... drum roll.... Nutrition!
Nutrition. I love it. I love learning about it. I love testing things out. I love reading about it. I love talking about it. I'm strongly considering going back to school to get my Masters in Public Health with an emphasis in Nutrition. It's awesome.
I also absolutely LOOOVE cooking.
And that was the start of this blog. Cooking healthy foods :)
To give this blog a little more personality and make it a little more "me," I will be also posting about different types of workouts and events/restaurants/bars/fun things in San Diego. Or you know... Just random things I feel like blogging about ;)
Other randoms:
My boyfriend, Rommel: This guy is hilarious, super caring, and super patient with me on days I turn in to a huge bitch :P He also got really in to food and cooking because of me, and we love cooking together, exercising together, and discovering new restaurants/bars together.
My dog, Zoey: LOVE THIS GIRL SOOOO MUCH!! We picked her up from a shelter when she was just a few months old - she was found as a stray. We are pretty sure she is either full Australian Cattle Dog or maybe an Australian Cattle Dog mix. She is RIDICULOUSLY smart (which can be both annoying and funny at the same time) and she is the most caring dog I've ever met.
My family: My brother, JJ, is a linebacker for the Humboldt State Jacks and has recently picked up an interest in home-brewing, my dad shares my obsession with fitness and food, and my mom shares my love for cooking.
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| Cheers! Beer tasters at Deschutes Brewery in Portland, OR |
I've grown up in coastal San Diego pretty much my entire life and I absolutely love it here.
I'm half-Filipino and half-white and I think my love and complete obsession with food comes from my Filipino side... If you are Filipino or have close Filipino friends, you know what I mean - food is a HUGE part of the culture. Also, my grandma was a cook, so that probably has a pretty big influence on me too - I got to grow up eating extra delicious Filipino food :P
I went to school at UC Irvine and picked up my B.S. in Public Health Sciences with a minor in education.
After college, I moved back to San Diego, sat around at a desk all day in my office, and enjoyed a LOT of going out, drinking way too much, then eating badly - typical for someone just out of college, right? Anyways, this resulted in a lot of weight gain. I was at 125 lbs at my worst. I know some people probably want to shoot me right now... Only 125 pounds and I'm complaining?? But I'm 4 FOOT 10 INCHES. 125 pounds put me in the overweight category on the BMI scale. This was a huge slap in the face for me to get in shape.
 |
| Yuck! |
Nutrition. I love it. I love learning about it. I love testing things out. I love reading about it. I love talking about it. I'm strongly considering going back to school to get my Masters in Public Health with an emphasis in Nutrition. It's awesome.
I also absolutely LOOOVE cooking.
And that was the start of this blog. Cooking healthy foods :)
To give this blog a little more personality and make it a little more "me," I will be also posting about different types of workouts and events/restaurants/bars/fun things in San Diego. Or you know... Just random things I feel like blogging about ;)
Other randoms:
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| Hiking Rincon de la Vieja in Costa Rica (2103) |
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| At Del Mar Dog Beach |
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| JJ's HSU graduation 2013 |
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Blog revamp!
I've abandoned this blog for a while... And I'm kind of sad about it!
I'm starting it up again because I feel like it helps encourage myself to cook more often and eat healthy. Overall, I've still been keeping up good healthy eating and exercising, but I definitely started to go out a lot again - I'm just not as intense with it as I was before. But I'm OK with that! I think it's important to have a good balance of a healthy diet and exercise but still have fun an enjoy yourself.
I also want to restart because my boyfriend bought an awesome new DSLR a few months ago and I want to make some good use of it :P
So I've decided to expand my blog to have a section on fun things in San Diego! I've grown up here almost my entire life and I seriously LOVE this city. This section will mostly just be about restaurants, bars, and events in San Diego - pretty much just fun things I keep myself busy with but with some basic information on what exactly it is, my own review, and of course lots of pics :)
I'll continue to have lots of homemade healthy food posts with recipes and ideas! And also a fitness section where I'll review boutique gyms and classes. I've developed an obsession with trying lots of different boutique gyms. I like trying lots of new styles of workouts and comparing them, but I know not everyone does so I thought this could be a good place for people to get information on a gym or class they would like to try.
So! I WILL be back soon! :)
I'm starting it up again because I feel like it helps encourage myself to cook more often and eat healthy. Overall, I've still been keeping up good healthy eating and exercising, but I definitely started to go out a lot again - I'm just not as intense with it as I was before. But I'm OK with that! I think it's important to have a good balance of a healthy diet and exercise but still have fun an enjoy yourself.
I also want to restart because my boyfriend bought an awesome new DSLR a few months ago and I want to make some good use of it :P
Photo stolen from http://www.sandiego.com/
So I've decided to expand my blog to have a section on fun things in San Diego! I've grown up here almost my entire life and I seriously LOVE this city. This section will mostly just be about restaurants, bars, and events in San Diego - pretty much just fun things I keep myself busy with but with some basic information on what exactly it is, my own review, and of course lots of pics :)
I'll continue to have lots of homemade healthy food posts with recipes and ideas! And also a fitness section where I'll review boutique gyms and classes. I've developed an obsession with trying lots of different boutique gyms. I like trying lots of new styles of workouts and comparing them, but I know not everyone does so I thought this could be a good place for people to get information on a gym or class they would like to try.
So! I WILL be back soon! :)
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