I’ve had a nice, little Sunday over here: pancakes, gym, errands, and a delicious dinner is on the menu for this evening. But, the best part of my Sunday hasn’t happened yet. In about an hour, I’ll be reunited with Murphy!!! He’s been with our dog sitter since Thursday afternoon, but he’s getting dropped off at our house soon.
How adorable is that photo?! Our dog sitter sent it to me a little while ago. Apparently, Murphy has really taken to her dog, Helga. Look at that cuddling! Get a room, you two!
Workout
After breakfast, I hit the gym for a workout. I started on the treadmill with a 45-minute power walking workout. You’ve probably seen this one on CNC in the past, but I made it more challenging today by adding 0.5 to all of the inclines and not letting my speed go below 4.0 mph.
I planned to read magazines while I walked, but this workout was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I was dripping buckets of sweat by the end! I ended up walking just over 3 miles.
Once I finished the walking workout, I hit the weight room for a lower body strength training workout. I used dumbbells for all of the exercises, so 40 pounds, for instance, is two 20-pound dumbbells. I didn’t rest between exercises (just between sets long enough to catch my breath), so by the third set, my legs felt like Jello!
Speaking of workouts, here’s my weekly workout!
Weekly Workouts
- Sunday: 45-minute power walking workout + leg workout
- Monday: CrossFit
- Tuesday: 3.5-mile run + CrossFit
- Wednesday: Off
- Thursday: 4-mile run + CrossFit
- Friday: Elliptical
- Saturday: CrossFit
Lunch
After the gym, I went grocery shopping, ran a bunch of errands, and then arrived home starving. Before I took a shower, I put on a pot of Spicy Rice Quinoa Soup. It took about 35 minutes to cook, so while I waited, I put away the groceries, made a batch of iced coffee, started a load of laundry, and took out the trash and recycling for tomorrow’s pick-up. It’s amazing how much you can get done in 35 minutes!
I added diced carrots, onions, and mushroom powder to the Spicy Rice Quinoa Soup for some added nutrients. The soup was thick and rich with tons of rice, quinoa, and lentils. Mmm! I <3 soup.
Dinner
I love meal planning, but, as you probably know, it can take a lot of time and effort, so when I stumbled upon an article in this month’s Men’s Health that did it all for me, I was psyched. The article included lots of healthy, easy-to-make recipes and it claimed everything would cost less than $50, so, obviously, I was game. (I get really excited about stuff like this!)
I ended up spending more than $50 on these items (- some, + others), but I didn’t need to meal plan for the week, so that’s awesome and totally worth it. Plus, I have a week’s worth of new and exciting meals to look forward to!
Off to cook dinner! Skirt steak is on the menu for tonight!
P.S. I’m not picking the winners of the giveaways until tomorrow morning, so you still have time to enter!
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
For some reason meal planning for me is a thrill. I love the organization of it. $50 for a week’s worth of dinners is awesome!
I have been wanting to do some meal planning, I actually love planning in pretty much any from!
I’m loving the looks of that soup! $50 for a week of dinners — that’s a good deal!
Murphy has a lady friend????
meal planning is a great idea. i need to get off the couch and do my grocery shopping for the week- i hope to make a hearty soup that can last me! its just one of those cold nights i dont feel like moving
What a fun day! I look forward to seeing how y’alls meals are thing week! Oh, and have fun at Crossfit!
So awesome to have everything all laid out for you! I always meal plan so that I don’t end up spending extra money and the store, but you’re right, it does take a lot of time!
Your workout plan looks so tough this week! Good motivation for me though
That ready made meal plan sounds very handy! Especially coming up to Christmas when shopping and gift wrapping have to take priority! (as well as baking cookies and various other sweet treats!)
sounds like you’ve had a great, productive day so far! i love those types of days. i’m about to go meal plan for the week now actually. i don’t mind it too much, but it does take some extra time & effort. in the end i believe it’s totally worth it though. i’m interested to hear how you felt like your plan went for this week from your magazine!
That soup looks great! I love soup in the winter!
Knim that Quinoa soup sounds fabulous! Where did u find this? Also we had chatted briefly last week how I wanted to do a blog. Well I took ur advice I bought a domain name thru GoDaddy.com but now I don’t know how to do the actual website without spending money! Help!!!
I meant wow….darn pre filling words on the iPhone…lol!
Hmm… Have you set up your blog through Wordpress or Blogger yet?
No not yet. Do I need to do that first and then can I connect it to my domain?
Yep, set that up and then call GoDaddy to see if they’ll help walk you through adding your domain to it.
Ok great I’ll do that! Thanks for ur help!!! By the way I’m getting ur book for Christmas
Just a warning: you might be too sore from CrossFit to get all those workouts done! I had been running and Body Pump-ing 3x a week (each) for months when I started and damn, did those CF workouts make me hurt!
@Laura:
This! Where is your rest day?
@Jessica: Sunday!
That quinoa soup looks good!
I have yet to try CrossFit, but it seems like it can be so great! I really love BodyPUMP though, it get me every time. So hard.
I love meal planning! Great post! Sounds like you had a very productive day!
That soup sounds gorgeous
I love meal planning too – for the time it takes to do, I think it’s so worth it!
I’ve been looking for a way to use up the quinoa I have in my cabinet – the soup looks delicious!
That’s awesome that you’re actually following that meal plan all week! I think about doing it whenever I see those kinds of articles in magazines, but in the end I’m always too lazy to follow through.
I’m excited to see all your dinners this week!
I am seriously dying to try CrossFit. It sounds brutal, aka a good thing. Slash Murphy is such a little muffin. I miss my pup!
I need to start meal planning..but tend to stick with eating the same things every day except for when I’m home and don’t have to worry about it!
I LOVE menu planning. It’s a Sunday ritual for me. Aww….Murphy!!! He’s in love! Wasn’t he in love with your bag not long ago??? Guess he’s steppin’ out!
Hope the week ahead is a good one Tina.
That article looks awesome-have you found it online?
I quickly looked, and I don’t think it’s online yet.
@Katie @ Livehalffull: I found it! http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/shop-once-eat-week
@Tina: so awesome, thanks!
I get excited about meal planner things like that too! I actually really like Men’s Health mag too haha even though I’m obvi not their target audience..I’m going to check their website for this!
The soup looks delish!
I really miss my husband getting Men’s Health because they had some great easy and quick meal ideas in an attempt to cater to men, but I though it was great for women too!
Meal planning is something I really want to work on! Since it’s just me I find it more difficult to meal plan. I know it shouldn’t be, but it is.
Gonna have to try that power walk!
Have a great night!
I think I had the same Sunday as you! Pancakes, gym (cardio and weight sesh), food shopping for the week, prepped and made crock-pot chili, and now waiting for brownies to cool. I tried the Cooking Light recipe so check out my blog tomorrow if you’re interested in low-cal fudgy brownies
That’s neat that the article did the meal planning for you!
I love this article! Whenever I read meal plans I always wish they would put a grocery list in the article!
Wooo good luck with your workouts this week! It sounds super intense. My friend is addicted to Crossfit as well.
I’m always tempted to follow magazine menu plans but then end up swapping a majority of the meals–> kinda defeats the purpose!
Oooo.. Iced coffee. Think it will taste great with my SBUX Christmas Blend.
Speaking of Yoga… what about adding weights? I just did a video review (on my site). I love it! I seriously am not saying just to ‘promo the video’. I got a great workout and think you might like it as you add crossfit to your routine.
On Murphy, you know when the cat (parents) is away the mouse (Murphy) will play.
Although seriously underrated, “catch-up” Sunday’s are very nice. I am going to have to check out that meal plan. Anything that saves time is worth a few extra dollars!
I also love meal planning- but a plan someone else makes is always exciting! We are travelling today, so hopefully I can use some airport time to plan my week!
When I actually take the time to do meal planning, it always ends up great, and I love that I’ve done it, but unfortunately, I don’t do it nearly as often as I probably should! $50 though? that’s great! Looks like I’ll be hijacking my husband’s Men’s Health this month to check those out!
I don’t see any breaks in this weeks workout. Any particular reason?
@Quana: No, not really. I’ll probably take a rest day on Sunday.
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