This week’s favorites

June 26, 2013June 26, 2013 SweetHanrahanLeave a comment

These past couple of weeks have been BANANAS!

First, I’ve had house guests for the last week and a half. And now…it’s time to move! So I thought I would just pop in real quick to share some of this week’s favorites with y’all.

Favorite eats:

I made SkinnyTaste’s Cilantro Lime Shrimp with a side salad that consisted of: spinach, fresh figs, chopped red onion, pistachios, chopped apple, chopped pear and topped with dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar and olive oil…YUMMMMM!

Favorite workout:

Because of aforementioned craziness, I’ve had to keep my workouts short and sweet. So, this week my favorite was this tabata workout that I found via The Not Quite “It” Girls. I did this quick little workout in between 2 x 15 minute sessions on the elliptical.

My favorite picture from this past ~~boozy~~ crazy weekend (courtesy of Genell…thanks bitch):

And my favorite wiener dogs. I seriously can’t get enough of these guys!

I hope you guys have a wonderful week!

Next week’s diet plan and a photo dump

June 19, 2013June 26, 2013 SweetHanrahan3 Comments

Hola! Como Estas?

I’ve got some familia in town so things have been a little bit hectic around here.

So far this week, I have been doing The Blonde Ponytail‘s Summer Shapeup plan. I wanted to do a spinning class this afternoon but I came to the sad realization that my gym membership expired (because we are moving in 1.6 weeks, I can’t believe it!!!). SO, yesterday and today, I did Day 5 and Day 6 of week 1. The upside is that my building’s gym has a pretty great view especially during the summertime where there’s lots going on in the park. I was workin’ out as I looked down on the peeps at the concert in the park!

Next week I am planning on eating super clean and I thought I would share an example of what a day will be looking like. In general, I will be avoiding carbs, sugar, alcohol, meat and dairy. I’ve been doing all of the above this week minus the alcohol 😉

Breakfast: 2 egg whites, 1 egg + coffee with almond milk (no picture because I’m lazy)

Lunch: Salad with a variety of fruit/veggies + oil and vinegar (in this picture I had 1/4 of an avocado, broccoli, tofu, red peppers, arugula, cucumbers, olive oil, fig-invused vinegar)

Snacks: 12 almonds + handful of grape tomatoes

Dinner: fish + veggies

If you try this, I urge you to eat as many veggies as you want. In terms of fruit, limit yourself to berries.

In other news, I got some new duds (sneakers) and am getting rid of some old duds (dishes). It actually worked out quite perfectly because my bro-in-law and his woman want the dishes I’m getting rid of for their new apartment: win-win!

I will miss those dishes but I am also looking forward to entertaining guests with the new ones 🙂

And in case you are bored, here is another photo dump from my weekend…

Saturday, we rented an electric boat and cruised up and down the river so I thought I would share a couple of pictures with you. Obviously, alcohol was involved (except for the driver, she did not partake…thanks for being the DD Leslie!!!).

Me and the blondie DD before things got messy.

My husband chose to wear his “captain” hat even though he was not the captain at all!

That’s all I’ve got for now!

I hope you guys have a great rest of your week!

A cleanse, some good workouts and my favorite processed foods

June 14, 2013June 26, 2013 SweetHanrahan1 Comment

Happy Friday ya’ll!

I’ve been a little MIA for several reasons. First, I did this cleanse on Monday & Tuesday so I had ZERO energy to do anything. The cleanse isn’t too bad in the fact that a) you eat actual food and you eat really clean and 2) you can bank on losing 3-4 pounds. As long as you continue to eat healthy after the cleanse is over, you can plan on keeping the weight off, too (in fact, I’ve lost another pound since!). However, I do have one suggestion: DO IT WITH SOMEONE ELSE!!! Because that thing is NOT easy peasy. I did it with my step-sister, Melissa and it was nice that we were able to bitch to each other during the 2 days.

I’ve also got like 800 million people that are coming to visit Chicago over the next 2 weeks so I’ve been trying to get my life together in preparation for that.

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Lately, when it comes to my workouts, I’ve been feeling a little apathetic. I did complete the following workout that I thought I would share:

I found the “Supine Oblique Ball Twist” from Shape Magazine and it looks like this:

Because of said apathetic feeling, I figured it was time to lean on someone else to come up with my workouts for me. SO, this week I started The Blonde Ponytail’s 4 week Summer Shape Up Plan. I did Day 3 yesterday and it would GOOD. In fact, my husband (who is ridiculously fit) agreed that it was a great workout.

I don’t plan on following it to a tee but I am going to plan on doing at least 3 of the workouts a week. You can find week 1 HERE. I highly recommend trying this out!

Moving right along to my take on processed foods… I consider myself to be someone who eats really clean most of the time. However, I do think that in today’s world, it can be really difficult what with busy lives and all the shit that is out there (hello, just take a look at the list of ingredients on most, if not all, foods that are in the middle aisles of the grocery store). Often, it is just a lot easier to eat the garbage than to take the extra time to make your own “clean” version of something. With that being said, there are also other things that are just simply guilty pleasures and I thought I would share with you some of mine.

LAUGHING COW CHEESE IS PROCESSED?!?!? Yep. Do you know what the hell “sodium citrate” looks like? Me neither. But you know what? It’s delicious. And I don’t care.

As much as I would love to brag about making my own alfredo sauce, I am much too lazy for that. Especially on the weeknights. So with this one, I choose not to look at the list of ingredients. #sorryimnotsorry

I put this crap in my coffee every. single. morning. I have tried so hard to use almond milk but I just can’t. I love this stuff to the death. I don’t even want to think about what “mono and diglycerides” are.

Speaking of coffee, another guilty pleasure?

SKINNY VANILLA LATTE!!!! OK, this DEFINITELY has a bunch of garbage in it. I see those baristas pumping sugary shit in that cup. But you know what? I DON’T CARE!!! Bwahahaha!

So next time you find yourself eating or drinking processed food, don’t worry, most other people do it too!

I hope you guys have a fabulous weekend!

Do you have any processed foods that you just can’t live without?

My weekend in pictures

May 22, 2013June 26, 2013 SweetHanrahanLeave a comment

I thought I would kick off this post by sharing my workout from yesterday.

It started off with 20 minutes on the elliptical (I started with the resistance at level 9 and kicked it up a notch every 5 minutes). Then I moved along to this quick little leg workout:

I was pressed for time so I didn’t really work on my abs. The whole workout (including the elliptical) took me about 55 minutes. It was a pretty good little workout!

This past weekend, the weather was unbelievable. I mean, now I remember why I live in this city after all! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Since strawberry season is in full swing, I picked up a whole bunch of them and made a little salad with a side of chicken for lunch before heading out for the day.

Look at these things!

Then it was time to take a cab over to Mayfest but look what I saw on the way there…A squirrel in a dress!!! HA!

Saturday, we played our kickball game (and lost again) and then headed over to the lakefront to play some croquet.

Well, the boys played croquet…This is what the girls did…

NOTHING! It was awesome!

This is probably one of my most favorite spots in the entire city (when it’s warm, of course) because the view is just awesome. Here’s a better picture of said view:

After croquet, we got home and the dogs were all like “excuse me, WHERE have you been all day?!?!!?”

Does anyone have any plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend?

-I’m not sure what we are planning because it is supposed to be quite chilly here in Chi so we shall see.

Hope you guys have a great rest of your week!!!

Some leg workouts and Pinterest is awesome

May 8, 2013June 26, 2013 SweetHanrahan3 Comments

Hi there everyone! I have really been slacking in terms of lifting weights so naturally I took to Pinterest to get some ideas for workouts.

So I thought I would share some of the more appealing leg workouts that I came across the other day…

[source]

I must admit that I am quite addicted to Pinterest. At first, I was kind of bummed that my company disallowed it at work but now I am quite thankful; I would get NOTHING done!

I mean, they’ve got everything under the sun on that thing…recipes, interior design, fashion (one of my faves), fitness and the list goes on! AWESOME!

Anyway, on Saturday, I wrote up this little total body workout but my ankle is still bothering me so I didn’t want to push it. I thought I would share it with you guys anyway.

Speaking of my ankle, I think I’ve found a solution in terms of kickball…I’ll be “batting” lefty!!! I did it on Sunday and it went totally fine, which I was very happy about 🙂

If you try my workout, let me know how it goes!

Do you use Pinterest for any particular thing more than any others?

I look at fashion the most. This girl can takes all the help she can get in that department!

To do lists, (belated) photo dump and DOGS

May 2, 2013May 2, 2013 SweetHanrahan1 Comment

Hello! I hope you guys enjoyed Bryan’s post!

If you know me, you know I like to make lists. So, every day I try to make a little list of what I want to accomplish for that day. Today’s list:

Item number 3 brings me here 😉

Anyway, this last week has been fairly uneventful. We joined a kickball league and decided to practice before it started. So on Saturday we did our thing. Well, apparently kickball is no good for you if you’ve got a metal rod in your kicking ankle. So, I have been left with a gimp ankle this whole week. As such, my workouts looked like this:

Monday: 3 mile (turtle-paced) walk outside with dogs + husband

Tuesday: kick-ass spin class

Today: 25 minute elliptical + upper body/abs workout

Nothing to write home about, I know.

Here is a little photo dump for your viewing pleasure…

I’m running a 10k that benefits breast cancer on Monther’s Day and I got my bib in the mail (terrible picture, I know…pfft, husbands!).

On Saturday, Bryan & I went for a 4 mile run and then after, I rode my bike over to this cute vintage market to meet up with Leslie.

I REALLY liked that dresser but unfortunately, I am not currently in the market for one, sigh #firstworldproblems On the bright side, champagne was involved!

Kickball with the Frenks on Sunday.

Post kickball

When I was in college, my dear friend (who was my roomie back then) got a Pug and named him Bruno. WELL, the other day she sent me a picture of this cute little guy that I miss so much and he has a gray beard, just look!!!

I really can’t take his cuteness.

THEN, the other day I was walking during lunch to meet up with my husband and look who I happened upon:

The one on the left is all like “excuse me, I am just drinking my water and waiting for the bus, nothing to see here!”

Ah, and just because, here’s a picture of my 3 main men chillaxin’

Hope you guys have a good rest of the week!

Any animal that simply makes you swoon?!?!?!

Getting back on track

April 18, 2013 SweetHanrahanLeave a comment

Happy hump day!

I hope you all are having a fantabulous (yes, that’s a word) week!

I, for one, am not. I have not been so good in terms of eating (and drinking) healthy. I’ve been really good about working out but we all know that’s only part of the equation.

I forget where I read this, but I got the idea to put a calendar that signifies how you are doing with your diet and exercise plan. Here is what mine looks like thus far:

You basically mark off each day with either green or red. Obviously, red means you have not been doing so hot. Considering all the red on my calendar of late, it looks like I need to get back on track.

Truth be told, there has been a lot of this going on:

Soooo, this morning, I prepped for my day by making sure I had only healthful foods with me. This is how the layout looked…

I want to take a moment to talk about the carrot juice. I found it in the store for only $4.00 and I thought it would be great for my morning smoothies. The nutrition facts are pretty legit. Note that the only ingredient is “carrot juice”…SCORE!

I won’t lie, the first smoothie I made (spinach, pineapple, carrot juice) tasted kinda ~~disgusting~~ weird. BUT, the next day (today), I added half a banana and it was delicious! I suggest you guys give it a whirl because I had tons of energy after drinking it!

Let’s switch gears and talk about my weekend for a moment because it was pretty solid.

My friend, Indira told me about this running group hosted by Lululemon. The running group starts at 7:30 AM on Saturday and they run for 65 minutes. The run is followed by yoga inside the store! Well, we were about 2 minutes late and the group left so we just did 4 miles on our own and made it back in time for yoga. We’re planning on making it on time this week 🙂

On Sunday, the weather here in Chicago was AMAZE-BALLS so early in the morning, I got in a quick workout and then we went to go see the cubs! Short hair, don’t care…

[you can follow me on Insty via @sweethanrahan]

I think I did something to my left hamstring so my workouts have not been anything to write home about. I did do Jillian Michaels’ 6 week 6 pack (level 2) and that thing was TOUGH. But other than that, I’ve just been milking the elliptical and lifting weights.

In case you are on the fence about the Jillian Michaels’ workout DVDs, I strongly suggest buying them. They are cheap, quick, effective and perfect for when the gym sounds miserable.

How cute is this lil’ guy?

Any workout videos you can suggest?

Gym pet peeves, a new book and I’m screwed

April 4, 2013 SweetHanrahan6 Comments

Happy hump day everybody!

My week has been flying by, I hope yours has too 🙂

Workouts:

Monday: 30 minutes on the elliptical + upper body strength

Tuesday: 4 miles on dreadmill

Wednesday: 20 minutes on the elliptical + 1/2 of Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred (level 2)

While I was running on the dreadmill on Tuesday, I got to thinking about all the irksome little things that people do at the gym (what can I say, that thing is BORING).

Here are my 3 top gym pet peeves:

1) People not wiping down the machines once they are finished, GROSS

2) When I am waiting for a machine, and there is someone who is barely using it (talking on their phone, walking at a turtle pace, zero resistance, etc.)

3) Those girls who basically wear a bikini (you have a hot bod, we get it) to work out

Any pet peeves that drive you crazy?

Anyway, today I got very excited because my new book finally came in…

Have you guys heard of it? The basic premise is that modern-day wheat is genetically altered to create manufacturers with the greatest yield at the lowest cost. This modern-day wheat is what’s making America fat.

I am not saying that I am going to go nuts and dive off into this wheat-free diet but I am interested in what Dr. Davis has to say. So we’ll see.

In other news, as I mentioned earlier, I ran 4 miles yesterday and you know what? It killed me. My hips and hamstrings are completely sore. I used to run 6 miles no problem, what happened? Winter. Winter is what happened. Anyway,I just realized that the Shamrock Shuffle 8K is this weekend. For some reason, I thought I had like 4 weeks until this sucker. Considering the fact that 4 miles completely put me on my ass, I would say I’m screwed!

Anyone else running a race this weekend? If so, I hope that it will be warmer for you than it will be for me (48 degrees, FUN!).

Killer circuit and this weekends’ activities

March 31, 2013 SweetHanrahan1 Comment

WARNING: YOU WILL NEVER GET THE FIVE MINUTES THAT IT TAKES TO READ THIS POST BACK

You’ve been warned.

Hola amigos, how has your weekend been going?

Mine hasn’t been so bad. Although, I must admit, I’ve been pretty sore from the past weeks’ workouts, the hardest one being….

Started off with a quick mile on the dreadmill followed by this:

This killed me. End of story.

Moving on to the more fun stuff 🙂

Saturday, I decided to betty crocker it up and make this delicious breakfast:

Egg whites with tomato, spinach, avocado and jalepeno. Served with a side of turkey sausage, wheat bread + cream cheese & sugar free jelly and a spinach/pineapple/banana smoothie. YUM!

After breakfast, I had to head to the west loop to feed my friends’ cats (friends are in China) which was about 3 miles round trip. Their cats are BIG.

Heeeeyyyy Gar-Bear [his name is Gary]…

On the way back I forced my husband to take a pic, he’s clearly thrilled.

Anyway, after running back, we spent some time riding bikes because the weather here in Chi-town is finally starting to look like spring (even though it took 800 million years).

Today we ran a few errands then went to watch the Gators lose. For some reason I thought it would be appropriate to record my outfit into the history books.

Clearly, I like the color blue.

See, I told you. You’ll never get that 5 minutes back.

Hope you all had an amazing Easter!!!!

Morning routine and photo dump

March 17, 2013 SweetHanrahan1 Comment

Happy Sunday! I have been MIA for the last few weeks because I went to Asia!!! Guys, the trip was amazing, I went to Hong Kong and Bangkok and it was an unforgettable experience. Being on vacation for so long made me realize that I don’t like work. At all. Anyway, as you may know, I work in Finance and the hours get pretty crazy. So, because of that, I’ve attempted to fit my workouts in before I go to work. My typical morning looks something like this:

5:15 – get up and go workout (usually upstairs but sometimes across the street at the gym)

6:30 – Hop in the shower then sit on the couch to drink coffee and watch the news

7:30 – Make breakfast and lunch, blow dry my hair, get dressed

8:15 – Head out the door

Waking up that early can definitely be a challenge but in the morning, I try to remind myself that it could be a late night in the office and I would be so pissed at my morning self for skipping. That usually helps to get me out of bed 🙂

Anyway, I hope you all are having a Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Here in Chicago, we typically celebrate the Saturday before which means we ~~over imbibed~~ had a couple drinks yesterday and watched the river get dyed green. Here are a couple of pictures from the day…

The highlights of my workouts this week were as follows: