Midori Spring Matcha Green Tea Review

I received a can of Midori Spring Ceremonial (GOLD) Matcha Green Tea for free in exchange for my honest review.  I had tried matcha previously and didn't like the flavor but decided to give it another shot since my tastes have changed. I'm definitely glad I changed my mind! Midori Spring has a completely different taste and mixes better than what I'd used before. I've not only successfully used it in a smoothie but in my oatmeal, a cookie, and in nog.

Failed attempt at a mug cake

Warm Matcha nog

Matcha oatmeal

Order your own can of Midorispring Spring Matcha Green Tea from Amazon today!

Happy Thanksgiving

The First Bird I Cooked - 2009

I have a busy night ahead of me.  Thanksgiving is tomorrow.  Austin's birthday is Saturday.  We have to pick up the turkey and everything for Austin tonight.  Why haven't I bought the turkey earlier?  Low funds and no room in the fridge!  Why haven't I bought Austin's cake or presents?  Low funds and he hasn't done a good job with telling me what he wants.

Last weekend Austin finally told me what he wanted.  For his present he wants a chemistry set something like this:

For the cake he wants the shape and/or design as the vault door on the Fallout 4 game.  No clue how I'm going to work the pattern into the cake.  I looked but didn't find any patterns/templates that I could use.

THURSDAY I did Kelly Coffey-Meyer's Lift in Full Throttle Olympic Lifting.

FRIDAY I did P90X3 Yoga X.

SATURDAY I did my first workout from Kiqplan that I won from The Yogi Movement's giveaway.  My phone was fighting me the whole time but I got in Slim & Trim Total Body 1.

MONDAY I did P90X3 Accelerator, modifying the modifier throughout most of the workout.

TUESDAY the Kiqplan app wouldn't load the schedule so I had no clue what workout I was supposed to do.  Instead I did P90X3 Total Synergistics.

This morning I tried the app again.  There was an update so I had my fingers crossed that I'd be able to get somewhere on Kiqplan.  Schedule loaded but again the sound wasn't there.  Without the beeps I don't know when to move to the next exercise or when it's time for a break.  I can't keep staring at my phone during my workout and expect proper performance.  Should I give them another shot or call it quits?  I ended up doing P90X3 CVX (weighted cardio).

Has anyone followed P90X3 following a 6 day schedule?

How do you keep fitness fun?  Variety is the spice of life!  You have to change things up to keep your mind and body interested in physical activity.

MONDAY show us your good time from a laugh post run, to a Zumba class, whatever helps you enjoy moving!  I can't grab a shot during the middle of a workout but OMG Tony has me chuckling every time!

TUESDAY show us your piled plate of freggies (fruits & veggies).  My freggies have been really sucky this week and I haven't been eating what I normally do.  Laziness perhaps?

WEDNESDAY show us how you stay hydrated. 
At home I have a liter bottle frozen and add water too it for my workout.

At work I'm using a Propel bottle from one of the Kroger Friday Freebies.

THURSDAY show us how you get your family active on Thanksgiving.  My family doesn't get active, just me.  After the turkey's in the oven I get in my scheduled workout.

FRIDAY How do you fit in activity throughout the day?

Linking up with

Show Me Your Core

This week's Holiday Sweat Challenge focuses on working your core.  I don't really have any favorite core moves.  I believe core work has been a part of every program I've done, whether they specifically call it out or not.  My core has never been a strong area.  I often struggle with core work as some exercises irritate my lower back or neck.  With crunches I use one of the 3 lb dumbbells under my chin to keep my head in the right place but it still bothers the back of my neck from time to time.

MONDAY:  What's your core strength goal this week?  I'm making the focus of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's workouts centered on my core.

TUESDAY:  Show us your plank!  How long can you hold it?  I haven't timed them but I've finally been able to hold a forearm plank on my toes for 30 seconds!

WEDNESDAY:  Show us your most creative core move.  Well, I don't think I'm very creative with exercise....

THURSDAY:  Show a watch photo of sweaty fun for the day.  I don't wear a watch since I'm not tracking my heart rate.

FREE FRIDAY:  What are you up to today...sweating, eating, cooking, etc.?

<a href="http://aintnodramamama.blogspot.com/"> <img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img537/4720/M6Nql0.png" alt="Weigh-in Wednesday!">
Since Winter and I took over WIW the linkups seem to have died off.  We don't know if we should change it (to something other than Weigh In Wednesday) or if we should end the linkup.  Please leave a comment with your thoughts of how we should proceed.

THURSDAY I went back to Kelly Coffey-Meyer's Split Sessions, Full Body Time Saver Premix.

FRIDAY I did Brazil Butt Lift Bum Bum.  Neither of these workouts felt right to me with my uncoordinated self so I returned the DVDs to the library.

SATURDAY I did the upper body workout from Split Sessions.

MONDAY I woke up with a sinus headache.  Since this week's theme is your core I popped in the 21 Day Fix 10-Minute Fix for Abs.  I'd never tried this one before.  There was quite a variety of crunches to do in this workout.

TUESDAY I did the lower body workout from Split Sessions.

TODAY I did P90X2 Ab Ripper.  For some reason this seemed super easy compared to the Fix one I did Monday.  I won't be able to do this program as the rest of the workouts are too long for the time I have weekday mornings.

Linking up with

Thank You Veterans

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day and thank you for your service!

I haven't been feeling myself lately (hence why I haven't been doing much in the way of workouts outside of Super Heroine Fitness.  I think it's something to do with TOM.  I started spotting on 10/29 and it never filled up a panty liner.  Besides that I just feel off with fogginess, exhaustion, forgetfulness, and I don't know what else.  I asked the GYN about it Monday and he said either wait it out or take a pregnancy test.  He said that if it was negative I should take birth control for a month to sync up my uterus.  Then of course Tuesday morning I was hit hard with full on TOM (YUCK!).  So here we go again...

I'm participating in Sweat Pink's Holiday Sweat Challenge to wrap up 2015.  Here are my responses to this week's prompts (less Friday's).

MONDAY:  What's your minutes goal this week?  How will you get there? - I don't keep minute goals; I go by type of workout since I have limited time.

TUESDAY:  What's your favorite workout outfit or gear? - I don't have a favorite workout outfit and really the only gear I regularly use are my weights.

Additional Weight Plates to be Added

 

My Dumbbells

WEDNESDAY:  How do you take your workout outside when it's cold? - I don't...except for shoveling snow like I did this past winter.

THURSDAY:  What's your favorite strengthening move (i.e squats, planks, pushups, etc.)? - Hmm...that's a tough one.  Maybe squats.

 

FREE FRIDAY:  What are you up to today...sweating, eating, cooking, etc.?

<a href="http://aintnodramamama.blogspot.com/"> <img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img537/4720/M6Nql0.png" alt="Weigh-in Wednesday!">
THURSDAY I did Super Heroine Fitness Episode 3 Adventure 3.

FRIDAY I did some Yoga with Adriene.

SATURDAY I debated whether or not to do Adventure 4 Circuit A & B but opted just to do A.

TODAY I tried Brazil Butt Lift High & Tight.  Was like 37 minutes of Pilates with jelly legs and all!  I'm just not coordinated enough to do some of the "dancing" part of the workout; I got so lost LOL

I'm trying to decide if I'm going to bother with Circuit B tomorrow or just do one of Kelly Coffey-Meyer's lifting DVDs I picked up from the library on Saturday.  Will see how I feel in the morning.

Linking up with

Final Week of Super Heroine Fitness

Welcome to The Long and Winding Road to Wellness all ye visitors from the Grow Your Blog Hop!

Not long after I published last week's post I received notification that I'm a Sweat Pink Ambassador!  I'm excited to see where this takes me.  I already ordered and received 40 #sweatpinklaces to give out for various special achievements over the holidays. 

This also adds to the Fitfluential Ambassadorship.

5 Random Things About Me

Since there are new folks visiting as a part of the Hop I thought I'd try another 5 random things about me.  It's been a while since I've done one of these so bear with me.

1. It's only since starting on this journey that I discovered it's my dream job to be a Wellness Coach and run a Wellness Center.  Finding the money to pay for the certification through NETA and getting my foot in the door somewhere without any formal experience and education is proving to be a mighty challenge.
2. Growing up I used to be scared of the grates in the sidewalk downtown.  I would do everything I could to avoid walking across them.  For some reason I had this fear that I'd fall through.  Some days it still bothers me but for the most part on my walks I go over them with no problems now.
3. I used to regularly dye my hair an auburn color but wouldn't go full red.  Can you imagine me as a redhead?
4. I took ballet & tap in preschool.  My uncoordinated self would be the one you'd often see going the opposite direction from everyone else.  Grandma (mom's mom) still has a picture somewhere from a show where this actually happened.
5. I've never been drunk.  Buzzed but never fully loaded.  Every time I tell people this there's always someone that says that they're going to get me drunk but never invite me anywhere to even try.

What are 5 things you'd like me to know about you?

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...


<a href="http://aintnodramamama.blogspot.com/"> <img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img537/4720/M6Nql0.png" alt="Weigh-in Wednesday!">

THURSDAY I got in more reps during Super Heroine Fitness Episode 3 Adventure 4 Circuit B than the last time despite being sweaty and lightheaded with my nose dripping.

SATURDAY I began the final week with Adventure 1.  The first song that popped up on my Pandora was a perfect title for Halloween - Ghosts 'n' Stuff by Deadmou5.  After eating lunch Austin and I headed to the library.  Austin wore his costume (less the knife).  Because it was Irvington's Halloween Festival we had to park about 3/4 mile away and walk in.  After picking up our items we checked out the non-food booths but didn't see anything we wanted to buy.  It was windy and sprinkled on us a couple of times while trick-or-treating that night.  (I had to wear my jacket draped over my shoulders but Austin was hot.)

SUNDAY night I went to bed with the chest and back pain similar to what I've been experiencing during the early phase of a gallbladder attack.  I took 4 acetaminophen and went to bed.  The pain didn't increase but held steady throughout the night.  I think I just dozed and never really slept.  I was so sleepy I couldn't bring myself to even do some yoga Monday like I'd planned.

TUESDAY I did Adventure 2 sans sprints.  This was for two reasons - I didn't feel like doing sprints of any kind and I took Benny to his first election.  Sure, it was only the municipal but he needs to know how it works without the crowds.

How was your week?

Next Tuesday will be the last Super Heroine Fitness workout.  I don't yet know what I'll be doing next.  I'm considering designing my own program as I had to make many substitutions due to the lack of equipment or ability/comfort in doing some exercises.  If you have a program that you recommend or something like a template to help me come up with something please be sure to leave a link in the comments.

I was excited to find out that our team is FINALLY offering a weight maintenance contest!  If you're not already involved with Beachbody check out this little press release I wrote up about the contest.  I'd love it if you'd join so we can maintain together.

Linking up with

#MotivateMe Monday Linkup with Fitness Cheerleader & Running Rachel