The best-made plans
I’m trying to take it easy this week to gear up for the half, but really wanted to get in at least one good day of strength training. Today was the day. I only had about 25 minutes to get in a great workout, so I decided to finally try out the outta-the-box CrossFit workout I posted last week.
It KILLED me.
It was awesome.
(from the archives- no messing with my phone since I timed it)
I really loved (hated?) the initial bear complex portion. I learned quickly that taking it slowly had advantages, but so did moving quickly because I could get a little break. For a couple of minutes, I had to push through without a break at all. With a 5-minute warmup, the EMOM (every minute on the minute 5 bear complex) and workout itself (3 rounds: 11 min 15 se) took less than the 25 minutes. I did some oblique crunches as a exclamation point and was done.
I always do so much better when I have a plan at the gym. Actually, I do better when I have a plan in life. At the grocery store I’ll actually buy what I need for the week’s meals (since I took some time to write them down), get in more effective workouts and cross more off the to-do list.
Even so, sometimes the best plans end up being legendary fails, like last night’s dinner:
It looks good, right?
It was awful, like death and sadness had a lovechild.
Awful, awful, awful. My tastebuds are crying just thinking about it.
(You can almost see the sadness in this pic- maybe I just left it in there too long?)
It seemed like a great idea to put quinoa, tempeh, stir fry veggies and broth in the rice cooker, seasoned with soy sauce, rice vinegar, cayenne, garlic, ginger and honey. I just don’t know what went wrong :/ Thank goodness for cereal in a coffee mug, eh?
Time for a little family walk. I’m bringing lots of treats with me to see how Caroline does 🙂
Hope you’re having a great week so far!
xoxo
Gina
Are you a big planner? Take a sec to jot down your next gym session. Check out these workouts for a little inspiration. Also, I’ve been meaning to tell you that my friends at Physique 57 are now offering online workouts! As someone who doesn’t live in the same state as a studio, it’s very appreciated, especially since they’re a fantastic at-home option.
Something to read:
3 reasons to change up your treadmill routine
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“It was awful, like death and sadness had a lovechild.”
HAHA
I’m such a planner! I get way more done and it makes me less stressed if I have a plan written down (or mentally noted). Except for on weekends I like to not plan and just be more spontaneous in all aspects of my life – food, workouts, fun with friends/family. It’s a good balance 🙂
I am a constant list maker. I make lists at work, for the grocery, Christmas lists/shopping, everything. To help me focus at the gym and have a plan, I actually make a monthly schedule. It keeps me from trying to figure out what I want to do that day (and end up skipping). I have a binder where I keep printouts of all my favorite Fitnessita workouts, and I plug various ones into various days. Sometimes I make changes (today I ran outside instead of doing the Rainy Day Workout) but it gives me a starting point. Without my workout schedule, I wouldn’t ever workout.
This is hilarious! But it looks so tasty!
That meal definitely sounded like a good idea! I am for sure a planner but sometimes I like to try and let loose… Just let things happen!
I am an obsessive planner! I literally have list referencing lists, and lists of lists. Therefore when I complete everything on a list I not only get to check everything off but also get to check the list off of the “list” list. Ridiculous I know, but its the only thing that helps me feel life my head is on straight and everything is under control. Ooh the life of a stay at home/part time working mom haha.
I need a list of lists in my life.
that DOES sound like a tasty idea! So sad it didn’t turn out 🙁
I don’t think tempeh is meant to go in the slow cooker….
that would probably correct. it was beyond gnarly
The same thing happened to me yesterday with the crockpot! I tried to make a curry chicken and it was just bad… I couldn’t force myself to eat it again. Hate when that happens!
I am a planner and list-maker extraordinaire and I also had a dinner fail tonight. It was a recipe for enchiladas filled with black beans, corn, spinach, green chiles, onion, feta cheese, topped with a red pepper sauce and a chunky guacamole. The ingredients sounded great on paper, but they just didn’t come together very well 🙁 my 5 year old son said “mom, this just isn’t good.”
I did something similar once with fresh broccoli and a protein in the slow cooker. Yikes – brown, limp, partly burned broccoli with whatever protein it was rendered inedible alongside. Ewww. Good cooks mess up sometimes – that is how you find new recipes that are keepers and those that are not! Happy cooking.
I am so relieved I am not the only obsessive list-maker and planner! I have multiple lists going on at any point in time. Grocery list for the week, monthly list, meal plan, daily/weekly things to do, things for others to do…it goes on and on. I made an excel sheet for all my successful dinners (with references to where the recipes are) so I can plug dishes into weeks etc. Hell for me would be an inability to make lists.
I have to plan or else I fail at life too!
Sometimes I do try to be spontaneous because it’s better than my Type A personality.
I love that workout – I’ll have to give it a try.
Awe, I hate when a well planned meal fails! At least when an “on the fly” meal fails I can blame it on not planning it 🙂 I’m a huge planner with everything!! Sometimes it’s a bit much, but I like my life in order, period. I do “Meal Planning Mondays” on my blog since Sunday is sometimes busy and doesn’t always work out for me. Hope dinner was better tonight, cereal or toast isn’t always a bad thing for dinner!
quinoa and broth in the rice cooker is a definite win(that’s the only way I cook it), but for the veg and tempeh, it cooks them to death, as you found out:( the tempeh and veg are super quick to stir fry/saute as the quinoa is in the last few mins in the rice cooker. it’s worth cleaning the extra pan:)
i love that you posted a fail–sometimes blogland seems too perfect;)
Pretty much what I was going to say about the cooking advice.
And I agree, it’s nice to see others have kitchen failures! I made the cinnamon roll recipe I think was linked to here recently and it didn’t say to use unsalted butter and it never crossed my mind. So now we have 50 salty cinnamon rolls! Fortunately, we’re ok with that and our friends aren’t too picky, either.
ohhh nooooooooo!
haha there are lots of fails over here!
i would say i’d try it that way, but i don’t think i’ll be having tempeh again for a while
“oblique crunches as an exclamation point” — hehe, that’s too cute.
Oh no! looks so good- what was wrong with the flavour? Not enough? Too salty?
“like death and sadness had a lovechild”…ahahaha that’s the best line I’ve heard in a looong time. Made my day! Sorry that the meal didn’t turn out the way you hoped!
Aaaahaaa!! I just wrote a post today about meal prep and how you can fail. My sweetpotato-beans-mash got bad because I prepped it too early. YUCK!! I am a planner though, not too much about random rpivate activities, appointments etc., but definitley on meals and workouts.
I need to make plans too! I feel so much less stressed when I have a meal plan for the week so that I don’t have to be constantly thinking about what to make for my next meal and then stressing out at the last minute about not having ingredients.
That’s too bad about your dinner – it sounds like it would have been good! Cereal’s always a tasty back up though. 😀
Oh man, sometimes the crockpot can turn on you! My husband has walked home to me angrily dumping a pot-full straight into the trash before. Fortunately, he is a wise man who says things like “Let’s go get Italian food.” when he sees things like that happen. 🙂
Oh yes, I am very much a planner. 🙂 I have, however, learned how to squeeze in wiggle room on my to-do list for life’s unplanned moments (which helps me relax a bit knowing my list won’t get accomplished because wiggle room is ON my list! 😉 ). I feel more productive and happy when I have a plan of attack for the day.
When is your half? Mine is this weekend, and I always love the week before a half, because it’s full of short runs and walks for the first time in a couple months! Good luck!
Great post! I wish I was a bigger planner.
Now that I see your kettlebell I am gonna go do a workout.
I’m a definitely a planner! My life feels so chaotic right now because I’m substitute teaching, meaning I’m always on call, with no set plans! I’m ready for a full-time job with a regular schedule — I can’t take this anxious feeling anymore!
A lovechild-ha! I hate when what seem to be well planned meals turn out to be crud.
I am such a planner especially lately. I’m trying my hardest to eat and workout better so weekends I set aside an hour and during the week I stick to it about 95% of the time. So far, so good 🙂
I’m a huge planner – lists are my favorite!!!!
Bummer about the meal – it looks really good to bad it didn’t taste so great. I love your “death and sadness had a love child” comment!!!
Dinner looked and sounded so good. I can’t believe it didn’t taste very good! I always, always plan my workouts before I start. If I don’t, I find myself standing and thinking about what to do next, heart rate dropping and the TV grabbing my attention. (TV is for backgroud noise) This way, I look at my list and head to the next station. I also take time to set up stations close to each other with the equipment that I will be using, if possible. If I am doing a hard circuit, I set my tabata time to give me 7-10 secs to get to the next station. No wasting time when I do that!
I’ve actually gotten better at “list-ing” as I’ve been getting healthier. Now, I just find it easier to make precise menus, and then multiple grocery lists b/c I’m a big nerd. I also queen of the post-its at work- I have the worst memory, and lists help me remember (almost) everything.
Also, thanks for the physique57 info! I’ve been dying to take a class with them, and then I actually die a little when I remember how much a class costs with them.
I am such a planner! If I don’t have a grocery list with me when I go shopping I end up wandering the aisles aimlessly…pretty sad! Hope the walk with Caroline goes great today 🙂
Aww- I’m sad your meal didn’t work out! But I love the way you describe it- my mind is trying to imagine what death and sadness’ love child would taste like.
I once made a very promising stir-fry with my newly purchased sesame oil. It was so terrible I literally had to spit it out. Turns out you can’t heat sesame oil much or it releases horrid meal-ruining flavors of acrid, bitter, and bad! Sorry your meal didn’t work out, either!