Weekly Wrap - May 27

Linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap. Be sure to stop by their blogs to see what everyone else was up to last week.

Another Sunday came and went. I may just need to permanently move my Weekly Wrap to Mondays. 🤔 Of course, then my Mondays have been a little crazy lately, too. Thank goodness today is a holiday!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Today marks the start of Week 4 of the Tone It Up Bikini Series! I'm looking forward to pushing myself this week. Partially to make up for Week 3, which was kind of rough. There were a couple days that I simply wasn't feeling very good, so I had to skip my workouts two days in a row. 😒 I still kept to my meal plan {for the most part}, so it wasn't disastrous or anything.

Monday

Don't become a victim of the heat

I'm linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales & Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0.

It's no secret that I'm a hot-weather-loving gal! Vegas is perfect for me, but even I'll admit that there are days in the summer when it gets unbelievably hot. 😅

The last Friday in May is National Heat Awareness Day, sponsored by the National Weather Service.

As runners, cyclists, hikers, and general lovers of the outdoors (at least, I assume if you've found your way to my little blog that you're one of these), it's important that we keep our wits about ourselves when out doing the things we love during the heat of summer.

Summer is just beginning, of course, but it's never to early to start preparing for the summer heat beat down.

Weekly Wrap - May 20

Linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap. Be sure to stop by their blogs to see what everyone else was up to last week.

Note to Self: Do not try to do the grocery shopping and meal prepping and laundry on the same day. It simply takes too long and then you don't have time to post your Weekly Wrap on Sunday evening. 😜

Week 2 of the Bikini Series was another great week! I dropped another 2.4 pounds, which means I'm already halfway to my goal of 10 lb weight loss. 💃 My coworker brought me back a coffee cake from San Diego, which I snacked on all week! It was delicious, even though it probably wasn't the healthiest. All good in moderation, right?

I did have to take a complete rest day on Thursday and may have raided the candy bin at work as well, but it's all good, because one day didn't lead into multiple days. :)

Monday

5 Reasons Why I Miss Bike Commuting

I'm linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales & Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0.

Today is National Bike to Work day, which reminds me of my early days in Las Vegas. The first couple months of working at the Review-Journal were spent commuting about 5 miles each way to work. Then winter came, and I got out of the habit. That was back in 2012.

I'd still jump back on the saddle now and again until May 2016 when my office moved to a different area of town - around 13 or so miles from my apartment. That's a little too long of a commute for me.

Since I'm not commuting by bike today, here are 5 reasons why I miss it.

6 Surefire Ways to Make You Run Faster

Looking to increase your pace and run faster?

With a little good (bad?) luck and some planning, a speedier pace could be easier than you think! These 6 things are sure to put that pep in your step and push your pace just a bit faster.

Weekly Wrap - May 13

Linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap. Be sure to stop by their blogs to see what everyone else was up to last week.

Week 1 of the Tone It Up Bikini Series is now in the rear-view mirror! It was a big success. I stuck to my meal plan. I got in all my workouts including 3 runs. I dropped 3 lbs on the scale. Definitely a good week and a great start! I can't wait to see what the next 7 weeks bring.

I'm switching up my Weekly Wrap format a bit throughout the #TIUBikiniSeries challenge. I want to break down my week day-by-day, probably more for my records than anything else. I'm including what I did for my workouts each day plus what I ate. I'm also waiting to post until after dinner, so I can more completely record my Sunday. :)

Monday

I didn't sleep well Sunday night. I was too excited for the Bikini Series to start! I woke up several times throughout the night thinking It must be time to wake up! only to find out it had only been 1.5 hours or so.

Despite the sleepless night, I had a great Day 1!

Workout
2 rounds of 15: Biceps Curls | Shoulder Pulses | Reverse Flys | Pushups | Plank Up Downs
Cardio Arms with Tori - Yeah, I got no dance skills. 🙊
TIU Flex Friday - Arms were really burning after this!! 💪

I also went for a midday walk during lunch.

Eats
M1: Morning Mocha Smoothie | M2: Apple with cinnamon | M3: Kale Salad | M4: Strawberry Shortcake Mini Muffins | M5: Thai Veggie Stir Fry

Tuesday

I slept so much better after a successful Day 1!

Workouts
2-mile run | 10:33 min/mi pace | Perfect weather, but I still took it slow and easy.
2 rounds of: 15 squat+press | 15 curl+reverse lunge | 15 bikini walkouts+tummy toner | 20 squat jacks | 15 bicycles

It was such a beautiful morning that I took my daily moves out to the patio after my run. I really want to/should do that more often!

Eats
M1: Morning Mocha Smoothie | M2: Clif bar | M3: Kale Salad | M4: Strawberry Shortcake Mini Muffins | M5: Thai Veggie Stir Fry leftovers

The 5 W's of Foam Rolling: Everything You Need to Know

I'm linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales & Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0.

Happy National Foam Rolling Day!! Every year May 11th is dedicated to the wonderful world of foam rolling, so I thought I'd answer the 5 W's - who, what, when, where, and why - of foam rolling.

7 Goals to make this year's #TIUBikiniSeries the BEST EVER

I just finished Day 2 of the Tone It Up Bikini Series! This is gonna be MY YEAR!!

Last weekend was spent really preparing for it, because I really want to see some amazing results at the end of the 8 weeks. Since I want this to be the best Bikini Series, I went to bed Sunday night with #allthefeels. So much excitement and nerves. Like when you know something super fun is happening the next day. Tell me you know what I'm talking about!

As a result, I didn't sleep very well Sunday night.

It didn't matter because Day 1 was a smashing success! And I slept much better Monday night. I rocked Day 2 as well. I'm pretty confident I'm gonna rock all 8 weeks. 😆

Weekly Wrap - May 6

Linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap. Be sure to stop by their blogs to see what everyone else was up to last week.

Whew! I just spent about 4 hours meal prepping for the week. I sure hope it pays off because that's a LOT of time on my feet in the kitchen. I'm very excited to get started on the TIU Bikini Series tomorrow and am very hopeful that I'll see some really positive results over the next 8 weeks.

Workouts

I took it a little easy this week since the Bikini Series is starting next week. I focused mostly on getting in my 3 runs and doing yoga to prepare my body and mind for the upcoming challenge.

5 Things I'm Super Excited about this May

Oh. My. Goodness. May is already off to the craziest start! I mean cah-ray-zy! I hope things calm down because I've got goals for May!

It's the first weekend of the month, which means it's time for COFFEE! Well, every day is a good day for coffee, but let's take a few minutes to catch up during the Ultimate Coffee Date! Ok, coffee isn't required. Perhaps you enjoy tea, milk, soda, water. Or maybe something a little stronger. 😜

Other than crushing my goals, here are a few things I'm looking forward to this month.

Will May be the best month of 2018 (so far)?

I'm afraid I blinked and April was OVER. How do some months seem to go by so quickly?! Wasn't I just writing down my April goals? Work was busy. Life was busy. Blogging was busy. I guess that all makes time speed up a bit. Here's hoping that May moves at a normal pace, so I can savor the springtime.

Goal-wise, I'd say my month overall was so-so. I had some great wins - including my longest run of the year (3 miles), consistent yoga, and 10 new blog posts. But some of my goals were barely checked off and others were barely missed. I'm not disappointed. I'd definitely say it was better than March.