Scenes from my weekend - Music

I love New York City in the summer. Yes, it can be hot and humid and gross, especially if you have to commute by subway day in and day out, but there are so many things going on from outdoor concerts and movies to farmers markets in full swing to free outdoor fitness classes. The city also seems to quiet down since many New Yorkers leave town. It almost feels empty at times. 

One of the best things about living in Brooklyn is the Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series in Prospect Park. It brings together an amazing line-up of well-known and up-and-coming performers for free concerts throughout the summer. In all our years of living here, incredibly, Ed and I have never attended a Celebrate Brooklyn event. We've watched and listened from outside of the fence surrounding the event space but we've never actually been inside the fence. 

On Friday, we finally stepped inside. They've created this cool, laid-back vibe in the middle of Prospect Park, kind of like you are at a music festival somewhere out in the woods and not in the middle of Brooklyn. We went to see the Head and the Heart, a great band from Seattle. I first saw the band back in March and couldn't wait to see them again. It felt good to have an adult evening. 

Weekly Chase time! My goals for last week were to complete Week 1 of the JCORE and clean up my eating habits. Today is Day 9 of the 40 day program and I have to tell you, those 20 minute workouts are intense. It's not so much that the exercises themselves are hard per se but that they challenge your muscles to balance and stabilize your body which I believe is a lot harder than just pumping a lot of weights. I'm sore but in a I've-missed-feeling-this-sore kind of way. This week, I start a new set of JCORE workouts and I excited to see how the workouts progress and change.
The eating part...has been more challenging. I mentioned last week that I'm not good at sticking with a specific diet or meal plan. And I haven't. I'm not good at keeping a food journal or configuring my meals to meet a specific allotment of protein, carbs, fats, fruits and veggies per meal. I try to pay attention and make sure that I'm staying within the general guidelines.
Lastly, this wasn't in my goals for last week but I finally bit the bullet and set up a Facebook page for the blog. It's been a long time coming. Now it's up! It will be a place where I will share interesting tidbits, articles and workouts that I come across, keep you updated on ASP surf contests and be a place where we can have more conversation. Won't you come over, take a look and like my page if you're so inclined? 
For this week, my goals include:

1. Complete Week 2 of JCORE
2. Continue to focus on improving my eating by being mindful, eating more vegetables and protein (i.e. don't live on Chobani and granola alone), and drink more water. I realize that this is going to be an on-going process in order to change old habits. 

I'm also doing some other housekeeping here on the blog and there might be some changes coming up this week. Stay tuned!

Did you have a good weekend? What tips do you have to help you eat clean? What do you like to see on Facebook pages? What kinds of things would you like to see on my Facebook page?

Friday Round-Up - The Ocean, Lessons, Idols and Bob

Mystic, CT - We took the boys here over the weekend for the aquarium, seaport, ice cream and Mystic Pizza.

Hooray for Friday!! You know what I'm most excited about? The Olympics are starting!! I'm so excited. Are you? There are so many events and athletes that I want to follow. How am I going to keep track of the schedules?? While I ponder that, here are some great blog posts from this week for you to read.

Where are all the other surfer girls?
This is an interesting piece to follow up my last post about taking a vacation alone. The author Elizabeth brings up some interesting points that resonate with many of the comments you all left on my post - the need for downtime but also the desire to share that time with friends, family or significant others. She also talks about the gritty reality of traveling alone as a surfer girl. When I traveled alone, I did feel like I had to answer questions about why I was alone. But unlike Elizabeth, I was returning to the safe confines of a surf camp that made me feel a little less alone and like I was visiting friends. Also, she does a great job talking about some of the realities of being new out in the line-up at a surf break.

Pour Your Heart Out: The Ocean's Waves
Every week, Shell over at Things I Can't Say hosts this amazing meme called Pour Your Heart Out which basically offers bloggers a safe space to literally pour their heart out about whatever it is that's on their mind. This post reminded me why I love the ocean.

The Best Lessons Learned
I loved this post by Jules over at Pancakes & French Fries because basically, she describes my life. But seriously, Jules captures some of the hard challenges that comes with raising children, especially how we second-guess ourselves (a lot) but how those instances, more often than not, lead to the best lessons that our kids will learn.

I believe in you
Ilene at The Fierce Dive Guide to Life kind of went straight to my core with this post about the support that we all need to reach our goals. She's got a way with words.

On Creating Idols
Lindsay over at Lindsay's List did knock me to my knees and made me stop and think about the things in my life that I place more importance on than they may warrant. I've been struggling with determining and balancing the priorities in my life. I'm not the most religious person but I appreciate Lindsay's honesty and her faith.

It's Bob Again
Sigh. I'm kind of jealous of Kristin and her boyfriend - Bob Harper. Every once in a while, Kristin gets to tape a workout video for Bob's online training club. In her latest jaunt to LA, she did three killer workouts, including a one-on-one with Bob. Awesome.

Finally, I'm guest posting over at Cupcake Kelly's today. Kelly is training for the Nike Women's Half in October with Team in Training. I trained for the NYC Triathlon with Team in Training and today, I'm sharing my story. Come over for a visit!

That's it! Have a great weekend. Are you excited about the Olympics too? What's your favorite sport or event?

A vacation alone

Have you ever taken a vacation alone?

Over the years, my answer to this question has changed. As a kid - no way. As a teenager and college student - hell yes. As a wife and mother - why would I?

Last year, I took a vacation alone. I went surfing for a week in Costa Rica. When I decided to go, I didn't really think much about the fact that I would be traveling by myself. I craved the time alone but I was returning to a familiar place with familiar faces. I was returning to surf camp. En route to Costa Rica, it dawned on me that this was my first solo vacation. I assumed that I must have traveled alone in my college or post-college days but I never did.

I needed the time away from home and for myself. I have learned that I definitely have to carve out "me" time in order to recharge, and I fiercely protect this time. There are so many demands on my time and attention and so many people that I want to care for and support that it can become overwhelming. I am the first to admit that sometimes I need a break from parenthood, work and life. Having this time alone to take care of myself lets me regroup and reset so that I can (hopefully) be a better wife/mom/friend. 

So have you or would you take a vacation by yourself?

{Linking up with Pour Your Heart Out at Things I Can't Say}

I want a JCORE Body!

This week marks four months since my knee surgery. Has it really been four months already? Sometimes it feels like surgery was so long ago and I feel like I should be able to do all the things that I want to do. Other times, surgery feels like it wasn't so long ago, especially when I tire easily or I can't quite sit cross-legged on the floor. 

I have to admit that it's frustrating when you have the desire to do move and you physically can't, especially when fitness and physical activity is a big piece of who you are and how you cope with life's many stressors. And, having battled body image and disordered eating issues, I'd be lying if I said that body image wasn't a big part of my frustration with the injury and recovery process.

Now, with my physical therapy progressing, I'm able to workout more but I feel like my routine needs a jumpstart. It's been a while since I've really focused on anything from my lower body that I almost don't even know where to start so I was really excited to hear about the JCORE Accelerated Body Transformation system. 

It's a 40-day program created by Jay Cardiello, a celebrity fitness trainer (he's trained 50 Cent!!), wellness expert and author. All you need is a 4x4 space, no weights and 20 minutes a day/4 days a weeks. As a working mom with two young kids, my time (and space here in NYC) is a premium. In order to fit fitness into my life, I need to be able to make the most of the time that I do have to work out. JCORE seems like a good fit for me. 

When I was initially considering the program, I had several questions about the workouts and if they were suitable for me given my injury and rehab. I wasn't expecting Jay to respond to my email personally. He assured me that JCORE was designed to accomodate all levels of fitness and all lifestyles and that the routines are demonstrated at a modified and intense pace so you can work at your own pace. Plus, he has had 13 major surgeries - 6 of them knee surgeries - and understood my concerns which provided an enormous level of comfort.

I started the program yesterday with the Fit Test - basically a test to see how many reps you can complete of 10 different moves. Sunday's test will serve as my baseline and I will repeat this test four more times over the course of the 40 days to track my improvement. Let me tell you, while the whole test took about 15 minutes, it was HARD! Seemingly simple moves challenged my body in ways I wasn't expecting. By the end, I was sweating and breathing hard. I can't wait to see what the rest of the program has in store. 

I missed out on last week's Weekly Chase but I am returning this week. A couple of weeks ago, my goal was to focus on getting more sleep. I was doing well with that one...until I started reading Divergent and then Insurgent (Book 2 in the series). Now that I'm done with both books and since Book 3 doesn't come out until May, I should be able to sleep again.

My other goal for the week is to complete week 1 of JCORE and to improve my eating habits. JCORE includes suggested meal plans. I've never been great at strictly following any diet plan so I know that there will be some flexibility to make this work for me. At the same time, I know that diet and nutrition are a key part of this if I want to achieve the results I want to see. 

How was your weekend? What do you have on tap for the week? Have you heard of JCORE? 

As a Fitfluential Ambassador, I received the complete JCORE Accelerated Body Transformation System to review and received no other compensation. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Friday Round-Up

Quinoa Caprese Salad - YUM. Super simple and delicious. You can find the recipe from my friend Kristen here.

I've been a little distracted this week because I started reading a little book called Divergent by Veronica Roth. People had been telling me to read it for a while - that if I loved the Hunger Games, I would love Divergent. Lucky for me, as I was walking home the other day, a neighbor who lives up the block kindly left her copy out on the sidewalk for someone to take. Yes, that's what we do here in Brooklyn - we leave stuff that we no longer need/use out on the sidewalks for others to take.

Anyhow, I started reading the book and I could.not.put.it.down. Seriously, I have not been able to concentrate on my work or much else because the book sits there and stares at me and says, "Please read me. Just one more chapter." So I did and finished the book. But now, I have to read Book 2...like right now which means that I've been staying up way too late at night again. 

In between my fits of frenzied reading, I came across some great blog posts to share with you this week.

The Top 10 Faces of BlogHer

With the BlogHer conference coming up in New York City in a couple of weeks, this post by Fadra had me in stitches as she runs through the top 10 faces and expressions you will likely see at BlogHer or any blogging conference for that matter.

Is Personal Blogging Changing?

Ginger at Ramble Ramble poses an interesting question based on what she's been hearing and feeling in the online universe. There's a pretty amazing discussion going on in the comment section. What do you think?

5 Ways to Become a Better Blogger

We've all read and/or written a post (or two or three) about the comparison trap, either comparing ourselves to other bloggers, runners, mothers/fathers, surfers, athletes, etc. Melissa has found a rewarding approach to blogging - being true to herself.

The Pro-Triathlete's Wife

Lindsay over at Cotter Crunch wrote this gracious post about her life and role in Cotter Team. Seriously, Lindsay and her husband James are an amazing team. P.S. Lindsay also makes these incredible, delicious, scrumpcious things called Healthy Bites. You should check them out if you haven't already.

Coming Back for More

I loved this post by Jess over at Eat, Drink, Breathe, Sweat about what drives her to lead a healthy and active life and why. Her recipe? Move. Move often. Eat well. Live. Live big. Rest. And repeat.

Common Regrets of the Dying

I know, this one sounds depressing but it a great story and puts things in perspective. I remember hearing bits and pieces about this book, written by an Australian nurse and singer, a few months back but never looked into it further. It's a great life reminder and goes back to the Busy Trap article I shared a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't read this already, please do. Thanks Bron for sending this to me!

And that's all she wrote for this week boys and girls. Now, I have to get back to my book!!

Did I miss a good post this week? Share with me please! Have you read Divergent? When does the third book come out??!?