10 Day Challenge - 2!

I had a lot of fun doing my first 10 day challenge and keeping myself in check that I thought I'd go for another 10! There is still a lot of food I want to try, exercises I need to push myself to do and just activities that I'm lazy and don't do haha this makes it written in stone and more of necessity to complete. 

Check out my new 10 day challenge, I hope some of you are trying this!



26. Try 10 new wines COMPLETE

This was one of my favorite goals because I really didn't have to try haha wine is a custom in my life now that all of my friends drink wine and everywhere I go I am usually able to try a sip of something new. 

I have officially tried 11 that I have kept track of since beginning this goal. Eight of them I have previously posted about and I'm here to finish the last two necessary to finish this goal - but I have three to share!

9. Turning Leaf

Merlot

You may have remembered me posting about another Turning Leaf wine, it was a white wine that I tried with my sisters and the boys that was yummers.. this one was also very tasty! I brought it to contribute to dinner with Lauren and we loved it!! It has a bit of a stronger taste, but not so much that you can barely drink it.  We had a couple glasses and then I share with David last night and we finished it off and he liked it as well!

10. Blue Fin

Viognier

Jessie served this at our dinner together the other night and it was very good.  We dusted this in one night between us so it must've been pretty good! I didn't really pull anything exotic or super fierce out of this wine other than that I really liked it.  It was an easy drink that had flavor to it but wasn't taking over my tastebuds.  I'd purchase again!

11. Macaron

Moscato

Last but not least.. Macaron! Erin purchased this at our last get-together and was excited for me to try it to add to my list!! This was a favorite at the party, I'd say.  It was very light, easy to drink and was a good party, mingling drink.  We had pasta that night and it didn't clash with the food necessarily but could do without any!

DONE!! 78% COMPLETE!

Challenge #10 - Make a healthy dinner for D and I

Earlier this week my great friend Jessie made me dinner as we hung out and relaxed together.  It was FABULOUS! I loved the food and I knew that it was one to save because David would like it as well.

She made Trader Joes Orange Chicken, broccoli and brown rice.

[OK, David would not have liked the brown rice]

So, I decided that for this challenge I would bring Jessie's dinner into my own home and try it out!

I didn't have time to get to a Trader Joe's so I tried Sprouts instead and sure enough they had their own brand of Orange Chicken for $7.49!  It was really easy to make too!

Bring oven to 400 degrees, place chicken on a cooking sheet so that the chicken is spread out, put in oven for 20 minutes and top with the flavored sauce and TIME! You're done!

I steamed a bit of broccoli and made rice in a bag to complete our meal.  I'd say it was a success and David really liked it too!

We decided that we'd save this one as a favorite!



Challenge #9 - Try Body Pump at 24

Trying Body Pump has been a goal of mine for some time and I finally put my mind to trying it and then..... class was cancelled :(

Boooo!!

I was really bummed and relieved at the same time.

Finally I thought I'd get my ass into this class and was pumped to actually do it so I was upset that I couldn't try it, but at the same time that class scares the crap out of me and I would be lying to say I didn't feel a fresh of breath air learning that I didn't have to do the class.

I'm lame, I know.

I WILL be putting this on my next 10 day challenge that I will be starting tomorrow.  I will post my new calendar!

Even though this challenge wasn't met, I did have a surprise challenge that day that I was actually very excited about.  I've always wanted to try Quinoa and I finally did!! I had an impromptu visit to my BFF's house and she is a HEALHTY eater!! I wish I could be as strong of an eater as she is.  She was making asparagus, zucchini and quinoa for dinner.  I supplied the wine and we had a feast!!

I wish I took a picture of it, but here is what it looks like in seed form and cooked:

It's a little seed and is made the same as rice.  It is cooked in a pot, two cups of water for every one cup of quinoa.  It looks pretty interesting - some pictures I've researched makes it look very thick, almost like oatmeal, but when we had it it wasn't thick at all.  It had the same texture as rice and wasn't too watery or dry at all.  You just have to watch it while it cooks.  Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat to medium/low for about 15 minutes until there is no water left.

Challenge #8 - Try a new form of cardio!

My go-to cardio is ALWAYS the elliptical.  It's easy for me, but I can make it challenging and I always push for 200 calories to burn.  So if I'm being lazy, it doesn't mean I get off the machine at 20 minutes, I wait and push myself until 200 calories - that is my own personal trick to get me to

PUMP IT!  

But yesterday I challenged myself indeed.  I used to do the stair master with my BFF Lauren, she is a master at this thing, but when I wasn't with her I would usually give up on it half way through a workout or just not do it at all because it's hard! Naturally, I just didn't want to do it!

I challenged myself yesterday and succeeded! I ended up burning about 120 calories, but I can feel it today that it worked muscles! Either way, I was pleased.  I was sweating like a pig when I got off of it and felt really good.  I will probably try to work it into my workouts a couple times a week for the extra little push :).

[My new frienemy!]

Oh ya! 77% DONE!

For a while there I was having trouble logging on to my DZP account and therefore didn't really know what percentage I was at.  Although I could have guessed, this pretty little image below is priceless!!! 77% done and still moving along! I have big plans for a few of my goals that I am very excited about and can't wait to update!

Challenge #7 - Try for 5 more pounds/reps

Goal #7 - Try for 5 more pounds/reps at the gym

When I used to go to the gym I would always try for 20/25 reps of ANYTHING.  And then I learned that the number of reps isn't as important as using the right weight and doing the exercise correctly.  Then I became more aware of what I was doing, how my body felt doing it and if I was reaching the 20 reps then I should probably up my weights a bit and do less reps.

This has worked well for my upper body routines but since I rarely work my legs, I haven't applied this theory to my lower body routines.  Therefore, I took challenge #7 and applied it to my lower body routine, now that I am beginning to get back on board with working out my legs.

I did four different exercises, 3 on machines, and upped the weight on all of them and did as many reps as I could - mostly topping out at 15 reps.  Since I was using machines, I couldn't necessarily go for only 5 pounds more than usual since the weight increases at about 15 pounds per weight. And since I was working my legs, I know that I could go more than 5 pounds more than usual.

1. Leg Press - 100lbs
[I usually do this at 60/80lbs]

2. I'm not sure what to call these, but I'll explain the exercise!

Stand with legs hip-width apart.  With a weight in one hand, bend forward at the waist while lifting the same leg backwards so that you touch the ground with the weight.  For example, put the weight in your right hand, bend forward to touch the weight to the ground and as you bend forward lift your right leg backwards so that you're balancing on your left foot.

With this one I usually hold about 5-7.5 lbs - this time I held a 12.5lb weight.

3. Leg extension - 55lbs

[I usually do 40lbs]

I don't have a picture of this one because the machine was stolen from me mid-workout and I had to hurry to get it back and finish my workout as the gym got busier.. but here is a sample picture :)

haha, kind of a funny picture.  But anyway! These are pretty killer for me, especially with the added weight.  I did 12 reps of these and made sure my form was correct and I did these slowly and kept control of my legs.

4. Leg Curl - 55lbs

[I usually do 40lbs]

With these, I did 15 reps and, again, made sure I did these correctly.  Generally with these and the leg extensions I just try to do them fast and jump off the machine or I lift my butt up from the seat to gain momentum and taking the weight off my legs - which is pointless! Therefore, I made sure to keep correct form and only do what I could without losing the form and hurting myself.

I went through these exercises 3 times and had a tall glass of a protein shake to follow :)