livin’ la vida loca + [lowerlegworkout]

Things are definitely a bit crazy over here. Life is currently a balancing act of work, studying and trying to have a tiny bit of fun on the side. I keep telling myself that this craziness will die down soon enough and my life will eventually return to a steady routine– just the way I like it. But for now, shit is cray.

Something I’ve tried to maintain throughout this craziness is my daily fitness routine… which let’s be honest isn’t too difficult when you work at a gym :). I’m definitely loving the little perks of being a personal trainer like wearing yoga pants all day and getting to workout in my downtime.

 

This morning I decided to give myself a bit of extra time at the gym before taking my favorite zumba class and squeeze in some strength training. My shoulder has been acting up since taking a yoga class earlier this week, so I decided to focus on lower body instead

lots and lots of squats. I didn’t want to completely destroy my legs before zumba, but I definitely felt the burn.

I’ve noticed that more often than not I’m the only female surrounded by a bunch of intense men in the free weights section of the gym. Come on, ladies! let’s step it up!

 

 

Slowly I’m starting to clean my apartment and stock my fridge with fresh and delicious food. I might’ve convinced myself today that lugging heavy bags of groceries from Whole Foods counts as an upper body workout.

Trying to eat healthy and cook at home can sometimes be tricky in the city– getting delivery is incredibly easy and convenient compared to dealing with my itty bitty kitchen, and on top of that the boy was here all weekend which means we wanna go to our favorite restaurants in the area.

For dinner tonight I attempted to make a new dish inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Julie.

In a skillet a I cooked 1 apple with some butternut squash (pre-cut thanks to Whole Foods, yay for being lazy!) and apple chicken sausage in olive oil. Besides a minor mishap with the knife that left me with a bloody ring finger (I was more concerned about my manicure getting ruined than the fact that I sliced my finger pretty badly….) it was a delicious and easy dinner.

side note: when buying chicken sausage make sure to read the packaging if you don’t eat pork! some brands use pork casing, even with chicken sausage.

After this picture was taken I added a bit of honey and cinnamon which might not sound like it would taste good with chicken… but I promise you it does! See, I can still make healthy meals in my itty bitty kitchen… even if it means risking my ring finger’s life.

Hope you all had a good weekend. While I’m sad the weekend ending means my boyfriend has to head back home, I’m actually pretty excited to head back to work tomorrow. Let the work and studying craziness continue…..

Well Equinox, It’s Been Swell

Oh Equinox, I will miss you so. The luxuries, the lovely refrigerated towels post workout, spacious locker rooms, roomy lockers,  intense classes, and surprisingly friendly customers.

Sunday I went back for another “Zen Combat” experience.

Violet Zaki: terrifying, hardcore, hilarious and awesome

The first time around I was a bit terrified, but the second time it was simply an awesome sweat fest. We did the same combination from last time, however I did not find it boring. There were still troubling spots where my brain glitched and couldn’t remember what was next, it still made me sweat buckets, and it still focused me unlike any other class I have taken.

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Today [Monday] was the final day of my trial membership at Equinox

I started out the day bright and early with PureStrength! taught by Mark Hendricks. The class was a strength and toning based class, but unlike any other I have ever taken. It involved a lot of stretching and using body weight mixed with typical dumbbell exercises and a splash of yoga. It was quite intense for 7:30 in the morning, and while grueling, it was an awesome workout. My legs are currently a tad bit like jelly, and I’m lovin’ in. I continue to be impressed with the unique workouts at Equinox. I really wish I could afford the gym and that it was a tad bit closer to NYU-Land

After sweating it out in Pure Strength I treated myself to a muffin from the cafe followed by Zumba taught by Cindya Davis. Yes, I consider zumba the treat for surviving a scary class. Cindya was a great zumba teacher, keeping the class moving and sweating for the full 60 minutes, but it was not my favorite zumba class. I personally enjoy a mixture of “zumba” songs and popular music from the radio. I also get a more intense workout when the moves are super simple but use a lot of energy. These dance moves were a bit too complex for my liking, despite the fact that I have years of experience dancing. I felt the class lacked structure — there is usually an intense build up, a brief cool down and then another build up. All in all though, I always enjoy a good zumba class, and was happy I decided to attend both classes bright and early this morning.

I finally took at shower at Equinox and was won over by the Kiehls products. I generally hate showering at the gym– I have yet to at crunch union square, and was disturbed by my experience of taking a very public shower at crunch Lafayette and drying myself off with towels that barely covered my butt (I am only 5’2″ and slender, I can’t imagine how anyone remotely taller than me can cover any skin with those towels). Equinox’s showers however offered privacy– a small personal changing area in front of the shower, adequately sized towels, and amazing water pressure. There is nothing like a good shower after sweating for 2 hours.

Leaving Equinox I stopped nearby at “Soy Cafe” to pick up a salad for later in the day. My salad– the autumn one with spinach, goat cheese, apples, grapes and walnuts topped with balsamic vinaigrette was SO GOOD. Seriously, everyone sitting next to me while I was eating it at school was jealous of this awesome salad. It is a good thing I don’t live nearby the Soy Cafe, or I’d be spending all my money there. I seriously need to find a place nearby me in the Village that makes a delicious spinach salad.

 

As I walked from the West Village to my class in NYU-Land, I couldn’t help but feel so content and energized. I never ever ever ever thought I would be that kind of person who would work out first thing in the morning, but the more I do it the more hooked I am. It leaves me so ready to conquer the day and I feel like I already accomplished something that early in the morning. I still despise hearing that alarm at 6:15AM and consider hitting snooze, but I find myself more and more addicted to my morning endorphins. I am currently in tech for my show, which means I spend from 7-11pm in the theater, what is usually prime work out time for old Kayla. Old Kayla wouldn’t get to exercise during tech week, and therefore would be a sad Kayla. New Kayla however will get to work out at the gym every day except Friday. So while waking up early sucks in theory, it rocks in actuality. WHO AM I? and what happened to nocturnal kayla?