20 Min Leg Workout

Leg days are, without a doubt, a love/hate relationship for me. I hate them because they’re more strenuous and require more effort to move more weight. But I love them because they can be quick and efficient and if done right, make it hard to walk the next day. Or in the case of this workout, hard to walk for 3 days.

If you want to burn your legs out and be in a lot of pain (the good kind), try this workout! With a warm up and cool down, the whole thing is only 30 minutes. If you’re feeling extra crazy, you can throw in some stairmaster sprints after!

2x: 10 min (do as many reps as possible within these 10 minutes)

• 10 reverse lunge and knee lift each leg with weight (I used 30 pounds)
• 15 box jumps
• 20 deadlifts (I used 60 pounds)
• 15 burpees into a tuck jump
• 15 weighted step ups each leg (I used a 15-pound medicine ball)
• 15 goblet squats ( I used 45 pounds)

 

Roll out/stretch 🙂

Mid-Week Full Body Workout

Hello and happy October!

This is undoubtedly my favorite month because it means the weather should (hopefully) cool down soon, football season is in full swing, and the holidays are right around the corner!

While I’m always counting down until Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’m definitely hoping they pass a little quicker this year and my January wedding is here before we know it! As I get into the final stretch of wedding planning, I’d be lying if I said that I don’t feel extremely overwhelmed at least once a day. That being said, this is the only time in my life I’ll get to do this and, while I want my wedding day to be everything I imagined it to be, it will still end in the uniting of me and my best friend, which is the point of all of this anyways!

On another note, my wedding dress and veil finally came in and I go in for my first fitting this week! I’m a little nervous but very excited to see how it looks.

Anyways, back to the point of this post and that was to share this full body/cardio workout I created, based off a similar one we did in Crossfit last week.

The circuit is by no means easy but you can definitely make modifications and go at a comfortable pace. If you’re really feeling crazy, try challenging yourself and using heavy weight for the dumbbell squat to press and the weighted step ups!

 

August Favorites

Hey whats up hello. Wow a lot has changed since I last actually wrote on here.

First off, I am no longer in Dallas and made the move back home to Louisiana. With wedding planning in full swing and my lease coming to a close, it made more sense for me to be closer to home and spend the remaining months with my family before getting married. Plus I’ve been homesick since the day I moved to Dallas and had finally reached my breaking point.

Though we’re already almost halfway through September (which seems crazy to me), I thought I’d share some favorites and things I’m loving from August!

Engagement Pics

• These shouldn’t even be in here since they were taken in MAY but they’ve been one of my favorite things since then. Our wedding photographer, Tamytha Cameron, was someone I worked with in Dallas a lot and she is the absolute best! I can’t wait to see her in January for the actual wedding!

San Francisco

• It’s a pretty well-known fact that my little sister is much cooler than me but she definitely proved that when she moved to San Francisco this summer for an internship. We have family in that area, which gave her a place to stay as well as another reason for my whole family to visit! Me and my sister went last summer to visit and loved it so I was so excited to go back, especially with my parents!

Moving Home/Work

• This one is pretty obvious but I don’t even know how to describe how much happier I am since moving back. Though it is definitely weird to be living with my parents again, it is completely worth it to be able to spend normal days with them. Tilly is also a huge fan of her grandparents and her new home.
• I also can’t ignore the fact that I was completely blessed that my old job offered me a position starting this past July. I’m back working at BlinkJar media and it has been such a blast!

Engagement Party:

• Last weekend, my family hosted the traditional Roy engagement party and it was a fantastic night! I’ve been looking forward to it since I was a little girl and it definitely did not disappoint. Beau and I feel so fortunate to be loved by so many people. January 26 cannot come fast enough!

 

And I’ll end with more pictures of my favorite furry girl, Til Pickle cause she’s always a favorite :]

Thanks for dropping by!

May Favorites

Happy last day of May!

To say this month has flown by is a huge understatement…I feel like yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. But the quicker the time passes, the sooner I get to move home and go full speed ahead on wedding planning.

I wanted to start a monthly trend on here where, at the end of each month, I highlight a few things I loved the most!

Tilly:

• I think I would be a bad mother if I didn’t have my puppy as the thing I’m loving most right now. She has drastically improved in the potty training area (praise the Lord) and has finally gotten to the point where she is content with being left alone while I’m at work, which makes me feel a lot less guilty for sure. And yes, she really is that cute.
• 
• 

 

Tofu:

• Okay, just hear me out on this one because I know its weird. I tried tofu in high school just because I was interested in what it would taste like and then forgot about it and probably haven’t eaten it since. Fast forward to a couple months ago and it almost became a necessity. In 7th or 8th grade, I developed an allergy to egg yolks that resulted in excruciatingly painful stomach aches anytime I ate them. This really wasn’t a big deal because I would just eat egg whites and move on with my life. I literally ate an egg white omelet every day for breakfast for YEARS with no issues. Well, I guess it finally caught up to my body because all of a sudden, the egg whites started causing those same bad stomach aches.
• Because I had been eating the same thing for breakfast for so long (cause I’m a creature of habit) I didn’t know what else I could eat that would keep my full and energized all morning. Then I remembered that the last time I cooked tofu, I scrambled it in a similar way that I would with eggs. Tofu honestly is similar to eggs in texture and takes on the flavor of whatever it is cooked with. So if you season it right, it really does taste good! While I’m still working on reintroducing egg whites into my diet, tofu has been a good replacement for the time being. It also contains all 8 essential amino acids and is a good source of protein, magnesium, calcium, iron and more!

 

Liv’s 21st Birthday:

• The day has finally come that my little sister no longer needs to use my ID anymore. Yesterday, Liv turned 21 and I can honestly say that, even though I was able to celebrate a little with her this past weekend, I am sad that I can’t take part in the whole 21st birthday celebration that she is doing. (Especially because I think she celebrated my 21st more than I did..)
• 
• Don’t worry though cause we will surely make up for it when I visit her in San Francisco this summer!
• 

Cycling:

• This isn’t really a new love for me but it has definitely increased since the beginning of the year. For Christmas, I received a membership to ClassPass in Dallas. Basically, I get to take so many classes per month in over 100 participating fitness studios in the Dallas area. For the most part, I’ve just taken cycling classes because I love them so much. Seriously, I now know why people are obsessed with it. Cycling classes have really evolved to become a whole body workout that includes cardio, weights, and stretching. It leaves you with the best endorphin rush and it will be one of the things I miss the most in Dallas!
• 

Finally seeing Thomas Rhett in concert:

• When I found out that Thomas Rhett was coming to Dallas to open for Kennel Chesney, I literally bought tickets the day they went on sale. I have been obsessed with him ever since I saw him open for Jason Aldean in high school. Since he wasn’t the headliner, I bought super cheap tickets but it was still a great concert and a really fun weekend.
• In usual Beau and Anna fashion, we didn’t take one picture while were there so I don’t really have anything else to share.

Registering for our Wedding:

• I have a love/hate relationship with this….definitely more of a love though. On one hand, it is extremely fun to pick out things with Beau and picture how they’re going to be used in our life together. On the other hand, I feel like I have to decide exactly what our house is going to look like when we don’t even know where we will be living!
• We started a registry at Target but it was very easy to get overwhelmed (at least for me) so we still have that to finish as well as register at a couple other places. Now that I have a better grasp at what we need and where we think we want to register, I’m more excited than stressed out! Although I still don’t fully trust Beau with the scanner gun. But only 240 days until we get married!

 

That might just round out my monthly favorites for May, although there are always a few tings I’m loving EVERY month, like spending time with my family and Beau or going to weekly adoration and mass.

Here’s to hoping June flies by as quickly as May!

life lately 5/8/18

I’m not really sure why I keep telling myself that I’m going to write more because inevitably I fall short. Seeing as my last post was in January and it is now somehow May, a lot has happened in my life.

First and foremost, I got engaged (!!!!) at the beginning of March. Beau did a fantastic job at completely surprising me and somehow I didn’t even cry. Check out our story on HowHeAsked.com to read all the details!

I love envisioning what our wedding day is going to look like and how the rest of our lives are going to unfold. After doing long distance for almost a year, I am so excited just knowing that I’ll get to see Beau every day. January 2019 can’t come soon enough!

Wedding planning has had its ups and downs but I’ve had a lot of help along the way. I’ve already found/ordered my dress, booked the venues/vendors, and have asked all my bridesmaids to be a part of the big day. It may seem like I’m speeding all the planning along but living 6 hours from home means that I have to strategically time everything. Luckily, most things have fallen into place.

In other news, Beau and I finally got a puppy! I actually picked her up two days after I got engaged so needless to say, the month of March was filled with lots of lifestyle changes and adapting to taking care of and training a puppy.

But now that she’s finally potty-trained and can snuggle in my bed with me at night, I think I can say it was worth the first month of frustration and confusion.

Everyone meet Tilly! (Nicknames include TillyTilly and Till Pickle).

Last, after thinking about it for quite some time, I finally created an Instagram page to accompany this blog! My plan is to try and incorporate the two and get more involved in my passions of health and fitness. Follow me @practical_madness if you want more insight into food, fitness, faith, wedding planning, and even more pictures of Tilly!

Other than that, my life has consisted mostly of going to work, walking Tilly, and (hopefully) spending time with my friends and family on the weekends.

I’m currently spending the week with my mom and sister, which is always a great time! Hope ya’ll have a great week!

 

23 Things I Learned When I Turned 23

Almost my entire time at LSU, I wrote for The Odyssey Online, which was a platform on multiple college campuses for writers to write about pretty much anything they wanted and, once approved, it was shared on an online newspaper. For my past two birthdays, I wrote articles about everything I had learned that year (here & here). You can read those as well if ya like but they were a pretty decent mix of funny and serious.

A lot has changed in my life since writing the last one so I thought, in honor of turning 23 yesterday, I’d keep the tradition alive and edit/combine the two articles to be relevant to today.

 

23 Things I Learned When I Turned 23:

 1. Just like I stated in the previous articles, champagne > all other drinks, even if it does lead to questionable decisions.

2. Moving to a new city (or in my case, state) without a job or a plan is not something I advise. Luckily, I found a job before I ran out of money so that worked out, but I think it would’ve been best for me to have a better plan. Lesson learned, though.

3. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – Meche’s King Cake is the best birthday cake there is and it just wouldn’t be the same if my birthday didn’t fall near Mardi Gras.

4. I still dance and talk exactly like my mother without even meaning to but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

5. Being called a “grandma” is just something I’ve come to accept if it means I get to go to bed before midnight.

6. I HATE living far from my family. Honestly, I should’ve known this but I did not realize the magnitude of homesickness I would feel just for the state of Louisiana. 

7. I’m more so now considered an “adult” yet I’m still a work in progress when it comes to figuring out what I want to do with my life.

8. I’ve yet to find a margarita that can compare to those from Superior Grill. And I live in Texas….

9. I took a lot of trips this past summer, but my favorite was still my annual family beach trip. 

10. If your birthday falls on a Monday, it is totally acceptable to claim the whole week (maybe month?) as your time to celebrate.

11. No longer having Frinks at Fred’s might be the saddest part about leaving LSU.

• • 1. 12. Don’t be ashamed to make a trip to the grocery store solely for Ben & Jerry’s. I did it Sunday. 

       13. Graduating college is a huge transition, no matter what anyone tells you. Everything changes, both good and bad, and you kind of get thrown into the real world and learn to navigate on your own.

       14. It’s pretty normal to feel an abundance of love from family and friends on your birthday, but I feel incredibly blessed that I usually feel that level of love more often, especially on hard days when I need it most. 

       15. I’m not sure if there is anything that can’t be cured by a calling your mom. I had a severe stomachache yesterday and immediately called my mom to see what to do.

       16. It’s true that your siblings really become your best friends. Liv understands me on a level that most people never will just because that is the dynamic of our relationship.

       

       17. On that note, if you happen to be in college at the same time as a sibling, soak it up. Me and Liv pretty much saw each other every day and even took two classes together which was actually really cool and something we’ll never be able to do again.

       18. Friendships after college are tough. Out of all my closest friends, we are spread between 4 states and multiple cities. Finding the time to keep those friendships going is hard but knowing that I can send any question/announcement/prayer request to our group text and get a surge of support helps a lot. We may have to work harder to plan times when we can all be together but it makes our time together that much more meaningful and special. 

       

       19. Dogs are the best thing in the world. I didn’t necessarily just learn this but I did learn that I miss the company of my dogs more than ever and I can’t wait to get my own (hopefully soon!!)

       20. I am so happy that I love to work out. I know there are many people that dread it but, since moving to Texas and spending a lot of time alone, it has become a way for me to do something for myself as well as get out all the anxious energy and thoughts I constantly have.

       21. Beau is the most patient and understanding person on the planet. Seriously, I have put him through a lot and yet he is still here. Because we are opposite in demeanor (he is chill, I am not), he is able to talk me through a lot of things running through my head and make me feel better. Our long distance relationship would look a lot different if I alone was calling all the shots. 

       22. Finding a job is hard and very time consuming. All I can say is be patient (which I am not) and try not to beat yourself up when you get rejected. It really does just take time and prayer.

       23. Lastly, the time you spend with God is the most valuable investment in yourself. For me, that is a simple routine of reading a devotional and journaling every morning before taking on the day and usually making it to mid-week adoration and mass. When I don’t take that time to talk to God in the morning, I don’t feel like myself.

Okay that list is finally complete! Not sure if I can do this every year as they just get longer and longer but we shall see. Lots has changed but with change comes lessons learned and with that comes growth. Excited to see where year 23 goes from here!

Dec/Jan Recap & 2018 Goals

Considering I haven’t posted in a month, this may be a crazy one but it’s been a weird past couple of weeks.

The last time I wrote was a few days before a flew home for 2 weeks for the holidays. Those weeks were some of the happiest I’ve been in a long time and included a quick trip to NOLA, Christmas, a close friend’s wedding, and New Year’s.

I then flew back to Dallas for a total of 2 days before flying to Colorado for a ski trip. It was an extremely fun trip, even though I seem to be more talented at sledding than skiing and actually think I sprained my thumb….

I flew back to Dallas after the trip and dove right back into work the next day. After being off of work for almost a month, this was the hardest transition back into the “real world” that I’ve ever experienced and that first week back was pretty brutal both emotionally and physically. I somehow made it through and ended up driving home the following weekend to get the rest of my things from Christmas that I couldn’t fly back with.

and now I’m here, at work, hoping this week goes by a little faster than the last 2.

As far as making New Year’s resolutions go, I hardly ever make them because I feel like I’m just setting myself up for failure. However, another blog I follow, The H is For, posted an outline of how to make resolutions the focus on the aspects of our lives that we want to grow in. She breaks it down into 4 categories based off of Luke 2:52, which says:

“Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man.”

Therefore, the 4 categories are wisdom, stature, favor with God, and favor with man.

WISDOM: How do you want to grow mentally? What do you want to learn?

• For me, I want to stay more informed with what is going on in the world, whether that be good or bad. I know there’s a fine line between being obsessed with the news and being oblivious to the world around us and I’d like to fall somewhere in the middle.
• I also want to schedule and study to become a Certified Personal Trainer. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time and I have all the information, I just need to actually schedule and pay for the test.

STATURE: How do you want to grow physically?

• I’ve really been lacking in my motivation to workout lately and so I want to try some new things and get excited about fitness again.
• I received a gift card to ClassPass for Christmas and since group fitness classes (especially cycling) are some of my favorite, I really want to utilize that as much as I can to change up my workout routine and continue to challenge my body
• I have started and quit the Kayla Itsines training program probably 5 times. This past round, I made it farther than normal. But I want to start it over and complete it in its entirety and then complete the 2.0 version.

FAVOR WITH GOD: How do you want to grow spiritually?

• This is my favorite area of growth because it affects every other area!
• I want to get better at journaling every morning because it helps clear my head for the day and helps me get in some extra time with God.
• Beau and I recently got the same devotional that we can use for 2018 and read together. My main goal with this is to make sure I read it very night and help it promote discussions between the two of us.
• Try and make it to adoration/mid week mass every Wednesday. I’m pretty good about not missing this but I want to make sure I keep up the habit.
• Go to confession every month. I’m usually good with this but December and January found me so busy and not in a routine so I would like to get back on a schedule with this.

FAVOR WITH MAN: How do you want to grow relationally?

• make an effort to make more friends in Dallas. This really takes me out of my comfort zone but I know, in the long run, it will make my time here so much better
• communicate more with long distance family and friends. I don’t know why but I always get in the habit of only talking to Beau and my parents each day. But I have other friends that I rarely see now and I know just picking up the phone for a quick conversation can make all the difference in a relationship
• maintain a consistent blog schedule – I’m hoping to try and get into a routine where I blog at least once a week!

 

Okay I think that covers all the catching up and thoughts in my head! Also, a quick puppy update: I should be getting her by the end of March but fingers crossed it’s earlier than that!!!!

Christmas Favorites

Helllooo and happy one week till Christmas!

In an effort to get in a better habit of posting a “monthly favorites” post each month, I wanted to write a special edition one for Christmas. It will feature presents and products I’m loving as well as experiences and traditions I’m looking forward to as we finish out 2017!

Family visits and Christmas activities in Dallas

• 

• Over the past two weekends, I felt like I was spoiled with a girls weekend with my mom and sister followed by a long weekend visit from Beau!
• 
• The girls weekend consisted of shopping, walking White Rock Lake, and drinking wine. During Beau’s visit (which of course I have no pictures from), we went to dinner, watched Christmas movies, drank hot chocolate and looked at Christmas lights in Highland Park, and finally got to cook dinner together again! Having so much family around definitely made it feel more like Christmas here in Texas.

 

Decorating the apartment & cold weather

• 
• My roommate and I wasted no time after Thanksgiving getting our apartment all Christmas-y. I raided Target for cheap decorations and we bought a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Add in a mint scented candle and and Nativity set and we were good to go!

 

The Advent Season

• 
• I don’t think I even realized until this year that the reason I love December so much is because it is the season of Advent in the Catholic Church. This time period is centered on waiting for Jesus’ coming and the exciting anticipation and joy that accompanies that. I’ve been working really hard to keep my focus on celebrating Advent and changed my morning devotionals to be centered around it as well and it has really made me even more excited for Christmas! (if that was even possible….)

 

Christmas Treats

• 
• As if Christmas wasn’t the best season already, there’s no denying that the abundance of hot chocolate, cookies, and festive snacks adds to the celebration of the season! My roommate and I attended a cookie decorating party and, while the cookies didn’t turn out the prettiest, they tasted fantastic and we had no problem eating more than our fair share of cookie dough and icing!

 

Flying Home

• 
• In 3 days, I get to fly home and spend a week and half with Beau and my family. I don’t think I’ve been this excited for a Thursday night since college (thumbs up if you get that reference). We’re starting the trip by spending the night in New Orleans and enjoying all the Christmas things the city has to offer before driving back to Lafayette. I’m also pumped for the annual Roy Christmas celebration that takes place every Christmas night….let’s just say its a bigger celebration than New Year’s for us.

 

There’s so many more things I’m grateful for right now, but in an effort to keep things (somewhat) short and sweet, I’ll leave it at that!

Merry Merry Merry Merry Christmas!!!!

November Recap

^^not to self

In comparison to October, November was pretty low key and bland. Aside from Thanksgiving, I didn’t do a whole lot other than go to work and chill at home. In all honesty, free weekends lately have been freaking me out. Without much family or friends in Dallas, I get super anxious when I think of having “too much” free time. I also think I might be the only person in the world who tears up at the thought of a completely free Sunday….

As the month of November approached, I felt very uneasy about the amount of alone time I had coming up. I wasn’t going to see my boyfriend or parents for a month and my roommate was going out of town one of the weekends. Upon realizing that I had no control over whether or not I would see loved ones in the upcoming weeks, I decided to make a list of things I’ve been wanting to do/needing to get done but haven’t had time.

I am VERY type A and get a high level of satisfaction from crossing things off my to-do list. Therefore, think of this post as basically me showing you what I accomplished on my short to-do list and how, even though I was very lonely at times, made it through a month of spending time alone.

• I put a deposit down on a cockapoo puppy (!!!!) I’m attaching a picture of what I hope she will look like because I like to set expectations that may or may not be reached.

• I posted this recipe for really good pumpkin oat muffins (actually planning on making another batch of these tonight!)

• I posted another recipe for a pumpkin pie protein smoothie (another recipe I plan on making this weekend)

• I drove an hour to spend a weekend in the middle of the country at my grandparent’s house and experienced a lot of “unplugging”.

 

• I used my free time to attend a few more SoulCycle classes

• I watched way too much football.#WhoDat

 

• I’m halfway through Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body workout program and it is successfully kicking my butt. I also joined my mom and sister for a stadium and track workout at my old high school and my calves were sore for 4 days….

• I celebrated the best holiday ever, aka Thanksgiving, at home with my family. Most of the Wednesday before was spent baking 4 different types of pies – cinnamon pumpkin, Mexican chocolate pecan, regular pecan, and apple. I also will confess that I ate probably an entire pie all by myself in the weekend following Thanksgiving and I have no regrets.

I think that about sums up the random events that took place during November 2017. Other than going home for Thanksgiving, nothing was too eventful but I did get a lot of ish done, including all of my Christmas shopping!

I also wanted to leave with a post a quote I saw on Instagram. I know loneliness all too well and this one really hit home for me.

November was not my best month, I will admit. But I want to try and make December better so that I end 2017 with a bang!

Happy December 1st and Happy Friday – have a great weekend!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

surprise surprise I’m still on a pumpkin roll and I don’t see it stopping until (maybe) after Thanksgiving.

last post I shared Pumpkin Oat Muffins. this time I’m sharing a smoothie that tastes just like the filling of a pumpkin pie. With temperatures in Dallas reaching the 70s/80s lately, I couldn’t help but want something that would cool me off while also being relevant to November.

I made this right after a long run down Katy Trail and it hit the spot!

Ingredients:

• Scoop of vanilla protein
• 1/3 cup of low fat or fat free cottage cheese (makes the smoothie thicker)
• 1/3 cup of milk (I used almond)
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/3 cup of frozen cauliflower rice
• 1/3 cup of pumpkin puree
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• Add in a couple ice cubes if you’d like it to be thicker!

Blend it all together and you’ve got the perfect breakfast or post-workout snack!

Nutrition:

Calories: 300

Fat: 3 grams

Carbs: 32 grams

Protein: 37 grams