Amazing At-Home Work Out

Hello! Okay, I know I have been seriously MIA for the last...um...month...but, I am back with a great work out post! This work out really gets your blood flowing and your body sweating! All you need is some hand weights, a stability ball, and a space to work out! It took me about 30 minutes to get through and I think this work out is going to go into my rotation of work outs I do weekly! If you do this work out, let me know how you liked it! Exercise give you energy and it really is the perfect way to start the day!!!

Work out:

5 minute warm up (jogging, jumping jacks)
30 walking lunges
1 minute plank hold
30 sec. right plank hold
30 sec. left plank hold
20 plie jumps
15 straight leg deadlifts (use a heavy weight)
20 squats
25 crunches on stability ball
30 walking lunges
15 fire hydrants (each leg)
15 fire hydrants with kick (each leg)
15 rock star jumps
25 stability ball crunches
15 stability ball hamstring curls
15 frog lifts on stability ball (for your booty)
15 each leg donkey kicks with weights
25 crunches on stability ball
30 sec wall sit
50 bicycle crunches

If you are unsure of any of these moves, you can always look them up on youtube for a quick visual! Play some music and set 30 minutes aside for yourself today to do this! You will feel energetic and amazing : )

Eating Right and Working out after Vacation!

Well, after taking a week off from working out, lets just say I NEEDED a few good work outs yesterday and today! Also, these last couple days being home I am trying to "cleanse" my body from all the unhealthy foods I ate while on vacation! One of the first things I did after getting home is went grocery shopping and bought tons of fruits and veggies and healthy things to eat this week!  I know you have probably heard this before, but working out really is a love/hate relationship! I love how I feel after, but I hate having to actually do it and I hate the burn I feel while doing it! Sometimes I really just need that extra push to get going and start a workout and then once I am done, I feel so good for getting it done! So yesterday I ended up taking a SPIN class with a few friends and it was just what I needed! A great tough work out that made me sweat it up! It felt great. Today, I am trying something new, Pilates! I have never done a Pilates class, and I know they can be quite expensive, so I found a website online that I really like! You can do all the different Pilates classes right in your living room on your laptop for free! I did the 30 minute Pilates for Beginners video today and I really enjoyed it! I have a feeling my legs will burn tomorrow! After just working out for 2 days after my break, I feel better, have more energy, and don't feel so sluggish! I really need to get back in a routine of working out everyday and working out hard! It really does make my day so much better! Now, I am off to finish up my work out by doing some treadmill intervals and then off to run errands today!

http://www.blogilates.com/workoutindex  ( The link to Pilates Work outs online)

Here are a few meal ideas if you are trying to detox from a junk food filled weekend or vacation. These foods are really helping me feel better!

Breakfast:

• Kashi Go Lean Cereal with Fat- Free Milk 
• 2 Slices Whole Wheat Toast with Almond Butter 
• Whole Wheat Toast with Peanut Butter and Banana and Chia Seeds (optional) 
• 1 Whole Wheat Slice of Toast with 1 Drippy Egg and a Piece of Fruit 
• Fruit and Spinach Smoothie

Lunch: 

• Salad- with chopped celery, carrots, cucumber, peppers and light dressing (or homemade!) 
• Veggie Wrap with Hummus and a Side of Fruit 
• Fruit and Spinach Smoothie with Protein Powder 
• A Piece of Trader Joes or Other Naan or Flatbread with Chopped Veggies - drizzle with EVOO, Sprinkle S&P and Cheese and Broil a few minutes 
• Spinach and Egg White Omelet with a  Greek yogurt and fruit parfait

Dinner 

• Grilled Chicken Salad with Veggies and Light Dressing 
• Veggie Stuffed Spaghetti Squash ( Recipe to come) 
• Homemade Veggie Thin Crust Whole Wheat Pizza 
• Turkey Burgers with Homemade Whole Wheat Buns and Homemade Baked Fries

Tips for cleansing after a junk food filled weekend or vacation: 

*Eat lots of Veggies, Drink tons of water, No snacking or salty foods for a while until your body feels better, Take Fiber in your water or smoothies, Try to eat as clean as possible and less processed foods! 

Work Out and Cool Down

It has been almost a week since my last post! Sorry, I have been a slightly busy girl this past week! One thing I have had a lot of time for though, is work outs! This weekend has been full of some great work outs! Friday, we went hiking for a total of about 5 miles (up and down a mountain), talk about a great work out! I am still feeling sore from that! On Sunday, my husband and I went for a run around our neighborhood and the lake near our house and it was actually a great work out and I am looking forward to doing that more! Oh, and I have been taking those Gravity classes I talked about in an earlier post- definitely loving those! Now, today's work out is an upper body strength session that took me about 25 minutes. (I got this work out from a book Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads).   Its broken up into sections, covering Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, and Biceps. This is what I did: 
Chest: 
Dumbbell Bench Press: 10 lbs - 15 reps 
Dumbbell Bench Press: 10 lbs - 15 reps 
Push Ups : On knees - 10 
Shoulders: 
Seated Overhead Shoulder Press: 8 lbs - 15 reps 
"                                "                : 8 lbs - 15 reps 
Side Lateral Raise: 3 lbs - 15 reps 
"           "              : 3 lbs - 15 reps 
Back: 
Standing Bent Row: 5 lbs - 15 reps 
"             "             : 5 lbs - 15 reps 
Lat Pull Down- Using rubber bands 
Triceps: 
Tricep Push Back- 5 lbs - 15 reps 
"                  "      : 5 lbs - 15 reps 
Dumbbell Extension(Seated) : 8 lbs - 15 reps 
"                  "                       : 8 lbs - 15 reps 
Biceps: 
Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curl : 10 lbs - 12 reps (alternating arms) 
"                       "                       : 10 lbs- 12 reps 
Standing Bicep Curl: 8 lbs - 12 reps 
"                "           : 8 lbs - 10 reps 


If you have any questions about the moves or work out, don't hesitate to ask. : ) Now, onto the "cool down" which is actually a delicious homemade Orange Sorbet Recipe that I made last week and it is amazing! It is light, refreshing, sweet, and the perfect healthy treat to cool you down! 

Recipe: 
1 Cup Sugar 
1 Cup Water 
1 tsp Orange zest 
4 Oranges 


Combine Sugar and water in a saucepan and heat on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and don't stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and then set aside. Zest the oranges until you get 1 tsp zest.  In a 4 Cup measuring cup, squeeze all of the oranges and remove seeds. Stir in water/sugar mixture and zest to the orange juice and then add enough water to make 3 1/2 Cups of liquid total. Place in fridge for at least 1 hour and then transfer to your ice cream maker and let it do its thing! (Mine took about 15 minutes) After it is done, transfer to a freezer proof container and freeze! Enjoy! 

A Workout and a Recipe

Well, I have two things to share with you today. A work out and a delicious oatmeal recipe! I am not going to lie, working out right away in the morning is hard work! I have realized that if I don't work out right away in the morning, before I start my day, then I just don't do it more often than not. Working out, for me, is one of those things that takes me so much motivation to start it, but once I have started working out, I usually love it and love the feeling after I am done! The work out I did this morning is a great one that will make you sweat, I sure was! Also, I am always trying to discover new, different work outs that keep things exciting and interesting...I cannot do the same thing 2 days in a row, I get bored way too easily with that! I really enjoy circuits because they provide something new and different and it's actually fun to work my way through a circuit! Todays workout was a combination of Cardio on the treadmill and a quick circuit! Hope you enjoy it!
WORKOUT:
15 minute jog on treadmill
15 lunges (do 15 on each leg)
20 squats
30 second wall sit
30 crunches on the floor with legs up in 90 degrees
30 bicycle crunches
10 reverse crunches
Repeat this circuit 3 times (not the cardio on treadmill part) and FEEL THE BURN!

Blueberry Pie Oatmeal
1/2 Cup rolled oats
A little less than 3/4 Cup milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1/4 Cup water
1 tsp heavy whipping cream
(Microwave these ingredients for 2 minutes)
Then Add:
1 tsp vanilla
A few sprinkles of cinnamon
1/2 Cup Blueberries
1 TBS egg whites
(Microwave for 1 minute more)
I added a dollop of Plan non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with a little maple syrup on top of mine and it was pretty delicious!

I thought I would add the benefits of this breakfast for you- pretty interesting!

Blueberries * have one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants of all fruits and veggies. Their anthocyanidins counteract free radicals, which damage cells and tissues. One study demonstrated that blueberries improve memory and learning capacity in aging animals. They also protect against all forms of cancer, especially colon and ovarian cancer.

Oats * are complex carbohydrates, meaning they will not spike your blood sugar and are slow to digest.

This recipe is from http://wholewheatorbust.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/blueberry-yum-yum/ 

Shape up for Summer: DAY 1

Up until now, my work out routine has been pretty sporadic....I usually try to do some kind of intense work out a few days a week, like run, Jillian Michaels DVD, work out class at the gym, circuit training, or a walk! I have never really established a solid routine so I have decided to apply the famous "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail" motto to my work out routine from now on!  I am going to plan my work outs more diligently so that they become part of my weekly routine, and not something that I just randomly do if I feel like it...I am going to track my work outs on this blog so those of you who would like to follow along with me or even steal some new work out ideas are welcome to! My main goal here is to get a little "more fit" by July when I will be traveling back to the homestead with my hubby for his brothers wedding! So I figure I have about a month and a half to follow this little "Shape up" plan! I am also going to adjust my diet slightly and I will get more into that later but I know that for myself, strict dieting=DEPRESSION. I hate it! I love food too much to eat a apple for breakfast, a rice cake for lunch and a salad for dinner...what's the fun in that? Because of my love for food, I realize I need to work out more and I need the energy to do so, so you won't find me eating fat free stuff loaded with chemicals and basically nothing good for your body! (I do however indulge in a sweet treat every now and then even though I KNOW it is bad for me...) Anyways, back to the work out I did today!

THE WORK OUT :

5 minutes cardio warm up (arm crosses, jog in place, toe touches)
Dumbbell Lateral Raise- 15 reps (x2)
Tricep Extension- 15 on each arm (x2)
Cardio on treadmill- 1 minute walk, 1 minute run for 5 minutes
Chest Fly- 20 reps (x2)
Upright Row- 15 reps (x2)
Cardio on treadmill- start at 5% incline and increase 1 every minute for 5 minutes
Chest Press- 15 reps (x2)
Push ups- 15 (x 2 )
Sit ups on medicine ball or plan crunches (3 sets of 15)
Cardio on Treadmill- 1 minute walk, 1 minute run for 10 minutes

Basically what I did is the cardio, then 1 strengh move, the next and then repeated them each so I wasn't doing the same move back to back! Let me know if you have any questions about the strength moves!