Countin’ Down

• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
  • mountain climbers
  • reverse fly
  • roll-up V-ups
  • bent over fly
  • lateral leg raise squats (alternating)

Confused about any of these exercises? Check out Fitness in a Minute to find out!

For my personal workouts, I’m trying to focus on building my back muscles. So I’m sure some new exercises will be making appearances in the near future (time to update Fitness in a Minute!). Apparently this is going to be a goal-setting month. Which brings me to…

How did everyone do with our Friday Challenge? Did you set a goal? Still thinking about it? Already started??

I am happy to announce that I have been cheese-free for 8 full days. That’s quite a record for me! I feel like I need to have a counter on the sidebar to hold me responsible. It’s not always easy, but I do feel better and am not suffering from the same gut pains that I was experiencing far too often. The worst of it came several weeks ago when I was in the heart of Dairyland Wisconsin and ate an inordinate amount of the most delicious, fresh cheese curds. (Honestly, they were amazing…) However, waking up the following morning with gut pains that didn’t subside for two days straight was enough for me to commit to making some much needed changes.

Onward and upward to healthy living, one day at a time!

Friday Fun w/ 21-15-9

• 21-15-9
  • leg kickbacks with opposite arm raise (each side)
  • bent over dumbbell row
  • oblique side bend (each side)

Confused about any of these exercises? Check out Fitness in a Minute to find out!

Here’s our base workout for the day, but I’m curious to know what you add to it. My ‘plus’ today was doing 3 pull-ups before each round of exercises (I’m trying to build back up to a higher number!). I also usually practice between 30-60 minutes of my Zumba routines for practice and cardio whenever I can, even if it’s just around the house when I’m cleaning or getting ready to go somewhere. (Although I don’t recommend doing that too often, I usually end up having to rush out only half ready!)

And for our Friday Challenge this week (I think it’s been a while….oops!), I challenge everyone to think of  a bad habit you’d like to give up or a positive change you’d like to make and start planning the steps to make it happen. I’ve recently been doing more research on foods and have been reminded why I chose to be so strict several years ago with the foods I was eating. We all need reminders now and again and I have fallen back into some bad habits the last couple months. But no more!

With that being said, my “bad habit” that I’m giving up is going to be cheese….I know, I know, that was half of the ‘Plus’ of Paleo Plus! But after being reminded of why I committed to being Paleo to begin with, I have to make the change. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s a little better each day. (I’ll report more when I write a post specifically about why I decided to completely give it up.)

What change are you going to make?

8/10 – Make Your Day

And we’re back! Summer vacation is winding down, our planned trips have come to an end, and it’s time to recommit and get back to business. It’s hard to keep up workout routines while away on vacations, so I always like to make sure I have a core group of exercises that can be done anywhere without any equipment. And I believe that continuing to workout while indulging in party food and desserts is especially important! (On a completely unrelated note, I think it’s time to get serious about Paleo again…)

• 8 burpees/pushup burpees
  • 10 lateral leg raise squats
  • 10 pushups
  • 10 roll-up V-ups
  • 10 leg kickbacks on forearms
  • 10 under the fence pushups
  • 10 tippy toe squats
  • 10 shifting planks
  • 10 hover crunches
• Repeat!

Doubling Up!

(‘Double Up’ workouts involve exercises that individually target both sides of the body. Therefore, every exercise must be done on each side.)

• 4 Crossfit (wo)man makers
  • 12 lateral leg raises
  • 16  shifting planks
  • 20 side crunches
• Repeat 4 times through!

Confused about any of these exercises? Check out Fitness in a Minute to find out!

Jammin’ with Jackie

You know what’s even better than regular Zumba? Having a jam session with another crazy talented Zumba instructor! Jackie is the instructor who helped me come out of my shell when I was first attending classes, and now I’m jamming with her and sharing routines. Dreams really do come true!

I’ve been volunteer teaching while on vacation this summer and it’s been a blast and a wonderful learning experience. It’s difficult to go into someone else’s class and take over with new music and new routines. But you just gotta keep smiling and dancing and hope that your class loves your routines as much as you do!

The key to success is letting your love of dance, fitness, and Zumba show because the class will feed off of your energy. If you don’t love the routine, chances are your participants won’t either. I choose music that gets me pumped up every time I hear it! As the instructor, I take pride in putting a playlist together that has me saying “Oh, I love this one!” every time a new song starts because I know that I’m going to put my all into every step.

Thanks Jackie, and happy Zumba-ing to everyone out there!

Flex It

Is it really August 1st already? Where in the world did July go?! Let’s pump it up and get to flexin’!

• Starting with 2 reps, run through the list and add two more each time through: 2-4-6-8-10-12 and so on. See how many you can do in 30 minutes!
  • dumbbell shoulder press
  • reverse fly
  • shifting planks
  • roll-up V-up
  • bicep curls

Confused about any of these exercises? Check out Fitness in a Minute to find out!

Why is change so difficult?

Living in the Los Angeles area and always on the go (and I mean always), I rarely have a moment to just relax and breathe. Having spent the last two weeks focusing more on family, nature, and requiescence, I’ve had more time to reflect on life in general.

Without getting too deep, the last 5 years of my life have seen a lot of change. While some circumstances were out of my control and I had to adapt, there were other times when the choice was mine to make. Those moments were never easy and I’ve second-guessed my decisions. A lot. But the thing that keeps me moving forward is the knowledge that I’ve learned so much about myself and this thing called life we’re all trying to understand.

A few days ago, my 10 year old asked Google “what is the meaning of life”? While Google had many quotes and memes from others who were trying to decipher life’s purpose, I don’t think either of us was really satisfied with the answers. And if no one really knows, why do we spend so much time worrying about what other people do/think when we ourselves are searching for answers to the same questions as everyone else? How often are you (and I am actually speaking to you as an individual) held back by the fears of what people will think, what the consequences will be, or whether you’ll succeed/fail when you want to improve yourself by making drastic changes to your life?

Will my loved ones make fun of my choices or support me? Will they hold me back or try to boost me up? What if I can’t do it? Why would anyone listen to me? What happens if I fail?

The list of reasons “not to” is endless! At some point you need to let go of the fears and embrace whatever is going to come your way after stepping outside of that comfort zone. There’s no need to wait for a New Year’s resolution to make the needed/wanted changes in your life.

Let us all embrace both the scary and wonderful parts of shifting our lives around to make them better and more fulfilling in the long run!

More Monday Madness

Whether you’re on vacation, back to work , or still at work, you can make this workout happ’n, cap’n!

• 21-15-9
  • pushups
  • kayak twists
  • bench dips
  • squats
  • shifting planks
• Finish it off with 9 burpees if you’re up to the challenge!

Asparagus Breakfast

• Ingredients
  • asparagus
  • eggs
  • cooked bacon crumbles
  • fresh tomatoes
  • salt & pepper
  • oil for cooking

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat asparagus with olive oil and salt & pepper. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until asparagus has slight bend when held between thumb and forefinger. (The stalks will continue to cook for several minutes once you remove them from the oven. This is called “carry-over cooking”)
2. Fry eggs to desired consistency. (I prefer mine over-easy so the yolk serves almost as a dressing!)
3. Slice fresh tomatoes and sprinkle with a pinch of salt
4. Top breakfast with bacon crumbles (or leave bacon out for a vegetarian version)

I made this breakfast with garden fresh tomatoes and farm fresh eggs! It really doesn’t get much better than that…

Enjoy!

7/22 – Make Your Day

• 7 burpees
  • 11 dumbbell reverse fly
  • 11 tippy toe squats
• 7 burpees
  • 11 kayak twists
  • 11 mountain climbers
• 7 burpees
  • 11 half squat row
  • 11 leg kickbacks on forearms
• 7 burpees
  • 11 dumbbell reverse fly
  • 11 tippy toe squats
• 7 burpees
  • 11 kayak twists
  • 11 mountain climbers
• 7 burpees
  • 11 half squat row
  • 11 leg kickbacks on forearms
• 7 burpees
  • 22 bicep curl squats

And a quick Friday Challenge for this weekend: do something outdoorsy! Whether it’s berry picking, a campfire, or riding a 4-wheeler through the fields of a hundred-acre farm, get out and have fun!