Good-Bye, My Friend

This "cookie" has been quite the treat in my life for the past few months...After making these cookies several times, I thought that instead of making a whole batch, what if I used the same ingredients, just less of them, and microwaved it...

The result....Heaven in my mouth.  Hell for my waste line and inner thighs.

Some peanut butter, 1 egg white and some sugar doesn't really seem so bad when you think about it.  But when this cookie is consumed twice mid-Friday night gnocchi binge, it becomes a problem.

So to kick off my new year, I am saying goodbye to my peanut buttery, sugar packed friend.  Certainly not forever-let's not get crazy.  However, at this time he is no longer welcome in my microwave or in my stomach.

And just to be sure there is no slippage, I have Jill keeping an eye on my sugar bag 

Here's to a sinched waist and no mo' chub rub!

Making 26 My Best Body Year!

My 26th birthday is in a just a few short days!! 

My workouts lately have been really great...lots of running, spinning, yoga, weights and boot camps.  Nutrition on the other hand.....not so great.  I wake up most days with a food hangover--still full from the night before and not wanting anything to eat until about 11:00, then eat all day long because I'm never satisfied. 

 It's time to stop!  My body works so hard for me and gets me through over 12 hours of exercise each week...the least I can do is reward it with good, healthy food. 

So, today I am making an outline.  An outline of all things I need to do to stay on track!  I'll be back with my finalized list :o)

Boot Camp!

Every Wednesday and Thursday night I teach a Boot Camp class.  The format is really whatever I feel like doing that day, keeping the people who attend the class in mind.

Here is what we did for a workout on Thursday:

You need a step or BOSU ball and a pair of light and heavy weights.

Warmup (3 times thru)
Easy squats (3 sets of 16)--go down only 1/2 way, just to get legs and core warmed up

Pushups (2 sets of 10)

Mountain Climbers (1 minute)--might as well while we're down there

Circuit 1 (3 times thru)
Decline Pushup w/ knee-ins-  Feet on bench, hands on floor, Pushup, bring knee outside of the right leg and back, bring right knee in between hands and back.  Repeat on left side.  10 reps

Squat w/ curl to press (30x)- Squat down, hands at side, press up thru your heels and bicep curl to overhead press--KILLER.  These get the heart rate up and is an awesome total body exercise!  It's a great one to start with!

Jumping Jacks (1 minute)

Lateral Raises (16 reps); Frontal Raises (16 reps)

Circuit 2 (3 times thru)
Pendulum Lunges holding heavy weights (10 reps-forward and backward count as 1)

Plank row  20 reps (10 each side)-  Plank position holding weights-hands on the bench, keep legs wide so the hips don't rock side to side.  Row right hand up (like a bench row) and back down, repeat left.

Mountain Climbers (1 minute)

Tricep overhead extension (3 sets of 16 w/ hold)

Circuit 3 (3 times thru)
Front Kicks--or knees for modification-- (1 minute)

Slow Squat (1 count down, 4 counts up)

Fast feet (1 minute)

Bicep Curls (3 sets 24 w/ hold)


This took about an hour with some time to stretch at the end of class.  It was fun and had lots of the guys in class wincing and moaning!  It's funny, the women are the ones who keep quiet and do what they're told....Step it up, guys!


Today was supposed to be a long-run day in my 1/2 Marathon training...I've been up since 5, trained for 5 hours and taught Spinning,  I'm running on a little more than 4 hours of sleep...a run is not in the cards for me today :(.  I'll pick it up again Monday!  I think Hot Yoga sounds a little more enticing than running on icy, snowy roads with those crazy drivers anyway!!!

HAVE A GREAT SATURDAY!!

At Home Yoga Flow

It's a snow day here so it looks like I'm going to be inside all day...so bored already.  BUT!  I did just go a 40 minute yoga flow in my own bedroom! 

It's really not that dirty...

I just started teaching yoga at work, so I've been making playlists and practicing flows a lot.  One of the many benefits of being a Fitness Specialist is that during down time I can practice my classes.  So I just go into the group ex room and get my flow on!  Here's what I came up with:

Child's Pose (move hands right, breathe, then left)
Table top -- cat/cow
Down Dog (pedal feet)
Forward Fold -- Rag doll

--Flow 3x --
Swan Dive down
Forward Fold
Pike (flat back up on tented fingers)
Forward Fold
High Plank
Low Plank
Cobra
Down Dog

Basic, I know, but it gets everything all warmed up and ready for...

Down Dog, lift right leg up and swing foot between hands
Crescent Lunge
Drop back knee down 10 times (so just like a normal lunge)
Crescent Lunge again, this time twist right
Come down for a nice hip opener (forearms come inside the right foot)
Down Dog and repeat left side

Then I did other flows and poses involving Warriors, Triangles, Chairs, Eagles, Planks, Crows, Pigeons and Wheels.

And the playlist, of course:

40 minutes later, I'm stretched and ready for breakfast!  And maybe a good old fashioned Brittany Murphy Netflix movie!  I really do love them.

Why Blog?

After reading a million blogs in the past 2 years, I have decided to finally start my own!  Here’s Why:

1.  I LOVE healthy living blogs (I read a LOT of blogs!), but I feel like I read a lot of the same things...running marathons, being vegetarian, going to Body Pump…  I don't think there is anything wrong with any of these things--in fact, I've done a half marathon (and I'm training for my 2nd), I was a vegetarian for over a year and I am currently having an aversion to any meat/poultry for the last month, and I used to go to Body Pump a lot when I had a gym membership.  But, I was always on the search for a more fitness-based blog.  I’ve found some of those too, but not as many as I thought I would. 

I want my blogs main focus to be on exercise, including Spinning (especially playlists and formats), weight training, yoga, and anything else you ask for!  With two nationally recognized Personal Training certifications (as well as Spinning, Group Exercise, Yoga and Kickboxing certs), I think I can do it!

2.  I'm in need of a hobby...I work as a Fitness Specialist in the Boston and while filling out my bio I was asked to list hobbies.  Those hobbies are "running, yoga, cooking, hiking."  Fun, but pretty pathetic...time for a hobby that doesn't include food or exercise.  I couldn't even bring myself to list "reading" because I only read magazines...I'm working on that (kind of).

3.  I don't have all the time in the world but it seems like blogging is fun!  I really want to share the information I have!  I don't have a bazillion clients at work, so if I can reach out to a few people through the blog, I've done my job and I'll feel like I’m using my certifications

4.  My boss had me and my co-workers write Dream Lists back in September.  I recently found that list and remembered that I wrote "start a blog" as one of my goals, so I thought, why not?

So here we go!!

Playslists and Class Format

Yesterday’s spin class at work was a doozy-that's the only proper way to describe it…6 am class at work, 1 hour:


1.  Warm-Up:    Club Can’t Handle Me-  Flo Rida  
2.  Seated Climb:    Grenade-  Bruno Mars
3.  Standing Hill:     Umbrella (Travis Barker Remix)-  Rhianna
4.  Stay in 3rd, seat at chorus:     Insomnia–  Craig David
5.  Seated Hill:     Forget You-  Cee Lo Green
6.  Fast Flat:     Die Another Day-  Madonna
7.  Seated Climb:     Be Somebody-  Kings of Leon
8.  Standing Hill-with pushes at chorus:     All In-  Lifehouse (LOVE!)
9.  Seated Hill:     Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)- Enrique
10.  Move between 2 and 3:     She Wants to Move-  N.E.R.D
11.  Fast Flat (with pushes at chorus):     More-  Usher (also LOVE)
12.  Seated Climb:     Sweet Dreams-  Beyonce
13.  Seated Hill:     Blood on the Dancefloor (TM’s Switchblade Edit)-  MJ
14.  Hill (seated or standing-Spinner choice):     Yeah (remix)-  Usher
15.  Cool-Down/t:     Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You-  Lauryn Hill


So here is what I did…We turned in once every 30 seconds and ended on top of a hill, then stayed on that hill until song 6, got a small break, then started over again.  Lots of resistance, lots of strength work! 


I also taught a 6:15pm spin class today…I’ll leave the playlist--the workout can be whatever you want it to be!  The way I teach at this studio is a little different from Johnny G standards.  The class is only 45 minutes but I like to give myself some wiggle room incase I don’t want to listen to Enrique for the 100th time…