I feel like I am in countdown mode until May 20th, when my summer officially begins. Between then and now there are lots of things to enjoy...birthday parties, Rangers games, football games, cheerleading, t-ball, family in town, etc...so focusing in one area doesn't seem possible.
I thought through several topics this morning while Adam and I were lifting and I still got nothing.
So instead, here are several small tips and personal opinions based on what has worked or is working for me currently in this whole health journey.
1-my new found love of STAIRS. I have found that running stairs is a great calorie burner. I leave the gym super, and I mean beastly,manly, soak your clothes, you need a shower NOW sweaty. I feel the burn in my legs and tush from the beginning to the end of the workout and that gives me confidence that there will be results! I also feel a strengthening in my core much later on in the day, as if it too has been through a hard workout...and it has..all those high knee lifts!!
My stair workout looks like this:
5 mins of running to warm up my muscles and some light stretching.
15 minutes of running up and down the stairs with a goal of hitting 30 flights. I hit every step on the first flight and every other step on the second flight. This allows me to work both my core, glutes and thighs. I do not slow down on the way down either. Keep your heart pumping yall!!!!
1 mile run at a 9/9.5 pace to keep the heart beating but once again stretch out those hamstrings, swing my arms and allow my system to cool down.
Another 15 mins of stairs, repeat above combos of every other and every stair.
1 mile run again..same pace.
Cool down with crunches, squats, push ups and like usual I try to end every workout with 40-100 jumping jacks.
This usually takes me right under 1 hour to complete.
2-Dark chocolate covered raisins-especially the ones in bulk at Sprouts. OH YUM! These are the most satisfying desserts ever. They come in around 140-160 calories for a 1/4 cup serving and I normally have that or a little less left at the end of the day. This coming from a girl who used to heave at the thought of a raisin is pretty fantastic..plus you know that raisins keep you regular :).
3-My new Nike Free 5.0 running shoes. They are divine!..and I got them on sale for under $30!!! I found them at an expo at a local athletic store. They have an inner glove that wraps around your foot and my favorite part is just how lightweight they are! I also got a size larger...which means a whopping size 11 and I have almost zero rubbing or blisters....so buy running shoes a size up to allow for swelling during your workout. I only use these for circuit training and long runs. I use my other shoes for weight training and stairs....hoping to get more longevity out of both pairs!!
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| They are pretty feisty right? I love love love having bright running shoes, it somewhat motivates me to keep it up in the wee hours of the morning when all I want to do is crawl back in bed! |
4-No more ICE drinks for me. I had recently posted these as a favorite of mine, since they are zero calorie flavored drinks. However, due to the sugar substitutes in them they were giving me lots of small headaches. I finally figured it out when one of my students told me that she liked the flavors of those drinks but couldn't handle the sucralose due to her constant headaches. I started documenting and walah, same deal. Since then I have switched to just lemon in my water or a little bit of honey in hot water to start my day with!
HAPPY FRIDAY!!!
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