Work Out Like a Girl!

Getting my abs after 3 kids!

We are keeping up with the Paleo Life now, but I am also trying to keep my workouts fun, fresh and effective. So, what am I up to?

When I work, I am doing beachbody's T25. It is only 25 minutes and is a mix of strength and cardio. I may be really, really tired after working and barely sleeping, but I can do 25 minutes, right? Most days I try to pull it off. I like it as something added to my workout bag, but I would not be able to do just T25 I don't think. It is about the mix for me.

Next up, Hasfit.com. This is FREE! Yes, entirely free!!! Coach Kozak has 2 workouts that I like among many to chose from, his 90 day High Intensity or his 90 day warrior. The warrior was the first one I did, and he just added the high intensity one. The warrior workout plan is strength and cardio and high intensity interval training in one. They are short workouts for the most part with a 30 minute one thrown in there occasionally. The Intensity one I have not done in its entirety. I started and got side tracked (it has only been available a short time). I have done many of the workouts included in the plan already, though. The workouts may be longer as some days it is suggested to put in 60 minutes of cardio. With that said, I do 60 minutes total of whatever I am doing every day with the exception of my rest days and days where I worked and am too wiped out (which become my rest days).

And then there is Bodyrock.tv. I have been following them for a while. I go in spurts, doing their workouts for a while or through a challenge, then going back to Hasfit for strength. They are different but I find many of their moves are similar. Bodyrock does seem to need more equipment, but I get by with my weights and equalizer (well worth the investment I may add, although I got mine on Amazon.). They are now doing a 30 day challenge and I am loving it. The workouts are longer, but she jump ropes. I love jump roping. It is such a great workout! I worked out so hard last weekend I broke my beloved jump rope, so I am shopping for a speed rope so I can do double unders some day. :)

I also throw in Beachbody's Turbo Fire, but I do more of this during the winter.  This is more cardio for me.

My cardio rounds include any of the above (bodyrock jump ropes between workouts, so that's great cardio!), running (my route is almost 5 miles and I run 2-3 times a week, usually 2 now adays), biking (Chris got me into speed biking. I like biking, do it and get it done. I use different muscles for good cross training)), and jump roping. I often times bike or run, come home and jump rope until I crash (maybe a song!). I really love jump roping if you can not tell. Addison now wants a speed rope so she can jump fast with me. :)

As I mentioned, we are still mostly eating Paleo. I had not heard through my ongoing research that once you cut out sugar, you suffer horrible headaches when you do eat it. I made cookies, eating dough of course, and had to go to bed afterwards (it was 9 at night anyway, but still) because of the headache. I also had my beloved tea which is artificially sweetened and had a headache unlike any other AND my lips and the area around my lips became all swollen! I will no longer drink the tea, which makes Addison happy as she will drink the rest of my supply. Chris has had similar response to the sugar. We have both had dairy and have been okay. OMG, cheese never tastes so good! Now...back to moderation and mostly eating Paleo.

There you have it, work it 60 minutes 6 days a week, rest one (but keep it an active rest with a family activity that day at least), and eat clean. We have never felt better.

What do you to work it?

Got Abs there somewhere!

Beachbody Beach Bum

My love for Beachbody's Turbo Fire is not a secret as I have been working out to Chalean since last spring. Throughout the warmer months, I continued to run 4 miles a few days a week. I tend to make sure I get in 1 hour of cardio 5 times a week, and I get in some cardio (but not an hour) on weekends. When I work, I tend to get in little if any cardio as I don't sleep much between Friday morning and Sunday night. My cardio energy is reserved to help me stay awake for that long of a stretch.

Anyway, I started doing Bodyrock.tv a little bit more and more as the months have passed. I love their workouts. They are typically short bursts yet high intensity. Some workouts are only 12 minutes. But, I am dead following them. I even splurged a little and purchased a Lebert Equalizer using my gift cards earned from wearing my pedometer. The equalizer is used all sorts of way in the Bodyrock workouts, but I like to used it for dips, aguility, abdominal pull ups, used as a weight and more. It is amazing! Bodyrock is like a 12 minute burst of Beachbody's Insanity (and I will get to that) without Shawn T yelling at you all the time, "Let's GO!!!!" and "DIG DEEPER!!!" And, instead of Shawn T, there is a quite skinny, fit girl named Lisa. Gotta love her toned body, and you get used to seeing a lot of her body in the images along with the workouts. There is a Sean in Bodyrock, too, but he does not yell (thank goodness). Can you tell I just love Bodyrock?! I would recommend anyone to try their workouts. I do not have all their equipment, but I exchange the Ugi Ball with a plain old weight, etc. No big deal. It is workable. Oh, and I even can get Chris to do it with me on weekends. Yeah! I have learned to jump rope, which is a great all around cardio exercise. With that said, it is very important to have the right jump rope. I whipped myself using my jump rope and had to switch to Chris' (and never missed!).  Believe me, you do not want to make that mistake! Anyway, I just finished their 30 day challenge, and I feel like I am in the best shape since my honeymoon. I may not weigh the same, but I have 4 pack abs (I'm still looking for the lower 2). Bodyrock Works!

My back is at least whipped into shape!

Next, Chris who has been a sedentary hermit for nearly a year (LOL) decided to step it up and do Insanity again, starting last week. To push him, I have been doing the workouts with him in the afternoons generally. I forgot how insane they are, how much I dislike the yelling to dig deeper, etc. With all of that said, Insanity is a killer workout. I am in much better shape after Bodyrocking and doing Turbo Fire for months, so I am actually able to do push ups! I know, amazing for this girl!

And, just for fun, on the weekends, I try something else to go along with my Bodyrock workout on my "day off." I have done just a few of Zuzana Light's workouts. Let me give you a little background story, although I do not know much. From what I have found, Zuzana and her husband started Bodyrock. Last Janurary, they separated (now divorced). Zuzana moved away and started her own web site and her husband continued Bodyrock with Lisa. Anyway, Zuzana's workouts seem tough, too, but different than Bodyrocks workouts now. I did not follow them when they were together, so all I know is what it is like today. Zuzana seems more real with a more real woman's figure (but she has killer abs and muscle tone,too). Her workouts are intense yet short, like Bodyrocks. I guess since I started with Bodyrock, it is more difficult for me to get used to. I will continue to try her workouts on weekend and TRY to do one when I work, too.

As Chris and I work out, the kids get into it. Addison likes the Insanity stretches, Asher likes the weights with Daddy and tries to do push ups. I think he just likes to pretend with Daddy. He does not really do much. But, he is learning the importance of exercise. Alivia, who is about to begin girls on the run, went running with me on Saturday afternoon. She did great! It was weird for me to run with someone who did not sound winded and never asked to stop. Not wanting to push her too hard, I would stop at given points to give her a rest. She did amazing! We are teaching the importance of keeping fit, to say the least.

Last but not least, Chris started using an app on the iPad to keep track of his exercise and food intake. So, I did as well. I hate keeping track of what I eat. We did this last year and lasted 3 weeks, so we will see. We are using the same app from last year, myfitnesspal, and find it easy to use. I have been trying not to eat after 8 pm, drink within an hour of bed (both of which are extremely difficult). I am a big snacker and love to eat at night. Drinking at night disrupts my sleep, so it is best to cut it off early. Eating at night disrupts my workout in the early morning, so I need to get better with that, too. I eat a lot of sugar, too, so that is next on my list to improve upon. I have my work cut out for myself, but want to take tiny steps. I am not going to give up my snacks, but hopefully find better snacks to eat (apples and plain almonds versus chocolate covered almonds for example. :) ). Chris is doing great, having given up Coke last week cold turkey! I'm sure that is hard. He is now drinking water. Amazing! I have started to drink some water along with my green tea and one cocoa a day.

So, that is how we are working it to become beach bums. :) I can't wait for summer. Okay, I can't wait to go outside without freezing! Please! Bring it! I want to run again!

Fitness in 2013

Happy New Year! As with every year, fitness is a continued goal in our house. Last year we completed a second round of Insanity, biked, ran, I started Turbo Fire and body rock TV, zumba, swimming, etc, etc. We are always trying to try new ways to stay fit. As I found, it I stick to one thing (Running), my body adjusts to it and I stop seeing results. That is no fun.

Motivation. What is my motivation? I want to stay fit. Staying fit keeps one younger, looking and feeling stronger, and feeling better about yourself, right? Right. No antidepressant needed...working out it my drug. :)

I try to stick to an hour every day with 1-2 days off a week. Really, I work out daily unless I am working...then I do not work after I work the first night at least. In 2013, I will continue with what I am doing now, turbo fire and Bodyrock.tv aka the dailyhitt as well as running when the weather permits. I am sure we will come up with something new, different and fun to try in the new year, too.

The dailyhiit (Body rock) has undergone some changes. Their website is new and updated, now called the daily hitt, and I am having problems following all of their changes. However, I am going to TRY to step in up with 5 workouts a week of bodyrock. Seriously, it is 15 minutes of challenging bodyrock high intensity interval training. I'm in love. Will show updates or results as I see any.

So, what are your fitness goals? Anything you want to share?

The Daily Grind

Another day, another season, another work out, right?

Well, my workouts continue to be running (Now on Tuesdays, Thursdays while Asher is in school and on Saturdays and Sundays. So, I am down to running 3-4 days a week now), turbo fire average of 6 days a week and now bodyrock workouts whenever I can work one in.

First, my run continues to be the 4-4 1/2 miles I have been running for a while. It is seriously boring. If I had time, I would edit the run a bit. Humm, perhaps I will do that tomorrow before Saturdays run. I run it one way, then do it the opposite way the next time I run. I sold my dreadmill (aka the treadmill) because I hated it. Seriously, if the weather is bad, I will do a Turbo workout plus a body rock work out and just skip my run. Usually, however, unless it is too snowy, too windy or just too damn cold...I RUN OUTSIDE! There are hills, sights and things to look at to keep me going. Running on the dreadmill staring at the wall (or the mess I need to clean or hearing the kids get up and want breakfast, or...you get it) is just not worth my time. Oh, and I love my new space in the basement where the dreadmill sat. Good riddance! ANYWAY...that is my run. I thought about running a 1/2 or full marathon in Florida while Chris was there in February, but I decided against it. I mean, I would cruise through a Florida marathon with there NO HILLS and all. But, with the uncertainty of our life at the moment, I could not be sure Chris would even be there to cheer me on. So, I am sitting it out.

TurboFire. I am still loving it. Mondays and Fridays I do the turbo 55 (55 minutes of fun), Wednesday I do the Turbo 60 (meaning 60 minutes of fun!), Tuesdays I do Turbo 30 plus my run, Thursday I do a hiit workout plus my run, weekends I run plus do a Hiit workout generally (either 20 or 25 minutes high intensity interval training). On the days I skip my run because I have other plans (like today) or the weather is blustery and cold, I throw in the Fire 45 plus a 20 minute hiit workout. Love these workouts. After six months of doing them nearly daily, I have yet to get sick of them. Try Turbo Fire and you will not be disappointed.

Body Rock TV. I just started doing these workouts occasionally over the summer. I like to do them on weekends after my runs. I did it this afternoon since I did the Turbo Fire 45 minute workout and then ran out of time. The Body Rock work outs are short but INTENSE! I can feel my muscles BURNING! I am familiar with all the moves (burpees, side push ups, around the world, etc) and I love their ab workouts. They are amazing. I wish I could do them every day. But, you know, there is life and the fact that I tire easily lately (don't ask as I have no idea the answer). I would recommend trying a body rock workout once. You won't be disappointed.

So, that is my daily grind for the moment. My knee injury heeled quickly by dropping my mileage down running. I continued Turbo through most of it. At least I have not broken any bones this year (KNOCK ON WOOD!!).

Have a fun work out you would recommend? Okay, a good one? (Insanity is good but I am not saying you will have fun).