Orange Theory Fitness

If you are looking for a fun way to exercise may I recommend Orange Theory Fitness!

There are several reasons I like this.  I go once a week and count this as some good old me time!  The hubs works from Home on Tuesday and I go to this class in the morning while he gets the kids ready for the day.  You don't need your hubby to work from home to go, but this isn't super close to my house and he wanted to work from home one day a week so it has turned out great.  If the location was closer to me I would totally go more than once a week.

What I love about it
1.  hour long class (55 minutes generally)
2.  Incorporates Cardio and Strenth training
3.  Monitors your heart rate - to try to keep you in ideal bfat burning zones!!
4.  Trainer ques you as to when to push yourself hard to get your heart rate in the right zones
5.  Incorporates Strength training in a cardio like way
6.  Strength training moves I wouldn't normally do in my home (for equipment reasons or just never thought to do them)  but simple moves anyone at any level can do.
7. Fun atmosphere with good music and people
8. If you are a competitive person or not...  it works.  I am a competitive person so I like to be the first to complete task (if makes sense) or just try to keep up with the faster people around me. Or I simply like to compete agaisnt myself and keep my heart rate where it needs to be
9.  Just because I am competitive doesn't mean the astmosphere is.  If you are a runner, jogger, walker, fit, or not.  The class is can be modified for your level, without making you feel like you need to push harder... Watch your heart rate that tells you when you need to push harder
10.  Different routine every time!  Not so different you have no idea what your gonna do when you get there, but different combinations of running, rowing, strength training.

Needless to say I am really happy about my new one day a week addition to my at home workout routines.  It is nice to get out of the house and try something new.  If you have one near you, you should get out and try it,  Many of them have a free trial class.

I am hoping that I will be come a faster running with this added to my routines too.  I don't always push myself at home like this class does!  Yea for Orange Theory Fitness!!!

Post Baby Chat 2015 - Hopefully I can post a few things this year!

I hope to be back in this New Year to write a few more posts!  I had my baby boy in September and I have loved having him around.  My labor and delivery went well and I was back to working out 2-3 weeks post baby, taking it easy, but doing some work out.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought exercising with my first pregnancy helped me bounce back and it definitely helped with the second too.  With 2 kids working out is a little more complicated but I still find time to do it and feel good about myself.   My major problem has been my sweet tooth and still trying to feed myself and a baby (breastfeeding) has made it hard for me to stick to a meal plan/cleaner eating.  Some days I feel like I can't get enough food... and know that I need days like that right now for me and the baby.

Throughout my Pregnancy I gained 28 lbs!  I was pretty proud of that.  I planned to gain 30-35 but was excited that I kept it under that and still was healthy and my belly and baby were measuring healthy.  I did not try to not gain weight, I just tried to make sure I did it healthy.. I know some people may judge me because the weight gain was on the low side, but I promise you if my Dr would have been concerned, I would have put on more weight or done whatever I needed to have a healthy baby.

Post baby I lost the weight pretty quickly..  I won't lie I was a little disappointed when I got home from the hospital and I had only lost 6lbs.  I had read an article that said you lose the weight of the baby and extra blood flow and placenta weight which could be 10+ lbs.  So when I got home and saw I only lost the weight of the baby I was a little disappointed.  However, I knew that it took me 9 months to get to where I was it was gonna take more than 2 days to get back to what I want.

I started exercising as soon as I felt good enough, for me it was about 3 weeks after baby (I was walking with them before) but actually exercise 3 weeks after.  I try to watch my body and make sure I don't push too hard or lose my breastfeeding abilities.  To me I feel like it is more important to feed the baby than to lose the weight instantly.  It took about 3 months to get back to my pre baby weight, but that didn't mean fitness level, I am still working on that.

My daily meals look somewhat like this
eggs and toast breakfast
fruit or something as a snack
Salmon and pea and carrots for lunch
half protein bar or half PBJ for snack
Dinner - varies...  I eat what I cook for the family, but sometimes add more veggies to my meals.


    Me the weekend before he was born

 
Our new Family Picture

Husband approved Homemade Granola bars

I haven't posted for a long time.  A lot happened between now and Oct (my last post).  I am now 25 weeks pregnant and the first Trimester + a little of the second trimester were not very kind to me.  I was trying to take care of my 1.5 year old and stay out of bed.  I was so exhausted and my whole digestive system shut down and lead to some days where I spent the whole day in bed and in and out of the bathroom.  Since about week 16 I have been doing really well.  I have continued to exercise 6 days a week.  I usually rotate jogging, cycling and weight lifting.  I only had a few days in the first trimester that my exercise was cut short due to sickness problems.  I believe that bc I exercised throught my first pregnancy I bounced back quickly and I am hoping that with baby #2 it will be the same!

Anyways I wanted to share my healthy granola recipe because my husband loves it and I get a treat that is healthy for me and my baby.  Most granola bars you purchase from the store have tons of ingredients that you don't even know, so I love that this is 3 ingredients (optional more if you want to add some other items)

1 C Peanut Butter
1/2 C Honey
3 C Oats.

Over the stove cook melt peanut butter and honey together.  Once melted remove and add oats.  Put the mixture in a 9x9 pan and put in fridge to cool. Once cooled cut in bars and eat! (got recipe from Pinterest)

Options
I like to melt a handful of Chocolate chips on top.


Other Options to add
shredded coconut
craisins (raisins)
nuts of any kind.

I'll add a picture next time I make them.

Best Eggs Ever

Cottage Cheese Scrambled Eggs

1 Serving
2 eggs
1 egg white (optional)
1/4 cup cottage cheese
Scramble eggs, just before they are cooked to your liking add cottage cheese and salt and pepper

Totally protein packed and super yummy.

Cottage Cheese Salsa Eggs  - more meal like
2 to 3 servings ( if this is your main course)
7 eggs
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup salsa
1 handful spinach ( I chop mine into smaller pieces)

Scramble eggs to your liking add cottage cheese, salsa, spinach, salt and pepper.

Homemade Egg Sandwich

5 eggs(could do a mix of egg whites and eggs)
Salt Pepper
Kraft Singles
2 or 3 English muffins(3) or Bagels(2)

Scramble eggs, toast muffin or bagel and butter, place cheese on top and eggs on the bottom, sandwich together!

Why eggs - Eggs have lots of protein and vitamins. Vitamins include vitamin A, potassium, vitamin B, folic acid, choline and biotin.  Vitamins A, B and folic acid is great for women wanting to get pregnant, pregnant women and nursing women.  Really it is good to all, but I know I needed more of these vitamins when I was in all of these stages.

Good Motivational Quote

Saw this quote today on Pinterest! Love it!!

I think so many people think I exercise to be skinny, but that is sooo not the case.  I exercise to be fit, because I love it, it is one of my passions, and because it is healthy to do.  I won't lie that I sometimes don't want to see the scale go up whether it is due to muscle or not, I think as a women we are all slaves to a scale every once in a while, but it is good to remember that we should be exercising and eating healthy to simply be healthy! Skinny is not always healthy!

No more boring bike rides!

Here is a routine I like to do.  Sometimes I don't have the attention span or desire to just ride my bike for 30 minutes straight so this breaks it up a little bit and give you some good strength training moves as well as helps to get your heart up and pumping!!

If you have a chance to do this, let me know what you think.  I end up sweating tons more when I do this. Sometimes when I just ride the bike I get lazy and don't push myself.  This definitly will get you to want to turn up the resistance.

Teaching Young Girls about Fitness and Health

Yesterday I taught a group of girls ranging from age 8-12 about the importance of eating healthy and staying active.  It was a lot of fun.  I started by playing a game of jeopardy and asking questions in these categories.  Fruits/Veggies, Milk &Protein, Exercise, Miscelleanous.  My questions were things like What Vegtable is know for helping your eye sight, What does eating protein do for you body, What kinds of exercises build muscle in your body, and What fluid should you be drinking plenty of each day.  The girls had a lot of fun answering these questions.  Some were easy and some they struggled with, but as they answered the questions I discussed why we should be eating healthy and exercising.  After the game I shared with them why I am so passionate about exercising and trying to eat healthy.

I told them that I had a few reasons, but 1 reason was because I enjoy exercise and how I feel after I exercise.  The second reason I Shared with them is very personal.  My grandmother who passed away several years ago and who I love love with all my heart had an influence on why I try to stay healthy.  My grandmother had diabetes and arthritis for these reasons it made it very hard for her to get around and do all the things I know she would have loved to do.  As a young girl, probably the age of the girls I was teaching, I decided that I didn't want that to happen to me.  I wanted to be able to see my children and grandchildren grow up.  I wanted to be able to go to there sporting events and or other functions I would be invited to.  My grandmother as she got old had a harder time getting out of the house and one of the last times she left the house was to my wedding.  I am soo soo happy she made it to my wedding and I cherish the picture I have of her and my grandpa with me on that day. So I told the girls that they should strive to be healthy so they too and see their children and their childrens children grow up and enjoy life.  This is a passion of mine and I hope that I can influence others to be healthy.

At the end of my teaching them we played a fun relay game.  I had the girls run from one side of the gym and do the following

20 Hula Hoop

5 push-up

10 squats

10 jumping jacks

If you want some good entertainment have a group of 8-12 year olds do push-ups and squats!!