Strapped for Time but want a workout?

Strapped for Time but want a workout? Here is a quick plyometric circuit for you.

This workout will get you results in all areas – cardio capacity, strength and power – and all you need for equipment is a way to time yourself.

Instructions:

Complete each movement for one minute, doing as many repetitions as you can within that minute then move onto the next move.  

Take breaks when you need to between exercises. For instance, you could complete two exercises then rest for one minute, complete two more then rest for one minute.

If you have more time, you can repeat the circuit.

Monday Morning Plyo Routine

1.     Skipping (faux skip if you don’t have a rope)

2.     Jumping Jacks

3.     Mountain Climbers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyeZM-_VnRc

4.     Butt Kicks

5.     One Leg Quarter Turn Jumps (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ3elB616wA)

6.     Burpees (ya know you love ‘em and if you don’t love ‘em learn to xoxo)

7.     Knees Up

8.     Plank Jacks (instructions here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm7asV_h-Mw)

9.     Jump Squats (instructions here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utQShuge6Vk&feature=related)

10. Speed Skaters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpnT1XrdhBU)

Freedom: It's what drives success.

Diet and Exercise. Those two words are enough to make about 50% of the population cringe. Lets use a timeless example, how often have you (or someone you know if we don't wanna make this personal) gotten on a treadmill to run off those cookies or that piece of chocolate cake?

Is the run any fun? No.

Do you feel better about yourself after? No.

Why is that? Because we diet and exercise from a place of legalism and punishment for not being good enough.  We say things like ‘I am not allowed to eat those cookies’ or ‘I have to work out for exactly 1.5 hours, 6 days per week or my body will never change’. If that sounds like your approach to fitness, take an imaginary eraser and erase everything in your brain that told you what eating and fitness were supposed to look like. It doesn’t have to be like that.

If you are reading this blog you probably know that I have lost 30 pounds since February of 2011. How did I do it? Diet and Exercise BUT here is the real key, I have learned not to punish myself but instead to enjoy the journey. Now when I run I enjoy the freedom of movement, the chill of the fall air, and the changing colour of the leaves. I am even enjoying the extremely limited nutrition plan I am on now as preparation for my first fitness show. 

How did I get here? It has been a slow process of revelation centred around the fact I want to enjoy every single minute of my life and I want to be able to live life as big as I can. I want to know that my time spent on earth was not only spent wisely but also in giving my all to every moment. I cannot give my all if my body is unhealthy. As I move myself to a place of being a better me, I can enjoy what previously seemed like discomfort because it is making me a better me. No one is forcing me to go through this process, I am FREE to choose and I am FREE to enjoy my life.

Where do you start in getting free? Today, I want you to find 6 things about yourself that you really like - 3 physical attributes and 3 character traits. Anytime you hear a negative voice telling you that you eat too much, you don't weigh what you should, or that you don't have enough discipline I want you remind yourself about those 6 things. Start rejoicing in who you are and where you are on this journey so that you can move forward from a place of completion instead of from a place of not enough.

Lighten-Up Pumpkin Pie from Clean Eating Magazine

Still on the theme of Thanksgiving, I am sharing a recipe from the folks at Clean Eating Magazine (www.cleaneatingmag.com) for an easy to make healthier and lighter but oh-so-tasty pumpkin pie. I don't know about you, but seriously Thanksgiving would not be complete in my mind without pumpkin pie. Yumm! I can't wait to make (and eat) this pie!

Lighten-Up Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups crushed ginger snaps or graham crackers

1 ½ tbsp safflower oil

2 egg whites

1 whole egg

1 scant cup loosely packed organic brown sugar

1 tsp finely grated orange or lemon peel

1 tsp each of ground ginger, cinnamon, ground cardamom and sea salt

1/8 tsp each ground allspice and mace

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk, preferable skim

1 (14 oz) can organic pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

Instructions:

1)   Place crumbs in a deep-dish (9 or 10 inch pie plate). Drizzle with oil. Using a fork, stir to moisten. Using your hands press crumbs against the bottom and up the sides of the pan – the crust should look crumbly. Refrigerate while making the filling, allowing the crust to set a little.

2)   Lightly beat egg whites and whole egg. Whisk in brown sugar, grated peel, spices and seal salt. Whisk in milk and pumpkin puree. Pour over crust. Place pie on a baking sheet. Bake in centre of preheated 300 F oven until centre is almost set when pan is jiggled, 60 to 75 minutes.

Timesaving Tip: Pie tastes best the same day it’s made. However, it will keep well if covered and refrigerated overnight. The flavors blend as it sits, so a good alternative is to make the pie filling and crust the day before. Wrap and refrigerate each separately. Fill crust and bake on serving day.

Thanksgiving so Have Some Giving

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I am feeling pretty grateful for all of the wonderful people/places/things in my life. Sooo I thought I would do some giving. This post is a full body at home workout that you can do with just your body weight - no materials required. I have provided youtube links demonstrating proper form and technique for each movement.


*** Remember you should always consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program. ***

This program is designed as a circuit - I love circuits - circuits make me happy.

Start with the warm-up movement (your choice of either inchworms of squats depending on your level of fitness) then complete exercises 1 through 6. Take a two minute break. Repeat the circuit two more times, for a total of three times through the circuit. Beginners: do the circuit twice through and work up to three times through.

The number of repetitions are outline for you. For instance, for side-step lunges you are doing twelve lunges on each side. The number of repetitions are a guideline. If you cannot make it to the number stated just go until exhaustion. Alternatively, if you can do more (with proper form) go for it. Also, begin the push-ups aiming for one full military style push-up before modifying and work your way up to the whole set. Remember to stretch at the end.

The Thanksgiving - Giving Workout  - Complete 3 days per week

Exercise	Reps	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
Warm – Up: Inch Worms	10		N/A	N/A
1.  Side Step Lunges	3 X 12 (each side)
2. Push-Ups	3 X 12
3. Supermans	3 X 10
4. * Band Bicep Curl -  Wall	3 X 12
5. Tricep Dips (Chair)	3 X 10
6. Plank Shoulder Taps	3 X 12 (each side)

*If you don't have a band or weights and cannot buy either, get a two small bags, fill them with some stuff to make them heavier and lift it like weights.

Youtube Links

Warm-Up:

a) 10 inch worms (stand in between each rep)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWytglYN8HI&feature=related

OR

b) 15 Squats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDdSZmWNYQI&feature=related

* Don’t do full speed, keep it slow and controlled

1) Legs – Side Step Lunges

Proper Lunge Form

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egITs8S5R8c

2) Chest/Shoulders – Push-ups

Proper Military Push-up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ewKCtUGgk

Proper Modified Push-up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilKBvS91MEA

3) Back – Supermans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8szJuzPt-sg

4) Triceps – Chair Tricep Dips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKjcgfu44sI

5) Biceps – Band Curl Against Wall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqRCwG1z1CU

(Don’t squat if using band, just keep back against the wall)

6) Core - Plank Shoulder Taps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_pk0vEOIFY

* These can be modified from knees like a push-up

Self-Discipline

I have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about self-discipline. Why? Because I don't have much of it and I NEED it. I need self-discipline for this fitness competition (ahem eating habits i.e. eating 12 cookies = bad idea); for my career (think about how well I could do if I didn't procrastinate ever); and for my family (I hate it when I get impatient and take over a task for Nia).

Anyway, eventually I decided to look to Google because as we all know, if Google can't answer my question there is little hope that an answer exists ;) I came across a blog post with a list of questions to help evaluate self-discipline in various areas of life. I really liked the questions because I found they had a dual purpose in giving me a direction for improvement as well as a reminder that I do have some strengths. For instance, I am not so great with a strict diet but I am fantastic at sticking with an intense exercise program. I am not so great at staying on top of mopping my floors but my children always have weather-appropriate clean clothes to wear and healthy food to eat.

I have posted the questions below and provided a link to the article. Once the questions are answered, and the areas you want to work on identified, the next step is to design a progressive overload program (like weight training) for yourself. Start small and work your way up. I would like my house to be ready for company 24/7. If people drop by I don't want them to find chaos. However, with small children this is a task and a half so in order to keep things simple I am creating a weekly cleaning list to follow. For instance, Thursdays will be bathrooms (this is where I regret all the bathrooms in my house lol) and Fridays will be floors (on the upside here I have a steam mop that I am in love with). Ok, so maybe my house wont look like it came out of a magazine all the time but I can do the best with what I've got.You will probably still find Thomas the Tank Engine sitting in front of my dish washer and craft supplies all over the dining room table BUT my floors and my bathrooms will be shiny.

Anyway, here are the questions:

• Do you get up at the same time every morning? Including weekends?
• Are you overweight?
• Do you have any addictions (caffeine, nicotine, sugar, etc.) you’d like to break but haven’t?
• Is your email inbox empty right now?
• Is your office neat and well organized?
• Is your home neat and well organized?
• How much time do you waste in a typical day? On a weekend?
• If you make a promise to someone, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it?
• If you make a promise to yourself, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it?
• Could you fast for one day?
• How well organized is your computer’s hard drive?
• How often do you exercise?
• What’s the greatest physical challenge you’ve ever faced, and how long ago was it?
• How many hours of focused work do you complete in a typical workday?
• How many items on your to do list are older than 90 days?
• Do you have clear, written goals? Do you have written plans to achieve them?
• If you lost your job, how much time would you spend each day looking for a new one, and how long would you maintain that level of effort?
• How much TV do you currently watch? Could you give up TV for 30 days?
• How do you look right now? What does your appearance say about your level of discipline (clothes, grooming, etc)?
• Do you primarily select foods to eat based on health considerations or on taste/satiety?
• When was the last time you consciously adopted a positive new habit? Discontinued a bad habit?
• Are you in debt? Do you consider this debt an investment or a mistake?
• Did you decide in advance to be reading this blog right now, or did it just happen?
• Can you tell me what you’ll be doing tomorrow? Next weekend?
• On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your overall level of self-discipline?
• What more could you accomplish if you could answer that last question with a 9 or 10?

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/06/self-discipline-acceptance/

Doing Something That Scares You

Today I did something terrifying. My trainer recommended taking a one-hour introductory posing seminar. If you aren’t familiar with posing for a physique competition, just youtube IFBB Figure or IFBB Bikini Competition The walking and posing you see is a little trickier than it looks so coaching is a must. Anyway, this seminar was not a lecture style. It was a participatory instructional class, which meant I had to don my figure suit and heels to prance about in front of perfect strangers.

As, I drove up to the gym where the seminar was being held, I actually felt sick to my stomach and I was literally shaking. I seriously considered turning around, getting back in my car, and driving away… far, far away. I was the first to arrive so as I put on my figure suit in the change room I was terrified that I was going to look like the frumpy ugly duckling next to all these amazingly fit women.  Now, before anyone wants to reach through the screen to slap me, let me explain that last statement. Don’t misunderstand, on any given day I am very happy with my body BUT this is not your average day. I was about to walk into a room in a teeny-weeny bikini (which fyi I don’t even wear those to the beach) filled with women who look like they could be in a fitness magazine AND people are intentionally comparing/judging you.  Furthermore, I still have 7 weeks of hard training and clean eating to get my body competition ready.

As it turns out, although a few of the women looked jaw-dropping amazing (one woman had the most beautiful abs I have ever seen) most of the women there were in the same boat as me – still 7 weeks of clean eating and hard training needed. In fact, there were a few women that I was probably ahead of in terms of my physique. That totally shocked me. As if that weren’t shock enough, as we got started I found myself actually having fun! I loved playing pretend as a child, and that is exactly what this felt like. I felt like I was playing dress-up and walking around in my mom’s heels. So, as it turned out, I had nothing to be afraid of. Doing it afraid was worth it!

I, also, got an illustration of a life lesson. While on stage you have to keep smiling the whole time… the whole time while the posing hurts (think arch your back and flex your muscles) AND you are wearing giant pinchy stilettos AND you could possibly be doing this for a long, long time. However, if you look like you are in pain you will probably lose. Where is the life lesson in this? It is in the smiling. Being miserable when things aren’t going your way does nothing for you, but smiling through your trials can actually he

Tuesday Nights and C.S. Lewis

Tuesday nights in my world have become my night out. I hire a babysitter and I am out on the town. Where you may ask? Church. Yes, I said church. This church is particularly awesome, but my extremely exciting nightlife as a suburban mom is not what this post is about. (Side note though, you can check out the church at http://www.newrenaissance.ca/index.php)

What I am trying to talk about is some inspiration that came out of a combination of last night and C.S. Lewis. In full disclosure, my favorite author is C.S. Lewis. I can read and re-read everything he has written, getting something new out of it every time. If there were one person I could be like, it would be him. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be able to leave such a brilliant legacy. I mean seriously the man invented Narnia… umm awesome!

Anyway, on to the quote that sets my thought up for today. It is the opening from his book ‘Paved with Good Intentions’: ‘It does not matter how small the sins are provided their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.’

Although this quote is referencing a demon’s perspective on separating man and God, it is also relevant to any of our goals in life. In fitness or nutrition, how frequently have we all let ice cream, cheesecake or a hamburger separate us from our goal of looking and feeling our best? How many times have we hit the snooze button in the morning when we were supposed to be getting up to go to the gym or go for a run? How many excuses of “I’m too busy to work out or eat healthy’ have we made when we still make time to check Facebook one hundred times a day? There are no signposts to tell us we are off track when we make these decisions. It is a slow, gradual, cumulative slope into ill health with every ‘just this once’ or ‘I deserve a treat after my day’. 

My suggestion? Let’s all get really intentional about our goals, not only in fitness or nutrition but in every area of life.  I don’t want to look back and think I allowed ‘cards’ to amount to ‘murder’ or in this case have junk food amount to a miserable overweight self just because I wasn’t focused. I want to feel great and look great. I want to accomplish everything I set out to do AND I think you do too. I also truly believe that it is possible for everyone to make the necessary changes in life to be satisfied with their health and appearance.  Make today the day you move forward. Pick a goal – even if it isn’t fitness related – and decide that you are going to get there.  You can do it!