Category Archives: College
Trading TV Time for WHAT?!
Good morning! Coming off of Father’s Day weekend and a week vacation from the office, it’s good to be back to routine. And back to morning workouts! Typically I have to take off a minimum of one week from physical activity after each bleomycin treatment, which is almost the hardest part…ha! I’ve reunited with the treadmill and all is right in my world.
Which brings me to my topic of conversation today:
Adding in nighttime “Group Fitness” classes this week instead of lounging on the couch.
Long-time readers know that I’m not naturally inclined to make time for yoga and meditation. Child’s pose makes me giggle. Vinyasa makes me antsy. Not wearing shoes freaks me out.
But every 10 months or so, I decide to give it a try again because I know the incredible benefits that yoga practice can have on the body and overall fitness.
Being “fit” encompasses a well-rounded mastery of elements including strength, speed, stamina, and flexibility. Beyond that, overal “health” involves mental and emotional health, physical fitness, and nutritional balance. Even top-tier athletes have some element of total fitness that they struggle with. For me, running and endurance exercises come easily. Speed has always been a little more challenging. I’d rather run 10 easy-paced miles than 1 fast one. But in order to be well-rounded, we have to get way out of that comfort zone and work on those areas need a little extra attention.
During my senior year, I grew out of the habit of watching TV at night, and honestly there’s nothing particularly interesting on during these summer months anyways. (Except I am curious to watch ‘The Astronaut Wives Club’ for the outfits and updos alone!) This week, I am swapping reality TV for group fitness classes at my LA Fitness.
- Monday: Yoga
- Tuesday: BodyWorks Plus Abs
- Wednesday: Mat Pilates
- Thursday: Yoga
- Friday: hahaha just kidding, I’m not doing yoga on a Friday night.
This four-nights-a-week schedule definitely won’t become my “usual”, but I thought this would be a good sampler week to find which classes and teachers I like. I’m trying these classes in addition to my regular running and HIIT routine during the week. A little extra stretching and strength work can’t hurt. My only dilemma is…. when/what to eat for dinners…the classes are from 8pm-9pm, and I don’t want to eat a full meal before-hand. Anyone else have suggestions for fueling late-night workouts?
Sunday was the longest day of the year and the first Sunday of the summer without my normal LONG RUN. But I guess that’s the theme of the week: break out of the normal. :)
Questions of the Day: Are you a group fitness person? Which classes are the best/worst?
When I first joined the gym in high school, I didn’t know what exactly an Aqua-Aerobics class entailed. About 8-10 elderly people with swim caps greeted a 16-year-old me in a neon bikini. We lightly bounced around the shallow end for 45 minutes. I’ve never returned.
XOXO NAMASTE ;)
Super Watch
Good late morning again :) This work week is flying by thanks to a the three-day weekend!
Last night I got to play with my newest toy….the FitBit Surge! This “fitness super watch” is one of the highest-rated fitness trackers on the market right now and I was so excited to upgrade from my 5-year old Garmin (which we call a computer on my wrist…it’s massive!). The Garmin has been an awesome running watch, but it doesn’t have the newer technology like a heart-rate monitor, sleep monitor, and Bluetooth connectivity for notifications and music control.
All day at work I looked forward to my evening run, a break from the gym and the treadmill for a trail run with my new watch/running buddy. We name all of our GPS gadgets that talk to us (my car’s GPS is Reggie) so I went with a coach theme and named the FitBit Eric (Friday Night Lights reference, anyone?!!) I was excited to play with my new toy and see what my heart rate is like on a steady state run, during the Alexa Jean Fitness Sore to the Core routine, and then this morning during a HIIT workout.
I thought I’d share a little intro on the watch since it will be permanently attached to my wrist for the next few weeks while I learn about my daily activity level! (And yes, my hair is darker.)
The Fitbit Surge is a touchscreen (waterproof, thank goodness. This girl sweats!) The all-day stats include:
- Steps Taken
- Current Heart Rate
- Distance Covered
- Calories Burned
- Floors Climbed
You can also set silent vibrating alarms and daily goals. You can track seven other exercise activities including hiking, biking, yoga and HIIT.
The sleep analysis intrigued me. Apparently the technology in the watch is sophisticated enough to recognize when the user is awake, restless, and asleep. In the morning, your FitBit dashboard will bring you information about the length and quality of your sleep. I’ve never slept in a watch before but I will for the next week just to see what it says.
The “flare style” clock is so fun! My Garmin was not a daily watch; I would never wear the Garmin watch when I was not running. The FitBit Surge is meant to be an all-day fitness tracker with relevant information beyond running so of course it includes an actual clock face. The “flare” style surrounds the digital time with a “wheel-and-spoke.” Each spoke represents a minute of the current hour (60 spokes) and the length of the spoke is determined by your activity level during that minute. Sleeping hours will have one dot for the spoke. An hour running will extend the spoke to the edge of the face. Average activity will end up somewhere in between. By the end of the hour, your clock will have a graphical illustration of your activity trends. I think that’s pretty cool!
It will be really exciting to watch the data grow over time. I like making charts and lists and watching trends over time (market research classes will do that to ya!) especially when the information has to do with me and running. ;) You know me, always room for improvement!
Tonight I’m going to test out it’s “treadmill” feature…apparently it can track stationary runs as well. I’ll also like having my heart rate information (last night it hovered around 150bpm for my 8-mile run and around 45bpm for my resting heart rate). But I promise I won’t bombard with any more tech-y posts in the near future. ;)
Half way to the weekend!
XOXO
Style Upgrade: DIY Decorations
Now that life has slowed down a bit since graduation weekend, I’m finally feeling “at home.” I guess I underestimated the mental exhaustion that comes with moving, starting a new full-time job, and getting back into full on workouts (which means 5:00am gym sessions!) I also squeezed in a Mother’s Day celebration, a baseball game with my dad, and a much-needed trip to the salon. By Thursday, my brain was in a fog and I felt totally off. About twelve hours of sleep the next night seemed to hit the “reset” button and by Saturday I felt rested again :)
Just 9 months ago, I was blogging about my bright and newly-decorated apartment in Flagstaff. I will miss that room….paying a little bit extra for the master bedroom, private bath and walk-in closet was one of the best decisions of senior year. Hah! I’ve moved out and moved on, and decided that my “style” should mature with my personality. Out with the clothespin collage and $8 Target mirror! Ellie, my 22-year old stuffed elephant, is here to stay though.
So far, post-grad life is pretty sweet :) I started my full-time job on Tuesday, and I am so lucky and grateful to be working for a company that has been flexible with my schedule. If you are a long-time reader, you know I have been traveling to New York several times each year for treatments on my venous malformation. I am able to take time off of work for my New York trips as well as a couple other summer vacations I have planned, but I’m also able to work remotely from my company laptop if I choose.
Since the stress of finals week is over, that means I’ve also pumped the exercise back up. Man it feels good to run! I love running for the fun of it and especially when the weather is as gloomy as it has been. I’m savoring the overcast days since I know I’ll be craving them in the next couple of months! In addition to regular running/gym sessions, my mom and I downloaded the Alexa Jean Fitness Sore to the Core guide. It’s a 30-day guide with ab exercises in a HIIT format. This morning’s workout killed (burpees, planks, jackknives, flutters, whew!) and we’re only on Day 8….excited to see some improvement!
All of this was a long round-about way to share my new room decor with you. As promised, this blog has expanded to include more “domesticated” content. My mom surprised me with some beautiful decorations for my room, which are pretty dang Pinterest-worthy if you ask me! I absolutely love the pieces she added, from the handmade Scrabble letter coasters to the glitter-dipped vases.
That watering can! For the gold glitter-dipped vases, she wrapped painters tape around middle of the glass. Next, use a paint brush to brush on Modge Podge. Roll or dip the vase in fine glitter, then paint Modge Podge over the glitter again. Remove the painters tape, fill with sand, and stick in your flowers.
The coasters require sacrificing a Scrabble game. We happened to have three so no real loss there.
Buy pre-formed square cork pads and plan out 4 four-letter words for each coaster. First, glue the sides of the letters together with super glue. Then glue the backs of the letters on to the cork padding. Lastly, cover the letters with Modge Podge
Inside an antique-looking birdcage, she staged three candles with little platforms so the heights vary. It looks very “country” and feminine which fits my style. The matching picture frame is filled with an Etsy design of a quote I love: “She turned her can’ts into cans and her dreams into plans.”
As you can tell, I’m addicted to candles. My two roommates in the Flagstaff apartment loved to fry up sausage, bacon and eggs every day. Needless to say, my window was permanently open and candles were constantly burning. My favorite flavors are the subtle nature ones like pine, lemon, and jasmine. My next project is to spruce up my book cases. I just boxed up about 75 books to donate to clear up space for more…..but the picture below is after I “cleared space” so it looks like I better work a little more on that ;)
And now time for another favorite summer treat….reading new novels!
XOXO Kenz
