Blog Archives
Extra-Credit Exercise
Just checking in on this summer Tempo Tuesday! This morning I swear the moon was running along side me. So big and bright, it actually felt like I was running in the middle of the night. My especially-dark run this mornng included 3 x 1 mile at tempo pace with 1 minute recovery between. We don’t mess around on Tuesday mornings!
On Sunday, I got back into my regular weekly routine with long runs, recovery runs, HIIT workouts, and speed workouts. But last Wednesday – Saturday? Completely different story. Major vacation mode with ice cream, cocktails, Sprout’s chocolate-covered pretzels and absolutely zero gym-time. NOT THAT I REGRET IT. I enjoyed it to the fullest, actually :)
However, I believe balance is most important in a healthy lifestyle. So this week is about working to offset the “extras” with what I call the “Extra Credit” exercises.
Getting back into your regular routine is enough to maintain but if you are trying to “undo” a few splurges then you gotta go ABOVE AND BEYOND!
So in addition to my usual running routine, I incorporate a few extra exercises all week. Starting with some more dynamic warm-ups while I get ready for the gym.
- Warm-up —> 50 jumping jacks, 5 burpees, 10 rounds of kickboxing punches on each side. Repeat 3x.
- After Cardio/Before cool down —> 25 walking lunges each leg, 10 split squats (JUMP), 20 Plie Squats
- Added core routine before stretching —> Hip Bridge (1 minute), 20 leg lifts, 10 push-ups, 100 crunches, planks with leg lifts, back extensions.
- And each night after dinner, I swap an episode of House Hunters for a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood at dusk. (My faaaavorite time to be outside.)
It’s the little things that all add up, if you’re not used to doing them!
Another tip: start early to reap the metabolic-effect benefits all day long. Strength-based exercises create a slight increase in our metabolism for a brief period after we are done exercising. Think of the most intense exercises you love to hate and promise yourself to commit at least 5 minutes to them before you even jump in the shower in the morning. For me, that would be Squat Jumps, Mountain Climbers, Plank with Leg Raises, and Russians with a medicine ball.
As if the 4:36am alarm clock didn’t tip me off, it is crystal clear at the office that vacation time is O-V-E-R.
My friend at work insisted I read the last 100 pages of Beautiful Disaster last night so that we could talk about all the juicy details at work today. It’s like office gossip that is totally A-OK because it’s about characters, not co-workers. ;) Isn’t it so funny how a good book can make you feel so strongly about a fictional situation? I won’t spoil this novel in case you’re reading too, but I would just like to tell Miss Abby Abernathy that when a boy gets your name tattooed after two months….run, girl, run!
Time for some *extra* coffee :)
Body Weight & Plyometrics Circuit
I’m a big fan of all the activity taking place in August so far. I’ve uncharacteristically avoided the gym in favor of outdoor exercise each morning and evening. After work, I take a walk/run around the neighborhoods and enjoy all the sunshine I can. My mom has joined me a couple times and it’s a welcome dose of nature after sitting in an office for 9 hours. Lemon water for days….
This morning I blasted out a “Body Weight & Plyometric Circuit” that I’ll share with you! It took 35 minutes in the backyard, all done before the sun woke up :)
Plyometrics are exercises that incorporate jumping and explosive movement, using intensity and power for a short duration. The shock landing forces muscle contractions and aids in strengthening ankle, knee and hip joints (not recommended for people prone to joint pain/injury.) It’s in-between a strength workout and a HIIT workout.
Body Weight & Plyometrics Circuit: 4 Rounds of 8 exercises
I set a HIIT timer (using the “Seconds” app) to complete 35 seconds of each exercise followed by 25 seconds rest.
*You will need a jumprope and mat. You can also add light weights for the lunges and squat jumps*
Lately, I prefer to incorporate body weight exercise over weight lifting. At this stage of the game, I am concerned with being toned, not “making gains.” I want to use the muscles I have without building any more if that makes sense.
After 32 minutes of the circuit, my mom and I walked a cooldown lap around the neighborhood as the sun just started to light things up. We both agreed that we LOVE being outside at dawn and at dusk. Something about the glowy lighting. Sunrise runs are UNBEATABLE, nevermind the 4:30 wake up call. I will miss my sunrise runs with my high school teammate and good friend Matt. We’ve been doing summer cross country training together for six years now!
Sweaty selfie!
Summer Reads:
Another August trend I’ve been loving is trading an evening epidsode of House Hunter’s for some new novels I just bought. A friend at work suggested some titles including Beautiful Disaster and I already can’t wait to read it’s sequel, Walking Disaster.
And the rest of August won’t be slowing down. Time for this morning’s balanced breakfast: oats with flaxseed, blueberries, and half a banana. You already know the coffee’s been loooong gone. ;)
Favorite summer workout and/or summer read…GO!
Limiting My Sodium and Sugar Consumption
My August Nutrition Goal: Reduce Sodium & Sugar intake!
The typical American diet has become reliant on salt and sugar for flavor.
Why? Because both are cheap and don’t amount to significant calories.
But they have MAJOR health impacts on the body.
Sodium hides in many (or most) packaged items, and it’s important to be aware of how much we consume.
- Food is measured under the big umbrella of calories.
- Breaking that down, we have the main “macronutrients” carbohydrates, proteins, and fat.
- Beyond that, we have vitamins and minerals. **I’m not saying let’s start tracking our manganese and gingko biloba consumption (who has time for that?!) but I definitely stay aware of how much sodium and sugar are in processed foods before buying them.
- Breaking that down, we have the main “macronutrients” carbohydrates, proteins, and fat.
Sodium doesn’t just come from the salt in the Morton’s container with the girl and yellow umbrella or in the shaker on the dining room table. The obvious offenders like ketchup and soy sauce are loaded with NaCl. But did you ever think about HOW much salt is on your popcorn, peanuts, and chips? Hint: TOO MUCH.
If you don’t already, be sure to check nutrition labels for sodium and sugar content. Sodium will have a “percentage of daily value” whereas sugar will not.
The government regulations provide a daily recommended value of no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. I wish there was a recommended guideline for grams of sugar per day, but I suppose that would be hard to measure with fruits, veggies and other natural sources.
For this month, I will be monitoring my sodium and staying within the 2,300mg/day limit. For sugar, I am trying not to exceed 35 grams per day from packaged items.
I will never NEVER limit fruit intake for calorie/sugar purposes, and veggies are basically the best thing ever to put into your body. So no need to worry about those :) Natural sugar is A-OK and we are more concerned with processed chemicals like good ole’ High Fructose Corn Syrup, corn syrup solids, fructose, glucose, etc.
Salt is virtually calorie-less. So no, flavoring your veggies and pasta with salt won’t add any huge calorie impact. However sodium content DOES play a huge role in our body functions and weight.
Internally: according to health.gov, consuming excess sodium increases blood pressure which puts you at risk for a whole slew of heart problems.
Externally: Salt makes you BLOAT. The NaCl wants to hold onto water. More salt = more water. Water weight is not “fat” and won’t appear as cellulite, but it does show up on the scale and when you try to button your jeans.
Sugar has ALL KINDS of nasty effects.
Sugar contributes to cavities, blood sugar spikes and drops, insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity.
Learning to reduce salt & sugar:
First step: put the salt shaker down! We literally only have a pepper shaker in my family’s kitchen. Adding salt to foods really packs on the sodium micrograms and overpowers the flavors of fruits, veggies, proteins, and grains. When it comes to cutting table salt, I say go cold turkey. Let yourself taste all of the food’s natural flavors with herbs and spices. Then when salt is reintroduced to your recipes, you will be able to notice the difference. You might not even like the saltiness anymore.
As far as sugar is concerned, it starts in the grocery store. Reading nutrition labels before throwing products in the basket is the best thing you can do to keep from sabotaging your own healthy efforts. Finding low-sugar alternatives to items like salad dressing, pasta sauce, cereal, peanut butter and yogurt will all depend on the choices you make when shopping!
I also think it is better to just eliminate excess sugar completely instead of substituting with a sugar-free aspartame-based sweetener (though I will on occasion, like with skinny lattes). Also try trading sugar and sweeteners with stevia. It’s a plant extract, and has been minimally processed in the raw form. I use it baking! Experiment with recipes and find healthy alternatives that use applesauce, bananas, squash and cinnamon as sweeteners.
*The anti-salt: cucumbers and lemon. That would make a pretty infused water! I’ll be sipping on tea with lemon slices and munching on afternoon cucumber slices :)
