Awesome fast workout and pics!

Hello!  I have a minute, so I’ll write.  I never know where my extra minutes will be!  I had a great workout this morning so I thought I’d share.  I’m a huge fan of mixing things up!!  I could never do the same workout day in day out.  Yes!  I have my favorites, but I love to try and learn new things such as SKIING!  This morning the mountain was so beautiful I felt as if it was a gift from heaven.  The instructor said something about it being a “precious place”.  That couldn’t be more true!  Anyway, back to my workout.  I’ve been liking a 6:00 a.m. boot class lately with one of my favorite instructors!  I think everyone has been reading my mind lately because she mentioned the need to get rid of the mom butt.  I’ve been focusing on that in my workouts lately AND my new Oxygen magazine had my favorite Jamie Eason sampling several butt exercises.  Yay!  This is a simple and short workout.  You could add more!  We loaded up a heavy barbell.  Heavy so it was hard and made you breathe deeper.  Most people don’t lift heavy enough, me included!  We did 5 rounds at 3 minutes each.  We rested 1 minute between rounds.  During the 3 minutes we did 3 deadlifts, 6 push ups, and 9 jumps over the barbell and we repeated that until the 3 minutes were up!  I’ll try to find pictures.  Just a minute…

Doesn’t sound too hard, right?  It was (:  I want to do this again and make up a few more.  Think of a leg exercise, arm, and cardio and make up your own.  Why do these things make me excited!  I’m crazy!

Another new adventure I’m going to try this weekend is to teach my favorite HIGH FITNESS class.  All the regular instructors are out so they get ME and one of my BFF’s too.  She’s taught it a few times before so we’re going to go over and over it till I get it perfect.  This is good for my brain (:

Lastly, a few photos!  First one is me and my comfiest outfit.  Top and bottom are Lululemon.  I love the tops because they stick to you and are long.

Next, me and my friend showed up to class in similar twinsy outfits.  I’m not really a fan of let’s be twins but hey great minds think alike!!  I LOVE these tights too.  Nike pro combat.  They have a soft lining inside and the sweat does not show through.  The best!!  I didn’t even get too hot and yet they are great for running out in the cold too.  Go figure!

Well!!  I’m super excited for this weekend.  Our kids have two days off school!  I’m doing my favorite workouts for the next 2 days, playing with friends, skiing, being with family, and more.  Have a wonderful winter day!!  I love all these words!  I’m grateful for nice people!  Be kind.

10 days and something new

Hello!!  It’s super late.  I’m up finishing laundry and making lists (: I should be sleeping!  November!!  Here already and one of my favorites!  Halloween about did me in.  I’m soooooo glad it’s over.  It gets a little ridiculous at some point.  Thanksgiving has always been my FAV!!!  Sweet, simple, yummy, and happy!  I have several goals and tasks on my plate.  Every day is numbered this month.  I have an order of TO DO’s.  Here’s my LIFE list for November, not just fitness!  Writing this down helps me remember.  Finish and turn in Reflections, prepare a lesson, prepare a talk, finish planning an activity for next week, church volleyball, memorize The Living Christ, water and plant bulbs, organize play committees, hold play meeting, meet with principal, create flyer and send, start and finish Christmas shopping, plan a winter getaway, get ready for ski season, buy Piano Guys tix, signups for Junior Jazz, tumbling class, personal train…I’m going to end there.  I will share a sweet pic. from Halloween.  We visited my in-laws before the Trick or Treating!  The weather was fantastic!  I love my beautiful children.  My husband was playing the part of his costume…yard guy and MIA (:

Now that that’s out of the way, here are my fitness goals.  I have a  10 day weight goal I’m working on.  It’s also a measurement goal.  I have 4 lbs. to go.  I’m pretty good at playing the weight loss game and I know I’ll do it.  November 15th is my weigh in day!  This will be fun!  I’m loving my weights and everything else.  I love to plug my music in and lift.  I used to very much dislike lifting weights, but once you start seeing results, it becomes a little addicting.  I’m following Jamie Eason’s Phase 3 workouts and diet.  LOVE IT!  All my protein powders are running low, so I thought I’d try something new.  I read about a new stack endorsed by Jamie Eason and I’m going to give it a try!  I’ll have to post a review.  It’s protein powder, multi vitamins, krill oil, and anti-bloat capsules.  I found the best price through bodybuilding.com.

I’ll end with a few FAVORITES as of late!!!  An outfit, a quote, and a song.  Here’s a new combo from my wardrobe.  The sweater was a gift from my very stylish friend and the sweet tiny polkadot red jeans were purchased at a boutique in St. George.  My husband found the cute red booties one day at the Sundance Outlet!

 

Next, my quote of the day was shared by a fitness Instagrammer I follow.  I read it a couple times and thought, I love that and I love birds!

Lastly and most favorite, is a song by David Archuleta called GLORIOUS!  It was written for an incredible movie called Meet The Mormons.  I love the piano and his voice.  I could listen to it over and over.  Have a beautiful and happy FALL day!  Count your blessings.

Run faster and burning arms and abs workout

Happy 4th!!  I’ve always loved the 4th of July and remember telling myself as a kid that it was my favorite holiday!!  We are leaving for a few days to go up to the mountains!  We’re going with a couple other families.  I’ll be sure to document!  I’ve been a little tired this week.  Yesterday I was going all day at breakneck speed.  Why?  This Manager job of mine is tough in the summer (: Aside from the kids, I push myself.  As always I need to work on more ZZZZ’s.  However, my nutrition plan is engraven in GOLD this go around!!  I’ll give more details on Monday!  Yesterday was our track workout!  Love it!  It was trash the arms and abs day!

Today I’m talking running!!  This morning a group of the BEST ladies in town ran up MY trail (:  We recruited one husband too!  I say mine because when we got there all these cars were already there AND the high school cross country team.  I said to myself, why are so many people on MY trail today??  Some days are easier than others to run up this mountain.  Today was a hard day for me!  I don’t know why and it bugs me.  I like using the Garmin because next time I’ll tweak a few things and push myself to get to the top faster!

Next, for your running pleasure, I created a page of interesting running statistics and INFO.  I have two events coming up!  August we’re hiking Mount Timpanogos.  I’ve wanted to do this for awhile.  I believe it’s 18 miles of heaven (:  Then, in September I’m running a half marathon in Huntsville.  If I’m where I want to be, this will be my best half ever!  Happy amazing 40th year to me!

Well, I’d better be off!  Last photo to share is from the 4th of July 18 years ago when I was a missionary in SPAIN!  Grateful beyond grateful for the U S of A!!  Have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

Upper Body HIIT and I heart LEGS workout!

Hello!!  It’s a beautiful MAY day!!  I have a great workout that I just put together for tomorrow’s early morning class.  This week we killed the legs on Tuesday and tomorrow is kill the arms day!  OH!!  And by the way, today is DAY 19!  I’ve lost 8 lbs.  Yay me!

This time of year is all about the kid’s lives and wrapping up the school year.  Normally, I’m not much of a mushy so sad my kids are growing up Mom, but this week was my youngest child’s last preschool class.  My eyes got a little teary as I watched his little class skip down the driveway holding hands with their teacher.  Geez…I didn’t think the end of my preschool years would get to me.  I’ve loved his teacher and he has loved preschool.  Today he graduated.  He’s been saying all day how proud he is of himself (:

I found another picture I wanted to throw in here from 2007.  My daughter’s birthday is coming up and I was looking for pictures of her.  This is from my first marathon!  I honestly thought I’d only run a marathon once!!  My friends are trying to talk me into running a Fall marathon and then running Boston again.  As much “FUN” as that sounds, I’m stickin’ to halfs for now.  I have a FALL half I want to do and I’m going to work on speed this go around.

Well, it’s almost time for the onslaught of children.  I think we’ll go to Orange Leaf to celebrate my cutie boy’s graduation!  Have a wonderful sunny day!  Get outside!

 

 

 

It’s all about the FOOD!

Happy FOOD day!  I am officially on DAY 3 of my healthy challenge and I feel freakin’ awesome.  That sounds lame but I feel great for two reasons. One, because eating good food makes you feel better DUH?! and two, because I feel good about myself for stickin’ to the plan!  Today, I thought I’d talk about random things that I’ll be eating over the next 8 weeks. This is what we bought at Costco today: strawberries, pears, peppers, and this awesome veggie mix:

I also bought a rotisserie chicken, hummus, shrimp, carrots, deli meat (that’s not really the greatest choice), and this cool lookin’ vegan dish!  I tried it already.  So yummy!

I think that’s all of the GOOD things I bought.  I’ve been keeping a mental note in my head today of what I ate.  Sometimes healthiness can get a little boring so here are a few ideas:

BREAKFAST: I cooked up this Steel Cut Oats recipe on Sunday and saved half of it.  This morning, all I did was add a little almond milk and heated it up!

LUNCH:  1/2 a Veggie and Grain bowl, 5 shrimp, 1/2 c honey dew.  I was still hungry so I had a small bowl of wheat chex with almond milk.

SNACKS:  While playing UNO today I snacked on veggies and hummus and ate a hard boiled egg.  I also had a couple handfuls of lite air popped kettlecorn.  If I’m craving something sweet or salty and crunchy, I eat 1/2 protein bar and 6 cashews.

 DINNER:  After a baseball game tonight (I’ll pack a bag of carrots to munch on) I’m going to stir fry up some of my kale and red chard super foods with a little rotisserie chicken!  That will be all for the night.  If I need an extra snack I LOVE these probiotic healthy ice cream bars or a casein protein shake!

Today on my run I could feel that I had more energy although right now I’m utterly exhausted, but I will keep going…

Wednesday I’ll talk about my workouts for the week.  To end this beautiful day, here’s a song I’ve been hearing lately that I like to crank up and listen to with the windows down!

That’s all for now.  Gotta get to a game.  EAT ON!

 

2 week countdown

One post before we take off for Florida tomorrow!!  I have a few 2 week goals that I REALLY want to keep!!!  I haven’t been as committed with my nutrition or exercise believe it or not!!  Sooooo…this is it!

2 WEEK HEALTHY GOALS

• Sleep 7-8 hours every night.  This will be #1!!  I think my sleep deprivation effects my running more than anything else.
• ONE treat day.  This Thursday night in Florida.
• Run 4 days a week plus my Jen Jewell workouts.  I miss my weights and these are some of my favorites.
• Healthy clean eating and lots of water.

Sound easy enough!!!  YES!!  Here are the workouts I’m doing.  My running will be heavenly since this is taper time.  I’m also going to work on a super nice tan too!

Also, two pictures to share for the week!  The first one is me with my daughter and a friend at a wonderful church meeting and the second is a SWEET gym outfit.  ZUMBA day!!  Keep working hard!  Stick to your goals and be HAPPY!!!

OH!!  P.S.  I have a new song to add to my playlist for my RUN on the beach!!!  Love it! (:

 

5 ways to make losing weight EASIER!

It’s been really interesting training my first clients over the last 5 weeks.  I’ve learned a lot and found ways to improve.  I struggle with how to motivate people.  You would think that if they pay me and commit to a 6 week training course that they would stick to their healthy eating habits and 4-6 days a week of workouts.  NOT SO!!  Change is hard.  Humans are weak. We succumb to the many excuses of the day.  I fall victim to this as well with my constant desire to improve my nutrition.

A couple of clients have made me happy with how they are working so hard.  They leave me texts about fitting into skinny jeans, having more energy, getting rid of fat rolls, and how everyone around them is noticing a change in how they look!  #1 satisfaction of my job!!  What I have to say actually works if you DO IT!!!!  In my opinion, these are the MOST important tips to staying dedicated to losing weight and being healthier!!

1. WORK OUT IN THE MORNING-This is not everyone’s cup of tea.  I do believe that if you want to accomplish something in the day, you should do it within the first few hours of the day.  Too many excuses creep in throughout the day.
2. BE POSITIVE-This is probably the #1 tip I have.  The clients that have seen the most results with me are the ones that are staying positive.  They are eager to learn and don’t blame everything around them for the reason why they are not losing weight.
3. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE-Several people I talk to fall apart with life.  They constantly seem too busy to commit to eating healthy and exercising.  If they don’t see the negative effects NOW that their lack of commitment has on their health, they will.  You reap what you sow!
4. REBOUND QUICKLY-I tell my clients to stay at it.  When the 6 weeks are over, I remind them that this is just the beginning.  You are changing your lifestyle forever.  If you mess up for a day or two, don’t kick yourself over it.  Start over again the next day.  Exercise and healthy eating go together.  Commit to one and it’s easier to keep the other!
5. PREPARE-This is a MUST in our busy lives.  You HAVE to set aside a time each week to sit down and create a menu, go grocery shopping, and get rid of the crap in your house.  Schedule in the times you are going to exercise and stick to it.  Make it a priority!

That’s enough ranting for me!  I’m looking forward to sitting down on the computer this weekend and getting all my Christmas shopping done!!  I have a few favorites to share.  When you go into Bath and Body Works do you ever feel overwhelmed by the myriad amounts of fragrances around you?  I have narrowed down my top 3 favorite scents.  Super yummy!!

Twilight Woods

Cucumber Melon

Pure Paradise

Another great scent you can’t go wrong with is Ed Hardy perfume!

Or my ultimate favorite from years ago is Dilly’s by Laura Ashley.  The best!

Happy Shopping!!

I want to end on a song that a dear friend of mine shared with me.  She’s suffering from serious health problems right now and despite her illness, shared a beautiful gift of hope to me!!  I love this song and video.  Brings tears to my eyes.  I miss singing in a choir.  Remember the real meaning of Christmas!

“My kindness shall not depart from thee”