MIA

I have been MIA on the blog a little bit lately. I ended up quitting my personal training job at Eden Prairie Athletic about a month ago. It was too much of a sales job for me and I was not enjoying it:( It was a tough decision but the best one for me. I have to currently wait out my non compete with Lifetime before I can train anywhere else. I have looked into a few places and am excited to get back into training again! I need to take this time to figure out which path I want to go with training. I really want to get certified in Pilates. That has been something I have wanted to do since day one. It's a true passion of mine. Hopefully one day I can make it happen! Until then, it's living healthy by working out and eating clean! No more cake and fries for me! We all slip at times and with the stress of the new job I slipped a little too much! I need to find a happy medium that works for my body. As much as I want to, eating clean 100% of the time is just not possible!

Interval vs Steady-State Training

This is a great article about why interval training is preferred over steady-state cardio training. Like I have said in previous posts, interval training burns more calories. it also keeps your body burning more calories throughout the day. Enjoy!


http://www.dangerouslyhardcore.com/5343/why-women-should-not-run/

Changing Things Up a Bit

This week I switched up my workouts a bit to trick my body and try something new. You want to make sure you are changing your workouts so your body is challenged. Try adding more weight or adding a HITT day. Also, switching things up makes working out more exciting. Having it be more exciting will prevent boredom which means you have less of a chance of giving up:) Here is a Circuit workout I did on Tuesday and a Core workout I did today. Enjoy!

Total Body Circuit:

                

            Reps: 12, Sets: 2       

                  Side Squat with Medicine Wood Chop

                  Jumping Jacks with Shoulder Press

                  Burpee with Medicine Ball

                  Mountain Climber with Medicine Ball

                  Squat with Medicine Ball Raise

                  Push Up to Tee Stand

                  Ice Skaters with Weights

                  Reverse Lunge with Front Kick

                  Push-Up

                  Crossover Lunge with Bicept Curl

                  Stability Ball Hamstring Curls

Core:

              Repeat 2X

                   50 Crunches

                   15 Push Ups

                   1 Min Plank

                   30 Sec Side Plank

                   1 Min Bridge

                   15 Pushups

                   1 Min Plank

                   30 Sec Plank

                   50 Crunches

                   

                  

NASM

Wow!! My last post was back  in September!! My life has been crazy busy since then. I have been studying my butt off for my NASM CPT Test and I PASSED!!!! I am officially a Certified Personal Trainer! The test was a lot harder then I thought it was going to be. I really wasted the first 3 months thinking 'Oh I have time" Blah blah blah. Well, when I finally decided it was time to start really studying, I got a shock of reality and realized how hard this was going to be. I dedicated the last few months to it. Studying every free moment I had. I took the test on December 15th and Passed!

At first, the plan was to train at Minnetonka Lifetime Athletic, the club I have worked at for 7 years. That did not go as planned. I got an opportunity to interview to train at the Eden Prairie Location. After going back on forth on my decision, I decided I should give it shot and at least interview. After 3 long interviews I got the job!!! I am so happy with my decision to train at Eden Prairie. I still have another week before I start but I am so excited for something new. New employees, location, and members. Hopefully it all will be great!

I am really scared to start something new like this. I am not a fan of change and this is a whole lotta change!! Sometimes, I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing but I have to keep telling myself it takes time to learn it all. As long as I go in there with an open mind and ready to take it all in Ill be fine:)

I am going to keep up on my blogging too, even if no one reads it!! Haha! It's a good way for me to organize my ideas for work-outs, meals, and just healthy living.

Burrito Bowl

Today was a great workout day! I started off with 30min of cardio at a lower heat rate. Then 50min of Bootcamp where we worked biceps, abs, and back. Also, jump roping and some band work to work our legs. After Bootcamp, a friend and I took a 50/50 class. We actually lasted 50min! It was step work and a lot of squats! By the end of it we were dead but so proud of ourselves for what we accomplished that morning!

My one go to meal when eating out is a Burrito Bowl from Chipotle! Love it! The salad is also good! I decided I was going to attempt to make one at home for lunch. I needed to add carbs to my lunch because I was starving by 4pm. I looked up recipes on the internet to find the exactly way to make it. I changed a few thing but this is what I came up with. 

Burrito Bowl

3/4 Cup Brown Rice (Cilantro and lime juice added after cooking)

1/4th Cup Corn (Cilantro, lime juice, and chopped red onion added after cooking)

1/4 Cup Black Beans

3oz Chicken

Green Pepper 

Red Onion

2 TBL Low Fat Mexican Cheese

1 TBL Sour Cream

2 TBL Salsa

Add to Bowl and Enjoy!!

Motivation: Having it and Losing it

I want to talk about motivation, having it and losing it. Getting motivation to change your life from being unhealthy to healthy is an amazing accomplishment. Keeping up a routine and setting goals is a wonderful way to keep that motivation going. Sometimes life gets in the way and sets us back a bit. Life happens and roadblocks will get in the way. It is up to you to move past them or let them defeat you. It can be anything from a new job, schedule change, relationship change, financial change or even a mental change. Sometimes goals you thought you wanted are not goals you want to keep. When I first started I wanted to lose just 10-15lbs. I thought that was more than enough! I ended up losing 35 and still would love 10 more. Also, it can be the other way around and you want to lost 40 but you find out you are really happy at 20.

I just went through a roadblock with my healthy lifestyle in a relationship. I didn't even realize how much motivation I was losing until the end. I lost myself in the relationship and started making their priorities mine. I think the extra stress from the relationship made me not eat as healthy because I started caring less. My motivation to study for my PT test was starting to dwindle. I wasn't feeling like myself. What I loved about myself, was the health conscious person I became, and I was losing that. I knew it was time for something to change. I decided the relationship was not healthy for me. In a relationship you should be supported and respected. Your partner should encourage you, not bring you down. I felt like I had a dark cloud over me and I needed light again. As sad as it was, it was time to walk away and find myself again and get back on track.

We all have things in our life that are going to get in our way. It's up to us to figure out how to change it to keep the goals and lifestyle we want. This is your life. No one else. You decide your attitude and how you live life. Stand strong and believe in yourself because when you finally achieve your goals you have no one to thank but yourself. 

Strawberry Bread

I made this nummy Strawberry Bread for my friend Beth's birthday last week. I wanted something healthier and not processed that still tasted good! I have a bunch of frozen strawberries so I thought I would give this a try!  

Strawberry Bread

2 1/2 cups strawberries, Mushed (frozen strawberries work too!)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs, beaten
1 ¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients, flour, banking soda, salt, cinnamon.

In another bowl, beat eggs, add sugar, oil, and vanilla.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease well two 8×5-inch loaf pans.

Gently fold in the strawberries with their juices. Divide evenly between the prepared loaf pans, and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves come out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove to racks.