Trinity by Paper Tongues

This is a fun song to do house work to.  Crank it up.  Vacuum.  Repeat.

    

My Personal Trainer: Jillian Michaels

Today I only ONE hour to work out and I didn't want to waste 20 minutes of that hour commuting to and from the gym.  This is the story of my life.  Sometimes I don't have the time and sometimes I'd just rather meet up with a friend.  So I checked out Exercise TV on demand with Verizon Fios (I believe other cable companies have it too) and viola!  Several workouts including videos from Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser.  I know, I know I AM the biggest loser but I LOVE THAT SHOW!  One of the workouts was even called The Last Chance Workout.  I was so happy.

The look so sweet until you get them at the gym and make your muscles hate you.

So I dug a little deeper to see what other workouts they had and here is what I found:

Beautify your Booty

Biggest Loser Workouts with Bob & Jillian

Arms of Envy

Boot Camp Cal Burn

Mens Fitness

Tae Bo

Latin Dance

Yoga & Pilates

The list goes on.  The good news is that now I can workout without leaving the house.  The bad news is that I really have no excuse......

Just me and my personal trainer Jillian.

Who knew Jillian could whoop your behind in the privacy of your own home?

Ok, she is now asking me to do Jumbo Jacks which look hard!

Here goes nothing!

Here is my little secret for you....

Heart.  This.  Song.

Run.  Jump.  Do whatever you want to this song.  I promise you'll feel better.

When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip

Ok, so in my very first blog post (Perky Tatas + Sleek Arms = 22 Again) I talk about how I do push ups before bed.  I'm glad to report I am up to 15 real pushups and have been going for 5 months strong.  Woo hoo!  While that's great and all what about my under arms (or more officially known as triceps)?  One of my favorite group fitness instructors refers to our bicep exercises as "the boys" and our tricep exercises as "the girls" which I find very entertaining as she kicks my behind during class.  Anyways the goal of doing push ups every night is to keep my upper body toned.  Forgetting to do the opposing muscle group could lead to this:

Is there an official name for this?  Whatever it is it terrifies me!
 What I find interesting is that her bicep seems to be pretty strong looking.  Did she forget about her triceps?

My solution:  Adding 30 tricep dips to my 15 push ups every night.  It should only take 3 additional minutes and I don't even need a fancy machine or gym to do these.  Just find a chair, stair or coffee table.  I did this for the first time last night and I am sore, sore, SORE!

Here is me giving tricep dips a go using stairs.  

Now lower.

If regular tricep dips are too easy for you add weight (or a beagle).  My animals like to participate in the fun, 

Not in Love by Crystal Castles Featuring Robert Smith

Hello & Happy Monday-


Love this song when I'm running and just want my mind to wander.  I used to love The Cure in high school.  Brings back memories of hilarious 90's outfit choices! 

Finally A Carb That is Good For You!

SWEET POTATOES

I was thrilled when my co worker told me that sweet potatoes are complex carbs!  

Complex carbs like sweet potatoes have longer chains of molecules, which take the digestive system longer to break down, so they enter the bloodstream more slowly, raising blood sugars more gradually — keeping you from experiencing a big spike and subsequent drop-off in both blood sugar and energy.

Below is a recipe I got from a good friend (thank you Lindsey) that I thought you would enjoy.  

Here are few other examples of carbs that are good for you

soy milk & non fat milk (less sugar)

Whole grains: Specifically buckwheat, oat bran & oatmeal

Brown rice or wild rice 

Apples, pears, strawberries & oranges

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour Yield: 2 to 3 servings

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, cut into wedges (about 8 wedges per potato)

1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425° F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, oil and Cajun seasoning. Mix well to evenly coat wedges.

3. Spread the wedges in a single layer on one (or two, if needed) ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 30 minutes or until crispy and brown on one side. Flip fries over and bake for another 30 minutes or until the wedges are crispy on the outside and tender inside.

Are You Crunched For Time To Work Out?

I don't know about you all but my workouts during the work week can be cut short due to my busy schedule.  Sometimes it's just because I want to meet friends out for dinner or drinks!  Either way I sometimes only have 30 minutes to squeeze out the best workout possible.  A trainer once showed me a Bosu ball (www.bosu.com) and how I can use it to work multiple parts of my body at the same time.  The Bosu ball has become a staple in all of my workouts.  Here is one of my favorite upper body exercises on the Bosu.  It works both upper body and core.

BOSU UPPER BODY WORKOUT

I suggest 3-4 sets of 12.  I use 5 lbs weights.  There are 4 consecutive moves to do.  Start with an upwards row.  Next do forward shoulder raises.  Thirdly, do shoulder raises to the side.  Finally bend over with a flat back and use your back muscles to do a reverse fly.  The reverse fly should feel like your shoulder blades are touching.  I've put pictures below.

Doing these on the Bosu works the core and burns more calories than doing it just standing on the floor.  It also helps with balance.  Keep your stomach tucked in and abs tights.  While you are at it go ahead and squeeze your butt too.

Hello!  Meet the Bosu ball.  

Step 1: Get free weights (I do 5 lbs weights) and carefully get on the ball as shown above.

Front shoulder raises.  Don't swing your arms just lift slowly.

Shoulder raise to the side.

Finally do the reverse fly.

For more of a challenge use the Bosu the other direction.

This requires a little more balance and core strength.

You can also use a body bar and do squats and biceps.  This is no joke!  You will feel how much harder it is.

Balancing with the Bosu the other direction CAN BE DONE!

Here are a few more ways to use the Bosu

You can do push ups on the Bosu.  Also if you are trying to mix in cardio do one push up and then get on your feet with the Bosu and lift it above your head.  Do that 20 times quickly and you will mix strength with cardio.

You can get an amazing oblique workout if you do a side plank on the Bosu and lift your hips and lower them 6 inches.  3 sets of 10 on each side will build your core & oblique strength.

You'll FLATOUT love these recipes!

Hello Everyone & Happy Friday-

I love these wraps by Flatout!  Go to  www.flatoutbread.com and check out recipes like the one I put below.  They also posted a pizza recipe you can make with the wrap that looks awesome.  If anyone comes up with their own wrap recipe (that is fun to say out loud) please let me know!

1 Flatout® Light Flatbread
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 Tbs fat free mayonnaise
1/2 tsp yellow mustard
freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 slices cooked extra lean turkey bacon, crumbled

---

Mix eggs, mayo, mustard, and pepper. On one rounded end of each Flatout, spread mixture and crumbled bacon. Roll, cut and Enjoy!

---

Calories 230 • Fat 8.5g • Fiber 9g

Build Muscle Burn Fat Workout #2 (With Music Included)

Hello Hello Hello!

Here is my latest treadmill hill workout.  This will build your calves, hamstrings, quads and rear.  Do the best you can and adjust to what fits your needs.  Have fun!

1. Warm Up - Speed 4.0 incline 2.0 (Song: Singing In The Rain/Umbrella Glee Cast)
2. Jog - Speed 4.5 Incline starts at 2.0 and increase by 0.5 every minute up to 4.0 (Song: Rude Boy by Rihanna)
3. Hill Walk - Stay at speed 4.5 - 5.0.  Incline should be at 4.0 and you should increase by 0.5 every minute which will bring you to 6.0 (Song: Please by Toni Braxton)
4. Hill Jog - Stay at Speed 4.5 to 5.5 and leave the incline the same.  Jog for 30 seconds on the 6.0 hill and then recover for 30 seconds (Song: Howlin For You by The Black Keys).
5. Hill Walk - Go back to Speed 4.0 to 4.5 and increase incline by 0.5 every minute all the way to 8.0 (Song: ET by Katy Perry)
6. Hill Walk - Stay at 4.0 speed and 8.0 incline for the entire song & try not to hold on to the side bars!  Butt should be burning at this point (Song: Touch The Sky by Kanye West)
7. Hill Jog - Stay at 4.0 and increase the hill to 9.0.  Jog for 30 seconds and walk for 30 seconds  (Song: Just A Lil Bit by 50 Cent).  
8. Hill Walk - Speed 4.0 and increase one last time to an incline of 10.0.  Jog for 20 seconds walk for 40 seconds for the entire song (Song: Little Secrets by Passion Pit).
9. Hill Walk - Speed 4.0 and incline starts at 10.0.  Decrease by 0.5 every 30 seconds down to 7.0 (Song: Touch by Omarion).
10. Hill Walk - Speed 4.5 and incline goes from 7.0 to 4.0 by decreasing every 30 seconds.
11. Sprints - Speed starts at 4.0 and incline is 2.0.  Sprint for 30 seconds at 7.0 or higher then walk for 30 seconds.  Repeat (Song: Not in Love by Crystal Castles).
12. Cool Down - Speed 3.5 and 0.0 incline (Song: Waiting For The End by Linkin Park).

Dare By The Gorillaz

Hello & Happy Tuesday-

Great song to lift weights to or warm up jogging.