It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

When it's 10 degrees and snowing, running is LAST thing I want to do. Winter weather may be my favorite kind to run in, but I'm more of a 20-35 degree kind of girl. However, I absolutely HATE treadmills, so even if it's negative 2 degrees outside, I'll probably still opt for the outdoor run...or no run at all. ;) Being from Wisconsin pretty much has me conditioned to love winter and cold things, so typically a nice chilly run in the snow is a breeze, or at the very least something fun to do. Yesterday, however, wasn't exactly the easiest run I've ever had. It was snowing pretty hard, it was windy and SO COLD! Now, I can handle the cold, but we're talking borderline single digits here.

I had checked the weather before I left, so I was mentally prepared to face the frigid Wisconsin winter, but that didn't mean I was looking forward to it. In fact, I'd been debating with myself over whether or not to run for about a half an hour. But, I'd told myself the night before that no matter the conditions, I had to run the next day, so I suited up and braved the cold for a short, twenty minute run. I felt so good afterwards. Even though it was a shorter run than usual and was, in truth, a lot more difficult than I thought, I felt refreshed and remembered why I love running in the winter.

For those of you who don't like to run at all, let alone in the winter, and for the others that do like running but resort to treadmills and ellipticals after October, here are some reasons why I like winter running and feel that you should give it a try ;) :

1. Your legs go numb after about 5 minutes of being outside (i.e. they don't hurt as much in the cold)
2. Running in snow makes your legs work harder giving you more bang for your buck (a better workout).
3. Yeah the cold air might hurt a little at first, but personally, my lungs feel better after a cold weather run than a warm weather one. 
4. Target has really cute cold weather running gear. ;)
5. Running on ice gives you more excuses to walk and/or stop when want need to. ;)
6. You don't feel as sweaty and gross at the end
7. Any workout after a challenging winter run feels a thousand times more conquerable! 

I know that the cold isn't everyone's cup of tea, but maybe these  reasons will make getting out there and running in the snow and cool temps a little more appealing. Give it a try and let me know what you think! :)

Moving on, I recently purchased one of those ab roller wheel thingies. Oh my gosh does it work! I've used it several times now and each time, my abs have felt insanely sore (in a good way) the next day! My ab wheel is just a simple one, a peg through two wheels, so I can really only use it for one exercise. But there are others that have straps on the handles so that you can fasten them to your feet and do other exercises with your wheel as well. No matter which wheel you use, you're still getting an excellent workout. Just be careful that you only go as far as your body feels comfortable, otherwise you run the risk of pulling a muscle.

My post run workout yesterday consisted of as many ab rollouts as I could stand, a lunge set, squat jumps, hip strengthening exercises and about twenty minutes of stretching. I'll post the exact workout next time (maybe with pictures?). Until then, just keep swimming (or winter running ;) ).

Back to December

Hello All!

It's that time of year again! Yep, it's December and that means that finals are upon us. Cue the panic. For most, finals entail long nights of studying, writing papers, crying, stress-eating, coffee, and frantically trying to cram in those last assignments you forgot to do or the extra credit you need to bump your grade from a B to an A. There's no question about it, finals are stressful.

For me, this semester's finals means six new papers to write (one of which is 7 pages and another is 8-10 pages), two old papers to revise, lots of forum questions to answer, three actual exams to study for, two movies to watch, and a ton of research to do. Bleh. Needless to say, I've got a busy schedule and a hectic week ahead of me. I've already pulled more all-nighters in the last week than I have in my entire college career. Friday night I worked until 7 am on Saturday, slept for three hours then woke up and did more work until 5:30 this morning. My Sunday wasn't exactly as productive as my last two days (i.e. I veg'd out on the couch and watched football until 3:00 this afternoon before grabbing some Starbucks and working on yet another paper), but all in all I'd say I had a pretty successful weekend, homework wise. It's all about crossing things off the list and making sure everything gets done.

Of course, that doesn't mean we can neglect our health. Like I said in my last post, I tend to eat very little when I'm busy and stressed out, but what I do eat, is never good for me. Because I've been running on hardly any sleep for the last two days, my body has been craving sugary and fatty foods, like muffins and ice-cream, which admittedly I've been giving in to. Although, I did manage to fit in a workout today. This stationary bike routine from Self magazine is so great! I really worked up a sweat and felt so good afterwards. The best part? It only takes a half an hour. That's time anyone can fit in to a busy schedule! ;)

I'm not going to go on a long rant about how to snack healthily when studying or how to fit in a workout or eat well with a super stressful, crazy-busy schedule, but I will say this: for the sake of your own sanity, PLEASE TAKE BRAIN BREAKS! Sitting around for hours and hours doing nothing but homework and studying is just asking for a mental breakdown. So do yourself a favor, and give your brain the occasional break. For every hour that you study, give yourself 5-10 minutes of time to relax. Make yourself a cup o' joe; take a power nap; walk around for a bit; do some burpees. No matter what you do in those 5-10 minutes, DON'T think about finals. Just relax your mind. Anywho, you'll all have to bear with me as posts will be, if existent, sparse and very short until finals are over. Hopefully you guys have better finals schedules than I do!

Good luck to all and remember to just keep swimming! :)

Emotional Eating

Today's post is a little bit more serious than usual. Recently, I lost my cat of 12 years to cancer. Since I'm away at college, I wasn't home to see him before he died but I knew that he was sick. When my dad called me to tell me the news, I cried for the longest time. For people that don't have or have never had pets, it might be kind of hard to understand just how heartbreaking it is to lose something that feels so much like a part of the family. It may seem silly to get so upset over an animal, but this cat was my friend, my cuddle buddy, my comic relief, and the one I fed fish to under the dinner table (I really hate the taste of fish). So when he died, I was torn apart emotionally. Don't worry, I'm doing much better now! I think I just needed a solid day to cry about it.

Now, there are many different things that people use as emotional outlets, some of which are healthier than others. Lots of people turn to food in times of stress, depression, anger, etc., but I have discovered that I am an emotional non-eater. When I get stressed or  sad or even super mad, I tend to lose my appetite. Nothing ever looks good enough for me to consume and I never actually feel hungry. I will eat, just not a lot. Emotional eating and non-eating, while different, are very similar and neither are healthy ways to go about handling your emotions.

Ironically enough, the day before I found out about Hunter (my cat), my friends and I had talked about emotional versus bored eating. That was when I made the realization that I'm an emotional non-eater but a bored eater. So when I got the news, I made a conscious effort to make sure I wasn't neglecting my health during my time of sadness and self-pity. It's extremely important to make sure you're at least maintaining your physical health even when you feel like you're mind could explode from emotions or stress. Trust me, I know it's not easy, but it's so worth it. When you take care of your body, even when your feelings are out of control, you can begin to feel better emotionally so much quicker.

I know that I'm not a doctor or anything, but here are some things that I found useful when trying to avoid bad habits I give in to when I'm emotional*:

1. Set a food goal: Aim to eat a certain amount of food during each meal of the day. If you tend to overeat during rough times, try aiming for a smaller, more normal portion size. If you tend to under eat, make it a goal to eat every meal. For example, even though I didn't necessarily feel hungry the morning after my cat died, I forced myself to eat my usual breakfast of fruit and cereal. My lunch and dinner portions were smaller than usual, but something is always better than nothing. 
2. Don't wallow: For an entire day, I was SUPER mopey. I don't think I smiled all day. It was awful. But even allowing yourself to think one happy thought or flash one 50 watt smile can make your day 10 times better. It's difficult to try and force a ray of sun to shine through a thick layer of clouds, but even one ray of sunshine lights up the earth a bit (yeah, yeah, I know that was cliché).
3. Naps are good: Sometimes, all you need is a little nap. As long as your emotions aren't interfering with your ability to face the day and to function, then a short little cat nap can be beneficial and who knows, maybe you'll even wake up feeling better!

Well, hopefully these suggestions can help you out the next time you're having a rough day or even a hard week. I'll be back on to peppier posts soon! 

*Note: These recommendations are just for when you have those occasional bad days that just seem impossible to conquer. Everyone gets them every once in a while, but if you experience feelings of sadness on a regular basis or if you often have difficulty facing the day, you should probably seek professional help. Depression is a serious health problem and if you think you may have it, then you should speak to your doctor.

Tips for Food/Exercise Tracking

If you read pretty much any health magazine article, they will tell you that counting your calories is one of the most important ways to lose weight and keep your health in check. This may be true, but I don't exactly like writing down each calorie that I consume; I find it too tedious. Of course, there are websites that do all the work for you, all you have to do is enter the foods you ate during the day.

For me, it can be pretty hard to be consistent with my food and exercise log, and often times I don't know how accurate the calorie count is for the foods I'm entering, especially because most of my diet comes from the school cafeteria. If you're like me and find food logging boring and/or you just forget to keep up with it, here are some tips to help you keep your calories tracking in check.

1. Find a good calorie tracking website (I like Map My Run, but you can also use My Fitness Pal or another calorie tracking site)

2. Be honest: The most important part of tracking your calories is to be 100% honest about what you eat and the exercise you do during the day. Record everything you ate and how much. The same goes for exercise.

3. Set a reminder: Put a reminder or an alarm on your phone to go off at a certain time everyday to tell you when to record your daily intake. When your reminder goes off, drop whatever you're doing and hop onto your calorie tracking site of choice.

4. Write it down: To help you remember what you ate during the day, carry around a small notebook and write down everything you eat after each meal, then at the end of the day, take everything you wrote down, and put it into a tracking site.

Hopefully you'll find these tips helpful, now I just have to take my own advice! ;) Happy food tracking!

Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie!

Do you like peanut butter? Do you like chocolate? What's better than those two things separately? Putting them together!! The smoothie I'm about to tell you about is the perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate blended together into one glass of nutritious deliciousness (even if it is pretty calorie dense)!

Ok, so first things first, I LOVE bananas, so I will pretty much find any excuse to use a banana. That being said, this recipe does involve bananas, but if you aren't as great a banana fan as me, then you really don't need to include them in this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
1/2 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
2 tbsp. all natural peanut butter
1/2 c. ice cubes
1/4 c. skim milk

Directions:

1. Put in ice cubes, milk, and bananas.
2. Add in peanut butter and protein powder.
3. Blend together until smooth.
4. Pour in cup and enjoy! :)

*Makes about two tall smoothies

Of course, if you don't like chocolate or peanut butter, or whey, etc. then this smoothie probably isn't for you, however it's one of my absolute favorites! I make it whenever I get the chance. I love to make it as either a post workout recovery drink or have one in the morning for a nice, protein packed start to my day! Try it and let me know how you like it!

I'd love to hear about your favorite smoothie!

The Benefits of a Workout Buddy

Sometimes it can get pretty difficult to motivate yourself to work out, at least for me, anyways. I always know that I need to get my exercise in, and usually I'm pretty diligent about getting it done, but then there are the days when I just want to be lazy and sit on my bum. One day leads to another, which leads to another, and so on until an entire month has passed since I ran or did any form of activity that didn't involve a remote and a large screen television. I'm proud to say that this has not happened to me since I've arrived at school (knock on wood) and that's partially due to the fact that I have access to a fully equipped gym, complete with a pool and indoor track. But mostly, it's because I have a buddy.

At home, I have several friends that I can run with and I play soccer and ultimate frisbee over the summers, but I'm never very consistent with my workout regimen. At school, however, I have a workout partner that motivates me to get up and exercise even when I don't necessarily want to. Her name is Rachael and she's pretty neat! We run together, swim together, lift weights together, we practically live together. She's in my suite ALL the time! Needless to say, we're pretty close. Exercising is how we bond and boy, have we been doing a lot of bonding this year! :)

Me and Rachael Post-run

What's great about working out with Rachael, aside from just having company and motivation, is that she holds me accountable for exercising. She'll keep my pace in check when we run (so that I don't move like a turtle) and she makes sure I put a solid effort into our circuit/strength training sessions. But most of all, she tells me to get off my butt and stop being a lazy poop on days like today, when I will pretty much try to find any excuse to not go to the gym.

This afternoon, after sitting in the stands for about three hours and playing with Titan pep band at our school's football game, I would've given anything to sit on the couch and play Dots for hours. I was in the midst of a really intense round of Dots when in walks Rachael. She asked me if I wanted to go for a run and I groaned that I didn't really feel like it, but she begged and insisted that I come with her. She told me she was going to change into her running clothes and when she came back, I'd better be in mine. I knew she'd go whether I came along or not, but I knew I'd regret it if I didn't run with her, so I reluctantly changed and went along for the jog.

It turned out to not be so bad, which always happens. We had a good life talk during the course of our run and finished up our exercise for the day with a post-run strength workout. We did box jumps and BOSU ball squats and a couple of different ab exercises. The point is, I worked out today, and all because Rachael guilted me into a run.

Having a friend to workout with is great for many reasons. For starters, they can at least get you out the door and moving. They give you a reason to workout, someone to keep up with or compete with and best of all, they give you a wider range of exercises to do. There are plenty of workouts out there that you can do with a partner, and many times, they're harder than exercises that you would do by yourself. Having a partner also gives you a spotter for things like bench presses and hand stand push-ups, which I've never personally tried before. Personally, I love having someone to workout with. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love exercising no matter what, but it's so much better when you have someone you care about to do it with.

What about you? Do you like working out with a buddy?

Quad Day Color Run!

Yesterday, my school had a campus wide "Quad Day" complete with inflatable amusements, free food (Cherry Berry FroYo and Chipotle!) and a Color Run 5k! It was so fun! I ran the 5k with one of my suite mates, Amanda. We ran an 8:17 pace. Not bad for someone who usually runs 9:30 on her own. Since it was more of a fun run than an actual we race, we kept it comfortable and ran it easily. Amanda is a varsity cross country/track athlete on campus, so she definitely had to slow it down for me, but I appreciated her company nonetheless.

The Color Run was so much fun! I'd been wanting to do one for so long and I even thought about doing one over the summer, but I never got the chance. So when I heard that my school was going to be hosting their own color run, naturally I jumped on the opportunity. I showed up about a half an hour early so that I could get a free t-shirt. I didn't even have to pay a registration fee! They didn't throw color around during the race, but we were bombarded with colored powder at the finish. After we finished everyone was given a few bags of the color powder and we just attacked each other with it. It was so much fun! I got so many pictures!

     

My shoes are currently unrecognizable because of all the powder on them. But I Clorox wiped the crap out of them so they're slowly returning to their normal appearance as they dry.

Left Shoe = Cleaned Shoe; Right Shoe = Post Color Run

Anyways, even if you don't like running, I would strongly recommend doing some sort of fun run. There are tons of different theme runs, like the Color Run, various mud and obstacle course runs, not mention costume runs. Many of these types of runs have 5 and 10k options. Participating in fun runs makes running more enjoyable, even for people that don't typically take pleasure in it. They also take away any pressure to run super fast or even to run the entire thing. If you need to walk, that's fine because tons of people are probably walking, just like you. Everyone just does these types of events for fun. It's a great and supportive environment. So if you currently hate running but think you might be interested in trying to get into it or if you just want to participate in a fun run, I'd encourage you to sign up for a Color Run! It's super fun and, of course, crazy colorful!

After all the colorful festivities

What's the most fun race/event you've ever done?

Eating Healthy in the Cafeteria

Four weeks into the semester and I'm already sick of cafeteria food. Everyday is the same old same old; there's always pizza that's WAY too greasy, pasta with fattening sauce, and, of course, the entrée made of mystery meat and pickles. On occasion, the main food bar in my school's cafeteria serves something worthwhile and delicious (well, delicious by Sodexo standards), but for the most part, the food they serve on campus isn't quite up to par, especially when it comes to eating healthy.

Being on a college meal plan doesn't exactly leave a lot of room for pickiness. I try my darnedest to eat healthfully on a regular basis, but I'll admit that I cave to cafeteria pizza and the occasional cone of Froyo. Well, I'm tired of feeling guilty every time I eat in the cafeteria, so today's post is all about to eat healthy on campus.

For starters, when eating in the cafeteria, make sure to look around at ALL the options. I usually go straight to the vegetarian section, but if the vegetarian/vegan entrée doesn't look appetizing, I'll look around at all the other food bars. If all else fails, I'll just have soup (I stay away from the thick, creamy soups) and some hummus with pita bread. That's a pretty safe way to do things. We also have a make-your-own salad and sandwich bar in my school's cafeteria. There's almost always spinach at the salad bar and an abundance of vegetables, dressings (go for a non-fat vinaigrette), and other salad/sandwich toppings, so of course making your own salad or sandwich has the potential to be the healthiest option in the cafeteria.

Most colleges and universities have plenty of dining options outside of the traditional cafeteria. For example, beneath the cafeteria at my school, there's a small restaurant area that has Subway, Starbucks and Chipotle style dining along with an international cuisine line and a separate soup and salad line. So far, I've tried everything except the soup and salad bar. When getting something from a food line that doesn't allow you to serve yourself, it's best to choose an option with a lower fat content and load it up with fruits and/or vegetables and, of course, guacamole and hummus are never bad toppings. :) Of course, you can always choose to stay in and make your own food. When I eat in my dorm, I like to make oatmeal topped with fruit and cinnamon or I'll have some hummus with carrots and wheat thins.

I'll admit that eating on campus or in the dorms, especially when everything is self-serve, makes it harder to control portion sizes. To keep myself in check, I record everything that I eat on Map My Run.  That way I'm less likely to eat to crappy foods or even overeat the healthy stuff, because I hate having to own up to three servings of chips or a large bowl of ice cream. I also track my workouts on so I can compare my calorie intake to the amount of calories I burn.

These are just a few tips to eating healthy on campus, most of which I'm sure you already knew. I'll probably have another post on more healthy campus options in the near (or not so near) future.

What healthy options do you have on campus?

Monday Hits Hard

After a long weekend of sitting around, reading and enjoying the start of the Packer football season, Monday hit me like a brick wall. I woke up this morning feeling as though I could've slept the whole day through. I made my way to my 9 am class sluggishly and felt groggy and spacey throughout the entire period. Now, I'm not really a morning person to begin with, but 9 is a pretty good time for me. I can wake up, eat, brush my teeth and head to class feeling energized and ready for the day, but today I was NOT feeling it.

As soon as I got back to my dorm I headed straight for my bed and crashed for a couple of hours. When I woke up, I felt as though I hadn't gotten any more rest. In my free time after my nap, I just couldn't bring myself to do a workout, even though I knew that I needed one. Instead, I cleaned my room and decided to catch up on some homework readings.

I could go on more about how I was tired and sulked my way through the day, but you guys really don't need to hear me complain. The point is that life happens. Some days (especially Mondays) hit you hard and make you feel like the only thing you can do is sleep and sleep and sleep. Sometimes, you just need those days. Take a nap, give yourself a rest day, eat some ice cream or a slice of pizza, and let the day pan out the way it's supposed to. And you don't have to punish yourself about eating some junk food or not working out. The next day will be better. Nobody can be perfect at all, let alone 100% of the time.

That being said, we can't let everyday get to us. We can't make excuses for our laziness everyday, but it's ok to let that happen every once in a while. So, in short, I did not have the most health happy day today, but I know that tomorrow will be better. I'm not letting my one day setback bother me. I'll just kick my butt into gear tomorrow and just keep swimming. :)

School Year Kickoff

As the regular NFL season begins, so does the academic year. Friday I finished up my second week of my sophomore year of college. Since I've been on campus I've gone on approximately 6 runs, 10 bike rides, 1 swim, and have made several trips to the on campus gym. I have taken only two rest days and I feel better than ever. Thursday, I joined my friends for a bike ride uptown where there was a "Light the  Night" event where everyone biked uptown for free bike tune-ups, LED bike lights, live music and free food. The key word in all of that was "free." I love free things! It was a really fun event and the band was great! I should try and find out who they are.

As you can see, Kirsten and I were the only ones concerned for our safety. ;)

Live Band at Light the Night

While the workout scene at school has been pretty dandy, the cafeteria has not been on a winning streak as far as the food goes so I've mainly been eating my own food. That's not for lack of options, though. Over the summer, my school spent over a million dollars renovating the "Underground" (the area underneath the cafeteria) putting in hardwood floors, granite countertops, a soup and salad bar, sub shop and an international cuisine food bar. There's also a Starbucks-esque café, complete with a Freshens frozen yogurt stand (I treated myself to my favorite peanut butter protein shake the other day). Not to mention the Titan bar and grill on the other side of campus that we can eat at.

Aside from the food, though, the first couple of weeks on campus have been pretty good. I love all of my classes so far, though I'm still waiting for a couple of books to arrive. My teacher's aid job has started as well and working with all the little children makes me so happy! I just know that this is going to be a great year!

More pictures, posts, and stuff about health and fitness to come, but for now, I'm going to watch the first regular season Packers' game of the season! Go Pack Go! ;)

Thirsty Thursday IS a Thing.

For all of you who haven't started college yet or for those of you who have but have not yet had the pleasure of living across the street from a frat house, I can tell you that "Thirsty Thursdays" are officially, a real thing. At about midnight last night, raging music started blaring from the Sigma Chi house across the street. People were yelling, or at least talking really loudly, and there were lights shining all over the house. Lucky for me, I was laying in bed, listening, before giving up any hope of sleep and writing this post.

Not to be a cynic or a party pooper or anything, but I've never understood the appeal of "Thirsty Thursday". Don't you have homework to do? Don't you still have another day of classes, and lectures, and paying attention and taking notes? Why would you want to get trashed the night before only to feel hungover and sluggish during your classes the next day? Maybe it's okay on the weekends when you can spend the rest of your time lounging around and sleeping in. I don't know. I'm definitely not judging anyone that partakes in this weekly "holiday." I just don't get it. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Who says you can't have fun before the weekend? And for those of you who can get through a full day of classes like a pro the day after a night of drinking, I take my hat off to you. I know I definitely couldn't.

I hoping tomorrow's post will be more upbeat, once I've had about twice as much sleep.

Home Suite Home

Well, school has officially started now and I am finally completely moved in and readjusted to on campus living. This year I'm living in a suite with seven other girls. There's no kitchenette but there is a nice living area where we all hang out, have [health] food parties ;), girls nights, and watch football on our big screen TV. It's a pretty good arrangement.

Reunited...at Cornfest. (I'm not in the picture)

Several of the girls living in my suite are varsity student athletes and had to arrive to campus a few weeks early to begin training with their respective sports teams. A couple of other girls are theatre majors and needed to be here a few days early for the semester's auditions. Everyone else moved on the first available move in day for normal students...except for me. I waited until the last possible day to move in because, although I tried to make it otherwise, I was not prepared to head back. The week leading up to move in day was hectic. Just when I thought I had gotten everything packed and bought everything I needed for my new living arrangements, I would remember something else that I had forgotten and still had to get. So naturally, I waited until there could be no more waiting before I shoved all my belongings into the back of my van and headed off for campus.

My van was stuffed nearly to the ceiling!

Since I was the last one to arrive to my new university home, I was bombarded with excited, girly, greetings from all my friends/suite mates. I walked in to find my room already set up nicely (courtesy of Kara, the best roommate ever!), a "welcome home" sign scribbled on the suite whiteboard, and several pieces of my artwork from my May term class hanging in the living room.

Suite (sweet) friends!

After my parents and I unloaded the van and got my room somewhat organized, we headed to dinner at  Tobin's, a local pizza joint near campus that has been around since the 60's! It still serves it's original pizza and has that old town, close community feel to it. When we finished up, my parents took me to Target to grab a few last minute groceries, then we said our goodbyes and I returned to my suite to relax and finish my unpacking.

Dorm room kitchen, complete w/ the Easy Mac essentials.

I'm really looking forward to this year and the new experiences and healthy inspiration it will bring me. Hopefully I'll be a more consistent blogger, too. I guess only time will tell. For now, though, just keep swimming. :)

What Time is it? School Time!

It's getting to be that time of year again. You know what mean.  The time when kids spend as much time as humanly possible out of the house and when you can find frantic moms desperately digging in the one cent notebook and folders bins at Staples. Yup, it's back to school time, and for some of us that means it's time to pack up all of our favorite belongings and move into a small, cramped dorm room. Come next Saturday, I'll be packing my stuff into my minivan and starting my sophomore year of college. Woohoo!

Whether it's your first year at college or you're a returning student, packing up and moving out of your home and into a dorm (or apartment) can be a pretty stressful time.  As I'm sure many of us can agree, when our schedules are packed it can get kind of difficult to fit in a workout and grabbing a McDonald's hamburger always seems so much more convenient than making a meal. However, it's still important to make sure that we're fueling our bodies with the proper nutrition and getting in at least 10-15 minutes of exercise a day.

I don't know about you, but I'm definitely a list maker. On a busy day, I like to write down all the things I need to do so that I know what has to get done. That way, I can see exactly what I need to do for the day and check off the things I've already accomplished. And I ALWAYS make sure to include a workout on that list. Even if I don't have to time to go for a run or make a trip to the gym, I know that I can still do my own workouts at home. There are plenty of quick, no equipment workouts that you can do in your home and are available online. I like to find some on Pinterest, but I also like to make up my own. When I only have ten minutes to spare, I give the following workout a quick go and carry on with the rest of my day:

2:00 High Knees
1:30 Plié Squat Jumps
1:00 Alternating Forward Lunges
0:30 Wall Sit

2:00 Jumping Jacks
1:30 Burpees (w/ tricep pushup and jump)
1:00 Plank
0:30 Boat/ V-sit

Even when I'm crunched for time, I still like to make sure that I'm eating properly, so I always keep my cupboards stocked with quick and healthy food options. When you have a full day ahead of you, plan your meals out beforehand. Try a simple menu, something like this:

Breakfast:

1 serving Oatmeal w/ cinnamon and fresh fruit
Glass of water

Lunch:

1 Morning Star Black Bean Burger on whole wheat bun
1 serving hummus w/ carrots and cucumber
Glass of Water

Dinner:

Strawberry Mango Salad
Glass of water

Hopefully your back to school shopping and moving experience won't be too hectic. I sure hope mine won't be! But with a positive attitude (and a nice, stress relieving workout) ;) I think it'll be just fine. Good luck to everyone in the 2013/14 school year!

Whoops! Back Once More.

Whoopsie daisies! I guess my whole "let's blog all summer long" idea hasn't exactly gone as planned. Oh well. Life happens.

This summer has been a summer of firsts. I got my first ever summer job as a nanny for a family about thirty minutes away; I joined my first official ultimate frisbee team; received my very own pair of rock climbing shoes (they'll be great for my university's rock climbing club outings!); went to Michigan for the first time; and I played my very first game of sand volleyball. Basically, I've been trying a bunch of new things this summer and have found a few activities, places and, of course, foods that I absolutely love! I've developed a strong liking for Ultimate Frisbee, a sport I never thought I could ever be interested in, and decided that I quite like sand volleyball, although I'm an absolutely horrendous player.  I've even gave tennis a shot, and while I can't exactly say that I'm an amazing tennis player (hand-eye coordination = not my thing) I can say that I do enjoy hitting the courts.

I think it's safe to say that this summer may just be one of my most active summers yet. I managed to squeak in a few runs a week for most of the summer while also playing soccer at least twice a week and being on an ultimate frisbee team that plays twice a week. And of course watching three pre-teen kids keeps me pretty active as well. It's turned out to be a pretty health happy summer for me. I've even managed to eat pretty healthfully despite the busyness. I'm feeling better than ever and I can't wait to see how much more progress I can make. Side note: I've also been rocking the TOMS tan lines all summer. That's different than your typical flip-flop tan, eh? ;)

Have you tried anything new this summer?

HIIT Training/Tabata Workout

As I'm sure many of you already know, HIIT (also known as high intensity interval training) workouts are really popular. There are plenty of classes, DVDs, and web videos that show you how to do several different exercises very quickly in short bursts of time. HIIT workouts have lots of perks. For example, they rev your metabolism to keep you burning calories for hours after your workout. These workouts burn fat and calories while simultaneously building muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat, even when you're not working out, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn during low intensity, everyday activities.

Recently, I've discovered tabata, one type of HIIT exercise. During a tabata workout, you do one exercise, push-ups, for example, at your maximum effort for twenty seconds, then you have ten seconds of rest. You repeat this cycle of twenty seconds on/ten seconds off with the same exercise eight times. In just those four minutes of exercise, you can burn up to 600 calories.  Sounds easy enough, right? Well, I can tell you first hand, that a tabata workout is no walk in the park. The first time I tried doing a tabata, I died after about the fourth circuit of the first move. I definitely needed the motivation from my friend, Selena to get through it. It was pretty difficult. Tabata definitely kicked my butt and I left the gym feeling sore but so accomplished. It was totally worth the sweat and effort.

Tabata is also a crazy great workout to do at home because you can choose to do moves that don't require weights or other equipment. You can do entire tabata workout using only your body weight and it would still be super effective! I made up my own tabata workout and did it in my basement. By the time I was done, my legs felt like jell-o and I couldn't lift my arms. The next day, I was super duper sore but I knew that my workout had been good. Here's

Here's the workout I did. Give it a shot and let me know what you think! :)

Fresh Mango-Strawberry Salad

Today was a very busy day. My grandparents came over this morning to spend the day with my family and support my sister, who graduated from the 8th grade this afternoon. I'm so proud of her and I'm really excited to see how she enjoys high school but at the same time, it's so weird to think that my cute little sis' is going to be a high-school kid next year. She can't possibly be growing up that quickly, right? Anyways, after her graduation, everyone came back to our house for lunch and socialization before heading to my mom's and my soccer game. Needless to say, it was a pretty busy day.

As I have said plenty of times already, this summer is my "get-your-butt-in-gear" summer. So far I'm doing a pretty good job eating healthy and getting in at least a little bit of exercise everyday. I hope to post a new workout soon. Today for lunch I decided I was sick of my usual cup of non-fat greek yogurt and wasn't feeling much like eating greasy cook-out food, so I experimented a little bit and came up with this amazingly light and tasty salad that left me full until dinner.

Ingredients:

Handful fresh spinach (no stems)
Handful green leaf lettuce
1/2 mango cubed
4-6 strawberries sliced
1/4 tomato chopped
1 tbsp. Craisins
2 tbsp. Walden's Non-fat Raspberry Vinaigrette
*Optional: sliced raw almond or other nut

Directions:

I think it's pretty self explanatory but basically you just chop up all the fruit, add all the ingredients into a bowl and toss until you have tasty, summery salad!

This salad tasted like summer and instantly made me feel happier and more energetic. I still have a lot of fruit and greens left over so I'll be having plenty of salads for quite a while! Yum!

Bootcamp!

Have you ever tried a bootcamp class? If not, then you are really missing out on a fun, difficult, exercise experience that will leave you dripping with sweat and feeling super accomplished. If you have, then you know how difficult and just how fun it is. My school offers free fitness classes for students and community members to attend during the week. Among those classes are yoga, Pilates and bootcamp! Bootcamp is a super duper amazing class!! This week, we did really challenging circuit that we repeated three times and did with a partner. My friend, Selena, and I were partners and by the end of class, we were dying. It was awesome. If you've never tried a bootcamp before, I'd recommend looking into it and going to at least one local class. You won't regret it!

So far my May term workout schedule has been pretty consistent and pretty darn successful. I may not be losing weight right now, but I can definitely feel a difference in my fitness level. I run every morning and always do at least fifteen minutes of strength training after my run. I also took a belay class at a local climbing gym, which landed me a free two week membership so I've also been climbing everyday  with my friend Meaghan. Rock climbing is another thing that I would recommend giving a try. It is so fun and rewarding. The more you go, the faster you improve. I started climbing being super out of shape two weeks ago, shaking and struggling my way up a 5.6 (the easiest level wall to climb) and now I'm climbing 5.8s and they don't feel super difficult! It's amazing how much your body can do and how quickly it can adapt. I already feel my arms becoming more toned (again! yay!).

I also laced up a new pair of running shoes and said good-bye to my old sneakers. :( They served me well and I got about 200 miles out of them (so many miles!). But on the bright side, no more shin splints for Kelsey! Yay!

Well, time to go grab my laundry from the wash machines!!

I'm Back!

Hello again! I sincerely apologize for the long silence. As I'm sure you can imagine, trying to keep up with a blog and study for finals is a tad bit difficult. I hate to admit it, but during my hiatus, I skipped a total of seven days of exercise. I'm not proud of it. But, alas, I am back and ready to be committed to my health (and this blog) just in time for summer!!

With finals done and May term (three weeks focusing on one, daily, three-hour class of your choice) just beginning, my stress has diminished and my fitness is slowly increasing. For May term this year, I am taking a portrait photography class and a jogging class (to get a P.E. credit out of the way). It is really great because my exercise time is already built into my day, I have to do it, it's fun and is very independent. After my run on Friday morning, I stayed in the athletic center after class to do this killer workout. My legs are still sore from it!!! Give it a try!


Set your timer for fifteen minutes and see how many times you can through the circuit in that time.

1. Bosu Ball Squats: Stand on a Bosu ball so that your feet are on the flat part and the ball part is on the floor. Find your balance and go into a deep squat, making sure the flat part of the ball does not tilt to the floor. Return to start. Do twenty reps. To make it harder, do one-legged squats on the Bosu ball. Do ten on each leg. To make it easier just balance on the ball for thirty seconds.

2. Mountain Climbers: Get in push up position, making sure that your back is flat and your body is in a straight line. Push your right knee up to meet your right elbow. Quickly push your right knee back and bring your left knee to meet your left elbow. That's one rep. Repeat thirty times. To make it easier hold a plank for thirty seconds to a minute. To make it harder cross opposite knee to opposite elbow.

3. Hexagon Lunges: Stand with feet hip width apart. Lunge forward with your left leg until your knee is at 90 degrees and your right knee is an inch from the ground. Return to start. Lunge to the left, bending your left knee to 90 degrees and pushing your hips back to keep your knee from going over your toes. Return to start. Lunge backwards with your left leg until your knee is an inch from the floor. Return to start. Repeat each lunge with the right leg and do the entire set five times. To make this set easier just do ten regular lunges on each leg and repeat five times. To make it harder add a jump after each lunge.

4. Moving Burpees: Stand on a line, with feet hip width apart. Go into a deep squat, making sure your hips are back, your legs are at 90 and your knees don't go over your toes. Jump forward and quickly push your feet back and place your hands on the ground, under your shoulders so that you are in push up position. Do a push up. Jump your knees in between your arms and jump back to start. Repeat ten times. To make it harder, jump vertically immediately after the push up, before jumping backwards to start. To make it easier take out the push up or do it on your knees.

5. Plié Squat Jumps: Stand with feet wider than hip width apart, toes pointing out. Squat down so that your knees are at 90. Squeeze your butt and jump straight up, pointing your toes down towards the ground. Return to start. Repeat twenty times. If these squats are too hard just do regular squats. If these are too easy try doing them with dumbbells.


In other news, my portrait photography class is really interesting. I'm learning so much from it. We're not using the greatest of cameras but I learned how to develop film and make prints in a dark room. It was such a cool experience. I plan on spending many hours in the dark room and making tons of interesting prints. Maybe I'll have a nice portfolio put together by the end of the class. We shall see.

Happy swimming!!

Kelsey

TOMS!! (and other news)

This weekend I received my very first pair of TOMS shoes. It was the most exciting package I have ever opened. Ok, it’s the most exciting package I’ve opened since arriving back at school. I ordered the classic white pair so that my friend can decorate them for me. I’d decorate them myself if I had the artistic ability, but unfortunately I don’t, so I’ll be leaving my TOMS and acrylic paint in the care of my dear friend, Meaghan.

 I got a tad excited for my new shoes.

With my new TOMS comes finals. Ew! I’ll be studying my butt off all week for them and crossing my fingers for good grades. With all the studying and stressing, there’s going to be limited time for exercise, but I’ll be allotting myself at least an hour each day to squeeze in a workout and allow myself to de-stress.

Speaking of de-stressing, this past weekend, I went downtown with a couple of my friends on Saturday afternoon and we discovered a bunch of cute little stores that we love. There’s a small grocery co-op that has all this great healthy food. I bought organic applesauce, whose only ingredient is apple! No added sugar or artificial flavors and purely delicious! Now, there’s a snack I can be guilt free about!

Kirsten, Danielle, and I downtown!