FabA$s

Happy hump day everyone!

Hope your week is going swell and dandy. I gotta double dose of blogging for ya today. One sweet treat, and an as$-kickin' workout, literally.

I tried this recipe with oats with "eh" results, but these came out pretty tasty. How would you like to have cookies & cream fo' yo' breakfast?!

[image source]

I thought so. My only 'ish with this one is the chocolate grahams. The just weren't that "chocolately." That's what I get for store brand. Pff. But either way this bowl is a mighty fine way to start the day. If chocolate sweet goodness is your kinda thing.

Cookies & Cream Shredded Wheat Bowl
serves 1

1 cup shredded wheat, unfrosted
2 sheets chocolate graham crackers, crushed
1/3 c plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp stevia (or sweetener of choice)

 Add shredded wheat and 3/4 of the chocolate grahams to a bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until fully combined.

Top with the remaining chocolate grahams, and inhale delightfully.

Now you can use the frosted shredded wheat if you prefer, which I'm sure would be nothing less than awesome. I just suggest to ex-nay the extra sweetener. I'm sure you're sweet enough ; )

And after you're doped up on a hearty bowl of COOOOO-kies and cream, it's time to kick it. *Cue Ice, Ice, Baby please.

Imma call this Butts N' Guts cuz I'm cool like that and it sums up what this workout entails. It's a circuit workout based off Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred concept of 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs for a 20 minute non-stop as$ kicking. How fitting. Here it goes:

Butts N' Roses Guts Circuit
*5-10 lb dumbbells and stability ball required

1 minute Jumping Jacks

30 seconds each side hydrants
1 minute each side donkey kicks

30 seconds rotating jump squats
30 seconds skaters                           X2

1 minute rocking plank

1.5 minute stability ball hamstring curl
1.5 minutes deadlifts

30 seconds Burpees
30 seconds butt kicks       X2

1 minute alternating crunches on stability ball

1 minute each leg single leg squat
1 minute wall squat

1 minute lunge run (switch legs half way through) [static lunge while pumping arms]
1 minute jumping jacks

30 seconds each side side plank lifts

1 minute Jump Rope



Your as$ and abs are welcome. TTFN!

I Knew You Were Trouble...

"Now I'm lyin' on the cold hard ground!" Oh!! Stuck in your head now. Thanks tay-tay, but sadly I'm not really referring to your song, but rather the circuit workout I just completed. What a sweat session!

Much like many others I've made a resolution to be more active on a regular basis this year. The winter months are especially challenging since ice, snow, and 20 degree weather isn't that inviting, but I can save you money! Yes! Instead of turning up your thermostat, turn up your activity! Even just 10 minutes of cardio like jumping jacks, jump rope, or even dancing will shake your cold winter blues. Trust me, I know from penny pinching experience.

I've been lucky enough to have half days at work all this week, leaving daylight to go for a run in the afternoon, and the South's weather has been much more accommodating for outdoor activities with the average temp this week being about 65. Perfect! But running every day just isn't for me, so I mix it up with strength training circuits in between days, and today was one of my own.

I call it my Trouble Zone Trifecta Circuit. It involves doing supersets of exercises to work my triceps/upper back (goodbye batwings and bra bulge!), glutes (dat's ya booty), and abs. What are supersets you ask? They are two different strength exercises that work that same body part without any rest in between. This helps maximize working these areas and getting faster results. I also completed 1 minute of cardio in between supersets for extra calorie burn. This leaves your muscles confused (like a deaf guy at a chess match) which in turn burns more fat and gains more muscle.

Here's the breakdown for you:

Trouble Zone Trifecta Circuit
complete 15 reps of each exercise, moving on to the next exercise with minimum rest. Complete entire circuit 3 times through, resting in between sets. ~30 minutes

Triceps:
Kneeling Plank Ups
Tricep Kickbacks*

1 minute Burpees

Upper Back:
Bent Over Rows*
Single Bent Over Rows

1 minute Jumping Jacks

Glutes:
Weighted Bridge*
Stork Stance with flyes** (switch legs with each circuit)

1 minute Butt Kicks

Abs:
1 minute rocking plank
1 minute figure 8's (without weights)

1 minute Jump Rope

*10 lb dumbbells used
* 5 lb dumbbells used 
Now crank up the heat without raising your bill!!!
And in honor of national static electricity day, watch this poor quality video:

Deck the Halls and Arms of Jello.

Holly Jolly Wednesday to all!

Half way to the weekend already! That means just over a week until I'm home for the holidays and I couldn't be happier!

That doesn't mean I'm not having my fair share of Christmas festivities here in the nippy 70 degree weather of Montgomery! The weekend was spent making salt dough and cinnamon ornaments with the roomie gang. It was quite the adventure with a spill full of cinnamon, peanut butter blossoms and a riveting game of clue! These artsy shots are curitsy of the lovely Ms. Herring.

 

 Peanut Butter Blossoms!

 

To get in the spirit, I decided to make a (of course) pinterest inspired craft to decorate me bedroom wall. With an abundance of yarn at my hands, I decided on crafting my own Christmas tree decked out in cards and homemade paper ornaments. Despite the fact that it is some string hung on a wall with paint swatch ornaments I think it's rather cute!

Crafty Christmas Tree (and no, those aren't nips on the floor!)

This weekend includes more festivities with "A Very Roomie Christmas" including the Polar Express, pizza, s'mores, and cocoa! Hooray for Holidays!

Now I know much like everyone else, the holidays can be a bit taxing on the waistline. But who can really pass up a glass of 'nog and gingerbread?!...Anyone?...Bueller?

In preparation, I've been trying to be good with the PA (physical activity) department, and sticking to my morning runs (first one this week tomorrow. Tuesday was a brutal 40 degrees out! = D ). I'm also doing upper, lower, and ab workouts Monday, Wednesday, and Friday respectively. Well let me tell you, today's upper body workout was killer. I took Monday off to go to a holiday dinner so I'm making it up of course! If you're ready to sweat and get a killer upper body take this one for a spin. All you need is a set of 5 # dumbbells, or if you don't have any use some heavy cans, or anything that is roughly five pounds. Like maybe a newborn, or a Yorkshire terrier. Can't say what may come of using these items, but to each his own...

Arms of Jello Upper Body Circuit.
perform each exercise for 1 minute, resting minimally between each one. Complete the entire circuit 3x through, resting 30 seconds between sets. for a total of 27 minutes of brutal arm work!

Wall Squat Bicep Curls
Side Push-up (30 sec. each arm)
Burpees
V Y's *
Shoulder Press
Mountain Climbers
Front Raises
Wide Rows
Plank Jacks

*I couldn't find a good video on this, so I will work on making one, but in the mean time you can perform Lateral Raises

I used an online interval timer to make it easy to know when to switch exercises, and added 2 minutes of jumping jacks and 1 minute of pushups for a total of 30 minutes since I'm an even number freak.
Let me tell you I had to rest multiple times throughout this workout which tells me it's effective! The addition of the cardio exercises get your heart rate pumping while working in strength at the same time. Double whammy!

Have a great rest of the week!





What's your favorite holiday splurge?
 

How Low Can You Go??

Hola me blogger amigos! Pretty sure that's all the spanish i know unless taco counts. We're over the hump of the work week, but I have to say I'm enjoying myself. Working with the kiddos of Dalraida Elementary as a foodservice worker (a.k.a "lunch lady"). The people there are so fun and I get a free lunch! Yes, please!

I've successfully completed another Emily Original Circuit Workout, which is so official it needs to be all capitalized. This one is for the lower body, and if your legs aren't giving out underneath you at the end of it, I believe it's safe to say your legs are actually titanium. Just sayin', it's a good leg whoopin.

I've made another stopwatch online, which really help for fast transitioning. That is the key. Non-stop leg burnin' action. I also linked up each exercise to help. These circuits only take about 20 minutes to complete which is a great motivator. I always tell myself, "in the length of time I spend thinking of an excuse not to do this, I could be finished." I always end up doing it. 20 minutes! Again, you will only need 5-10 lb. hand weights and some motivation!

Lower Body Circuit 1

30 seconds each of:

Wall Squat (just squat against a wall like you're sitting in a chair and hold).
Alternating Lunges
Single leg Squats (switch legs on each round)
Bridges
Single Leg Deadlift  (switch legs on each round)
Plie Squats

30 seconds each of:
Squat Jumps
Side Jumps
repeat a total of 2 times

30 seconds each of:
Elevated Crunch (just a simple crunch, but lift your feet 1-2 inches off the ground)
Russian Twists  (keep feet on the ground if this is too difficult)

repeat entire circuit for a total of 3 rounds. Then proceed to feel the burn!

Your thighs will thank me later : )

You can access the online stopwatch here

Here's your pretty picture of the day:

Another pinterest project made from toilet paper rolls!

Happy Thursday!

Good Day, Tonight.

It just so happens that my itunes decided to play "Section 18" by The Polyphonic Spree, which starts out with the title of today's post just as I was deciding on an title. Thank you, itunes!

Despite the overwhelming feedback (aka no one), I've decided to change the format of my blog. Primarily because like many other bloggers, I'd like to add my fitness and exercise into a category, and feel like it would get a bit lost amongst all the food and recipe categories. You had your chance to voice your opinion on the matter, but Vote or Die!

I've really been trying to be good about keeping a regular exercise routine going, which for the most part has been successful. I do strength training about 3X a week with at least a 30 minute walk with the roomie around the neighborhood. I've recently started running every other day to get back on track with  my running routine, and trying to get back to the long distances in the Spring. I've started at 3 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 4 miles on Saturday or Sunday, and increasing by 1/2 mile every week. I have to get back on interval running to get my speed back too! So much running to catch up on!

After reading many other bloggers posting their own home workouts, and getting my butt kicked by Jillian Michaels in Shredded in 30, I decided I can make my own strength circuits! And this I did, and got my butt kicked by this gal here.

I've made them based on Jillian's 3-2-1 routines of 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, 1 minute abs, for a total of about 20 minutes of non-stop action. Something not even your bed sheets have seen. ; ) Yes, I went there.

Here's the my first circuit for upper body, with links to videos for all the exercises . You will only need a set of 5-10 lb. weights. I used 10 lbs, but feel free to use what is comfortable for you.

Upper Body Circuit 1

30 seconds each of:
Bicep curls
Outer curls 
Tricep Extension
Tricep Kickbacks
Arnold Press (I did these standing up)
Military Press

30 seconds each of:
Burpees
Jumping Jacks ( I'm assume you know these from gym class)
 repeat once more

30 seconds each of :
Bicycle crunches
In's & Out's

Repeat circuit for a total of 3 times. 

The key to making this a good workout is minimal rest. Try to perform the entire workout without resting, especially in between the different types of exercise. You can rest for about 30 seconds in between repeating the circuit, but in order to "feel the burn" I suggest giving it all you got. I was nice and sweaty after I finished, and it goes by much faster if you keep on truckin'. I mean it IS only 20 minutes. That's less than an episode of Jershey Shore. And if you can make it through that, this should be a breeze...

I've also posted a link to the online stopwatch I used to make it easy to transition between exercises. I set each interval for an extra 10 seconds for you to get situated, and take 1/2 a breath if you can. I also labeled each interval with the corresponding exercise to make it easier to follow along. It is however set for repeat infinitely, so you can go eternally, squeeze out another round, or just keep track of when three rounds are up. I'm sure you won't forget when to stop! You can access this here.

Since I didn't feel so inclined to take a picture of my sweaty self after this.. and everyone likes pictures, here's one from this day 2 years ago. I fun apple picking day with the besties in college. I wish I was apple picking now!

Michelle, Hillary, Me, and Karen (and Becky who's taking the picture)

Happy Monday!