Blog Archives

Now that my main race has come and gone, I’ve taken some time to just breathe so that I don’t feel like I have to work out. I hate feeling that kind of pressure, especially when it’s related to something that I love doing so much. I don’t care what the haters say, to me, working out is fun and I thoroughly enjoy every time I make the conscious effort to break a sweat.

Well, unless I’m “forced” to do it because of a training plan and I’m feeling burnt out. But you catch my drift. Otherwise, I remember to look at the bigger picture. Because nine times out of ten, that truly makes every bit of pain and frustration worth it in the end.

But now that I don’t have a specific race to train for, what am I up to? I really like lists, so let me break it down for you.

Upper Body Work. It’s been severely neglected, but no more! I’m busting out some serious upper body moves now and I’m going to rock sundress season. Yes, when I’m not in workout clothes, I occasionally like to don dresses. They make me feel pretty. Or something.

#SmoothieADayinMay. Gina started this challenge and once I read up on it, I immediately hopped on board. I’m smoothie obsessed, the weather’s getting warm (so I actually crave the smoothie) and I need a quick breakfast that will give me a full serving of fruit with some veggies sneaked in. Seriously, if you haven’t put spinach in your smoothie yet, do it. You can’t taste it at all. Such an easy way to pack more nutrients into your meal.

#PlankADay. Let’s just keep the Twitter hashtags going, shall we? This trend is all over the healthy living Twitterverse, which only helps me stay motivated to stick to it. Because unless I’m already working out, I don’t remember to do a plank. But if I see that #plankaday bugger pop up in my news feed and I still haven’t done the sucker, I quickly drop to the ground and hold a plank for as long as I can (Confession: I may or may not have recently done this in my bra and undies because I forgot about it before I took a shower for the night…whatever works!). So far, I’ve timed myself at 1:30. I think I can do longer – that’s what the challenge is for! I’ll also incorporate side planks and other plank variations to keep things interesting.

Spinning. The PT said no running for two weeks (last week and this one), so I’ve been getting my heavy cardio from a lot of spin classes lately. My second love, I seriously missed sweating it out on the bike while training. It feels so good to do a hard workout and not finish in pain, and let’s face it: if you’re going to a good spin class, you’re going to leave drenched in sweat. I love that feeling. And in my opinion, you’re never going to get a mediocre workout when you go to SoulCycle or Flywheel. Y’all know my heart lies with SoulCycle, but I’m not afraid to jump to the other side every once in a while, especially if it’s for a good cause.

That’s coach Abby and I before her charity ride this past weekend. Her and the hubby raised over $2,000 for The Fisher House Foundation! Woohoo, rock stars!

Strength Training. I’m doing a lot of exercises that my PT has (or is in the process of) passed on to me, many involving strength and balance movements for my lower body. The Bosu ball has become my friend, as has the “box.” By that, I mean the thing you use to do box jumps on. That’s one of my favorite moves, despite how much it burns while I’m doing them.

Better Eating.  I’ve been really watching my portion sizes lately. When I eat with Dustin, who houses two to three times what I should be eating, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s normal and what’s not. So I’ve been making a conscious effort to cut down my portions and fill those portions up with a lot of natural, whole foods. Sure, I want to look great in a bikini this summer, but I’m mostly doing it so I’m not so darn moody. When I eat like junk, I feel like junk, and I treat people (mostly Dustin) like junk. That’s not very fun, so we should stop that.

What about you? What things are you planning out to keep you on the “healthy living” track?