Sometimes I pop in a 21 day fix or Insanity DVD and other times I just create myself a challenging workout!

I decided to share with you a workout that I plan to put myself through today. I chose a 20 minute workout because I assume with both Marc & Ava around my time will be limited and plus 20 minute workouts are over in a jiffy!! What’s not to love?

Before completing the below bodyweight circuit make sure to warm up. I chose a 5 minute bodyweight warm-up of jumping jacks, jogging in place, skaters, butt kicks, and light stretching.

If you are looking to get in a quick workout try this QUICK N’ SWEATY NEW YEARS EVE WORKOUT:

Complete each exercise for 1 minute. Repeat circuit 2x for a 20 minute workout. If you have more time complete another round

**Please consult your doctor or physician before beginning a new workout program**

I had last Friday off from work. Usually I take Friday as a rest day when it comes to working out, but I felt like getting in some cardio.

In the morning we took Cooper for a 20 minute walk (Yes I count that as exercise especially when you are pushing a 30lb kid in the stroller and up hills) When we got back from our walk I started to do a short cardio workout at home with Jumping Jacks, Jogging, Jump Rope, Heisman Hops, Quick Feet, etc.

That was until Ava decided she didn’t want to workout with me anymore. I had to stop my workout because she was doing things she shouldn’t be doing…..  like pulling glass lids out of our pantry and running around with a lotion bottle that she found in the bathroom. Oh yeah and she stuck her hand in the toilet, luckily it was just water.

So that workout got put on hold and I was fine with it, but I did log the 8 minutes of Cardio that I had completed.

We headed to my friends for a couple hours and Ava played with her friends. It was fun to catch up with my friend, even though its hard having full conversations when you are both chasing around your kids.

After a few hours, Ava was wiped and came home for a long nap! I was able to finally get some computer work done and then I decided to do a quick Kickboxing workout.

I got to about 15 minutes of kicking butt and then realized Ava would be getting up soon from her nap so I decided to stop so that I could shower.

I would have loved to continue for another 15 minutes but I try to get as much done when she naps as possible and showering was a MUST.

So while I would have much rather completed 30-45 minutes of cardio in one shot first thing in the morning, some days don’t go as planned and you just gotta roll with it. As long as you work hard those minutes COUNT!

 If you work out at home, do you find sometimes your workouts are broken up from (at home) distractions like kids, phone, dogs, etc?

What’s your favorite cardio workout?

2 Thursdays ago, about an hour before boot camp I dropped something on my left foot. It hit my TOE so hard I literally screamed. Ava looked at me like I was crazy and then she screamed (she was imitating me) It wasn’t funny though. I limped around even though I tried to act tough, but the truth is it hurt SO BAD. I didn’t think I broke it, so I hobbled around for a bit and then put my shoe back on because I had to get ready to teach boot camp.

When I teach class I don’t think of anything else besides motivating others, instructing the class, and giving them my undivided attention.

It wasn’t until we went to do pushups that I felt my toe throbbing and in pain. I had to balance on my feet and my toes were bent during the pushup exercise and I wanted to scream, but I didn’t. I switched to a knee pushup to modify and avoid causing myself more discomfort.

After class I left… and while I was driving my car I literally felt a throbbing in my foot. UGHHHHHH I was so mad.

I immediately iced when I got home and found myself sad by this little injury. I automatically start thinking I broke my toe, I’m not going to be able to walk Cooper, we are going on vacation and I can’t do anything. You know “negative thoughts.”

Then I sat myself down and repeated to myself (without speaking out loud) THINK POSITIVELY KELLY. It’s just a toe, it will heal, you will be fine, you can work around it.

This quote came to mind AGAIN.

Before I knew it, I convinced my mind I was fine. I stayed positive and gave it as much rest as possible through the weekend.

Although there was pain, I could deal with it. I have had way worse injuries this was nothing. The bottom line is there’s nothing like an injury.. its both physically painful and mentally challenging but I know I’m strong enough not to let it bother me.

So the next day I went to the gym and told myself I was going to be my own “TRAINER.” If I had a client with a broken toe I would tell them we can work around it. You can’t let yourself become immobile because of small minor injury. There’s other ways to be active without effecting the injured area.

I road the bike for 15 minutes as a warm-up, I did some light stretching (because I was sore from boot camp) and then I completed this back workout:

15 Minute BACK WORKOUT

REAR DELT FLY 3 SETS OF 8-10 REPS (25-35LBS)

PULL-UPS 3 SETS OF 8-10 REPS (50-60LB ASSISTANCE)

SEATED ROW 3 SETS OF 8-10 REPS (50+ LBS)

EACH SET I INCREASED THE RESISTANCE UNTIL MY BACK WAS COMPLETELY TIRED.

I finished with some light stretching and left with a smile on my face. I was happy I got a workout in but I was also happy because I didn’t feel like the injury effected anything I did that day at the gym.

I am also happy to say my foot is completely FINE. My injury only lasted about 5 days, and I got through it. I feel fortunate that I didn’t break it bad enough that I would need more time to rest but sometimes you need to remind yourself that stuff happens and you WILL get through it

Have you ever injured your foot?

How do you workout when you have a minor injury?

This weekend was hands down the best weekend of summer. We had no special plans and nothing fancy going on, but it was just stress free and enjoyable.

Our mornings started off with early walks with Cooper, iced coffees and then trips to the beach as a family.

The weather was perfect and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. We spent time with family and friends and also had time to relax at home.

The beach was nearly empty on both days that we went.

The sun was shining and the temperatures were perfect.

Ava is so happy when she is at the beach… I guess that makes two of us

Besides walking I did some workouts at home. Instead of my usual 21 day fix workout, I decided to mix it up and do the Cardio (T-25) My body was telling me “no weights” and I was craving some cardio. I’m glad I listened to my body, because this workout was exactly what I was looking for… some sweat, some heart pumping, and low impact movement. I didn’t want to lift a dumbbell at all and I’m glad I didn’t because I felt great at the end.

I wish I took more pictures of the food we ate because it was quite delicious but sometimes you have to live in the moment… and sometimes your camera is full and can’t take any more pictures so that’s pretty much what happened.

I ate super clean all weekend and enjoyed some wine with family & friends!

LIFE IS ALL ABOUT BALANCE

Do you enjoy the beach in the summer time? 

What’s something fun you did this weekend?

Ava and I spent the day together and went to the beach, it was lovely!

I am linking up with the WIAW crew to share with you a day of eats from Monday with my toddler around all day!

My morning started off WAY later then usual. After a weekend of less sleep Ava slept until 8am and I slept until 730am. This is totally rare but I loved it. It’s probably the latest I slept in a year. I started my morning with water and a little bit of coffee before realizing my stomach was grumbling. I quickly made 2 eggs with sauteed spinach & olive oil and a piece of whole grain toast (toast not pictured)

We took Cooper for a 25 minute walk and came home to quickly get ready for the beach. I made a Chocolate Shakeology with a banana and peanut butter to take with me in the car for a mid morning snack. I knew once we were at the beach I would be chasing Ava around so it would be tough to sit down and eat a snack.

It was a gorgeous day to be at the beach. There were barely any clouds and the water was crystal clear. Ava and I had fun playing in the sand and water for a couple of hours.

It was right around noon when Ava was getting tired so we headed to the showers to rinse off (there was about 2 lbs of sand in Ava’s hair. She thought it was funny to dump sand on her own head and there is definitely still some in there because it was nearly impossible to get it all out.

Lunch came around 1230. I had a big salad kale, cabbage, broccoli & brussel sprouts with avocado, tomatoes & grilled chicken plus some balsamic dressing. It was delicious and easy to throw together. I also snacked on some pumpkin seeds & cranberries.

Ava napped for quite a while and I managed to get a bunch of computer work done, plus laundry, a workout & a shower. I consider that to be productivity at its best. I wish I snapped a picture of myself after the workout because sweat was falling off my chin and my elbows. Kinda gross but kinda bad A$$.

I refueled after my workout with a greek yogurt plus a cup of blueberries and a random 1/2 sweet potato with butter!

Marc told me he wanted burgers for dinner and I was feeling him on that one. It was 90 degrees out so I didn’t want to turn the oven on. While I made dinner I snacked on some cucumbers.

I decided to do a burger lettuce wrap with another 1/2 sweet potato and lots of yellow squash sautéed in olive oil. This was the juiciest burger I’ve had all summer and I’m so glad I could taste all the flavors. The bun usually takes some of that away!

Because I love night time snacks I filled up 2 bowls… one with fresh peaches and the other with honey nut cheerios.

YUM! I thank Ava for making me buy cheerios, they are a great crunchy snack.

This was a great day of food for me and it was all fresh, clean & simple eats!

What is your go to night time snack? I love popcorn!

Have you ever tried a burger in a lettuce wrap? It’s so tasty, I highly recommend it!

I attempted to do my Pull Ups on Saturday morning because I promised you all that I would. If I hadn’t made that commitment to you I probably wouldn’t have done them. My body was sore, I woke up tired, and I just felt a little on the blah side.

I chugged coffee and told myself I was going to do the pull-ups and after hyping it up in my head that I could complete those 5 Pull-ups I attempted my own challenge.

After 3 reps… my attempt at 4 was a complete fail. My arms gave out even though my brain said I could keep going.

I was frustrated when I let go but I knew I gave it my best shot.  After I finished I questioned whether or not I would have completed more pull-ups if my “pull up challenge” was on a day that I wasn’t sore. That created another challenge in my head… and I will keep at it.

SO backing it up a bit..

Here’s what my Pull up Workout looked like:

SET #1: 3 REPS (this was the only set I planned on doing)

SET #2: 1.5 REP (I convinced myself to get to 5 reps even if it wasn’t consecutive)

SET #3: 2 REPS (I got to 5 reps and kept going)

SET #4: 1.5 REPS (my arms were shot…. but it felt great)

Going into my challenge I really only planned on doing one set of 5, but I am glad I kept going, Believe it or not my 4th set felt better then my 1st set and I was overly pleased with my mini workout.

So I know I’m kinda rambling here a bit, but I’ve learned that creating challenges for myself is the little push I need to make me stronger.

Can you do a Pull-Up? If so, do you find them to be easy or challenging?

What’s an exercise you love doing? 

]]> http://thefitskool.com/?feed=rss2&p=7436 2 http://thefitskool.com/?p=7421 http://thefitskool.com/?p=7421#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2015 13:28:26 +0000 http://thefitskool.com/?p=7421 Continue reading →]]> Okay Monday… Lets do this! 

Today I am launching the new Group Power workout at 730am. To say I don’t get nervous would be a lie. It’s incredibly hard to remember every move for an hour straight but I do feel confident about it and I really do like this workout.

Lets back up a bit and chat about my weekend.

Friday night was a low key night, Ava had just went to the Doctors for her 18-month check up (a little late because she’s already 19 months) she had to get some shots so we opted for a lazy night because she was tired and drained from her appointment. Saturday morning we woke up took Cooper and Ava for a walk, played in the pool, did some grocery shopping and I had a work obligation in the afternoon.

I also managed to get in a Pull-up workout that I will recap tomorrow.

Saturday night we ordered take out food from and Italian restaurant down the street called Bella Nonna. I got Chicken Francese with veggies & potatoes and we split some Mussels Fra Diavolo to start. It was pretty good.

We spent the rest of the evening on our porch hanging out with our neighbors while Ava played with her friend Ella and our dogs wrestled until everyone was tired!

Sunday morning I headed to the YMCA to support my Co-worker Michelle while she launched the first Group Power workout.

It was a packed house and we barely had enough equipment to go around.  I didn’t have a step box to use so I really think it made some of the exercises a little more challenging, but I took one for the team

The rest of my day was spent doing coaching work on the computer, food prepping in the kitchen and playing with Ava outside in the pool again.

Ava and Cooper had a blast and it was really cute to see them playing together in the pool.

It was a lovely relaxing weekend and now I get to go pump some iron with the New GP workout!

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

What’s your favorite italian dish?

I’m sure all you Mom’s out there can relate. When your kid doesn’t sleep and you lose sleep its hard enough to function let alone find time to get anything else accomplished.

I’m happy to say we are back on track today. I wouldn’t say my eating has been off this week because I still ate healthy but I literally had no time to think about food, I just grabbed anything and ate it!

I am linking up with the WIAW (what I ate Wednesday) Crew to share my Food Journal from Monday!

Monday morning I woke and came downstairs to find Marc in the kitchen making eggs & veggies. It was so nice to have one less thing to do on a Monday morning! I had 2 eggs, mushrooms & spinach and toast.

I headed to the YMCA a little after 7am to teach Group Power. As soon as I finished, I refueled with my Vanilla protein shake and shortly after snacked on a banana and a few energy bites. I picked this up at Bishop’s Orchard this past weekend and I’m a huge fan. They are literally packed with energy (pistachios, apricots, soy protein, sunflower seeds, etc) I’m a big fan because they filled me right up.

Mid morning I taught my senior fitness class, I picked Ava up from daycare and we came home for lunch. I opened the fridge and grabbed my leftover Chicken Francese, veggies & potatoes and started eating. Ava had a few bites with me but preferred milk over food for lunch.

My afternoon flew by.. I did coaching work on the computer and then had a Chocolate Shakeology plus 2 tsp of Peanut butter for snack around 3pm! YUM.

I really don’t know how the time passed but when I realized it was 5 o’clock and I had no dinner plans I had to quickly make something for Ava. I opted for Chicken Cutlet, Steamed Green beans with olive oil & sea salt, and a white sweet potato. Have you every tried them? Wow they are soo good. I wish I bought more. They were little less “sweet” then a regular orange sweet potato and a little more starchy like a white potato. It was a great blend.

My evening didn’t go as plan. Ava didn’t want to sleep. She ran around like a crazy woman and Marc said she’s gonna crash but she didn’t. She wouldn’t go in her crib. She ate a gazillion snacks and about a gallon of milk. I also snacked on some fresh strawberries that we picked from the weekend.

I probably ate more then I should have, oops!

My night finished with an evening stroll with Marc, Ava & Cooper. The purpose of our walk was to get Ava to fall asleep but something was bothering her and it didn’t work! I even put her in my car to see if she’d sleep because usually she falls asleep quickly in the car and that didn’t work either. At around 10pm I shut the lights off in my room and snuggled in bed with her, I combed her hair and hummed some random song that popped in my head. Within 1 minute she was asleep. Phew.

Then she woke up at 5am….. luckily it didn’t really effect my day and we are off to a better start today.

Okay I will stop rambling and let you get on with your day

What was something yummy you ate yesterday?

Have you ever had a white sweet potato?

Friday night was pretty low key. I cooked my Chicken Marsala Recipe for dinner and then Marc had a softball game.

I stayed home because Ava was exhausted from being in the sun all day so she went to bed early. That meant I was asleep at 945pm, what a loser!

Saturday morning I woke up feeling refreshed and energized. We took a walk with Cooper to Dunkin Donuts to get some iced coffees and then I taught an Outdoor Boot Camp class at 9am. It was awesome and super sweaty, but I think we all got in a great workout. There’s something about exercising outdoors that’s so enjoyable, even though Burpees & Pushups are grueling.

After class my body was pretty spent so I refueled with a Chocolate Shakeology with Coconut Milk, it was delicious!!!

Ava was pretty tired because Marc took her to the park while I had class. When we got home she had a snack and zonked out for a while. In the afternoon we headed to my parents to play in the pool, except Ava decided to play mostly in the sandbox.

When we got home, Marc put some Blackened Salmon on the grill and we decided to eat home and enjoy the night outside on the porch!

Sunday was a day to shower my best friend Lauren who’s getting married in October!

I always love Bridal showers and spending time with my best friends. This one was extra special because Lauren and I have known each other since we were born so it was an honor to be a part of her big day.

We played a few cute Bridal Games and enjoyed yummy food.

Lauren’s mom and sister put their hearts into the shower and every detail came together perfectly.

The Watermelon & Mint Spa Water was one of my favorites!

It was such a beautiful day and the Bride got to celebrate with her family & closest friends.

The picture below is of the bridal party!

Once I got home we just relaxed and I got ready for another work week. It was an awesome weekend!

What’s something fun you did this weekend?

Do you have a lot of weddings planned this year?

Now that I think about it, the energy in our house has been all around not normal.  I really think the weather is to blame.

(Isn’t this picture cute? She’s been laying on him and hugging him more and more)

Ava’s also been taking longer naps and having a few lazy spurts here and there (I have no complaints about the naps!) and Cooper’s been lazy as well!

Every time we have walked Cooper this week he would lay down randomly. He did it quite a few times until I realized he’s not feeling the heat. So I shortened the walk duration and kept him in the Air Conditioner.

He does have a fur coat too so that could be the issue!

Yesterday it was 90 degrees. It seemed like every time I stepped outside or got in my car I felt the need to chug a glass of water. I was thirsty all day long. Does that ever happen to you?? I kept asking myself if I slept enough, if I needed a little more caffeine, but I just kept pushing through the day.

To Keep Hydrated & Energized: I took a multivitamin, drank at least 8 glasses of water plus some coconut water, smoothies 

I ate fruits & veggies high in water like watermelon, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, & apples. 

FINALLY, after Boot camp last night I actually got a big energy boost (thank you endorphins)!

When I got home from class I did a little extra stretching followed by a personal training session with Marc. He wanted to work out but didn’t want to do T-25 or Insanity.  Those DVD’s tend to have a lot of jumping and Ava was asleep so he didn’t want to wake her up. Our house is kinda old too so when you jump the floor creeks in certain spots.

I decided to have him test out part of my Outdoor Boot Camp Workout. This circuit had no jumping so it was perfect! Before we started Marc warmed up for about 5 minutes.

Here’s a sneak peak at one of the circuits I have planned for Saturday’s class:

QUICK FULL BODY BLAST 

INCHWORM

WALKING PLANK

PLANK DIPS

STEP UPS (with weight overhead)

REPEAT 3X

PERFORM EACH EXERCISE FOR 1 MINUTE BEFORE MOVING TO THE NEXT EXERCISE

It looks like today is going to be another hot one! I hope you all stay cool & hydrated. HAPPY FRIDAY!

Do you sometimes feel less energized during really hot days? 

What do you do to keep your energy level up?

**Although I am a Certified Personal Trainer you should always consult your Doctor or Physician before beginning a new workout program**