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Family Fitness Lately

Today was a doozy of a fitness day. I’m taking these extra pounds I recently put on and showing them where to shove it, you know, family-friendly style. Family fitness happens to be one of my favorite things. Usually, the calorie-burning just happens as a result of us doing some of the family activities we enjoy, especially with the record-breaking weather we’ve been having here in Wisconsin this week.

The day started with a long bike ride around the neighborhood.

Here’s daddy bike, mommy bike and baby bike, in case Goldilocks wanted to try them out. Peanut didn’t actually ride his little bike. He road in the child seat on the back of daddy’s bike, but he wanted to get his bike out when we got home for the pretty picture. And look, his bike matches his child seat!

Our bikes, Daddy bike, mommy bike, baby bike
Later in the afternoon, my workplace sponsored an employee open house at our local YMCA. Peanut got to try out these new ice skate-clad feet for the first time. He kept saying he just wanted to go in the pool, but I think he actually liked his first try out on the ice.

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Um, seriously, I didn’t notice this until now, but there is definitely a Goldilocks theme going on here. Daddy, mommy and baby ice skates.
Then, it was on to the pool. It was nice to have the place practically to ourselves without having to fight the usual crowds at the Y family pool.
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In fact, there was hardly anyone waiting in line for the slide, so Peanut rode it and rode it and rode it.

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Guess whose snores I can hear from the other room as I sit typing this? Oh, it didn’t take long. We tuckered him out. And we tuckered ourselves out too.
Oh yeah. And in between all these festivities, I snuck in a Youtube Tracy Anderson rebounder workout…in the dining room. Because, you know, you can’t see the computer screen when the bright sun is shining on it. She’s really hard to follow, and provides no verbal direction, but as long as you’re kind of doing what she’s doing, you’ll feel it the next day. Trust me. Warning: high jumps on the trampoline are not for the faint of bladder. I do not have a weak bladder, but even I found myself thinking an extra Kegel or two would be beneficial. The workout is definitely a sweat-inducing one. And the trampoline happens to be one of our family favorites too. In fact, I had to bribe Peanut to be able to use it for the half-hour workout. 

With the way we’ve been training, we probably could’ve signed up for a triathlon instead of a measly 5k, right?

Best Free Online Workout Videos

As you know, I was completely devastated to have found out that ExerciseTV was discontinued. Is that what you’d call it, discontinued? I prefer to call it an act of abandonment. Anyway, I would like to share with you some free quality online exercise options that I have found in my voracious quest for a replacement.

1. Exercise.com: the videos here do not offer the same type of interactive experience as ExerciseTV offered, but you’ll still get one heck of a workout. A model will guide you through an exercise for a certain number of repetitions. Sometimes the video just replays a few times to get to the proper number of repetitions. The workout sessions just go from one move to the next. That’s ok with me, because I’m not very good at building on dance moves to form a complete routine. But believe me, I was a hurtin’ the next day.

2. Blogilates and POP Pilates: Cassey Ho’s story is a very inspirational one. She went to school for Biology to pursue the medical degree her parents wanted for her. In college, she started teaching Pilates and fell in love with it. Her blog, fitness accessory line, and YouTube channel have become quite popular. I think it’s great that she offers an extensive number of free Pilates classes online for anyone to access. And these aren’t your traditional Pilates classes; each is filled with a whole different set of innovative moves you probably haven’t tried before. Cassey’s upbeat, down-to-earth, sometimes-goofy attitude endear you to her from the first move. Her and her sister do most of the video recording themselves!

I tried this standing Pilates workout from the Pop Pilates channel this weekend. You might like it too:

Hopefully I can come back with even more free quality workout videos in my search. Stay tuned!

Welcome to the Running Community

I wish the whole world could be a big version of running events. Have you ever seen how awesome people are at 5ks and other events? Even the winners come back and cheer on those that are bringing up the tail end. Everyone’s automatically amiable those days. And at the end, everyone gets to revel in the feeling of having accomplished something.

I never really was a runner until my later college years. One day, I just decided to enter a Half Marathon. I mean, usually people start a little smaller. But not me! And boy am I glad I did. My second run was a measly cross-country 3-mile run in hot, humid temperatures. I always say, if that had been my first run, I would’ve given up road racing right then and there. But the Half was one of the best experiences of my life. People were cheering at every corner the whole 13.1 miles. It felt like I was partying inside a huge celebration.

If you’re thinking about entering an upcoming race, I encourage you to go for it! To help you decide, I’ve listed my most favorite parts about running road races:

1. You get a nice solid run in on a Saturday before most people have even rolled out of bed.

2. The quiet sound of thousands of feet on the pavement! I wish I had a recording of this so I could use it for meditation. Yes, it’s truly that amazing!

3. You get some fun swag and usually a free T-shirt.

4. The amazing people who come out that early just to wave flags, direct traffic, ring cowbells and encourage runners. I need some of these people in my life every day. Imagine how much we could all get done with that level of enthusiasm and encouragement!

5. Vendors selling last year’s shoe models for less than a cheap meal!

6. The feeling of community. No one cares how fast you are or what you’re wearing, you just automatically belong. You’re all there to run and encourage each other and that feeling of connection is amazing.

7. Water stations. I love them. People volunteer to just stand with their arms out to hand you a cup of water or Gatorade. Such a gracious act. And you totally have permission to litter afterward!

I’m sending in a 5k application today for my husband and I. It’s become one of my dearly favorite yearly tradition with us. We plan on making running dates from now until April. How sweet is that?

Weekly Health Newsletter Subscriptions

I recently read an article about how Kaiser Permanente studies the effects of weekly fitness emails on weight loss. Turns out, weekly emails do have a significant impact on weight loss. Kaiser used a program called ALIVE (A Lifestyle Intervention Via Email) where they sent participants tailored weekly emails with simple lifestyle steps they could take to lose weight, such as walk for 10 minutes during lunch.

Since regular emails are probably a great weight loss strategy, I thought I would share my own personal list of newsletters that I subscribe to. Not all of these are great for everyone, and you may not want to subscribe to this many all at once, but here goes:

1. FabFitFun: easily digestible daily fitness tips for the modern-day, trend-conscious girl. Today’s feature was about hot new youtube fitness stars. E! News’ Giuliana Rancic is the driving force behind this fab website.

2. Prevention: this might sound, um, a little old, but prevention magazine has 12-and-counting great health newsletters, some of which even fit into a younger lifestyle, such as the “Feel Your Best Fitness Newsletter” and the “Eat This, Not That Newsletter.”

3. Real Age: first, I highly recommend taking the Real Age test, which asks you a bunch of personal questions to tell you how old your body actually is. Then, subscribe to the Tip a Day newsletter. Today, for example, there were articles about the evils of soda and the 25 most healthy cities. Dr. Oz is one of the big names behind this site.

4. Whole Living: It all started when I signed up for a New Years’ 30-day challenge. That easily turned into a whole-year-and-beyond challenge. The Challenge of the Day email sounds like it might be somewhat similar to the idea of the Kaiser ALIVE emails. One recent challenge was to give up one processed food today. The emails really do take a Whole Living approach, touching on so many doable mind-body subjects. The spa-worthy pictures and gentle personal-caretaking approach are refreshing.

5. Everwell: touches on subjects from healthy food (Carrot Camouflage Cupcakes) to fitness (at-home workouts) to consumer health tips (dangers of reusing plastic bottles). It’s really a nice well-rounded approach to leading a healthier life.

6. Self: A handful of newsletters are offered by Self Magazine. The Move of the Week and Recipe of the Week newsletters will steadily build your repertoire on the fitness and food fronts. Other monthly newsletters explore news, tips and health topics.

7. ACE: Get tips and research insider information straight from the organization that trains the trainers. They explore fitness trends of the year, healthy food makeovers, fitness product reviews and of course links to exercise move videos. The newsletters also include handy links to thought-provoking conversations in the forums.

8. Sparkpeople: once you open your FREE (yes, no-strings-attached-FREE) account, you can manage your newsletter subscriptions under the Account/E-mail Preferences link at the top left of your home page. They offer 10 great health, diet and inspirational newsletters and 8 condition-specific newsletters (i.e. Seasonal Allergies and Heart Health). I really enjoy the member-written inspirational emails. They are very well-chosen and highly motivational posts, which always strike a chord with me.

Not only do these newsletter provide a wellspring of helpful information, they’re just great reminders throughout the day and week to stay on track. They keep bringing your thoughts back around to getting up and moving, passing on the cupcakes, and taking your kid for a walk when you get home. After all, if studies are showing that daily emails can encourage your weight loss journey, you might as well take advantage of these wonderful, free resources. My theory is that the more knowledge you have about health and fitness, the easier it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It can change your whole mindset.

Do you have any other favorites that are not on my list? Please share! And Happy Reading!

Weight Gain Confession

On a site where I have journaled about my weight loss adventures and posted tips on fitness topics, it feels really discouraging to have to admit that I recently gained weight and have not been able to effectively remove it. I know 8lbs might not be a big deal to many people, but it really is to me. For all the hours and work that I put into fitness; for the three years that I’ve been able to maintain a steady weight; for all the things I know about weight loss, I haven’t been able to come to grips with this quite yet.

I thought once one or two of these pounds came on, I would easily lose them like always and there would be nothing to talk about. But the 8 lbs came on suddenly three months ago, and they seem to be stuck. But I don’t want to gripe about them or keep them secret any longer. So, I’m setting up a game plan instead, because I’m just proactive like that. Ha! Here’s how I’m hoping to combat the creep:

1. I need to set up an appointment to rule out anything health-wise that might have caused this. Hopefully, some basic thyroid tests and such can rule that out. I did have one medical health change in October, and I’m now wondering if it may have had an effect.

2. Adding 1 more day per week to my exercise schedule. I met with a fitness expert who advised this step (even though she said I look slimmer–thank you!). I have a hard time hearing that I’m not doing enough (I already work out hard three days a week, walk to and from work some days, walk on my lunch breaks, have an astonishing amount of self-control, etc), but I am willing to try this out. Two concerns: one, finding the time when I already pack in the workouts and two, my level of soreness and burnout after a solid week of working out.

3. Minding my Peas and Cucumbers: I’ve found in the past that tracking my food is one of the most effective ways for me to combat weight creep. Just being aware of my calorie intake is enough to fend off weight gain. I like to do this only about a week at a time or it feels overwhelming. Which leads to my next step:

4. Set up an appointment with our dietitian at work. Perhaps she can look over my food intake and tell me what I can do better, because there’s always room for improvement.

5. De-stress. A job loss in our family also happened in October, which has led to a lot of stress in these last few months. This may have had an effect on my frame as well. I need to carve out time to deep breathe and dream until the situation changes. I also need to get my butt to bed a little earlier to decompress.

I’ll let you know how it goes…

Changing Life in Increments

I spoke in my resolution post about avoiding time-waste by filling all those random 10-minute increments in a day with meaningful activities. I’ve got to say, I’m off to a strong start:

1. This morning, while watching the news (still productive in itself), I pulled out this gentle workout from my magazine for my new “morning warming” idea. It’s bitter cold here where I live right now. Mornings are tough when you have to force yourself out of bed into the brisk winter air. To wake up, warm up and start my day off right, I decided to implement a “morning warming” ritual. Could be tea, could be yoga, could be Dr. Oz’s 7-minute Morning Workout. But it eases me nicely into a productive winter day.

2. Each day, I try to peek at a success story or two. Right now, I’m drawn to weight loss success stories, but creative entrepreneurial business successes have been known capture me whole-heartedly. I seek them out and use them as fuel. Success stories are my favorite part of my magazines and the very reason I started working out from the very beginning. Thank you Self Magazine! I’ve even written about a few success stories here on my blog. I just read that, according to science, reading/watching about success stories can do wonders for your health. What a great way to spend 10 minutes!

3. Quality family time can be built in 10-minute increments. A jump-fest on the trampoline? Sure! You should see the smile on that boy’s face. That trampoline is keeping us all young–and releasing all this pent-up, cabin-fever rambunctiousness. Seriously, who could resist?

I’m loving this new experiment. What else could I fill those precious 10-minute spaces with?

Letter to ExerciseTV

Dear ExerciseTV,

Please don’t go!

I went to your site yesterday and saw this:

I am in complete denial that this is true, so please tell me that I am seeing things. Is there a petition I can sign or something? This is the biggest travesty to the fitness community that I could ever imagine. Such a shame.
Yours truly,
Avid ExerciseTV user
P.S. to my readers, you can buy a few of their workouts for download for only $1.00. It’s like the Dollar Store of workout videos, only the quality of the product is much more savory. Best buck ever spent. And I’m really excited to do this workout tonight. At least there are still some free workout videos out there. If you know of any others out there, please let me know.

From A Recovering Couch Potato

I was just thinking the other day about how being the Valedictorian–or even the Salutatorian–was as close as one gym class away for me. I hated gym class. Like so many others, I have stories about wheezing through the one-mile run, being picked last for every sport despite real skill in some, and dreading the mandatory swimming semester. OMG, I have to wear my swimming suit in front of those mean kids?

But as I thought about it, I realized gym class was the very reason that I didn’t quite make it to the head of my class. I did graduate #7 out of a class of 366, but #1-4 were the valedictorians and #5-6 were the salutatorians. Yep, I was that close. And gym class (and one *ahem* B in science) was the reason. To guarantee an A for the semester, we had to swim 10 full laps. It took me almost the entire class period, but you can sure as heck bet I eked out those 10 laps. I was retching and dying, but I did it. And somehow I ended up with a B anyway. It was one of those instances where I kick myself for not confronting the teacher about it. But alas, I took my B with my tail between my legs.

Funny thing is, now you would never guess I was that girl. Gym class can “bite me” now. I run at least three days a week, usually around 3 miles each. That one-miler has nothing on my now! I’ve completed a handful of 5ks and a Half Marathon. Take that mean gym teachers! I get a huge thrill from exercise, I have a huge crush on workout videos, I have a “gym” membership, I inhale every exercise magazine I can lay my hands on, and I secretly sometimes think about being a gym instructor. Take that, gym class!

It’s ironic how your body can turn around and do the complete opposite of what you ever thought it could do and that your reason for non-valedictorian-ism is now coughing up the dust you left in your running path.

A Magical 3-Mile Run

I have been dreaming again about the most amazing run I had over the summer as the weather is getting colder. The in-laws were up from Florida for a visit, and they took our family to the Milwaukee Zoo. We stayed overnight nearby so my MIL could spend some time with her closest friend that lives close by. I, of course, packed my runnin’ shoes.

Just across the street from the motel was the mouth of a nature path. Around dusk, I laced up and left my two boys to unwind in the room with strict instructions that if I didn’t return in 45 minutes to send a search party. I didn’t feel like running. True confession: most of the time I don’t feel like running. But I know exactly how I’ll feel if I do run, so I always do anyway.

The air was perfect for a run. The visual relief of nature was delightful. The departure from the norm was fantastic. Just running in a new place has a way of reviving the spirit of fitness inside me. But it got soooo much better.

I rounded a bend about halfway through my run when I heard some rustling that made my hair stand up. I saw something moving in the brush. Then, a brown neck popped up and I realized I was within feet of a beautiful doe. Right then, I noticed the second one. Those huge eyes, those beautiful bodies standing dead-still waiting to determine if I was a threat. I just smiled at them knowingly as I padded by, trying to send signals with my eyes that I would never hurt them.

Not too far up the path, I reached my halfway point and turned around. Those pretty girls were still there. Those city gals let me get pretty close, so I could snap a shot with my phone as proof. Then, I left them alone again and carried on. Near the end of the run, I saw another flash in the brush. Thinking I’d spied the eyes of a rodent or other little animal, I ran a little faster. But I noticed another flash and another and another until I realized I was completely surrounded by lightning bugs. It was so magical, almost mystical.

I had not seen lightning bugs since I was a kid on a family camping trip. I rode my bike through a small patch of trees and there was a tiny swarm of them. That was another magical moment from another time. I went a little slower for the rest of the run, taking it all in. In fact, I even ran back through one stretch, just so I could run through it again. It was amazing!

Back at the motel, I insisted that the boys retrieve their shoes and follow me back down the path. I got to experience my son’s first encounter with lightning bugs and it was so surreal and beautiful.

Nothing beats a run like that.

Vintage Running Clothes

I love this little article over at The Sew Weekly about vintage running clothes. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately too. All the new moisture wicking running clothes, which really is an emerging field of apparel, looks very contemporary. A few coworkers and I were discussing the amount of “pink” we all have in our running wardrobes, because that color seems to be pretty prevalent in the workout clothes department. Along with pink, gray, black and aqua blue seem to hold the highest rank. The cuts and styles are all very similar as well. Curating a personal athletic style is almost impossible because the apparel choices for the everyday female runner are slim.

And vintage running clothes? Forget about it! Not that we’d want to wear vintage running clothes, because of their outdated/non-existent athletic technology. The shoes especially were quite inept by today’s standards. But I’d sure love for someone–or even myself–to design some cute vintage-inspired, moisture-wicking, sun-blocking, anti-static garments with cute little flower prints on them. Is that asking too much? Maybe for now it is. But I can see it coming. Tell them you saw it here first.

Ok, maybe Nike already thought of it. Of course they did! This little pamphlet is a hoot. Check it out.

Well, at least we’re not required by a phallocentric bureaucracy to wear dresses! Am I right?