Anything & Everything Friday – July 29

Happy Friday! I am not even a cat-person, but this made me laugh!

I am ready for the weekend! It is going to be warm, but I love it. I do not have a ton going on so hopefully I can spend a little time in the ol’ kitchen. First, it is time for Anything & Everything Friday, where I talk about five random topics of my choice! They are usually health related, but I promise nothing….. Here goes.

Post-Workout Nutrition:

Nutrition is a huge part of gaining muscle and losing fat. I am a firm believer that what you eat (and how much) is way more important than how often you exercise. So what do you eat after a workout to make sure you are offering your body what it needs? Read Paul Salter’s article The 3 R’s of Recovery Nutrition from Bodybuilding.com. Protein and carbohyrdates play a huge role in helping your muscles recover after a workout, plus replenishing fluids is very important as well. Plus, anytime it is GOOD to eat a bunch of carbs I am 100% in! Click the link above to read more in depth about what to eat post-workout.

Exercise without a “Workout”:

I love to get a good, hard workout in. Weight training is where it’s at for me, but throwing in some plyometrics or cardio bursts are great too. You might HATE actual workouts or you don’t have the time to spend 5 days per week at the gym. Well you can still get exercise in during the day without an actual workout. Audrey Bruno with Self.com has created a list of ideas for how to incorporate exercise into your day in this article 11 Little Ways to Exercise Without Actually Working Out. My favorite? Power walking everywhere. I get my power-walk-gene from my mother, who can move quite quickly. I actually get annoyed when people walk super slow… I just don’t have it in me. I walk like I am on a mission! Some other ideas include taking the stairs rather than the elevator or escalator and also to never take phone calls when you are stationary. Walk around or pace while on the phone. Check out the other eight tips at Self.com.

Fast Food:

Sometimes you need the convenience of fast food. You can be the best planner in the world in terms of meals and at some point in life something will go wrong and you’ll be stuck without healthy food. I am not a big fast food person, but occasionally it is convenient to pick up. So what do you order at a fast food restaurant that won’t wreck your healthy eating? Check out this list on FoodandWine.com of 11 Fast Food Orders That Actually Aren’t Terrible For You. There are 11 options for you from 11 different fast food joints including McDonald’s, Arby’s, Burger King and Taco Bell. One that is not on here is my go-to at Chick-fil-A, which is the Market Salad with Grilled Chicken. It is SO good and surprisingly fresh for a fast food salad. It has apples, blueberries and strawberries in it, but a nice bed of lettuce (that does not consist of only iceberg). I sometimes even order the salad AND a small order of the grilled chicken nuggets! Clean or not, that Chick-fil-A sauce is money! Check out the healthier fast food options for next time you are in a bind and need something quick.

Why The Number on the Scale DOES NOT MATTER:

I came across this article on Delish.com of all places. It is titled This Instagram Fitness Star Just Shattered Everything You Believe About Your Weight and features Kelsey Wells, author of My Sweat Life blog.  Kelsey posted three photos on Instagram of her throughout her fitness journey. In the first photo she weighs 145lbs, in the second she weighs 122lbs and the third photo she weighs 140lbs. Take a look and see that the number on the scale does not always matter! She is more thin and fit at 140lbs than she is at 122lbs! Strength training allows you to gain muscle and definition, which can lead to a higher number on the scale but a slimmer waist, thighs, arms, etc. I love that about weight training! 

I wish I had some before photos of what I looked like before I started getting serious about exercising and clean eating. Yes I have lost some weight in the process, but I have completely changed my body by gaining muscle. I do sometimes feel like I weigh more than I should. The whole “I girl is my height and build, yet she weighs 10lbs less than I do….” silly mental things like that. Then I indulge in some ice cream or squat 180lbs (like I did yesterday!!!) and I don’t give two sh*ts about my weight.

Click the link above and read about Kelsey. She has a great perspective on life and how the number on the scale doesn’t matter, but things like strength, health and happiness DO matter. It is great!

This Week’s Workout Schedule:

So Jodi was off in Mexico this week with her daughter so we had a break in bootcamp. Some ladies take the week off from exercising, but I am TOO addicted to lifting. Each break from bootcamp we have I change up my routine and do a 5-day training split. Each time is different to see what I like, but I lift heavy.

Donny is doing a weight loss challenge right now, so he not only came to the gym with me each day, but worked out with me four days in a row (Tuesday through Friday)! We’ve actually never done a workout together until now….I really enjoyed it! So here is what my week looked like in terms of workouts:

• Sunday: Heavy legs – hamstring focused (squats, stiff-legged deadlifts, good mornings, hip thrusts)
• Monday: Heavy back – a mixture of straight sets and a couple supersets (pull ups, lat pull downs, seated cable row, one-arm bent-over row)
• Tuesday: Chest – We did one straight set of heavy bench press, a superset, another heavy set of decline dumbbell bench and finished with another superset. Afterwards I did 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical.
• Wednesday: Shoulders & Abs – we did three tri-sets each containing two shoulder exercises and one ab exercise. In between each tri-set we did 5 minutes of cardio. I did tabata sprints on the treadmill each time (20 seconds all out, hop on the bumpers and wait 10 seconds, then 20 seconds all out, hop on the bumpers and wait ten seconds….repeat 4 times total). I did the first round at 10.0mph and thought I was going to die and the other two times at 9.5mph and they were better, but killer too. I was super sweaty after this one!
• Thursday: Heavy legs including barbell squats, hack squats, leg press and lunges – yikes!
• Friday: Biceps & triceps, plus 20 minutes HIIT on the elliptical
• Saturday: Rest

I typically don’t rest on Saturday’s, but I didn’t work out last Saturday (because we were in Denver most the day) so I started the week on Sunday. I might do some steady-state cardio Sunday, I might golf or I might just relax. Who knows! What did your week look like exercise-wise?

Well that is it for me! Have a great weekend. I’ll have a new recipe on Monday.