Health & Fitness 2015

Wow! Can you believe we're almost 1/2 way through January already?! Time goes so fast I can barely keep up!! The first half of January was a little rough... never say "Oh, we haven't gotten sick in so long..." Because before the words can leave your mouth you will inevitably get sick. Both me and my husband got the dreaded flu and it was awful. Like truly awful. But... back on the mend and I am ready to tackle my 2015 goals. I'm not gonna lie, I have really thought long and hard about this post because I 1. Have a tendency to go wayyy overboard and then fail to meet my goals and then feel defeated 2. I do not want to obsess over health/fitness this year but incorporate a balance in my life 3. I was feeling lazy. Don't judge.

Ok, now that I have confessed my blogging dilemmas I am here to spell out my 2015 health & fitness goals and hope you join me! :)

(All pictures from Pinterest)

1. Remember that obsession is bad one way or the other. This is key for me this year because I tend to be the typical girl who will OBSESS over every single bite, every single workout and to me that is the complete opposite of healthy. BALANCE is my #1 goal this year. It's ok to eat a piece of cake and it's also ok to strive for a fitness goal. Everything in moderation.

2. Run a 1/2 marathon. I have only done one and I swore I would never do it again. But, here I am a glutton for punishment. I miss having a fitness goal, something to strive and train for. Without a goal I tend to slack on my workouts. So, here I am vowing to run a 1/2 marathon this year. I mean... I have 11 more months, I'm sure I can find the time ;)

3. Complete Whole30. Now, for those who know me are probably laughing at this right now because I have honest to goodness started and stopped whole30 at least 4 times. hahaha. But... I am vowing to myself to complete once because... well gosh darn so many people have done it so why can't I!?! I want to complete it for health purposes. Reset my body and also to feel the accomplishment. When I will start... not sure? But I will and I will update you on my progress.

Honestly, that's it. Those are my 3 goals and I feel good about them. I could sit here and say I'm going to not eat sweets, workout 5x/week, stay away from chips but in all honestly that would last all of about 3 days. Not even. I don't want to put restrictions on myself because that feeds into the mentality  of obsession. 

What are your 2015 health & fitness goals??

Manitou Springs- Incline

I recently went down to Manitou Springs (which is near Colorado Springs) with family and conquered, completed, almost died, wanted to cry climbed The Incline. If you have never heard of this place you must look it up NOW and go and visit. And if you feel like being a total BEAST climb up that darn thing and shout from the mountain tops. This is the 3rd time I have completed The Incline and you would think each time gets easier and easier, NOPE. For some reason this was probably the hardest of them all. My cousins were in town so we all packed in the car, with my brothers, and started our trek. I would be lying if cuss words weren't strolling through my brain, tears were wanting to come out of my eyes and whining became my "go-to." Clearly I would be the LAST person to ever be on a deserted island with, well unless it's a tropical island with an all inclusive resort. If that's the case, sign me up! ;)

Truthfully, this workout will push you beyond the limits. Will test every ounce of strength you have and in the end you will feel accomplished and ready to chow down on food. Unfortunately because I'm doing the whole30.com program eating delicious cookies, brownies and FroYo were not an option but chicken and cucumbers sufficed. The incline is almost 1 mile exactly and goes up 2,000 feet in elevation. When you reach the top you can choose to plummet to your death take those stairs back down the mountain or there's a 4 mile trail back to the start. We chose to take the trail as falling down a mountain of stairs didn't exactly sound appealing. I did meet an Olympic Athlete while hiking and may have freaked out for a moment. I have no idea who he is, what sports he competes in, or if he has ever actually been to the olympics. All I heard was that he trains at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and I instantly pegged him as a Celebrity. We asked for a picture and to this day will probably never actually know who he is. For all I know he could just be a random guy hiking the Incline ;) If you are wanting to challenge yourself definitely give this a try! Hurry though, because they will be closing it down for 4 months starting mid-August. If you go, PLEASE let me know how it went and I will air high-five you because you're a rock star.

*pic courtesy of wikimedia.org

Workout Series- Part 1

We thought it would be fun to create a Workout Series highlighting different workouts we've tried together and separate. Working out is important to both of us (although to be honest Alex is way more dedicated than me) ;) Today I wanted to start with giving you some at home workouts that require no gym membership. At the moment me and my husband don't have a gym membership which requires us to be creative when it comes to getting a workout in. I actually like this better because going to the gym every day is not particularly my thing...

Here are some At Home Workout Ideas that are under 30 mins.

1. Jillian Michaels Yoga- You can find this DVD on Amazon or any Target/Wal-Mart I'm sure. I love this workout because it goes so fast! There are some Yoga workouts that literally make me fall asleep or i'm constantly looking at the clock. Don't get me wrong I sort of love Yoga but sometimes I just want something a little quicker and makes me sweat. You can also find this workout on YouTube for free. Just so ya know ;)

2. Jillian Michaels 30 day shred- This is another quick awesome workout! You get a full body workout in 30 minutes and it definitely makes you sweat. There are 3 levels so if you're just starting out you can choose Level 1 and work your way up. It's nice having 3 levels because you can see the improvement in your abilities!

3. tabata- Clearly I am a huge fan of Tabata workouts as I've mentioned them a million times by now. But, in all seriousness this is by far my favorite because I see results and it goes so fast! Here is a typical Tabata Workout for me:

1st Tabata (again it's 8 rounds, 20 seconds with a 10 second break)- Sprints on the treadmill, track or outside

2nd Tabata- Sprints

3rd Tabata- Sprints

1 Tabata- Mix push ups and abs

Stretch

Done. Rockstar. You did it!
4. HIIT workout. These have become very popular and after looking at so many different ones I've come to the conclusion you can pretty much make up anything as long as you get your sweat on. Maybe I'm wrong, but here's what I've done in the past and felt like I've gotten a good workout in.
25 squats
25 lunges (alternating legs)
25 burpees
10 push ups
25 abs
25 mountain climbers
**REST**
Repeat for at least 3 rounds.

*I'm no fitness certified expert, I'm just sharing fitness exercises I've tried and like*

That's it for Part 1. Next post will be from Alex. She's a dedicated rock star. I'm a wanna-be rock star ;)

Workin it out!

Hey y'all! This is Jessica and I am so excited to write my first "official" post on our blog! As my first post there was a lot of pressure for the topic but I decided to go with what I'm currently focused on... Bikini body!!! I mean let's be honest the minute summer rolls around we are all frightened and/or terrified to try on that bathing suit! Not only that but I am in a wedding this summer and gotta fit into that dress! So... I do what any rational/normal girl would do- push it into gear a couple weeks before the event ;)

I can honestly say though this has become my favorite go-to workout! If you haven't heard it's called Tabata and it's a quick 8-cycle rotation 20 seconds on 10 seconds off. You can do any exercise you want and it goes so fast! I like to go to the track with my husband and we will do a couple rounds of sprints and then maybe an abs workout! I am not one to dwell on a long workout so this is absolutely perfect! You can download theTabata  timer in the apps store for free! Give it a try and I know you wil like it!