Travel Workout Planning

It's time to fly the friendly skies once again, this time we are headed to Oregon. Hoping to get in some scenic hikes while we are there! Usually I am planning for what kind of workouts to do when my husband is traveling and I'm stuck at home, but this time we are both heading out together, so I need a game plan for what to do while I'm there.

Idea #1: Hike. As many times as we can.

  

Idea #2: Find the gym. I checked the website to make sure our (semi-cheap) hotel had a gym. Nothing fancy but it will do!

I love to get online and look up different treadmill workouts for when I'm bored. One of my go-to's is a site called IowaGirlEats. (She has great recipes too!)

This one is a fav - quick and not-so easy.

And when in doubt, or when the cheap hotel treadmill is straight out of the 80's, there is always my phone. I like to download apps for free workouts. The best- Nike Training Club. If you don't have it you need to get it. Now. You can do these anytime, anywhere, and they are killer. Try it.

So off to Oregon, hopefully will be reporting back on Monday about a vacation full of fun and relaxation (I did look up local day spas) and maybe a workout or two. :)

Today's Workout:

early a.m. barre class

Making Adjustments

Day 2 sporting my sexy new arm candy (also known as fitbit) and I am liking where this is headed. I am currently obsessed with the thing, I launch the app every other minute to look at my progress, but I'm sure that will die down shortly :)

You know I am a huge advocate for counting calories with my handy dandy app. Great news, I learned yesterday that the myfitnesspal app and my fitbit are compatible! It's like we are a match made in heaven. So I am going to be able to see the true secret to my shape... calories in vs. calories out!

What I am learning from it is that I run around like a crazy person when I am at home chasing my boys around (I took as many steps between 5:30pm and bedtime as I did the ENTIRE day!!) but at work I sit a LOT. I have busy days where I run around a lot but really, I do a lot of sitting. If you're like me, you probably check a lot of emails during the day. And you probably have a phone where you can check those emails. SO, new plan of action: 1x, maybe 2x (that might be pushing it) a day I am going to walk laps around my office warehouse and check my emails. Might not happen every day but as long as I can fit it in here and there I know I am making strides in the right direction. Or at least justifying that afternoon piece of chocolate!

Warning: today I walked into a chair and almost fell over. So either pay attention while you are walking and typing or hope that no one is watching... pretty sure someone saw me.

Tuesday Workout:

early a.m. fusion class

Back on the Map

Well, I kind of fell off the grid there for awhile... every year my company has a big conference downtown and we serve as the event staff. It's a long week, a lot of walking, not a lot of sleeping and overall exhausting (atleast it's a good time!). So I'm back, for a few days anyway before we head off on yet another trip. This summer=INSANE.

This past week I celebrated by 32nd birthday! I had to work all day but I was lucky enough to be one of the presenters on the main stage. I have to say I feel amazing at 32! 2 kids, great job, extremely busy life and a lot of hard work at the gym has really paid off and I felt comfortable on stage in front of a LOT of women! Sometimes it feels good just to be proud of yourself. This was a great moment in my life!

I love a birthday full of fitness related gifts. It happens to me every year, these people have me all figured out! My kids gave me a new iPod to replace my broken one and the hubs gave me this fancy new Fitbit. I put it on today, but I have no idea how it works yet... that is on my to-do list tonite. Stay tuned on that one.

My fitness-loving sister gave me a bunch of new lulu workout gear and a cute little bag to take with me to the gym to store my keys and phone so I had to test it all out this morning :)

Today I am back at it after a wild week but we are traveling again this weekend so upon our return I am really looking forward to getting back on the wagon. Overall I have done good just ok staying on the healthy wagon but post-vacation its time to put just a little more effort into it. I think I got a little lazy this summer... birthday=way too much cookie cake. But you only celebrate like that once a year, right???

Workouts:

Last week = Who's counting... but I did hit the hotel gym twice. And did a LOT of walking at the convention center (my new fitbit would have kept track of that one!)

Today = early a.m. fusion class

That's what you get for waking up in Vegas...

I'm back from Vegas. Enough said. Will not go into details. Just picture a lot of fun, a lot of eating drinking and celebrating. Which makes returning home to my normal routine sort of like torture. One day you are up til 4am, the next day you are getting up at 4am. Eek.

I have managed to sneak in a couple workouts this week but neither do I even remember I am functioning on such little sleep. And I'm on my own with the kids until Sunday while my husband takes his turn a bachelor party so I am going to be getting creative with the workouts again.

The midwest is getting hot so we don't get out on the trails as often or we would melt! But when we do, we make it count. I am a fan of letting anyone get out of a stroller, as long as they can keep up!

We are so lucky to have a trail system close by. If the weather is nice, you will find us here, getting as much fresh air and exercise as possible. (photo courtesy of my 4 year old)

Workouts:

Wednesday - bikini boot camp (I showed up...not sure how much I really burned)

Today - early a.m. barre class

Weekend - 7 mile run with a friend in training (hired a shared morning babysitter for our boys, now that's what I call a great idea!)

Looking for some variety to introduce into my workout routine this fall...stay tuned. 

What to Eat?

It's amazing how fast the week can fly by when you are busy! Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for Friday but where did this week go? Because I'm pretty sure I need to go to the grocery store...

Because I have no desire time to drag myself to the store, we have been eating most meals from a drive through. It's always a struggle for us to make a good decision where the kids can eat what they want and mom can get something relatively healthy. My oldest bases his choices on who has the best toy. And really, we need another plastic happy meal toy in our house... My littlest won't eat a chicken nugget (so strange to me) and drops most things on the floor anyway. So we end up at eating cheese quesedillas 4 out of 5 days. That is, until I discovered Dairy Queen and their Kids LiveWell Menu.

It's a turkey wrap with ranch (we lose the ranch), banana and a fruit smoothie (sometimes we get milk) and that is what I call a healthy meal. Even mom can eat this one.

I'm off to Vegas this weekend for a bachelorette party for my sister's upcoming wedding. Going to do a workout with a friend who runs a gym out there, hoping I don't end up in tears! More on that when I'm back next Wednesday.

Workouts:

Tuesday - early a.m. fusion class

Wednesday - overslept...

Thursday - early a.m. 3 mile jog, late evening walk with the kids

Friday - early a.m. tabata class

Back to Business

Vacation is over. Monday has come. It's time to get back to work. Sad :(

Vacay recap: sunny for just a short while, then rain, rain and more rain. But we found all sorts of things to keep us busy. As for workouts, eh... I will blame it on the rain. Got in a few fun sporty activities, one beach jog, one bike ride with my kiddos when the rain broke and some paddle boarding on the lake on the last day.

 

Overall it was a week filled with rest and relaxation, well as much relaxation as you can imagine trapped indoors in the rain with a bunch of small children. :)

 

Now that I'm back to the real world it's time to get back in the groove of the early morning workouts and veggies, which means less beer and powdered donuts (our vacation staples).

Today's Workout:

early a.m. fusion class

hoping for a short walk/jog after work

(doubling up the workouts when I can before a trip to Vegas next week plus some on-stage speaking for a work conference, gotta look my best!)