No Gym...No Problem!

Having a gym membership has become much more affordable in the past couple of years. Still, not everyone has access to a gym. Even though I have a gym membership, I don't always feel like fighting the crowd. Regardless of the reason, not being able to make it to the gym should never be an excuse not to workout. I know what you might be thinking, if you are like me your at home workouts tend to be a little all over the place. It is easy to lose focus and slack off with an at home workout. I have a suggestion if you find this to be the case for you. There is an app called "Pump Up" that can help you tremendously when working out from home. You will need to program your weight and age into the app to register. Once you have done the initial setup it will give you the option to build a workout. Here is where the magic starts! You will get to choose if you are working out from home, the gym, or if you are traveling. Once you select "home" the app will take you through a series of screens to customize your workout. You can choose how long you plan to workout, as well as if you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced. Then you get to choose what body parts you would like to focus on, what equipment you have access to if any, if you wish to do cardio with your workout, and so on and so forth. Once you start your workout it will first take you through a short warm up. After that the app will take you through the workout by telling you exactly what to do, and for how long or for how many reps. There is even a timer that appears with each screen of your workout. Once you are finished with your workout, the app will also take you through a very short cool down and voila! Its like having your very own personal trainer. You could also have the app build you a workout for the gym, but this didn't really work for me because of the layout of my gym. My gym has the strength machines and free weights in one room, and the cardio machines in another. I do however HIGHLY recommend the app for at home use. I find it so much easier to focus at home if I have something telling me exactly what to do. I like this better than doing a workout video because it is customized to you, even down to the amount of time that you have available for your workout. This app will take away your excuses because it even shows you correct form. I first heard about this app from the recommendation of Carly Rowena who is a fitness youtuber that I subscribe to. Which brings me to my next tip, if you are working out at home and you don't have much time, head to youtube! There are plenty of fitness youtubers who post quick workouts focusing on just about any muscle group you can imagine. Carly Rowena is a great one, Blogilates is another favorite of mine, and I've mentioned them before but theLeanMachines have also been a big help for me. These are just a few of the tons and tons of youtube channels posting fitness content. Check them out and try a workout or two if you want to fit in a quick workout at home. I hope that these tips have been helpful! I have included a picture of the "Pump Up" app so that you know what you are looking for.

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

Circuit Training

If you were to go through all of my blog posts, you might be able to find a running theme. I change up my workouts every month or two. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, I tend to get bored with a workout when I’ve done it for too long. Two, after a month or two of doing the same workout it stops challenging your body. Your muscles get used to the movement and the resistance and you stop seeing results. I love cardio, but after a mile or two running starts to get boring. I also love strength training, but sometimes I don’t feel like I’ve done anything because my heart rate never rises. I have found the solution though! Circuit Training, it’s the best of both worlds! Circuit training is also versatile enough that it is easy to keep your body guessing. So an example of a typical circuit for me would be: Run ½ mile, 10 pushups, 1 minute plank, 30 seconds Russian twists, 30 squats, 30 seconds tricep plank, 5 pike pushups…then repeat. So I would run another ½ mile then stop and do my exercises on the mat. I run through the entire circuit 3 times. The gym that I go to is laid out well for circuits. They have an indoor track with a section off to the side with mats, medicine balls, and step risers. Like I said, circuits are versatile, so one day for cardio I might do 1 minute of jump roping and add 30 seconds of jumping jacks during the strength exercises. There are so many strength exercises that you can do using your own body weight so the combinations are endless. I try to include arms, abs and legs into each workout, but you could focus on one with each workout if you wanted to. Circuits have made my workouts much more enjoyable. About the time that I am sick of running, it’s time for strength exercises. Likewise, when I feel like I’m going to collapse if I try another pushup, it’s time to run again and I have a new burst of energy. This also makes my workouts fly by. I have seen more results in the last 30 days of doing circuits than I have in the last 3 months combined. I am back down to 145 and I have lost another inch on my tummy. If you get bored with routine, I would highly recommend that you try circuit training. I am so glad that I did!

Thanks for reading, 

Sarah

Skinny Banana Cookies

I had been craving something sweet for the past couple of days and I wanted something that I wouldn't feel super guilty about eating. I had some bananas that were on the verge of going bad, and in the interest of not being wasteful I decided to start there. I got on Pinterest and searched recipes for ripe bananas and I cam across this recipe, http:sixsistersstuff.com/2013/05/skinny-banana-cookies.html It looked super easy, healthy, and best of all it only had three ingredients! I had everything on hand except for the chocolate chips so I grabbed some on my grocery store run. I did detour from the recipe a tiny bit by adding a tablespoon of peanut butter. I also increased the recipe by one banana so that I could use mine up. That is why my measurements are a little different. These will definitely be a staple in my house from now on because they were AMAZING! My husband was not a fan of them but hey, that just means more for me! We have some friends that decided to try the recipe as well and they were a huge hit in their household. I hope that if you try these, that you enjoy them as much as I did!

Skinny Banana Cookies

-3 Ripe Bananas

-1 1/2 Cup of Old Fashioned Oats

-1/3 Cup of Chocolate Chips

-1 Tbsp of Peanut Butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas thoroughly, add in your peanut butter and stir until combined. Fold in the oats and chocolate chips. Use a spoon to scoop roughly 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls onto a greased cookie sheet. You might want to flatten these just a bit with the back of your spoon because they do not flatten much when baking. Bake for 12-15 minutes and then take them out to cool. After 15-20 minutes you should be able to lift them off the cookie sheet without them falling apart. That is it you are done!

I prefer mine warm, so I heat mine in the microwave for about 10 seconds before I eat them. They taste fine without being nuked as well though. I have included a picture of how mine turned out, next time I will flatten mine a little more. If you attempt these, please let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading, 

Sarah