New Year, New You: {My Routine}

I've gotten several comments and emails regarding my personal eating and fitness routine, so I wanted to share a bit of what I do on a weekly basis*

*Now I'll preface this by saying, I'm NOT an expert and NOT a certified personal trainer. The hubs is certified and he trains people as a hobby/side job. He's the one who usually helps me craft challenging gym sets and gives nutritional advice when I ask for it. But most of what I do in the gym comes from my own personal experience throughout the years. I was on the pom squad in college and was a competitive dancer for most of my life.

My Exercise Routine

My workout routine consists of about 60% weight training and 40% cardio. Lean muscle, the base of a toned body, comes from doing weigh bearing exercises. Cardio, especially interval training, works with the weights to burn fat.

This post tells about some of the exercises that I do each week to tone arms.

This post explains my leg workout.

I also credit APY60- From the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Yoga Instructor , for helping me to achieve a flat tummy. It's not an abdominal workout, but rather a total body workout.

I don't do ab exercises really very often at all. (Really couldn't tell you the last time I did a crunch, no lie.) Getting a flat stomach will happen entirely on its own through working your other body parts, so don't waste your time.

Treadmill and Track
When it comes to cardio, I do intervals of sprinting, jogging and power walking on the treadmill or the indoor track for 25-30 minutes, 3-4 times per week. I also like to throw in sets of jumping jacks, push-ups and walking lunges in between running sets. I like to mix in incline work on the treadmill also - just to challenge my leg muscles!

Elliptical
Not a fan. I don't personally get much out of the elliptical, since it's easy to plateau on those - so I don't use it. (However, lots of other people DO like the elliptical, so do whatever feels best for YOU.)

My Diet (or lack thereof)

As far as diet goes, I'm definitely not super strict. I have pretty cooperative metabolism naturally and don't gain weight super easily (also why I have small, ahem, assets...le sigh). I do keep a food journal Monday-Friday, just to get a feel for the number of calories I'm taking in. I try not to go above 1500-1600 calories per day. That's my target number, which takes into account my work out routine, current weight and height, as well as my age.

Target calories for each woman is DIFFERENT. So what works for someone else may not work for you. Those diet apps for smartphones scare the mess out of me because it basically gives everyone 1200 calories per day, regardless of fitness level or age. They are good for food tracking, though! No two women are alike, nor should their calories be. Your best bet is to visit a website like this one and see how many calories to shoot for.

What I Eat

I love Greek yogurt w/honey for breakfast or oatmeal with blueberries. I also drink at least a cup of coffee each morning with real half 'n half, which studies have shown is good for your metabolism. I just like the taste of java, though : )

For lunch, it's never the same. I may eat a Chick-Fil-A grilled chicken salad or have a turkey sandwich at home. I rarely opt for burgers and fries though, even on vacation. I've just never been a big cheeseburger fan.

I don't snack a lot, opting instead for a mid-afternoon, 2% milk latte. If I'm just starving that day though, I'll eat a stick of string cheese or some mixed nuts.

For dinner, again, it varies every night. We like to bake salmon, grill flank steak or throw a pork roast in the crock pot. We always have a green veggie, too. Asparagus, broccoli (without the cheese) or green beans are great sources of fiber. . We hardly ever do bread with dinner either, just because we'd rather get our carbs from more complex sources, like sweet potatoes or butternut squash.

On the weekends, it's fair game. But if I have a donut, I eat one and walk away. If I have a piece of cake, I'll eat only half. If we eat pizza, we get thin crust with more sauce than cheese. It's really just all about balance, even when you indulge.

Also, I DO NOT DRINK DIET SODA. Diet sodas are the devil. Multiple doctors will tell you that they lead to nothing but a spare tire around your midsection. If you're going to drink a soda, have a real one! I enjoy at least one real coke most days out of the week!

So that's about it. Again, I probably don't do the same workout two times in a month (for real), so it's really about just changing it up and confusing your muscles!

Until next week...

Be blessed, lovelies-