My main focuses are exercising and eating right (oh, and vacationing at the beach of course). I am a vegetarian, but I do not try to push my beliefs off on others. I do try to educate, however. I firmly believe that if I can be healthy without eating meat, then that is the path I will choose. For me being healthy also means exercising. I took ballet for over 20 years. As I got older, it became more difficult to find classes that were advanced enough but not also filled with teenagers competing against one another, or classes that fit into a full-time professional work schedule.
Hence, I found myself walking the lonely treadmill at the gym. I was never a runner and still do not consider myself one. I have asthma and running was always difficult. However, walking on the treadmill was so incredibly boring and time-consuming that I started to add in brief sprints just to break up the monotony. Before I knew it, I was running up to three miles without stopping. I now run outside with my husband and have made it up to five plus miles, and have run five 5Ks with m fastest time of 24:18 this past May.
However, I am also a DVD junkie. It all started with my dislike for the treadmill (aka dreadmill). My sister was doing the Firm DVDs, so I latched on to those and found that I enjoyed lifting weights as well as cardio. I moved on to Jari Love next, upping the ante a bit. My next step was DVD maven Cathe Friedrich. I purchased a step and started doing some of her step aerobic DVDs as well as her weight workouts. Holy cow is all I can say. She is definitely not for the feint of heart. When she was using 15 lb I was struggling with 8 lb.
I did not give up! The more muscle definition I gained, the more I wanted to keep going. For all the women afraid to lift heavy for fear of bulking up, I say pshaw! I actually slimmed down, especially in my legs. As a dancer, I had very bulky legs and calves, especially for someone only 5’2”. So that is how I stumbled into weight lifting and running. Now working out has become my passion. Lifting weights makes me feel strong and empowered. Running makes me feel accomplished.
In addition to exercise, I really love to eat. I enjoy being in the kitchen and coming up with new dishes to enjoy. Dishes that are not only healthy but that are also tasty and enjoyable, oh, and meatless.
The last thing about me you might want to know is that I LOVE the beach. The beach is the first vacation destination each year. There is nothing more relaxing than feeling the sand between my toes, feeling the warmth of the sun, and hearing sound of the waves.
So the purpose of this blog is simply to share my passion for exercise, vegetarian eating, and beach vacations. It’s not rocket science and it won’t save the world…it’s just my life.
As her sister, I share the same passions, Exercise, and the love of the beach. As kids we vacationed to the beach anually. I as well, as my sister, eat somewhat healtfully and exercise on a regular basis. I know and realize the benefits of regular exercise. We grew up exercising and eating healthfully. We vacationed to the beach every year. That is our annual getaway and retreat. I am not a vegetarian as my sister is, but I realize the benefits and respect the logic.
In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.
Full-Body Workout I'll readily admit that getting up this morning was quite painful and almost didn't happen. I forced myself out of bed though not exactly excited about tackling a full-body Pyramid workout. Sort of daunting at 5 am really. I did the warm up from Shock Cardio Cardio Core Circuit (cardio only premix) then hit the weights. It was a pyramid up only so I increased my starting weight. I topped it all off with the first 2 1/2 drills from the cardio workout. I ran short on time and was basically spent. Squats into Plie Squats Step Ups (seriously hate these especially at 5:30 am) Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Pullovers into DB Underhand Rows Step Ups (freaking again) Static Lunges Overhead DB Press into Lateral Raises Deadlifts Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions Hammer Curls into Alternating Curls Calf Raises I am so excited to report that my new cross-trainers and running shoes arrived today. Can't wait to test both of them out. I waited way way way too
Sunday, Gym Day Why do vacations and min-vacations go by so quickly? Just doesn't seem quite right. Anyway, we left Branson around 9:30 am to head back home. It was a pretty uneventful drive back, which is usually a good thing. We got home and unpacked, then I headed up to the gym. I started with a 10-minute treadmill run to warm up before hitting the weights for back and light legs then abs. I went with a giant set for back then supersets for legs. GS - 4x8 Underhand barbell rows Pullovers Double-arm rows SS#1 Rear-leg elevated lunges (Bulgarian Split Squats) - 3x8 Calf raises - 3x20 SS#2 - 2x8 Walking lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Single-leg deadlifts - 2x8 I did some ab exercises, stretched, and called it quits. Lazy = Crazy Dinner I may have made it to the gym and washed a few loads of laundry, but I never made it to the grocery store - lounging in the pool trumped grocery shopping. This meant getting creative with dinner. We had another package
As her sister, I share the same passions, Exercise, and the love of the beach. As kids we vacationed to the beach anually. I as well, as my sister, eat somewhat healtfully and exercise on a regular basis. I know and realize the benefits of regular exercise. We grew up exercising and eating healthfully. We vacationed to the beach every year. That is our annual getaway and retreat. I am not a vegetarian as my sister is, but I realize the benefits and respect the logic.
ReplyDeleteYay! I love Cathe too!
ReplyDeleteApril @ The Weigh I Am Thanks so much for stopping by. It's so great to meet another Cathe fan! Really glad I found your blog by the way.
ReplyDelete