Five on Friday

{one}

I got an offer for a permanent position at Boeing this week. It will be for a different manager in a different organization though. I am so happy and relieved to finally be in a company with great salary and benefits...this will be pivotal for my family. After all the contingencies are taken care of, I will know when my start date is. In the meantime, I am still working my contractor position there.

{two}

There were lots of Insanity workouts, running and eating clean this week...it's amazing what a difference I can feel even after just a few days. My new meal prep service has been well worth it.

{three}

I'm hosting my neighborhood wine night tonight for the first time...should be a lot of fun as usual! I am making my night the karaoke night...I may have to post a video here shamelessly soon.

{four}

I made a few small changes to my entryway decor...and I'm trying to decide what to do with this mirror. I'm leaning toward metallic gold, but maybe white? What do you think?

{five}

Check out my post on The Gym Bunny today about why you should wear weight gloves when weight training.

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Weekending / Monday Musings

Happy Monday! I cannot believe it is pretty much the last week of March! I feel like March JUST started. This year is nearly 1/4 over. Anyway, we had a good weekend and I'm looking forward to a good, but busy week.

Friday night we had some friends over to try out my new karaoke machine. It was so fun...karaoke is always a good time. Saturday morning I babysat my friend's little girl, Charlie. She is 19 months old and it was sort of like Farrah's first playdate. She was so thrilled with her, it was darling to watch. Breckin was also a sweetheart, being their little entertainer.

Our neighborhood had an Easter egg hunt that day, so I took the boys to that. It went smoothly and quickly and was a lot of fun for them. I loved how hassle-free it was compared to going to one of the bigger local ones. It's so funny the difference between Tanner's and Breckin's styles of egg-hunting. Tanner would try to pick up as many in one handful as possible and load up his basket, while Breckin was very thoughtful of his egg choices...picking up and shaking each one...even tossing some back if he didn't think what was inside was going to be worthwhile. They are the same way with lollipops - Tanner basically bites right into his and devours it while Breckin will savor every last lick.

We went out that night for dinner to celebrate both Jake's dad's and his mom's birthdays, then just came home and relaxed and put on another episode of our current Netflix addiction: Parenthood. We really love that show and it is so relate-able.

Sunday we attended our church service and then we came home to chores and projects. We had planned on going to the zoo with some friends, but have pushed that back to next Sunday due to the rain we had all day. It was a perfect day for house stuff. Jake painted all the bathroom cabinetry he is installing and the current vanity. We are just about done with this and I'm so ready to be back in my bathroom. He will just need to put the shoe-mold back down on the flooring, attach the cabinet doors and install the ones he built, re-hook up the sink and then we will need to repaint the entire room. I'm hoping we can knock all of that out this coming weekend.

I am looking forward to another successful week of clean eating. I'm down 2 lbs from last week! I knew it would just take a little extra focus and determination to get me where I need to be. I did all my food prep yesterday and here is the workout plan this week:

I've also got the Cooper River Bridge 10K on Saturday! I'm nervous as it's been a while since I've run that distance, but I know I can do it. I'd really love to beat my time from the last time I did the race.

Hope y'all have a great week!

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Become a Fashion Designer

Make The Most of Your Routine

I strive to find a little time each day to dedicate to fitness. And knowing how hard it is to carve out that time, I want to make sure I am making the most of it. My workout needs to be effective and worth the effort I put into it. I make a point of not "phoning" it in.

Here are some tips I have for making the most of your exercise routine:

1. Change it up and often. I would say that the biggest game-changer for your fitness routine is making sure to keep from plateauing. You need to switch it up. I see so many of the same people at the gym doing the same things over and over. It's like their body is coasting...5 miles on the treadmill {check}, abs {check}...and so on and so forth. A great rule of thumb is to change things up every two weeks. Especially with strength-training. This may simply be adding in more weight/reps, or trying a completely new exercise for the muscle group you work. I found a book a few years back that changed my fitness routine forever and highly recommend it - The Body Sculpting Bible For Women. It taught me what my routine needs to entail in order to be effective. Keep those muscles guessing...and you will see better results.

2. HIIT. Another effective way to keep from plateauing is high-intensity interval training {HIIT}. This is a form of workout that keeps your heart rate high while switching off and on from different forms of cardio/strength moves that for the most part use your entire body {think Insanity}. It's also a great form of workout when you are short on time...these quick bursts of intensity keep that metabolism high and burning calories long after your workout is done.

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3. Focus on one or two muscle groups per workout {strength-training}. I don't like to be all over the place when strength-training. I find it best to focus on one big or two smaller groups of muscles per workout. If I jump from arms to legs all the time, I'm not sufficiently tearing down those muscles enough to rebuild and tone them. When you focus on a single {or two smaller} group{s}, you are able to tear down the muscles...and afterward provide sufficient recovery via rest {wait 48 hrs to work the muscle group again} and nutrients to rebuild them...which brings me to my next tip:

4. Simple Carb + Protein after each workout. You have to refuel your body with the right nutrients post-workout to rebuild what you just tore down. This is the best method I have learned. Great examples of this type of post-workout snack would be - chocolate milk, fruit protein smoothie, string cheese + fruit, nuts + fruit, etc. Your simple carbs are sugars - try to get those from something like fruit, not candy...and then any protein source - nuts, eggs, cheese, lean meat, whey protein, etc.

5. Aim to workout 5-6 days per week. An ideal workout includes a focused strength-training workout {one large or two smaller groups as described above} and at least 30 minutes of cardio. Here's an example of the workout schedule I try to follow and rotate week to week:

Day 1: Legs/Glutes, Cardio - Elliptical 30 min
Day 2: Shoulders/Biceps, Cardio - Treadmill 30 min
Day 3: Back, Cardio - Elliptical 30 min
Day 4: Legs/Glutes {I work these twice a week}, Cardio - Treadmill 30 min or a Spin Class
Day 5: Chest/Triceps, Cardio - Elliptical 30 min

And I just keep on rotating those, while maybe adding in a barre class, outdoor running, etc. in place of something else to keep mixing it up. One rest day a week is important...and always listen to your body.

Do you have any tips of your own for making the most of your workout routine? I would love to hear them!