Tabata Tuesday!

If your week is as busy as mine it's probably already off to a crazy start! Here's a quick Tabata workout with a focus on ARMS this week! Remember a full Tabata workout can be done in 10-20 minutes depending on your endurance level. For a refresher in how the Tabata cycles work scroll down to my "Tabata Tuesday" post from last week.

Grab your stop watch and crank up the music... Let's Go!

Exercise 1: Froggers with Push-ups   example

Exercise 2: Inch worms   example

Exercise 3: Decline Push-Ups   example

Exercise 4: Plank Up-Downs    example

Suggested Playlist:

"Safe and Sound" by Capital Cities

"Love More" by Chris Brown Feat. Nicki Minaj

"Clarity" by Zedd

"I Wish" by Cher Lloyd Feat. T.I.

Football Feasting!

Comfort foods and Sunday Football go hand in hand, especially on a chilly fall day! Comfort food doesn't always have to be "bad for you" or considered a "cheat meal". The key is moderation and making smart choices for your ingredients. Avoid the fried foods and pay close attention to your portions.

Mac and cheese has always been a favorite of mine and football always calls for buffalo chicken....so I thought why not put them together!! To cheer on my Bengals (WHODEY!) my boyfriend and I whipped up this great Sunday Funday Meal.....


Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese with Honey Cinnamon Glazed Carrots

Buffalo Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

     -1 box Annie's Shells & White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese

     -3 Tablespoons Skim Milk

     -2 Cups Grilled Diced Chicken (cooked)

     -Bolthouse Farms Classic Ranch Yogurt Dressing to Taste

     -Frank's Red Hot Wings Buffalo Sauce to Taste

     -Whole Grain Bread Crumbs (optional garnish)

Prepare Annie's Mac & Cheese to the directions on the box adding the 3 Tablespoons Skim milk (no butter needed!) Cook diced chicken or heat up precooked chicken. I added some buffalo sauce to the chicken while it was cooking. Once chicken is cooked and macaroni and cheese is prepared, add chicken to pasta along with ranch dressing and extra buffalo sauce to taste. Add whole grain bread crumbs if you desire an extra crunch on top. I toasted a slice of whole grain bread and made my own bread crumbs!

Important adjustments in this recipe:

     *Using skim milk for mac & cheese is important because it is fat free! 

     *Bolthouse Farms Classic Ranch is made from a yogurt base and contains only 45 calories per serving!

Honey Cinnamon Glazed Carrots
Ingredients:
     -2 cups Baby Carrots
     -3/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
     -1/2 Tablespoon Honey

Cook baby carrots in pan with a drizzle of olive oil until carrots tender. Add cinnamon and stir, then drizzle honey on top and stir again.

Enjoy Your Football Sunday!! 

Introducing.... Tabata Tuesday

What is Tabata?

Tabata is a form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Sounds intimidating right?? Wrong! Is easy to adapt to every person and perfect for busy schedules. Tabata is done in 4 minute rounds so an entire workout can be finished in 10-20 minutes with minimal or no equipment! You also set the pace in this workout, so you can choose what you feel is your high intensity.

How does it work?

Each round consists of 4 exercises and last 4 minutes long. Intervals are 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. Grab a stopwatch and keep track of your time.
     Choose your 4 exercises and the cycles look like this...
               0:00-0:20 - Exercise 1
               0:20-0:30 - REST
               0:30-0:50 - Exercise 2
               0:50-1:00 - REST
               1:00-1:20 - Exercise 3
               1:20-1:30 - REST
               1:30-1:50 - Exercise 4
               1:50-2:00 - REST
               2:00-2:20 - Exercise 1
               2:20-2:30 - REST
               2:30-2:50 - Exercise 2
               2:50-3:00 - REST
               3:00-3:20 - Exercise 3
               3:20-3:30 - REST
               3:30-3:50 - Exercise 4
               3:50-4:00 - REST

     Rest for at least 1 minute in between each time you repeat the cycle!

Beginners: Try doing 2 full cycles (8 minutes)
Intermediate: Try doing 3 full cycles (12 minutes)
Advanced: Try doing 4 full cycles (16 minutes)

Let's Get Started......

Try these exercises for your Tabata round:
     Exercise 1: Mountain Climbers   example
     Exercise 2: Box Jumps  example (you can also use the bottom stair on a staircase if you don't have a box)
     Exercise 3: Walking Push-Ups example
     Exercise 4: Scissor Lunges    example

Suggested Playlist:

 "Timber" by Ke$ha & Pitbull

 "Heart Attack" by Enrique Iglesias

 "Earthquake" by Labyrinth & Tinie Tempah

 "TKO" by Justin Timberlake

                 

It's Never Too Late To Start... Or Restart!

After discovering I had an old blog account that was just collecting cyber dust I decided it was time to finally put it to some good use! Exercise has been a passion of mine my entire life, I even decided to make a career out of it! Let's all be honest though, whether you just got your first pair of gymshoes since childhood or you've been an avid exerciser your whole live your routine can get boring real fast! My goal here is to introduce topics and exercises that can help spark your routine. Feel free to drop me a comment about any topics on exercise your interested in or would like to know more about! I'll be sure to feature  them in an upcoming post!

Now let's get to work! It's never to late to starting taking care of yourself!