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Eat Live Be, Week #3: Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Jan 172011

Time for a weekly check-in for Eat Live Be. This week’s theme is Baby, It’s Cold Outside. It’s obviously about how we keep fit when it’s too cold to do anything but run to the car and back inside. Quickly.

It is cold outside. 21 degrees. While some people can put on some warm layers and go for a run despite the biting wind, I cannot. Maybe — and that’s a big maybe — if there wasn’t ice involved, I could suit up. But it’s doubtful. So I’m stuck inside until the ice melts and the air doesn’t hurt to breathe it.

Here’s what I’m doing indoors right now:

Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. I downloaded it via iTunes last year and break it out when I know I can’t get out and about on the trail. I hate it. I hate Jillian Michaels. I hate the advanced chick who very obviously cheats when she thinks the camera is not on her. But? It works. It’s a great workout. I just started a new 30 days, and the best thing about this time around is that FireDad is doing it with me.

Exercise.TV yoga workouts. Most specifically Cardio Yoga and Yoga for Hips, Buns and Thighs. I also downloaded these from iTunes last year. These two are my favorites, though I have some others that are meant for easier “off” days that aren’t really off days. ExerciseTV also has some other great videos for download (I prefer downloading than their free videos because our Internet is slow and makes live videos skip), so I might add some more non-yoga ones in for some variety. Their website actually has more downloadable stuff than they have on iTunes, so check it out as well.

I signed up for a yoga class at the YMCA. I was, at the time of registration for this session, only free on Monday evenings. Which only left Power Yoga with one of the more difficult trainers as the instructor. I almost didn’t sign up, intimidated by her awesomeness. I signed up anyway. I’m not as advanced as I probably should be for this class, but it should be a great learning experience.

Just Dance 2. I didn’t ever put this into the context of a workout until Carmen mentioned it. And now I add it in on days that FireDad is at work (meaning that I have a day off from 30 Day Shred). I do one of my yoga workouts and a 20-40 minute session of Just Dance 2. And I get so darn sweaty — and feel so darn awesome — that I can’t deny it’s a great workout. And it’s fun.

I should be working out at the YMCA on the elliptical and a few machines as well, but I hate the January crowds. Probably by mid-February, when everyone else has gone home, I’ll try to get back into a groove at the gym. Until then, I’ll be working it at home and ignoring the cold.

I honestly can’t wait until it warms up and I can get back outside. I do love winter. And, let’s be honest, sled-riding with your kids is a total workout. But I need some air that I can actually breathe before I can get back outside and start trying to run again.

So tell me, what do you do to stay fit when it’s too cold to go outside? I could use a few more ideas for variety! Do share! I’ll be checking out some of the other participants’ posts today for some great cold-weather recipes.

Don’t forget to visit the Eat Live Be facebook page and checkout the blogs of the other participants!

Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011: Week 1

Goals, Health 16 Responses »

Jan 032011

One of my favorite bloggers, Cate at Sweetnicks, contacted me a few weeks ago about a project she was working on with Sarah at Cucina Bella. The two bloggers were working toward a mutual weight loss goal and decided to invite other bloggers — food and non-food bloggers alike — for a fun 2011 challenge. I accepted.

While they’re racing to see who can lose 40 pounds first, I’m joining some other bloggers in a healthy new year. I do have a weight loss goal — 20 pounds — that would put me back in the healthy BMI range and back to where I got last year before I jumped off the wagon. As I said yesterday in my 2011 Projects post, I’m also working very hard on food consumption, regular exercise again, and water, water, water. So, very simply, those are my goals. More specifically:

1) Really focus on portion size. My problem is that I really, really like food. I like the way it tastes. I like to prepare it. I like it. A lot. And so I have this tendency to fill my plate. And eat it all. I’m mindful of portion sizes when I give the boys’ their plates; I want them to eat enough but I don’t want them to have too much (because they WHINE). And so I need to do it myself. Maybe I need to start making yucky food. Ha! And no pop. I mean, c’mon. I have a fire department specific issue with this as well, which I’ll talk about in a post soon. Other fire families will understand when I post it, too.

2) Exercise 5 days per week. I’m not talking marathon exercise lengths of time. Just something. For 20 minutes. Five days per week. I can do more, but 20 minutes is my minimum. I will start running again — when it warms up. Sorry, I don’t do cold weather running. Nor do I run on treadmills as my ankle cannot handle it. Yoga and Jillian Michaels will be my cold weather exercise resources.

3) Eight glasses of water per day. I used to be great with this, and, yes, I threw myself off the wagon. Time to get back on. I feel so much fuller and so much cleaner when I have my water intake up, up, up!

And so, we’re supposed to share out starting point. Yeah. Hmm. I weighed myself for the first time in, oh, five months… right in the midst of holiday consumption. Silly FireMom! Last week I ate well and exercised, so for my first check-in, I am xx2 pounds. I won’t tell you what that weight is as I don’t have to: I am more than a number. It’s not a horrible number, and it wasn’t overly surprising as I could tell the difference in how my clothes (and bras, people, BRAS) fit. When I check-in next week, I will report I am xxx, which is + or – x pounds from my start of xx2. That’s how I’m rolling with this one. Someday when FireDad is home, I’ll have him take a full body shot. Yay?

Next week’s topic is Where Is Your Support Community? If you’d like to join in, go ahead! You can also check out our Facebook page. The more the merrier.

For more motivation, check out the blogs of the other participants:

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