Monday, June 25, 2012

At Home Workout

This workout will be anywhere from 30- 45 minutes depending on how many/how long of breaks you take. This is a sample of one of the workouts we do at the class I teach at the park on Fridays- which is a lower body day!

Start with a 5-10 minute warm up of ballistic exercises to warm up your body and muscles. This will prevent injury. For example, do jumping jacks, do some sprints, or jump rope. Then do some quick, light stretching like touching your toes, split squatsshoulder stretch, biceps/chest stretch, and standing hamstring stretch, just to name a few.

We'll start the workout with a tabata workout. It's a high intensity 4 minute workout. Do not take breaks during these four minutes to get the full benefits of a Tabata workout. It is 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. It's only four minutes, you can do it. ;) You get the benefits however of doing a 60 minute cardio workout!

Burpees with a jump knee tuck- 20 seconds

10 seconds rest
Jumping lunges (alternating legs)- 20 seconds
10 seconds rest
Mountain Climbers- 20 seconds
10 seconds rest
Squat jumps- 20 seconds
10 seconds
(Then we'll repeat that)

Burpees with a jump knee tuck- 20 seconds
10 seconds rest
Jumping lunges (alternating legs)- 20 seconds

10 seconds rest
Mountain Climbers- 20 seconds
10 seconds rest
Squat jumps- 20 seconds
10 seconds rest and you are DONE!

Now on to the rest of our workout:

180 degree jump squats- 20 each way, 40 total. If you're not able to jump, just quickly step back and forth.
Reverse lunge with kick- 20 each leg
Wide (or Plie) squat jump- 25 total
Repeat this (try not to take a break until you have repeated it. Then take a water break)

4 direction hops for 1 minute total, 30 seconds on each leg (I can't find a good picture to demonstrate. Just hop on one foot making a cross on the ground. Hop forward, back, left and right, repeat.)
Squat to lateral leg lifts- 20 total, alternating legs
Step ups- 20 total, alternating legs. Find anything to step up on. A park bench, a fire place, a chair, even your couch.
Repeat and then take a water break.

Plank jacks for 1 minute
Plank leg lifts- 25 each leg

Bridge lifts- 25

Repeat and then quickly grab some water and we'll move on to abs.

Mason twist (you can do this without an exercise ball)- 25 each side, 50 total
Crunches with holding your legs at 90 degrees- 25
V-Ups- 25 
(That totals 100 reps for ab work!)

Finally, do some cool down, static stretching. 

Challenge. Change.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Iced Cafe Mocha

My last couple prenatal visits have shown that my body is way too acidic. Meaning that I eat more acid containing foods than alkaline. Acid foods are foods like pork or beef, peanut butter, cocoa powder, most cheeses, deli meats, ketchup, eggs, corn tortillas, and butter. The best alkaline foods are your leafy greens like spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens or vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, and cucumbers. Lemons, olive oil, grapefruit, berries, raw honey, coconut oil, and cinnamon are all examples of foods that help balance out the acidity in your body. Most people, and me since being pregnant, eat a diet that consists of mostly acidic foods. It's best to pair an acidic food with an alkaline food. Like chicken and asparagus. Or peanut butter on celery.

That being said, I am not a huge coffee drinker, but after I knew I shouldn't have it...guess what I started craving all the time. ;)

Then I stumbled upon this!


It's a tea that comes in different coffee flavors. You can make it two ways. The first looks like coffee grounds and you just run it through your coffee maker like you would make a cup of coffee. The other way comes as tea bags and you just brew it like you would a cup a tea...but it tastes like coffee!

Here is a recipe for a delicious, 200 calorie, healthier alternative to a regular iced cafe mocha.

Brew 10-12 oz of Teeccino. Put in freezer to let it cool down. Add 1/3 cup coconut milk*, dash or two of cinnamon, 2 tbsp of cocoa powder, and 10-15 drops of Stevia. Add some ice and I always find that it tastes yummier if you pour it into a pretty cup. haha.
*You could substitute with almond milk for a lower calorie drink, but then it wouldn't be as creamy.