Good Morning Abs.

At home this morning I figured I’d get in a decent ab workout before I went on with my day. Here’s what I did:

50 Crunches
15 Pushups
1 min Plank
30 sec Side Plank
30 sec Side Plank
30 Mt. Climbers
20 Dead Bug Crunches
30 Alternating Leg Raises
1 min Plank with hip twists
15 Pushups
20 Wipers
15 Lateral Leg Lifts
15 Lateral Leg Lifts

Get them done as fast as you can.

Lateral Leg Lifts

Alternating Leg Lifts– Keep your heals off the ground the whole time, and lift each leg individually as high as you can with keeping the knee straight.

Dead Bug Crunches

Wipers–Throw legs from side to side without letting legs fall to the floor.

Plank With Twists

Gluten Free: A Lifestyle Not Just a Diet.

When I first suggested to my friends and family that I was going to try going gluten free, many didn’t think it was a feasible goal, and many in their own ways questioned why I’d ever do such a thing. It took quite a few months to finally feel like I’ve adapted my diet enough that there really is a difference in how I feel and my energy levels, so looking back, it never really mattered what anyone else thought about this adjustment—What mattered is I would find a way to make the necessary changes on my own time.

The reasons behind this change in my diet actually sprouted from a couple different sources:
1. I was experiencing serious stomach cramps, and digestion problems…I needed to track down the culprit so I took the one thing I ate most from my diet. When I didn’t eat gluten, I felt fine. So I would try throwing it back into my diet. Not fine. Itty bitty tiny amounts of gluten don’t do much harm but I noticed that whole meals or even small things here and there throughout the day just didn’t settle well. This had been going on a very long time and I never took the time to figure it out.
2. I don’t like the way our foods are processed these days, as well as how much crap is being sold in grocery stores…which meant maybe going gluten free will help me also eat more organic and natural foods. And it has.

In my little world, I love food. I love to cook as well, which makes my passion for food even stronger. I’m also a carb freak! I love breads, pastas, pastries, cookies, sandwiches…you name it, and it’s got gluten in it! At first I struggled fitting gluten free foods into my diet because I had this notion in my mind that being gluten free was difficult. So I began with gluten free bread for my breakfast instead of plain toast. That was easy enough—maybe a bit more expensive, but not bad. And then I branched out into corn tortillas instead of flour; also easy. Little by little I shopped around for ways to get those gluten free foods into my diet without feeling like I’m missing out.

I think that’s where a lot of people are wrong. You don’t miss out on anything when you are gluten free. Maybe eating out at restaurants is more tricky, and maybe traveling isn’t always a breeze because you can’t just swing into a fast food place and order a sandwich or burger—but you shouldn’t be eating that anyways!

Here’s my advice from my experiences so far:
1. Know your options. There really is gluten in just about everything. If you are wanting to really get strict about this, you should definitely do a little research. I am strict enough to make sure that main ingredients aren’t gluten. The big things to look out for are WHEAT, BARLEY, RYE, & SPELT. There are little subcategories of each that might try to trick you so beware.
2. Learn to love rice, potatoes, risotto, beans and fresh veggies/fruits. Nuts of course are okay as well. So is tapioca.
3. When you are traveling and must have fast food, chose SUBWAY (they have a gluten free bread now, and their salad options) or other places where you get more options as far as fresh salads or non-breaded items go. Better yet, pack your own food in a cooler.
4. Be experimental. I can’t stress this one enough! You will never know how many gluten free options you have until you start playing around with them. Even if you keep things simple, there are premade options for pizzas, treats, and much more…but start making your own creations and you won’t feel limited at all!
5. Ask other people to accommodate you or help them prepare food for dinner parties. Don’t be shy about this. (My husband’s grandmother went out of her way to make gluten free tortillas for my birthday…such a sweetheart!)
6. Make this a lifestyle not just a diet. It does take a little while to fully adapt to a new routine, but once you get the hang of things it’s easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Some yummies I’ve come up with:
1. GF shortbread cookies topped with chocolate, butterscotch, pecans and almonds
2. GF banana cream cake with chocolate ganache
3. GF pizza crust and my own toppings…….yum!
The list goes on………

I could go on and on about reasons to go gluten free, and helpful hints to make your goal successful, along with gluten free recipes I’ve come up with, but this would be a novel. I guess I’ll just leave it at this: When your body is trying to tell you something, listen to it.

Legs & Butt…Supplementing Our Runs

We’re finishing our first week of marathon training, and though the workouts are similar to what we used to do, we are adding in more mileage when it comes to our runs, which means when we hit the gym for a workout, it’s got to be a good one! Running will make your legs lean. And sure, running in the snow and ice makes all those stabilizers work hard…but there is nothing like a great leg workout!

This leg workout was actually very challenging because we didn’t have much of a warm-up before hand. (Our mistake…we were tight and sore half way through all the exercises)

Our buddy Shaun says this is “Instant Ass!!!”

DB Step-ups with Knee Drives x 10 each leg
Sumo squats (deep squats) x 15
Walking Lunges x 20
Glute Kicks on Smith Machine x 10 each leg
Step- Offs x 10 each leg
3 sets!!!