Nine Minute Arm Meltdown!

The Workout

I am not one of those people who think you need to spend an hour in the gym everyday in order to be fit. Far from it!

First of all, that is just unrealistic. I don't have an extra hour every day to workout, plus the time there and back, plus the extra time to get cleaned up and ready for the rest of my day (especially since I workout in the afternoon).

Second, I have been to the gym with people who take an hour (or more!) and honestly, I feel like I can get the same workout by pushing myself 10x harder for a shorter amount of time.

So with all of the craziness of my current life, I needed a quick arm workout last night. This one did the trick!

Be sure to use a challenging but manageable weight. Three minutes is a looooong time and the goal is to not stop and never take the tension off of your muscle.

I have been doing curls with 15lbs but I went with 10lbs so that I could complete the entire circuit. A workout buddy mentioned upping her weights but I recommended that she wait for another workout to do that. She said after the first minute that she was glad she waited!

I completed Tricep Extensions with 15lbs, Kickbacks with 5lbs and had to substitute the Pull Downs for more Extensions due to lack of access to the cable machine.

I did my pushups on my knees, Shoulder Press with 10lbs (which was very challenging after having already completed the following planks...)10lbs for Chest Flies and 5lbs for Lateral Raises.
 

The proof? My arms are so sore this morning! I love that feeling! 

Before working my arms I completed Tina's Plank Challenge. 
Although the challenge is to workout Wednesday and time your planks Monday and Friday, Wednesday is my rest day so I saved it for Thursday and I will time my plank on Saturday.

It was much harder than I thought it would be but I feel the soreness this morning so I know I got a great core workout!

Pitiful Dinner, Beautiful Breakfast

Last night's dinner was just annoying! I made Nathan some Chicken Alfredo before I went to workout but I knew I didn't want anything that carb- heavy. So I made and extra chicken breast before leaving for the gym and decided I would figure out what to do with it when I got back.

After a workout, house cleaning, and some random packing, I just wanted something quick and easy! Thank goodness the chicken was already cooked!

Since 2:30 minutes is too long to wait, I finished off the last of the Greek Yogurt while I microwaved my chicken.

Then I had my chicken with a bit of Bar-B-Q sauce. Nothing fancy, nothing extremely balanced, just protein to recover and food to make my stomach happy!

Good enough for me!

Breakfast was considerably better. I haven't had eggs for a long time and their return was very warmly welcomed.

I was running late so I wound up taking the orange with me to finish on my way to work.

Mmmmm....

How long are your normal workouts? Do you ever eat in the car on your way to work? (I do way too often)

ARMed and Dangerous

The Workout

Oh do I have a treat for you! A 15 minute upper body workout!! Score!

I don't think you should have to spend an hour a day working out to be fit and healthy. Sure there are days when you need to do your time, but you can also get a challenging workout in just 15 minutes, IF you push yourself!!

This workout NEEDS heavy weights in order to be effective. There are only a few reps of each move and you will likely only make it through this workout 4-6 times. So it is necessary to use the heaviest weights possible.

I will explain the One Leg Crawl with Curl since to my knowledge it is an Amanda Original move.

Start in a stance for a one leg dead lift. Once you reach the ground, drop your weights. While maintaining a one leg stand, crawl on your hands into the plank position, hold for one moment. Crawl back, pick up your weights and return to standing position (the second half of a deadlift). Place both feet on the ground and do 4 reps of bicep curls. This is one rep. Do two per leg before moving onto Chest Flies.

The Dinner

Last night we had my favorite!! TACOOOOSSS!!

Sure it may not be original or super healthified, but sometimes, you just need a taco.

 

Mmmm.....

And of course the star of the show....

I heart me some guacamole!!

And I may or may not (but actually did) have a little bit of this....

So worth it...

The Breakfast

Fairly average, nothing special, but oh so yummy peanut butter/banana/honey bowl.....

 

Day 5

• Day 1 & 2
• Day 3
• Day 4

Well, I can't actually tell you about it yet because Nathan hasn't gotten it yet... But stay tuned! It's a good one!!

Rain, Spaghetti Squash, and a Flash Back Workout

The Rain

I had big plans for last night's workout. It had been getting cooler out so I had planned to go on a hike. I was going to head out on the long trail and do a quick workout at every bench I came across. But then Issac came all the way to Missouri. I was so bummed.

Saturday is my "Fun Workout' day. I think the number one reason people burn out and give up is because they no longer enjoy their workout. So even if I think I may not be getting a great workout, I feel like it is beneficial to have a fun workout at least once a week.

So I went through some other options, but nothing really jumped out at me. So I decided to do an old workout of mine that I hadn't done in a while.

The Workout

This workout is only 15 minutes long but it is an intense 15 minutes if you push yourself.

I completed 13 rounds. If you try it out be sure to comment with how many you were able to do!!

The Spaghetti Squash

And now, the thing I am most excited about!! I finally experimented with Spaghetti Squash. And I will say, complete success!

How-to:

I have heard of many ways to prepare Spaghetti Squash, and I am sure I will experiment with just about all of them eventually. But here is how round one went down.

First, I sliced it in half long-ways.

Second, placed face down on a cookie sheet and poked some holes in it. It was actually a lot harder to get the fork out of the squash than it was to get it in!

Then I baked it at 375* for 45 minutes. Scooped out the seeds and insides. And scrapped out the flesh with a fork.

 

It was still a little crunchy, so I boiled it on the stove top for about ten minutes while I made my spaghetti sauce. 

It was so good! Nathan even liked it! We will most definitely be replacing pasta with squash from now on. 

Stay tuned for when I try it out in the microwave!!

Have you heard of or tried any new healthy recipes lately?