Tag: holidays

This Week: Workouts, Schedule, Things I’m Looking Forward To

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I hope all of you had a nice and relaxing week last week. I know I sure did! As I’ve said before, there’s just something about being home in Maine that always relaxes me. I still have some catching up to do with you, which I hope will happen over the next few days. I am trying to relax a bit more, stress less and be less regimented, which might mean my posts aren’t as “timely” as they usually are.

But, with that said, let’s get to the workouts! Last week’s ended up being awesome, which is always a nice surprise during a holiday week when I am home in Maine for most of it.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I had dinner plans after work, which meant I needed to get up and workout before work. I got up and did this workout and was happy with my choice! I tend to forget about workouts after I post them on here or teach them in class, so it’s always a nice surprise when I decide to go back and dig up an old workout to do.
  • Tuesday- I thought it might be a rest day since I didn’t get up to workout before heading north, but after lunch, I was able to sneak in a quick 25 minute workout at my parents house. I did this workout, 6 times through and some other stuff at the end. It was perfect!
  • Wednesday- Does playing Santa’s Elf, drinking champagne and napping constitute as a workout? Nah, I didn’t think so! Rest day 🙂
  • Thursday- My sister, mom and I all went to the local YMCA for a strength class, which was awesome!! I ran 1.25 miles before the class and was so happy with how great the class was. We did all sorts of fun things using toys that I don’t get to use at the BSC- and, it left me quiteeee sore for a few days. Success! But the best part? Having my mom and sister in class with me 🙂
  • Friday- I went to another class at the local YMCA because I love the instructor (old family friend). It was an Athletic Cardio and Core class and we did tabata cardio, 9 mins of abs (3 exercises, 60 seconds each, 3 rounds) and repeated that 3 times. It was great!
  • Saturday- I wanted to go to the Circuit class at the Y before heading back to MA, but I woke up VERY sore so I decided to rest. Well, that was before I got home and realized it was 50 degrees and still light out at 4pm after I finished unpacking, so I decided to go for a quick jog (5K). I needed to clear my head of a few things and a run always helps that. It was pretty speedy, too, which is always nice.
  • Sunday- I still felt sore from Thursday/Friday so rather than going to a muscle class, I went to a spin class. Remember how I said I didn’t feel like I worked that hard in the other spin class I went to? I realized why… the instructor wasn’t that great! Sunday morning’s instructor was awesome! She gave us ranges for our levels and RPM’s and we did all sorts of fun things. I worked really hard and left there feeling amazing! I followed up my ride with upper body strength and some core work. Solid start to my day!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I am subbing the 6:30 kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC again. I hope it’s a good crowd and I hope people don’t leave 😦
  • Tuesday- I don’t have NYE plans at the moment, but I will probably still get up and workout before work so that I’ll have that out of the way in case something comes up!
  • Wednesday- Not sure! Could be a rest day, could be a workout…
  • Thursday- FINALLY back to my “regular” teaching schedule with my two a day Thursday. Can’t wait!
  • Friday- Again, not sure. Might be a rest day since I like Friday’s as rest days.
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the YMCA- come burn off your holiday calories 😉
  • Sunday- Per usual, my Sunday workout will be determined based on how my other workouts for the week went. I’d love to get a strength workout in, but we will see.

Schedule

It’s funny. In years past, I have stressed about my NYE plans with my friends, trying to figure out if we should go to a bar (and what bar we should go to) or if we should go to a house party, but this year I am just letting things happen. Tuesday night could be spent with friends or by myself, and to be honest, as long as I’m not out at a bar (really not interested in that this year), I don’t care what I do:) Other than that, I have work and teaching. It will be nice to ease back into a somewhat normal schedule this week.

Things I Am Looking Forward To

Hmmm. To be honest, I am a little “blah” going into this week. Part post holiday blues, post I-don’t-know, but I am hoping that once I get back into the swing of things today I’ll be back to my normal self! I’m looking forward to teaching this week- big time! And I am looking forward to the start of a new year. I am not one for “resolutions” (all that stuff makes me totally turned off. It’s like whenever I make a resolution, I immediately want to break it, so I just don’t make them!), but for 2014, I do have some things I want to change/incorporate. I’ll share them with you soon!

Questions for you: Did you get any good workouts in over the holidays? When’s the last time you went to a class that left you super sore? Do you have NYE plans? What are you looking forward to this week?

Celebrations & Decorating for Christmas

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The past weekend was full of some of my favorite things: birthday celebrations, lots of girl time and decorating for Christmas. Saturday was my sister’s birthday, so Friday night we went out with our closest girlfriends to celebrate both Danielle’s and Amy’s birthdays. It was such a fun night! If you missed my post on Saturday, click here for the recap.

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Saturday morning, I headed to Brighton to teach kickboxing. From there, I ran errands and then met Danielle and Amy for lunch at The Asgard in Central Square. The last time I was there was for Athena’s birthday back in August. The lunch was SO good. seriously we were all gushing about it!

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My first stop of the night was at my friend Lauren’s apartment in Malden. My friend Liz came with me, which was an added bonus! Lauren’s apartment was so cute and festive and they even had a “photo booth” area set up. How fun is that?! I love getting together with my SMC girls.

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Like my skirt? It’s my new sparkle skirt from the Gap and I am obsessed with it!!

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Around 9, Liz and I grabbed a cab and headed to Scholars for Danielle and Amy’s birthday celebrations. I haven’t been OUT OUT in the city in so long.

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We randomly ran into my old yoga instructor, which was SUCH a fun surprise! I love this girl to pieces and hate that I don’t see her every week anymore:(

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Sunday morning I woke up feeling: A. Happy I decided to not have that last drink at the bar and B. happy that I was home by 12:30. I had a full day of errands, so after I relaxed and had breakfast, I got busy! I went to the Christmas Tree Shop, Market Basket and Home Depot and then I spent the afternoon decorating my apartment! Even though it’s only me and my apartment is small, I couldn’t imagine not decorating for Christmas! My tree is small, but it’s perfect for my apartment. I can’t wait to decorate it this week!

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This was exactly what I needed to get me into the spirit! There’s nothing like the feeling of having a freshly cleaned and newly decorated apartment!

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Do you get a real Christmas tree or fake one?

{Holiday Series} Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Buns Burner

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Hi there! Happy Wednesday. December is a time where we are all faced with lots of holiday parties and outings, which generally involve cocktails and snacks, and often times replace your after-work workout, right?

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This month, for my Wednesday Workout series, rather than focusing on posting longer workouts I may have taught in class or done at home, I am going to post shorter workouts that you can do before you go to work, on your lunch break, or quickly after work before you meet up for your holiday get together. It’s easy to push workouts to the side when you’re busy (I get so tired of hearing “I don’t have time to workout”. Well, yes you do. You just have to rearrange your schedule and MAKE time for your workout), but when you’re skipping your workout AND indulging more frequently than usual, it will probably catch up to you, which is why it’s so common to gain weight over the holidays. Obviously, if you do this once and a while, that’s totally fine… we all deserve days like that and you won’t gain 5lbs because you skipped a workout in favor of cocktail hour, but when you start doing it a few times a week for a few weeks in a row (holiday season), you may start to notice some not-so-great changes.

SO! With that said, here is your first Holiday Series Wednesday Workout post! This workout is designed to be a quickie 20-minute thing, but if you’ve only got 10 minutes, just do it once, because you know what? 10 minutes is better than nothing 😉

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I got good reviews from the Booty Burner workout and video I posted a few months ago, so I thought it would be fun to post another glute workout for you. This one incorporates cardio moves that specifically target the glutes, as well as body weight strength exercises, also specifically targeting the glutes. No equipment is necessary, so this can literally be done anywhere- no excuses! 🙂

I’m thinking of doing an upper-body cardio and strength circuit next week, followed by abs the week after and a combination on the last week… thoughts? Do you guys like this idea of a “Holiday Series” of quick, but effective workouts? I want to know your thoughts!

Questions for you: What do you do to stay on track during holiday season? Do you workout before work or during lunch? Do you skip out on appetizers? What do you drink for lighter beverages?