Fitness: Orangetheory

We are going to Maui very soon and in order to feel like myself again and get into swimsuit shape I’ve been going to Orangetheory classes since November and loving it! If you’re not familiar with Orangetheory, google it :) But, I am love-love-loving it so much. Each workout is different and challenging and I am seeing my old body come back. Having that hour to myself is something I’ve needed for a long time, but I always felt guilty leaving G to go workout, so I hardly ever went.

In the fall I started to feel a lot of anxiety and just hadn’t been feeling myself so I decided to try Orangetheory (at the urging of my sister in law) and I signed up that night (her birthday!) and haven’t looked back since.

The class is an hour long, half the time spent on the treadmill and half on the rowers/in the weight room. You can choose to start on the rowers or the treadmill. I always start on the rowers because I like to get warmed up in the weight room then end my workout with the running.

The goal of Orangetheory is to get into the 'orange' heart-rate zone and stay there for 12 or more minutes. Everyone who buys a heart-rate monitor can see their stats up on a screen and it is SUPER motivating!

If you’re curious about Orangetheory or would like more workout posts and tips, please let me know! I’m also really going to focus on eating healthier (which I am terrible at), so any delicious/healthy recipes, please send my way!

And, I'm not going to post my results on here because I'm always terrified that a student will read my blog, but I am more than happy to email you my results if you'd like!

Lastly, these are my FAVORITE running shoes and as someone who has been active all her life and played sports in college, I can say these are the only shoes that have never hurt my feet! Also, I'm obsessed with these leggings and workout tops! For someone who works out 5-6 times a week, investing in good workout clothes is a must.

Easy At Home Workouts

I've always been super active. Playing sports my whole life, even in college, has led me to know nothing else than working out. I love going to the gym and doing classes. My whole life I've had some coach yelling at me to "push it!", but last week we cancelled our gym membership, so I'm left to figure out workouts that will keep me in shape, but can be done at home.

Now that I am a mom, my workouts have changed. When Graham was around 3 weeks we started going on nightly walks. Once I got the clear from my doctor at 6 weeks, our walks turned into jogs mixed with lunges, squats, and push-ups along the way. Yes, I feel silly stopping on sidewalk and pumping out some push-ups, but Chris and I know that if we wait until we get home from our walk, we won't do them.

Running has never been my thing. I've ran one half marathon and I HATED it. All I kept thinking was, "I'm SO bored!" But, getting out each evening for a nice jog has been great. I am surprised as to how much stamina my body held onto after giving birth.

We cancelled our gym membership because Chris works out at the gym at his work and our rates were going up. Plus, there was an additional fee to put G in the childcare, which is only open at certain times throughout the day.

So, here we are left to figure out easy workouts to do at home.

To start, Chris and I have started a 30 day squat challenge. We are on day 8 of this program. I hope to remember to take pictures soon to see a before and after. We are also going to do a push-up challenge once I feel up to it. My lower abs are still a bit sore when I do push-ups, so the few I've been doing on our runs is plenty. We want to do the 100 push-ups for 100 days challenge like Sarah did!

Here are a few other effective and easy workouts that can be done at home. You can follow my fitness Pinterest page to see other workouts I've been pinning!

And of course the ultimate motivator to workout is new workout clothes!

I'm loving all these printed leggings!! How fun for summer!

New workout tops are something I like to switch out every year just because of how gross some of them become. All of these tanks are really cute!

And we can't forget about tennis shoes! There are so many fun colors and patterns to choose from now days. These options are girly, yet get the job workout done.

So what workouts do you other moms do? How do I start to like running?!

Happy Monday!

Jogger Egg Nogger 15K



Cool and intriguing name, right? That is how they suck you into this race. "Oh, you get an unlimited amount of Egg Nogg after the race!" Why yes, sir, Egg Nogg is all I ever dreamed of after running 9.3 miles. Ummm, not! Barf. By the way, the picture above is for giggles only. No, I will maybe only once never be caught running in a Santa Speedo.

I have told y'all before how I used to play softball in college, which equates to working out. a lot. Fast forward a couple years, and a marriage later and BAM, see ya gym! Wouldn't wanna be ya!

Yup, basically about a month before I married my Prince Charming I kicked the can on the whole working out thaang. I was too busy buying a house, planning a wedding, attending graduate school, and working 65+ hours a week as a tax accountant. Add all that up together and there was no room for the gym.

"I ain't as good as I once was...", as Toby Keith once sang, is my anthem right now. Back in tha day (as in college years) I would spend hourssss at the gym playing racquetball, ping pong, doing aerobics, and chit chatting. Hey, you can't forget about the face muscles! My roommates and I all played sports so we lived in the gym. It was our comfort zone, our happy place. I guess we were gym rats...hahah totally kidding! These days sitting at my desk for 8+ hours a day is an unwelcome change of pace from my past active lifestyle. Add a husband that eats pizza everyday and never gains a pound to the mix, and you get a body that just feels blah.

Blah. Let's break that down. I am not complaining of how I physically look. Is any woman ever completely happy with their body? No, but you must love and embrace what God gave you. I will never be a double zippo. Never ever. So that is not what my goal is. My goal is to just feel better. When someone goes from working out daily, to not working out in months...blah.

This brings me to the Jogger Egg Nogger. Lucky for me I have to coolest sister-in-law ever and she convinced me to run this 15K race with her...IN THREE WEEKS! That is 9.3 MILES PEOPLE! What kind of sister-in-law is she?!? A great one :)

We got to talking and we both just feel blah. Physically and mentally. We just need some activity in our lives. We decided that in reality, we can't run 9.3 miles without stopping after training for only three weeks. After talking it over, we decided we would do it no matter how much we ran or walked! Since I am not planning on running a marathon anytime soon, it just matters that I finish!

Saturday was the day we decided on this, meaning Sunday was one last day to gorge myself on leftovers from Thanksgiving and Monday started "training" day 1.

That leads me to Monday morning. I set my alarm in order to get up and go workout. I snoozed that baby for an hour! Pa-thet-ic! Omg I am embarrassed for even saying that! Ha! I laid in bed and tried to talk myself out of working out. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to going to the gym. At 7:00 AM I decided enough was enough and I was going to the gym to run two miles. No ifs ands or buts about it.

Oh. my. goodness. Why is it that on a treadmill you see the time ticking, but it seems in slow motion? I mean I swear my snooze timer is on some lightning fast timer. One second I hit snooze and beep beep beep, five seconds later it goes off again telling me my ten minutes has already passed! Liar! The treadmill timer is the complete opposite. O..n..e, t...w...o, t..h..r..e..e, and so on. Sooooo slowwww.

Here is the treadmill after my workout. Yes, I ran/power walked two miles in 23:06 minutes. Woo hoo! I didn't even die/pass out/cry-and-make-Chris-come-get-me! Maybe I felt it later when I went to work and had to walk up stairs, or maybe I felt like I was in my prime, but no one has to know that I took the stairs and cringed on every step.

Tuesday was training day 2. I was honestly just proud that I made it to the gym!! The plan was to run two miles again...but my legs felt like jell-o. I ran one mile and was perfectly happy with that. Baby steps Sarah, baby steps. (Baby steps: sign up for a 9.3 mile race after not running for months!)

Wednesday was a busy day at work, starting with an early morning tax training session. I dedicated Wednesdays as my off day. Wednesdays and Saturdays Fridays.

Thursday was exactly like Monday. Literally. I walked/jogged two miles in 23 minutes...whao-buddy...shaved six seconds off that baby!

If anyone wants to run the Dallas Jogger Egg Nogger 15K, it is $40 until December 4th and then goes up to $45. They also have a 5K for the smarter people who would rather not run 9.3 miles.

Does anyone have any advice on training for a 15K in 3 weeks?? I need some secrets, magic, and a whole lotta pixie dust to train for this race!

Many Cancers One Run

This past Saturday, October 6th, was the Many Cancers One Run in Uptown.

An email went out in our office last week saying there were people who had to drop out, so there were open spots. Instantly I was thinking, "YES, I'll do it!" Then I back tracked and reminded myself that I am super out of shape and get winded going to the refridgerator haven't worked out in monthsssss. For people who know me, that is unusual, but I swear, once I got married I lost all motivation. Blame it on the ma ma ma ma ma marriage. I also blame it on the marriage because Chris has no desire to work out either. Maybe one day we will get back into working out. Right now we are just enjoying our first offical break from working out since....like 15 years ago.

We both started playing sports, year-around, at a young age, so I think it is perfectly okay to take some time off. The problem is...Chris doesn't work out and he losses 15 pounds and has to punch two new holes in his belt. I don't work out and...well, women know what I am talking about. Let's just say I wasn't having to punch new holes in my belt. I've had to alter what I eat in order to make up for my lack in working out. Hey, ya win some and ya lose some, and at the end of the day, I'm gonna eat that darn cookie!

After the thought of me huffing and puffing got out of my head, I hit reply on the email and said I'd take a spot! Even though I haven't ran, gone to the gym, done any physical actvity in a super-duper long time I finished the 5k in 33 minutes! Who cares about the time?!?! All I cared about was not dying on the Katy Trail! There was so much motivation knowing I was running for a good cause. Plus, I was super proud of myself that I only walked to, of course, take a couple pics :)

Did I mention that this was the first morning in Texas that it actually felt like fall? Ya, it was chilly!

This cutie got up at 6:00am on a Saturday to come out and support his wife. You're the best, Christopher! Then he took me on a date to Bread Winners where I devoured blueberry pancakes and bacon. Hey, no judging! I just ran three miles on a Saturday morning!

We had the best spot at the restaurant. Looking at this view made me kinda-sorta feel like I wasn't even in Dallas. It was a perfect Saturday!