Daily Routine
As we gear up for the first full week in January, a time where most everyone starts their New Year resolutions I thought it would be the perfect time to share what a typical routine looks like for me. At the end of this post I’m also sharing my favorite go-to smoothie recipe. My fitness & wellness journey has been a work in progress over the last year and a half. A typical week day starts at 5:00am, I wake up, take the dog out, and get ready for the gym. Four days a week I share a personal trainer with 2 of my girlfriends. Sharing workouts with friends that have the same fitness goals is a great way to stay motivated and keep the cost down. When I came to Dave almost 2 years ago I felt frustrated with my overall health. It wasn’t the weight I saw on the scale, but rather how I felt in my clothes and my overall strength. Dave’s training philosophy was not something I was use to and his workouts intimidated me quite honestly. I started out only 2 days a week, grew to 3 and now happily go 4 days a week. Our workouts are one hour and are mostly strength training related with small bursts of cardio.
A typical workout consists of a short warm-up to get our bodies moving followed by 4-5 sets consisting of 3 exercises each. Some of my favorites include weighted Bulgarian lunges, squat holds on the wall, 30 second high knee sprints (the real way abs are made), and plank holds.
Dave has also taught me the importance of allowing your body to rest, Wednesdays are typically my day off and I take the weekends to do something I enjoy whether playing tennis or going for a run.
Since working out is only part of the equation here are some other things I’ve changed to help me achieve my goals thus far -
Drinking alcohol. I was in a bad habit of having a glass of wine almost every night while cooking dinner. What I didn’t realize was that it wasn’t the calories I needed to worry about. Alcohol suppresses your fat burning enzymes, so drinking everyday can nearly negate all the hard work in the gym. Before the holidays I was really good about saving my wine for a Friday or Saturday night, starting this week I’m back to it! Another great benefit for me was better sleep and feeling more rested overall.
Cheat meals. In a perfect world there would only be one per week, but I’m not quite there yet. I try to keep it together during the week and save my cheat meals for the weekend. We all have our weaknesses and cheese and crackers are mine, in fact I could consume a charcuterie board for dinner.
Intermittent Fasting. This was a total game changer for me. I stumbled on a program called the FASTer Way to Fat Loss and signed up for a 6 week session in September 2018. I’m not a consultant and not currently in the program but if you want to find out more information you can check it out here, www.fasterwaytofatloss.com . What I took away from the program and have stuck to is intermittent fasting, I loved that it wasn’t a diet but rather an eating schedule. There are a few ways to go about this and I will tell you how it ’s worked for me; Monday-Friday I fast which means I finish eating my last meal by 7:30pm and don’t eat until the following day around 12pm. During the fasting period I can only have: water, unsweetened ice tea w/lemon, black coffee (absolutely no creamer even if it has zero sweetener). I typically break my fast with either a smoothie, eggs or salad, have a snack around 3pm with my kids and eat dinner at 7pm. The hardest part for me was giving up creamer in my coffee so on the weekends I indulge.
My favorite smoothie. I’ve been drinking this same one on and off for years. I recently came back to it after getting my braces on this fall, it just makes one meal that much easier for me to ‘eat’. What I love most, besides the taste, is that it’s a plant based protein powder, has 2 servings of fruits & veggies and is organic. I’ve linked my two favorite flavors below, chocolate and chocolate peanut butter. Recipe below.
Smoothie Recipe
1 scoop of protein powder
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk (I prefer the Califra brand)
1 tbsp of Justin’s peanut butter
1 half banana (you could switch this for 1/2 avocado if your watching your sugar)
1 scoop of ice
Blend until the consistency is smooth like a milkshake
I invested in our Vitamix a few years ago and it’s probably one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. I not only use it to make smoothies but have also made hummus and other dips as well. They are pricey but well worth it.
