Admission

First, I want to say that this is NOT a baby blog, and I have no intention of posting regularly about my baby, or my mommy life, though I love blogs geared that way. This is still an outlet for me outside of that part of myself. BUT, occasionally it all overlaps, so this is a deviation from my normal posting path. Stay with me (please!).

I have an admission. I don't work out as much as I a) would like to, b) sometimes say that I do, and c) should. I am active, for sure. And I lift and approximately 20 lb. weight almost everywhere I go at home, all day long, but I don't *actually* work out enough most weeks. And by "enough" I mean "enough for my own satisfaction."

I recently realized that I could make this admission to others, but more importantly to myself, and have made a personal commitment to address this issue within the reality of my life as it currently is. This means adjusting to weird schedules, and needy little hands reaching for me, and full-time work + full-time momma, and still carving out dedicated (and reasonable) time for health and fitness.

So I've decided to cancel my gym membership temporarily and build in fitness in a way that makes more sense for me and doesn't stress me out. The reality is I just can't get to the gym in any sort of regular enough manner to make it beneficial. Some weeks I can get there 3-4 times. Other weeks it's a big fat 0. Consistency matters in fitness, so this isn't working for now. And I can put that money toward something else until regular gym visits make sense again.

To counter the lack of gym means I have to get creative and motivated at home and on the move. So I've been looking for, pinning, and doing lots of fun at-home workouts. I have light dumbells (5 lbs... I should probably buy 8 and/or 10 lb. weights, too) and a TV and a computer, so I can work out! And you can, too.

Here are my go-to workouts lately (disclaimer: I don't know and am not sponsored at all by anyone whose workouts I use. They're just good ones I've found so I'm happy to share them, but I'm not getting anything for putting these out there.):

ARMS:

(via)

This workout is great. You don't need heavy weights to feel it. You could probably use soup cans if you don't have dumbbells at home. I go through it once, wait 30 seconds to a minute, repeat, and if I'm feeling particularly motivated, do that a third time. My arms are a bit shaky by the end. And there's nothing complicated here - all easy moves that anyone can do. BTW, this workout (and many others on my Fit n Healthy Pinterest board) is from the blog Fit Fab Cities. I don't know how I found my way to this blog, but it's fantastic. Among other things she posts, my favorites are her printable workouts and her weekend challenges. They're creative routines that are manageable and have great impact. I have done at least a million of them (okay, maybe not, but a lot) and they're all solid and effective. They make it easy to change things up and still have a great overall workout and not get fitness-bored. Again, no sponsorship, just personal endorsement based on my own experience.

LEGS/BOOTY:

(via)

I'm pretty sure you want a Brazilian butt. I would LOVE  Brazilian butt. I don't know if I'll get one from doing this workout, but I do know that I'm panting by the end of it, and that my lower half is sore for 2-3 days after. I couldn't find the original post on the Tumblr this is from, but this is all you need. It's intense and twice is enough!

ABS:

(via)

This isn't exactly what I've been doing, but it's nearly identical, and it's great. This is also from Fit Fab Cities - another printable workout that you can stick in your pocket and do anywhere.

CARDIO:

Walk walk walk. Walk everywhere walk. I walk every single day and make sure I'm not just ambling, but walking hard with purpose, even with a stroller. I haven't been as motivated to run lately, but I do make sure I'm moving every single day, and I think that's good for now.

Now that I've publicly admitted my fitness lull, I feel a bit more accountable to addressing it. Do you do any easy-to-manage at-home routines? Link me!

New Year Shout-Outs

Happy New Year! Is it just me, or did 2011 really zip by?! I feel like I blinked and it was the holidays again. And now here we are in 2012! Holy moly!

2011 was filled with lots of good things and bright moments. Lots of friends, lots of laughter, lots of family, lots of fulfilling and active choices. And there is only more good to come in this next year. I'm going to try to write more meaningful posts, though there will inevitably also be some good ol' fluff, because, well, who am I kidding. First up - the Golden Globes are around the corner, so get ready for A's and my second round of Award Show Fashion Recaps! Whee!

But before we go there, I want to start the year off with a little shout-out to some of my friends who have some noteworthy things going on in their worlds, electronic or real. In no particular order...


* A's new(ish) blog, Anthologie, is great. Just all around great. She themes each day, and therefore has some really good fodder for consistent, content-rich posts. There are good updates for those who know her and her family, but there's also regular good stuff on crafts, food, beauty products, fashion, and lots of great ideas. If you're on Pinterest (and if you're not, get on Pinterest), you'll want to pin a million little tidbits from her posts.

* Another friend A made a hugely bold move and quit her (amazing) full-time job at a major magazine in NY to pursue a freelance career and move back to Chicago (yay for us in Chicago!). First and foremost - I am incredibly impressed by A's bravery, and also by her tenacity. She's been writing away, taking this freelance life by the horns and killing it. You can check her out in this month's Whole Living, where her article on being healthier in the work place made the cover - WOOT! Go A!

* My friend EA is also taking on new challenges in 2012... And she faced her trepidation and is doing it in the blogosphere! The 52 Project will have E and anyone who chooses to join her doing something different each week for the year, with the over-arching goal of simply living a healthier, more balanced, more meaningful and inspired every day. How wonderful is that?! I'm going to join her wherever I feel inspired, and you should, too! It's a fantastic idea, and an inspiring way to approach the new year. I hope she doesn't kill me for posting this on Owlet............

* My former (and maybe soon will be again) trainer and now great friend C is going to kick 2012 in the pants. She's opening her first studio (yoga, fitness, personal training) in Chicago in the coming weeks! It's in Lincoln Park, and as soon as I'm given the green light to release more details I will, but you can feel free to email me if you're local and interested! She's so talented and so strong and she really connects with each of her clients - a gift that makes anyone lucky enough to work with her get more out of their fitness/yoga/training experience then they likely ever had before. This new facility is going to be beautiful and incredible. I will be there regularly. Come with! AND... her previously self-produced annual detoxification guide (earlier versions were printed and sold low-budget to clients only) has been given a total overhaul for the 2012 edition, and it will be sold on Amazon (and at the facility) starting this month! Oh, did I mention I'm the editor?! (a little self-promotion - forgive me)

Good things for good friends to start the year off right. Here's to a wonderful year to come...

Blame -- Nay! Thank -- Canada!

Okay, that was a silly title. I know. BUT a) it's Friday, so give me a break; and b) that was a good South Park reference, so it wins.

It's good to go into the weekend with a healthy perspective, right? I mean, since the weekend is the only time I've allowed myself to eat desserts (weekends and special occasions, the latter of which there are oh.so.many), it's smart to think healthy, fit thoughts going in. That's what I always say, anyway. Actually, I just made that up, but it sounds good to me!

Well, this comes to us courtesy of Divine, Canada's online magazine for women (but really by way of Pinterest). This "Exercise Finder" is a tool designed to help you (women - guess this is a ladies-only post) target specific areas of your body with exercises for that area only. You just click on the body part you want to strengthen and tone, and it'll provide a plan made up of specific moves to work.it.out. Check this out (All of the images I've used in this post are screen shots, and so, are not click-able, sorry.):

How cool is that?! You just So, say, and let's just use this as a hypothetical -- no personal sources of inspiration here... necessarily -- you want to focus in particular on your thigh region (I picked the thigh region because no woman hates her thighs... right?)... you click on that little "button" on the any-woman-avatar's quad, and it'll give you a list from which you can narrow your choice even further:

Thighs? Inner Thighs? Outer Thighs? Quadriceps? Hams? Pick the one you want, and then you get this:

And that's just a small sampling - there are three more exercises on this first page, plus note there are two more pages of exercises just for this muscle area.

Anyway, I just thought this was a cool resource, and figured I'd pass it along. I've already bookmarked it on both phone and work computer. What do you think? Cool or lame?

Have a great, healthy, active weekend!

"Lazy" Fitness

Here's another fitness fix for you. I found this on Pinterest, and I'm going to do it for a month and assess the impact. I figure, for those days when I just can't get to the gym, or just can't get motivated to run, I can, at minimum, do a daily quickie fitness regimen, right? Join me -- these aren't hard at all! We start Monday.






P.S., following the links on the pin, I discovered that this originated on this Tumblr - which is awesome. Already added it to my Reader.