Wood Stove Workout

Hi all!

Yesterday was a nice and relaxing day after such a busy weekend.  We drove home from the city, and the first thing we did was put on a fire.

I haven’t mentioned it on the bloggie yet, but since Dr. Os is finishing a post-graduate degree, and I am finishing a certification, we moved in with his parents for a few months while we wrap up some school.  It was either this or part-time classes for the next 3 years… so most of our pictures are his parents house. 🙂

Anwyay, after doing some major relaxing, I settled in to do a yoga DVD.  I absolutely love Ana Forrest style yoga, and DVD’s seem to be where it’s at in north Jersey.

I love taking yoga classes up here, but sometimes I need the core-focused yoga.  It’s always good to switch it up and keep your muscles guessing. 🙂

It was really great to practice next to the wood stove, although I am not sure you can tell from the picture that it was on.  Sometimes the flames are a little low. 🙂

This DVD I like to do is a little slow-moving, but that really allows me to get into the poses and open up my tight spots.  Part of it is also an intense core-focused sequence, which I love for working out my inner abdominals.

Next up was some working, dinner with a co-worker, and then what is quickly becoming my new favorite way to workout… Zumba!

I was finally able to make another class with my favorite instructor, Chris SantaMaria.  He is so great- he has such high energy and really teaches some amazing classes.  Although I don’t have any pictures from Zumba, I have one silly one of the baby…

And doesn’t that look comfortable?  Chin resting on table doggie relaxation pose?

Hope you all have a great day! Tomorrow I’ve got running and hopefully some yoga on my plate.  Do you try to plan your workouts ahead of time? I really like to know what classes I plan on attending each week so that I can schedule around them.  I like to make them a priority. 🙂

xxo Stephanie

Zumba-ing Love

Hi all!

Today was such a good but busy day.  The best part of my day was Zumba!  And getting to wear these babies.

My new Zumba shoes! I have been taking classes in my regular old running sneakers, and was feeling some knee pain.  After searching high and low for Nike Huarache Dance Low’s (recommended by Fitnessista), I found a similar alternative with the Nike Dunk Low’s.

Dunks have an awesome pivot point at the bottom (is that what it is called?), which reminds me of the Huarache’s and other dance sneakers.

Note to self: Take pictures of soles of shoes before wearing them.

Zumba and I had a rough start a few years ago, and I have always felt like I was not a good enough dancer to participate. Fast-forward to now, I absolutely love it, even though I’m not the most rhythmic.  I think it really depends on the instructor.  And of course the music. 🙂

That’s my favorite Zumba instructor Chris SantaMaria. 🙂 Such a good workout!

For each 1 hour class I take, I drink 2 gigantic Nalgene’s of water.  That is 64 ounces of water!  It is an intense cardiovascular workout.

Class tonight was really great, and the new shoes made such a difference.  No knee pain, and I was actually able to do some of the moves that I hadn’t been able to really execute in the other sneaks.  Although I don’t have any pictures at the studio, I took a couple afterwards at Dr. Os’s wrestling match.

I really just wanted to show off my Dunks 😉

Dr. Os volunteers with the local wrestling team, so I like to go to a few matches to support him… pretend this isn’t a high school bathroom shot.

After wrestling we had our usual post-match dinner date- sushi 🙂 I forgot to take pictures though, so I will instead leave you one of how we found babycakes when we returned home.

His dog bed was left on the recliner while we were cleaning, so he hopped up and  improvised. 🙂

Ever have any “usual” dates you take with your significant others? I automatically associate sushi with wrestling because of our usual date nights.

Have a great night!

xxo Stephanie

Ab-licious Workout

Hi All!

Hope you had a great day.  It was a little warmer today, and although I contemplated going for a quick run, time just got away from me.  Sometimes it takes way longer than expected to just run a few errands.

First order of business?  Stock up on ingredients to make juice!  I figured that since I wasn’t likely to juice every morning (short on time/not a morning person), it would make more sense for me to juice and freeze.

I stocked up on organic apples, lemons, cucumbers, and a big bag of kale.  I have never seen bagged kale before, but it was the only kale I could find in the grocery store.

I wanted to make my juices ‘greener,’ and I figured kale would be the best addition.  I really don’t eat much kale, and because I know how good it is for me, I love to juice with it.

I split up the ingredients and my freezing containers, and set out to make 6 servings.  A little trick that I read in my juicer manual was to put a plastic bag in the waste pail to make clean up easier.  Eventually I would like to use the pulp to make some fiber-rich meals, but today I was focused on being a juicing queen. 🙂

How good does that juice look?  It really was such a pretty color, and made the house smell amazing.

I plan on putting lids on these babies and putting them in the freezer.  Each night I will take one out and put in the fridge so that it is thawed for me to drink in the am.  I had thought about using an ice cube tray, but wasn’t sure exactly how many trays I would need for a week.

After juicing and freezing, I settled in at Starbucks to get some grading done.  I tried their nonfat Chai Latte for the first time and was pleasantly surprised.  Although it was sweeter than I usually like (I like black coffee and plain espresso, I know, weird), it was a nice ‘warm me up from the inside out’ drink.

Can you see my Uggs peeking out? 🙂 I really enjoy reading my student’s work, and really like seeing the progress they make throughout the school year.

After spending way too many hours in Starbucks, but really getting a lot accomplished, I packed up and headed to my gym.  This week my gym is offering a few free classes of ones that are usually an additional cost; Pilates Reformer, TRX Band Training, KettleBoxing, etc.  All the super cool classes that I don’t usually attend 🙂

I walked into the studio and was a little intimidated by how complex the machines appeared to be, and was nervous I would not be able to handle it.

I was completely wrong.  I loved the class, and I think my background in yoga helped me to really pick things up quicker (I am a 200-hour Hatha yoga certified teacher).  We used the machines to do leg presses, extensions, etc. on our backs, and I really feel like I got a good full body workout.  Especially my core- my abs are so sore right now!  It’s a good sore though 🙂

Tomorrow my Lululemon order should come in the mail (can anyone say second Christmas!?!) and I will finally get to Zumba. 🙂 I think I need to schedule more days of Zumba a week.  Although I have no rhythm, my heart melts thinking about how much I ❤ it.

Any big plans for Friday or this weekend?  Zumba-ing like me? 🙂 I always look forward to the weekends because I always make sure to have fun workouts scheduled with friends.  Scheduling keeps me accountable. 🙂

xxo Stephanie