"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." -Frederick Keonig
This week's challenge is to recognizing every day something in yourself that you do have. Instead of criticizing, look at the mirror and think of something, external or internal, good to say about yourself. And then say it out loud. It sounds cheesy, but it's probably the best thing we can do for ourselves these days :)
Just like last week, find unfamiliar moves at the bottom of the page. Please continue to email me any questions, concerns, or success stories. The recipes are just following the workouts. Enjoy!
Monday
We are going to start this week out, after your day of hopefully stretching and resting, with a crazy cardio class that you can do at your own pace. Almost all of these moves are going to be focused on getting your heart rate going, and going fast!
Warm-up: 30 seconds of torso-twists (twist your arms from side to side while keeping your core stable,) butt kickers, toe-touches and jumping jacks.
Do as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes. (You should be dying ;)) :
10 full burpees (see instructions below)
20 pushups
30 squats or jump squats
40 bicycle crunches (see instructions below)
50 seconds plank, from your forearms
WATER BREAK--But don't you cool down. Keep moving.
Do as many rounds as possible in 5 minutes:
10 half burpees (see instructions below)
20 high knees
20 mountain climbers (see instructions below)
10 jump-switch lunges (modification: 10 lunges) (see instructions below)
YOU DID IT! I hope you pushed hard!
Cooldown: Stretch! Either watch a stretching video or do whatever stretch routine feels best. Do this for at least 5 minutes.
Tuesday
If you pushed your workout as hard as possible yesterday, my guess is that you are a little bit tired today. Today we are going to do an ab/PLANK workout, with as many variations on a plank as you can imagine!
Circuit One: Repeat three times
1. Plank Walk-ups--Push up at bottom (10 reps) (see instructions below)
2. Inverted toe touches (20 reps) (see instructions below)
3. Plank jacks (10 reps) (see instructions below)
4. Plank to forearm plank (10 reps each side) (see instructions below)
Circuit Two: Repeat three times
1. Frog jumps with tricep pushup (10 reps) (see instructions below)
2. Hold plank (30 seconds)
3. Oblique jumps (20 reps, alternating sides) (see instructions below)
4. Hold forearm plank (30 seconds)
Cooldown by doing torso twists for one minute, upward dog for one minute to stretch out your belly, and stretching your arms however you need for an additional three minutes.
Wednesday
Rest day! Go walk with a friend or do some light stretching.
Thursday
Yoga day is my favorite day. Complete this video for today's workout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPO_oXbeYEs&list=PLzsTkvstBHZNiVEufpZzqAbWWS2MS008f&index=32
Friday
Today, we will focus on arms. I suggest doing a 10 minute cardio warm-up and a 10 minute cardio/stretching cool down. On strength day, I generally like to get out and walk/jog for 10 minutes before and after the workout.
You will need one set of dumbbells between 5-10 pounds. Repeat this circuit 3 times with a few minutes of rest in between each one to let your muscles recover enough to push it hard the next round.
For each circuit: do as many reps of each exercise as possible in 30 seconds.
1. Overhead press (0:00-0:30)
2. Bicep Curl (0:30-1:00)
3. Tricep dip (1:00-1:30)
4. Push-up (1:30-2:00)
5. Tricep kick-back (2:00-2:30)
6. Arm circles (15 seconds one way, 15 seconds reverse) (2:30-3:00)
Saturday
Running day! For today, you will be running/walking a total of 3-5 miles, based on where you are right now. Don't be scared. Pick a route near your house that is somewhere in the distance of 3-5 miles, and follow this really basic workout plan in order to increase strength and burn more calories. Switching up speed when you run is key. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN PACE. Some of you will be cruising; others it will be a slow walk versus a fast walk. It doesn't matter; do your best!
Warm-up: First 5 minutes of an easy jogging/walking pace
Workout: Push the pace, getting your heart rate up pretty significantly, for 3 minutes. Slow jog/walk for 1.5 minutes. Repeat this over and over and over again until you are done! If you are pretty experienced, try to make this a stride pace/race pace and then a jog. If you are newer, try a jog and then a walk. Whatever you do, try to stick to the 3 minute/1.5 minute ratio!
Cool-down: Last 5 minutes of easy jogging/walking pace
Sunday
Rest day!
Burpee
1. Bend over/Squat in place, put your hands on the floor
2. Jump both feet back so you are in plank position
3. Do a pushup, touching your chest to the floor and keeping your stomach tight.
4. Jump your feet back to your hands
5. Explosively jump into the air, reaching your hands above your head
Half-Burpee:
1. Bend over/Squat in place, put your hands on the floor
2. Jump both feet back so you are in plank position
3. Jump your feet back to your hands
4. Explosively jump into the air, reaching your hands above your head
Bicycle Crunches
1. Lay on your back and put your hands behind your head
2. Tightening your core, crunch in your left knee and extend your right knee out
3. At the same time that you do this, bring your opposite elbow, your right elbow here, across your body to your left knee
4. Switch sides without lowering your legs or arms or loosening your core
Mountain Climbers
1. Get in push-up/plank position
2. Keeping your shoulders strong, crunch your left knee to your chest as far as you can, tightening your core as you do
3. Repeat with your right knee
Note: For more cardio, do these as fast as you can while maintaining form
Jump Switch Lunges
1. Keeping your core tight. go down into a lunch position
2. Explode into the air, switching which foot is forward and which is back, landing in a lunge position with the other foot forward.
3. Reverse this the other way. This counts as one jump.
Plank Walk-ups--Push up at bottom
1. From a standing position, reach down and put your hands on the floor, beinding your knees slightly
2. Keeping your core tight, walk your hands out to a plank position slowly
3. Do a pushup
4. Walk your hands back up slowly to your feet
Inverted toe touches
1. Laying on your back, put your feet straight up the air so you make a 90 degree angle with your body
2. Core engaged, reach up and touch your toes, lowering back down slowly
Plank jacks
1. From pushup position, jump your feet out while keeping your arms and shoulders steady, like a jumping jack but on the ground
2. Jump your feet back in, while maintaining plank position
Plank to forearm plank
1. From plank position, lower your right arm to the forearm slowly, followed by your left forearm. You will now be in a forearm plank position
2. Push back up with your right arm to pull plank position, followed by your left arm
3. Repeat leading with your left arm
Frog jumps with tricep pushup
1. From plank position , jump your feet up to your hands keeping your core tight and your arms in the same place
2. Jump them back to plank position
3. Do a tricep pushup by lowering slowly to the ground, pinching your arms next to your side tightly as you lower and then raise up
Oblique jumps
1. From plank position, engage your core as you jump up to your feet on one side
2, Jump back to pushup plank position
3 Jump up to your feet on the opposite side
4. Jump back to plank position, keeping your core tight
Tricep kick-back
1. From a standing position, bend over slightly while keeping your back straight
2. Pull your weights up to your armpits
3. From this position, extend your forearms straight back
4. Slowly lower them back to your armpits
Arm circles
1. From a standing position, extend your arms straight out on both sides
2. Make tiny circles one way for 15 seconds, keeping your arms raised straight out to one side
3. Reverse the motion of the circles.
Recipes
Black Bean and Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole
(I'm obsessed with this recipe. I made it yesterday and it was a hit!)
http://www.juliasalbum.com/2014/11/black-bean-and-butternut-squash-enchilada-casserole-recipe/
Ingredients
Instructions
Roasted butternut squash:
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Peel the squash and slice it into 3/4 inch cubes. You will only need about 1/2 of the medium size squash. Toss the squash cubes in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil and generously sprinkle with salt.
- Put butternut squash on the greased baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes, until soft. Flip the squash cubes over midway through baking. Let it cool slightly.
Roasting vegetables on the stove top:
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped green bell pepper, and chopped red bell pepper, 1 teaspoon cumin, and 1 teaspoon chili powder, and roast the vegetables in olive oil and spices on high heat until charred just a bit. Mid-way through, add corn, then rinsed and drained black beans. Add roasted butternut squash. Season with 1/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon salt and taste. Add more salt if needed. Add more chili powder or cumin, than indicated in the recipe, if needed.
Assembling the casserole:
- I used a casserole dish 11 inches long x 8.5 inches wide x 3 inches deep. Add 1 cup of salsa to the bottom of this 3 inch deep casserole dish and spread to coat the bottom evenly. Top with 4 tortillas, overlapping to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.
- Spread 1/3 of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas. Top with 1/2 cup sour cream, dropping it in small dollops all over, then carefully spreading it over the veggies. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese. Top with 4 tortillas.
- Spread 1/3 of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas. Top with 1/2 cup sour cream, dropping it in small dollops all over, then spreading it carefully over the veggies. Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce evenly all over, at the same time spreading sour cream evenly all over. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese. Top with 4 tortillas.
- Spread 1/3 of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas. Top with 1/2 cup sour cream, dropping it in small dollops all over, then spreading it carefully. Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce evenly all over, spreading sour cream evenly all over. Sprinkle with 1/2 and 1/4 cups Mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil.
- Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes covered, then remove foil, and bake for 10 more minutes uncovered.
Grilled Chili-Lime Chicken with Strawberry-Avocado Salsa
(For the last few weeks of summer! This is seriously the bomb.)
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/grilled-chili-lime-chicken-with-strawberry-avocado-salsa/
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
- For the marinade, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, honey, garlic, chili powder and salt. Place the chicken in a gallon-size ziploc bag or shallow dish and pour in the marinade. Turn the chicken to coat in the mixture. Refrigerate for 4-8 hours, turning once or twice.
- Preheat a grill to medium heat and cook the chicken 6-7 minutes per side, more or less depending on the thickness of the chicken (until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F at the thickest part of the chicken). Remove the chicken from the grill and tent with foil for 5 minutes or so while whipping up the salsa.
- For the salsa, toss all the ingredients together in a bowl; don't forget the salt and pepper. Serve with the warm grilled chicken.
With love,
Kaylee