Workout Buddies

I met a really cool young woman in my Children's Lit class this semester. We instantly clicked, started working together during group projects, and eventually made it Facebook official by becoming friends. This young lady, Amber, has been one of my largest motivators to get back into shape after a winter full of comfort foods and wine. 

I decided to make a 5k training group since my friends on Facebook had mentioned training for the upcoming 5k/10k/marathon running seasons. Amber has been the only one to make it every time. Let me tell you why Amber is such a motivator: Amber isn't in the best shape of her life (yet). She admittedly told me that the last time she ran was 14 years ago, when she was ten years old. She's a mom, a wife, and a college student. But every day we meet, she comes out ready to work. 

She sent be a text last week: I lost 5 pounds!!! We celebrated together. She can't run for more than a more than a minute at a time, but she is out there every. Single. Day. (That we meet.) She inspires me. She works her ass off every time. 

Today we did a 2x20 workout circuit. We only made it through one circuit together, but she did it! She worked her ass off the entire time and she's working to be a healthier Amber. That right there motivates me to push it. 

Here's the circuit that we did together. Ideally, you'll perform the circuit 2-3 times. Enjoy it and be like Amber! Get out there, work hard, and push your limits! 

Summer's Coming! Are You Ready?

Wow! This has been the longest blog hiatus I think I've ever taken. With the school year coming to an end (for myself and my daughter) and warmer weather on the way (high of 89 in Kansas today; whoa!), it's high time for us to get ourselves into gear for summer!

What does summer mean to you? To me it's about longer daylight hours, spending more time with my husband and daughter, and getting rid of this winter fluff I gained while enjoying lots of booze and comfort food! 

Small changes is the best place to start: I'm starting a 5k training program (Couch to 5k; free on the Apple App Store), eating more fruits and vegetables (we planted an "urban garden" in our yard this year), and limiting my alcohol intake to a couple of drinks a week instead of several per day. With these small changes, I plan on being to my goal weight in a reasonable amount of time and just in time to start rocking my new bikinis that I bought back in March when it was still cold and snowy out! 

Because I have an incredible sweet tooth, I am trying to find ways to calm it while not going crazy on calories. I found a cute and simple recipe on Pinterest that I made today and it was awesome! These faux-cream sandwiches are just as tasty and as creamy as any ice cream sandwich, but they are three-ingredients and so easy to make. They also have about 120 calories per sandwich! You can even shave off more calories by using low-fat options of the ingredients. 

This is what you need for your faux-cream sandwich:

1/2 C of fresh strawberries; chopped

13 graham crackers, halved

8 oz Cool Whip

1. Chop strawberries without their stems. I just used the chop setting on my food processor. 

2. Fold strawberries into Cool Whip. 

3. Spoon mixture onto graham cracker and sandwich between other half. 

4. Wrap sandwich in Saran Wrap or other wrap of your preference (foil, paper, sandwich bag, etc.)

5. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for at least an hour.

Enjoy this and happy spring! 

And just for grins and giggles, here is when we were setting up the garden: