We worked on legs today and tomorrow will just be cardio. Nothing ground breaking, just a good workout. I did combine a few moves back-to-back to fatigue the quads a bit faster, but nothing that we couldn't handle. I was hoping for another 400 calories burned session….

 

Okay, so my husband put the Iron Gym together for me Sunday night–he bought it for me at Christmas and I tucked it away in my closet. We had some fun giving it a try in our pj's and I could barely hang there! He assisted me a few times by picking me up and then I practiced slowly lowering myself and could do a few half-hearted chin ups, but can't do it from the beginning position.

I broke it out, again, last night and used a step stool to give me enough height to jump up and lower myself down. I think I'm going to conquer this thing! I'll keep you posted. Once I can complete a few reps–on my own!–I'm going to have hubby film a short video. I'm totally stoked about the thought of being able to perform chin ups!

 

Total calories burned:

 

Treadmill: 8 minutes (warm up)

0-8 min: vary speed every minute: 4.0 to 6.0mph

 

Strength Training: Lower Body (Legs/Glutes)

• 15 hydrant leg lifts + 15 straight rear leg lifts
• 10 forward leg circles + 10 backward leg circles + 15 bent knee rear leg lifts
• 10 standard bridges
• 5 jump squats + 5 standard squats + 5 halfway squats (repeat one more time)
• 10 standard bridges
• 10 reverse lunges, per leg (with dumbbells)
• 12 walking lunges (with dumbbells)

• jumping jacks
• jump rope
• mountain climbers
• running steps
• step ups on bench
• slalom jumps
• “hopscotch” over bands
• burpees
• hover jacks
• high knees
• jog in place

 

Cardio: repeat above

 

Extra moves: solo

Treadmill: 10 minutes

0-5 min: 1.5mph, walking lunges; turn to left, squat low and shuffle side to side; turn to right, squat low and shuffle side to side; walk at 3.5mph

5-10 min: alternate between 3.0mph/3.2mph/3.5mph every minute

 

Complete one set of each move

• 15 one legged squats, per leg
• 10 one legged bridges, per leg

Stretch: Quads/Calves/Hamstrings/Torso

 

DONE!

 

Friday was a great full body workout and we definitely needed the weekend to recover. But, now it's Monday and we are back at it. We decided to divide up the lower body and upper body, again, for this week. One of the ladies I exercise with brought up doing Russian twists and I thought that sounded great–so I incorporated that into the session.

 

Total calories burned:

 

Elliptical: 10 minutes (warm up)

0-10 min: alternate between levels 5 and 15 every minute

 

Strength Training: Arms/Core

• 10 triceps dips
• 10 push ups
• 20 Russian twists (holding dumbbell) with legs elevated
• 20 reverse crunches
• 20 alternating hammer curls (15lbs)
• 10 overhead presses (10lbs)
• elbow plank
• side planks
• 30 bicycle crunches
• 10 bent over rows (20lbs)

Moving backward

0-10 mins: alternate between level 3 for 60 seconds and level 16 for 30 seconds

 

Strength Training: Arms/Core

• jump rope: forward, crossovers, backwards

Extra moves: (solo)

• 15 side plank dips, per side
• 10 elbow planks with alternating leg lifts
• 10 bicep curls (15lbs)
• 10 triceps dips
• 20 standard + oblique sit ups
• 10 side plank thread the needles, per side
• 10 elbow plank side to sides
• 10 bicep curls (15lbs)
• 10 triceps dips
• 10 roll ups

Stretch: Quads/Calves/Torso

 

DONE!

 

At least I was trying to make up for Saturday. I had a CPR class from 8am to 11am, Saturday morning, coffee with my brothers, lunch with my visiting (from Austin) best friend and then late afternoon/dinner plans with my husband. That left no time or energy for working out. Of course, I still had a big piece of cake, so Sunday is about the cardio. I tested out another new workout I want to introduce to the girls for Wednesday.

 

Total calories burned:

 

Treadmill: 10 minutes

0-5 min: alternate between very brisk walk and sprinting every minute or 30 seconds

5-10 min: alternate between slow walk/medium walk/brisk walk every 30 seconds

 

Elliptical: 10 minutes

0-10 min: switch levels every minute 1/6 2/7 3/8 4/9 5/10 (adjust to your level)

 

Treadmill: 10 minutes

0-10 min: alternate between quick walk and very brisk walk every minute

 

Elliptical: 10 minutes

0-10 min: alternate between levels 3/10/16 every minute

 

• jump rope
• jump rope crossovers
• jumping jacks
• double jacks

 

DONE!

 

 

 

After talking to the other ladies, they said that they were up to changing it up just a bit more. Instead of relying on cardio machines, we broke up the exercises with mountain climbers, step ups, slalom jumps, etc. It certainly kept things interesting and our heart rates up. We were drenched and panting when all was said and done! Oh, we used the Gym Boss timer for our cardio breaks, too–we selected three moves to do and had to do each for 30 seconds.

 

Total calories burned:

 

Treadmill: 5 minute (warm up)

0-5 min: alternate between 4.0mph and 4.3mph every minute

 

 

I'm not sure how authentic this is but I was inspired by a recipe that came to my inbox via bonappetite.com. They came up with their own lighter version and then I made mine still just a bit lighter and switched out an ingredient here and added one there. So, I suppose, it's at least twice removed from an authentic Thai chicken soup? Anyway, it still adds up to light and delicious. This was a hit for most of us (just my eldest wasn't crazy about the bamboo, but I don't put much stock–no pun intended–in the palate of a 13 year old).

 

 

• 1 tbs canola oil
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (visible fat removed), diced
• 1 whole jalapeño, diced (seeds removed or left in–up to you!)*
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• 1 bell pepper, chopped (any color)
• 5-6 green onions or scallions, chopped (white and green parts)
• 1 tbs minced ginger (I used Garden Gourmet ginger paste)
• 4-5 whole mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 14oz can of light coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen brand)
• 1 can of sliced bamboo shoots, drained
• 1/2 head of Napa cabbage, optional
• 1 tbs fish sauce (I used the Dynasty brand), more if desired
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 cups fat free chicken broth
• salt, to taste

• In large soup pot, over medium heat, add oil and then scallions, bell pepper, garlic and ginger until softened–stirring frequently

• Next, add in mushrooms and jalapeños; continue to cook and stir until softened

• Add in the chicken, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, fish sauce, cabbage and bouillon cubes with 4 cups of water or 4 cups of broth

• Once the chicken has been cooked through, add salt to taste**
• Allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes (chicken should be tender) and add more fish sauce if desired

 

My last strength training session of the week will be on Friday, so today is about the cardio. I went ahead and followed the same routine from yesterday with jumping rope and jumping jacks thrown in between “stations”. My goal was a total of 45 minutes and I wanted to see how different the calorie burn would be from yesterday where I tagged on an extra 10 minutes on the elliptical and 5 minutes on the bike.

*Oh, if you've never tried diced plums in your oatmeal, you should! I had two small red plums that were about to be past their prime, so I cut them up and cooked them in my oatmeal and it was so good.

 

Total calories burned:

 

• jump rope 100x
• 10 jump rope crossovers
• 50 jumping jacks
• 25 double jacks

 

Just another simple recipe with loads of flavor but light in calories. My initial inclination is to make this with brown rice but not everyone in the family is crazy about it, so I stuck with white rice for tonight. Each serving is quite a big bowl and full of goodness: protein from shrimp and beans, fiber from the beans and crispness from the fresh corn.

 

• 1 tbs canola oil
• 12oz package of frozen raw shrimp, deveined and peeled
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 whole jalapeño pepper, deseeded and diced*
• 4 small tomatoes, chopped (I used roma)
• few dashes of salt/pepper

• 1 cups rice (any type–just follow directions)
• 1 chicken bouillon cubes
• 14.5oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed
• small bunch of cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

• In large skillet or wok, heat canola oil and add in onions, garlic and jalapenos and cook until softened
• Add in shrimp and cook until pink, stirring often to prevent burning

• Add tomatoes and cook until warmed through; set aside

• Add chicken bouillon and garlic powder to the rice while cooking (while following package directions)
• Once the rice is finished, stir in the beans, cilantro and corn; cover until ready to serve