It’s Fit and Healthy Friday tip time.

Today’s Tip:  Make Chores Fun

You can always find ways to burn extra calories by doing house and yard work.  Let’s step outdoors for a moment and see what options we have to add a bit more exercise to our day.  Do you have a garden or flower bed?  Get in there and pull out weeds, hoe, dig, etc.  What about that tall grass?  Grab the lawn mower and start walking (and no the riding lawn mower doesn’t count).  I took over mowing duties from hubby a few years ago and I love it.  In the 45-60 minutes or more that it takes me, I burn over 700 calories.  I would say that is a nice little workout.

Fall comes and you have tons of leaves that are going to cover your yard.  Grab the rake and go to town.  Then winter comes along and if you get snow, you’ll need a shovel because that is quite the workout.  Be sure to use proper form when doing anything more strenuous and stay hydrated too.

Now let’s go indoors.  Surely there can’t be anything inside that will burn some extra calories, you’re thinking but I have news for you, there is plenty you can do.  Vacuuming , mopping, cleaning the tub/shower and even folding clothes will have you burning extra calories in no time.  This may sound silly and some of my readers already know I do this but as I fold clothes, I put each piece of clothing away one at a time.  I have to walk from the bed to the closet so it’s a few extra steps and calories burned.  Everything counts so make it a point to be mindful of that.

Make your household chores work for you.

Cindy’s Goal Call Monday post is ready for your viewing pleasure.  Be sure to stop by and post your goals.  I accomplished all I set out to do last week.  YEA!

My goals this week:

50 reps/5x-Ab Coaster
50 stability ball crunches a day

2 days Turbo Kick (Monday night’s class was canceled for the holiday)
2 days Spin (It will most likely be 3 days, we did a special holiday race day for spin class this morning)

Sticking with the same as last week.  I have been eating much better, watching portions, calories, etc.  I hope the scale will show it this week but if not, I know it won’t be long.

I am feeling great but I am exhausted after 3 spin class days in a row and tomorrow morning starts my 60 min. Turbo Kick class.  Whew!

What are you goals for the week?

Looks like I’m back in the game!  I had a pretty great week for workouts.  It was exhausting getting back to it all after being sick but I do feel good.  Here’s what my week looked like.

Monday-
50 stability ball crunches
50- Ab Coaster
50 min. Turbo Kick class

Tuesday-
50 stability ball crunches
50- Ab Coaster
50 min. Turbo Kick class
15 min. walk outside

Wednesday-
50 stability ball crunches
50- Ab Coaster
50 min. Turbo Kick class
15 min. walk outside

Thursday-
Day Off but I did 15 min. walk outside

Friday-
32 min. Walk Away the Pounds Express 2 mile w/stretch band
50 stability ball crunches

Saturday-
60 min. Spin class
50- Ab Coaster
50 stability ball crunches

Sunday-
50 min. Spin class
50- Ab Coaster
50 stability ball crunches

Tell me about your workouts this week!  I would love to hear about what you accomplished.

Angie

I’m on a mission to find out what your Top 5 picks would be if you were to go shopping at The Fresh Market, Whole Foods Market or any other similar store with specialty foods.  I mentioned to hubby that I would like to go shop at the local Whole Foods Market since we have never been to it.  We have been to The Fresh Market and love to shop there but the Whole Foods Market is a bit more of a distance for us.  I have been at the Whole Foods Market website and blog and will keep looking them over this weekend before we go but I could really use some input.

The list I have started includes items I have recently read about on some awesome food blogs (reviews to come).  Here is what is on my list so far

*ground flax
*granola plank?
*Clif bar
*Larabar

What would your Top 5 items be from a healthy grocery store like The Fresh Market, Whole Foods Market, etc.?

It’s time for your Fit and Healthy Friday Tip.

Today’s Tip:  Take the Stairs

The stairs are your friend!  Climbing stairs will give you extra calorie burn and will give your lower body a great workout.  Whenever you have the chance to take a set of stairs, go for it.  Can you take the stairs at work instead of an elevator?  Skip the escalator at the mall and don’t even think about getting on the moving walkway at the airport.  These simple additions to your day will have a positive impact.

Need a challenge?  Take the stair steps two at a time, sideways and/or walk up the stairs backwards to challenge yourself and get more of a workout.  Please be careful if you decide to try one of these though because you could easily trip and fall.  I would only walk up the stairs sideways or backwards if very few or no people are around for safety issues, not for fear of looking silly. Who cares what people think about you walking up the stairs that way, right?

Can you think of other instances where you might take the stairs instead of an escalator or elevator?  Feel free to share.

I stayed the same this week.  I thought for sure I would gain since I was sick and ate a lot more than normal.

Current weight 192
Goal weight 135-140
Pounds left to go 50+

Feel free to weigh in and stay accountable too. Wishing you a successful week!

Annette from Annette’s Awakening

BIG CONGRATS to you Annette as the winner of the summer blog party challenge here on my blog.  I am very proud of you for kicking it up a notch and challenging  yourself.  You are doing a fantastic job and I see from the most recent post on your blog that you have broke through your plateau.  That is wonderful.

Please touch base with me at angie(AT)losingitandlovingit(DOT)com with your mailing address.

I look forward to keeping up with your weight loss and fitness SUCCESS!

Angie

Cindy’s Goal Call Monday post is up!  Don’t forget to stop by and post your goals.

3 Turbo Kick classes
2 Spin classes
50 reps/5x-Ab Coaster
50 stability ball crunches a day

As for my other goals, I’ll keep drinking my 8-12 glasses of water a day and track my food and calories. Trying to find a way to cut out at least 100 calories a day so I’ll start working on that too.

Tonight, I went back to the gym and Turbo Kick class for the first time in over a week and it felt great except my knees are hurting really bad. Gotta get to bed so I can wake up and do Turbo Kick in the morning.

What are your goals for the week? I hope you accomplish everything you set your mind to this week.

I don’t have a daily exercise log to share.  I was sick all week and was just starting to feel better this weekend so I took these last two days to totally recuperate before starting my workouts this week.  It was hard taking this time off but I knew if I over did it, I would be in trouble so I took this time to relax and get better.

I did mow the lawn for 45 min. yesterday and burned just about 700 calories.  Back to Turbo Kick class tomorrow.  YEAH!

How did you do this week?  Tell me about your workouts.