Wellness Wednesday (V.5): My Impromptu Workout

This week has been great because I’ve been able to have time on my hands to create new content for the blog that I’m excited to share and have been sharing. Thanks for all the feedback. There’s just been one big icy, messy, problem: SNOW! I have been in and out of work due to the weather and although I’m happy to have some time to myself, I’m TIRED of shoveling snow.

The first storm hit Monday morning. Literally hours after the Super Bowl ended and the stadium was clear, hear came storm MAXIMUS! That left about 6 inches or so and I had to shovel that. The snow was light, but between cleaning off two cars, shoveling a drive way & sidewalk, cleaning my porch and laying out ice, I was TIRED.  Mind you there’s stills snow on the ground from a storm that happened nearly two weeks ago.

If that wasn’t enough not even two days later we’re hit with NIKA! This storm on top of the snow that’s already on the grown came with ICE making the snow heavy and harder to shovel. Plus the people that plow my street plowed alright and I went out this morning with about 6 inches of snow blocking my driveway. So it was the process just like Monday except this took way longer because of the weight of the snow.

I don’t mind shoveling and getting a snowblower is on my to-do list, but for now its the traditional shovel and brush for my car. Here are my tips for shoveling snow.

• Bundle up (the snow is wet if you’re wet and go in and out you get sick). I usually have on leggings, sweatpants, a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie, and THEN I put on my coat, scarf and gloves being sure my neck and back are covered for when the snow randomly falls from trees.
• Wear boots that do not go past your calf. Wearing other boots might be contracting when you have to bend to pick up the snow. I wear my Timbs with two pairs of socks and I’m just fine.
• Shovel the snow as soon as it hits the ground. Yes, I know it might be a waste if more snow is coming down, but it’s better to do it while its freshly fallen this way it’s softer and easier to pick up. Also it’d be easier to pick up 3 inches here and 3 inches there then to pick it up all at once.
• SHOVEL THE SNOW BENDING YOUR KNEES! You don’t want to hurt your back or cause a strain on your chest. Also all that shoveling can lead to heart attacks so BE CAREFUL!
• Stay hydrated. It can be tiring moving snow and I know that I am always thirsty. Don’t feel like you can’t take break. If that means you have to go in and out a couple times then so be it.

Those are my personal tips on shoveling snow. For more of an ‘expert’ opinion click here.

Surprisingly I’m not sore from shoveling snow, but I’m so over it. It was a good workout and I got plenty of arm and cardio work in over the last couple days. One upside to the snow is the beautiful sight outside. It’s gorgeous.

There’s supposed to be ANOTHER storm hitting this weekend between Saturday-Monday. The reports are saying anywhere from 3-30+ inches. Yeah, I’m looking forward to none at all, but I’d rather have 3 then any more than that.

ALSO if you are traveling in snow be sure to have some essentials in your trunk just in case: water, flashlight, blanket, brush/shovel (for snow), kitty litter [Heres a great list here]. Kitty litter is GREAT for traction if you get stuck. It’s better to use that and additionally shovel snow (if that’s what you’re stuck in) than to press the gas and burn the rubber on your tires. I know this from experience after getting caught in the mud n my backyard. Having a blanket and water and maybe a snack or something is good. You never know what could happen and with all the snow, ice, salt, etc. on the roads it messes up your car. You don’t expect it to happen, but it’s better to expect the unexpected and be prepared.

Wellness Wednesday (V.4): My ‘Semi-Healthy’ Snacks

It’s another week and it might seem weird that I do my fitness/healthy living posts in the middle of the week, but hey that’s what it is.

It’s been just another week for me. Not much has changed, but I am getting in the habit of getting on some type of sleeping schedule. I must be to sleep no later than 1am and I can get up with no problems at 6:30am. If I go to sleep past 2am I lay in the bed until nearly 8am and that throws me off.

This morning was one of those mornings. I didn’t fall asleep until nearly 2:30am and I didn’t get out he house until 8:15am. Staying up that late was a mistake and I feel so much better and less grumpy getting at least 6 hours of sleep.

I’ve gotten my sleeping pattern down and my eating habits are getting there.

 

Wellness Wednesday (V.3): My Workout Playlist

I’ve been getting a little bit better with my consistency in working out. Key words ‘a little bit.’ As for my eating habits I can’t say much. I’ve been stuffing my face with junk and a lot of that has to do with boredom and being stuck in the house. After working all week I like to do absolutely nothing on the weekends, but just because it’s cold doesn’t mean I can’t be active.

As I talked about in Fitness Wednesday (Week 2), Glamour magazine had an excerpt in the February edition titled. Here’s the ‘5 Ways to Fool Yourself Into Exercising’:

1. Tell yourself, ‘I only have to work out for 7 minutes.’
2. Listen to your exercise playlist before exercising.
3. Workout with someone who is 40% more fit than you are.
4. Schedule it into your calendar.
5. Stop debating the damn workout and just go.

As January winds down there’s only so much that I can say I accomplished so far this year. My plan as to working out in consistently in January is not on the list. Well I’m going to keep trying. It’s a process, not an overnight thing. I need to watch what I consume and stop making excuses as to why I can’t work out. These 5 tips are really helping especially #1. Seven minutes, just seven minutes.

Hopefully I’ll get better with time. No, I will get better with time. (Speak things into existence.)

Well, here’s my current workout playlist.

https://soundcloud.com/lakia-broadhurst/sets/workout-1

Wellness Wednesday (V.2): Workout Apps

I have completely fallen off my ‘objectives’ for the last week from my eating habits to working out. I continuously pushed off working out for the next day to the next day to the next day. Now I’m at a point where I don’t feel determined at all. I’m not committed to it and it was just something that I was doing as a start of the new year. You know, the stereotypical reason people work out. Aside from wanting to be fit for the summer I want to just be healthier in general. I should not be winded walking up and down steps or playing with my nephew. I am far from obese, but I have never been so out of shape in my life. My body is nowhere to where I want it to be and I need to take another approach.

Read more for my new apps and tricks I plan to use to get me motivated.

Soup for the COLD

It’s been FREEZING the past 2 days here in the Tri-state. It’s currently 18 degrees with a wind chill factor of 9. To cope with the cold my grandmother made Turkey soup! This soup contains turkey, barley and frozen soup vegetable mixed which contains: okra, lima beans, carrots, peas, string beans corn, and white potatoes.

I’ve already had one bowl and I can’t wait to get another. This might not be the most ‘homemade’ soup, but it’s a quick and easy meal after a long days work and can be mixed with that left over Turkey (or chicken, beef, etc.) you have left in the fridge.

Grocery Shopping Woes

I went to get ‘lunch’ for the rest of the week last night and I was on a mission to get something healthy, but along the way I got sidetracked. Target is really not the best place for me to do my entire grocery shopping. Although it’s one of my favorite stores, I do need to visit my local grocery store / markets more. I ended up buying two Naked juices which were on sale for 2/$5. I got a 12 pack of Del Monte fruit cups to eat for breakfast and a snack. They were on sale as well for a little over $5. I also picked up a dozen of ‘Simply Balance’ eggs. I’ve never tried organic eggs before so I wanted to give them a try. For another snack I picked up Annie’s, Snack Mix, and for lunch I snagged some of the ‘processed’ dinners (the $2/each sale got me). I know that this isn’t the best grocery trip and future ones will get better. I just needed something other than lunch meat for the next 3 days. Don’t mind the candy on top of the strawberries. Darn the goodies at the register. Hope to have better luck next time.

Wellness Wednesday (V.1)

So I used to have a membership when I first started college which was back in the winter of 2010. I signed up with a friend and the membership was about $10 + tax a month. It was never a plan to go every day. It was always a plan to go 2 to 3 times a week, max! We stuck to that plan, fell off, and miraculously got back on. As time went on we stopped going all together and the memberships were cancelled.

Here I am in that same situation again where I have friends going to the gym and me wanting to have some motivation and seeking that in friends. Your friends can’t make you go to the gym. Your friends can’t make you do anything you don’t want to, period.

The biggest problem of going to the gym was being incredibly hungry afterwards. I would go grocery shopping after the gym or stop at Wendy’s with the theory, ‘I’ll work it off tomorrow.’ Well that didn’t work either.

I have become a comfort eater with all of my weight going to my stomach and it’s not healthy for me and prevents me from wearing certain clothes. I like to say I ‘like’ and ‘want’ for my clothes to be baggy/oversized and in some instances I do. If it’s a loose bottom then a fitted top; loose top, fitted bottom. It’s gotten to a point where I kept telling and keep telling myself it’ll happen. Don’t worry it’ll go away when it goes away just wear something bigger to hide it.

Well I’m really, REALLY trying to turn a new leaf here physically and mentally. I want to keep happy thoughts and keep myself busy. stress and boredom leads to one main problem for me: comfort eating. No I’m not obese, but I seek comfort in junk food and soda (Coca-Cola preferably).

I’m going to do 30 minutes of cardio if nothing else for 5 days out of the week, so Monday to Thursday and then next week I will begin to input strength training. Boy I hate how weak I am.

This week I’ll be breaking out my dance games and doing my 30 minutes of cardio, at least. I have to start somewhere.

Next step is my eating habits. Set plans don’t work for me such as the gym so I don’t see myself joining another one or something like ‘Weight Watchers’ to help with my eating.

I’ve recently done a post on ‘Commitment’ and I’m not going to sign up for either of those knowing I’m not in the mood or feel like making the time to do that.

So the plan? I feel I can stay committed being that I’ll be blogging every week about progress, recipes, new routine, etc. I’m just trying to stay consistent. The results aren’t going to come over night so patience is key.

Until next time …