Weekly Biggest Loser Couch Potato Workout

It is Tuesday which mean Biggest Loser and my couch potato workout. I figure there are eight commercial segments, maybe more there are a lot of commercials, so I designed eight mini workout with an strength, cardio and core component. This one uses weights, but most of them can be done w/ just your body weight.

1. Push-ups (15 reps), Jumping Jacks (50), plank (45 secs)
2. Lunges w/ bicep curl (10 reps on each leg), High knees (30 secs), bicycle crunches (30 reps)
3. Tricep dips (15 reps), Sqauts (50 do quickly), Basic crunch
4. Plie Squats w/ military presses (15 reps), Jump rope (1 minute, you don't need a rope just pretend) , Pike crunch (15 reps, start on your back with your hands above your head and your feet out about 2 inches from the floor, bring up your hand and feet together.)
5. Pendulum lunges (10 reps each side, start on right forward lunge forward, then come back to center, pause and then lunge backward), Hamstring kicks (1 minute, run in place but bring your heels back to your bum), Plank rotation (20 reps, start in plank position, bring right knee towards armpit twisting hips, then back to plank, then bring left knee toward armpit).
6. Squat with a row (20 reps), Jumping Jacks (50), Squirms (20 reps, lay on back with knee bent and feet flat on the floor arms by your sides with your palms out, squirm towards the right bringing the palm of the right arm to the inside of your ankle, repeat on left side).
7. Tricep push-ups (10 reps, when you go down keep elbows close to the ribs), High knees (30 secs), bicycle crunches (30 reps).
8. Hamstring dead lift (20 reps), Jump rope (1 minute), Reverse crunch (15 reps, start in basic crunch position with your feet off the floor, instead of bringing your head foward bring your knees back lifting your bum a few inches off the floor).

So hopefully that is a good commercial workout for you and not too hard to follow. I would love some suggestions on what I can put in the next Couch Potato Workout.

Wheatberry Salad - Healthy Lunch All Week

I absolutely love to make this wheatberry salad recipe! It is nutrious and filling, plus I can make it on Sunday, put it in a big container and take it for lunch all week. Don't be scared to try wheatberries, they seem like some weird health food, but they are really good they kind of have a chewy texture, absorb the flavors in the dish and they are super filling and nutritious. I get them at a local organic store, but you can probably find them at any natural food or organic store and you might even be able to find them in the organic section of your supermarket.


I like about a 2:1 ratio of veggies to wheatberries, but my mom likes more of a 1:1 ratio. Below is an example of the veggies that I usually try but feel free to add whatever you like. It really is a recipe that you can customize and add what you like.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup hard winter wheatberries
• Kosher salt
• 1 cup finely diced red onion (1 onion)
• 6 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 scallions, minced, white and green parts
• 1 red bell pepper, small diced
• 1 green bell pepper, small diced
• 1 cucumber, deseeded and diced
• 1 package grape or cherry tomatoes
  
• 1 carrot, small diced
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Place the wheatberries and 3 cups of boiling salted water in a saucepan and cook, uncovered, over low heat for approximately 45 minutes, or until they are soft. Drain.

Saute the red onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine the warm wheatberries, sauteed onions, scallions, chopped veggies, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes for the wheatberries to absorb the sauce. Season, to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Valentine's Day Dinner Ideas!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I just finished watching Serendipity on Bravo. I love how sometimes you forget how much you like a movie until you catch it randomly on TV again. Now I'm not going to argue that this is the best romantic movie out there (there are much better ones) but it is a good one and it definitely got me feeling that love is in the air.

So anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I am no cook. There are a few simple dishes that I can make well, watch for my Wheatberry Salad recipe on Sunday, but for the most part I thank God or life for giving me my soon-to-be husband because he is definitely the cook in our little family. Love you B!

There are some of you out there who I'm sure are looking for some good Valentine's Day Recipes so I compiled a few links to give you some ideas if you haven't figured out what you are going to make yet. Have fun in the kitchen!

Cleaning Eating Magazine's Recipes pick one you like and enjoy a clean meal! : http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/

Rachel Ray's Carbonara : http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/story?id=6858820
Rachel Ray's Love Birds: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/story?id=6858594&page=1
FitSugar's Healthy Valentine's Day Dinner : http://www.fitsugar.com/2810423
Food Network's Italian Dinner : http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/make-it-together-menu/pictures/index.html
Food Networks' Elegant Dinner:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/romantic-valentines-day-menu-for-two/pictures/index.html
Eating Well's Healthy Valentine's Day Recipe Collection: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/collections/healthy_valentines_day_recipes.html#main
Healthy Eating's Easy Valentine's Day Menu: http://www.healthy-eating-made-easy.com/easy-valentine-day-recipes.html
Martha Stewart's Romantic Dishes: http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/romantic-dishes?lnc=5a79cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD&rsc=top7pop_food_food

Obviously I can't make all of these tonight but let me know which ones are really good. I tried to include a variety of easy meals, healthy ones and more extravagant romantic ones. Also I would love to hear what your favorite romantic movies are.

Beginner's Meditation

As part of my commitment to not only eat and live healthier I also wanted to grow spiritually and mentally. So I have decided to start trying to meditate. I have been practicing yoga for a few years now but have never really tried meditation. I know it seems like they go hand in hand, but I have a hard time just sitting down and meditating, the movement of yoga has always seemed to more effectively quite my brain.

I have been reading a lot about the benefits of meditation.

• Reduces Stress
• Lowers Blood Pressure
  
• Can Lower Cholesterol
• Can Aid in the Treatment of Depression
• and the list goes on and on...

So I thought I should give it another shot.

So I can across this site, www.learningmediation.com.
It basically just talks about incorporating mediation into your everyday life (and you don't have to be some new age hippie to try it). The greatest part of this site is in the mediation room. They actually have guided mediations that you can download. I tried a few and actually enjoyed them! I think that will try and make this a daily habit, maybe something to do in the morning to start my day out right.

I would love to hear your opinions and your experiences and how you incorporate meditation into your life.

Yoga Today

One of my absolutely favorite activities is yoga. When I was going to college and working full-time yoga was the one activity that could center me. It was almost like for that one hour my brain would shut off and stop thinking about homework and all the other things on my to-do list. Still to this day I love that feeling of euphoria and calmness that I get after I finish. It is a feeling that I don't get from any other workout.


I'm not a starving student anymore but I still don't have enough money to afford to go to a yoga studio. So I found this absolutely fantastic site.

http://www.yogatoday.com/

Everyday they add a new hour long yoga session. It is great if you love to do yoga but can't afford a studio. Also I own a few yoga dvd's but I always get bored after using them a few times. So I love the fact that YogaToday has a new workout everyday. They usually have a beginner's workout once a week so if you have never tried yoga now is a great time to start!

Motivation Link - "Beyond the Epic Run"

Here is a link to this really great motivation documentary "Beyond the Epic Run." It is about a guy who sells everything and runs around the world. It is really inspiring, take a look!


http://everygymsnightmare.com/?p=247

Biggest Loser Couch Potato Workout

So I love the Biggest Loser! I do think the weekly weight loss is unrealistic, but I find watching the contestants work so hard to be completely motivating. My one problem is that the show is two hours long and by the time I'm done watching it with my mom I'm too tired to go to the gym and workout.

I have come up with a solution to put the motivating aspect of the show to good use and get a workout in while watching. It is pretty easy during the commercials, and there are a lot of them, I do little mini workouts! I try to incorporate a lower body, upper body, core and cardio move into each commercial. Here is an example of a couple of mini sets, all without weights so that you can do them anywhere.

Biggest Loser Couch Potato Workout

Commercial Break #1

• Burpees
• Plie Lunges
• Push-ups
• Bicycle Crunches

Commercial Break #2

• Squat Jumps
• Reverse Lunges
• Tricep Dips
• Plank

Commercial Break #3

• Jumping Jacks
• Supermans
  
• Squats w/ Front Kicks
• Reverse Crunches

I usually just keep repeating these until I'm out of commercial breaks, but you can throw together whatever strength moves you like as long as you get up and move.

Chicory Root Extract...Healthy?

So I know that I'm supposed to be eating clean, but I have fallen in love with the Fiber One Bars. They taste fantastic and have 35% of your daily fiber requirements. While the ingreadient list is a lot longer than I would like I thought the trade-off for the fiber was worth it. That was until I started reading the ingredient list. One of the first few was Chicory Root Extract, I mean that sounds fairly healthy, so like I'm sure every curious mind does, I got on wikipedia and did a little research.

Chicory Root Extract is composed mainly of Inulin. Which is considered a soluble fiber and thus makes up the bulk of the fiber you are getting in the bars. Inulin is the next big food additive because it is slightly sweet and comes with a third of the calories from a normal sugar or carbs. Also Inulin is supposed to aid in digestive bacteria. So still sounds pretty decent to me. Then I keep reading and find out the inulin can cause digestive problems, so now it doesn't sound quite so wonderful.

I'm not sure what to think. I love Fiber One Bars, but I think anytime you take something and refine it down from the whole food, like high-fructose corn syrup, it never seems to turn out right. So help me out, let me know what you think about Chicory Root Extract.

New Exercise Video : Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones

I love to work out at home. There is something about being able to try new moves with out any really fit people watching me struggle at the gym. Plus if I look goofy who cares! So last night I tried Jillian Michael's new video "No More Trouble Zones" on Comcast OnDemand.

First of all I love the The Biggest Loser so I kind of love her already, but she definitely is pretty easy to follow, although the workout isn't, and she isn't annoying. The video is basically a five minute warm-up followed by a series of strength circuits that you run through twice with a total run time of sixty minutes. It sounds easy but it isn't. Jillian combines moves really well like doing a squat with a military press or reverse lunges with a bicep curl to really get your heart-rate up. Plus my abs are really sore today!

Clean Eating

Okay so you have seen me talk about clean eating, but what does that really mean...?

Clean Eating is basically trying as best you can (and it is really hard) to eat whole foods that are minimally processed. It is trying to avoid things like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or ingredients on the side of the package that you can't even pronounce the name.

What is the point though, why eat clean, as opposed to eating low-carb, or low-fat or some other diet regimen? Well first of all I feel really good when I eat this way! Secondly, it really helps out on getting your daily fruits and veggies intake, and also I subscribe to the general philosophy that foods in their whole form are better for you than processed ones, no matter the calorie count. I think if you try to cut out some processed foods you will see the difference too.

RunEat...and Hopefully Grow?

Hello! I'm really excited to begin this journey of I don't know health...weight loss...introspection? Who knows what it will become but the best part is getting there, right?

I haven't really started a blog before, because I didn't know what I would write about but now I figure this is a good way not only to chronicle my progress, but also to hopefully get input from others and keep myself accountable for my actions.

I'm getting married in a little over eight months and although I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off planning a wedding I think now is a great time to makeover certain parts of my life so that I hopefully can enter into my marriage really knowing who I am and what I am capable of. So I've decided to work on three aspects of my life, running or exercising and just generally trying to live and active lifestyle; eating which is a shift towards trying not just to eat healthier but to eat cleaner, and growth. Now growth is the more elusive aspect. I'm not sure yet how I will grow. Hopefully not more vain as I get hotter from all this working out and cleaning eating, but I just really want to find something that makes me happy and I have a passion for. Who knows I guess we will make-up growth as we go along.

Well thanks for being here and sharing in any part of my journey. I welcome your comments and suggestions you might have to help me out.