Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Making time for exercise

Happy Tuesday!

Hope everybody’s week has gotten off to a good start. Mine has been great, seeing as I have Thursday and Friday off from school. LOVE short weeks! We are half way through the first trimester and are off for PT conferences. I still have to go to work of of course, but hey, I get to sleep in. I’m a happy camper. :)

This morning, I had a great breakfast to start my day off on the right foot. It featured a new almond butter that I am now officially OBSESSED with:

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After seeing this on Jenna’s blog, I decided to pick it up last weekend at Green Acres Market. 5 dollar almond butter? I’m down.

When I got home, I immediately tried it out. I have to say…I was impressed! It has a wonderful, distinctive taste. I couldn’t figure out what it tasted like at first, but after giving it some thought, I decided that it tastes like cinnamon rolls. Um yeah, I am in love with it. End of story.

I made some overnight oats last night:

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  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • cinnamon

And this morning I added:

  • 1/2 sliced banana
  • 3 big scoops of Oikos Greek Yogurt, plain
  • 1 tbsp Blue Diamond honey almond butter

And for lunch, I quickly put together this plate:

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  • Joseph’s whole wheat pita
  • grilled chicken
  • mozzarella cheese
  • laughing cow light
  • spinach

With some veggies on the side to munch.

And my first Honey Crisp of the season!

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I was starving by the time I got home from school, so I devoured this all within 5 minutes.

The lovely April from Foods of April brought up a great question that I wanted to address. She asked:

“What does your exercise

schedule look like? School

is making me kind of lazy.”

I have to admit that I definitely have NOT been working out as much as I had been in the Summer. During Summer it was easy to exercise…I had most of my days free to do whatever I wanted to do with them. Now, I am not really “free” until around 6 p.m., and that is assuming I don’t have any homework that night. And like I have mentioned before, a lot of times I am just plain tired and ready to relax when I get home.

So lately I have discovered the greatness of Mini Workouts. On a regular weekday, I have been doing 10-20 minutes of some type of exercise in the morning, first thing when I wake up. Lately I have been enjoying starting my morning off with yoga, in honor of National Yoga Month. 

Then in the evening, right when I get home from work, I will do another form of exercise, such as walking my dog, 30 Day Shred, or just some simple strength training moves on my own.

While it doesn’t feel like I’m getting much exercise in, these mini workouts have actually really added up. Plus, I get those endorphins flowin’ TWICE a day instead of just one!

I save my runs for the weekends, which I take full advantage of. This has actually worked out nicely, because since I am not running every day, I have “fresh legs” for my weekend runs. This also helps to prevent burn out with running.

The important thing is to find what works for YOU and your schedule. I believe that fitting exercise into your days is very important, but stressing out about exactly how much you are working out is unnecessary. Do things that you like. I adore fall weather and it has been beautiful outside lately, so I have been looking forward to my walks with my dog Jaci in the evenings. Make it fun! You don’t have to run 5 miles a day to get a good workout in. 

And with that, I need to get to work! Have a great day!

Kristi

9 comments:

  1. i JUST bought that almond butter! I am so stoked to try it :)

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  2. Thanks so much! You are right.. every little thing counts! I guess sometimes I'm just too hard on myself saying I have to do a certain amount of time. But somedays I'm just too tired! I've been parking far from my classes so I get a little bit of walking in so that adds up too! Have you noticed your eating habits changing since you've cut down on exercise? Mine has stayed the exact same!

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  3. I'll keep my eyes open for that AB! I definitely find it more difficult to squeeze in workouts during the school year

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  4. need to buy me some of the almond butter! sounds amazing!!

    good for you for making fitness a priority in your life by just breaking down your workouts :)

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  5. I totally agree...working out should be FUN, not stressful, or it completely defeats the point!

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  6. sometimes I just do 10 minutes of abs/legs/arms 3x's a day and it's just as good! It's all about learning to work with your schedule -- and as you said, somethings better than nothing! you go girl!

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  7. omg i just read you did the 5k! congrats girl!

    way to get in some exercise when sups busy! i try day or night working out, based on my work/school schedule!

    xoxo
    Lo

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  8. I try to squeeze in exercise whenever I can. With classes and studying, I hardly have time or energy for working out. But I try, and I feel great when I actually do exercise :) I found a way to make time for it, I ride my bike each day to the campuss :) It's like 20 km in a day, which is not bad!

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  9. Almond butter that tastes like Cinnamon buns? yum!

    I completely agree - you have to find what works for you with exercise :)

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