Working out while traveling

I travel a lot. Between my husband's business trips and our own adventures, we spent about 2 months in hotels in 2014. Did I let that stop me from working out?! No! Heck, I even got a workout in during our trip to Punta Cana, DR! 

Here I am last weekend, finding a corner & getting it done:

After all of my travels, I do have a method to the hotel room workout madness.

Planning my schedule. About a week to 10 days before any trips, I look ahead at my workout schedule to see what could possibly be rearranged. Often, I will skip an upcoming rest day and save it for my trip. I might even double up for a day or two before leaving. In general, I don't love doing strength training in hotels, so I try to get them in before I go, if possible. I'd much rather do cardio or yoga in my hotel room.

What to pack? I always pack my computer, external DVD player, workout DVDs & resistance bands. I even have something that I can use to hook my bands in the doorway so I can mimic pull-ups. If we are driving somewhere or if I have room in my suitcase when flying, I pack my yoga mat.  Otherwise I just do my yoga without. Not ideal, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

What about the hotel gym?  More often than not it's just easier for me to workout in the room, especially if my husband is working. I have taken my p90x app to the gym and followed along with the movement list to lift. Twice last year I also opted for some "me time" and did the elliptical. Not quite as intense, but still got me sweating.

Don't stress. With travel it's almost impossible not to get off schedule even a little bit. I aim to try not to take more than 2 consecutive days off. A break that's too long will definitely take the wind out of your sails and motivation could be hard to find again. I also try to walk as much as I can so that I'm at least doing something each day. 

Get back into it. When I get back home, I get back into my routine. No excuses, I just pick up where I left off.  I might double up again for a day or two, but then it's back to normal.

This is why I love home workouts so much! You can do them anywhere!

Join us!!

Join my team's February Challenge group! Dust off your old Beachbody programs or order a Challenge Pack from me. We start next Monday. 

Www.beachbodycoach.com/dmblauren 

Let's do this!!

My favorite apps

As somebody who loves her iPhone, I also love a good app! Here are some of my favorite health/fitness apps:

1) MyFitnessPal 

I've been using this app for years and I love it! It's fantastic for tracking daily food intake and weight loss.

2) Fitbit

I wear my Fitbit 24/7 and I love the app that comes with it. I have it connected to my Fitbit Aria scale, MyFitnessPal and a couple of running apps. I really love how it communicates with MFP. When I sync my steps on my Fitbit, they also sync with MFP which updates how many calories I burned through exercise. I also love how I can step on my Aria scale and have my weight sync with both my Fitbit and MFP apps. 

3) P90X 

This app works with P90X, P90X3 and P90X2. It has the schedules, let's you check off each workout as it's completed, keep track of reps/weights and lets you update your photos/weight/measurements. It syncs right to my Beachbody account so my workouts are posted there as well. It's so much more convenient than using a pen and paper to keep track of everything. The app also lists all of the movements that are on each DVD so you can take it to a hotel gym and knock out a resistance workout if you so desire. I've done that before! 

4) Pepperplate

This is a meal planning app. You can put in recipes, schedule your recipes for the week and put everything into a shopping list that you can check off as you go along in the store. Genius! I was using my Notes app for grocery lists (and still do for the basics) but I love this app for my more complicated recipes. 

Those are my most used health/fitness apps. Do you have any "must have" apps that I need to add to my life?

Recipe of the day

Avocado quinoa:

I love this one! As does my meat eating husband and my toddler! It's super easy to throw in the crockpot.

Ingredients:

1 (14 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup quinoa (rinsed)

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup salsa verde (use your favorite brand)

1 bay leaf

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 avocados, diced

1 roma tomato, diced

1/4 cup cilantro

  

Directions: 

1. Combine the black beans, quinoa, water, salsa, bay leave, cumin, salt and garlic powder in slow cooker.

2. Gently fold in one on the avocados that has been diced.

3. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours or on LOW for 4 hours.

4. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve topped with the additional avocado, tomato and cilantro.

February Challenge Group

Want to get fit & healthy this February? I'd love for you to join my team's February challenge group. Together we will do a workout program and push/motivate each other daily! Let me know if you are interested! 

Weight loss tips

Whenever I'm speaking with a friend about my post baby weight loss they always ask me how I did it.  I thought I would gather together a list of tips that really helped me while going through my weight loss.

1) Drink a ton of water.  The first thing I do each day after I wake up is guzzle 16 ounces of water.  I do this as my coffee machine is heating up and before I make my breakfast.  I drink water nonstop throughout the day.  I don't go anywhere without a bottle (or two) in my purse.  In addition to keeping me hydrated, it also helps keep me full and make sure that I'm not confusing thirst for hunger.  I also drink a few cups of herbal tea after dinner each night.  This helps keep me from snacking

2) Everything in Moderation.  I don't subscribe to the idea of eating 100 percent clean 100 percent all of the time.  I like pizza, burritos, craft beer and wine.  I watch my portions, I try to eat healthy but I also eat that "naughty" stuff.  If I restrict myself from all of that fun stuff, I tend to go overboard on the weekends.  Not to mention, I'm miserable if I feel restricted.  I also make sure I am actually eating.  No 1,000 calorie starvation diets for me! I use my food as fuel.

3) MOVE.  I love products like the Fitbit.  I've been wearing mine every day since the beginning of June 2013.  I compete for steps with my husband.  We're both competitive people so we love to "win" with the most steps.  I think a lot of people tend to scoff at walking as a form of workout, but I love going on walks with my son in his stroller for some low intensity steady state cardio.  It's a great way to get outside and to burn some calories!

4) Find a program you like & stick to it.  As I mentioned in my last entry, I found p90x and stuck with it.  I love home workouts because it really works with my stay at home mom schedule.  I also love how the leg work of planning out what to do on which days is already done for me.  I just look at the schedule and push play.  But no matter what you do for your program, consistency is key.  You really can't expect awesome results if you are only workout sporadically.  I notice the most change in my body once i have been working out around 6 times per week for 2 months.  Consistency and patience!

Basically, be consistent, stay active, eat good food to fuel your body and drink your water.  Nothing happens overnight so give your body some time and love and it will respond.

An Introduction

Hi!  Welcome to my blog!  I decided to start a health/fitness/lifestyle blog because I am very passionate about fitness and want to share that passion with others.

Growing up I was always fit, thin and active in sports.  I had always loved running and in 2010 I discovered p90x.  It was love at first workout.  I did p90x on and off again for 2 years and also dabbled in other Beachbody programs such as Turbofire and Insanity.  I was in good shape, even though I may have been a tad on the too skinny side.

When I got pregnant with my son in 2012, I was HUNGRY!  Seriously, I could not get enough to eat.  Despite the fact that I remained active throughout my pregnancy, walking everywhere, doing Turbofire and prenatal yoga, I still gained 67lbs!!  I didn't really matter whether I ate salads or burritos, I still packed on the weight each week.

After delivery I had a complication that landed me in physical therapy for months and made it so I am unable to run or do sit-ups.  My son was born at the end of May 2013 and that summer I stuck to walks and using the elliptical machine.  At 3 months postpartum I started using 5lb weights once a week to do some light lifting and I did some light body weight lower body work once a week as well.  Remember, I was in physical therapy so my main goal was to heal my body and do my PT work.  I only added light weights when I got my PT's OK.

At 5 months postpartum I was cleared to really get into my workouts.  I decided to go back to my trusty p90x.  Of course, I was very out of shape and had to modify a lot.  I didn't even do the plyometric or ab workout at all.  I did doubles, doing Turbofire workouts as my extra cardio on resistance day.

Once I completed p90x, I decided to try the new program p90x3, which was like p90x but only 30 minutes per day.  I did 2 rounds of doubles of p90x3.  I actually love that program more than p90x (if that's possible!).  30 minutes a day worked really well with my stay at home mom schedule.

By the time I had finished x3 I had lost my baby weight.  I decided to do a round of the graduate program, p90x2 to try to gain muscle.  I'm currently doing another round of p90x and working to build muscle (especially my booty!) I actually still modify a lot and still skip the ab workout.  I do, however, do the plyometric workout, I just don't actually jump but treat it as a body weight leg day.  I also recently started to add in 21 Day Fix workouts into my schedule too.  They are only 30 minutes so they are "easy" for me to tack on to my current workout schedule.

As you can see, I have a real passion about these programs and about fitness in general.  I think it's important for me to provide a good roll model for my son and to also carve out the time to take care of myself!!  I want this blog to chronicle my workouts, provide tips and tricks to other people looking to lose weight, and also have the occasional recipe (I am obsessed with my crock pot!).

I thought I would also give you guys my before/after pics so you can see that I am real.  In the photo on the left I was probably 157lbs before p90x (after having lost the initial 25 lbs).  On the right I am around 118, after 1 round of p90x, 2 rounds of p90x3 and 1 round of p90x2.

I look forward to sharing my fitness journey with you all.  Please contact me if you have any questions!!

Lauren