6) Gum and chapstick - These are must haves no matter who you are. Coffee breath and chapped lips are just not cool. :)

7) Nike Studio Wraps - If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I have the unfortunate ability to dislocate my right pinky toe at the drop of a hat. This sucker has popped out of place 4 times in the last 3 years, and it doesn't like to go back in very easily. E bought me these after my third dislocation to try to protect it during class (I dislocated it on someone's water bottle that time). I have broken numerous bones and given birth to an almost 8 lb baby no problem, but having to get my stupid pinky toe put back into place is enough to make me want to bawl my eyes out. So needless to say, I am a big fan of my studio wraps so my baby toe stays right where it is suppose to!

8) Batiste Dry Shampoo - As someone who pretty much lives sweaty, I am somewhat of a dry shampoo connoisseur, and this baby is my ALL TIME FAVORITE! It smells great, doesn't make your hair look ashy, and isn't sticky at all. If you don't have any, go buy some!

9) Coach Wristlet - I use this as my wallet/mini purse. It's easy to throw back and forth between my gym bag and diaper bag so I always have what I need. It also keeps me from having to carry my entire gym bag in with me when I'm running errands or meeting a friend for lunch.

10) Tylenol - Even though cutting out gluten has drastically cut back on the  number of headaches I have, I still battle tension headaches from time to time so tylenol is important.

11) ToeSox Leg Warmers - Last but not least are my new favorite Barre accessory.... leg warmers! When it is freezing outside, these things are amazing and look super cute I might add. Don't you knock 'em till you try them. Move over 1985, I'm coming for you!

I also usually have a water bottle, small makeup bag, and bandaids hidden somewhere in there!

Part two of this glorious Workout Wednesday is the quick and dirty (aka sweaty) workout I completed on Monday morning. I should have titled it, "Watch out 27, I'm going to kick your butt!" Anywho, it was a good one and only took 20 minutes.



Most of these exercises are pretty standard, but the plank to squat was new to me. It is essentially a burpee without standing up. That sounds like it would be nicer than a traditional burpee, but when you take out the standing portion, you end up staying in a squat or plank the entire time, and boy do your legs start to burn!

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To begin, start in a deep squat position with hands on floor. Jump feet back into plank. Perform a push-up and then jump your feet back into your squat leaving hands on the floor. Sounds fun right?

Let me know if you give this workout a try! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your workout Wednesday. Linking up for Workout Wednesday and Wild Workout Wednesday!

What is in your gym bag that you couldn't live without?

What is your favorite variation of a burpee? I think my all time favorite has to be a BOSU burpee! 

In health,

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Howdy,

Wow, are we really already 5 days into the new year? How did that happen? I must say, I have a really good feeling about 2015. With the arrival of Annabelle, 2014 was by far the best year of my life, but I think watching her grow and focusing on nurturing my little family is going to make 2015 just as amazing!

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When I sat down to think about my goals for 2015, many of the things I came up with were hard to measure (the personal trainer and health coach in me wants ever goal to be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound). Being the best mom and wife I possibly can, deepening my walk with God, and focusing on creating family memories and traditions were the top three that came to mind.

Most years, I have pretty standard resolutions. I resolve to lose weight, exercise more, eat better, do more yoga, etc., etc. However, this year, I wanted to take a more comprehensive approach to my goals. I decided to focus on three main areas:


MIND
As much as it seems like yesterday, I finished my masters degree almost 4 years ago now. I have always truly enjoyed learning (the test part kind of stressed me out in school but I liked learning new things), especially if it was a topic I was truly passionate about. I am much more likely to get fired up about a book on nutrition or exercise science than the latest best selling fiction novel. Even though I am no longer formally in school, I enjoy expanding my knowledge through self study and certifications. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I began studying for my health coach certification. My goal for the first half of 2015 (I just can't break the SMART goal setting habit) is to finish studying and take the ACE Health Coach exam. Through this exam, I hope to become a better Pilates instructor, personal trainer, blogger, and hopefully, a practicing health coach.



BODY
I have decided to make 2015 the year of strength! I have always made strength training a part of my workout routine, but I never really focused on getting significantly stronger. I always try to challenge myself during workouts and come up with new workout to keep my body guessing, but this year, I am going to plan my workouts around increasing my strength. Because I need to hold myself accountable, I have chosen pull-ups as my measuring stick. I have always had a very strong lower body (bring on the dead lifts, and leg presses any day), but my upper body strength is a different story. It has always been the area I need to work on most. For some reason, pull-ups have always been my arch nemesis. They are just SOOOOO hard for me. So my goal for 2015 is to add one pull-up every two months until I can get 6 in a row. Yikes!! This may not seem like a ton for some people, but for some reasons pull-ups are by far the hardest exercise for me to complete.


My second body related goal for 2015, is to cut WAY back on my sugar intake. Now, if you ask my husband, I don't eat any sugar (coming from the man who just finished off a whole package of Swedish fish in one sitting). However, I know I could do much better in this area. I am definitely a healthy eater, but home girl loves her chocolate! I am really going to focus on cutting back on added sugar and processed food in general. To kick start this goal, I have pledged to go the entire month of January with no sugar. We're five days in and going strong. I usually have Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert every night, and I am definitely missing those bad boys, but I'm surviving. I'm hoping that by going cold turkey for an entire month, I can reset my body to not have so much of a sweet tooth. Don't get me wrong, sweets are totally fine in moderation, but I noticed my chocolate intake was creeping up to a not so great level. :) What better time to reset than the new year (once I consumed my weight in peppermint bark of course)? Wish me luck!




SOUL
This one isn't quite as measurable as the first two, but that's ok. Saying I want to focus on being the best mom and wife I can seems like a given, so I started to think about what exactly that would look like. What exactly can I do to increase Annabelle and Eric's day to day happiness? That's a pretty tough question.


For Annabelle:
I will strive to make her feel loved, cared for, and cherished every single day.
I will help her explore, grow, and learn as she develops throughout the year.
I will try to not be too overprotective and let her experience SOME things on her own (this one will be hard for the mama bear in me).

For Eric:
I will work to increase my patience and remember he can't read my mind.
I will look for things big or small I can do around the house or with Belle to make his life easier.
I will remember to say thank you for all of the things he does without me even asking and sometimes without me even knowing.

For Our Family:
I will look for ways to create memorable moments that we will each cherish.
I will strive to establish our own family traditions that we can enjoy and grow with throughout the years.
I will look for intentional activities we can do as a family.

If I can accomplish these goals, I will be able to call 2015 a complete success. I can't wait to see what this upcoming year has in store for me and my family! I have a great feeling it's going to be a magical year from start to finish!

Do you make New Years resolutions?

If so, do you have any you wouldn't mind sharing?

In health,

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Howdy!

School always stressed me out. The tests, grades, stressing about taking the right classes, competeing to be in the top 10%, competeing for internships, and so much more. From kindergarden to the day I graduated with my masters degree, I was one giagantic stress ball. What 4th grader gets migrains? Oh yeah, that was me! Although, school stressed me out, I have ALWAYS enjoyed learning new things. Minus the occassional Harry Potter book, I enjoy reading books on nutrition, exercise science, and politics much more than love stories. I think that is one of the things that I love the most about the health and fitness industry. There is always something new to learn, a new exercise format to try, or a new certification to acquire. I am a little bit of a certification aholic. I LOVE learning about the latest techniques in the fitness industry that may help my clients accomplish their goals!

A few months ago, I started feeling like it was time to expand my knowledge once again and began to think about the what skill set I would like to improve upon. I have been teaching group fitness and personal training for 8+ years now, so I have a lot of expereince with the exercise part of fitness and weight management; however, I do not have as much formal training on the nutrition side. I have quite a bit of experience with healthy cooking, meal planning, and more basic nutritional concepts, but I wanted to go even more indepth with how macro and micronutrients affect our bodies and our weight. With that in mind, I started to look into various certifications, and decided to begin studying for my ACE Health Coach Certification.

The ACE Health Coach Certification aims to teach behavior change, physical activity and nutrition coaching skills to help coaches empower people to make positive, long-term healthy change. I liked this certification because it not only covered nutritional concepts that affect health and weight management but the behavioral changes that need to take place to make healthy habits stick. I hope that the information I learn from this certification will help me be a better Pilates instructor, blogger, and overall fitness professional.

Has anyone else taken the ACE Health Coach Certification? Thoughts?

What about other health coach certifications?

I'm going to try to fit in a little bit more work for the studio before Belle wakes up from her nap, but I have to leave you with one picture first. It is a chilly 35 degrees here in Austin today, so Belle had to dress appropriately of course! Baby thug life is hard!



Have a great Thursday!

In health,

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