What makes the breakfast?

So, we all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I've been told over and over again, and faithfully eat breakfast. You could even find me in a cranky mood if I don't eat breakfast, my body is used to eating when I get up.

If you check my MyFitnessPal log, you'll see I normally eat an egg white sandwich on wheat with Trop50 oj and Greens. Sometimes I switch it up and have a smoothie with Greens in it. Check out the picture if you're not sure what Greens are! I subscribe to Fitness Magazine and like them on Facebook. Today they posted a link to this website: Eat This. It's all about what to eat for breakfast! I could go with "THE BEST BREAKFAST IF YOU... DO CARDIO IN THE A.M." or "THE BEST BREAKFAST IF YOU... ARE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT." Patrick would probably be "THE BEST BREAKFAST IF YOU... STILL FEEL FULL FROM DINNER" or "THE BEST BREAKFAST IF YOU... CAN'T STOMACH A LOT OF FOOD." There are a ton of great ideas on the site, definitely check it out. 

I'll leave you with one last thing. If you ever wondered what makes the breakfast, or want to hear one of Kaylee's favorite songs listen to this video: What makes the breakfast? :)

Cheating

In the world of dieting you often hear, "today is my cheat day," or "I can cheat this time," or "cheating once in a while is ok." I've said all of them at one point or another today, I'm sure of it. While I was running today, though, I really got to thinking about the concept of that. 

Cheat: according to Merriam Webster to cheat is: 

: to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something

: to take something from (someone) by lying or breaking a rule

: to prevent (someone) from having something that he or she deserves or was expecting to get

I look at these definitions two ways... I want to eat a candy bar and cheese balls, and not go for a run today. I'm just going to call it a cheat day! So I broke a rule, eat crummy and don't workout to help fight it. Now, look at that last point, "to prevent (someone) from having something that he or she deserves or was expecting to get". I deserve and expect to loose weight... when I cheat I'm taking that away from myself. 

Which moves me on to another point, I allow no one on this Earth to cheat me. That would be rude, I would have a hissy fit over it, and I wouldn't tolerate it at all. Why in the world would I do that to myself when I would never let someone else do it, and would be offended if anyone tried??? That doesn't even begin to make sense to me! 

10 workouts that burn a ton of calories

Ok, so I've had a lot of people telling me lately they're looking to burn more calories. I scoured the internet and ran into some really awesome workouts that burn major calories! Here are some of them that I found that burn major calories. I calculated all of these to an hour, and they're all done with the MyFitnessPal calculator, done to my specific body weight. If you want to see for yourself what they'd be, go make an account and add me as a friend!!

1. RUNNING
Of course, we all have to know by now... I LOVE running!! I'll push that to the top of my list. Running 10 minute miles for 60 minutes burns 856 calories for me. If I increase my speed to 9 minute miles, I'm burning 942 calories an hour!

See that girl in the white and red shirt and black pants? That's me crossing the finish line of my first half marathon! I loved running this one. I ran by myself, and honestly I think that's the way I prefer to run. I'm not trying to match pace with anyone else, my body does exactly what it wants when it wants! I had so much fun at this half marathon. Seriously, if I were ever to recommend a half marathon or marathon it would be this one! Here's a link if you care to join me this year. http://www.desmoinesmarathon.com

2. ROWING

Rowing is pretty sweet. I've done it a few times, and it wasn't really my thing, but it does burn MAJOR calories! For my body weight, an hour of moderate effort rowing burns 599 calories. Most gyms have a rowing machine or two. Otherwise, I found several online with great reviews and are not any more expensive than a treadmill.


3. SWIMMING
Swimming is such a great workout, with super low impact! Swimming laps at a light/moderate effort I burn 599 cal/hr, and at vigorous effort it's up to 856 calories! Doing the butterfly I get 942!!


4. Biking

Biking is another one that is easier on the joints. At a moderate effort (12-14mph) I will burn 685 calories!


5. Dancing
This one is too fun not to put on here. The first time I lost a ton of weight, I was also going to the club and dancing a ton on Friday and Saturday nights! Ok, I'm too old for that around here, and let's be real, that'd probably only happen again in Vegas, where no one knows me, and it is dark. That does not, however, stop me from dancing my heart out in my leaving room! Ask Kaylee, we're dancing ALL the time. Doing aerobic dancing I burn 411 calories per hour. Just by rocking out to my music in the living room, or doing a cardio dancing video/class.

6. Roller Blading
Oh my goodness!!! I need to wear my heart rate monitor to double check this one. According to MFP, I burn 1028 calories an hour roller blading!!! Talk about killer calories. This is not the casual roller blading, it'd be like the jogging version of the exercise.


7. Cross Country Skiing
I have never actually done this one, but I've seen it all over. Cross country skiing 4-5mph will blast away 685 calories an hour! I love that in a lot of state parks they have cross country skiing trails. I wouldn't know where else to go, had I not seen the signs once. 

8. Running Stairs
I remember seeing people doing this at stadiums, I've done it at Iowa State on the stairs outside Curtiss hall, and you can pretty much do this outside any building with a lot of steps. In your office building stair well is another great option, just don't get hurt while you're doing it. Running stairs for an hour will torch 1285 calories for me!!

9. Racquetball
I learned to play racquetball while I was in Germany. We played in the rec on the Ramstein air base, and I'm so happy we were able to use the facilities. It took me a little while to get used to, but in a causal game I'll burn 599 calories an hour. 



10. Rock Climbing
I used to climb the rock wall at the Iowa State rec center, but I never realized how many calories I could burn doing it! In an hour I'll burn approximately 685 calories. 


WANT TO BURN EVEN MORE CALORIES??? You should try out Thermofit from It Works!. I take it before my workout and burn extra calories. The ingredients in it boost your metabolism! 

If you're interested in seeing some more lists, I found these great resources! 

11 Workouts That Burn More Calories Than Jogging

10 Exercises That Burn More Calories Than Running

Most Effective Cardio Exercises to Burn Calories and Fat

My thoughts on Jillian Michaels's 30 Day Shred

I am almost finished with Level 2 of the 30 day shred. This level is KILLER. Not because everything is terribly difficult, but because she puts so much emphasis on the same muscle groups for the whole time.

If you don't like planks...                                  or lunges 

THIS IS GONNA HURT!!!!
I don't want to scare you but seriously... all of Level 2 is lunge after plank. I'm not talking these simple poses I have in the blog today, I should have gone and gotten images of what Jillian is actually doing. I however did not, so let me just describe it to you.

The beginning of the workout is not too bad. You do some walkout pushups and squats where you pull the weights back and squeeze your shoulders. The cardio calls for a move called squat thrusts, which is a plank where you jump and pull your knees to your chest and push them back out again, remaining in plan position the whole time. Not terrible, but here's the start of them...

Circuit two is all about lunges, be prepared to do a static lunge (where you hold in lunge position for the whole time) and work your shoulders with hand weights again. The second move in this workout is the pendulum lunge with bicep curl. Cardio is extremely simple this time.

The third circuit is what really gets me. You begin with a military press and leg extension, really easy the first time around. Then, you move into chair squats with a v raise. I don't know if it's my double jointed elbows or what, but these suckers are hard for me! You bring your hand weights up to your eyes in an upside down v formation. Going back to the military press after that once is ridiculous, and my shoulders really do burn. OH wait. We're not going to give your shoulders a break there! Moving in to cardio you start with PLANK jacks. More shoulders!!!! You'll get a break for some jump roping, but then moving in to abs, you're going to do some plank twists. Woof. I shouldn't have to tell you, my shoulders KILL.

I'm training for a marathon!

I'm super excited for this one!! In October, I will be running my first ever marathon! I have run 2 half marathons, a 10K and too many 5Ks to count. For those of you who are not familiar a marathon is...

26.2 MILES!!!!!!!

Now before you freak, yes, I know this is a long ways. It is not however the longest race. I've read some running books from runners that have done ultra marathons. Go look them up, those are truly nuts! Some even up to 100 miles and above. THAT is some serious milage I will never touch.

But I'm excited, so that leave me to you. I challenge ALL of you to sign up for a "race" somewhere. It could be the Color Run or Glow Run, or something similar, where it's not really a race. But I encourage you all to do it, because signing up for a race gets you in the mood. Get you excited. Gives you something to work towards. A real goal.

So I'm going to leave you now, with my training schedule. Started today! Feel free to follow along with me. Heck, I would love to see you at the Des Moines Marathon with me!

Almost over?!?

The month is almost over?!? There is no way!!! Man we've been busy every weekend with something or another, and now the month is over! I really can't believe it. 

So in this month, I've gained a few things.

✅ muscles 💪🏻 in spots I didn't know I had the (thanks Jillian)

✅ the encouragement from a little lady who helps me with my workout each day

✅ pride- several people have mentioned their following my blog and it's helping them. Yay!!! Thanks I'm glad to hear it.

✅ confidence. Let's be honest here, really I'm a pretty confident person, but feeling great puts me to a whole other level. 

Getting excited for measurements and weigh I day. Going to make the last 5 days an awesome push!!!! Join me to make the end of June the best start possible to July!! (PS marathon training starts Monday!)

Borrow some inspiration!

I hate to admit it, but there are times when I feel like things aren't working. I'm not achieving my goals. I want to give up and just not care about what I'm doing any more. That is the moment I rely on some of my friends. For example...

Today I saw this amazing post on Facebook!

Here's Jen's story:

 Just a little over 10weeks ago I made the decision to join Farrells extreme body shaping. 💪(awesome choice)

For me, being healthy and active is extremely important. I personally want to be a role model for our family & be the best I can for them. When I'm healthy and fit, I'm a better overall person. 

I am in disbelief to share that I was chosen as one of the winners this past weekend and still cannot believe it. 😳 I feel that my daily routine of taking my Its Vital Nutrition pack & greens/Profit shake every morning ENHANCED my results. It Works has not replaced my hard work, it's been the best enhancer!! 

Along with the above mentioned I used 1 box of wraps to keep my skin tightened, toned and firm while losing just over 16lbs and 14.5 inches in 10weeks.

I also saw another friend who said they'd love nearly 15 pounds on a weight loss journey since May 22nd!! There are so many people out there with motivating me, but then I come back to myself. I've been where I want to be physically. My only goal at this point is to get back there :)

Thank you for the amazing people placed in my world at just the right times to encourage me to continue! You are all rockstars and such inspirations, keep on a rocking'!!!!