Pancakes and Snow Day Workout

Today is the day! The day the kids have been waiting for......SNOW DAY!!!! Now it IS a little less dramatic since they were just off yesterday for President's Day. But nonetheless, I cancelled my small group classes this morning to stay home with them. Our morning started with the most outrageous chocolate chip pancakes ever. My oldest son "helped" me add the chocolate chips so they were abundant at best. While I typically shy away from eating this type of breakfast.....it's a snow day. Rules don't apply on a snow day in case you weren't aware of that. So, like a good girl I took 2 Carb Ease and enjoyed 2 of these amazing little cakes of goodness. I figure it will be the best fuel for the shoveling I need to do, followed up by my bodyweight workout, right?

If you are looking for a good old fashioned pancake recipe, this is my go to, adapted from a recipe I found on food.com.


Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
4 TBSP butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 TBSP sugar (or 1 tsp honey)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:
Beat egg until fluffy
Add milk, melted butter and vanilla
Add dry ingredients and mix well
Heat a heavy griddle which is greased with a little butter on a paper towel
Pour a small amount of batter (approx 1/4 cup) into pan and spread out with a spoon (add chocolate chips on top at this point, or even blueberries are delicious)
When bubbles appear on the surface and begin to break, turn over and cook the other side

Now onto the workout of the day! Go through each exercise in a circuit format, resting as needed. If you don't have stairs available to you, then try jumping jacks or high knees or walking in place for that 3 minute time period. Try and go through the circuit at least 3 times, but keep in mind to always do what is appropriate for YOUR fitness level.

Here is a breakdown of the exercises above for your clarification:

Burpees (in this video I also show modications of the burpee)

Air Squats

Push ups

Tricep Dips

Alternating Lunges

Wall Sit

Speed Skaters

Bicycle Crunches

Forearm Plank

Enjoy the pancakes and enjoy your workout Fit and Healthy Crew!!!!

~Debbie

Bench and Dumb bell workout

Full body circuit when you're short on time. All you need is a bench and some dumb bells. Go through the circuit 3-5 times, but shoot for at least 30 minutes to get the full effect of the workout.

10 Burpees with overhead press
10 step ups with  knee drive (each leg)
12 leg raises with tailbone lift on bench
20 Spiderman hops
10 plank rows (each arm)
10 squat overhead presses
10 decline push ups

February 2014 Abs Challenge

Last February I put together an abs challenge, so I wanted to put another one together this February. This challenge was designed to be a great addition to anyone's existing daily workout, as I have you only doing one round every day. Now that said, it's also ideal for the beginner who is just starting their exercise journey.

I hope that you enjoy the challenge and can keep up with it 6 days a week!  Please feel free to pin away and SHARE with your friends through Facebook and Twitter. While you are there, don't forget to follow me as well at Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert and you can find me on Twitter here and Pinterest here.

Below is a quick preview of the exercises that are included in this month's challenge.

Push ups

Note: If you are currently not able to do a full push up on your feet, please simply go down to your knees until you build up enough strength to do a full push up on your feet

Bicycles and Boat Crunches

Plank

Have a fantastic February my fit friends!!!

In Good Health,

Debbie

January 2014 Fitness Challenge

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! (Throw confetti here, kiss somebody, etc. etc.) OK, now that the formalities are done, some of you may be sitting there thinking about the New Year's Resolution you set for yourself to get more fit and healthy in the New Year! If that is you then congratulations for taking the first step! I've decided to help give you someplace to start.  However, this challenge is GREAT for any fitness level.  For those of you just starting out in your fitness journey feel free to cut the reps in half or thirds and work up to the reps that I have listed over time. For the seasoned fit fittie, this is a great add-on to your current workout regimen.  This is a circuit you can do at the end of any workout to put on that nice finishing touch.

It's been awhile since I brought you a monthly challenge and I hope to be able to do more for you in 2014. As long as you keep doing them, pinning them on Pinterest and sharing with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, I'll continue to take the time to create new challenges for you!! Sound like a deal?

So without further ado, let's bring it in 2014!!!

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Legs Glutes and Abs

Today I decided to add some ab work in between my Legs and Glutes supersets to mix things up a bit. I'm already starting to feel the after affects of this workout which means tomorrow should be fun (that whole walking thing......) Thought I would share it with you all in the event you wanted to give it a whirl. Let me know if you try it and please feel free to PIN it on Pinterest and Share with your friends on Facebook.

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Are you sabotaging your fitness goals??

 

Is it possible that you could be SABOTAGING your own fitness goals?  The answer is unfortunately.....yes.  You may be working your butt off in the gym, 5 days every week for an hour at a time and STILL not reaching your goals.  I'm listing the top 5 things in my professional opinion and from my experience that you may be doing or NOT doing that could be sabotaging your efforts.

1.  Not eating breakfast

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Lifting weights won't make you bulky, got it?!?!

So ladies.......you think lifting weights will make you bulky??  Hmmmm.......tell me again about that unicorn you just saw while passing by the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Sarcasm much, Debbie??  I think so.......

But seriously, this is me, hanging out in my bathroom doing a selfie (cause doesn't everyone???) This image is unflexed with no special lighting. This is me at 5 foot 3 inches, post vacation at a good 125 pounds and 22% body fat.  I lift about 5 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes depending on my mood and throw in 2 hours of cardio throughout the week.  Ladies, lifting weights will not make you bulky.  Proof in pic below.

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Interval Circuit Workout

Here is the latest interval circuit I put together for one of my group fitness classes, however, it would be perfect to do as an At-Home HIIT workout! HIIT stands for High Interval Intensity Training.  It basically means you just bust this baby out full throttle, no looking back. Clearly that is the Debbiefied definition. This is a great full body, strength and cardio workout and I hope that you give it a try and enjoy it. Going through the circuit twice will only take you 20 minutes.  Shoot for 3 times through for the ultimate burn and sweatfest. Feel free to comment in the post below your thoughts on the workout! Would love to hear from you!!

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25 Minute AMRAP workout

Here is my latest AMRAP workout.  I did it, loved it, and will be testing it out on my small groups this week.  Set your timer for 25 minutes, and go through each exercise with the amount of reps listed.  Continue through As Many Rounds As Possible in 25 minutes, taking short rests if needed as you go along.  Do this workout with a friend for a little "friendly competition" to mix things up a bit.  Enjoy!

In Good Health,
~Debbie

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Win a FREE NIKE+ FUELBAND!

Last week I had lunch with a friend from out of town.  She is by far one of the sweetest souls I know! We had a wonderful time talking about our families, jobs and passions.  We also came to lunch bearing gifts for one another.  I brought her my clean eating manual that I review during my clean eating webinars.  And she brought me.......WAIT FOR IT.......a Nike+Fuelband!!!!! (I think I won out on this deal.......) I guess it's nice to know people who work for Nike corporate, right??  She told me that I could keep the Fuelband for myself, or do a giveaway on my blog and for my fans on Facebook over at Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert.  Of course, I chose to do a giveaway because I truly LOVE giving stuff away!

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AMRAP Anyone????

When I am short on time, I love a good AMRAP workout.  AMRAP stands for As Many Rounds As Possible.  So basically you just start with the first exercise and continue on to the next and the next with as little break as possible (for 20 straight minutes in this case).  Take a break as you need to, but the whole point is to bust it out rather quickly and document how many rounds that you completed in the 20 minutes.  

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May's Cardio Abs Challenge

April showers bring May.......Cardio Abs???? Whatever Debbie ;-)  I couldn't think of anything clever to say so I just went with that.

May's challenge over at Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert brings us another month with the focus on abs, and I decided to throw in some cardio bursts as well for the ultimate fat blasting experience.  I think you will really like this one and it may be just what you need to get that fire burning in your core and get you on your way for bathing suit season. Make sure and go through the circuit three times through every day, preferably with little rest time between circuits.

Enjoy and feel free to pin and share on Facebook.  The more people we can get on the challenge, the better.  Strength in numbers!

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Gorgeous Gams and Bangin' Booty Challenge

Here it is folks.  Our April challenge over at Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert.  This month we will be focusing on the lower body since we completely wore out the upper body last month. I didn't have the time (or energy) after flying all day to make a continuous video of the exercises for you, BUT I have included a clip of each exercise below so have no fear, you will know EXACTLY what you need to do each and every day!! Good luck and make sure to share with your friends so they can get in on the fun!!!

Remember, each day you go through the circuit for that day THREE times!

Oh burpee....how I love thee......

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March's "Hot in your tank top" challenge

After January's successful burpee challenge and February's even more successful "ABtastic" challenge, this month brings us to some upper body emphasis so that we can be hot in our tank top this summer.  Here are the details and a clip showing the various upper body exercises.  Please note that on Thursdays we will be concentrating on the core only, so to review those exercises you can view this clip on my YouTube channel. Below the calendar I've attached a clip that I did reviewing the upper body exercises we will be doing this month.  You will have ALL you need to do this month's challenge.  Good luck and here's to getting hot in your tank top!!

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February "ABtastic" Challenge

For the month of February, we have a challenge going over at Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert!  It's going to be ABtastic!

Just follow the calendar below and you will certainly be feeling the abdominal burn immediately.  Keep it up all month long, along with clean and healthy eating and you will be one step closer to your bathing suit goal.

Enjoy and let me know how it goes! Please see the video I shot below detailing each exercise listed in the challenge.

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30 Day Burpee Challenge

Are you IN??????????  Are you ready to take the 30 day burpee challenge put together by myself, Fit and Healthy with Debbie Reichert and Natalie over at My Think Fit??  We have broken this challenge down day by day so that you can slowly work up through the month and by day 30 you WILL be busting out 100 burpees!

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Get Your Sweat On Tabata

Yep! This was AWESOME (if I do say so myself). Set your tabata timer to 6 tabatas/8 cycles/20 seconds work/10 seconds rest. It's also a great way to get your burpees in today since I incorporated them into the workout. Remember the whole point of a tabata is to give 100% during the 20 seconds of work. You need to go as hard and strong as you can in that 20 seconds and then recover during the 10 second rest and then fire it up and do it all again.  I used 10 lb. dumb bells for the exercises using them but you can use whatever size you wish. 

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LEG DAY - Nuff said.....

I've decided to put some additional emphasis on my leg training.  I'm not getting the results that I would like to see in my lower body so I've put a plan in place to fix that.  Easy enough....increase my lower body workouts (it's not rocket science people......)

So I started today.  I needed some cardio so I picked a cardio workout revolving around my legs (spinning) and then put together some supersets for my legs and back (lat muscles need some attention as well).  As always, had to throw in some core ;)  So here is the workout.  Try it and I hope you enjoy it.

Debbie's Make Your Legs BURN Workout 

(and throw in some back work as well)

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That was a good workout!!

Sometimes, I create a workout that I love so much I just have to blog about it.  This was definitely one of those times.  Why keep it all to myself??  Here's what was up today at the gym.  I'd love for you to give it a try and let me know what you think!!

I felt like running just a bit to warm up and get in some much needed cardio.  I put together a 30 minute HIIT treadmill workout.  I ended up getting in about 2.3 miles from this workout and burned close to 300 calories if I remember correctly, so not bad for a "warm-up" to kick off my upper body strength training.  For my upper body workout, I chose to do to do some Tri sets and Super sets to hit my shoulders, biceps, triceps and chest.  I threw in some burpees, because ummmmmmmmm.....do you know me?  I freakin' love 'em!  Then I ended with some quick core work.  I'm looking forward to coming up with something similar later in the week focusing on my lower body.  I'll share with you then.

Here was the treadmill workout.  Threw in just a couple sprints...nothing too outrageous cuz I don't roll like that with my running........YET! Running is something I'm working on, but have to really listen to my body on this one because I do have a bum knee (I'm icing said knee as I type this because I forgot my brace....dummy!).

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It's not luck......

Let me preface before you read this.  Sometimes I go on a rant.  This may be one of those times.  I hope you don't mind and hopefully you even get something out of it and get to know more about me and my relationship with food and exercise.

I'm a pretty laid back person.  I know that most of you don't personally know me, but I hope that you can see a bit of my personality come through my Facebook page and this blog.  I'm pretty easy going, but super serious about the important things like work, my husband, my in-laws, my Mom and brother, my friends and keeping my kids alive, happy and well (that in itself is a very serious job when you are the mom of 2 little boys by the way). In most everything else I just try and have fun, hang out and chill, and make really bad ass food and work out like a champ ;)   But a few days ago someone said something to me that got me thinking, and even a little fired up.  She said that "I was very lucky to have such a fit body after having two kids."  Now, trust me, I do not think that in any way, shape or form that this person meant any ill will in that statement.  In fact, I think it was her way of complimenting me maybe.  So I just smiled and nodded and jumped in my uber-cool mini-van to head home.  Throughout the day, her words kept ringing in my ears and really got me thinking....and questioning.  Was I just lucky?  I mean, I've never really had a serious weight issue.  I certainly was thicker in college, and managed to maintain that thickness for the next 9 years or so, because I didn't work out as much as I should have, and I pretty much ate and drank whatever I wanted throughout my 20's.  Even then, at my highest weight I only reached 139 pounds on my 5 foot 3 inch frame, except when I was pregnant.  Even then, I gained an average amount of weight with both boys and lost it all quickly.  I started to really question my mission.  Am I really just lucky to have stumbled upon this healthy lifestyle and a 20 lb. weight loss??  I mean, to some people that is nothing.  Some people lose 100 pounds or more!!  I started to question if I could really inspire people to live a fit and healthier life since I never had the "ultimate struggle" with my weight and never dealt with those demons.  Would people listen to what I had to say??  Right at that moment, I looked at my forearms that were quite bruised from the previous days up/down planks. I felt my aching pulled hamstring muscle that has not had a chance to heal in over a month because I don't want to take a break from teaching my fitness classes.  At that point I quickly snapped back to reality...........Are you kidding me?  This is not a result of luck!  In no way will I chalk up my hard work, willpower, dedication, POOLS OF SWEAT and nausea from doing way to many burpees to LUCK.  

                       10 YEARS AGO                           TODAY AT 38 & 2 KIDS LATER

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