Sunday, January 24, 2016

Top 5 Fitness Programs

I'm the type of person who gets bored really easily doing the same type of workouts all the time. Starting last year, I tried to find new programs/fitness videos that I could follow along with that I actually liked. So here are my current top 5 favorite fitness programs! 

1. FitnessBlender: I don't know if many people know about fitness blender (I was introduced to them last year from some friends)... but they are awesome! You can check them out on their actual website, or all their videos are on YouTube as well. Basically it's just a couple and they do workouts for you to follow along with at home or gym if you choose to bring the along there. What I really like about FitnessBlender is that some videos are like an hour long and some are 10 minutes- so you really can pick a workout that fits your needs. 

2.  PopSugar Fitness: So there is an actual popsugar fitness website, but that is mostly like a blog about fitness stuff (healthy recipies, etc..) but I like going on to the Popsugar Fitness YouTube channel and working out to some of their videos. I like them for quick workouts for the days when you just don't have a lot of time. You can also find some fun dancing workout videos on there, which are always fun to do in your home where no one is watching you. 

3. BBG: So this is a program I have heard about for forever, but I just looked into it recently. This is a 12 week (I think) program that you buy. You can get a free week of workout pdf though if you want to see what it is all about. I got that and did some of the workouts, and honestly they are awesome! I really like how the program is structured and that it's not a "get in really great shape really fast" thing, but more of a lifestyle change. I mean, you do get a good workout and probably would see changes super fast, but the workouts don't burn you out after 2 months... ya know? Like you can maintain that fitness habit for years. There is also an app now for this, which I think is pretty cool- you can know follow along with Kayla on your phone each day.

4. Nike Training Club: This is an app that I love! First of all, it is free.. which always rocks. Mostly I use the app for quick workouts. There are a lot of workout videos that you can follow along with- some from like 45 min long to some that are only like 10.. so it's great that you can pick and choose depending on how long you have and what area you want to target. There is also an option to create a 4 week program where it will tell you what video to follow everyday. I personally have never done that, but that is also an option that probably is very good. 

5. Insanity: I started doing Insanity 3 years ago in Thailand and loved it! Like yeah it's totally awful sometimes (the second month), but I loved how I felt after doing the workouts. This is something you have to purchase, and basically you get a kit with a bunch of CD's and a 2 month guide that shows you which cd to do each day. I do really like it, but there are times I want to do something different. So that is why I branched out and found other videos or programs that I can incorporate into my yearly fitness plan. I will say though that Insanity is rather intense. It is also pretty hard on the knees..

Here is a short video I made that pretty much states exactly what I just wrote... but ya know, I had to put it in there in case you wanted to see kinda what each program looks like. 

Cheers to getting healthy in 2016! 

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

30 Minute Skirt Tutorial

So I've been doing a really great job at posting lately.... that's not true. I've been horrible. My bad guys! Things just get a little bit harder once you start a job. BUT I'm for real going to try to improve. 
Here is the thing. All my life I have loved making videos- like I have too many embarrassing music videos to look back on. But I love it. So I started a YouTube channel so that I have something to channel all my weirdness/need to make videos into. I feel like a YouTube channel and a blog can kinda go hand in hand. Ya know? So most likely most of my blog posts will be supporting a video. Not all of them (I still want to blog posts about trips Ryan and I take, random thoughts.. just things that don't really fit into video format). 

So today's blog post is a tutorial! 

I have made three of these skirts so far, and they are honestly my favorite! They are so so simple to make and turn out adorable. I promise that after you make one, you'll want to make like 10 more. And you should totally do that cause you can have as many skirts as you want. 
 

Monday, December 14, 2015

Reindeer Cookies

Making these cookies is a must around Christmas time. We would make these every year with my mom growing up and they are my favorite. They are just so cute! We always made them with peanut butter dough, but sugar cookies would work just as well if you don't like peanut butter :)

Peanut Butter Dough:
1/2 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c peanut butter (I used PB2)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients up and then form balls of dough
Pinch one side of the dough and elongate it to make the reindeer nose
Add a red m&m to the end of all the noses
Put 2 little pretzels on the head for the antlers
Put on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes
Immediately after you take them out of the oven, using two spoons, reshape the nose
Add chocolate chips for the eyes
Take pictures of them and then eat them