New Month, New Goals

Holy moly, it's November?? What??! I feel like this year is flying by and I am just now noticing! I only recently wrote down a new set of goals for myself...My lovely friends Jami, Molly, Kari, Janie, Cait, Lauren, and Brittany (did I miss any of you??) all a part of the awesome Tone It Up team created a challenge for ourselves to prepare for my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! Please join in if you would like! Our challenge? No alcohol, 5-6 workouts a week, check in each Friday (when we meet for our Baltimore Tone It Up Workout Crew), and one cheat meal. Sounds reasonable, right? It's a great way to lose that last 3 pounds or so!

Every Wednesday, us Baltimore ladies have recently gotten into CXWORX, a new Les Mills high intensity core class that can burn up to 230 calories on average in just 30 minutes! You may not feel the burn right after class but later that day or after 24 hours you are definitely going to feel it! Many gyms are offering the class for their members and its a great quick workout! (For more information about the new revolutionary program, go to this website! )

This morning I had my usual protein smoothie, modified from the Tone It Up meal plan. I have this smoothie about 5 days a week (though I drink some kind of protein drink every day). It is super yummy and I usually take it on the go with me.

I have been told that drinking protein shakes/smoothies that contain yogurt, milk, or other dairy should be consumed for breakfast or with a meal. Post-workout, if you are drinking your little slice of heaven, you should mix your protein in with warm water. It might not taste the best, but dairy contains fat and the protein drink is best absorbed post-sweat fest with water. Warm water allows the body to digest it faster since it doesn't have to bring the liquid to your core body temperature.

Protein Smoothie

(modified from the Tone It Up meal plan)

4 ice cubes

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use chocolate sometimes)

1 Tbl. almond butter

1/2 cup water

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (I use soymilk)

Throw it all in a blender and blend for 30 seconds or so. Enjoy! 

Last night I did an intense cardio workout for about an hour and a half and burned upwards of 1,050 calories. Here is an example of what I do:

Treadmill (12-15 minutes)

Walk 4.2mph 1-1 1/2 min

Walk 4.2 mph 3% incline 1-1 1/2 min

Walk 4.5mph 5% incline 2 min

Jog 5.8mph 2% incline 5 minute

Alternate Jogging with sprinting at 8.5mph at 3% incline (1 minute each) for 5 minutes

Elliptical (15 minutes)

I always keep my heart rate in my target zone but it is usually never less than 172bpm

Increase your resistance as you see fit.

Keep your pace UP! Go! Go! Go!

Stairmaster (10 minutes)

I keep my resistance at around 65 and then move it up by 5 every 2 minutes...are you sweating yet??

Biking (about 10 minutes)

Usually in 10 minutes I can bike about 3 or 3.5 miles. My gear is never set below 12 (the higher your gear number, the faster you go on the machines in my gym)

The stairmaster and biking is when I really see myself sweating buckets! I love it!

Then I go back and do the circuit all over again. I leave about 30 seconds of rest time in between each station. Of course, I always finish my workouts with abs (about 15 minutes worth). Make sure you calculate your target heart rate zone to get the best workout :) 

I am thinking about signing up for the IronGirl triathlon next year (some of my Tone It Up Baltimore sisters I am hoping will do it with me??) before leaving for the military so I definitely need to rev up my workouts! My goal is to do a cardio workout like this one 4-6 days a week and strength training 3 days a week. Yes, sometimes I do two-a-days which makes me want to kill myself the next day, but hey...I'm gettin' it in!

Me and my girlfriend, Justina, as Batman and Robin for Halloween

What are some of your November goals?? When do you like to drink your protein drinks??

Hope everyone gets their daily fix of protein and gets that cardio in! You will find yourself more energized in no time and be able to accomplish more...on your own two feet...

Until the next step bloggers...