*YOU are a Badass* - How To Make The Universe Your Buddy

It turns out...I have complete control of my life, and it's only taken my entire 35 years on this earth to figure it out. I started my 36th year yesterday, and for that I am Thankful and excited and ready, because from here on out...my life is going to be badass. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about my current life, or how things have gone, my life is pretty damn amazing....but it can be SO MUCH MORE!

Here's how my revelation came about. It all started when my wonderful and inspiring Beachbody coach decided to set up a Book Challenge group for December. She picked the book. We all bought it. We all started to read. My life started to change...like within minutes, maybe even seconds. I'm on chapter 5...FIVE! 50 pages in and here I sit so full of excitement that I'm already blogging about it!! (I kind of have a feeling there will be a lot more posts on this book).

Here it is! Here's the magical book that is changing my life!

I kind of feel like rainbows are shooting out of my eyes...there's that much going on inside me...which is kind of a lot, if you think about it.

So I'm not going to go into extreme detail on the book, if you want to know what's in it, you can most certainly buy it for yourself. This isn't a sales pitch to get you to buy the book, it makes no difference to me whether you read this book or not. I AM however going to tell you about my experiences in the last few days, and how I was living my life all wrong before. 

So let's go there...

I think for pretty much my whole life, I've been trying to fool the Universe. Sitting there day after day after day wondering when IT was going to happen...wondering why IT hadn't happened yet, and thinking I was doing every thing in my power to get IT. Feeling frustrated, I would often just think I didn't deserve IT, I was never going to get IT, IT didn't really even matter, why would someone like ME get something like IT? Maybe I already had it and it wasn't what I thought it would be and I should just shut up and keep living.

Now IT can be whatever you want it to be. It's really too big to explain. Happiness, friends, love, faith, peace, understanding, money...the list can go on and on.

The point is...the vibrations I was sending out were all wrong. My whole life I'v been "shy". It's been my inner excuse for EVERYthing. People don't like me because I'm shy. I can't get up in front of people because I'm shy. I don't easily make new friends because I'm shy. Not because I'm not nice, it's just that I'm shy. I'd walk into a room sending off silent vibrations that said "nobody is going to talk to me, they already don't like me", and then I sat there alone in the corner, baffled over why nobody was talking to me. "Why doesn't anybody like me?". Well, it was because I was telling them not too! I was basically begging them to leave me alone. Nothing about me or what I was vibing out said "hey everyone, I'm here! Let's party!"
I told myself though that I was different. This time I'll make 1,000 new friends. This time they'll all love me and we'll dance off into the sunset like 12 year old bff's. But nothing inside me was changing. My thoughts and beliefs about myself had not changed. I was simply trying to fool the Universe about who I was. It turns out, you can't quite do that. 

So here's the good news (and quite possibly my favorite quote from the book so far:

"You are loved. Massively. Ferociously. Unconditionally. The Universe is totally freaking out about how awesome you are. It's got you wrapped in a warm gorilla hug of adoration. It wants to give you everything you desire. It wants you to be happy. It wants you to see what it sees in you."

So...all I needed to do was change all those stupid bad inner negative thoughts and feelings...make them positive...then BELIEVE in them. That's key right there....remember you can't fool the Universe, you must truly and utterly believe...

Just like that I started. I left my front porch and I actually felt one with the Universe. I was SO excited to be out in it, I was SO excited to see what The Universe had to offer. I truly and genuinely finally believed that I was awesome and I was finally ready. Then amazing things started to happen. 
My vibes changed from "I'm shy and nobody likes me" to "I'm awesome, let's hold hands!". I could feel the positive vibrations, and others could too (I'm assuming, because people were SO incredibly nice). I wanted to hug the person in the car next to me at the stop light, and I felt like maybe they wanted to hug me too. I wanted to talk to every person I saw, find out how their day was, really connect with them, even though they were complete strangers. I started talking...to strangers! GASP! Something "shy" Emily would NEVER do because, after all, they weren't going to like me anyway...
The "strangers" would talk back, and it turns out they were nice! Not scary and mean like the strangers in my head...the ones telling me to go back home and close my blinds...
Wow...so refreshing! 

Not saying it's easy to just change all negative from positive...but it IS completely doable. I mean Pitbull did it and then wrote a song about it, so...
You just have to decide to do it. Decide. Commit. BELIEVE. Done. Magic. Rainbows. Unicorns. 

That's really all there is to it. 

"It's just as easy to believe we're awesome as it is to believe we're giant sucking things. It takes the same amount of energy. The same amount of focus. So why do we choose all the drama?"

This was even reiterated to me yesterday at my Grandma's Memorial Service. She was the most positive person on the planet. That didn't mean she had a perfect life and rode unicorns all day. She had some pretty shitty things happen in her days....but you'd never know. She was incredible, positive, loving, and magical. The best description of her from yesterday is "prayer warrior". She prayed like you wouldn't believe. She was connected. Connected to God. Connected to The Universe. Connected to all things LOVE. I never heard her complain. Nope. She chose positive. And people freaking loved her. It was pretty impossible not too.

So...this post isn't about working out, or eating healthy...it's simply about being a better YOU. Because you are a badass, and YOU deserve. You just have to believe it. 


Now let's go workout.... ;)

I love this one. Just look how hard he believes it and wants it and is making it happen. Tear...

Happy Tuesday. Now go.be.awesome.

xoxo

emilyk8motivate

Do you wanna build a snowman? But first, I need some new boots....

Let's just start by saying that today is the first official snowfall of the season, and I am officially ready to never leave my house again....mostly because I need some new winter boots. Is it too much to ask to have some nice waterproof boots that aren't hideous and also not $800? Please, I just need a little fur, and for my feet not to get wet. Thanks.

ISO!

Moving on...

 I haven't written in so long, I feel there is so much inside of me I need to get out there on the interweb, or else I might explode. Can you really imagine if I exploded from being so full of amazing thoughts? That would be terrible, and I heard it's totally possible.

"Amazing-thought-explosion"

First thing in my brain that needs to escape...

Helping people is hard. Not because it's hard to help people, but because it's hard to help people that don't want to help themselves... make sense?

I knew this going into a "healthy" "profession", but it's a struggle man. So I'm throwing this out there into space... I WANT to help you, I LOVE to help you....BUT you HAVE to WANT to help YOURSELF first. There it is. 

This is how I feel...

(cue music)

Do you wanna build a snowman?
Or ride our bikes around the halls
I think some company is overdue
I've started talking to
the pictures on the walls-
(Hang in there, Joan!)
It gets a little lonely
All these empty rooms,

Just watching the hours tick by-
(Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock)

(Knocking)
Elsa? (ie: YOU)
Please, I know you're in there,
People are asking where you've been
They say "have courage", and I'm trying to
I'm right out here for you, just let me in
We only have each other
It's just you and me
What are we gonna do?

Do you wanna build a Snowman?

I don't want to talk to the pictures on the walls anymore, I want to talk to you! I'm ready to build snowmen with people! I'm ready to party, but I need people to show up first. A lot of times people DO show up, but then lock themselves in rooms, and then I'm just stuck outside knocking...

SO...think long and hard about what it is you NEED and WANT. Do you actually want help? Do you want a healthy life? Are you ready for a change? Are you done making up excuses? Are you ready to put the past behind you? Are you ready to start feeling amazing? Are you ready to start being amazing? It's in you and you CAN do it, and I'm here for you!

It snowed today. I think that's a sign, don't you? Do you wanna build a snowman?

Sorry if that songs in your head now. No I'm not. 

Now, here's my 4 cents on Christmas in November.... (a critical topic this month)

Christmas is a magical time of year. Like seriously magical...it makes people HAPPY, feel good, feel cozy, feel giving, feel loving (and on and on)... Christmas lights and trees and music and decorations remind us of childhood and happy thoughts and family... so telling people they aren't allowed to have these feelings for another month is kind of not your place.

If this doesn't make you feel warm and happy and magical inside, then...yikes

Sometimes people want to feel these feelings for longer than just 25 days, and that's OK! Yes, the day after Halloween tends to be a bit extreme, I agree there, but who am I to tell someone to keep the magic locked up for another month? What harm is it doing you or me if people show up to the Christmas party early? It doesn't have to be your thing, but you don't have to rain on someone else's Christmas parade just because you refuse to think/see/feel/hear Christmas until November 28. I personally don't get out my magic boxes until the day after Thanksgiving...not because I want to ignore those feelings creeping up inside me, but mainly because I'm trying to get the most out of my fall decorations. True story. But when I walk into stores and see reindeer flying from the ceiling, I get a little excited inside. When I play my music on shuffle and that dreaded Christmas song comes on, this time I'm not going to skip it.

So put your tree up, fly your Christmas flag, and make an Eggnog Shakeolgoy (omg can you imagine how good that would be?!)...and if you feel you must wait until after Thanksgiving, then that's ok too! 

Getting in the "Christmas" spirit doesn't mean you don't care about Thanksgiving! Call it "Holiday" spirit and then you are covering your bases! It's the Holiday's people, wrap them all up into one giant box of magic and ENJOY them ALL! 

Also, and probably the most obvious, they just don't make enough cute Thanksgiving decorations! It's really just sad. There's no giant glittery turkey's for our mantles, and not really any good songs...and people just seem to need a little glitter and music this time of year. (Seriously, if you find a giant glittery turkey for my mantle, please buy it for me).

um yeah No. not cute.

At the end of the snowy day, this time of year is all about being Thankful, being happy, being giving, being with family. All of it. And it's really a shame we can't have these feelings all year long, because we really should, don't you agree?

So there they are, some of my thoughts on this snowy-ish November morning. 

Next up will be some healthy meals and snacks, because I know you all have been asking, and I haven't forgotten about you!! 

Tis the season to be better, not get bigger!!

XOXOXO

Your neighborhood friend/coach/mentor/adviser/motivator

-EmilyK8motivate

Is "Almost" enough?

Is "Almost" Enough??

I've told my story before, and I have no problem telling it again. It's nothing dramatic or heroic. I didn't climb Mt. Everest or run or marathon, but I DID set a goal, and then I achieved that goal. I did. 

I've been saying now for probably 5 months how I've "almost" lost 30 lbs. Almost. I was so close, every day I was so close. With weight loss comes ups and downs, gains and losses. It's natural and to be expected. My first goal was 20lbs. I nailed it. So I needed a new goal, "ok" i says... "10 more lbs". Once again friends, it's not about the number on the scale, even though that appears to be what this post is about, it's about being healthy, feeling healthy, looking healthy, being toned, building muscle, etc etc. I could have easily stopped at 20lbs and said "ok I did it. The End".... But we will never go anywhere if we stop at our first goal. When you achieve a goal, never ever stop! Set a new goal and keep on climbing! You know what helps reach new goals?! Crushing old goals! Why stop when you can have, and be, and find so much more. 

So that was my new goal and I was committed. But as the pounds came off, it got harder and harder. I was toned and feeling great, but I still had that goal in mind. I was "almost" there so many times. I decided that "almost" wasn't good enough. It just wasn't. I don't want to say one more time how I "almost" did something, because the bottom line is, I didn't. 

I was stuck in a rut. I went to the gym 4-5 days a week, ran often, ate healthy 90% of the time, worked out at home, did it all...so I thought. 

Then came Beachbody. "This might help..." I thought. I signed up as a coach and started my first challenge group, The 21 Day Fix. I started Shakeology (which I'm obsessed with btw), and started my workouts... and amazing things happened (picture trumpets sounding and birds chirping and confetti falling from the sky...)

And then IT happened. Today it happened. 

30 pounds lost!!! Finally!!!

In just 10 days of the 21 Day Fix, I lost 3 lbs and hit my final goal. I HIT MY GOAL. Do you know how good that feels? Now...NOW I can make a new goal! 

As Autumn Calabrese says in her videos "If you are sick of starting over, STOP giving up!" 

And it's SO SO true. Starting over sucks. Starting over is discouraging. How awesome to think that you don't have to start over ever again if you just KEEP GOING!! I didn't let a plateau stop me from reaching my goals. I didn't throw in the towel and say "This just isn't working for me...". And I never once said "almost is close enough..". I kept going. I never once gave up and it's been 13 months. 

So my hope for you, is that you keep going. You never give up. Don't let a set back make you STOP. Keep keep keep going. THEN, you won't have to start over. OK?! Got it?!

Good. 

A special thanks to the 21 Day Fix for giving me abs. Can't wait for the next 21 days!!

*Because "almost" just isn't enough.

xoxo

emilyk8

Zucchini Pepper Turkey Casserole

Zucchini Pepper Turkey Casserole

(to make it vegetarian, just leave out the ground turkey! A perfect Veggie casserole!)

I made this a few days ago, and it was SO good, I made it again tonight. I didn't follow any recipe, I kind of made it up as I went along, but it's basically the recipe for Zucchini Casserole, just made my way, and with meat :)

So...

Here's what you need:

*1lb ground Turkey

*1 small can of tomato sauce

*1 large zucchini 

*Peppers: red, green, orange, whatever you prefer

*1 Tomato (I only had a few tiny ones today, but it's ok because I don't like tomatoes anyway)

*mozzarella cheese - as much or as little as you want, but mostly a LOT because it helps hold everything together ;)

*Onion (optional - I don't like onions so I don't add them. IF you do like onions and want to add, I suggest adding to the ground turkey when you cook that, otherwise the casserole takes much longer to cook). 

*Whatever else you want to add!

I only pictured these, because the other pictures are boring and not as pretty

Ready...set...COOK

Brown your ground turkey. Season as you like. I add minced onion so I have a little onion flavor without an actual big giant nasty onion. No offense to onions, I just can't. I also add a little Italian seasoning because, why not.

Once the turkey is cooked, add your can of tomato sauce and let simmer while you head over to that cutting board to slice up those veggies. (I also add a touch of marinara sauce that I had leftover in the fridge, I think the little extra juice was a good touch because I didn't have tomatoes)

Now slice up those veggies!

Zucchini!! Slice 'em thin!

You can cut your peppers however you prefer, slices, rings, or little nugget pieces, it's your casserole, you make it the casserole of your dreams.

Now start your layers in a large casserole dish (11x9)

Veggies down first (but only about half as you need the rest for your top layer)

Don't forget to save some for your top layer!

Now sprinkle this first layer with some cheese.

about that much, but more if you'd prefer

Next Up, the meat. Pour the meat evenly over the veggies. All of it.

Now for the rest of the veggies, load 'em up!

In retrospect, it's easier to add the zucchini as the top most layer, over the peppers, the cheese sits better, FYI

Now...

CHEESE

Then pop that bad boy in the oven for about 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

And then...

Enjoy!!

It's a cheesy vegetable explosion in your mouth

If you do make it vegetarian, make sure you add those tomatoes, as that's where most of the juicy goodness comes from. With my version, the tomato sauce in the meat is just the right amount of juiciness. 

It's really good, if you ask me. And mostly healthy too! Hope you enjoy! 

*emilyk8

What ONE week as a Beachbody coach has taught me...

We all sign up for different reasons, but mostly the same reasons. We want to help people, we want to help ourselves, we want to earn money, we want to be a part of something big, we want to be challenged, but maybe not too much... 
We all read the testimonials, see the transformation pictures, think to ourselves "wow this is amazing!"...
Then we jump in, head first, not knowing exactly what we are doing but we are going to try our darnedest to figure it out and do what we need to do. The first week is hard, and I'd say it gets easier but it's only been just over a week for me, so I can't say that, but I have been told that it does. Day one was the hardest, day two much better, now 11 days later...all I can say is that, it's amazing... and it's only been 11 days. 

I started my first challenge group as I was encouraged to do. Luckily I'm studying to become a personal trainer and know a LOT about nutrition, as I've been living the lifestyle for a year now. So the Clean Eating Challenge Group I started felt like home to me and a great place to start.
People joined like crazy, more and more each day. My  goal of "a few people", turned into a group of 30 in just a matter of days. People were interested, people were into it, people were ready, and I was ready to help them.  

What happened over those next 5 days was not what I was expecting. It was SO much more. People opened up and shared their lives with me, and with everyone else in the group. We shared recipes and workouts and stories. People not only interacted with me, but with each other, helping each other out, being there for each other, encouraging each other. People that don't even know each other. It was amazing and perfect. It felt like a fun family gathering. I looked forward each day to everyone's posts and pictures. They went above and beyond each and every day. And the best part was that it was all healthy and good for us! Not only was it fun, but over those 5 days, pounds were lost, inches were lost, people gained energy, started sleeping better, feeling better, living better... Even me! I stuck right with it, ate better than I probably ever have, even in my year of starting a healthy life. I even lost weight, felt leaner, slept better than I can ever remember sleeping, and I just overall feel happy! 
Friday came and it was bittersweet! I didn't want it to end. And so it won't. I'm going to leave my group open and everyone is free to continue to share their meals, pictures, workouts, and lives. It's such a great platform for health and fitness and I just wish more people would take advantage of it! All it cost everyone was the cost of their food, and what they gained, I hope, is a new life of clean healthy living. And I'll be there for them each and every day to keep encouraging them, challenging them, making them move.

Knowing that this is my "job" now is like the coolest thing ever. I can't even WAIT to start my next challenge group. I can't wait to see the transformations, and the lives that I'll help change. As cheesy as it sounds, it's better than any paycheck. Just changing people for the better, helping them any way I can, it makes me SO stinkin' happy. 
It doesn't even have to be about losing weight. It's just about becoming an overall better YOU. Just hearing how much better people were FEELING was amazing. Isn't it crazy how much your body can love you when you put good fuel into it?! 

So how has my life changed from these five days?
Well, now I can't stop taking pictures of my food... eek. But it's so pretty and yummy and HEALTHY and I want to share it with the world! 

See...here's my breakfast today:

Egg White Omelet with Green peppers and DRY Wheat Toast

My drive to help people has also like quadrupled... like it's almost impossible for me NOT to help you, IF you want the help. I won't bug you about clean eating and working out if you don't want to hear it. Oh wait, Yes, I totally will. 

I do it for you, because I LOVE to see positive results, and that makes me SO happy, so really I'm doing it for me... but really it's for you. but also me. 

I don't want to stop. So I won't stop. 

And that, my friends, is what I learned in one week as a Beachbody coach.

The End.

*A special shout out to my 5 Day Clean Eating Challenge Group because they were ROCKSTARS this week. They inspired the crap out of me. From the birthday push-up challenge videos, to the squats... they killed it. We live all across the country, but I'm pretty sure if we had a party at my house, we'd have the best party EVER, and leave a few hours later with 10lbs less fat and 14lbs more muscle. cuz we are THAT awesome. 

Tip #234 - Getting those extra steps in ;)

Tip # 234

To help you be the best that you can be

My tips are not going to apply to everyone, and might not be possible ALL the time, but I'm going to throw them out there anyway. They are small tips that when added up, can be big changes. 

Here's today tip. Use the farthest bathroom. 

I shouldn't have to put the exceptions on here, you are big enough to figure them out. If you are in a mall on the second floor, I'm not always saying to find the bathroom on the first floor in the farthest away corner. If you go to the bathroom like my 4 year old and prefer to wait until the very absolute last second before you explode, then this isn't for you. If you have the extra time to take the extra steps, then keep reading...

What my toilet looks like

It's simple really. For those that have more that one bathroom in their house, just use the one that is the farthest away. I use my bedroom bathroom 99% of the time at my house. This means, if I'm in the kitchen, I have to go down the hall, up the stairs, down that hall, into my room, down the last hall and into the bathroom (it sounds like my house is a mansion but it is Not a mansion, sadly). 

That's approximately 50 steps each way (yes I counted). That's 100 steps total. So 10 trips to the bathroom is an extra 1,000 steps in my day (I drink a lot of water!). That's almost half a mile. That's 30,000 EXTRA steps a month. That's 362,000 extra steps a year. You get it?

So that's it. Try it. Get those extra steps in. Be active. Make everything count. Take the extra steps. Go the extra mile. Take over the world with your awesomeness. 

And if you don't pee enough then you don't DRINK enough!! Drink that water! It makes all good things happen inside of you, and who doesn't want that?!

Drink. Walk. Pee. Repeat. 

Your friend

emilyk8motivate

COACH EmilyK8Motivate!

Are you ready for me to change your life?! Well the bad news is, I can't change your life. But the GOOD news is, I can help YOU change YOUR life! Seriously though, I can't make you workout. I can try really hard, but I wont' be physically lifting your lifeless body up to make you dance and squat and flex. I won't. I can't make you eat good food. I can try really hard and I can supply you with all the tools you need and shopping lists and recipes, but I won't physically come to your house and feed you like you are my 2 year old daughter. I won't. You can do these things however, and you CAN have my help. So what are you waiting for?!?!

I now have a facebook page: emilyk8motivate and you can head on over there for lots of good info. 

I'll be starting a Clean Eating challenge group on MONDAY. It's all free and all for you. Advice, recipes, shopping lists, etc. Everything you need for ONE WEEK of clean eating. Always wanted to attempt to eat clean but never knew where to start or what to buy? Now you will know. It's the perfect way to try something you that you probably wouldn't do on your own. The best part is that I'll be there every day, checking in, answering questions, keeping you motivated. It's only for 5 days... FIVE days! It's possible, and it's going to rock your world. Sounds amazing right?! ;-)

 So don't be scared. I'll be there holding your hand, just remember, I won't actually come over and feed you, so you're still going to need to do this yourself. Ok?! Cool.

Oh, and remember that abs are made in the kitchen...

They seriously and truly are

I'm not saying I have the best abs ever, I'm just saying that eating better has made a HUGE difference in my middle section there. Can't even wait to see what a week of clean eating will do! Look out world, I'll probably poke an eye out with how chiseled my abs will be. Seriously, it's going to be dangerous ;-)

So check out my page if you haven't already, and LIKE it! This is where I'll offer my personal training services, and be starting lots of fitness groups (private groups so the whole world doesn't have to see what you are up too, unless you want them too). 

I want to cater to every niche, so expect to see a group that should work perfectly for you. There may even be more than one for ya!

Want to be in a mommy workout group? Boom. We'll do it. 

Are you older and feeling discouraged by the slightly younger crowd jumping and dancing and flexing all over? Boom. I'll have a group for just you. 

Are you ready to take your workout to the next level and need that extra push? Boom. I'll push you right off that cliff...in a good way. A very good way. (Think of it as a little cliff, and you are falling into a bucket of clouds, soft wonderful clouds - see, doesn't that sound nice?!)

Excited to see you over there ;-)

I'm waiting!

-EmK8

Need a little MOtivation for your MOnday?

MOtivational MOnday

You are ALREADY Great...but you're going to be greater...so don't stop! Maybe you ate a few bad things this weekend or skipped workouts...don't let that define you, just KEEP GOING!! Keep.Going.

So here's what went down this weekend over in EmilyK8Motivate Land...

Saturday morning I went for a run (Please note I was still sore from Piyo, awesome!). I decided it was "Run In All Courts Saturday". So this is only really possible if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of courts, otherwise it's a little difficult to play this game. If you find yourself court-less, please feel free to make up your own running game. I challenge you to make one up as exciting as "Run in All Courts Saturday"!

 So the rules are simple, on whatever path you take, make sure you run in all the courts! May seem silly, but you could be adding a lot of distance on to your run without "Feeling" like you are running far. So find those courts, big or small, and pay them a visit. They don't get enough attention as it is, so it's a nice thing to do...

I've made nice little arrows marking the courts, and yes, I managed to skip two courts but both were on the opposite side of the street and I wasn't in the mood to cross...No excuse though, I did not get an A+ at my own game. I'd give myself a B+ though ;) Next time, I'll take them all down...

Then I had a wedding shower to go too so I got to actually take off the workout clothes and put on a dress! 

Boom

Later in the day I decided to work on some core. I was watching football and decided to do this during all the commercial breaks. 

Start with your hands on the ground, trying not to bend your legs (great for working on flexibility!). Walk your hands out in front of you as far as you can into a plank (we call this version a hollow hold in the gymnastics world). Hold. Walk hands in just a bit. Push-Up (to the ground!). Walk hands all the way back in. Repeat. Just do as many as you can! You will feel this and shouldn't stop until your body is shaking violently. Seriously, when you are holding your plank you will start shaking like crazy. Ahhh, that's how you know it's working ;-)

Here's it is again...this time with music for your listening pleasure. Oh, and if you can, add a kid to your push-up, DO IT! You are only doing one push-up anyway, so make it count! That extra weight (30+lbs in my case) makes a BIG difference! Also, please feel free to do more push-ups if you want! One is Fun but Eight is Great, and Twenty is Plenty. Look out world...I'm super poetic today...

You can also have said child underneath you while you're in your plank...kind of hard to cheat when you have to worry about crushing a dear loved one...

I didn't even ask her to do this, she did it on her own. Thanks kiddo!

*Sidenote: I made the above videos on Sunday to show what I did on Saturday, so I technically did this stuff 2 days in a row. That's why you'll see the same outfit in the videos below which were also done on Sunday. I didn't want you to be confused and concerned. Ok Carry on.

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Sunday I made a little trip to the gym for leg day. Here's what escalated...

I started with a 7 minute warm up on the treadmill. Why 7 minutes? Because sometimes 5 feels too short, and 10 just seems way too long...I have legs to burn and don't have those 3 extra minutes to dink around! ;-)

So I walked for 7 minutes at an 8% incline...this really got my legs buttered up. I've told you before to walk on in incline...have you?? I'm telling you again! Do it! It's so great for those legs! Try it! ;-)

I won't tell you what speed to walk, but will say this is your warm up, so WARM IT UP! It should be a good pace, you want to get your heart rate up. It's not a leisurely stroll. I'm short, so I walk at 3.6 mph. Any faster and I'm almost running. Thanks little legs. For a tall person, this is probably a stroll through the park. Do the speed that works for you and gets you ready :)

So here are my workout notes below, I won't go into detail, so if you have questions, just ask!

Legs!

Legs!

My legs were happypants when I left the gym. 

Later in the evening I did the icing on the cake, or as I prefer to say, the butter on the broccoli (cuz that's healthier ya know, as long as it's not too much butter, moderation is key my friends!). 

My mom scored a mini trampoline in perfect shape (and it folds!) at a garage sale for $10! Just made my life so much more exciting!

So I did 10 straight minutes of jumping and squatting on the mini tramp. No joke that was not fun. I mean, it was fun, in a good kind of burning bad good. 

I know not everyone has a mini tramp hanging around their house... you can do this on a big trampoline too! And I know like 84% of families these days seem to have a big trampoline, so get on out there before it snows!!

"Do Squats on me!!"

When I was putting the kids to bed, I figured it would be a good time to do some handstand push-ups against the wall...nothing like getting the kids all wired before they need to be asleep :-o 

I've made some progress with how low I get, so that was exciting. Please enjoy the video my 4 year old took...sorry if you get sea sick

So that about sums it up. Did some things at home, did some things at the gym, did some running... Feeling good!

Today is Monday and it's usually my rest day. Sorry Pinterest post that says "never miss a Monday workout". I do my big workouts over the weekend so by Monday I'm ready for that rest. 

I did however take a nice 2 mile walk with little #2 after dropping off little #1 at school. 

Not only was it a lovely little walk, it also validated that I worked my legs hard the day before. Sore city. Feels Sore good ;-)

So what did you do this weekend?! What are you doing today?! Try the core workout! It's really a good time, I promise! Let me know how it goes! 

Happy Monday!!

-EmilyK8

Keep moving. Keep eating. Keep drinking (water). Be healthy. Be happy.

and as always, thanks for reading!