AB Blast!

You will be sore for days after this ab workout! At least I was..(and still am). For the hanging abs, use your resources, if you don't have access to anything you can hold on to, use a captains chair or a stability ball or do mountain climbers and more leg raises instead.

Run: 2 miles on treadmill speed 6.5+

2 sets for the following:
50 crunches
50 Oblique crunches
30 Leg raises
Hanging abs (knees bent, and legs extended) 20 each (these tire me out so I did 4 sets of 10 total)
10 Pikes on stability ball

Don't forget to stretch after! :)

Cardio Day!

Hello!

Today's workout is just cardio but I threw in some abs after.

I did this today on an indoor track so the laps are shorter, but its the same concept. 

1 set is 3 laps.

lap 1 walk, lap 2 jog, lap 3 sprint the straights jog curves.

repeat for 10 sets. I took a water break after set 5. 

All together this workout equals about 4 miles.

Don't forget to cool down and stretch really well. I then did some core. Have fun!

Bootcamp Workout

Workout time!

This workout should be done at a gym if you have access to these items, if not I will put substitutes in for them. It is a brutal workout and I am sore! :)

Each "station" is 50 seconds in duration. For exercises where you switch legs, do each side for 25 seconds. Your rest is to get to the next station (or about 5-10 seconds) Start with workout #1 for 50 seconds, then repeat #1 and add #2.

The format for this workout is doing stations in this order:

1

1, 2

1, 2, 3

 1, 2, 3, 4, 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Warm Up: run 2 laps, 4 walking push ups, 30 mountain climbers, repeat.

1. Rope: either pulses, slaps, or alternating arms (if no rope is available do front and lateral raises with dumbells) (Or do walking push ups with weights for 25 seconds plus rope or raises for the other 25 seconds)

2. Box Jumps

3. TRX pull ups or upright rows (if no TRX use dumbbells and do rows)

4. On stability ball, put feet on the ball, do push up, In-out, push up, then V-up

5. Burpee with overhead press (use either a bar or weights)

6. Single leg lunge: On Bosu ball, use dumbbells, put one foot on ball, the other on floor 

Cool down: slow run for 2 laps, slow push ups (x4) and slow mountain climbers (x20).

Stretch.

This should last about 45 minutes.

Have fun!

Welcome 2015! A Tabata Workout

Happy New Year!

If your stuck in a state where its negative degrees outside and you don't want to go out to the gym like me you've come to the right place! 

Lets start off this year right with a tabata workout. Tabata is a HITT type of workout (High Intensity Interval Training) which is great for burning calories more efficiently for less time. Tabata is based on 8 rounds of the same exercise for 20 seconds followed by a 10 second rest for a total of 4 minutes. After the 4 minutes you get a 1 minute rest period before switching exercises. 4 minutes of hard work that's it? It can't be true but it is. Here is the workout I completed today and can be done anywhere. It does not require weight however you can add extra weight to some exercises if you wish.

Start with a 5 minute warm up consisting of lateral lunges, forward luges, jumping jacks, high kicks and butt kickers each will last one minute. 

Do each exercise for 20 seconds followed by a 10 second rest for 4 minutes straight or 8 rounds. I used a stop watch on my phone but you can find an interval timer app or use a timer like me:

burpees

push up (either full push up or on knees, just keep the back straight and never fully extend elbows)

lunges back with forward kick *kick with right leg only for 20 sec then switch on next round

toe touches

boxing (pretend to punch a punching bag, fast)

front plank on elbows

jumping jacks (faster then warm up)

squat with double pulse below knees if possible

bicycle crunch

side plank (2 minutes or 4 rounds on one side then switch)

cool down:

stretch major muscles used (shoulders, triceps, quads, hamstrings, abs and anything else you feel is needed) hold for 20 seconds each

After the workout, finish with a protein smoothie and enjoy your day!

Better Than Salt Dough Key Ornament

Hello!

I wanted to save a memory of our first apartment, and what better way than to make an ornament! 

Preheat oven to 175 degree F. 

what you need:

Ingredients for 1 ornament:

1/4 C baking soda

1/2 C cornstarch

1/2 C water

double recipe if needed

Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir for several minutes until mixture thickens like smooth mashed potatoes. 

Place in a ball in a bowl with a damp cloth to cool. I only let it cool until it wasn't too hot to touch.

Place some cornstarch on a table and roll dough into a ball and place on counter. Use more cornstarch if it is sticky. I used my palm to flatten my dough to about 1/4 inch thick, feel free to use a rolling pin.

Once you have the shape you want, (I did a heart) place key into dough carefully. If your dough starts to crack or dry out, just add small amounts of water. I used my finger to spread water on the dough. I also did this to smooth out the dough before I placed it on my baking sheet. Use a toothpick to make a hole in the top of the ornament.

Place parchment paper on baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, flip half way through baking.

Once cooled, I wrote "Our first apartment 2014" and on the back I put our address. I then covered the ornament in Mod Podge to help seal it in.

A fun little way to remember your first place. It's not perfect, but it works. :)

Happy Holidays!

Our First Little Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is my favorite holiday and I wanted to share our little apartment and our first Christmas together! I will always have the pictures to go with the memories! It's not much, but it's all we can do in this place.

Our tree theme this year is memories. because we don't have any ornaments besides the ones we received when we were little, plus some random ones I picked up over the last few years. But this gives me an excuse to buy new ones after the holidays. We didn't have a tree topper so I stuck a Santa hat on top.

I did this last year after I saw one similar on Pinterest. It fit perfectly during my bridal shower which our wedding theme was beach. But I still think its cute and festive :)

I found this snowflake stand at the thrift store and once I start making Christmas cookies I'll use it for that, but for now it holds my festive candle.

Since our place doesn't have a fireplace, we used the counter to hang our stockings. It works.

This was from my grandmother :)

I made this Christmas Countdown using wood blocks, mod podge, and printed out the numbers. Super easy.

I will be putting candy in this mason jar that I found at the thrift store. How cute!

This was my hubby's he got when he was little.

Not the best picture, but my table runner, I did a post on it last week on how to make it.

My awesome Santa pants! 

How adorable are these little presents! 

This tree is in our bedroom, because you can't ever have too many Christmas tree's. This theme is obviously blue, silver, and white, which is the theme of our bedroom. I got the lantern and the things inside it from Pier 1, which I work part time at. (It has its perks) 

Happy Holidays!

DIY Christmas Table Runner No Sew!

Another easy DIY Christmas project! No sew!

I saw this santa table runner at Pier 1 and thought it was awesome! However, it was way to long for my table so I decided to make my own. It was really simple to do, and alot less expensive.

What you need: fabric, an iron, iron on hem tape, ribbon 

For my table (which is a small round table) I used 2 yards of red velvet fabric I got at Joann Fabrics for about $10. I cut it once I got home to the width I wanted and used the remaining fabric for under my Christmas tree. (two birds with one stone)

You need 2 of the 2 yard rolls of fuzzy fabric trim (don't know technical term) unless you have a longer table then go by your measurements. I had a coupon for these and they ended up being around 3 dollars each.

I used iron on hem tape for this, but if you have a sewing machine feel free to sew everything on (might look better and will last longer) but for me since I don't have a sewing machine this is good enough.

My iron had to be up pretty high for the heat to melt the tape, but I used a towel to protect my fabric. Just hold it in one spot for about 30 seconds and move to the next spot.

Once that was finished I measured where I wanted to place the belt. I used black and silver ribbon, if you have a bigger piece of silver ribbon or fabric use that instead and cut a square in the middle it will look better, but I already had this ribbon from a previous project. Again, I used the hem tape to secure it.

I then decided to add more fur to the ends of my table runner.

 And the finished product. How festive! 

Hello!

As promised here is a really easy and fun DIY Christmas project! Sweater stockings! An easy way to get rid of some old holiday sweaters or even a fun trip to the thrift store with your sister-in-law! These are really easy to make and require very little skill. 

First find the sweater you like for the stockings. Both my sweaters cost me under $10 at my local thrift store. Depending on the type of sweater and how thick it is, you will need yarn or thread. I used a thick yarn needle.

Next, take some cardboard and trace out your stencil. It took a couple tries to get the right size and shape. Cut it out.

Make sure your sweater is turned inside out until all the sewing is done. I used the bottom of the sweater for the top of my stocking since it has the original sewing. I also made the top a little longer than my stencil so I could fold the top over when I was finished. I traced my stencil on the sweater using a permanent marker. 

If your sweater does not have buttons on it, lay the stencil so one edge of the stocking has the original sewing from the sweater, it makes life so much easier. (I did move mine to the left after I took this picture) :)

If your sweater has cute buttons like one of mine did, then you have to sew both sides. 

Once your all done sewing, turn the stocking right side out and you are finished! You can add fur on the top if you like, or just fold the tops over. Also, do not forget to add either yarn or fabric from the sweater to the top to hang it from! Here is the final product (we don't have a fireplace)

Happy DIY!

Meatball Grinders!

Meatball Grinders! For that cheat day dinner. These are super easy to make and taste delicious! 

What you need: 

1 pound (or a little more) ground beef (I used 85%, but feel free to use higher)

3/4 Cup bread crumbs (I used 4C Panko Seasoned Japanese style)

2 Tablespoons of each: Garlic powder, parsley flakes, Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese

1 Egg (beat before adding it to the dry mix)

Preheat oven to 375

Mix all together in a medium bowl with hands. Form into balls and place on a baking sheet. Cook for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the meatballs.

While they are cooking, heat spaghetti sauce in pan on medium-low heat. Also melt half of a stick of butter with added garlic powder. We had our sandwiches open face and spread the garlic butter onto the open buns. Place in oven while there is about 10 minutes left for the meatballs.

We cut our meatballs in half and placed them onto the buns, added the sauce and some mozzarella cheese and placed them back into the oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted. I turned the temperature up to about 400.

A super easy and quick dinner, and hubby approved! :)