My Home Gym + Blogroll!

Hey my Peanut Butter Banana Brownies! <3

Thanks for all of your comments on my Pumpkin Spice Muffins! Those are seriously one of my favorite muffins EVER! They were eaten all up within days of making them! <3

I don’t workout at Spectrum Fitness Gym any more. I’m kind of sad that I don’t, as I miss all the classes I could take, the variety of machines I could use, and the motivation I could get from the other individuals there.

But now instead of working out at Spectrum, I workout at home in my home gym. I love how it is really convenient (as it is just down the hall from my room), customizable, and all mine! It works for me and I truly love it!

Here’s a view from where you enter.

It consists of:

My workout DVDs (plus some more which are in a different area of the house); these are in the bookshelf to the right when you enter the room.

My dumbbells: 2 pounds, 8 pounds, 3 pounds, and 5 pounds.

The Stride Trainer! They have pre-programmed workouts on it and they are NOT easy! It may not look hard, but it has SERIOUS INTESITY in those pedals!

My big bouncy ball. He’s a jolly happy soul.

A mini-trampoline and a jump rope.

My blue yoga mat.

My mom’s stationary bike.

My treadmill!

And, a weight machine outside around the corner of the workout room (the workout room is on the other side of the wall behind it). I don’t use this one very much, as I prefer dumbbells, but my parents like it.

And that’s my home gym!

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I took some time the other day and reorganized my Blogroll into different categories (you can see it here). I’d love to know if you have any ideas for different kinds of categories I should use. Also, if I don’t have you on my blogroll, just let me know and I’ll be glad to add you!

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What is your favorite way to workout? Time of day to workout? Pre-workout/Post-workout snack? I usually workout after I get home from my early morning scripture study class, but some days I’ll do it in the afternoon.

Do you ever mix-and-match workouts on different DVDs to make one workout? I’ll do that with 10 minute workouts: like, I’ll do Tamilee’s Tight on Time DVD (Total Body, Arms and Shoulders, and Abs: each 10 minutes), pair it with Jillian’s 10 minute workout segment on the Cardio Max DVD, and then maybe do a 20 minute Winsor Pilates workout.

Which recipe do you want next? Carob Chip Cookies? Oat Pecan Scones? Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes? Pumpkin Spice Milkshake? Or Homemade Whole Wheat Bread sticks? You have the power in your hands.

xoxox,

The Exclusive Insider’s Look Into My Life! Part #2

Hey My Banana Cream Pies!

How was your Easter?! Mine was truly amazing. Astonishingly, I DIDN’T do any baking on Easter! I know – shocker!! But, no worries — I made some cookies for my mom Saturday night, so I’ll be sane.

Thanks for all of your loving support and wonderful comments on my last posts! You guys mean so much to me! I’m glad you guys enjoyed Part 1 of My Life. And before I continue with Part 2, I wanted to thank Wendy, Kayla, and Ann Claire for all suggesting I do a Day-In-The-Life-Of-Kathleen Post. Thank you my darlings! This is so much fun! Maybe I should join the WIAW crew!

And Now—

My Life: Continued.

———————After Lunch————————-

SCHOOL/CLASSES

3 pm-ish Snack (#4):

Usually fruit w/ nuts; Green Smoothie; roasted vegetables; veggies with hummus; or a Bananner with PEANUT BUTTAH!

This time I chose a Green Monsta.

Around this time (or right after lunch), I may get a nap too! SCORE! Sometimes I get a nap in the morning. It’s really just if I have the time.

SCHOOL/CLASSES

Help with making dinner

Dinner(5:30-6pm ish):

My dinners consist of a protein, starch (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, sweet potato, reg potato), and VEGGIES.

One example is a big ‘ole plate of roasted cauliflower with whole wheat pasta, peas, carrots, and meatless meatballs!

YUM! The cauliflower and meatless meatballs had so much flavor that I didn’t need tomato sauce! :D Well, and, I don’t really care for pasta sauce on my cauliflower anyways.

Evening activities: Either School, Activities, Babysitting, Blogging, Reading, time with my family, or whatever! I sometimes do some weight training in the evening, too. A lot of my cardio workouts incorporate strength training in them already, so strength training isn’t something I worry about. Pilates is another one of my favorite wind-down activities.

You can’t NOT have dessert!

Dessert at around 8 pm (Meal #6):

How about some Nutty Apple Spice Cookies!

I’ll either have a piece of fruit, a couple cookies, a muffin, peanut butter cupcakes, a single lady pie, ounce of bakers chocolate, or whatever I’m in the mood for. Sometimes, I just munch on some veggies.

Activities, whatever. Read, blog, (play a Nancy Drew game if I have one I haven’t conquered yet. )

BED TIME! :D (Varies from 10pm-12am) I’m still working on getting to bed earlier. It’s really hard to change my body clock. My mom has now set a limit to how late I can be on the computer, and that limit is 11pm. During Spring Break, haha, I was on the computer till 2AM most nights, either blogging or watching a movie on Netflix. Haha, not good, I know. Even though the 11pm rule may feel like a restriction, I am actually grateful for it — it allows me to work on getting to bed earlier!

My Life

IMPORTANT! These pictures DON’T REALLY SHOW EVERYTHING I eat. Sometimes, when I have a day where I worked out SUPER HARD, I get into a very snacky-mood. So, I reach for more fruits (frozen strawberries are one of my favorites) and vegetables (like cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, whatever). Think of me as a Rabbit.

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How do I incorporate all of these lovely baked goods into my diet????

I’ll explain.

Are baked goods all that I eat? Definitely not.

Are they an addition to my diet? Well, not quite. When I eat baked goodies, it is a replacement of other food, and not an addition to what I normally eat. Like, for instance, if I make some muffins, I’ll view them as my grain for the meal, and such. Dessert Bars, well, dessert! Pizzerts! Well, I’ll have that for ANY meal. Breakfast, Lunch, OR Dinner. Doesn’t matter.

What I strive for is to balance out the baked goods in my diet. Baked goods do NOT have to be unhealthy for you. And eating healthy definitely does NOT have to taste bland. Healthy can taste like Almond Joys! Healthy can taste like Reese’s! Healthy can taste like cookies and cakes and pie!! You can stil enjoy the things you like, just in a healthier way. Find that balance within yourself. Eat your fruits and vegetables. Eat your whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins. Healthy is a way of life. Healthy is balance.

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Have you ever made your own pasta? I have. We have a pasta maker (and a wheat grinder, and a soymilk maker, AND a rice cooker), and it was so cool to watch it mix the dough and come out as pasta! PLUS, it only took a minute to cook — SCORE! Though, I don’t think we should have doubled the recipe — it made a TON!

Do you like cauliflower with spaghetti sauce?

What time do you usually go to bed? My goal is to get to bed by 10 pm every night.

xoxox,

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The Exclusive Insider’s Look Into My Life! Part #1

Good Day My Darling Ladies (and Gentlemen?!)

Oh my gosh. You guys are the sweetest Readers EVER!!! Thank you for all of your wonderful comments on A Balance Life Is! Kitties are one of my favorites, and that kitty showed what a balanced diet is perfectly!

All right. I promised you in my last post the Exclusive Look Into My Life,

and

HERE

IT

IS!

note: This is an average WEEKday for me. My life varies a lot, so this is just an average overview.

The EXCLUSIVE LOOK!

Wake up 5:15am

Snack (Meal#1) :

Almonds (or some other kind of nut)

Early morning scripture study class

(where we study the scriptures and have some fun!)

Workout!

45-60 minutes, give or take.

The hard part is picking which one to do! Go Run, Ride the Bike, or do an INTENSE workout video.

It’s hard to pick JUST ONE because I love them all so much! I always follow them with some stretching (don’t want sore muscles!).

Shower! Get ready for my day.

(Meal #2) Eat Breakfast at around 8:30am-9:30am (varies by the day):

Either Oatmeal, Pancakes, PIZZERTS, or Avocado on Toast!

An Almond Joy OIAJ is one example.

I had an apple with this.

I like to do the Sudoku, Word Jumble, Cryptogram, Crossword puzzle, and other word games — like Bananagrams —  that we get in our daily newspaper while I eat breakfast.

How about you?

After Breakfast, I check my emails and a little blogging.

SCHOOL / CLASSES

12pm (Meal #3) Lunch:

Either a Salad, a Sandwich, a Wrap, some Soup, or a BIG plate of veggies with a protein (veggie burger, beans, or something) and a fruit (apple, banana, mango, kiwi, pear, or whatever).

My Daddy made some Split Pea/Lentil soup (well, it’s more like a stew)!

YUM!

He used Split Peas, Lentils, Carrots, and some other stuff. REALLY good!

I have a piece of fruit on the side with my lunch as Dessert Jr.

——-TO BE CONTINUED——

Do you read the Newspaper everyday? Do you do the Puzzles in them? I don’t read the newspaper, but my mother does. My sister likes the comics, and I like the word puzzles.

What is your favorite way to eat beans? I like my Daddy’s Beans!

Coming Up:

–A New Goodie!

–Part #2; in this upcoming post, I’m going to not only finish up showing you my life, but also discuss how I incorporate Baked Goods into my diet.

xoxox,