Things I am Excited About

There are a few things that have happened over the past week that I am super excited about. Since it is unusual for P+K to share personal tid-bits on life, I had a very long debate with myself on whether or not a personal post would be good. Finally, it came down to the fact that, one, I am just to excited not to share, and two, it may explain why some posts have been a bit more dry than others lately. To those whom may dislike personal posts, I completely understand and promise that this will not be a crazy new P+K trend, and more importantly, it will not be boring.

Tomorrow things will be back to health and fitness as usual, but today, we take it personal with a few recent happenings that have made me super happy.  

This Book

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Since we got back from Michigan I have gone a bit crazy on the reading front. Seriously. It has not been uncommon for me to spend anywhere from three to eight (eight!) hours reading per day. I absolutely love stories and have found a pretty big character weakness through them... Almost any story can become like crack to me and there is no stopping until I know everything that has happened. This whole addiction seems to be taken to another level before we leave for Michigan and after we get back since I am unable to read very much at all while away.  

To begin my book obsession stage I read four of the six Mortal Instruments books (do not judge too harshly, this is a no-judge zone), What We Talk About When We Talk About God, and am still in the process of reading Either/Or. Then, I decided to take this week to complete my annual Pride and Prejudice reading (did I mention this is a no judge zone?). After that, a good friend told me I must read Austenland. It has been made into a film that will be out in about a month and looks absolutely hi-lar-i-ous. The book was read in one 6-hour sitting and I loved it the whole way through.  

Now, I cannot wait for the movie to be released and see Keri Russell's rendition of Jane. It will be, possibly, the cutest chick-flick ever. If you are into Jane Austen, even a little, I would completely recommend reading this book. Everything is in true Austen form with witty banter, love-to-hate characters, and a heroin you root for the whole time. Seriously, read.  

Yes, this whole reading fixation is also the reason for my late and, sometimes, shorter than average posts. My guilty pleasure has been found.

This Recipe

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I came across this Snapguide recipe today and am uber excited to try it out. One of the hardest parts of my becoming a vegetarian was giving up buffalo chicken. It is amazing. Sure, the buffalo chick'n you buy at stores are yummy, but is is not the most healthy thing in the world and does not seem to fill that chicken-shaped void in my stomach. Hopefully, this simple and healthy recipe will be good enough to thoroughly enjoy and healthy enough to leave me guilt free.   

This House

The hubs and I will be making  trip to California later this year and I have just found out that Disneyland's Haunted Mansion will be don up in it's Christmas decor when we are there. For the massive Disney fan that I am, it is quite ridiculous that I have never been to Disneyland before. I am embarrassed. Then, add the whole Nightmare Before Christmas love I have and you may understand why I will be counting down the days.

Just in case you have no idea what I am talking about, which is likely, every year Jack Skellington and the Nightmare Before Christmas crew move into the Disneyland Haunted Mansion. It has become a pretty icon part of the Disneyland Christmas decor that I am super excited to see. This is extra special to me since it will also be my first time visiting the original "Happiest Place on Earth". Excited? Yes, I am.  

This Workout

The fittest time of my life would have to be, hands down, when I was training in classical ballet. There is nothing like ballet when it comes to toning and elongating muscles. For real. I can still remember a day when a 14-year-old classmate stoped me to comment on how huge my arm muscles were. I was picking up a stack of books and had no idea that bulging muscles were unusual, especially for a 12 year-old girl. Since then, my workouts have seemed to become more intense, but the muscle definition I had in my ballet days went away along with my pointe shoes.

Ballet is a form of exercise that athletes to actresses to super-models swear by. There is nothing that I have found that tones the muscles, elongates the body, and increases personal ability quite like ballet. Do not believe me, look at those like super-model Miranda Kerr who swears by the Ballet Bodies fitness studio located in L.A. But, not all of us are withing driving distance of L.A., or personal comfort to be seen in a class.  

Enter this workout video series. For quite some time I have considered getting back into ballet, at least for the incredible barre routines that would be sure to give my body a lift. But, pride has gotten in the way every time and whenever I consider it I think of what a bumbling fool I could be. Then, I found this highly acclaimed workout series by the NY ballet that can be done in the privacy of home. Yes.  

Something that excites me just as much as ordering this series is being able to review it for you. Give it a few weeks and I will be sure to tel you all my thoughts on the re-enter ballet subject!  

Must-Do Exercises for the Bum

This weekend I was able to read a few books, go out with some friends, and find a new exercise video that I am obsessed with. Sometimes, our bum muscles (or any muscle) gets use to a certain workout routine and we stop feeling the results we are so use to. This has been happening to me recently and I have, therefore, been on a quest to find new exercises that will work my muscles in new ways. Enter this workout for the bum. I have become completely addicted to this workout and my muscles are still hating me for that.  

Maybe I am a bit inept when it comes to bum exercises, but there are a few in this video that I have never seen/done before. By the third Lunge to Arabesque my bum was killing me and I knew that this would soon be a new favorite routine. It has since been done on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and the results have been intense. Between these new-found favorite lunges and the rest of the video, your legs and bum will not know what hit them. This 20-minute workout gets to those tiny muscles on the back of the leg and the inner thigh that support our bum when fit, or let it fall to flatness when not. These muscles are notoriously difficult to work but, hopefully, we have found a secret weapon for our own personal gravity defiance. Enter super-epic, Ricky-esqu winner's music as we celebrate.

After building up a solid sweat and a nicely increased heart rate with this workout, I went on to do the Yoga for Sinus Congestion flow we talked about last week. It seems that things are still blooming here in Florida and my sinuses are still trying to block-out anything external, including air. Silly sinuses...  

If you really want to do some major leg workouts, try adding this workout routine to my new favorite. Good luck, I believe in you.  

Yoga for Allergies

I am feeling a bit under the weather today. Hopefully, it will pass by tomorrow, but in the mean-time, I will be trying out some of these flows. The pollen and allergens here in Florida are pretty bad right now. Something is blooming and almost everyone I know is feeling it. If you are having some pretty bad sinus issues as well, these three yoga flows may help you get a clearer head and bring your daily tissue count down.  

Tara Stiles Yoga for Allergies

Tara Stiles goes over some quick breathing techniques that will help with allergies and congestion. These are all pretty common breathing techniques, but it is nice to have them all together in a simple, 2-minute video. 

Yogamazing Yoga for Fatigue

Feeling tired and achy goes hand-in-hand with feeling sick. This flow will help wake the body up with a flow that helps energize and fight fatigue. It is a quick flow that lasts about 15-minutes and goes over some simple, beginner poses. If you are already under the weather, this flow may be a bit intense for you, but it is great for a person who is just starting to feel the effects of an illness.  

Yogamazing Yoga for Sinus Congestion

This flow is not for allergies alone, but the breathing technique and yoga flow make it perfect for allergy sufferers. The entire flow is about 15-minutes long. The flow starts with a breathing exercises, then slowly moves to some easy flows that will help open the sinuses. It is a super simple flow that almost anyone feeling under the weather can do.

Shape Magazine Workout Review: Maria Sharapova's Workout

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There are two reasons I am excited about this workout; first, it is a workout comprised of Maria Sharapova's top five ab exercises, and second, Maria's trainer (Yutaka Nakamura) hales from the same city I live in! Abs have been at the forefront of my workout mind lately, so this workout seems tailor made for me. Then, add in the whole trainer from Sarasota bit and I may be biased about this workout.

There is no doubt that tennis goddess, Maria Sharapova, has an amazing body that she works hard for. Other than training for tennis several hours a day, Maria also does core workouts, and physical training for another hour plus. Phew, that is a lot of sweat for one day, no wonder she is almost completely made of muscle!  

That being said, her workout is not something that only the She-Hulks of the world can accomplish. The five moves are done between 10-20 times per side and the entire workout only has two circuits with no break between. The workout requires an exercise ball and a 6-10 pound medicine ball. I opted for my husband's ten pounder medicine ball of pain.  

The Workout

I completed this workout after a short cycling session and before my day's squat challenge. The entire workout took me about twelve minutes and burned about 100 calories. This is a pretty good calorie burn for less than fifteen minutes of work, but I thought the exercises would produce a bit higher total number. Overall though, the workout was great! It is definitely not an ab workout to be done on it's own, but pairing it with your usual workout or a few other short workouts is perfect.

The medicine ball gave my arms a massive workout (they are still a bit achy as I write this), and I was quite surprised about which exercises worked my abs. The Oblique Twist is my favorite out of these five- it worked my obliques, lower abs, and back like madness! This is a great workout to combine with a few others, or as an extra sweat session to incorporate on one of your day's off. I would completely recommend it to anyone wanting to tone their abs or upper arms.