Which First, Weights or Cardio?

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Oh, the age-old question; which should we do first, weights or cardio? I have heard this debate since I started working out. Some say that weights after cardio will help lose fat, others say that weights before cardio is the only way to actually gain muscle. Believe it or not, but both arguments are right! For now, it seems the fitness world may be at a slight agreement about the weights/cardio conundrum and believe that it all depends on what we want from our workout routine. 

If You Want to Loose Fat

Do your cardio first.  Although weights will burn more calories per minute, cardio will burn more over the entire exercise period. This is because we tend to do endurance activities for a longer period of time without breaks. Cardio will also increase your endurance and will take more energy than weights. If you really want to kick up the calorie burn, try doing both at the same time. High inderance interval training, or HIIT, uses both resistance and cardio training at the same time to increase the calorie burn, muscle growth, and results. 

Another option for those not quite at the HIIT level would be to alteranate resistance and cario. By alternating the days you do cardio and the days you do resistance training, you will be increasing your calorie burn per day and increasing your muscle tone. Alternating will also help reduce the risk of injury while running.

If You Want to Build Muscle

If muscle is your main goal, weight before cardio is the best. Glycogen is a polysaccharide that is stored in the muscles and used for energy when converted to glucose. This sugar is needed to support muscle growth. When we run before we lift weights, we are depleting that glycogen reserve in our muscles and making it near impossible to get any muscle growth from lifting weights after cardio. If you do not want to get bigger muscles, this is not all bad since your are still burning calories. But, if you are trying to increase your muscle size, this is the worst thing ever. 

Completing a small cardio warm-up before weight and resistance training is still recommended for anyone. Light cardio warm-ups that will decrease the risk of injury and increase athletic performance include jumping jacks, knee-ups, leg-ups, and jump rope.

If You Are Prepping for a Race

If you are trying to increase your endurance for any reason, running prior to lifting weights is key. For runners, fitness and muscular stamina are more important than muscle strength. Therefore, focusing your energy on running rather than weight training seems to be a no-brainer. That being said, it is still vital for overall health to continue resistance training along with your endurance. Resistance training will decrease the risk of muscle fatigue and injury.  

7 Yummy Pumpkin Recipes

Whoohoo, fall is finally here and so are those amazing pumpkin recipes to go along with it! Those delicious pumpkin spice lattes we all crave are just the beginning of this pumpkin fix we get for fall. Pumpkins are a pretty incredible fruit with very little fat or carbs and well over the daily recommended value of vitamin A. Maybe this is part of the reason we use them for everything from breakfast to dessert.

Pumpkin Pancakes

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Let’s get this list of yummy pumpkin recipes started right with some pumpkin pancakes. Pumpkin pancakes are so yummy, they would be as welcome for breakfast as they would be for dessert. Thankfully, these add in a bit of health by using Greek yogurt. Yep, leave it to the author of L.A Candy, Sweet Little Lies, and Sugar and Spice to create a yummy bit healthy sweet treat.

Banana Pumpkin Smoothie

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Don’t let this yummy pumpkin recipe fool you, there is very, very little that is healthy about this smoothie. But, what this Cooking Light smoothie lacks in health, it more than makes up for in taste. If you are in the market for a bit more healthy of a pumpkin smoothie, this Pumps and Iron Smoothie will be right up your alley. Both use chilled, canned pumpkin, but it seems easy enough to swap the canned versions out for the real.

Pumpkin Soup

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Would I really be a good blogger if I left out my own pumpkin recipes? I think not. Besides, this pumpkin soup is quite healthy and incredibly easy to make. It also hold a special place in my heart since it is one of the first recipes on P+K and the only soup completely made from scratch in our house. This pumpkin soup recipe is also vegan friendly and low in fat and carbs.

Pumpkin Ravioli

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Oh goodness, Wolfgang Puck’s pumpkin ravioli is one of my favorite foods ever. His pumpkin ravioli is oh-so-good, but is definitely not healthy. If you, like me, think there is no better combination than pumpkin and pasta, then you might just need to try this recipe on for size. Health.com has done an amazing thing by creating a recipe that is both low in fat and uses pre-made pasta shells. Yes, this is just the right combination of healthy and pre-made.

Pumpkin Lasanga

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Three words, pumpkin as pasta. Boom. I think that pretty well explains the awesomeness of this pumpkin recipe. Becka Walter from Snapguide created this incredible pumpkin lasagna that looks just as amazing as it is guilt free. Her guide is very simple and goes over everything from how to cook and prepare the pumpkin to how you make the most tasty looking pumpkin lasagna ever.

Pumpkin Pie

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Shameless, I know. But, this pumpkin pie would not be on the list of yummy pumpkin recipes unless it was yummy. Promise. If the pumpkin pie looks great but the idea of making mini pies sounds like a fate worse than death, do not despair. This mini pie recipe comes along with a regular pumpkin pie option. The recipe calls for real pumpkin which is way, way easier to get and puree than you may think. I like to make this recipe a bit healthier by using vegan pie crust instead of the usual lard-y kind. This takes out a ton of the fat and carbs but leaves the pie tasting just as good!

Pumpkin Bread

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A list of pumpkin recipes is not complete without pumpkin bread to round everything out.  This pumpkin bread recipe is a gift to all those who love the idea of eating all these yummy foods, but hate that whole bit about cooking it. A few weeks ago the hubs and I were out shopping when he pulled me out of my beloved Banana Republic and into William Sonoma saying that there was something I needed to see and the clothes would be there when I got back. He then had me try a sample of William Sonoma’s pumpkin bread where I immediately agreed with him on both counts. It was so good that we bought a package for ourselves and some family members on the spot.

Yes, this is a bit more pricey than doing it by hand, but I promise, the taste will more than make up for this bit of lazy baking!

Love Stories to Fall For

This past week I have been a bit under the weather and have been stuck in bed whenever I am not darting around. To help keep my mind off all the things I should be doing, I picked-up to light, love stories that could handle the very difficult task of keeping my mind off my work. These books did there jobs incredibly well since I was able to read/love/never want to put down both these books since Tuesday. 

The first was one of the most recent Sophie Kinsella books, I've Got Your Number.  Sophie Kinsella is the author of the super popular, Confessions of a Shopaholic series along with a ton of other witty novels all about love. Saying that she is a modern day Jane Austen is not too high a praise, she completely is. Her books are witty, strong, engaging, and all around wonderful. I've Got Your Number is no different.

Actually, this book definitely round off my top three favorite Sohpie Kinsella books. The other two areConfessions of a Shopaholic(of course) and Twenties Girl. If you are a fan of sweet, lighthearted stories with some cute life lessons, strong female protagonists, quirky characters, and adorable love stories, I would completely recommend picking up any one of these!

Next up on my reading list for this week is another love story. This is pretty rare considering that I usually stagger different genres and fiction vs. non-fiction so there is no worry of boredom or overlapping story lines. This week was just a rom-com kind of week and this next rom-com was just as good as the last.  

Although Edenbrooke is set on the English country side of a by-gone era, it was written last year by a mother of four who lives in Salt Lake City. Thankfully, Julianne Donaldson takes the task of bringing 19th century England to the modern age with a great attention to the actual period. This book is adorable. Within the first few pages you are in love with Marianne Daventry and completely unable to set the book down after chapter 2. Seriously, it kicks off with a bang.

Edenbrooke and a great combination of the Jane Austen regency era so many of us love, and the awkward but loving protagonist that is so easy to cheer for. This book was made for those of us who love those period pieces with a touch of the modern romance. Love.  

Weekend Reading

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Happy Thursday everyone! Now, let's all pretend it's Friday for the next bit of time and talk about some fun articles to read over the weekend. I have read some pretty interesting articles this week, some of which are completely related to health and fitness and some that are completely not. Time to get this newly created 3-day weekend started off right with some random but interesting weekend reads.

• Do you drink red or white wine? According to a recent study by Iowa State University, the color wine you drink could correlate with the amount you pour. A quick sum-up of the article can be found here for the Reader's Digest types, or the entire Iowa State article can be found here. Oh, the funny little things Universities research.
  
• Cardio vs. Weights This articles discusses the debate between completing cardio or weights first in a workout series. This has been a pretty long debate and the jury is still out. The article talks about the perks and downfalls of each in simple terms with bullet points. Sold.  
• What a Wall Workout! This is for everyone that wants to get started on their weekend workouts a bit early. Nicole over at Pumps and Iron created this super fun wall workout that has very little to do with reading and a great deal more to do with doing. I would first suggest doing this on a wall you do not care much about or with shoes that do not scuff. Secondly, I would suggest doing it!