Exercise: Thanksgiving Fat Massacre

Hi everyone!
Hope everyone of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed the holidays with someone special. When I was younger I thought Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday because of the food, but now as I got older and wiser (I hope) I realize it wasn't about the food at all. It was about who I was with. Up until I was an adult I had many great memories with my mom, dad, sis, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We sat, ate, watched football and had some laughs and the occasional family drama. The food was always top notch! When I first moved to Florida I was lucky enough to spend it with my lovely aunt (who is a magical cook), uncle and goofball cousins. And then I met Scotty, who I am most thankful for of all this year. Not only did he welcome me but his family did too. So Thanksgiving now is a time where I cherish family, new and old, and give thanks to each and everyone of them...love you all!!

Ok enough mush now I want to kick your butt and burn off of that stuffing and three slices of pumpkin pie you ate!! I hope you enjoyed it, as you should ;-) now get to work!!

This workout is crazy tough and keeps you moving, it should take you 10-20min tops. Be safe and take breaks when you need them but be sure to push yourself and be your very best. Always keep your abs tight. This is a time challenge done in 4 parts. Complete the number of each part and try to beat my time (and if you do it again, beat your last time). Have fun and try to enjoy when you arent cursing me.

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3 Single Leg Squat Hops into 3 Single Leg Pike Jumps
     try to stay on only one leg the whole time-do your best!!
     do 5 sets staying on left leg, then 5 sets staying on right
     then repeat all over again
     to challenge do a pushup after each pike jump (see video)

     to make it easier do it without the balance using both legs (see video)
     (I said pike press in the video by accident, there is no press for this one :))

10 Jack Squat Taps into 10 Jack Planks
     do this 10 times-making this 100 squats and 100 plank jumps-you can!
     to make it easier step instead of jumping (see video)
     to challenge add a pushup during your jack planks (see video)

20 Frog Squat Burpees
     to make it easier avoid the jumps (see video)

5 Angle Mountain Climbers into 5 Diamond Pushups
     repeat this 10 times- stay tough!!
     to make this tougher step both legs back during pushups (see video)
     to make this easier put one knee down (see video)

You can also see this video on http://www.youtube.com/ under brirauch. I started to put some on there   ;-)
Ok so my times, I have to say I was pretty impressed with myself I really pushed like crazy and it paid off. Try to beat me!!

-Single Leg Hop/Pike  4:25
-Jack Squats/Planks  5:30
-20 Frog Burpee  1:57
-Mountain Climb/Pushup  2:08

Recipe: Cilantro Lime Shrimp and Crab Fajitas

I made this dish one Sunday and was really easy!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp and Crab Fajitas


1lb cooked, peeled shrimp
1 cup cooked crab (if you cant afford the crab, shrimp is just fine by itself)
1 medium onion sliced
1 medium red or yellow sweet pepper
3T lime juice (more or less to taste)
1 handful chopped cilantro
1T olive oil
1T chopped garlic
1-3T chopped jalapenos (more or less to spiciness)
1T cumin
1T chili powder
salt and pepper
corn or low fat tortillas 


Heat oil in a skillet and add onions and peppers, cook until tender. Add rest of ingredients and cook until seafood is warm (about 3-5 min stirring constantly), try not to over heat or your shrimp will become rubbery.
Serve with avocado, lettuce and tomato on your favorite tortillas. Enjoy!!

Exercise: Core Control

I loved the pyramid routine I did the other day so much that I wanted to do another with a main focus on core. This one does not have a lot of legs involved, so if you like, afterwards do a 20 min run, elliptical, walk, bike ride, jump rope or whatever you choose to really burn up those calories-but make it intense!

This was the toughest abdominal routine I've ever made up to date. I actually had to modify my own workout at the end, which kinda stinks but ya gotta do what ya gotta do!! Important thing is I finished and I watched my form-modified or not. Exercise #4 and #5 going in reverse just about killed me!! That is where the modifying came in. So don't quit-modify!!

Ok so again this one you build on: do exercise 1-break, do exercise 1 again then add 2-break, do exercise 1, 2 then 3-break. Repeat this series until you get up to the 5th exercise. Then you take another quick break a go backwards: do exercise 5-break, do exercise 5 again then add 4-break, etc. Have fun people!! See video for modifications and instructions.

#1.  20 Knee Ins or Reverse Crunches (to get equipment see bar to the right and scroll through)
#2.  12 Dive Bomber Pushups
#3.  5 Pull Ups (or Pull Downs) and 10 Body Rows (or tube rows)(to get equipment see bar to the right and scroll through)
#4. 16 Iron Cross Crunches (8 on each side)
#5. 10 Rolling In and Out Crunches (5 on each side)

During round one (exercises in order 1-5) I finished in 20min and 39sec, burning 221 calories (average for a 130lb woman, if you weigh more you will burn more).

Round two (exercises 5-1 backwards) just about killed me! I finished in 21min and 22sec, burning 247 calories.

Total time 42min 1 sec and 468 calories burned!!

Exercise: Belly Fat Blaster with Stability Ball

Hi again! I seem to be on a roll with my belly lately, can you say guilty? :-) This is a routine to make up for all of the honeymoon food we ate. This is an interval train and focuses on cardio exercises and core strengthening. Have a BLAST!

Please see video for instruction and as always be safe and listen to your body (and quiet the part of your mind that says "I cant do this" because you CAN!!!)

Set your interval timer for 50 seconds on and 10 seconds off, 20 rounds. Use http://www.beach-fitness.com/tabata/ as an interval timer if you do not have one.

1. Squat Jumping Jacks

staying LOW in a half squat jump legs together and out resembling a jumping jack without the arms

2. Stability Ball Pike Ups (see side bar and scroll through for great  workout equipment)

roll out on the ball with your belly and form a plank with feet or shins on the ball, KEEP ABS TIGHT!! do NOT arch your back, contract your abs and lift the hips up as high as possible, squeeze core tight and slowly return back to plank, you may also come onto the elbows if wrists are weak

3. High Knees

fast as possible pull the knee up above your belly button, with abs tight and chest up, alternate quickly

4. Offset Ball Crunch

roll out on ball with lower back supported, step both feet a little to the right, do 3 crunches, come back to center and step both feet a little to the left, do 3 crunches and repeat till buzzer goes off

5. Mountain Climbers

in a plank, step the right toe in as far under the chest as you can, push into the floor with tight core and propel up bringing left toe in, alternate

6. Elbow Plank

right after mountain climbers come down onto your elbows and forearms and hold a still plank, pull your belly button away from the floor, do not stick your butt up or arch your back

7. 3 Jump Lunges and Hip Flexion with Twist

start in a lunge positon, power up through legs with abs tight and switch legs, repeat 3 times, pull the back knee up past belly button and twist over that leg, place that leg back and jump lunge 3 more times, the next knee in should be with the other leg, twist and go until buzzer stops you

8. Side Crunch Right

lay on your left side with left arm on floor and right arm behind head, roll onto the cushy part of your left butt, with knees bent pull both legs off floor as you lift the torso up squeezing the right waist line

9. Seated Bicycle

come into a seated position with hands behind head, knees bent, lift both feet from floor, pull the right knee into chest and twist the left elbow towards the knee, switch and alternate for 50 seconds

10. Side Crunch Left

repeat exercise 8 on your right side this time

DO IT ALL AGAIN and ATTACK that FAT!!

Here are my scores: betcha cant beat me!!! ;-)

squat jacks:  51, 50

pike ups:  25, 25

high knees: 125, 128

offset crunch: 5ea, 4ea

mountain: 95, 103

elbow plank: 1 two sec. rest, 2 two sec. rest

lunges: 11, 12

right crunch: 23, 21

seated bicycle: 55, 57

left crunch: 23, 20

Recipe: Versatile Veggie Frittata

The frittata, one of the easiest recipes ever. The nice thing about these babies is you can eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can even make ahead of time and reheat a slice for breakfast if you have to wake up at the crack of dawn like me (I like to get as much sleep in as possible so saving time is a good thing!). Another thing about this recipe is you can make it your very own easily. Add whatever your favorite veggies, meats and cheeses and have fun experimenting. I got this recipe and pics from http://www.skinnytaste.com/ (it is a blog I follow with awesome recipes). I added mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes to her version. 




Versatile Veggie Frittata





Servings: 4 servings • Time: 20 minutes • Points: 3 ww points

• 1/2 small white onion, thinly sliced rings
• 1 small red pepper, diced
• 1 cup zucchini, diced into matchsticks (I also used a handful of mushrooms, spinach and chopped de-seeded tomatoes)
• 3 eggs
• 5 large egg whites
• 1 tbsp fat free half and half (I used some soy milk instead)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and fresh pepper (go light on the salt if you use parmesan, parmesan is on the salty side usually)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Over medium heat, heat oil in a large skillet (make sure you use an oven-safe pan, or just transfer in a baking dish right before putting in oven). Stir in onion and cook until slightly brown, about 10 minutes. Add peppers and cook 5 more minutes, then add zucchini.Season with salt and pepper and cook 3 more minutes stirring occasionally.

In a medium bowl whisk eggs, egg whites, parmesan, half and half, salt, and pepper.
Add eggs to the skillet making sure eggs cover all the vegetables. When the edges begin to set (about 2 minutes) move skillet to oven. Cook about 15 minutes, or until frittata is completely cooked. Serve warm, cut into 4 equal wedges.

Exercise: Lift Your Booty! Back to Reality Workout

We are back!!! I got married, went on a honeymoon, entertained visitors and tried to get back into the swing of things for over two weeks (phew!) so that is why I haven't been blogging new workouts for you. I also have a lil confession to make....I was a bum!! On our honeymoon we relaxed, ate, slept, ate, laid around and ate some more. With the wedding chaos and the relaxing honeymoon it was the longest I haven't worked out in years and years. It was an amazing and memorable two weeks, but I truly did miss my workouts.We did manage to workout on the last day we were there and I came close to puking! So now it is back to reality and here we go.....

This routine made my butt so sore, not to mention my thighs!! It was in the perfect spot too, right underneath the booty where we all want to get that nice lift. I hope you enjoy it. This is a time challenge and was intense as all get out!

I made this workout before I got married and vacationed, finishing in 30min 35seconds and only did one round burning 341calories (average 130lb woman, if you weigh more you will burn more). If you want to really kick your butt (pun intended) do it twice. The second time I did it, I did it with Scotty (who pushes me) when we came back and we finished in less than 25 minutes. I was super surprised I actually did better after that lazy honeymoon we had. However my single leg squats were half of what they were before-yikes those are tough!
Note: MB= medicine ball, if you dont have one you can just stack some books on the floor or a sturdy box, but you can also just use your imagination ;) or skip the ball and just use the floor.
I also want to apologize for being a little cut off, this blog site only allows me to use a small or mobile video so it gets a little chopped off at the end during bridges but you should still get the picture ;)

20 MB Jump Taps
squat down and tap your butt to the ball (or box, books, pillows etc) jump up and immediately land back down into a low squat, start again

15 Left Leg Front to Reverse Lunge
with weight (or no weight if you choose easier) on the right shoulder, step the right leg back and lower into a lunge, do not let the knee go past the toe, push off the left heel as you bring the right knee up to the chest, then step the right foot forward into a lunge, push off and again lift the knee back into the chest
15 Right Leg Front to Reverse Lunge

20 MB Jump Taps

20 Left Low Lunge
holding a weight in your left hand (or no weight to modify) lunge back with the right leg and lower until you bring the weight all the way to the floor, place it down staying low in your lunge, then immediately pick it back up, push off your left heel and stand feet together
20 Right Low Lunge

20 MB Jump Taps

20 Left Lunge and Rotate
step the right leg back and lunge holding a weight in both hands in front of your chest, once you are in a low lunge (left knee not past that toe!) twist to the left, push off the left heel and stand, repeat
20 Right Lunge and Rotate

20 MB Jump Taps

20 Left Side Lunge
with 2 hands hold a weight in front of your chest, step the left leg to the side and bend the knee, send your hips way back so all of your weight is in your left butt, do not let knee go past toe, right leg should stay straight, twist the weight slightly to the left, then forcefully push off with your left leg back to start
20 Alternating Side Jump Lunges (no weight) do the above but alternate sides and add a jump if you want the challenge-see video
20 Right Side Lunges
20 Alternating Side Jump Lunges

20 MB Jump Taps

20 Alternating Single Leg Squats
you may hold onto a chair with this one, squat as low as you can on one leg as you hold the other out in front of you, alternate

20 MB Jump Taps

20 MB Bridges Right
lay on your back (yay! lay down!) bend your right knee and place the MB (or box, book, etc) under your foot, keep the left leg straight, push into the ball with your right leg and lift the hips off the floor, at the same time raise your left leg straight up, lower and repeat
20 MB Bridges Left
(repeat these bridges again-20 right, 20 left)

20 MB Jump Taps