Battling the Holiday Bulge

Leggings and I have a love/hate relationship these days.

I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. My jeans hadn't seen much action in over a month (leggings with long sweaters or dresses make up 98% of my fall/winter wardrobe) so when I decided to break out the ol' jeans Saturday night I had some massive anxiety. The good news? I could at least get them on. The bad news? I had to hop up and down several times and suck in as much as physically possible to get those babies buttoned. Even though I could get them on, there is absolutely no way I could have worn them anywhere I would be sitting for longer than 5 minutes...and I had love handles. Dang those stretchy leggings for making me think I was skinnier than I actually am.

Saturday was December 8th which means I still have to make it through THREE more weeks of birthday and Christmas festivities. Yikes! Apparently it isn't smart to eat whatever I want (and lets get one thing straight - what I want is sweets. Always. Never do I crave carrot sticks or lettuce or chicken breast).  Do people honestly crave healthy food?!? If you are one of those people I need to know your secret. Like immediately. 

In order to combat any additional weight gain and to avoid having to buy new jeans (I'm already a little strapped for cash this month with all my Christmas shopping), I'm taking the workouts up a notch this week. I'm also going to attempt to exhibit at least a wee bit of self control when it comes to the Christmas cookies. 

This week I'm shooting for 20 miles of running which doesn't seem too unreasonable. 4 days of running 5 miles or 5 days of running 4 miles is doable right? I'm also going to try to get in a few lunchtime workouts with my friend Alex. We came across an awesome FREE Nike Training Club app. Seriously this thing is ah-maze-ing. If you have an iPhone this app is a must. I honestly think this app is better than having a personal trainer.

The app lets you select whether you want to Get Lean, Get Toned, Get Strong, or Get Focused. If you select any of the first three options you can choose beginner (average 4-5 workouts a month), intermediate (average 2-3 workouts a week), or advanced (average 3-5+ workouts a week). After selecting your level, the app provides different 30 or 45 minute workouts. The workouts under Get Lean include a bit more cardio than the other two, and the proportion of strength training increases when you move to the Get Toned workouts, and then increases a little more when you move to Get Strong. Personally, I tend to focus on the intermediate Get Toned workouts, but any of the others that I've tried have been equally as amazing. I've only attempted to do an advanced workout one time and it definitely kicked my butt! The Get Focused workouts are 15 minutes long and focus on a particular area of the body (cardio, butt, arms, legs, back, core, shoulders, etc). Alex and I usually try to do a couple of the Get Focused workouts at lunch if we are planning to run after work.

Some of the options under the intermediate Get Toned goal.

Some of the options on the Get Focused goal.

The greatest part about this app is once you've started the workout, if you are unsure about how to complete any of the exercises you can click on the girl and an instructional video will play. These exercises are almost foolproof and require minimal equipment (most workouts only require a set of hand weights) so you could easily complete these at home if you do not have access to a gym. Just head to Wal-mart or Target and pick up a pair of 5-8 pound hand weights and you are good to go. 

Here's to a healthy, active week!

Check out Move it Monday over at the Domestic Wannabe!