Hello everyone! Can you believe it’s almost Friday?!…love short weeks! And can you believe that I have a full on cold today?! Ugh…I can’t believe this. For years I’ve gone without colds, flu, and I have even been able to remain sick-free around sick co-workers, family, and friends…now twice this year I’ve had a cold and this is my third one! I’m not sure what’s going on with my immune system this year…maybe this is what comes with age?! Ha! Oh well…I’m drinking lots of water as we speak, uh type , and I’m already feeling a tad bit better

Especially after my great workout this morning. Today is supposed to be a rest day for me and I should have taken it since I have a cold, but I really really wanted to try a new class at our gym, Vipr! I’m loving these new exercise classes, first TRX yesterday which was awesome and today I’m super sore from it, and now Vipr. Have you ever heard of it? You can read more about it here and this is what it looks like…(source)

And here’s a great video showcasing the exact moves we did during class…

It was an awesome workout and I absolutely loved it! I’m definitely going to be incorporating this into my routine and will have to switch around my rest days, which were Monday’s and Thursday’s…maybe now Monday’s & Wednesday’s? I wasn’t a huge fan of the TRX class yesterday so maybe I’ll make that as my rest day…we’ll see

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Last night as I was talking about TRX with my husband…side note, hubby is a pro at TRX and does some craaaazy moves on that contraption, in fact if it were up to me he should be the one teaching the class…hey it would give us ladies some nice eye candy too

Anyway, as we were discussing various TRX movements and as I was telling him about my excitement for going to Vipr class this morning, it caught me off guard for a moment and got me thinking about my new found perspective on exercise and how I’ve formed an entirely new relationship with it.

During my overexercising days, the only goal it ever served for me was to burn calories.  That’s it.  But before this obsessiveness, exercise wasn’t always about that, it was about having fun.  And last night that light bulb went off for me, it’s now fun again, and I’m breaking out of my comfort zone and trying new things. It’s no longer about which exercise class or which cardio machine will burn the most calories. It’s about having fun, challenging my body in new and exciting ways, and being healthy.

When I was little and into my teenage years exercise was fun and joyful.  It was playing on the monkey bars and the jungle gym, it was dance recitals and performing for my family in cute costumes, it was being on the dance team in high school and having fun with my friends, it was going to Jazzercise for the first time with my sister and mom and realizing that very moment just how fun exercise could be…

I feel that our Getting Ready plans was a blessing in disguise in that it made me take a step back and see that I was exercising too much, and since cutting back, I feel more at peace and have a new relationship with it.  Before I cut back, there was a part of me that felt I was doing too much. I kept making excuses for it and would compare myself to others who were exercising way more than me…but deep down, I really wasn’t happy or passionate about working out that much everyday.

I’m now finally happy with my workout routine (and the changes I’m making to it – hello TRX & Vipr!) and have found the joy in exercising again.  It’s not a chore, I don’t look at it as a means to burn “x” amount of calories, and I’m not left feeling exhausted and depleted…I’m now excited each morning to tackle a new workout, it’s now a means for my body to get strong & healthy, I’m left feeling energized for my day, and my passion and excitement for it has been ignited again.  Like many other relationships in life, this is one I’d like to be with for a very long time…

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And with that, I have a new found relationship with TJ’s Honey Chevre Goat Cheese…or as my husband would say, “I would like to take a bath in this goat cheese pleaseeeee”

And last night it made its presence spread onto some strawberries as a pre-dinner snack…

And some pasta salad that we finished off and was supposed to be served with dinner, oops!

Last night I was starting to feel the onset of my cold, so I went with my usual salad beast…

And for dessert I ate half a container of Fage Greek Yogurt with a handful of puffins and a couple spoonfuls of PB. The other half of that Fage went into this mornings delicious overnight oats…

1/2 cup Fage, 1/3 heaping cup oats, 1/3 cup Almond Milk, 1 tsp. chia seeds, sliced banana, handful puffins.

Perfectly filling delicious breakfast, and the warm coffee felt so good on my sore throat…hopefully this sickness goes away by this weekend. It’s another “when the boys are away, the girls will play” kinda weekend

Questions:
Do you have a new found relationship with exercise/food/friend/significant other/family member, etc.?
Have you ever tried Vipr before?
Any fun plans for this weekend?!