This year I’ve finally been sticking to a consistent workout routine, and I’ve noticed a huge difference not only physically, but also mentally. Today I’m excited to dive into my current health routine!

For a little background, growing up I was a very active person. I played softball until my Junior year of college, graduated with an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science, and I have a Doctorate of Physical Therapy, so I have a pretty strong background in health and fitness. Throughout PT school I was extremely active and loved high-intensity exercise at the time. However, once I graduated and started working full-time, that priority quickly dissipated. I would get into fitness kicks every now and then, but nothing really stuck around for long.

Back in February, I decided to sign back up for Pure Barre. I was motivated to not only start moving a little bit more, but I also needed a little me time outside of the house. I started with just 2-3 times per week and it felt really good to get back into the studio! After a month or two, I noticed I was actually gaining weight, and was the highest I’ve ever been on the scale outside of pregnancy. I honestly think I was overestimating how much I was burning in class. So I made a few adjustments and I talked about my initial health plan in this video. The main changes were increasing my steps throughout the day, and tracking what I are in an app called My Fitness Pal.

My Current Health and Fitness Routine

My current goals are to focus on increasing the amount of protein in my diet and building muscle to tone up. I’ve been following this routine for about 8 weeks now and have never felt better! I currently;y don’t track my meals day to day, but it was very helpful in the beginning to learn more about my diet.

Morning Walks

I love to start my mornings with a long walk outside if the weather permits. When I first started walking, it was for about 25-30 minutes at a time and it has gradually gone up from there. I currently walk about an hour per day. Our neighborhood is pretty hilly, so it’s a nice way to get my heart rate up first thing in the morning. There are so many benefits to getting outside for a good walk, so if you don’t know where to start I would absolutely recommend starting here. I prefer to walk without my phone and just have quiet time to myself… it’s such a nice way to start each day!

When I get back from walking I make a big cup of electrolytes. I could feel a huge improvement in my daily moods, energy, mental capacity, and decreased cravings since switching from coffee to electrolytes in the morning. If you rely on coffee first thing in the morning I would recommend delaying it at least 90 minutes after waking up and giving this a try.

Strength Training

In July, I started strength training 3 times a week with the help of Tim. My biggest roadblock when it comes to working out is planning out what to do, so it was a big help to have Tim just tell me what to do. He is very passionate about health and fitness and was a personal trainer for 9 years – we actually met at the gym! Right now I do a push, pull, and total body strength routine. The goal is to lift pretty heavy with a rep goal of 10-15 for each exercise and we increase the weights or sets each week. It’s fun to see improvement in my strength week to week. There is some trial and error in figuring out the correct weight, but if I get to 15 reps and know I could do a few more, I increase the weight on the next set.

Recently I added Pure Barre back into my exercise routine as well, so I’m taking a class twice a week on the days I don’t have a strength workout.

Cardio

Initially, I did cardio 3 days per week on the days I wasn’t strength training. My goal was zone 2 cardio with my heart rate around 140-150BPM of steady state cardio. I would typically do a free ride on our Peloton bike and watch YouTube videos. I haven’t been doing that as regularly since adding Pure Barre back into my routine, but I will do it on days I can’t make it to the studio or I don’t get a long walk-in.

Increased Steps

In July I also started to increase my daily activity by tracking my steps. I bought an Apple Watch, and it has been such a helpful tool to keep me motivated! My goal is usually 10,000 steps per day and the watch also reminds me to stand up each hour throughout the day.

Tracking my Food + Protein-Focused Diet

I don’t always do this now, but when I first started trying to lose some weight back in April I used the app called My Fitness Pal to track everything I ate. It made me so much more aware of how little protein I ate in a day, and also helped me curb mindless snacking throughout the day. I couldn’t believe how hard it was to hit my protein goal each day, so I’ve really been focused on eating a higher-protein diet now. I supplement with non-dairy protein and try to eat 30 grams of protein at every meal.

WORKOUT ROUTINE SUMMARY

• strength training: 3 days/week (push, pull, and total body day)
• walking: 60 minutes/day (weather pending)
• cardio or pure barre: 2-3 days/week (zone 2 cardio for 30 minutes)

After following this schedule for the last 8 weeks, I hit my weight goal! It was just a random number I picked and I really don’t care what the scale says as long as I’m feeling good in my clothes.

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