Interval Training: Made for those of us with no time!!

I used to run distance.

Back when I was single, dogless and childless, it would be nothing for me to tie up my shoes and put in my headphones and go.  I loved running in neighborhoods.  Sometimes, I'd stop and walk a little and look at the houses and plan what my dream house would look like one day.  By the time I'd get home, an hour may have passed and I'd have gone several miles.

I wasn't that versed in how to get fit - but I knew that I wanted to be fit.  And I knew how to run (no matter how ugly my gate was) and I knew that it would help me be skinny.  So run I did.  

And when my normal route began to get easy, I would just extend it a little bit further or add another neighborhood into my trek.

My...how life has changed!

Today, my time is very rarely my own and, when it is, I certainly don't feel like lacing up my shoes and taking off anymore.  I have a very specific time set to workout and I need to stay within those parameters.

Yet, I still want to be skinny.

So what's a girl to do?  INTERVALS, my friends!  Intervals!!  These are by far the best way to get the most bang for your workout time.  The great thing is that you can do them on any piece of equipment or even at home.

The idea behind them is similar to your car burning gas.  When I was younger and driving "everybody's-favorite-little-white-Chevy" (my white, two door Cavalier coupe), I would come off a stop and completely gun the engine.  Now, she was a stick and this was a ton of fun.  My mom didn't think it was so great and would lecture me about the amount of gas I was burning during my fun and "if I would just gradually increase my speed, I would save gas." 

Well, the same idea applies to our bodies and the fuel (calories) we would like to burn during a given time.  If you have 30 minutes and you choose to scoot along on the elliptical or jog at a 5.0 for the entire time, you will be just like my mother driving (ha!)...putzing along, trying to conserve your gas.  However, if you alternate your levels (this could be speed, intensity or incline) then you're going to burn more calories in the same amount of time.

If you have a piece of equipment, get on and plan to go 20 minutes.  Now, you need to either have a running time showing on the equipment or a clock on the wall with the second hand. 

So say, you've chosen a stationary bike.  Get settled and get your Walking on Sunshine going (or whatever music inspires YOU) and take the first two minutes to get warmed up.  Get a steady rhythm going...adjust your seat, pick  your seat...do what you need to do now.  As soon as minute two is over, you are going to sprint (i.e. peddle as hard as you can) for a minute.  

Now here's where you have to be honest with yourself.  This sprint should have you watching the clock and thanking God when the minute is over.  You shouldn't be able to talk, look around, read your Kindle or do anything but peddle during this minute.  You are in full intensity mode.  After the minute, you're back to slow, turtle pace.  This is your recovery...for a full minute.  

The first time you try this, just aim to go intervals for ten minutes - with a minute on, a minute off.  It will go like this...

1 - 2:00 Warm-up

2 - 3:00 Sprint

3 - 4:00 Recover

4 - 5:00 Sprint

5 - 6:00 Recover

6 - 7:00 Sprint

7 - 8:00 Recover

8 - 9:00 Sprint

10 - 12:00 Recover

12 - 20:00 Moderate

This will give you four total sprints and then eight minutes of your normal pace at the end.  If you have a 30 minutes block, you even have time for some abs at the end.  The beautiful thing is that you're going to be burning more calories in less time as long as you're honestly sprinting.

I would recommend these for a bike or treadmill or the rowing machine. I just can't seem to get an adequate sprint on a standard elliptical.

If you are walking or running on the street, my favorite way to incorporate these are with mailboxes.  Use your landmarks..."I'm going to jog to the red mailbox and then sprint to the house with the yippy dogs barking and then walk to the stop sign."  ...for 30 minutes.

Try these and let me know what you think!  Good luck!

Healthified Ribollita

Sometimes, I just don't have it in me to plan meals out for the next week.  So in this spirit, I hauled my circus to Kroger last week and just got what I needed, plus some produce on sale and figured I'd roll with our meals  this coming week (don't you just feel sorry for my husband?!).  So Sunday morning found me searching for some kind of soup with cabbage, tomatoes and six cups of chicken stock (all I had left in the freezer).

I ran across this recipe for Ribollita, which I had never heard of before, but I am never disappointed with the Barefoot Contessa's work so I thought I'd give it a go.

Now, I wasn't planning on having dried beans, so I didn't soak them overnight.  I boiled them in a pot of water for 10 minutes and then pulled them off the heat and left them covered for two hours.  The result was the same as soaking (shew!  *wipe forehead*).  

I "healthified" Ina Garten's version by adding turkey bacon instead of panchetta (I know, I know...a sacrilege unless you're watching your weight!) and I used spinach instead of kale, because I had some I needed to use.  I also chopped up a head of cabbage that I had (cue initial recipe search) instead of napa cabbage.  We bought a loaf of crusty bread to replace the sourdough and the leftover crusts came in handy to silence a squalling baby.

And her older sister, Princess Cranky Pants...

100% approval rating by all members of the family!  My husband asked to keep it "in the rotation," which definitely makes it worth sharing!

Special K French Toast

Because sometimes, you just need breakfast for dinner...

And I obviously need a larger counter-top!  I mean, seriously...how many gadgets do I need running at one time?!  I got this electric griddle for Christmas and LOVE it.  Scott and I were watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives the other night and saw a place that served french toast dipped in Captain Crunch.  Since I now have enough Special K to last a year, I thought I'd try a healthier version...and it came out great!

Special K French Toast

Let your bread sit out so it becomes a little stale.  Mix up your french toast batter as you normally would.  I used two eggs and milk, a dash of cinnamon and a little vanilla.  Dip your bread into the mixture.  In a separate bowl, put your cereal (I used Special K) and crunch it up a little with your hand.  Place the just-dipped bread into the cereal to coat.  Apply directly to griddle.  Flip after a couple minutes and serve.

This, of course, had 100% approval rating from both kids.  Enjoy!!

My husband's thoughts: Excuse 16

Our actual excuse today:  We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and the NFL Playoffs are on...

We decided this morning to use a gift certificate for CB that my mom gave to Annie for her birthday this past week.  We rarely eat out as a family and Annie thought it would be a nice (ha) adventure. We made it to the restaurant by 8:30 and here is a quick ranking of our breakfast choices by Shipman family member (listed best to worst).

1- Annie - She won her internal fight against the Apple Struessal French Toast and went with the very sensible egg sandwich (with tomoto), baked apples, water and coffee.  She has been working very hard at regaining her pre-baby body and she showed great dedication this morning.

2- Rachel - A close second to Annie with 1 scrambled egg and a sampling of a biscuit.  She did receive the Messiest Diner in the Place Award though, and we apologized to the wait staff on the way out.

3- Elizabeth - 2 eggs and a biscuit (initially) -which would have gained her second place until she stuffed entire second biscuit in her mouth while we were attempting to get Rachel's jacket on before leaving.

4 (Dead Last)- Me - I went with the Old Timers Breakfast, and for those of you who do not eat at CB, here is a summary:  3 eggs (over easy), fried sirloin steak (I usually go with pork chops here, but today, I felt like beef), potato casserole, 3 biscuits and gravy, baked apples, and because I needed to a vegetable - a large tomato juice. Conservatively, a 1200 calorie breakfast for me (who is also trying to drop a few pounds).

We then took our traveling circus to Publix, through the car wash, and finally returned home around 11:45. Annie got the girls down for naps and I made two trips to the dump before returning home to get a little work done on the computer.  Once the games started - my workout motivation was gone until our afternoon coffee.  I made the decision to hit the garage for this at-home, fast paced, leg workout.  I was able to get back in before the end of the first quarter of the Pats and Jets.

Warm up - Jump rope - 5 x 1 min go's with 30 sec break between sets.
Chair Lunge (back leg balanced on chair or stool) - 3 x 15 each leg with 30 sec break between sets.
One Leg RDL - 3 x 12 each leg with 30sec break between sets.
DB Front squat (lt db on shoulders) -3 x 15 with a 30sec break between sets.
Split squat leap - 3 x 8 each leg with 30 sec break.  For beginners substitute squat jumps here (3 x 5)
Cool down - Jump rope 5 x 1 min go's with 30 sec break.

All you'll need is some light dumbbells, jump rope, and about 30 minutes.  Substitute calisthenics for jump roping if you want.  Thanks to this workout I was probably able to work off 30% of the calories I ate at breakfast!

Saturday Stumbles

Ok, so I just "stumbled" upon this (no pun intended) and thought it was a neat idea.  Because it's late and I don't have a ton of fitnessy stumbles, I'll just share my favorite things that I've read this week.  Check them out when you get a chance!  They are random, but great!

It's Almost Naptime - Parenting a Feral Child = Made me laugh out loud.  

$5 Dinners - Gingered Pear and Blueberry Cobbler = I have placed pears and blueberries on my shopping list because this sounded so yummy!

Once A Month Mom - Healthy Tuna and White Bean Pita = Looks so yummy and I have a ton of tuna stocked up.  This woman's site is great...her baby food section is incredible!

The Cozy House Crafter - Ballet Slippers = I thought these were so cute that I bought the tutorial Tonya listed.  In my dreams, Elizabeth would wear these!


Thanks, Simply Staci and It's Come 2 This for the idea!

Elvis Shake

So sue me for being creative here...but wasn't it Elvis who liked peanut butter and banana sandwiches?  Well...if he liked them with strawberry jelly, then he would probably LOVE this shake.

Now, my husband tells me that in order to call it a "super shake," it has to have at least three additions to protein powder...which this does.  Normally, he is the shake maker in the house.  So the fact that I did this on my own accord is saying something...and I was pretty pleased with it!

Elvis Shake

In your blender put...

3/4 of whatever glass you're going to use of water (or milk, if you're trying to gain)

A couple ice cubes or a handful of frozen strawberries, if you have them

A scoop of strawberry whey protein (I used BSN's SYNTHA-6 in Strawberry Milk Shake) - or, if you used  strawberries earlier, you could use vanilla whey here.

A spoonful of peanut butter

A whole (peeled) banana

1/2 tbsp of ground flaxseed

Blend away and enjoy!!

Our life in pictures

Because sometimes there's no better way to describe our kids!

Our little happy bath-taker.  I told Scott that she is bound to be a swimmer - because she can stay in the water and she doesn't have to wear shoes or socks!

Playing with the Elmo remote...I just crack up at Rachel's face here.  I'm pretty sure Elizabeth took it from her.

Why yes, we have a slide in our living room...don't you?

Angry that mommy is making her clean her crayon masterpiece off the floor.  If you look closely, you can see it.

In the process of "exercising!"

This day, Rachel woke up a good 30 minutes before Elizabeth did.  My baby found every single toy that Elizabeth won't let her play with.  Here she is with the crying baby doll, the princess box and the Teeny Tiny Baby book...all favorites of her older sister.  It is scary how smart this child is!

She told me that this picture on the singing Crayola pad is of Daddy, Rachel and Juno (from Juno Baby).  Nice to see where Mommy ranks, kid...

I love my sister so much...I just want to squeeze her neck...

And topple her onto the floor...

And sit back up when I realize that Mommy is watching...

 

 

 

And then take her shoes off...(not that Rachel cared!)