Wednesday Woot! Factor!

Who's THAT hot chick? That's my BFF and Biznass Partner Jennifer of She's A Fit Chick! WOOT!! Don't you just wanna squeeze her? She's awesome and a certified personal trainer at that so she's my coach too when it comes to fitness reality checks!! ;-) So, take a peek at my interview with Jennifer in this week's Wednesday WOOT! Factor, sponsored by Sears(R) FitStudio! If you haven't done it yet, check them out on Facebook by CLICKING HERE--- lots of exclusive specials and discounts plus a TON of great fitness and nutrition content daily! BOOYA!

When did you first start working out and why? I first started working out in 2010 after having some serious medical problems in 2009. 

Are you at your “Happy Place” right now – meaning more of a maintenance mode, or are you still in a weight loss mode?  I guess you would say I am still in "weight loss mode." I don't know that I necessarily want to lose weight, but I do want to burn fat by building muscle! 

If you are in maintenance mode, do you feel that you work just as hard to maintain your level of fitness as you did to lose it? YES. I work out just as hard no matter what, I think the only thing that changes with maintenance (in my case) is diet. 

What does your current workout “routine” look like now? With my schedule I am really crunched for time, so I try to work out each muscle group once a week until muscle failure. This leaves me sore for days but has the same impact as if I worked that muscle group 2x per week. 

What do you do for cardio? How often? I alternate the elliptical, treadmill, and at home DVD's such as Zumba. 

Do you workout at home or the gym? Both! I have a full gym in my basement, and elliptical in my bedroom, and a gym membership for a Planet Fitness down the street. This way, I have NO excuse to skip a workout. 

What do you say to those that haven’t gotten fit and complain that they don’t because they “can’t get motivated”? No doubt about it getting motivated can be hard, but I think it really comes down to what self-worth people have. 

What about any/all of the excuses like “No time”, “No money”, “no gym”, “no support”? No time? All of these things can be overcome if you have the desire to do so. I think anyone who is an avid exerciser can take offense to the "no time" excuse; I am just as busy. I juggle a job, co-owning a company with the fabulous Kelly, going to school full time, freelance writing, and blogging. Oh, and you know, having a life outside of all of that. No one has extra time -- you make it for things that matter. 

What does your “diet” look like i.e. how you eat, what is your Philosophy? I try to eat as clean as possible, but, I think there should be a balance and that if you want something you can have it in moderation. 

What changes have you made over the past several years in your diet and/or workout approach and why? I stopped being so hard on myself. Life happens. If you indulge in a treat or miss a workout you can't beat yourself up. 

What is your food weakness? Anything fried or sugary. Yumm. 

What is your favorite healthy breakfast? Honestly, this is the hardest meal of the day for me because I hate healthy breakfast foods. 
With that being said, my go-to is cereal and fruit or oatmeal and fruit. 

When did you start blogging and why? I have been blogging for a LONG time, but I just started blogging about health and fitness back in 2010 when I decided I wanted to get fit and needed the support and motivation to do so. 

How has blogging enhanced your fitness efforts? It hasn't enhanced it -- it made it. I can honestly say I don't think I would have made it as far as I have without my blog.

What is your Twitter/FB/Email? 
www.facebook.com/shesafitchick
www.twitter.com/shesafitchick

What haven’t you done (fitness wise) that you’d like to try? Flying Trapeze!! 

What motivates you to keep at it? Feeling and looking great! 

Are you a morning workout person or evening or lunchtime?  I prefer morning, but with my schedule being as crazy as it is I am just happy to get it in! 

What is YOUR biggest excuse that you find yourself battling in not wanting to workout a certain day? Being tired or having so many other things to do.

Do you weigh yourself or measure yourself? Yes! I know many people are anti-scale, but I tend to weight myself frequently throughout the week. However, I put much more stock in the body measurements (that I do about monthly). 

Thank you Jennifer, for being awesome, adorable and the bestest biz partner a girl could ask for! Awww shucks!! 

Wednesday Workout Update: BOOYA! Kelly O crushed it tonight! Kids- again, I am proud of myself for conquering the inner lazya** that was saying, "Oh Kelly, it's late, it won't hurt you to miss one day...." BALONEY!!! All those "one day"s turn into weeks and then your thighs start wobbling like a flabalanche and I'm not having it. 

So, I got my workout clothes on. I got my TRX out. I got my ValSlides out. I started off with some Cathe HIIT 20/20:

I'm telling you, I love this compact HIIT workout. It gets me hot and sweaty and ready to own it. Then I made up two circuits for my lovely hotel room:

Circuit One:

• Valslide Reverse Lunges 12x each leg
• TRX High Row 12x- slow and steady
• Wide Leg Squat 12x
• Above Circuit done 3x through, with 16 plyo squats in between each set. No stopping between sets.

Circuit Two: 

• Plie Squats Arms Above the Shoulders 12x
• TRX Low Rows 12x Slow and Steady
• Close Legged Squat
• Above circuit done 3x through, finished by running in place for 1 minute. 

Killer. Burned 325 calories in 40 minutes. Today I was a little disappointed in my eats. I had a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and oats plus a cup of Java. Then, the conference today had this hujazz buffee but it was filled with lots of meat in sauce. Ok- me and meat or fish in what I call "mystery sauces" don't go well together. I have a VERY VERY SENSITIVE (read P.I.T.A.) stomach and I have found that buffets often have sauces with all kinds of weirda** ingredients in them. So, I avoid it. Today it left me in the not-many-other-options department, because the conference was in a location not easy to leave and not really close to any quick restaurants. So- I didn't have anything for lunch and grabbed two bite size cookies. Not a great choice, but seriously- I can't venture into Mystery Sauce world. So, after leaving the conference much later, I had a nice dinner of Medium Rare Filet (no sauce) and broccoli rabe and some little potatoes plus a baby salad. After my LATE workout I was HUNGRY LIKE A HIPPO

and what did I do? I didn't want to order another MEAL. So I ate OK I ATE A KIT KAT DAMMIT. It wasn't like an impulsive binge thing, but I was really physically hungry and it was either that or potato chips or Twizzlers (stuff they put in the room) OR ordering somethign OR going out for something and since I was in my robe, ain't gonna happen.

Lesson Learned- My travel schedule IS simmering down so this will no longer be the norm but when I do travel, just for my own feeling good about what I eat sake, I gotta pack some things that are good in the room, even if it's just a couple apples. I've often done that- especially in cities like NY where there are grocery stores on every block.....I'm not going to beat myself up about having a candy bar and skipping lunch, but a little extra effort and some planning goes a long way. Tomorrow will be much better and more balanced!! 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Who do YOU nominate for an upcoming Wednesday Woot! Factor?? Tell me an awesome fitness blogger that I should be profiling here in coming weeks!!