that's right......

.....time to get effing skinny! Florida vacay is 6 weeks away!

Happy Friday!

running jams

I've been getting into running more than I ever have this year. I love it. You get such a big high of happiness right after a good run and it's the best medicine!

I'm up to running 40 minutes without stopping (haven't done that since high school!) and I've made the BEST list of jams for the ladies out there. 

All of these songs are fun, girly and will pump you up! And yes Starships is on this list twice, 1st time to get you going and the 2nd time to get you through the last leg of your run. 

There are two songs on the list from the HBO show GIRLS. You must purchase this album! Great mix of tunes and Icona Pop's I Love It and Santigold's Girls are the BEST workout songs, you'll feel badass and just want to rock it! 

Happy running! 

working out sucks

Today is officially my "get with it and lose some pounds" day. I took a two week break from the gym due to traveling, awesome TV, double sicknesses and being just plain tired. But now I feel better, my mood is up and I can't wait to workout again.

And it was perfect timing for me when I picked up this book, Working Out Sucks, at work last week and it has really started to motivate me. I have to say that I really like this book, it is funny and very honest and makes you go "duh, I need to get off my lazy ass!"

I'll keep posting more quotes from this book but for now I'll start with this one that made me laugh out loud:

...thanks to smartphone technology, you can now order a movie, get a large pizza with cheese-jammed crust, download a newspaper, walk your avatar dog, and talk to your friends and family without exercising anything more than your thumbs...

This made me laugh because I LOVE my Pizza Hut app on my phone...ha ha ha.

weight a go go

I've never been one to blame the holidays for "holiday weight" but this year I totally am. I definitely let myself go a little overboard with baking and drinking wine these past two months. Now it is time to get this shit under control! Thank goodness for the new gym that opened up in Lincoln Square. I just LOVE it! There are no excuses for me not to go after work because it is right off of the train.

I have been doing amazingly at the gym, going 4 to 5 times a week. My new hardcore workout routine consists of - 30 mins running, 15 mins doing arm weights and then an hour on the elliptical (watching an episode of Glee the first 45 mins and listening to my gym tunes the last 15 mins). I stretch, do 15 mins of abs and end by sitting in the sauna for about 10 mins. It has been really hard some days but I always feel amazing after.

The other tool that really helps me is my LoseIt! app on my iPhone. I would be lost without it because I think my main weakness (especially on weekends) is eating and drinking, so logging what I eat (and drink...yikes!) really shows me what bad habits I need to change.  Losing weight sucks the older we get, boys have it so easy! But I'm trying to stay positive!


*this post was inspired by my friend Erin, read her blog post here!

baby elliptical

The weather is starting to get cold and windy in Chicago so it has been stressful trying to fit in a good cardio session outside. We canceled our gym membership to save money so I was really relying on running outside to get the job done. So for a while now I was thinking of getting an elliptical for our place, but with the new move we just won't have the room. I did a little research and found this baby elliptical, the Stamina InMotion, that is super tiny and easy to store!

It had a ton of great reviews on every Web site I researched so I went ahead and purchased it on Amazon. It was around $200 at other stores but I got it on Amazon for $89, deal! It came last night and I put it together in like 30 mins, so easy! It was kind of hard at first to stay balanced but I ended up really liking it. And this morning I notice that my abs hurt and realized this sucker works your core too since you have to balance yourself on it!

holy ouch!

I started doing the Tracy Anderson Method mat workout DVD a few weeks ago and WOW am I sore every time I finish it! It really shows you what areas of your body you need to work on and mine is definitely my arms. If she doesn't sound familiar you might recognize the name from Oprah, and she is also Gwyneth Paltrow and Emily Blunt's trainer. She has also worked with Jennifer Aniston, who I love of course!

Gwyneth and Tracy

Tracy has you use your own body weight to tone up and shrink your muscles until you have a "teeny tiny dancer" body. You wouldn't think that holding up your arms and legs for 15 minutes straight would hurt so bad. My goal is to do it 5 times a week and once I start seeing results I'll let you know!  I dare any guy to do this workout and see if they can last the whole time! I am going to have Sean do it with me this weekend because I think he thinks I am being a little too dramatic about being so sore all of the time!