Category Archives: Jazzercise

Jazzercise Marathon

Food for Thought, Jazzercise, ,

I have an inside joke with several of my (daytime) coworkers about my ‘Jazzercise Marathon’ days. Usually a couple times a month, I volunteer to sub other instructor’s classes when they have to miss for whatever reason. Typically, this means I end up teaching a 5:40 PM class before my normal 6:45 time slot. Two straight hours of teaching Jazzercise after an already 8-hour long work day = Jazzercise marathon.

Today was one of my Jazzercise marathon days; I’m completely pooped! I love teaching, and I enjoy the awesome workout and energy that comes from the two hour session. But after today, I need a good night’s rest for sure! I try to stay super hydrated during these back-to-back classes and eat a healthy snack beforehand. But I always seem to feel super torn down and a little sick afterwards. Tonight is no exception! I guess it will never get easier, but that’s okay.  If it was easy, it wouldn’t be an effective workout. 🙂

I always have the thought in the back of my mind that I would enjoy being able to do something in the fitness industry full time at some point in my life. But if so, it would have to be something different than all day Jazzercise sessions! I think I would shrivel up like a prune and die if I had to teach more than 3 everyday. Isn’t it sometimes fun though to push your body and see how much you can really endure when needed? The most classes I’ve ever taught in a day is 3 + a regular 8 hour workday in my office. I remember being so stressed and tired, but I survived!

Lunch

Lunch today needed to be light to follow suit with breakfast and make up for my indulging night last night. I made a quick salad with romaine, half a cucumber and some light Italian dressing!

photo(67)Filling but obviously not fattening. Win win! Plus the cucumbers were garden fresh – given to me by one of my wonderful students who has an amazing green thumb. They are so yummy and fresh compared to the store bought veggies!

As I finished up my salad, I heated up a low-carb Lean Cuisine with turkey and green beans.

photo(66)Healthiest thing ever? Probably not. But it was tasty and good portion control for a starving tummy.

Dinner

I had a quick snack of peanut butter and celery before rushing off to the Jazzercise marathon. So I wasn’t too starved by the time I arrived home. So I had some honey Greek yogurt before fixing some steamed veggies!

photo(63)I inhaled these beautiful veggies in a flash and finished off dinner with a hard-boiled egg thanks to Nick. I guess he was cravin’ eggs tonight when he got home from work! Yay for a quick and easy protein!

Have a great night everyone. Tomorrow is Friday!

Jazzercise Fail – Candy Corn Win

Daily Life!, Jazzercise, Workouts, , ,

Welp, it was one of those mornings that any aerobic or workout instructor has probably dealt with on many occasions. And it’s not fun.

I awoke bright and early at 5 AM in a great mood. I was excited to teach Jazzercise! Monday mornings aren’t what most people call ‘fun’. So I try to keep myself extra positive and optimistic during my Monday AM classes for the sake of my sleepy students. Well today, I had none. Yup, not one single student showed up for my 5:40 AM class. Sad day! I’ve had this happen before, but it really cuts deep when it happens at 5 AM. But since I was already awake and in my exercise attire, I headed off to my gym where I could still squeeze in about 35-40 minutes of cardio before heading home to shower. I didn’t want my early morning to be a complete waste!

Workout

I’ll admit, I was a bit a of a grumpy gus when I got to the gym. So I didn’t start with anything too vigorous. I began walking on the treadmill and ended up doing a quick 10 minute incline walking interval. It got my heart rate up!

10 minute incline walking interval

  • Minutes 0-1, Incline 4, Speed  4.0
  • Minutes 1-2, Incline 5, Speed  4.3
  • Minutes 2-3, Incline 6, Speed  4.3
  • Minutes 3-4, Incline 8, Speed  4.3
  • Minutes 4-5, Incline 10, Speed  4.3
  • Minutes 5-6, Incline 12, Speed  4.0
  • Minutes 6-7, Incline 10, Speed  4.0
  • Minutes 7-8, Incline 9, Speed  4.0
  • Minutes 8-10, Incline 7, Speed  4.0

Once I hit the incline of 12, I had to slow it back down to 4.0. I thought my tiny legs were going to come out from underneath of me!

After this 10 minute interval, I jumped on the Elliptical where I finished out my morning workout. Nothing too fancy – just some steady-state cardio to make me feel a little productive. All in all, not a great workout, not a terrible workout. But I think any workout is a win, right?

Breakfast

I hurried home and showered before I had to rush off to work to start another week. I had a little extra time to make food but just wasn’t feelin’ it. So I did my typical grab-n-go breakfast before heading to work a little early.photo(45)The best part was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Luna bar. I’ve had my fair share of healthy protein bars claiming to taste like cookie dough, but this one takes the cake! haha pun intended. I was super delicious and has 12g of protein to keep me full.

photo(46)I loved every last bite! And speaking of LOVING things, the Candy Corn coffee I bought yesterday at Target was a complete win!

photo(46)And it couldn’t have come at a better time when I was grumpy this morning after having a weirdo workout. It smelled like a butterscotchy-creamy heaven in my kitchen! I added a little of my Pumpkin Pie creamer, and it was a pure cup of goodness to start my day. Candy corn win! It’s the little things that can put a little bit of positivity back into our day 🙂

Hope you’re having a great Monday! I’m looking ahead to lunch with a hungry tummy. Leftover chili? It’s probably the best choice!

Teaching Body Sculpting

Food for Thought, Jazzercise

Wednesdays are usually my days off from teaching Jazzercise, but tonight was a little different as I was asked to sub for a fellow instructor who is on her honeymoon! I’m very jealous as they are somewhere warm and tropical, and I’m stuck here in SW Missouri waiting for Fall to arrive. Anyways, the 6:45 class on Wednesday evenings at our center is a Body Sculpting class. It’s a Jazzercise class format that focuses on building and strengthening muscles with a 40 minute set of strength training routines.

It’s a completely normal and widely used class format in Jazzercise centers – it’s just something I’ve never taught before! So last night I was frantically searching through all my Jazzercise materials to make sure I didn’t fudge this thing up. The outcome? It was super fun and challenging to do something new for a change!

Typical classes are around 40 minutes of cardio followed by 20 minutes of the strength training songs. So basically, I cut out the cardio and just about triple the strength training requirements, and voila! You get one awesome muscle toning session.

I arrived home sweaty and exhausted. This little lady is gonna be sore tomorrow!

Lunch

Lunch today was extra quick and half of it was eaten in the car on the way back to work. (I was busy finishing up my bodysculpting music set!) I threw together a salad with romaine lettuce, snap peas, and some more sweet peppers!

photo(29)Those sweet little babies are also getting ready to go bad, so I need to eat them up quick! Still crisp and delicious as of today 🙂  And I had some cottage cheese with a spoonful of mango salsa mixed in for a little extra flavor. After inhaling this, I quickly walked King Mac who couldn’t seem to quit crying for my food! Whiny and annoying as always during meals…

picstitchI made a quick turkey and mustard sandwich on wheat to finish off my lunch. This was eaten as I was driving back to work, and therefore, it is not pictured. There are crumbs all over my drivers seat now as proof though!

Dinner

Dinner needed to be substantial tonight after 2 workouts and a faster-than-normal lunch.

I downed some yogurt as soon as I walked in the door along with a banana. I literally inhaled this stuff so fast that I couldn’t snap a picture! I then hopped in the shower and thought about what else I wanted….decisions, decisions.

photo(22)I decided to keep it carb free and go for some steamed broccoli and cauliflower and ham! The mix of warm veggies and ham definitely hit the spot. And I now have leftover steamed veggies for lunch tomorrow. Win!

And now Nick, Mac, and I are lounging on the couch getting ready for a new Duck Dynasty! Wednesdays really are the best weekdays when there is a new Duck Dynasty to be watched 🙂 I love me some silly rednecks!

Have a great night!