Morning! I hope everyone 1) had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and 2) will be joining me today for the kick-off of Jingle Well Time, my winter wellness challenge. If you missed yesterday’s post, no worries. Just join the Facebook group and you’ll get all the details!

Monday Motivation: Getting Back on Track

I’ve received a few reader emails and Facebook messages this weekend asking for advice on how to “get back on track” after the holiday weekend. I want to remind everyone that Thanksgiving is only one day. Thanksgiving weekend is only a few. Letting yourself enjoy the holiday by eating foods you like is not the same thing as letting yourself get off track. One weekend will not reverse your healthy living progress. One weekend of treats is a lapse, not a relapse. What matters is the way you incorporate healthier choices, exercise, and clean eating into your lifestyle the rest of the time. If you let yourself “splurge” every day from Thanksgiving until January 1st just because “it’s that time of year,” well of course that’s different and we can talk about ways to get back on track then. But for those of you who ate your favorite family pie recipe on Thursday and truly enjoyed that heaping helping of stuffing with your turkey, then good for you. Today’s a new day, and Thanksgiving is over. Don’t eat pie for breakfast, make a plan for all your leftovers, and hit the gym. Back to our normal healthy selves it is!

It might help to start by thinking of your week’s workout plan. 😉

Weekly Workouts

Last Week’s Workouts

Last week I was able to get six days of workouts in. A lot of them were cardio focused, which is unusual for me because normally I’m more about strength. But it was nice to switch things up.

Sunday
Rest day

Monday
I did my 3-2-1 treadmill workout, followed by a little core circuit using all my new stability ball exercises I posted about last week. I think the 6, 7, and 8mph settings might be getting a little easy for me. Next time I do this on the treadmill, I’m going to try to take it up a notch.

3-2-1 Treadmill Workout

Tuesday
Two A Day! I took Liz’s Kickboxing class and then taught my Interval class. We did a lot of fun partner combinations.

Wednesday
I did the 3-2-1 cardio workout again, but this time adapted it to the elliptical. Three minutes at resistance 10, two at resistance 12, and one minute at resistance 14. All with a ten incline.

Thursday
Thanksgiving sweat sesh with my fellow gym crazies! Liz taught 45 minutes of Kickboxing, and I did a 45 minute muscle blast on the step. So fun.

Friday
25 minutes of steady cardio on the elliptical, followed by a couple of rounds of the total body circuit workout I posted on Saturday. Tim and I did this one together. It was nice to have a workout buddy!

Total Body Circuit Workout

Saturday
Made it to the gym in the afternoon and did a 25 minute treadmill workout that looked like this:

  • 5 minute walking warmup
  • 5 minutes steady cardio at 6mph
  • 5 minutes of 20 second sprints at 8mph with a 40 second recovery at 7mph
  • 5 minutes of steady cardio at 6mph again
  • 5 minute walking cooldown

I finished out my workout with a bench total body strength circuit. I did 10 exercises, 3 rounds.

Bench Mats and Weights

This Week’s Workouts

  • Sunday: Rest day
  • Monday: Cardio intervals + a lower body stability ball workout
  • Tuesday: Taking Liz’s Kickboxing class, then teaching my class with an upper body stability ball focus
  • Wednesday: Cardio intervals + core strength circuit
  • Thursday: Teaching my morning class with a total body focus
  • Friday: Hoping to get to the gym before work, workout TBD
  • Saturday: Rest day – will be in NYC!

What was your favorite indulgence on Thanksgiving this year? How are you getting back to your regular healthy lifestyle today?