photo sidebar.jpg “It's not about perfect. It's about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that's where transformation happens. That's how change occurs.”
~Jillian Michaels

This blog is about a healthy lifestyle. We understand that there are no quick fixes or crying over the number on the scale. We are weight lifters, fast runners, and clean eaters. This is a change for the better and for the long run. There are no short cuts, only hard work.
And we love every second of it.


My Instagram
Medical Fundraising Made Simple
Thoughts on POP Pilates

One other pretty well known fitness blogger mentioned this recently as well, but I just saw something that really put me over the edge too.

I’m fed up with POP Pilates/Cassie Ho.

I started watching her pilates videos on youtube last year and loved them. At the time she pretty much only did workout videos which I thought were great. In the last year she’s gotten more and more popular and has started blogging and being more present with her viewers.

At first I thought her pushiness about being healthy and fit was motivating but now I find it to be completely obsessive and unhealthy. She always speaks of food as just something to you have to do to live and then to burn off. Food isn’t something you just burn off. You eat it because it’s fuel, it’s fucking delicious, and it’s completely fine to have a big holiday dinner and not burn it off the next day.

Anyways, she just posted a picture of her lunch (lettuce and a few slices of tuna) and wrote, “What are you having today? You being good?”

Nothing, nothing, frustrates me more than when people refer to food as good and bad. What kind of mentality does that bring? It leads to the thinking, oh shit, I just ate some chocolate, I’m so bad, now I have to punish myself by going on the elliptical for an hour. And it’s almost as if she’s using her popularity to be a heavy influence on people by asking, “You being good?” I know that if I were someone who really looked up to her that that would make me feel bad.

You’re not “being good” if you eat healthy and you’re not “being bad” if you eat unhealthy. You’re not a dog. You’re a human. Don’t think of yourself as one.

There’s no harm in eating treats. I have a treat everyday with my afternoon coffee and I’m still losing fat and looking better and staying happy. I hardly crave sugar and I’m always satisfied after my yummy homemade pumpkin cookie with my coffee.

And hey, maybe I’m reading her completely wrong. But I’ve heard from surprisingly a lot of people who feel the same way; that she encourages over exercising, extremely low carb diets, exercising on an empty stomach or wearing a hoodie to burn more calories and feeling bad about eating a lot of food on the holidays. I think other people are starting to realize that being healthy isn’t just burning fat, calories, and finding ways to do it better and faster. Being healthy can mean having a cookie with your coffee. It can mean having a piece of cheesecake on the weekends. Being healthy is being happy and being able to let yourself eat things without feeling guilty and like you need to punish yourself. You’re not bad.
That is all. Just my thoughts. Time to do homework boo.
Today’s Workout:

One word: OUCH.

Totaled around 45 minutes of a workout! I’m going to feel this tomorrow, that’s for sure!

Today’s Workout:

Ugh. I was going to do a whole Pilates routine but I am wiped. I think I need today to be my rest day. I’m getting over a cold and I’ve only had two rest days in the last 2 weeks. The only thing I did today was the 25 min POP Pilates Butt Blaster video and like 5 seconds off the tricep video before I just collapsed. I’m exhausted. Oh well. I’ll try again tomorrow when I feel a little better. 

Today’s Workout:

Oh my gosh I’m POOPED! Today I did:

Pretty awesome workout! I LOVE POP Pilates! They are so challenging and I sweat like CRAZY! You guys should check them out! I love them because they’re convenient; I don’t even have to leave the room!

Today’s Workout:

9:30 and I’ve already done a workout!? What!? I know! I hate working out in the middle of the day because then I have to shower, and get re-ready for work! Boo! So today I got my lazy butt out of bed super early and did a good morning workout!

Today I did the POP Pilates Butt Blaster and POP Pilates Hot Abs!

It was a total of 40 minutes of burn!

blogilates: POP Pilates Bikini Ready Abs Workout! 1. Torso Twist: Targets the obliques. Balance on your tailbone with back tall, knees bent, and ankles crossed. Now hold your hands together and bring your elbows wide. Inhale and try to touch your right elbow to the mat. Exhale and lift back towards center. Inhale and take your left elbow down to the mat. Exhale to center. Modification: Keep your heels down. Try 20 of these! 2. Cork Screw: Targets the lower abdominals. Rest on your elbows and tailbone with legs extended and heels pressed against each other, toes pointed. Make sure to keep your chest open with your shoulders back and away from your ears. Now imagine that there’s a clock in front of you. Keeping your legs straight, take your feet from 12 to 3 to 9 then back to 12 to complete 1 circle. Then reverse and go counter clockwise. Breathing: Inhale as your lower and exhale as you lift. Modification: Keep knees bent at a 90 degree angle as your circle the “clock”. Try 12 of these, alternating between clockwise and counter clockwise motions. 3. Criss-Cross: Targets the transverse abdominals. Lie on your back and place your hands on the nape of you neck behind your head. Keep your elbows wide! Now lift your shoulders off the mat so that your upper abs are engaged. Bring your left knee into your body as you lift your right shoulder towards that knee. Hold for 2 seconds, then switch! Breathing: Exhale as you reach and hold and inhale to switch. Try 20 of these. 4. Side Plank: Targets the obliques. Come onto your side and place your palm right underneath your shoulder with legs extended along the edge of your mat. As you come into your side plank, try to actively push your hips upwards to really engage the obliques. Hold for about 30 seconds! Then switch sides. Modification: Go onto you elbow and knee. 5. Teaser: Focuses on your total core strength. Begin lying on your back with arms extended behind you and legs elongated in front of you. Take a big inhale through your nose and on the exhale, squeeze your abs and lift up into a “V”. If this is difficult, don’t be discouraged! Simply go as high as you can and bend the knees if you need to. You’ll get stronger with time and practice. Try to holder your teaser for about 20 seconds. Great job! Now repeat this whole sequence 3 more times to complete your full Pilates Bikini Abs workout. Wanna print? Here’s the link to download the PDF » POP Pilates Bikini Ready Abs PDF

blogilates:

POP Pilates Bikini Ready Abs Workout!

1. Torso Twist: Targets the obliques. Balance on your tailbone with back tall, knees bent, and ankles crossed. Now hold your hands together and bring your elbows wide. Inhale and try to touch your right elbow to the mat. Exhale and lift back towards center. Inhale and take your left elbow down to the mat. Exhale to center. Modification: Keep your heels down. Try 20 of these!

2. Cork Screw: Targets the lower abdominals. Rest on your elbows and tailbone with legs extended and heels pressed against each other, toes pointed. Make sure to keep your chest open with your shoulders back and away from your ears. Now imagine that there’s a clock in front of you. Keeping your legs straight, take your feet from 12 to 3 to 9 then back to 12 to complete 1 circle. Then reverse and go counter clockwise. Breathing: Inhale as your lower and exhale as you lift. Modification: Keep knees bent at a 90 degree angle as your circle the “clock”. Try 12 of these, alternating between clockwise and counter clockwise motions.

3. Criss-Cross: Targets the transverse abdominals. Lie on your back and place your hands on the nape of you neck behind your head. Keep your elbows wide! Now lift your shoulders off the mat so that your upper abs are engaged. Bring your left knee into your body as you lift your right shoulder towards that knee. Hold for 2 seconds, then switch! Breathing: Exhale as you reach and hold and inhale to switch. Try 20 of these.

4. Side Plank: Targets the obliques. Come onto your side and place your palm right underneath your shoulder with legs extended along the edge of your mat. As you come into your side plank, try to actively push your hips upwards to really engage the obliques. Hold for about 30 seconds! Then switch sides. Modification: Go onto you elbow and knee.

5. Teaser: Focuses on your total core strength. Begin lying on your back with arms extended behind you and legs elongated in front of you. Take a big inhale through your nose and on the exhale, squeeze your abs and lift up into a “V”. If this is difficult, don’t be discouraged! Simply go as high as you can and bend the knees if you need to. You’ll get stronger with time and practice. Try to holder your teaser for about 20 seconds.

Great job! Now repeat this whole sequence 3 more times to complete your full Pilates Bikini Abs workout.

Wanna print? Here’s the link to download the PDF » POP Pilates Bikini Ready Abs PDF

(Source: blogilates, via 65pounds)

Athenability
Design by Athenability
Powered by Tumblr