Focus, Fix & Flaunt: Your booty!
PIN IT!That’s right, friends and fans, it’s time to focus, fix and flaunt one of our greatest assets, our bums! As I tried on wedding dress after wedding dress, I couldn’t help but notice how large my behind looked. I’m not saying I’m fat or have a HUGE butt, I just know that it could use a bit of toning. An estimated 80% of women over the age of 18 are not happy with their bodies, with over 50% unhappy with their behind. Instead of wishing for a better booty, work your way towards your best behind ever!
For the best results, pair the exercises below with a circuit or high-low intensity interval cardio routine.
Lunge [targets butt and thighs]
Fitness Magazine
- Lower straight down and take a step.
- If knee isn’t behind toes, step farther.
- Land on heel. Repeat 12-15 times.
Ski Boot Sit [targets butt and thighs]
Fitness Magazine
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, a dumbbell under each heel and squeeze a folded towel between knees.
- Extend arms in front of you at shoulder level, palms down, and, squeezing towel throughout move, bend knees 90 degrees to lower, as if sitting down in a chair (keep lower legs still).
- Lift halfway so knees are still slightly bent, then lower.
- Do 10-15 and repeat.
Step-Up, Kick-Back [targets hips, butt, quads and thighs]
Fitness Magazine
- Stand facing chair, feet hip-width apart, hands on hips.
- Step onto seat with right foot and lift bent left knee to hip level in front of you.
- Hinge forward slightly from waist and kick left leg behind you. Bring knee back to hip level as you straighten up.
- Repeat 8-12 times.
Squats [target butt, quads, hamstrings & calves]
Fitness Magazine
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, arms by sides.
- Squat slowly (count to 4 on the way down) until both knees are bent 90 degrees and raise straight arms to shoulder level in front of you.
- Repeat 10-15 times.
Swivel Sculptor [works butt, thighs, arms and abs]
Self Magazine
- Sit on ground, knees bent, feet flat, arms at sides.
- Contract abs to lift bent legs to form a 45-degree angle with torso, toes pointed. Raise arms overhead, palms in, for starting position.
- Twist right, extending right arm straight and left arm across body as you open knees and press bottom of feet together (as shown).
- Return to start and repeat, twisting left for one rep. Do 8-12.
Scissors [works but, abs and obliques]
Self Magazine
- Lie faceup, feet on ball, right leg crossed over left at ankle, to start.
- Squeeze glutes and contract abs to lift hips, forming a line from shoulders to feet. ( Keep one leg on ball, the other extended in the air, as shown, to increase intensity.)
- Lower hips to return to start. Cross left leg over right and repeat for one rep.
- Repeat 8-12 times.
Sumo Strut [works butt, obliques & thighs]
Self Magazine
- Stand with feet wider than hip-width apart, toes out, and extend arms at chest level, palms together.
- Bend knees to 45 degrees. Maintain wide squat as you take baby steps forward.
- With each step, move arms mechanically in a semicircle, from left (as shown), to center, to right, then back to center, to complete one rep.
- Do 12 continuous reps for one set. Do 3-5 sets.
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Easy Pesto Chicken
I had quite the productive weekend [I found my wedding dress!] so yesterday, the last thing I wanted to do was cook an elaborate and complicated dinner for my boo and I. Although the idea of a delivered pizza or sodium-infused Thai food was quite tempting as the hours passed, I knew an easy, yet healthy, dinner recipe was a better bet. And I was right! This dish is SO easy, like 4 steps easy, and it’s absolutely delicious! Beats the cheese off Papa Johns any day! If you don’t have time to make your own pesto, a store bought variety will do just as fine! Just be weary of the fat content [one serving of some pre-made pesto has almost 30 grams of fat!] Recipes courtesy of Eating Well & All Recipes.
Easy Pesto Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
- 1/3 cup BUITONI® Refrigerated Pesto with Basil
- 3 plum tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with heavy-duty foil.
- Prepare basil-pesto [see below]
- Place chicken and pesto in medium bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Remove from oven; top with tomatoes and cheese.
- Bake for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Nutritional Information: 271 calories, 12 g.m. fat
Basil-Pesto
Ingriedients
- 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, (2-3 bunches)
- 1/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted (see Tip)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 large clove garlic, quartered
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Directions
- Place basil, walnuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, oil, water, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor; pulse a few times, then process until fairly smooth, or to the desired consistency, scraping down the sides occasionally.
Nutritional Information [per 2 tablespoons]: 83 calories, 8 g.m. fat, 2 g.m. protein
A Fit Tip: Morning Workouts!
This tip will be short and sweet! One of the top reasons many people don’t exercise as much as they’d like is due to lack of time. Especially for people with full time jobs and families, it’s hard to find time to squeeze in 30 minutes of cardio at the end of the day. However, don’t let your exhaustion and time crunch in the evening keep you from working out. Instead of skipping, set your alarm a little earlier and get a morning workout in!
More Energy
You may not need that third cup of Joe! Studies have shown that people who work out in the morning have more energy and are more productive throughout the day versus those who work out later. Tina Schmidt-McNulty, a clinical exercise specialist, [as featured on Active.com] reinforces that early morning workouts rev up the metabolism, give you an energy boost and accelerate your ability to burn up calories and fat.
Sticking with it
Mark your calendar’s now! Along with more energy, the American Council on Exercise found that those who participate in physical activity in the morning are more successful at making exercise a habit than those who waited to work out later. You are more likely to skip the gym if you leave it for after work, especially if you’ve had a particularly long or tiring day.
Better Zzzz’s
Studies have also linked morning workouts with better sleep patterns. According to a study published in the Journal of Sleep, overweight women who started morning exercise regimes slept better than their peers who waited to work out later in the day. This is due, in part, to the fact that late afternoon and evening workouts stimulate your body, which often make it harder for your body and mind to shut down, making you restless and unable to sleep.
Instead of hitting snooze tomorrow, hop out of bed and lace up your tennies. You’ll be surprised at how alert, productive and happy a morning workout will leave you!
A Happy Life Tip: Get Your Zzz’s!
I’m going to take a slightly different approach to this post than I normally do. Instead of listing why you should be getting a full eight hours of sleep every night, I’m going to instead, list the negative health effects that happen if you don’t catch enough zzz’s! Hopefully this “scare” tactic will make you realize how important a true nights rest is! Call me the health bully 🙂
6 hours and less:
Not enough sleep not only makes you tired, irritable, grouchy or less productive [see above], it can actually cause memory loss and decreased cognitive ability! According to a study done by the University of Pennsylvania, functioning on six hours or less can impair your memory and reaction time in the same way that staying awake for up to 2 days straight would! Another study done by US Scientists found that people who slept less than 6 hours were also 4.5 times more likely to develop abnormal blood sugar readings in a six year time frame compared with those who got the recommended 8 hours. In the Journal of Hypertension, researchers also found that getting this meager amount of zzz’s also doubled premenopausal women’s risk of hypertension.
7 hours or less:
Although you are in a better boat with that extra hour, skipping that last hour can still cause some health problems. With less than 7 hours of sleep under your belt, you are three times more likely to catch a cold than those who get that extra hour. Also dieter’s beware. According to SELF, we produce more of the appetite-promoting hormone ghrelin and less of the satiety-producing hormone leptin when we’re low on sleep, which can result in weight gain.
9 or more hours:
Too little sleep, as stated above, is a major health risk. However, getting too much sleep [over 9 hours a night] can be just as bad, so think twice before you hit snooze. If you get over 9 hours of sleep a night, you tend to have a higher mortality rate than those who get the normal amount, a study by the American Cancer Society found. Another study which focused on the sleep patterns of nurses [found in an article by the NY Times] found that nurses who slept more than 9 hours were twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than those who did not.
To stay alert, productive and happy, and to keep weight down, your immune system strong and your risk for fatal diseases at bay, get about 8 hours of sleep a night. If you are just too busy or have trouble falling asleep, talk with a doctor to find the best way to get your rest.
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Four-Cheese Baked Penne
I know what you’re thinking. “How can anything with four cheese in the title be healthy?” And honestly, I thought the same thing. But when I read through the ingredients and nutritional information, it all made sense. By using low-fat, part-skim, or fat-free cheese, you can slash your total calories and total fat in half. So my friends and fellow cheese-heads, don’t judge a book by a cover [or in this case, a recipe by it’s name!] You may be pleasantly surprised by how delicious, and healthy, a recipe can be! [Note, due to our crap-tastic camera, most of the photos did not turn out. Boo. So below are a mix of my photos and the photos I found with the recipe.] Recipe is courtesy of SELF.
Four Cheese Baked Penne
What You’ll Need:
- 1 1/2 cups small-curd fat free cottage cheese
- 1 1/4 cups shredded part-skim [or fat free] mozzarella
- 1 cup part-skim [or fat free] ricotta
- 1 pound whole-wheat penne
- 2-3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 can (15 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes [or chili powder]
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
How To Make It:
- Heat oven to 400°.
- Combine cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella, ricotta in a bowl.
- Cook pasta until tender but still firm; drain.
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring, 30 seconds more. Add tomatoes, sauce, oregano, rosemary, salt, pepper flakes and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat; simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Add pasta to the tomato mix ; turn off heat. Stir in cheese-parsley mixture.
- Coat a 9″ x 13″ glass baking dish with cooking spray; transfer pasta mixture to dish. Top with remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake until heated through and cheese melts, about 30 minutes.
Nutritional Information per serving: 400 calories, 11 g.m. fat, 24 g.m. protein
