Category: Fitness

5 Survival Tips for Winter 2020

Posted on by The Style Cake

I’ve done one of these posts a couple of years back and I really think the tips could help get anyone through the perils of winter! This year, winter came out of nowhere, well, not really but it had been pretty mild considering I live in Michigan and then BAM! Snow, wind, cold, cloudy days and looooonnnnngggg nights! I usually have an easy time until the end of January hits and then I’m struggling to get through winter lol.

1. Let’s start with recreation. It can be human nature to simply stay in the bed, stay on the couch and binge watch tv or read, eat and become immobile. In reality, we were meant to discover, explore and venture out. To encourage mental health, getting out of the house is very important! Isolation is not healthy! Not even for introverts! Go grab a coffee at the local coffee spot, visit the library or art gallery or hit a winter festival. Grab a bite to eat at a local inexpensive restaurant nearby your home. Take a cooking class, go to your local hardware store and complete a project for the home. There are a plethora of options to choose of things to do besides sitting in the house the entire season of winter and this is coming from someone who hates winter!

2. Besides just getting out of the house, getting completely away from your environment and going on a weekend vacation is enough to revitalize your mind and body for a couple of months! Maybe visit a quaint town in your state and unplug from social media and technology. Take in the sights and feed your senses without any interference!

3. Body care is so important during this harsh time of the year. It’s easy to slack on skin care in particular because the sun isn’t shining through the cloud but sunscreen is still needed. As is moisture! Continue to drink plenty of water to hydrate the skin. Likely, the winter has plenty of dry moments so water will feed the body moisture from the inside to prevent cracking from dryness. Beyond that, below I’ve linked a few things I love to use for body care during winter months. One is a lip product, body and hair products and facial care products. Check them out below!

A. Chapstick Total Hydration 100% Natural (Eucalyptus Mint)

B. Koils By Nature Nourishing Hair and Body Butter

C. DDF Ultra Lite Oil Free Moisturizing Dew (Spf 15)

D. Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2

E. Carol’s Daughter Wash Day Delight (Water to Foam Shampoo) [My new ABSOLUTE FAVORITE HAIR PRODUCT AND I WILL DO A DETAILED REVIEW SHORTLY! ;-)]

4. Let’s talk ducking and dodging colds, flu and other healthy efforts. One thing leads to another, right? Well, you NEED hand and body cream in the winter especially because hand washing is still important! How else can you avoid getting sick and stay in good health?! Starts with handwashing first! Since I already gave you a suggestion for dry cracked hands, I wanted to share what I like to keep on hand for immunity and health below!

A. Zarbee’s Naturals Elderberry Immune Support

5. Lastly, reorganize your life! This could include examining your personality, organizing closets and storage spaces, refreshing or learning new skills and/or working on your body and health more in depth. Have a person that you’ve been allowing in your life but they are dragging you down or isn’t supportive? Maybe it’s time to rethink your association. I’ve been doing a lot of rearranging myself, it takes work but it’s worth it! Decide to save money, go back to school, fix your credit or purge things while keeping only what you need! Taking the time to invest in yourself will take up a ton of your time and help you survive a possible tough couple of months in the cold!

Fitness, Food and Future Body Goals

Posted on by The Style Cake

Warning: Long Post!

2015. January 1. A significant date for so many people because it marks the first day of a new beginning and that includes new fitness and body resolutions. I don’t believe in new year resolutions. I try to resolve that I will improve on me every day of my life. That being said, last year hubby and I decided that it was time to really invest in ourselves. We took our butts to LA Fitness and got ourselves memberships. I think I was most excited because we previously had memberships at Planet Fitness and I hated it!! I won’t even honor them by giving details of my experience, let’s just say THEY couldn’t pay ME to go to their gym. Anyhoo, we also had a very short experience with Fitness19 (I won’t even call it a membership…long story). Anyhoo, on to my experience with my membership at LA Fitness. I am truly enjoying myself. I love that the environment is nice and bright, there are various different equipments for each body group, personal trainers, saunas, a swimming pool as well as a kids center. I find all the amenities make it easier to WANT to go and work out. That being said, on to what I’ve been doing.

Working Out….

I typically go to the gym AT LEAST four days a week. I love to “confuse” my muscles because I want the max results from the workout that I do when I strength train. Each visit, I change up my routine, the exercises as well as weight amounts, reps, sets and so forth. I spend two days working on one body area and two days for the two others and then I switch up each week which body area I will work out for two days. For instance, I may do my arms and shoulders on Monday and Tuesday then I will work on my abs one day and legs the other day. The next week, legs will get two days and the others one day and so on and so forth. I always like to push myself past what I think I can do. Every few days, I incorporate some cardio and HIIT (high intensity interval training). I intend to start attending spinning classes, I heard they are very intense and that is what I love.

Moving on to my nutrition….

I happen to love “healthy foods” by nature so it is not very hard for me to eat clean. I tend to stay away from fried foods as well as sweets and a lot of salt. I drink tons of water (which happens to be my favorite beverage) and as a treat, I have sparkling water of different flavors. I don’t buy sweets, chips and other tempting foods that can sidetrack me from my goals. My fave snacks are non-sugar dried fruits and nuts, steamed shrimp, soft boiled eggs and popcorn. If I can’t purchase fresh vegetables, I buy frozen because they contain less salt content. I drink tea and not as much coffee as I used to. I am then able to avoid cream and sugar.

Words of advice: LEAVE THE SCALE ALONE! The scale is not the only way to measure progress. Measure your fat percentage as well as inches and “before and after” photos. Find an item of clothing that can help you gauge your progress. DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS! All of us are different and our paths will be different as well. Compare yourself to your old self, bad habits and all and you will feel encouraged.

My goals: I plan to be at my ideal body by April 2015. I started in November. That gives me six generous months to get to my goal. I see progress and I will keep going. I hope to once again have my 25 inch waist!