Hi friends!  It’s Friday-EVE!  Wahoo!

Ahhh I feel so relaxed at the moment.  I just got done with an hour-long yoga session and let me tell you … I have MISSED yoga.  (Gosh, a year ago I don’t think those words would have ever crossed my lips.)  I haven’t had a yoga sesh since before we left on vacation because when we got back we started into the Insanity routine (that I was lucky enough to borrow from a friend).  It’s definitely fun and different, and I sweat more doing this than I do in 100-degree Bikram studio.  However, 2 weeks in and I’m already a little bored.  Although you are changing DVDs daily, there is so much of each day’s routine that is just like the previous day, and the day before that, and the day before that, so all of a sudden I find myself not looking forward to the workouts.

So like everything else in my ‘fitness’ life, it will be mixed in when I need a good sweaty cardio/plyo routine or want to change things up. But it will no longer be a 6-day Insanity week.

This is one of the biggest reasons I think personal trainers can be a HUGE benefit (OK yes being a trainer, you may think I’m a bit biased ;) ) Because most of them will listen to your likes and dislikes.  I strive to find out what my clients really enjoy and incorporate it.  If you tell your trainer there are certain exercises you REALLY don’t like to do, they should adjust the program.  Because otherwise you may start to DREAD the session.  And that’s the fastest way to see your client list dropping like the stock market of 5-6-10!

This is also why you see on the blog that I’m always reading new fitness/nutrition books and trying new DVD workout programs.  Gotta keep it fresh for both MY workouts and my CLIENTS’ workouts!  I don’t like to be bored with exercise.  And I never give clients an exercise that I haven’t done myself so I am always trying my programs first, as I design them.  I want to know how much weight feels right, how sore it might make me afterward, if anything feels “off’ about a new movement.

One thing that I find myself NOT bored with still, after all this time is TABATA!!!  So quick, so intense, and then it’s done.  LOVE THAT!  Monday I did the following routine using my Tabata timer:

  • Straight-Arm Planks
  • Seated Row
  • Overhead Shoulder Presses (standing on one leg for increased balance work, alternate legs each set)
  • Tricep Kickback + Straight Arm Tricep Pulses
  • DB Bicep Curls
  • Boat Pose for Abs

I felt it for the 2 days following.  I really don’t think I will ever get bored with this style of training. It speaks to my short attention span. :D

On the food front, beets have also been speaking to me this week.  I roasted three of them on Sunday and have been adding them to a lot of my salads.  If you missed it, I talked about my salmon, beet and goat cheese salad earlier in the week.  This time I made a “deconstructed” salad with beets along one side, sauteed kale and a bit of herbed goat cheese in the middle and sliced pears on the other.  This was another flavor winner.  The sweetness of the pear and beets meshed perfectly with the lightly salted kale and goat cheese.

Beets are an amazing veggie health-wise.  Beets are very high in folate, manganese, potassium and rich in compounds that are found to help reduce inflammation, fight heart disease, and colon cancer.  While higher in natural sugars than other vegetables, they are still only 74 calories per cup, plus very high in fiber.

During a kitchen session with a client this week, she asked if I put beets in my smoothies.  I haven’t tried that yet.  But I’m considering it.  So I’ll keep you posted.  :)

Drop a comment on any one of the topics above!  Got any favorite ways to eat BEETS? Have you had a personal trainer that made you do exercises you hated?  Any workouts that you’ve been CRAVING lately, but just haven’t gotten to?

Have a TERRIFIC Thursday friends!

– Shari B. =)

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