Country Jog

Amish Farms

This morning, I took a jog in the country side. We're up at my in-laws' lake house in Northern Indiana. They live in Amish country. It's really slow paced and relaxed here. As I shared before, I restarted my fitness routine in June. I've been back to spin classes at the gym and working out about 4-5 days a week. I feel really good and not feeling sore after exercising.

A few weeks ago when we were at the lake, I ran about 45 minutes. Today, I set out for a goal for an hour. I use my heart monitor and watch my heart rate closely. Instead of speed or distance, I look at my heart rate and listen to my body. In spin classes, I do lots of interval training and have already seen my aerobic endurance improve. My lungs feel clear when I exercise and I'm not seeing any asthma issues.

Today, I ran on a straight, dirt road along the Amish farms. I ran for an hour and turned around at the 30 minute mark. The sun wasn't very direct in the first half, but it was starting to get really hot towards the end. 

I enjoyed the quiet scenery, despite the farm smells. I didn't see any cars, just an Amish man crossing the road to get his mail. I passed two horses and one blinked at me sweetly to I took their picture.

Beautiful horses

At the halfway point where I turned around, I saw a sign in the corn field that said no spray organic. That made me happy!

Organic corn

When I got back to the house, I felt good. But then I looked in the mirror and I was bright red from the heat! I drank a lot of water to cool off.

I ran close to 4 miles in an hour and burned 735 calories. I don't run for distance. I just stay in tuned with my body and how I feel. I religiously watch my heart monitor to take a break if it starts getting too high. I will do a recovery period and let my heart rate come down about 20 beats per minute after walking a minute or so. It was nice to be alone away from the family to decompress.

Mid-Summer Survival Tips

It's already the middle of July and summer is in full swing. Summer is one of the most social times of the year and you might find yourself running around for vacations, parties, BBQs, family reunions, and gardening. Based on my experience with the move from Chicago to Indianapolis, I've been logging many miles going back and forth. This weekend we have a family reunion in Michigan and we'll be on the road 3-hours each way. On Friday night, I'll pack dinner for us that's easy to eat on the road (sandwiches, rollups, with carrots or apple slices).

With road trips, you can plan ahead with healthy snacks so you're not forced to eat fast food as your only option. I pack granola bars, dried apricots, and water. Check out more tips on snacks you can keep in your bag.

All this fun also means that you'll be out be out in the sunshine enjoying the beautiful summer weather. This picture is from Aaron's parent's lake house before they built their year around house. We spend a lot of time at the lake house, especially in the summer. With the move to Indy, we're only 2 1/2 hours from the lake house so it's an easy drive for the weekend.

Exposing your skin in the sun means that you need to do everything possible to protect your skin, the body's largest organ. The sun over time can give you skin damage effects like premature aging and cancer. On one of my long drives between Chicago/Indy, I heard this Fresh Air podcast with the host Terry Gross interviewing a dermatologist, Darrell Rigel. He gave great tips on sun safety and helpful tips on applying sunscreen. You only have one body in this life so protect your skin! I see WAY too many people walking around with deep, unnatural tans and really it's sun damage! I protect my skin with high quality sun screen that I replace annually. A couple of tips:

• Be practical on sun exposure. The middle of the day (11am -1pm) often is the most intense time of the day. You are more likely to burn in less time during this time of day so that means that you need to reapply sunscreen more often than other times of the day (early morning, late afternoon, for example.
• Wear hats, sunglasses, cover up! I keep a straw hat at the lake house when I'm out in the sun. Covering your shoulders or thighs were your skin might be more sensitive is a smart move in the most intense part of the day.
  

Bump up your water intake and stay hydrated! Drinking more water in the summer heat is smart to help you replenish your body. In the summer heat your body sweats to regulate temperature and stay cool, but that means that you need to replenish your body with more water. You also get water from summer fruits and vegetables in addition to water alone.

With all the summer events and parties, don't forget to plan ahead. If you look at your week ahead, you can plan on nights when you can cook for packable meals that you can eat on hurried weeknights. You can get healthy meals whipped up from the grocery store salad bar/deli or one of my favorites is making versatile taco meat that you can make into taco salad, enchiladas, burritos, or quick tacos. In fact, that's what I'm making tonight - ground chicken tacos.

Have any summer survival tips of your own? Please pass them on!

8-Week Countdown to a Summer Body

It’s April 1 and in the United States, the official kickoff of the summer season is Memorial Day weekend, which this year is May 23-25. There are 8 weeks to prepare to unveil your summer body. This picture is from my favorite place in the summer, Lake Oliver, where my in-laws live. In Chicago, we have long winters and that means wearing lots of layers! Shedding the winter layers is gradual, as the weather improves, but wearing a swimsuit can be scary when you're covered up for most of the year!

This year, I’m trying something new – realistic goals and positive thinking, instead of negative-reinforced thinking. After all, swimsuits come in all sizes and styles! Who says you have to wear a teeny bikini to feel good about yourself? Instead of putting pressure and constantly telling yourself "I need to lose 40 pounds to get in a bikini," try to rewire your internal language.

The language we communicate to ourselves either out loud or internally is powerful! Why not activate that power into something positive. Try focusing your language on something positive like "I exercise X times per week" or "Today, I met my goal and ran X miles or X minutes without stopping."

Why not focus on fitness or health goals instead of just pounds on the scale. If you follow the basics - nutrition, hydration, sleep, fitness, and positive attitude, the rest will take care of itself and you will feel confident that you focused on good health and wellness.

Examples of positive, realistic action language that you can adopt to feel confident this summer:

• "My goal is to work out X times per week" - put in the calendar
• "My goal is to increase my aerobic endurance so I can run/bike/walk longer at a more intense pace" - try a heart monitor and use it every time you exercise and ask a professional to help you use it properly for heart rate zone training.
• "I fuel my body with healthy balanced meals and snacks to give me the stamina and energy to work, play, and workout" - notice how your body reacts when you nourish your body with complex carbs, lean high-quality protein, fruits and vegetables and healthy fats.
• "I have a strong, balanced body" - Think about your mix of activities such as aerobic and strength-training activities to balance your body.

Try some of these and make some statements of your own and LIVE it. Who else will, but you!