How To: Have a Good Workout

Hey guys! Today I'm going to tell you how I avoid those days of coming home from the gym and feeling as if you've accomplished absolutely nothing.

I'm sorry I haven't posted any DIY's for a few weeks but trust me. They're coming! I've been really busy lately so unfortunately I haven't had time to do anything very crafty. But hopefully this post will help some people start to enjoy working out. Let's get started! :)

Motivation: 
So I know getting motivated to go for a workout is half the battle. So I'll tell you some tricks that I use on days that I'm feeling particularly unmotivated.

Make a really good pre-workout snack! If I make myself a snack that has lots of protein like celery with peanut butter or some almonds I find that it makes me more motivated. Since I just ate something full of protein to fuel my workout I can't use the "I'm too tired" or "I don't have enough energy" excuse.

Make a new playlist! Making a new workout playlist full of up-beat songs always gets me excited to go and workout. Add any type of music you want. As long as it  gets you motivated to go and listen to it for at least an hour; it did it's job!

Put you workout clothes on! On days that I'm feeling extremely unmotivated as soon as I get the idea of going to the gym in my head I go and put on my workout clothes before my brain has a chance to figure out what's happening. I know this sounds silly but it really works. If you're already dressed you really can't make up any more excuses to stay at home.

Benefits of working out! :)

Planning:
Once you've made your way down to the gym having a pre-planned workout is crucial in coming home feeling accomplished. But don't worry, the plans can be flexible! My plans are basically just a rough outline for me to follow when I get to the gym.

How to Plan! First I decide what part of my body I want to work that day i.e. is it a leg day, ab day, arm day, etc. Once you have that decided choose some workouts that are challenging and enjoyable.

If you don't know any exercises you want to do google some! When I plan the exercises that I will be doing I usually have an amount that I have to do i.e. 4 sets of 25 reps. But I allow myself to add more. Choose an amount of reps that will give you a good workout but not so many that you hurt yourself. Don't forget to throw in some cardio either. I find a great way to get in cardio is by either running for a half hour before my workout or after. I've heard many people say they like to run after they've  finished working out; but I prefer to use running as a warm-up and do it before.

Don't forget to stretch before and after you workout. If you don't; you'll probably regret it the next day. And that's it! Easy, huh?

I hope some people found this post helpful! :) If you can share my blog on any social media that you use that would be amazing! And don't forget to comment if you have any suggestions for future posts - they don't have to be DIY's. As you can see, I post about basically anything. :)

P.S. I'm hoping to have a really cool upcycled shorts post next week so stay tuned ;)


*All of the pictures on today's post are from google*

By the way guys, my friend and I made a YouTube channel that we're going to post videos on every Sunday. Here's our introduction video if you want to watch it!!! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unriXTxyYGI

DIY: Vegetarian Casserole

Hey guys! Today I figured that I would do a cooking post since 50% of the votes from last week's poll was for cooking/baking posts. What I am going to be making is a vegetarian casserole that I modified from this recipe. Lets get started!

Prep Time: 20 minutes Baking Time: 75-85 minutes Total Time: 95-105 minutes
(I know that's a lot of time but it's just soooo good!)

My casserole with cheese on part of it.
Did I mention it was delicious?!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups vegetable broth 
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
• 1 1/2 cups onion diced
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano 
• 4 cups cauliflower diced
• 4 cups broccoli diced
• 2 cups red pepper diced
• 1 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees celsius. Combine vegetable broth, rice, 1 cup of onion, soy sauce, butter, oregano and garlic powder in a 3 qt casserole dish. Put the dish in the oven and cover it; letting it bake for 65-70 minutes or until the rice is tender. 

Step 2:

While the rice base is cooking; cut the cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper and carrots. After the vegetables are cut put 3 tbsps of olive oil into a large frying pan and begin to saute the vegetables until they are tender.

Step 3:

Once the rice is tender spoon the vegetables on top of it. Cover the casserole dish and put it back in the oven to bake for 10 minutes. Now if you would like add cheese to your casserole. You can always just put cheese on some sports and leave some spots without cheese. Voila. You're done!!! Enjoy your casserole.

I hope you guys enjoyed the post and also the casserole! Don't forget to comment if you have any suggestions for future posts. If you like this blog please share it on any social media that you use as it helps me out a lot :-) 

How To: Morning Runs

Hey guys! This is an extra post. Isn't that exciting?! This post is going to be about morning runs just to help anyone who is interested in starting to run in the morning. Maybe it will even help people that are new to running and want to get started. First I'm going to talk about what to eat before a morning run. Lets get started :-)


Short Runs:
Long Runs:

• 4-6 strawberries

• 1/2 banana

• Milk

• Water

• Coconut oil

• Honey

P.S. I am not a professional whatsoever and everything in this post is based solely on my own experience.
I hope you guys enjoyed this and I also hope that it helped someone! Come back Wednesday to see this week's post and don't forget to comment if you have any suggestions for future posts.

For the purpose of this I consider a short run anything under 4 km. Before a short run I will usually eat a banana, half a granola bar and 1-2 glasses of water. I advise eating as soon as you wake up so that you will have some time to digest before heading out for your run. Don't be afraid to eat a bit more than that if you're still hungry! Just listen to your body when deciding how much to eat and you should be fine.
I also advise not considering anything over 4 km a 'short run' ff you only eat a banana and half of a granola bar and run over 4 km you may 'hit the wall' very quickly, and it's not a good idea to run on an empty stomach. 

For the purpose of this I consider a long run 5-6 km. Before one of these runs I usually have a strawberry banana smoothie (the recipe for that will be below), 1-3 glasses of water and depending on how hungry I am I might have half of a granola bar as well. I haven't ran anything over 6 km after having this smoothie and I wouldn't advise anyone to try it. I am usually starting to feel pretty hungry and tired at the 6 km mark compared to when I run 6 km after already eating throughout the day.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie:
Ingredients:

Add 4 strawberries to the blender with half of a banana. Then add 1-2 tsps (or to taste) of coconut oil and honey.

The base is milk and water. I don't have any measurements for this base because I just eyeball it. The milk to water ratio is probably about 3/4 milk to 1/4 water. I add the water to the base because I find that it makes the smoothie a bit easier and quicker to digest.

 Blend this together and taste it. Add more strawberries and/or banana if needed.  I usually wait 20-30 minutes after having this smoothie before beginning my run.

Warm-up:
For my warm-up I usually just do some walking lunges and then begin my run at a very light jog so that my muscles are warmed and loosened before I am running at my normal pace.

Cool-down:
For my cool down I usually do a light jog/walk combination outside for 1-2 minutes. After that I always do this yoga routine that is designed for runners and it is absolutely amazing!!!

Post-run Breakfast:
After I go for a run in the morning I usually come home and have eggs, toast and fruit with water.

 If I just go for a short run and I'm not too hungry I usually have 1-2 pieces of toast with 1 egg and then some fruit and maybe some yogurt.

If I go for a long run (or even a short run and I'm just hungry) I have 2 pieces of toast, 2 eggs, some fruit and maybe yogurt as well as water.

*Note: When you're running with not much in your stomach (and any other time for that matter) please remember to listen to your body! If you're starting to feel too tired or extremely hungry just turn around. A good run isn't worth pushing yourself harder than you should and possibly hurting yourself.*



P.S.S. If you enjoyed this post or any posts on my blog; sharing it on any social media websites that you use would really help me out a lot. :-)