Unplug to Recharge Challenge: Cardio

Tags

cardio, exercise, fitness, health, outdoors, sports, wellness, winter

Winterize Your Workout
During the frigid winter months, most of our exercise takes place indoors. I wanted to force myself outside more so I scheduled Sundays as outdoor cardio day and Thursdays as brisk walk day. Tuesdays can be either indoor or outdoor cardio. Extreme temperatures, wind chills, icy roads, and lack of daylight all factor in, so be flexible! Cold air triggers my asthma. If I know there is a mild day in the forecast, I’ll swap a yoga day to be outside. Of course, if I’m pushing the snowblower through 8 inches of snow, I might just count that as my outdoor cardio for the week!

Cardio – Winter Workout Tips

Outdoor Cardio in the Winter:
Shovel Snow
Sledding
Cross-Country Skiing
Play in the Snow
Walk/Jog/Run
Bike
Snowshoeing
Ice Skating
Make a Snowman, Igloo, and Snow Angels

Before you workout outdoors in winter, make sure you are only doing outdoor cardio during the warmest part of the day. Before you get dressed, protect yourself by applying a heavy moisturizer to all of your skin with SPF on your face and use lip balm. Wear proper winter workout apparel (think warm and dry). Don’t forget to protect your ears, nose, and fingers! Do your warm-up indoors. Keep yourself hydrated. After your workout session, immediately remove sweaty layers and shower. Drink hot tea or broth. 

Indoor Cardio:
When confined inside, the key is to mix up the workouts… 
Cardio DVDs, Insanity, P90X, T25
Just Dance Games or Zumba Workouts on the Wii
Stationary bike
Elliptical
Treadmill
Run up & down the stairs

What other tips do you have for outdoor winter cardio?

XOXO,
Young Wifey

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Worst. Winter. Weather. Ever.

Tags

brr, snow, subzero, weather, winter

Sub.zero.temps. Snow. Wind. Snow. Brrr.

As you can tell by the lack of posts in January and February, this winter has been really difficult. In my part of Pennsylvania, February is now the snowiest winter on record. It is definitely not fun, trying to shovel our long driveway without the help of a snowblower. Luckily, my mother-in-law lent us hers (since they have a plow). Most mornings started with subzero temps or subzero windchill temps.

So Much Snow!!!

-10°F and snow!

-1°F, but feels like -20°F!!!

-6°F temps, with -19°F windchill

-8°F at 8am

Two hour delays, early dismissals, and snow-days have become the norm. There’s no time for crafting or blogging about recipes when your free-time is devoured by snow removal and feeding the coal stove…

Yet, the weeping willows show a tinge of yellow, and the bluebirds have returned. The 18″ of snow originally forecasted for today and tomorrow has now been downgraded to >8″.

Bluebirds Return

As March comes in like a lion, let’s hope it really does go out like a lamb.

What has your winter weather been like?

Groundhog Day 2012

Tags

daffodils, February, groundhog, groundhog day, prediction, prognostication, Spring, tradition, weather, winter

Groundhog Day… (readers outside of North America, read here) I love the possibility of early Spring. Being a Pennsylvania resident, it’s a big deal, after all it’s our groundhog that is the infamous one.

However, I never understood the logical behind the prognostication. Seeing your shadow should signal that it’s sunny and thus have an early Spring, not 6 more weeks of winter. Andhow trustworthy is his prediction anyway? Two weeks ago he was gallivanting at the PA farm show, not hibernating. hmm…

Do You See What I See?

Regardless of his prediction, this week I spotted my daffodil popping up through the soil. Usually this time of year it’s my crocuses.

Hey Punxsutawney Phil, BRING IT ON!

Fifth Day of Christmas – Melted Frosty Ornament

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12 Days of Christmas, 5th day of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas cheer, Christmas decor, Christmas gift, Christmas Ornament, Christmas party, Christmas snow, Christmas tree, craft, custom ornament, easy craft, fifth day of Christmas, funny ornament, gift giving, gift ideas, handmade ornament, Holiday, holiday spirit, homemade ornament, kid craft, melted frosty, melted snowman, Ornament, party favor, personalized gifts, quick craft, snowman, snowman ornament, twelve days of Christmas, whimsical ornament, winter, winter craft, XMas, XMas ornament, XMas party

On the fifth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Melted Frosty Ornament, Crocheted Fan Bookmarks, Crocheted Snowflake Ornaments, Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…

Today’s gift idea is a whimsical ornament surely to delight children and adults the same. This Melted Frosty Ornament is quick and simple to make. This is a great craft for older kids, supervised with the glue gun of course.

Melted Frosty Ornament

How to:
Heat up glue gun and set aside. Using black fleece or felt, cut small top hat. Cut small piece of ribbon and glue across hat. Cut a 6″ piece of silver yarn and knot ends together, trim excess. Cut a small triangle from the orange felt and set aside. Place foil or wax paper on cutting board, baking tray or rotary mat. Place silver loop on the foil, knot face down. Take glue gun and drizzle glue on top of the knot and downward to create a dripping face. Quickly press felt hat into place, add carrot nose, place two bead for the eyes and begin to arrange the remaining beads for the mouth. Try to keep the number of bead for the mouth odd, 5 or 7 looks better than 6. Allow glue to cool completely. Tear Frosty off of foil and make sure edges that are stuck to the ornament are smoothed out.

Customize your Frosty :
Make your Frosty smile or make your Frosty frown. Use small foil holly leaves and three red beads for holly berries added on top of the satin ribbon. For a shimmery Frosty, sprinkle a bit of glitter dust over the wet glue. Cut out a small pipe and glue to the mouth.  Have fun with it!

Approx. Cost:
1 square of black fleece = 50¢, 1 square of orange fleece = 50¢, hot glue sticks $2 a bag, small beads = $2 a tube, 1 sheet of tin foil 25¢, small skein of silver yarn = $2  Melted Frosty Ornament = under 30¢ each

Once again this ornament makes a great party favor for any holiday party, attach the to gifts in place of a box or give them out to students before break.

2009′s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudge, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles, gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudge recipe…

Chasing Away Winter Blues

Tags

cabin fever, Seasonal Affective Disorder, winter, winter blues

I’m sick of the cold… I hate the short dark days… and the ice in my yard thaws just in time for more snow! I’m miss my short sleeve dresses and my cute strappy heels. Most of all I miss the sun making my freckles come and play.

Winter Blues, Seasonal Affective Disorder or Cabin Fever
What ever you call it, winter blues, Seasonal Affective Disorder or Cabin Fever, when winter starts to become unbearable, there are a few things that I like to do.

These are the primary things I do to chase away the winter…

1) Slather on coconut or lime scented lotions and light coconut or lime scented candles. This tricks my sense of smell to believe it’s summer.

2) Play reggae and Caribbean music and dance around for 10 minutes. My sense of sound is engaged and it gets me moving.

3) Use a light box (finally ordered my own) or wear yellow tinted glasses a little each day.

4) Make sure you take your vitamins, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc…

These are some of the secondary things I do to chase away the blues…

1) Slather on a self-tanner such as Jergen’s Natural Glow. When I feel like I look healthy, I feel better.

2) Grill up some chicken and veggies on the grill.

3) Turn up the heat in the house (just one day, when Hubster is away) and run around in my tank top and shorts!

4) Have a luau or “Spring Break” party in winter. Serve summer foods & drinks, play summer games, listen to summer music. Summer clothing a must, swimsuit optional. The more friends you invite into your house, the warmer it’ll get!

5) Purchase a large tropical plant for your living room.

New Tradition

Every summer while away on vacation, purchase several things to stash away for winter. While at Chincoteague Island this past summer, I purchased four cans of crab soup (made local) to do a winter taste testing.