This is a throwback picture of when I was dog sitting Lugnut, a english bulldog puppy for my friends! I was in workout clothes and Lugnut is to adorable for words so I decided it would be a great picture to use for this post!
As we get older the organized sports we participated in high school or college are no longer a designated part of our day. There is no head coach telling us practice is at a specified time; no one to hold us accountable to go workout. When I finished my swimming career at the end of my junior year of college I gained about 20 pounds. I was so used to working out and never watching what I ate, but I was no longer burning the calories of a swimmer. At the time I didn’t know any other workouts other than swimming. I knew I needed to find a workout regimen that would help me maintain a healthy lifestyle and be sustainable for me in the long run.
I am not one of those people who enjoys going to the gym and spending hours there (if you are, that’s awesome!). I like doing HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts that are between 20-40 minutes. I love these workouts because they are relatively short, and it mixes body weight excersises like squats, push-ups, bridges, and lunges with cardio in-between. These workouts keep me engaged the entire time because I am consistently rotating my excersises. The best part about these workouts is you can do them in your garage or living room and don’t have to travel to a gym (this is also the worst part about HIIT workouts because I don’t have any excuse to not work-out). After finding out about these exercises I was eventually able to get back to a healthier weight for myself. If you google HIIT workouts for women there are TONS of options for you to choose from and they range from beginner to experienced!
The Army makes working out pretty easy since it is built into my work day (my unit works out every morning Monday through Friday). That is when I do my HIIT workouts. I usually take the weekends off or occasionally go to a hot yoga session, which is my new found workout obsession (I always feel really relaxed at the end of the session!). I am also a vegetarian (more about how I got to be a vegetarian later!) and so I try and eat healthy during the week days and on the weekends I let myself eat what I want.
I love this workout regimen because I can adjust the HITT workouts depending on how my body is feeling that day. What do you do to stay active and healthy?! I would love to hear from you in the comments below!
Thanks so much for reading!