staying in.

it is cold outside these days. as in.. in the teens. and i am sure we will be seeing single digits overnight. once i get home from work, it is really hard to leave the house and go anywhere.. especially the gym. i have made myself brave the frigid temperatures the past two days. i made it to the gym both monday and tuesday and had some really stellar sessions.

today, however, i stayed in my warm house and let jackie kick my butt.

i picked this DVD up from costco for a mere $7.99 on sunday. to me, that is so cheap for a workout DVD. if you think about it, you will probably pay more than that to go to a specialty gym class. and this gym class was a private, one-on-one session in the comfort of my own home.

i thought about pulling a melissa and watching the DVD first to see what it was all about, but i had the feeling that if i watched it first, i probably would just decide to do it another day just because i wouldn’t want to watch it again. so, i bit the bullet and turned my living room into a workout room.

you see, we just got a new TV. i never showed it to you guys because there are still a few finishing touches to be made, but we recently had to mounted on the wall.

the TV is usually tilted toward the couch, which is in the corner of the room.

because of this handy wall mount device, i was able to easily reposition the TV to face an empty spot in the room, which i turned into my workout area.

don’t mind the cheese head on the mantle. it brings the packers good luck, didn’t you know?

it was nice to not even have to move the coffee table. this DVD doesn’t require as much room or jumping around as the insanity DVDs do, so i had plenty of room to complete the workout.

the only equipment needed was a pair of dumbbells. i have a set of 5 pounders.

the DVD is a 30 minute routine that incorporates both strength training and cardiovascular exercise.

there is a brief warmup that gets your body limber and your heart rate up, then jackie jumps right into the exercises. each exercise is done for one minute and each exercise engages more than one muscle group—usually an upper body part and a lower body part.  for example, a curtsy lunge with a side kick while also punching one hand out to the side. another example is the squat tap with biceps curl. she focuses heavily on shoulder work. there is a brief cooldown session at the end.

i typically do weight lifting sessions for 45 minutes to an hour, but i honestly felt like i got a great workout in the 30 minutes. it went by quickly, but at the same time, it was tough. there were modification choices which is helpful to beginners and if you felt it was too easy, you could always up the size of your hand weights.

if you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know i am a huge fan of jackie warner. this was the first DVD of hers that i have actually purchased and tried, and i am REALLY glad i did. it is a great way to get a good workout in the comfort of your own home. plus, at eight bucks, you can’t go wrong.

after sucking down a muscle milk and taking a quick shower, i got to work on dinner. i totally failed at putting my crock pot to work this morning, so plans changed and we decided to have tacos (for him) and taco salad (for me)!

i usually prefer ground turkey for tacos, but marshall prefers ground beef so i have to give him his way everyone in awhile. while browning the meat, i used my handy little clip on spoon holder.

this gadget just clips right onto your pot or pan.

and securely holds your spoon when not in use.

my fabulous sister, marisa, gave me this for christmas. it is incredibly handy! thanks, ree, i love it

within about 15 minutes, dinner was ready. that’s what i love about taco night.. so speedy!

salad greens, black beans, a combo of cheeses, seasoned ground beef, diced tomatoes, homemade guacamole (thanks, marshall!) and a dollup of chobani.

my eyes were bigger than my stomach, because i couldn’t finish this hugh jass salad. i think the muscle milk filled me up a bit prior to eating dinner. i am sure i will be hungry again in a bit and will go back to finish the salad.

welp, i have a jazz game to watch and a couch spot with my name on it.. i don’t plan to venture out of the house the rest of the night. definitely staying in!

i will talk to you guys tomorrow—have a great thursday!

Qs~

1. do you do workout DVDs? which ones are your favorite? the only other workout DVDs i have enjoyed are the insanity DVDs. i tried a few jillian michaels ones and they were not my cup of tea.

2. what is your protein of choice for tacos? edited this to say FISH TACOS.

xo. janetha g.