Circuit style workouts may be my favorite. They’re challenging, super-sweaty and the combination of strength, plyometric and cardio exercises holds my interest and makes the workout fly by.
Today Ryan and I began our workouts with 20 minutes on the elliptical before I went on to tackle this circuit workout:
Reps |
Exercise |
15 |
Squats |
15 |
Reverse flies |
10 |
Burpees |
15 |
Deadlifts |
15 |
Upright rows |
10 |
Burpees |
15 |
Lunges (each leg) |
15 |
Chest press |
10 |
Burpees |
15 |
Bicep curls |
15 |
Tricep extensions |
15 |
Burpees |
60 sec. |
Plank hold |
I repeated the circuit workout again, substituting 35 seconds of jump rope for the burpees. I completed the circuit again after that for a total of three rounds, only I completely eliminated the burpees and jump roping to focus solely on the strength exercises.
Great workout!
In case you’re looking for additional super sweaty circuit workouts, here are some of my favorites:
Breakfast
Ryan and I made a pit stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick up some jelly because we were both missing the added sweetness on our morning egg sandwiches.
The gooey yolk from the dippy egg added an extra punch of flavor.
Moving right along to the nitty gritty of this post!
An Eye Opening Email
You may remember a post I wrote last week on PBF about a study that was conducted that basically concluded that men prefer brunettes and curvy bodies.
I shared the study and asked you guys to weigh in… to share whether you thought the study was valid, ridiculous or if you were angry that a study like this even existed.
The comments were very interesting and many different opinions were shared and a discussion began in the comments section.
The different viewpoints were mostly respectful… though there were a few that were a little pointed about the bodies of “skinny” women. The women who are naturally thin.
Later that evening, I received an email from a blog reader, Sarah, saying that she was really hurt by some of the comments and I felt absolutely awful. Sarah and I emailed back and forth a few times, discussing her feelings. Her email to me was honestly eye opening.
Knowing how upset she was and how upset other naturally thin women may have been by that post and Sarah’s email really made me sit back and think.
As a “curvier” girl (okay, so I only have curves in my butt – not the boobs), I will admit that I am frequently envious of body types like Sarah’s and other naturally lean women. I think lean, petite bodies are beautiful. I know this sounds awful, but I think that maybe because the body types of these women are looked upon as “enviable” by SO many women, we don’t think these women have insecurities about being thin or small… which is TOTALLY wrong.
I thank Sarah for shedding light on the fact that every woman – no matter WHAT shape or size – can feel insecure at times.
Bottom line: We’re all different, we’re all beautiful and there’s no reason to say degrading things about ANYONE’S shape.
I asked Sarah to share more about her experience as a naturally thin woman to shed some light on the comments and judgments that these women receive regularly. I found her story interesting and thought provoking and thought you guys might as well!
Sarah’s Story
Hello PBF Readers!
My name is Sarah and I’ve been reading Julie’s blog for a while now. I read whenever I can because I think her blog is a positive outlet for “healthy” discussions about “healthy” things, and because her easy crockpot chicken recipe changed my life (or at least my week day cooking strategies). Which is why I was surprised to leave feeling offended and turned-off after reading a post the other day. The post I am referring to is here.
It wasn’t the post itself that I found offensive, but some of the comments in the discussion. More specifically, some of these comments referred to thin women as scrawny, boyish, and not sexy and suggested that they “go eat a hamburger.”
Let me preface this by saying that I am skinny. I am a size 00, I still wear jeans that I’ve had since high school, and I fly away when the wind blows hard. Kidding…kind of. In reality, I am a healthy young woman who strives to live a balanced lifestyle. I lift weights 3-4x per week, do a moderate amount of cardio, and balance my carnivorous appetite with fruits and veggies every day. But my whole life, I’ve been made fun of because of my weight.
The teasing started at a young age, innocently enough with my family. My aunt would poke at my ribs, and my grandpa would ask me if I had to dance around in the shower to get wet. I would laugh it off, but deep down, it always bothered me. The teasing got malicious, however, when I got to middle school. Kids at school, both boys and girls, were so cruel to me, making fun of me to my face about my skinny legs, my small chest, and everything else about my body. I remember one boy actually made up a song about me that he called the anorexia song, and he would sing it when I walked into the classroom. It was very hard on me, and I would often cry myself to sleep at night. Although most of the teasing subsided once I got to high school, this treatment caused some deep self-esteem issues that took me many years to overcome.
To this day, I still get comments, mostly from my family, like “you’re so skinny” or “you need to eat more.” The fact is, I often eat more that my 6 foot, four inch 220 pound fiancé! The most frustrating part is that I know I am perfectly healthy, but I feel the need to constantly defend myself. As I mentioned in my original comment, the problem lies in that there is a negative stigma attached to insulting a woman about being overweight, but people think it’s socially acceptable to insult skinny women about their bodies. And to be honest, I really don’t understand why. I would never, in a million years, ever, insult a woman about being overweight. So why do people feel that it’s OK to tell me my booty is small or give me a dirty look when I turn down a piece of cake? Don’t tell me to go eat a hamburger; I’ll eat whatever I darn well please, thank you very much!
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