Not going to lie, this hike was cold. Like it was frickin freezing you guys. Think 35 km/hr winds + 4 degrees celcius, at the highest point on Whistler Mountain. But, alas, we did it. Because sometimes you just need to get out there and kick butt. 

This post is directly related my other post on “just doing it.” Sometimes the weather isn’t great, and you don’t really feel like going out and getting active. But if you suck it up and get out there, chances are you will never regret it. You will also probably feel like a champ. Kind of like I did after we conquered this savage day.(<— get ready for a “how to stay healthy in the fall” post coming your way soon.)

Moral of the story? Get your ass off the couch and get active! It will keep your mind and body feeling great. So… JUST DO IT!

x,

Happy Sunday everyone!! Hope ya’ll are having a great weekend. 

These photos are from a beauuuutiful hike I did the other day in Vancouver. Just wanted to pop in and say a quick hello, because I am busy doing old-people things like laundry today. Like, I am not sure you guys understand how much laundry is going on right now. Girl needs to get it together and start doing laundry on a regular basis. Literally what I do is just keep buying new clothes because I am too lazy/hate doing laundry. Hahah yup. I wish I was kidding. #responsibility #adulthood 

ANYWAYS, I will be over here up to my eyes in laundry. Hope your Sunday is a lot more exciting than mine right now! (Slash give me tips on how I never have to do laundry ever again cuz it sucks lol)

x,

LOOK AT THIS VIEW.

LOOK AT IT. I can’t even. So freaking beautiful.

It wasn’t necessarily the most challenging hike I have done in my life, but HEY. Still counts. The hike up to Cheakamus Lake was about 16km round trip, which sounds impressive but the elevation was not very high so it was easy peasy.

Also I got new hiking boots. I swear to god hikers in Vancouver are so judgey. Try wearing your gym Nike’s on a hike. JUST TRY IT. I dare you. I guarantee some elitist hiker (or whatever you call that breed) will publicly shame you for your inappropriate choice of footwear. This totally happened to me on the last hike I went on to Garibaldi Lake. LOL. Alas, the peer pressure got to me and I went out and got myself the best pair of hiking boots I could find. It feels like I am in some sort of awesome secret club now. Every hiker who I pass gives me a head nod of approval/understanding/RESPECT. Cuz im in the club. And I look legit. And damn straight I give them a nod right back. Because I am IN. 

So I was feeling pretty legit. That was, until I went swimming. HOW COULD I NOT?! Look at the water! After my beautiful and relaxing glacial-water swim (it totally wasn’t relaxing it was fucking freezing) I realized we needed to get going and didn’t want to be hiking for 8km in wet clothing. Soooo I just ended up wearing my sports bra and swim-bottoms for the hike down.

Ya not awkward at all when you pass someone and they are staring at your backside. I like to imagine I looked like a super badass amazon woman who had just fought a black bear or something. Probably was not the case, but I am going to go ahead and continue letting myself think that. (<– Insert a mil crying/laughing emoticons here. I hate that I can’t use emoticons here. The interwebs isn’t letting me live my life!!! Maybe its for the best lol cuz this whole post would just be a range of emoticons, similar to my texting conversations hehe.)

Have any of you guys done any sweet hikes lately? Any good recommendations for me? (Worldwide please!! I am getting a big list of places I want to hike going 🙂 )

x,

What a beautiful day!! This weekend some friends and I hiked up to Garibaldi Lake near Whistler, BC. It was a phenomenal hike and such a great way to spend a Sunday. The hike was 5 hrs total (about 18 km) and definitely hit my list of “most beautiful places” I have ever seen. There really is no comparison to being way up in the mountains at a gorgeous lake! The air is fresher, the trees are greener, and we were all literally squealing with happiness when we got to the top haha. If you guys can’t already tell, I like to spend my free time either skiing down mountains or climbing up them. 🙂

Hiking is a great way to stay fit, because you can do it with friends! Doing something as a group is such a good motivator to get outside. Literally on the morning we were going to do this hike I was in bed all like “uhgggg it’s cloudy, should I even go up?” But I was en-route to meet friends so I had to move my ass out of bed and get going! Group motivation, works every time. Or peer pressure… lol that works too.

Hiking is a relatively (I say relatively cuz the way down can be rough) low-impact activity which is super beneficial for those of you who have bad knees/hips like I do. And the scenery makes the trip SO worth it. I mean come on!! Would you look at that view?! Gahhhhh I can’t even you guys. Full on white-girl “can’t even.” Lol. Okay that’s enough out of me for one day.

Get outside and get moving!! Summer is here!

x,

Another beauty day up the mountain here in Whistler Blackcomb! Just loving all this sun lately :). I am always in such a great mood when it is sunny. Sometimes I really think I should move to California, so I can get sun year round. But the major flaw with that is the lack of mountains to ski on :(. So it looks like it will be Canada for me for a while longer! These photos were taken off the side of a run on 7th Heaven up on Blackcomb, one of my favourite spots to ski for sure.

This week has been crazy busy on my end, I have been prepping lots of awesome stuff for you guys! Today my plan is to just chill out a little bit, and get a good workout in at some point. Hope you are all having a fun week so far! 

x,

… when you REALLY don’t want to. If We are all being honest with ourselves, there are just those days when the last thing on earth you want to do is get some exercise. Yup, the very last thing. When I am in one of those moods (happens more often than I would like to admit) I have a few ways that I motivate myself to get my butt off the couch and do something good for my body.

Without further adieu, here are my Top 10 Ways to Get Yourself to Workout:

1) Go look at Izabel Goulart’s Instagram account. Watch a few of her workout clips, and you will basically jump right up and do your own workout. (She is PHENOMENAL.)

2) Do something fun! Instead of going to the gym, do something a little bit different. For example, swimming, hiking, rollerblading, a Skinny Belle workout.

3) Call a friend. And not the friend who is going to tell you that you guys should order Dominos ASAP and watch Gossip Girl re-runs. Call your most motivated gym friend and do something together! The buddy system is crazy effective.

4) Think of this… the only workout anyone ever regrets is the one that they didn’t do. (<– real talk.)

5) Take a look at that pair of skinny jeans you bought last year a size too small as “motivation jeans.” Go out and get those skinny jeans, girl.

6) Just do an easy workout! If you really are not feeling it, it is always better to do something than nothing at all. I totally change my workout based on how I feel that day. If I have lots of energy, I will do a big workout! If not I do something light and relaxing.

7) Listen to some pump up music! I usually search “girl power” on 8tracks and that gets me all fired up and Beyonce-like. Haha, don’t judge. It works.

8) Plan what you will reward yourself with after your workout! Not with cake, leave the cake alone. Try an episode of your favourite show, or a nice hot bath!

9) Go watch this video of the Under Armour women’s campaign with Gisele. So so motivating. #iwillwhatiwant

10) Appreciate the fact that you have the privilege of a wonderful body that can do amazing things like run, jump, and feel the wind in your hair. Seriously, I am so thankful for my health. Just think, how lucky you are to be able to do these things! We only get one body, so be good to it and treat it well.

 This Top 10 list really does work for me. It is highly rewarding to be able to get yourself to do something that you don’t necessarily want to in that moment. Now I want to know… what is your favourite tip from this list?! Which are you going to use next time you are feeling like sitting on the couch and not getting outside?

x,

SUN!!!! I absolutely cannot get enough of the sun on the mountains. Last weekend skiing was honestly horrendous. Imagine rain at the top of the mountain… and a very grumpy me haha. So this weekend when I went up the mountain to get some runs in, I was more than happy to see how sunny and beautiful and wonderful and majestic and amazing it was up there today. (All those adjectives were needed to describe how great it was. Really.)

I think the rest of Vancouver thought the same thing, because it was so busy!! Really though, I didn’t even care. Our city needs to get some sunshine once and a while and I was happy to be able to enjoy it 🙂

It is kind of weird having my new short hair and going skiing. It isn’t long enough to stick outside of my jacket, so it does this annoying thing where it kind of tickles my neck the whole time? Super important stuff, I know guys. Just needed to share that detail about getting a “lob.” If you ski, it is kind of annoying lol.

Anyways, I after a long day of skiing in the sun, we decided to enjoy the sun for just a bit longer by having some nice cold beers out on the patio up top of Whistler. Could not have asked for a better day!

What do you guys like to do to get outside of the gym? For me skiing is definitely at the top of my list!

x,

Today is so grey and chilly, but I kind of love it to be honest! The weather is so relaxing and calming when it is like this. Don’t get me wrong, I loveeee the sun… but sometimes it is nice to appreciate different kinds weather as well. 🙂

This morning I totally wanted to just cozy up in bed, but somehow I dragged myself up and went for a nice pre-breakfast power walk. There really is nothing like walking by the ocean in the morning… just the best!

Power walking is so so so good for you. I actually can’t get over how great it is for your body, and all the amazing benefits that it has.

Want to know why you should mix power walking into your fitness routine? Well, here’s the skinny:

• Power walking burns fat even FASTER than if you are jogging!!! Whattt??? Yes, you heard me. Burns. More. Fat.
• It is easier on your joints! I don’t know if any of you are prematurely elderly (like myself lol) but when I start to get sore joints from jogging, I switch to speed walking and it always feels much better.
• Stress levels are lowered! Power walking gives you some alone time, where you can redirect your focus away from any nasty stressy things in your life. Everyone needs some “me” time! Including ME! (See what I did there?? hehe)
• Total body workout! Power walking has some exaggerated arm movements and this works out way more of those sexy muscles.

If all these health benefits aren’t enough to get you up and moving in the morning, think about this: How much easier is it to walk than it is to run. You literally don’t even have to pick up your feet! I may or may not have used that thought to motivate me to stop being a sloth and get out of bed this morning. 😛

Sometimes I just trick my mind and tell myself something is WAY easier than it actually is, so that I am not intimidated and just get out and do it. Try it… it is surprisingly effective haha!

Now, how do you power walk?

• “Heel, ball, toe” is the order your should stride in. Do quick steps like these and concentrate on planting your heel at the beginning of each step and propelling yourself through the step.
• Avoid taking super long strides, it is best to keep them quicker/shorter and more controlled.
• Bend your elbows at about 90 degrees, and do an exaggerated arm swing. I always feel so ridiculous when I do this, but whatever… haters gonna hate! 😉 Girl is getting her power walk on.
• Keep your core engaged! Your tummy should be tight and strong while power walking.
• GLUTES!!! Right so tighten those glutes, to make sure your entire core is working.

And go for it! I also love power walking because it is really fun to do with your friends. It is way easier to talk when you are not doing quick jogging to running intervals and just power walking instead. I usually go for 30 – 45 minutes depending on how I feel!

Do you guys ever power walk? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. <3

x,

When it comes to sports, there are not many that I would say I am necessarily really good at. Skiing? That’s my jam. Back in the day, when I was just a young & delicate flower, I was faced with one of life’s many difficult decisions (first world problems.) Should I focus all my efforts on ski racing? Or, diversify my athletic portfolio and learn to do some other things. Naturally, I chose to focus all my attention on skiing. Because how could I not… it’s so awesome! Just to START bragging about how awesome this sport is… think about the travelling, dangerous high speeds, thrill of the competition, and the views. Ohhhh those gorg mountain views. Skiing is something you can do for your entire life, and it is such a great way to stay fit.

Anyways, the point of this post is to talk about maintaining your fitness by doing the things that you love. The gym is great for staying fit year round, but sometimes it can be nice to skip the gym and get yourself outside to do something that you love! 

This can literally be anything. Do you like walking? Get outside and walk! Do you like bike riding? Brush the dust off your bike and take it for a spin! It makes exercise so much more fun if you are just doing something you love. For me that is skiing, and oh sweet baby jesus do I love it. The best part? I am getting in a killer workout and not even thinking about it! 

So… tell me! What are your favourite ways to get active outside the gym?!

x,

Doing cardio is actually my favourite way to get my fitness in. I just love the feeling of running and find that it makes me physically feel the healthiest. For me, I do some of my best brainstorming or problem solving while running. It is a nice time where you can think and just focus on your strides. Anyone with me on this one?!

For all of my workouts I have posted so far (Sexy Booty and Legs Workout and the 12-Minute Total Body Workout) I do interval cardio training as my warm up. Sometimes I will do a longer cardio session (45 minutes usually) as my whole workout, but it depends on how I am feeling that day!

So… What is interval training you ask?? Basically it is alternating between period of high intensity cardio to periods of low intensity cardio multiple times during a workout.

My routine (which is just what works best for me) is to warm up power walking for about 10 minutes, and then do 3 minutes jogging, and two minutes power walking. Repeating the 3 and 2 pattern as many times as I feel like! Most of the time I will do these intervals for 30 – 35 minutes total. 

What are the benefits of interval training? Well… Here’s the skinny!

• You will burn more calories over a short period of time in comparison to steady rate cardio.
• Improved your cardiovascular fitness (AKA a healthier heart!)
• I find it makes a workout more interesting… and the time passes faster haha! 😛
• Interval training burns more fat than just traditional cardio.

And there you have it! So glad I got to get a bit of a run in and share with you my favorite interval routine. Do any of you do intervals in your workouts?!

x,