![Exercise[1]](http://www.thecheapchick.com/images/6a00e553a6d94a88340115711ec08d970c-800wi.jpg "Exercise[1]")
Let it be said, I love alliteration. So, so much.
Tip Of The Day: I’m not a trainer (although my buddy Trayner is), and I’m not a dietician. But I HAVE been exercising and studying up on what to/not to eat since I was a wee Chicklette. Here are a few thrifty healthy living tips I’m living and loving this summer.
Tip Of The Weekend: Sleep. It’s free, you can do it anywhere, and it’s the only thing on my mind lately. Especially since I’ve been going to bed at midnight and waking up at 5:30 AM for the last 4 weeks. If I don’t get a full 8 hours of uninterrupted snoozing soon, I may go postal.
And the legal fees for shooting up the joint? Not cheap, my friends.
Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal: If you’ve read my blog over the last few years (and if you have, bless you), you know the only thing that I’m obsessed with focused on as much as being frugal? Is being fit.
Oh, and hot guys. Let’s never underestimate my love for good-looking men without shirts.
Back to fitness – as I get older (I’m 36, in case you were curious), I need to pay more attention to what I eat and how much I exercise, lest my ass grows so big as to need its own zip code. Plus, the better I eat and exercise, the better I feel both physically AND mentally.
Last January, I finally implemented the exercise tip every fitness magazine/trainer/ guru advocates – I have a reliable work-out partner. One who doesn’t cancel (ever, even when I reeeeeaaaaally want her to) and has a similar level of fitness as mine.
Our favorite thing to do is meet at 7 AM and power-walk 5 miles around Lake Pleasant in North Oaks. Walking is a dirt cheap form of exercise. All you need are good walking shoes – available for less at Target, Walmart, Marshalls and DSW – and a place to walk. Good weather helps, too, but Tiff and I will walk (usually) in rain or shine or humidity or freakishly cold weather.
Granted, in order to walk around in North Oaks, one of us has to actually LIVE there – which is not cheap at all. Fortunately, Tiff made the sacrifice and moved in to this over-priced neighborhood a year ago (and thank you, Tiff!). However, you can walk anywhere, just as long as the path is safe, the distance you go matches your fitness abilities, and you really push yourself. Having an accountability partner helps, too. And friends, for the most part, are FREE.
The other thing I’ve been doing this summer are these killer ab exercises Trayner taught me. Here’s how they work:
1. Grab a light-weight kettle ball or your children’s kickball.
2. Sit down on a bench, with your booty on the edge and your legs in front of you.
3. Your knees should be at a 105% angle (not 90%, you want them extended a bit further forward for added difficulty), and your feet on the floor.
4. Holding the ball in front of you, with your elbows at 90% angles so the ball is right in front of your tummy, lean back as far as is comfortable.
5. Make sure your abs are contracted. In other words, “pull your belly-button to your spine,” as Trayner says.
6. Twist from your stomach, so that your right elbow dips below the bench.
7. Twist the other direction, so that your left elbow dips below the bench.
8. Repeat 11 more times on either side. This is one set. Now do 2 more sets. Then cry, because these really hurt when you first start doing them.
As for the food side of healthy living, I’ve been doing…okay. Between seeing my family for 3 weekends in a row, a major holiday, and an illness prior to both, my habits were not good for June and the beginning of July. And trust me, I’ve been feeling it, both in how my clothes fit, and how my innards have been working. They’ve been, oh, how should I put it? Slow. Sluggish. Not moving the stuff to where it needs to go – like my toilet, if you catch my drift.
In order to address this issue – and use up the rest of a carton of Fat Free Vanilla Soy Milk – I came up with my inexpensive, clean your innards, get some nutrients so at least you did one good for your body that morning, smoothie. Best of all, you don’t need a blender or food processor to make one. Plus, it tastes good – like an Orange Julius or Dreamsicle.
Dreamy Innard Equalizer With Vitamins B & C, Plus Protein, Smoothie:
1 cup of Fat Free Vanilla Soy Milk
1 heaping tablespoon of orange-flavored Metamucil
1 packet of Super Orange Emergen-C
Pour ingredients into a reusable water bottle. Add 4 ice cubes and seal up. Shake vigorously until all the stuff is mixed together. Drink. And in about 5 hours, let nature take its course. Total calories? About 140.
I like to have this for breakfast with either a piece of fruit or some form of low-fat protein, or both. Like some strawberries (which have been on sale at Cub Foods all summer) and fat-free cottage cheese (I prefer Cub’s store brand – cheap and tasty).
One last tip? If you’ve really fallen off the wagon, eating-wise, try stocking up on frozen diet entrees – when they’re on sale, of course. You’ll need about 14, enough for lunch and dinner for a week. Pair them with fruit or an additional veggie (baby carrots are dead easy to prep and CHEAP) for a complete meal. Doing this, you’ll be able to gage exactly what your calorie count is for a week, which will help you better understand how much or how little you need to eat on a daily basis.
Caveat – do NOT do the diet entrée thing for longer than a week. These meals tend to have a lot of sodium, which can be bad for you. And only do this with they’re on sale – frozen entrees can be ridiculously expense otherwise.
Now let’s hear from the group – how are you staying in shape this summer?
Frugal Fitness Finds For Fabulous Folks
Let it be said, I love alliteration. So, so much.
Tip Of The Day: I’m not a trainer (although my buddy Trayner is), and I’m not a dietician. But I HAVE been exercising and studying up on what to/not to eat since I was a wee Chicklette. Here are a few thrifty healthy living tips I’m living and loving this summer.
Tip Of The Weekend: Sleep. It’s free, you can do it anywhere, and it’s the only thing on my mind lately. Especially since I’ve been going to bed at midnight and waking up at 5:30 AM for the last 4 weeks. If I don’t get a full 8 hours of uninterrupted snoozing soon, I may go postal.
And the legal fees for shooting up the joint? Not cheap, my friends.
Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal: If you’ve read my blog over the last few years (and if you have, bless you), you know the only thing that I’m
obsessed withfocused on as much as being frugal? Is being fit.Oh, and hot guys. Let’s never underestimate my love for good-looking men without shirts.
Back to fitness – as I get older (I’m 36, in case you were curious), I need to pay more attention to what I eat and how much I exercise, lest my ass grows so big as to need its own zip code. Plus, the better I eat and exercise, the better I feel both physically AND mentally.
Last January, I finally implemented the exercise tip every fitness magazine/trainer/ guru advocates – I have a reliable work-out partner. One who doesn’t cancel (ever, even when I reeeeeaaaaally want her to) and has a similar level of fitness as mine.
Our favorite thing to do is meet at 7 AM and power-walk 5 miles around Lake Pleasant in North Oaks. Walking is a dirt cheap form of exercise. All you need are good walking shoes – available for less at Target, Walmart, Marshalls and DSW – and a place to walk. Good weather helps, too, but Tiff and I will walk (usually) in rain or shine or humidity or freakishly cold weather.
Granted, in order to walk around in North Oaks, one of us has to actually LIVE there – which is not cheap at all. Fortunately, Tiff made the sacrifice and moved in to this over-priced neighborhood a year ago (and thank you, Tiff!). However, you can walk anywhere, just as long as the path is safe, the distance you go matches your fitness abilities, and you really push yourself. Having an accountability partner helps, too. And friends, for the most part, are FREE.
The other thing I’ve been doing this summer are these killer ab exercises Trayner taught me. Here’s how they work:
1. Grab a light-weight kettle ball or your children’s kickball.
2. Sit down on a bench, with your booty on the edge and your legs in front of you.
3. Your knees should be at a 105% angle (not 90%, you want them extended a bit further forward for added difficulty), and your feet on the floor.
4. Holding the ball in front of you, with your elbows at 90% angles so the ball is right in front of your tummy, lean back as far as is comfortable.
5. Make sure your abs are contracted. In other words, “pull your belly-button to your spine,” as Trayner says.
6. Twist from your stomach, so that your right elbow dips below the bench.
7. Twist the other direction, so that your left elbow dips below the bench.
8. Repeat 11 more times on either side. This is one set. Now do 2 more sets. Then cry, because these really hurt when you first start doing them.
As for the food side of healthy living, I’ve been doing…okay. Between seeing my family for 3 weekends in a row, a major holiday, and an illness prior to both, my habits were not good for June and the beginning of July. And trust me, I’ve been feeling it, both in how my clothes fit, and how my innards have been working. They’ve been, oh, how should I put it? Slow. Sluggish. Not moving the stuff to where it needs to go – like my toilet, if you catch my drift.
In order to address this issue – and use up the rest of a carton of Fat Free Vanilla Soy Milk – I came up with my inexpensive, clean your innards, get some nutrients so at least you did one good for your body that morning, smoothie. Best of all, you don’t need a blender or food processor to make one. Plus, it tastes good – like an Orange Julius or Dreamsicle.
Dreamy Innard Equalizer With Vitamins B & C, Plus Protein, Smoothie:
1 cup of Fat Free Vanilla Soy Milk
1 heaping tablespoon of orange-flavored Metamucil
1 packet of Super Orange Emergen-C
Pour ingredients into a reusable water bottle. Add 4 ice cubes and seal up. Shake vigorously until all the stuff is mixed together. Drink. And in about 5 hours, let nature take its course. Total calories? About 140.
I like to have this for breakfast with either a piece of fruit or some form of low-fat protein, or both. Like some strawberries (which have been on sale at Cub Foods all summer) and fat-free cottage cheese (I prefer Cub’s store brand – cheap and tasty).
One last tip? If you’ve really fallen off the wagon, eating-wise, try stocking up on frozen diet entrees – when they’re on sale, of course. You’ll need about 14, enough for lunch and dinner for a week. Pair them with fruit or an additional veggie (baby carrots are dead easy to prep and CHEAP) for a complete meal. Doing this, you’ll be able to gage exactly what your calorie count is for a week, which will help you better understand how much or how little you need to eat on a daily basis.
Caveat – do NOT do the diet entrée thing for longer than a week. These meals tend to have a lot of sodium, which can be bad for you. And only do this with they’re on sale – frozen entrees can be ridiculously expense otherwise.
Now let’s hear from the group – how are you staying in shape this summer?