Nothin's Hotta than Tabata

Christmas is literally 2 days away. That means people will be travelling, last minute shopping and cooking up a storm. Fortunately, I don’t have too much to worry about. I finished all my last-minute stuff last weekend. The only thing I have left is baking. That doesn’t stress me out though. I actually like baking. I find it relaxing. I just loose myself in the process and block out everything else around me. If I’m home alone my dog Jack gets to watch live music videos staring me!  She really enjoys them and sometimes she joins in. Yah…I’m cool.

With all the family obligations and running around it can be difficult to get a work out in. That is, unless you’re a little loopy like me and wake up before the sun on Christmas morning to hit the gym. I need to stop saying stuff like that, I’m not loopy I just enjoy working out! So there! Team no days off! Yeah!

The gym I belong to now is open 24hrs. My previous Gym was closed on Christmas day and every year that would cause frustration and anxiety on my part. I would spend the week prior to the holiday creating an intense cardio workout I could do at home Christmas morning to try and supplement for the time I was losing at the gym. If I might say I’ve gotten pretty darn good at it so I put together a 20 minute Tabata work out to share with you all.  C’Mon, everyone can set aside at least 20 minutes to get your fitness on before indulging in all the goodness that is the holiday, right?!

I like Tabata work outs because they are quick, intense and burn mad calories! You can choose any interval really but I usually stick to the basic format so I don’t get bored. The basic Tabata format consists a group of exercises that lasts 4 minutes. You go as hard as you can for 20 secs and then rest for 10 seconds and continue like this for 4 minutes before switching to the next two exercises. I usually alternate between the exercises in each set but you may find it more enjoyable to do the first two 20 sec intervals with the same exercise and then switch to the second exercise for the last two 20 second intervals during the 4 minute duration. Did I confuse you? Ehhh….if I did just comment or e-mail me at barbellsandboyshorts@gmail.com.

You can find a video of this workout on the blogs Instagram, Instagram.com/barbellsandboyshorts

If you’re anything like me, when you need to fit a quick workout in you don’t want to think about what you have to do. You just want to get going. Hopefully my little workout will help you do just that.

If you are eager to think even less and want instruction, a great source is You Tube. There are so many wonderful quick work outs on there!

On my lunch break during the week I typically hit the pavement for a 2-3 mile run. Sometimes though, I like to head to the parking garage and do a quick workout video. I like the videos from a guy by the name of Millionaire Hoy. His workouts keep me moving and I can burn over 200 calories in 20 minutes.

Here is a link to one of his 20 minute work outs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUGCVn4rwXM

On Saturday mornings the hubs and I head to Impact Fitness in Wesley Chapel for group fitness with the crew

Shout out! http://www.impactfitnessusa.com/

Before we head over to Impact I like to make sure I get about 20-30 minutes of cardio in. I never know what we will be doing that morning so I like to make sure I do some cardio in case all we do are weights. What can I say, I like to sweat! Lately I’m addicted to dance workouts. A little-known fact about me, I love to dance! So this type of cardio I find fun and a good calorie burn. I usually burn around 300 calories before I even leave the house!

Two people I am obsessed with are the Fitness Marshall and Dance Fitness with Jessica. Both have pretty easy to follow dance/cardio videos and the routines are set to current music.

The Fitness Marshall: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFitnessMarshall/videos

Dance Fitness with Jessica: https://www.youtube.com/user/FitnesswithJessica/videos

Hey! If you get into these guys like I am maybe we could meet up and get our dance fitness on together! There’s no shame in my dance game.

So enough fitness ‘ish what food are you going to be cooking!? Anything yummy? Any family traditional dishes that you have to make or serve even if you don’t really like it?

My sister started hosting Christmas at her house again a few years ago. We used to have it at my mom’s but now that my nieces and nephews are older there just isn’t enough room in her apartment. My sister has a huge living room so it just makes more sense.

Now that we have Christmas at her house she likes to have a big Christmas dinner. She makes a ham and her famous sweet potato casserole. She also makes homemade bread and usually another side dish. Then the rest of the family brings dishes and desserts to pass. The great thing, I guess, is that she has to follow pretty much the same eating habits I do. She can’t have gluten or wheat so she modifies her recipes so she and I can eat them. I decided this Thanksgiving that I am only making things I can eat. Not to be rude, I’m just not about spending all that money to make two of everything. No one seemed to mind on Thanksgiving so I’ll do the same for Christmas. I will make one regular dessert though only because I found this recipe on Pinterest for shortbread cookie bites. They are adorable and my mom loves shortbread! Other than that, I’m bringing all paleo sides.

Recently I have spoken with people who have started or will be starting on their paleo journey. I thought I would share what I’m making for our Christmas dinner to give those of you ideas. When you first start eating paleo it can be hard to come up with stuff to make. Plus, you might not know what you can make paleo.

Here is what I will be bringing

-Mashed Cauliflower (Against All Grains)

-Paleo Gravy (Pinterest)

-Warm brussels sprout salad (Against All Grains)

-Almond “Cheesecake” Squares (Pinterest)

-Shortbread bites (Not paleo even a little bit) (Pinterest)

P.S. Against All Grains is a wonderful cookbook. I have used it to the point the pages are falling out. If you aren’t following Against All Grains on social media……..do it!

I can’t wait to make all these delicious goodies and share them with my family. It’s infrequent that we are all under the same roof and I really enjoy Christmas for that reason. I especially love spending time with these goof balls!

They are all grown up now but they will always be my “kids.”

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!

FUN FACT: Kissing burns calories! A passionate kiss burns about 2 calories per minute so go get yourself some mistletoe yo!

Next week I’ll be talking New Year!

I’ll be giving you my tips for going paleo and I’ll have a recipe to share.

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