Orange Juice (Romaine, Carrot, Ginger, Apple)

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The first winter holiday has come and gone, and you might find yourself in serious need of rejuvenation. Between stuffing, pie, and wine, your body gets a little confused about what the heck is going on. After you've 'over-celebrated,' juicing some nutrient-rich veggies can be a quick way to get your body back on track.

This juice might be orange, but there are no oranges in it. Instead, it's filled with some hard-to-beat ingredients that will give you energy and help you fight cancer.

Other benefits it offers...

• ENERGY! Carrots contain a significant amount of B vitamins (B1 and B6 to be exact) which increase your energy levels in a steady, no-2:30-crash kind of way.
  
• ANTIOXIDANTS! Carotenes, the famous ingredient after which carrots take their name, are a powerful antioxidant that combats a laundry list of diseases (acne, anemia, cancer, congestion, constipation, fertility, ulcers, and so on - see the list here). Apples also offer a host of antioxidants.
  
• ANTI-INFLAMMATORY! Ginger is known to reduce inflammation, which is common after the holiday binge cycle (especially if you are unknowingly gluten sensitive).
  
• DETOX! Apples and carrots are both natural diuretics which will help your body rid itself from those nasty toxins brought in by holiday pie and that extra glass of wine.
  
• ANTI-ALLERGY! Romaine lettuce's high folate content helps combat allergies.
  
• FIGHT YOUR COLD! That's right. Everything in this juice is packed with immune support and cold-fighting ninjas.
  
• DIGESTIVE SUPPORT! Ginger is the king of gut support, and thus a natural way to combat stomach and intestinal issues you may be experiencing.

Orange Juice (Romaine, Carrot, Ginger, Apple)
Servings: 1 large glass
Ingredients:

• 1 head romaine
• 2 long carrots
• 1 tbsp ginger or approximately 1 inch of natural ginger
• 2 apples

Directions:

1. Rinse/wash everything. Do not skip this unless you're interested in drinking a glass full of chemicals and pesticides.
2. Throw em all in a juicer and go, baby, go! (NOTE: If you do not have a juicer, you can blend everything very well and then strain using a cheese cloth or fine mesh strainer)

Sources:
Health Benefits of Carrots, Juicing-For-Health.Com
15 Health Benefits of Eating Apples, BestHealthMag.Ca
5 Health Benefits of Romaine, HealWithFood.Com
10 Health Benefits of Ginger, FoodMatters.tv

Travel Time

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If you know me, you know I'm not very good at staying in one place. Heck, I can't even work at the same table all day, and I end up moving around with my laptop from place to place.

This is especially true when the weather gets bad. As everyone knows, the midwest was completely slammed this winter. I am between Chicago and Michigan, and Chicago has been insanely cold, while Michigan has gotten more snow than ever. Basically, I'm stuck between a rock and a cold place.

I feel like there are two options here: take advantage of this crazy snowy winter weather, or simply just escape it.

Can't choose one? Me either. So, I'm about to do both.

My next two weekends consist of some crazy temperature and terrain swings. We are taking a ski weekend (okay, snowboard for my husband) up in Northern Michigan this weekend, and the following weekend I will be flying down to Naples, Florida for some heat.

I figure this way I can get the best of both worlds, but it does mean a mere 4 days in between to regroup and completely pack my bag with very, very different clothing. Oh, well. At least I won't have to do any laundry in between!

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• Do you like to experience and take advantage of the cold, or escape it?
• Are you planning any winter weather escapes? Where to? I feel like everyone I know is going to Scottsdale or Palm Springs. Both places are pretty solidly warm, so I can't blame them!

Workout Wednesday - WOTDs

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It's so cold out in Chicago that I'm actually blow drying my hair. This is quite an event, in that I generally do it once every month or two, simply because my hair is quite long and I'd rather spend time on other things. Oh, and there's always my irrational fear: flipping my head over to blow my dry my hair freaks me out because I feel like the girl from The Ring (Warning: Do not click that link if you're scared of her. I squealed in fright just because of my Google Image Search. Oh, the things I do for you...).



Now, #WOTDs... Ever see people posting on Instagram their "#OOTD?" Also known as Outfit Of The Day, it's an easy and awesome way to take a selfie without feeling too weird about it. So, if that's acceptable, I'm convinced #WOTD is also acceptable.

Workout. Of. The. Day. I tried to stick to my plan, but am hoping you'll call me on it if you think I've failed :)


Wednesday: 15 Minute Stairmaster & 45 Minutes Pilates
This is normally one of my "Choice" days, so I decided to try something new. My gym had a 45 minute Pilates class that I was able to make it to after work. It was amazing. The thing I love about Pilates, as opposed to Yoga, is that it rocks my core so hard that I can feel it the next day. And, on top of that, I walk out feeling like I'm floating on sunshine because the class is so calm and relaxing (despite my abs and upper legs wanting to SCREAM the whole time). I'm planning to make it back for another Pilates class today, if my schedule allows it.



Thursday: Bodypump
Ever since I first tried Bodypump, it has grown and grown on me (you'll see that I took two classes this past week). I'll be sharing more about my so-called Bridal Bootcamp later, but basically I am changing the way I do Bodypump in order to accommodate my fitness goals for my wedding in August (yes, this August!). I'm upping the weight on all of the upper body tracks and keeping the wait fairly steady on the lower body tracks. More on that over the next few weeks - stay tuned for a whole series of Bridal Bootcamp posts.

Friday: Skip
Friday is not usually a skip day. Generally, I do a Stairmaster Sprint and a 30 Minute CXWorx class on Friday mornings. But, I was actually out in the suburbs on Thursday for a special something (come back tomorrow to find out!). We didn't get back until fairly late, so I decided to ditch the workout and take a rest day. Basically, instead of working out, I drank coffee. In the dark.



Saturday: Arms, Shoulders, and Back Weights & 60 Minute Spinning Class
This day rocked my world quite literally. I started with some completely new weights workouts for Arms, Shoulders, and Back (Again... stay tuned for more info on these... I know, I'm a total tease. Get over it.). Basically, I totally 'destroyed' my upper body using weights immediately before destroying my lower body in a spinning class.

A note on spinning classes: Man, how much you trust the instructor really makes a difference in the quality of your workout. On Saturday, we had James as an instructor, whose classes I am pretty much obsessed with. He gives us a lot of information and warns us about what's coming. Mostly, I just appreciate that his class is well timed, well structured, organized, etc - so that, when he tells me to give it my all, I trust him and push myself to the limit instead of holding something back just to be safe. I walked out of that class totally red-faced and feeling like I was about to puke.

You can be sure that I followed this workout up with a delicious protein shake and lots of water. It was very necessary.




Sunday: Kundalini Yoga
After Saturday's insane workout, my body just needed to chill out. Justin and I took a Kundalini Yoga class, which was... interesting. Not my favorite thing ever, and I didn't feel particularly challenged by it (other than my challenge to not get up and walk out). Read my review in this post.

Monday: Bodypump
Yet again... Bodypump. The instructor on Monday is a different woman than the Thursday instructor, and they handle their classes slightly differently, so I enjoy going to both. The have very different energies, so to speak, so it makes both of these classes amazing yet different.





Tuesday: Full Body Weights & 35 Minute Stairmaster Sprint
This, sort of like Saturday, was pretty much an 'ultimate' day, in my opinion. I totally rocked the weights by doing an entire Body By Science routine, then alternating between lower body exercises and upper body exercises. I also didn't take any intentional breaks between machines (so, my break just consisted of the time it took me to get up, switch machines, set up my weight on the new machine, and start the next exercise), which meant that my heart rate stayed elevated pretty much the entire time.

Then, I switched to the Stairmaster Sprint workout, where I read my beloved Young Adult book, because I'm writing a young adult book, so it's kind of like research... right? At least, I'm telling myself that.

All in all, this workout took me about an hour and 20 minutes, including some time to run down to the locker room to grab my Kindle in between weights and cardio.




Wednesday: Pilates & Megan Fox's Butt Workout
I'm planning to do this after work... fingers crossed!

All in all... Cardio/Pilates, Cardio/Weights, Skip, Cardio/Weights, Yoga, Cardio/Weights. Not bad, but it's obvious that I go heavy on the days that combine cardio and weights. Those are the days I feel most accomplished with my workout.

What about you? What aspects of your workout week made you feel most accomplished?