Workout Wednesday - 2.5.2020

Happy Hump Day, loves! 😘 It's halfway through the week and oh what a long week it has been, right? The Monday after Super Bowl should be declared a national holiday. When I had a job, I'd always take a vacation day or I'd call out if I didn't have any more vacation days to use 😂. As a SAHM, I couldn't really have a day off, because kids and school drop off/pick up... but I took a break from the gym. I just couldn't really get my butt out of bed at 5am when my alarm went off.

So Tuesday was my Day 1 of working out this week. The goal is to hit the gym 4 times. Fingers crossed 🤞 that I'm able to keep myself motivated. The weather has been cold here in SoCal (30s-40s) and leavin' a warm and cozy bed to go workout doesn't sound appealing that early in the morning.

I usually start my weeks off with a good leg workout, focusing on glutes and hamstrings. But I changed it up this week and did upper body with a focus on shoulders.

Here is what I did:

1. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press x Face Pulls (Superset)

4 sets x 10 reps

2. Seated Arnold Press x Bent Over Dumbbell Fly (Superset)

4 sets x 8 reps

3. Standing Paused Lateral Raise

1 set x 30 reps

4. Single Arm Shoulder Press

4 sets x 10 reps

5. Rear Delt Cable Fly

4 sets x 10 reps

6. Seated Front Raise

4 sets x 10 reps

Also, a lot of these workouts can be done at home, too! With just using dumbbells and resistance bands. If you're wanting to try these workouts at the gym, don't be intimidated to use weights. Trust me, I know what it feels like to go into the free-weights section and not feel confident in what I'm doing. Or feel like I'm being judged by all the gym goers. Just remember, the others around you had to start somewhere, too, you know? And don't feel embarrassed about the weights you're lifting. If you have to start out with 5 lb. dumbbells, it's OK! You WILL feel the burn! 😉

I hope you enjoy these workout posts!

Let me know in the comments if you plan to try this workout!

Or if you already have, please let me know how you like (or did not like) it!

Disclosure: I am not a certified trainer so please practice safety awareness while working out with weights and/or equipment especially if you are not familiar with 'em. And always listen to your body! Know your limits, stop or adjust when necessary.

*All the workout images in this post belong to Katy Hearn and are screenshots from her fitness app that I have a subscription with. I am not sponsored or endorsed by her brand and all opinions in regard to her products are my own.

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Tags: #workout #armworkout #shoulderworkout #katyhearn #katyhearnfit #fitness #fitnessjourney #workoutroutine #gymworkout #homeworkout

Cheers 🥂 To 2020 - My Goals For The New Year

Is it bad that I entered the New Year NOT wanting to set specific goals for myself? 😂 The thought alone was just too overwhelming and straight up exhausting to me. No wonder it took me almost all of January to finally pinpoint exactly what it is I want to accomplish this year. I mean, it's the start of a whole new decade... so I feel like it's bad juju if I didn't come up with something to work towards.

So after thinkin' about it long and hard (and by long and hard, I mean about 5 minutes 😉), I have compiled a list of 5 things I want to work on this year. Some are goals that I've been working on for the last couple of years or so and I'm just expanding more on them...and some are ones that I have completely ignored altogether because I was either too busy, not disciplined enough, or just too lazy to work on. Yup, I said it. Because life, right?

Here's what I am gonna work on in 2020:

1. Carpe Diem - Motherhood Style

Seize the day. Seize the moments. Live each day with no regrets. Or try to, at least. I'm not talking' about jumping out of a plane or bungee jumping off a bridge or whatever it is people do to 'seize the day.' I'm talking about putting that phone down or letting the dishes pile up to sit and play on the floor with the little ones. We only get one chance at life. And I'm starting to fully realize that motherhood is only something you get to do once. I mean yeah, as mothers, we are told to "enjoy them, they're only little for so long" and we for sure have every intention of soaking it all in. But do we really?

I am a SAHM. And as a SAHM, there are days that are just SO long. Sometimes one or both kiddos are just super cranky for whatever reason. And I'm trying to get things done in between the crying, the "mommy I want this, mommy I want that", and the epic meltdowns. Days like these, I just can't wait for the day to end so I can get a break. It's completely normal to feel this way, I totally get it. And it can be difficult to want to "soak it all in" especially after a long and trying day. But now that Ella is almost 5 and Everly is not a baby anymore, and I see just how fast they're maturing, it really makes me sad that one day, they'll be all grown up and leaving the nest. They will never need/love/want us as much as they do during the baby/toddler years and I don't even want to think about that. My goal this year is to truly embrace the mom life chaos that I have been blessed with. Carpe diem'ing motherhood is all about not getting chores done if it means we get to cuddle a little longer. It's about putting the phone down (which is kinda hard to do when you're a blogger and content creator like me) and not worrying about capturing the memories on camera. Trust me, I am SO guilty of wanting to capture EVERY LITTLE THING they do. It's about letting them go to bed late because they wanted to read every single book they own for bedtime story (this is Everly all day long). At the end of the day, I will never regret doing the things that make them happy. Because their happiness makes ME happy.

2. Have More "ME" Time - more than just going to the gym

Life definitely changes once you have kiddos. Time is very limited to do anything that's out of the realm of mom-life. And it's not a bad thing! But I certainly want to have a good balance between tackling the responsibilities of motherhood while taking care of ME and MY needs. A healthy and happy mama and keeping our cup filled (whatever that may be, because it's different for every one) makes this 24/7 job better for all parties involved: mom, kids, spouse.... and then everyone else 😂. So I feel it is SO important to find something that seriously just sparks JOY in your life and spend some time doing it.

I didn't allow myself to have a lot of "me" time in the early years of motherhood but last year, I finally made it a priority to do that. I started going to the gym again. And just that little bit of time to just have to myself did so much for my well-being. I worked on that all year long, and even if I may have hurled myself off the bandwagon a few times, I managed to bring myself back to it and have been able to be somewhat consistent with it.

This year, I want to expand on the whole self-care thing and make the time to hang with friends sans kiddos. Most of my friends are moms and have been moms longer than I have. And, not gonna lie, I sometimes feel a bit envious of their "freedom" now that their kids aren't babies anymore. I've had mommy & me dates with a few of them over the years but now that my girls are older and a bit more independent, I feel like I can go out and do things without having to worry about being gone for too long. If you read my most recent post, I mentioned I went walking with a mom-friend of mine without my girls and it was so refreshing to have even just that little break. Now, don't think for a second that I am implying that having kids ruins your life... because that's not even close. I love my rugrats more than anything in the world. But I love my husband too and sometimes I really need a break from him 😝. Moms need breaks to recharge. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, I'm thinking' maybe a girls' night out. Nothing fancy or crazy. A simple dinner is always a winner, or going to one of those wine + painting things, or ooooooo we could KARAOKE! The sky's the limit, right? I'm totally fine with just coffee or lunch or even a froyo date. Just something where I get to connect with other moms who are in need of that girl-time. Because really... the ultimate goal with this one is to have a girls' trip to Las Vegas 😉😂 .

But yeah... if you got some fun ideas for this sort of thing, feel free to leave suggestions in the comments below!!!

3. Give My Blog More Love

For the past 2 years since I started That Plain Jane Life, I realize I have been putting all of my eggs into ONE basket. Instead of putting time and energy into publishing blog posts, I have been busy creating content for my Instagram account. The IG account that was meant to help me promote my blog. I got caught up in the whole insta-influencer life which, by the way, was not something I had anticipated.

I mean, I don't even like the title: influencer. It wasn't until I decided to take a little bit of a break from social media at the end of last year that I realized just how much I strayed from blogging about the things that I am most passionate about. And don't get me wrong, I love sharing my life on that specific platform. It gives me the opportunity to be creative and it has allowed me to meet & connect with other moms... I've actually made some great friendships! So yes, I have to admit, the insta-life has treated me very well. But at the end of the day, it's not my platform. Which means I don't have complete control and power over all the work that I put into growing my account on there. But my blog... this is mine. I get to do what I want on here and not have to worry about following rules that were set by someone else. So it only makes sense that this blog needs to be more of a priority than all the social media stuff. And I have SO many ideas! Can't wait to share them all with you! Don't worry, I still plan on doing thangs on IG, FB, Pinterest, etc.... so if you want to follow along, here are the links to all of my account...

My handles are:

Instagram: @thatplainjanelife www.instgram.com/thatplainjanelife

Facebook: That Plain Jane Life www.facebook.com/thatplainjanelife

Twitter: @MrsPeeden www.twitter.com/MrsPeeden

Pinterest: That Plain Jane Life www.pinterest.com/thatplainjanelife

4. Live A More Minimalist Lifestyle

I'm not tryin' to go HAM on this one, and I wanna say that we've been pretty minimalistic (is that the correct term for it? 🤷‍♀️ I feel like the grammar police might go crazy with this one), but I feel like I can totally do MORE. For the most part, we try to live that frugal life as much as possible. We haven't had cable in over 10 years (but we have the internet and smartphones so it's not like we really need cable anyway). We cut back A LOT on spending $$ on wardrobe especially fast-fashion (which isn't good for the environment) but I can't say that we don't ever buy any. Because, if I'm being completely honest, we live in California on one income and can't afford to buy only sustainable/eco-friendly stuff. But we try our best to limit what we buy. I haven't exactly adapted the whole "wardrobe capsule" idea, but I'm thinkin' I may need to give that a try one day. Call me a weirdo, but I love to declutter. Because I can't stand having crap all over the place. And I think I do a pretty good job at it, especially having lived a 1-bedroom lifestyle for the past almost-5 years. But like everything else, I feel like there's always room for improvement. Just overall, I'd like to be able to save more money by investing in quality, durable + multi-use items (big and small) so that we're not always having to buy things because they break or doesn't last long.

With that said... I'm totally NOT trying to be extreme with this goal. Because I don't know if I could really do it. So don't shame me when you see things like Valentine's Day decor vomit all over my IG feed (coming soon! 😆). I will say, that all the decor I buy for the holidays, are all decor I plan to use every holiday until I can't no more. But I'm definitely hoping to be more mindful before spending this year.

Which brings me to my FINAL goal for this year.

5. BUY A HOUSE!!!

This is definitely a BIG goal of mine!!! We have been waiting years for the opportunity to buy a house of our own but the timing was never right financially - we've experienced layoffs and hardships, credit issues as a result of us getting laid off - just a lot of life-changing events that prevented us from achieving this goal for years. But this year, we are hoping to finally BUY one.

We are currently living with relatives and while it's not ideal, it's something we had to do when we decided to pick up our lives and relocate to Daniel's hometown. It's a decision we made based on his career and his career-goals. And when we chose not to renew our lease to the apartment we were renting and had zero luck finding anything within our price range, we were definitely fortunate enough to have family offer to let us stay with them till we found the right house.

So... I am hoping and praying that this year is THE year we finally become homeowners!

There ya have it. My goals for 2020... and possibly goals for the rest of my life 😆.

Have you set goals for 2020? Care to share any of them? How are you doing so far with your goals? Tell me all the things!!!

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Tags: #newyearsresolutions #happynewyear #2020goals #goals #lifegoals #bloggoals #resolutions

Workout Wednesday - First Workout of 2020

I know it's not Wednesday... but I was hoping to start a series of Workout blog posts FOR Wednesday... I just couldn't get around to actually posting it till NOW. 😝 😝 😝

But I will definitely try my hardest to hash one of these posts out every so often on a Wednesday. Posts that highlight a workout (or workouts plural) I've done that week or something fitness related. And hopefully, it'll become a THING and I can keep it going for awhile. Wouldn't that be somethin'? 😉

Ok so some of you may remember that last year, my goal for 2019 was to focus more on ME and that thing called self-care. Something I have struggled with since becoming a mom - something so many of us struggle with. And one of the things that was a priority for me, was getting back in the gym. Just to give you a little bit of an update on that - I did manage to get my gym membership. But it also took me AWHILE to get my groove back. Because of Daniel's crazy work schedule (sometimes he works late and/or on weekends), it was difficult for me to maintain a consistent workout in the evenings (which I prefer). So I had to settle for 5am wake-up times to get into the gym at 5:30am or 6am depending on how many times I hit that snooze button. Not gonna lie, it was brutal at first. But after a couple of weeks, it became my new norm. There was a lot of "jumping off the wagon" as the year went on because finding that balance is still a struggle for this mama.

This year, I'd like to continue working on this goal. Because there is so much room for improvement, especially when it comes to being consistent. And I figure, blogging about it regularly and sharing the workouts I do will help me stay accountable and maybe even motivate and inspire others to do the same.

So let's get right down to business, shall we?

My first workout of the year didn't happen till Monday, January 6th. I like to do a leg workout at the start of my week (focus on glutei/hamstrings) and then again later on in the week (quads). And this is what I did...

Warm-up: run/walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes. I usually like to do a HIIT run/walk combo but this time, since it was my first day back since Thanksgiving, I just did a brisk walk.

Then it was onto the weights. Please note: I have included pictures of the equipment I used and a video (not my own because I haven't quite figured out how to film myself doing these workouts without feeling awkward in front of the other gym goers) to help demonstrate the move I'm doing.

1. Leg Press (4 sets x 12 reps) - I did a combo of wide (6 reps) and narrow (6 reps) on the 45-degree leg press machine.

Equipment Used:

Demonstration:

2. Squats (4 sets x 10 reps) - I usually use the squat rack but because it's been awhile, I decided to use the V-Squat Machine.

Equipment used:

Demonstration

3. Seated Calf-Raises (3 sets x 15)

Equipment Used:

Demonstration:

4. Hip Adductor (4 sets x 15 reps) - I usually scoot forward a little so my back is not against the seat. And depending on how much I want to challenge myself, I will do this with my butt completely off the seat in kinda like a squat position.

Equipment Used:

Demonstration:

5. Seated Leg Curl (4 sets x 15 reps)

Equipment Used:

Demonstration:

6. Glute Press Down using the assisted pull-up machine (4 sets x 10 reps)

Equipment Used:

Demonstration:

And then here's where I should highly advise a good stretching sesh afterwards but I totally skipped it and went home 😝. I know, that's not a good habit. Stretching helps prevent injuries and I should really be doing them especially since I am getting older, which makes me more likely to have some kind of injury. But I'm stubborn.

Also, since we're talking about what we SHOULD be doing, I need to tell y'all that I am not a certified personal trainer (although I did consider becoming one at some point) so if you decide you'd like to try the workouts I do but have never used the equipment before, please make sure to do your due diligence to learn how to safely use the equipment.

There ya have it! My first workout of the year! And let me tell ya, I am still SORE from it!

Your turn!!! Tell me some of your favorite workouts in the comments below! Also, I'm always open to suggestions regarding workout posts, so tell me what you'd like to see on my blog! More workouts? Maybe even some highlights on fitness apparel/fashion? Let me know!

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Tags: #fitness #workouts #glutes #legday #legworkouts #newyearsresolution #fitnessgoals #legworkout #gymworkout #wod #workoutoftheday #goals