Fit To Run: Download Free Printable PDF Strength for Runners Workouts

Welcome to the latest edition of workout Wednesday! For the last several weeks, I have been unveiling my strength for runners program one section at a time. Have you missed anything so far? I put together the month one and month two workouts in a printable PDF format, so you can download all the strength and running workouts at once. 

Download free printable PDF Fit to Run: strength training for runners

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52 Healthy Habits: 10 Easy Healthy Nutrition Swaps

Have you been following along with my 52 Healthy habits series? Each Monday we talk about the habits we can develop to in order to live a healthier life. Habits are the building blocks of a healthy lifestyle. You don't have to change all your bad habits or attempt to develop a ton of new healthy habits all at once. In fact, trying to do too much at once can cause overwhelm and ultimately, failure. We, as humans, don't respond well to a lot of changes at once. A better strategy is to tackle one new healthy habit and take the time to cultivate it. Once you have a handle on it, add in another. The slow build approach is a much more sane and sustainable approach over the long term. After all, this is a healthy lifestyle, not a healthy 21 days, healthy 12 weeks or even a healthy year. We want to make changes that stick for life. Are you in? Let's get to it. 

Sometimes the easiest way to change those behaviors that don't bring us closer to our goals, is to make healthy swaps instead. Good or bad, we have already have developed the habit, now we can work on how to make that habit healthier. 

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link in this post and make a purchase I make a small percentage of the sale with no additional cost to you. No one is getting rich here, it just helps with the costs associated with running (pun intended) this blog.

TEA INSTEAD OF COFFEE

I may be biased here because I am on a break from coffee and feeling great, but I have found swapping my regular morning coffee for hot tea was an easy transition (I mean, after the debilitating headaches went away, of course.) Drinking a hot beverage in my favorite mug was a habit, I replaced that hot beverage for a healthier alternative and now drinking hot tea is my new habit. I go on a break from coffee once a quarter in order to reset my caffeine tolerance, so I am not so dependant on it for those early morning wake up calls. (I was going to say early morning workouts, but let's be real, I haven't been up for an early morning workout in months.)

CINNAMON INSTEAD OF SUGAR IN COFFEE

I love my coffee (which is why I do a reset once a quarter, so I can fully enjoy it again after my break). Drinking coffee is not a bad habit in itself. Caffeine has its health benefits. Usually it's what you add in your coffee that can be the problem. When you add processed flavored creamers and sugars, or order the 500 calorie barista-made drink, you're just consuming empty calories. There's nothing wrong with treating yourself once in awhile, It only becomes an obstacle to achieving your goals when it's a habit.

Swapping cinnamon for sugar is a great way to add flavor and spice to your black coffee without adding sugar. 

SELTZER WATER INSTEAD OF SODA

I was a Diet Coke fanatic for most of my adult life. I wasn't able to quit my several-a-day habit until I found a suitable replacement. Enter seltzer water. I swapped my daily Diet Coke for the fizzy goodness of seltzer water. It's important to note that seltzer water isn't sweet like soda because it doesn't have sugar or artificial sweeteners. It took some time for my taste buds to adjust, but now it is an easy choice for life. 

PLAIN YOGURT WITH FRUIT INSTEAD OF YOGURT CUPS

I've said this before, but it bears repeating now. Most of the yogurt cups you find in the grocery store are not health foods. They often have as much sugar as ice cream (It's no wonder they taste so good!) and riddled with processed ingredients, but are regularly marketed as a healthy choice. Of course, there are exceptions. I like the Siggi's brand for a healthier alternative, it is lower in sugar and higher in protein. Most of the big name yogurts on the grocery store shelf are junk foods masquerading as health foods. 

Swap your yogurt cups for a tub of plain Greek yogurt. Plain Greek yogurt is high in protein. Add fresh or frozen berries, fruit or natural granola. I bought a 8 pack of reusable small plastic cups with lids in order to pack my healthy yogurts for lunch. 

GREEK YOGURT INSTEAD OF SOUR CREAM

Yeah, I thought it sounded a little weird too, but you'll hardly know the difference. Use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in recipes, salad dressings, dips and of course, on tacos. It has more protein and fewer calories than sour cream. Our favorite way to use Greek yogurt in a recipe is in our turkey mushroom caps.

OATMEAL INSTEAD OF CEREAL

No one ever mistook Fruity Pebbles as a health food, but even the healthiest-marketed boxed cereals usually have too much sugar, too many processed ingredients or are too low in nutrients. If you enjoy it, it's fine as an occasional treat, but there are better choices for your daily breakfast habit. A great swap for boxed cereal is old fashioned oatmeal flavored with cinnamon, berries and/or fruit. Add a scoop of protein powder and chopped nuts for a balanced breakfast of healthy carbohydrates, proteins and fats. 

TAKE A WALK INSTEAD OF DESSERT

We all love our dessert and it should be enjoyed once in awhile, but a better after-dinner habit is a daily walk. I know a walk doesn't sound as enticing as a piece of pie, but hear me out. A quick daily walk after a meal helps with digestion, gets you moving and burning calories with minimal impact on your body. You get some fresh air, quality time away from electronics and your dog will thank you too. If you think you don't have time, start with five minutes. Walk to the end of the block and back. Then over time you can work on building up duration and distance.

FROZEN BLENDED BANANAS INSTEAD OF ICE CREAM

Seriously, have you tried this? Take two to three frozen bananas and let thaw slightly before adding to a food processor or blender. Blend slowly until they have an ice cream-like consistency. Add protein powder, cocoa powder or peanut butter powder for flavoring. Share with a friend. A delicious healthy swap for ice cream. 

SPINACH INSTEAD OF ICEBERG LETTUCE

Swap that iceberg for a nutrient-dense alternative, like fresh spinach. Spinach has vitamins, minerals, fiber and even boasts a bit of protein. It is much more nutritious than iceberg and less expensive than those pre-bagged lettuce mixes. We buy a few bunches of spinach and use in our salads all week. 

SPAGHETTI SQUASH INSTEAD OF PASTA

I saved the best for last. I love spaghetti squash as an alternative to traditional pasta. We add low-sugar pasta sauce, parmesan cheese and ground turkey and we can hardly tell the difference from our regular spaghetti dish. If you have a spiralizer, you make spaghetti-like noodles out of almost any vegetable. 

What are your favorite healthy swaps? Did I miss any? Did I give you any ideas? Pick one to try and let me know how it goes. 

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5 Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List

I love to read. I often say that I don't have the time to read, but I seem to have plenty of time to scroll Facebook and Instagram. I've been working on spending more of my free time reading and less of it on social media. I am a non-fiction aficionado. OK, maybe not an aficionado, but let's just say I haven't read a fiction book in a long time. I tend to prefer to read real stories about real people.

My summer reading list is full of non-fiction books that I loved and would recommend to my friends. If you are an athlete, an entrepreneur or just looking to be inspired to live a better life, these books are for you. These aren't necessarily the newest books, just the ones that recently made the biggest impact on me. 

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link in this post and make a purchase, I make a small percentage of the sale with no additional cost to you. No one is getting rich here, it just helps with the costs associated with running (pun intended) this blog.

5 BOOKS TO ADD TO YOUR SUMMER READING LIST

Shoe Dog, Phil Knight
A memoir by the creator of Nike

This book made me laugh, cry and cringe over and over again. It's the story of Phil Knight and how he created the Nike brand by first selling running shoes out of the trunk of his car at track meets long before the popular culture cared about running. This is both a cautionary tale and an inspirational message about becoming an entrepreneur. It's a rough road but, in Phil Knight's case, the payoff changed the world.

INSPIRED & UNSTOPPABLE, TAMA KIEVES
Wildly succeeding your life's work

I highlighted this whole book. There are more words highlighted than not. It's inspiring, funny and practical. Tama recounts her own struggles, self-doubt and roadblocks as she tells her success story. She brilliantly advises us how to overcome our own obstacles as we fulfil our dream of wildly succeeding in our life's work. 

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?, MATT FITZGERALD
Mastering the psychology of mind over muscle

Read this book and then next time you're on the struggle bus at mile eleven during a half marathon (what? just me?) you can recall the stories of high level athletes who overcame so much worse. It's not just us mere mortals who suffer during endurance training and events, but the best of the best learn how to cultivate mental strength to reach their goals. Through the stories of failures and obstacles in this book we learn how to train our mind for success.

ANATOMY FOR RUNNERS, JAY DICHARRY
Unlocking your athletic potential for health, speed and injury prevention

If you read this blog, you probably have some interest in running, so I'd be remiss not include this fantastic book on anatomy for runners. Don't worry, it's a lot more interesting than your college anatomy class. It gets a little science-y at times (insert your own Jesse Pinkman joke here) but if you understand the basic science behind running, it gives you the foundation for injury-prevention. In fact, everything you need to know about staying safe as a runner is outlined in this book including a self-assessment and corrective exercises for muscle imbalances. A must read for any runner.

THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F***
A counterintuitive approach to living a good life

This is a rated PG blog. I'm not one of those bloggers who swears for effect, but I read this book this year and I wanted to include it in my reading list. (Sorry, Ma!). Even when I shared it on Instagram, I edited it for family-friendly viewing. I enjoyed Mark's point of view, which was essentially to really care about the things that matter and let everything else go, but I had another major takeaway. I realized as I was reading the chapters in this book, I had already read many of these stories on his blog. Wait? One can weave together blog posts they already wrote in order to write a book? Mind blown. Excuse me while I go write my own book. 

Have you read any of these books? Do you have any non-fiction suggestions for me? 

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Fit To Run: HIP HIP (STRENGTH) HOORAY: 5 MINUTE HIP WORKOUT FOR RUNNERS

Welcome to the latest edition of Workout Wednesday. As you are reading this, I am traveling to Las Vegas for the annual IDEA World fitness convention and Blogfest with Fit Approach. I plan to have a lot of sweaty good times reconnecting with old friends, making new ones and learning about the latest in fitness and blogging while earning continuing education credits for my certifications. I'm sure I will learn a lot that I can share with you! 

If you've been following along, each Wednesday I have been unveiling a new component of my Fit to Run strength training for runners program. We are about to wrap up month two, but I decided to include a bonus hip strengthening workout for runners.

Have you missed any of the month two workouts?

Hills
MONTH 2 WORKOUT A
MONTH 2 WORKOUT B

Hip strength is important for runners to develop because when you run a lot of miles with weak or underdeveloped hips it can lead to all sorts of problems. Strengthening your hips will support your hips, IT band and knees. A few minutes focusing on strengthening these muscles will go a long way in staying healthy (aka not injured) and on the road. 

This workout is five minutes long, so even when you don't have time for one of the longer workouts in this series (all under 20 minutes) you can at least get in a hip strengthening workout after your run.

Your body will adapt in a few weeks so in order to keep improving you will need to advance the exercises. Start the exercises as suggested but as you get stronger, you can add additional reps or sets and/or add resistance bands to make the exercises more difficult in order to keep progressing.

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link in this post and make a purchase, I make a small percentage of the sale with no additional cost to you. No one is getting rich here, it just helps with the costs associated with running (pun intended) this blog. Thanks, as always, for your kind support. 

HIP HIP (STRENGTH) HOORAY: 5 MINUTES HIP STRENGTHENING WORKOUT FOR RUNNERS

EQUIPMENT:

This workout can be done with no additional equipment. In this workout, I am using:

Gym Mat
Interval Timer 
Resistance bands

Download a printable version of this hip strength workout for runners

SIDE LEG RAISES

Lie on your side with your legs stacked on top of one another. Lift your top leg about 45 degrees before lowering. Perform the exercise for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, then repeat on the other side.

ADVANCED: SIDE PLANK LEG RAISES

You can advance the side leg raises exercise by performing the exercise in a straight arm side plank position. Stack your wrist, elbow and shoulder so they are in a straight line. Engage your core muscles and lift and lower the top leg for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, then repeat on the other side.

ADDUCTOR LEG RAISES

Lie on your left side, bend your right knee and place your right floor on floor in front of your left knee. This will get your right leg out of the way so you can perform the exercise. Lift your left leg up as high as possible and then lower. Repeat for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, then repeat on the other leg. To advance this exercise, hold the working leg in the high position for 20 seconds. 

CLAM SHELL

Lie on your side with your knees bent and your legs and ankles together. Open and close your knees like a clam by lifting your top knee up and lowering it. Repeat for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, then repeat on the other leg. Progress the exercise by adding a resistance band to your thighs.

DONKEY KICKS

Starting on all fours, kick your back leg up behind you while keeping your knee bent until your leg is inline with your back and your foot is parallel to the ceiling, then lower back to the ground. Repeat with the same leg for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, then repeat on the other leg. Progress the exercise by adding a resistance band.

BRIDGE MARCH

Lie on your back with your knees bent and lift your hips off the floor while engaging your glutes and abs (squeeze everything as tights as you can during the exercise). Your body should be in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Bring your right leg in towards your chest to march. Lower your right leg then march with your left leg all while keeping your core tight. Alternate legs for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, then alternate legs again for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds.

Ok runners, pinky swear you will try to work in at least five minutes of hip strengthening exercises after your next run. Let me know how it goes. 

Enter your information below to download a printable version of this workout. If you are already subscribed to the blog, entering your email address again to receive the download will not cause you to receive duplicate emails. Have questions? leagenders(at)gmail(dot)com

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52 Healthy Habits: How I Broke My Eating Out Habit

Welcome to the latest edition of 52 healthy habits when each week we tackle a new habit to improve our lives. A healthy lifestyle is built on habits, it's what we lean on when our willpower and motivation run out (because we are human and that's what happens). If you take the time and energy to develop healthy habits, then over time you can reap the benefits of an easily sustainable healthy lifestyle. We don't need to overhaul our whole lives at once, just tackle one habit at a time. No matter where you are in your healthy lifestyle journey, from newbie beginner to expert, there is always room for incremental improvements. It's the small changes over time that lead to big results. 

When I talk about healthy habits, I usually talk about the new healthy habits we can develop, rather than focusing on changing bad habits. If you develop healthy habits, often the bad habits get squeezed out naturally. For example if you focus on adding more vegetables to your meals each day, you tend to fill up on fiber, feel more full for longer time and maybe eat less of the unhealthy stuff as a result. I usually like to discuss what we can add to our healthy lives rather than what we need to take away. Today is a little different. 

HOW I BROKE MY EATING OUT HABIT

One of our New Year's Resolutions was to not eat out at restaurants. We committed to prepare all of our meals at home, within reason. It wasn't necessary about eating healthfully, if we wanted hamburgers and french fries, we could prepare them ourselves at home. It was more about controlling our spending than anything else. It just so happens that it is healthier to prepare food at home. The first month of not eating out, I lost five pounds without changing any of my other habits. Happy accident. 

It's not that eating at restaurants occasionally is inherently bad. I happen to enjoy going out to eat. You can eat at restaurants, make healthy choices, make special requests for a healthier meal and control your own portions by eating until 80% full, sharing meals or taking home leftovers. Restaurant eating absolutely can be a part of a healthy lifestyle.

It is only a potential issue when it becomes a habit. Not something that you enjoy, just something you do because...well, that's what you do. If you run through a fast food drive-through for breakfast each morning, it might be a habit. If you go out to eat for lunch every work day, it might be a habit. If you go out to eat dinner every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, it might be a habit. 

We were going out to lunch every Saturday and Sunday. We would spend hours deciding where to go. Where do you want to go? I don't know, where do YOU want to go? At nauseam. It's not just us, right?. Then a lot of times it would not even be that enjoyable. We would spend $60 or more each weekend for mediocre food with not much payoff. We decided to break our eating out habit by committing to not eating out at all in 2017 (within reason, and I will get to that shortly). 

MAKE THE COMMITMENT FOR ONE MONTH

You don't have to go all in for a year like we did. Try it for four weeks and see how it goes. Look at it as an experiment. After the month is up review how it went. Did you feel deprived? Were you incredibly inconvenienced? Or did you just get used to not eating out and eating at home became your new healthy habit? Did you lose weight? Save money? That is what happened to us.

Once you have a month under your belt, you can make a decision on how to move forward. What was good about it? What was bad about it? Where there any benefits? What were the struggles? Depending on the outcome of your experiment, decide how to move forward. Maybe limit restaurant meals to once a month, or once a week or maybe keep going with the experiment.

BE REASONABLE

In case you were wondering, I am not a robot. I am a human being. I like to eat. I like spending time with friends. I enjoy special occasions with my family. When we committed to not eating out it was with the caveat, within reason. That means when my best friend got married and I went to her rehearsal dinner, I enjoyed a restaurant meal. When an old friend called me up and asked me to go to lunch, I went. When it's someone's birthday at work and the company is picking up the tab for a birthday lunch, I don't stay behind with my Tupperware salad. When I visited my family in Pennsylvania and my Dad wanted to go to Olive Garden, I was there with bells on. The idea is to break the habit, not become a drone. If there is a special occasion, a meaningful social reason or a business obligation, then those times are the exception to the rule. When It's Friday night and no one feels like cooking, or it's Saturday afternoon and we're bored, that's when it's most important that we hold to our commitment. 

SET PARAMETERS

We didn't initially set parameters for what qualified as eating out and it threw us off track in the beginning. My husband started buying hotdogs from the convenience store when we were doing construction on our house. He was working long days and had very little time for lunch.

We thought buying a drink or a snack from the convenience store was inline with our plan, so at first we considered this ok. But after some thought, realized we had created a loophole. While hot dogs weren't necessarily a restaurant meal, it certainly wasn't preparing food at home, so he stopped. If he wanted hot dogs, he would have to buy them from the grocery store and prepare at home. Decide in the beginning what is considered eating out and stick to it. We decided prepared meals from the grocery store were ok, prepared foods from the convenience store or coffee shop were not. You don't have to follow my rules. Set up your own parameters up for what works for you and your lifestyle.

HAVE A MEAL PLAN

The only way this will work is if you plan ahead. If you usually go out to eat at lunch, you'll need to spend time planning and preparing what you'll eat for lunch each day. It's a good idea to have have simple to prepare meals planned out for weekday dinners. Some nights we make turkey burgers, or veggie omelettes or have a crock pot meal prepared. The easier the better. If your nightly meal is easy to prepare, you'll be less tempted to go out to eat or order in. 

Be realistic with your meal plan. Don't plan extravagant meals on a Tuesday night when you know your time is limited. Don't put fish on your meal plan when you don't actually like fish, just because you think it's healthy. Try to marry what you think you should do with what you will actually do. Plan healthy meals that you enjoy. Then have a backup plan.

We all know life throws us curve balls that can thwart our best intentions. Have a plan for when your plan fails. A rotisserie chicken or prepared salad from the grocery store can be a quick and convenient meal while still sticking to your commitment. A freezer meal may not be the healthiest thing you can eat, but it can be a lifesaver on those crazy days when nothing goes as planned. It's not about being perfect. It's all about making the best choice available in the moment. 

INDULGE

This is by no means intended to limit indulgence meals, fun or enjoyment in food. We still eat all the foods we enjoy. We make burgers and pizza at home and buy grocery store sushi for our indulgence meals. Try looking up copy cat restaurant recipes to prepare your favorite restaurant meal at home. Plan a fancy meal at home. Just because you temporarily gave up restaurants doesn't mean you have to give up good food. I'm not a fun hater. 

How often do you eat out? It is for enjoyment or is it just a habit? Is there room in your lifestyle to cut back on restaurant meals? Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

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