Archives for April 2016

What we did for Easter

Even though my kids are 15 and 18, they still love hunting for candy filled eggs in the backyard. This year we had to have our hunt in the afternoon because we had just returned from a 4 day trip to Arizona to look at colleges. I had bought a couple bags of jelly beans in the grocery store Sat in AZ so I’d be ready to roll Sunday! The kids are super competitive and ran as fast as they could around my tiny yard to see who could get the most eggs! Funny and true.

How I planned for a crazy month of travel…

I traveled every weekend in March- mostly for soccer and the last weekend for college tours. This is a normal part of my life. Both my kids did(my son just stopped) competitive soccer which means lots of travel. This last month was all by car for soccer and by plane for the college stuff.

When I drive, I plan to take all my goodies to set myself up for success. This means my vitamix, baking cocoa, protein powder, powdered peanut butter, rice cakes, jerkey and apples. I also pack bars, dried fruit and rice chips/cereal for my girl. This way we will never be hangry and have the comfort of home in a hotel room.

I know it’s hard to travel- you never know where or when you’ll eat, what restaurant you will go to but you can control some of it. As a Venus girl, the hotel all you can eat breakfast buffet does not even appeal to me. And I’ve become such a coffee snob, I even bring my own coffee and French press!

Let’s face it- there are some non negotiables. I will not settle for hotel coffee. It gives me a  headache. There’s always hot water, so I just use my French press.  I’m not much of a breakfast person anymore thanks to Venus but do love my morning coffee.

One of my favorite drinks is protein powder blended with coffee after a workout. Great way to get your protein in and enjoy a delicious latte/mocha without all the added sugar you’d get at a coffee shop. If I can bring my vitamix, it’s great. If not, there are protein powders that stir into coffee that still taste pretty darn good. But Venus sisters, I’m telling you, if you’ve never tried this- you have got to do it! Blender, protein powder, hot coffee- blend for 20 seconds or so. It will be frothy and delicious.

Planning Workouts on the Road

I also try to plan my workouts when I know my kid’s schedule. With my daughter’s soccer team, we always drop the girls off an hour before the game for warm ups. That’s a perfect time to move. I was recently in Las Vegas for soccer and there was a huge walking path around the soccer complex. As well as a park. So I was able to get in 2 park workouts using a bench and some swings tabata style as well as get lots of steps in for the day.

What can you do with a bench you ask? Step ups, push ups, tricep dips, squats, Bulgarian split squats, planks bringing your knees to your elbows….. with the swings you can put your feet on the swing and do knee tucks or a pike, a modified pull up, a moving plank, a Bulgarian split squat, and the list goes on and on.

I know most moms stand around and talk. To be honest, after driving for 9 hours one way and knowing I had to drive 9 hours home, I wanted to move as much as possible. Even walking felt good. There was another mom on the team who was heading out for a run as we(my husband is a good sport and likes my crazy workouts) were starting our park workout. We were talking afterwards at the game. She commented that she heard a mom say, this season has just been so busy, she had gained 15 lbs. The gal I know took the words out of my mouth and said-just what I was thinking- hey, we’ve got an hour before every game- use it and move! The choice is  yours.

This past weekend in Arizona, we stayed at a friend’s house. It was gorgeous weather and perfect for an outdoor workout. One day my husband and I found one bench and a super small hill- we ran mini sprints and did tabata for 25 minutes or so. The tabata timer is awesome and gives you a quick (but painful) workout anywhere. The following day, my daughter and I got to workout together. One of us ran down the road and back while the other did a strength move. I was just happy to be outside and moving and anytime I can workout with my girl, I am happy!

I’m certainly not perfect by any means. I overeat at times as well as enjoy the occasional adult beverage. But, I always feel best when my body is moving. Traveling is tough. It’s tiring and can lead to bad choices- I know this first hand. Being exhausted never leads to good food decisions. All we can do is our best.

Travel is just a part of life. Some trips go smoothly, some are just hard. Planning what you can is a huge help. As well as planning your workouts. There’s not always time, but when there is- make yourself and your health a priority. You will never regret a workout.

P.S.- Tabata is a  workout where you work hard for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds for 8 rounds. The point is to try to get the same number of reps for each set. If you haven’t tried it, you can download a free timer on your phone and have some serious fun!