Monthly Archives: June 2014

Using Essential Oils to Benefit Your Workout

June 30, 2014Fitness, Health, Fitness, and Food Blogessential oilsKayla

As I have been doing much research on Essential Oils, and I have found such a strong passion for them, I decided I should share with you what Essential Oils I have been using in my daily life. I have been using Essential Oils to compliment my daily workouts, in addition to complimenting other aspects of my life.

Health and Wellness is a lifestyle, and I truly believe that being a healthy person means being healthy in all aspects of your life. Essential Oils can be a great aid in your journey for a healthy life, especially when used to compliment healthy eating habits and fitness. Essential Oils can be very beneficial, and can be taken orally, used topically, or diffused directly in to the air. I personally use doTERRA Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils.

When using Essential Oils, please do so in moderation, as each person will react differently. When using Essential Oils directly on the skin, test the oils on a small area of your skin to check for sensitivity, or use with a Carrier Oil, such as Coconut Oil. Also, when using Citrus oils, avoid direct sunlight if used directly on the skin to prevent burning.

I want to first share with you how I, personally, have been using certain doTERRA Essential Oils to aid my workouts. There are many other uses to these oils and other oils that you can use, but these are the ones I have been using on a daily basis! I do not use all of these oils everyday, but I do like to change it up and use different combinations.

Pre-Workout:

Breathe- Helps to open up the sinuses and lungs. Helps invigorate you.

Peppermint- Inhale directly or diffuse before your workout to help you get in the zone, and feel pumped up for your workout.

Citrus Bliss- I inhale or diffuse before a workout to help with oxygen flow and to energize before a workout

Wild Orange and/or Lemon- I add 1-2 drops to my water before or during a workout. Just helps me feel happy and more energized.

I make my own Citrus Blend with 1 drop of Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit, and Wild Orange in a 1 liter bottle of very cold mineral water. I drink this in the mornings to get me started with my day, and feeling extra happy. (You can use regular Purified Water, as well.)

During Workout:

Peppermint In Water or Inhale- Helps with focus, energize, and increases alertness. Peppermint has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects, which help boost performance, exercise recovery and general health. Studies have proven that Peppermint oil can help increase exercise performance, respiratory function, and respiratory gas exchange, while reducing resting blood pressure and heart rate.

Lemon or Lime In Water- Helps to keep you hydrated and adds a nice flavor to your water, making you want to drink more!

Grapefruit In Water or Inhale- Grapefruit helps suppress appetite and helps with weight loss

Post Workout:

Deep Blue- Use Deep Blue on Sore Muscles, or areas where you will potentially be sore in the morning after a successful workout. Replace Bengay or Icy Hot with Deep Blue. Use 1 drop of Deep Blue with 1 tsp of Coconut Oil and massage the sore area, or use 1 drop of Deep Blue directly on the skin!

Peppermint- Rub 1 drop of Peppermint Oil over Sore Muscles… Doesn’t work quite the same as Deep Blue, but its a close substitute.

Lavender (Evenings)- 1 drop of Lavender behind the ears to help calm and relax you after a nice workout. I use it to help me unwind from the day and helps me relax my muscles at bedtime.

I hope that this information will be helpful for you! I really enjoy using Essential Oils, as I hope you will! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. If you want even more information, please check out my friend, Amy’s website, A choice4you. www.achoice4you.com. Let me know how these suggestions work for you in regards to your workouts! Enjoy! 🙂

Cheesy Broccoli Bites

June 27, 2014Health, Fitness, and Food Blog, Recipesbites, broccoli, cheese, cheesy, healthy, recipe, side, snackKayla

As promised, I will be blogging my favorite recipes (well, my family’s favorites, too) to share the yummy goodness with you! Today, I want to share these easy to make, healthy to eat, satisfying treat.

Cheesy Broccoli Bites have been a huge hit at our house lately. We have tried them with just broccoli, with cauliflower, and with a bit of both. We really enjoy a tad bit of spice to our food, so to spice them up, I add one finely diced jalapeño to the bites.This is a very simple, and inexpensive side dish that kids and adults a like will love. Its a great way to spice up that plain head of broccoli, while keeping it healthy and simple.

Ingredients:

1 head- Fresh Broccoli

1 1/2 cup- Cheddar Cheese (or any type of cheese you prefer)

3- eggs

1 cup- Italian Breadcrumbs

Salt and Pepper (I use Sea Salt or Garlic Salt, as I prefer the flavor over plain Salt)

Optional: 1- jalapeño

Instructions:

1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Boil the fresh broccoli in water on the stove with a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Once cooked until it is tender, drain and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

2-Finely chop broccoli, and mix in a bowl with remaining ingredients.

3-Once mixed completely, form small patties with your hands and place on a baking sheet sprayed lightly with non stick cooking spray (Pam).

4- Place bites into the preheated oven, and cook for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, flip and return to oven for 15 minutes more, or until cheese has slightly browned on both side

5-Once cooked, remove from oven and serve immediately.

Here is a link to a pdf Recipe card of this recipe for you to print out, and add to your recipe box! Cheesy Broccoli Bitespdf

Give these a try and let me know what you think! Enjoy! 🙂

Weight-Free Boot Camp Workout

June 27, 2014Fitness, Health, Fitness, and Food BlogKayla

We don’t always have the time to make it in to the gym, so I wanted to put together a 30 minute Boot Camp Workout that you can do at home, which is equipment free. This workout I have put together requires no weights, and is for an intermediate fitness level. I will be posting further workouts for various fitness levels. Make sure you have a bottle of water with you, and hydrate before, during, and after your workout! It is preferable to perform this workout inside or in a moderate climate. (I say this as I live in Mexico, where it is 90 degrees, so workouts outdoors can be more challenging.) I will be following this blog up with short videos of how to do these exercises!

Check out this workout below, and let me know what you think! Push yourself, and don’t give up. You can do it! Good Luck!

Lower Body Conditioning with Cardio Intervals Boot Camp

Warm Up:

Jogging In place for 1 minute

Deep Inhale In, Exhale Out

Stretch Side to Side

Quad Stretch

Knee to Chest Stretch

Grab a drink of water and…

Now to the workout:

30 Jumping Jacks

30 High Knees- alternating legs

30 Raised Toe Taps

20 Squats- Legs Shoulder width apart, toes pointed forward

Hold Squat Position for 20 pulses

20 Calf Raises

20 Jumping Knee Lifts- Alternate in sets of 10

30 Second Break- Grab Water

30 Jumping Jacks

30 Raised Toe Taps

30 Jumping Jacks

30 Raised Toe Taps

20 Lunges in Place- Alternate in sets of 10

20 Plié Squats- Toes Facing Away from Body

10 Jump Squats

30 Second Break- Grab Water

30 Jumping Jacks

30 Skater Jumps

20 Walking Lunges

15 Jump Squats up step

30 Calf Raises in Squat Position

You should be right around 15-20 minutes of workout time. You can choose to cool down, or repeat from the beginning for a more intense workout!

Cool Down:

Light Jog in Place for 30 seconds

Step Touch- 16 count

Heel Digs to the Front- 16 count

March in Place

If your heart rate is still very high, repeat the cool down exercises until your heart rate has leveled off.

Stretch:

Deep Inhale In, Exhale Out

Stretch Side to Side

Quad Stretch

Knee to Chest Stretch

Hamstring Stretch

Ankle Rolls

Deep Inhale In, Exhale Out

Flat Back Down, Roll Up

Deep Inhale In, Exhale Out

Flat Back Down, Roll Up

Final Time: Deep Inhale In, Exhale Out

And YOU DID IT!

How did it go?!? Remember to drink plenty of water post workout to help the body recover. To spice it up, follow up the cardio/conditioning with some ab work. I will be posting a great ab workout to use this week! Let me know how you liked the Boot Camp Workout! Leave your comments here on my blog, or on my Facebook Page, Fitness with Kayla.

At Home Ab Workout

June 7, 2014Fitness, Health, Fitness, and Food BlogKayla

It’s been quite rainy here in Puerto Aventuras, this past week… So I wanted to come up with a quick, at home Abs workout that you can do without having to get out in the rain!

To make this more difficult, increase repetitions to 30 for each set, and increase the plank to 1 minute. You can also do 3 sets for a longer workout!

Stay tuned for an At Home Lower Body Conditioning workout, coming this week!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me here or on my Facebook page at Fitness With Kayla! Try out this Ab workout, and let me know what you think!