Fitness With Cindy Core Bootcamp: Week 3

Congratulations! You’ve reached the halfway point of our Core Bootcamp. In week 3 we’ll be working some new moves into your workouts and continuing to raise the intensity level. You should be feeling those abdominal muscles firm up!

By now you’ve gotten used to the program and you might be tempted to skip a workout, thinking “I’ll make it up later in the week.” DON’T GIVE IN! It only takes 15 minutes to sneak in a workout and you’ll feel great once you’re finished. Pick one of the workouts below and let’s go.

Workouts

Click above to view the mat workout option.

Nutrition

“A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips… and waist!” No, no, no! That’s not what we want. Here are four more healthy meals to try this week, each under 500 calories.

Breakfast: Egg scramble with mixed fruit and toast

• 2 scrambled eggs with spinach and portobello mushrooms
• Mixed fruit
• 7 grain sprouted slice of toast with Kerrygold butter on top

Lunch: Hearty soup

• French onion soup made with both beef bone and vegetable broth
• Top with slice of 7 grain sprouted toast with slice of swiss cheese on top
• 4 to 5 healthy crackers

Dinner: Baked seasoned chicken with vegetables

• ½  baked chicken breast seasoned with lemon, parsley and chives
• Steamed asparagus spears
• Steamed cauliflower rice with Kerrygold butter on top
• Pellegrino mineral water with lemon wedge

On the Go, No Time To Cook

• Small portion of Wendy’s chili with crackers
• Wendy’s side salad

Try incorporating one or more of these healthy options, along with the options from Week 2, into your diet this week!

Speed Up Your Metabolism And Burn Away Fat

Our genes are partially to thank for our metabolism, but you’re not simply stuck with the metabolism you were born with. There are things you can do in your day to day routine that will help speed up your metabolism and burn away fat.

Try these tricks:

• Drink a glass of cold water. It takes extra energy to heat the cool water for the body to utilize it.
• Drink green tea. Green tea contains antioxidant catechins that can boost your metabolism by 4%, amounting to about 80 calories.
• Sit less, stand and move more. The more you are at rest, the more your metabolism slows down. Take a walk, do an extra load of laundry, or go pull some weeds.
• Switch up the normal “breakfast, lunch, dinner” rotation and try eating smaller portions six times a day. Sometimes smaller meals with a healthy snack in between keeps your metabolism revved up.
• Make your dinner the smallest meal of the day. Our bodies tend to wind down at the end of the day so we aren’t burning as many calories in the evening as we were earlier in the day. If you get hungry after dinner, chose a smart snack like a glass of chocolate milk, unbuttered popcorn, yogurt, etc.
• Build more lean muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories than fat, even when you’re sitting still. Lift some weights (try this 15-minute arm workout) or use a resistance band to build more muscle. Add in a few squats up and down from the chair.or some good lunges front, side, and back.
• Eat a good breakfast. It actually kicks off your metabolism for the day moreso than if you skipped a morning meal.
• De-stress. Take time to take care of you. Stress causes extra cortisol, which tends to lead to belly fat. Remember to give yourself “me time.”
• Get a healthy night’s sleep. Lack of sleep increases our hunger hormones and decreases our feelings of fullness.
• Change up your exercise routine. Add in some high intensity moves like slow walk, fast walk. The same can be used with swimming and even housework. In other words, incorporate short bursts of energy into whatever activity you are doing.

Read this list each day to remind yourself what you can do to improve your chances of success during this program. I know you will be amazed at the changes you will see!

See you next week for Week 4!