Wedding Wednesday

Posted in Fitness & Food, Wedding Chic, Wedding Wednesdays by livechicly

Remember this post about my wedding get-fit plan? I’m challenging myself to step up my workout routine and tone up for my wedding next year by adding in some cross training, yoga, and long walks at night to my usual morning run. Not going to lie, it’s been tough finding the time to do this. The good news is I finally feel like I can walk normally the day after I do a P90X plyometrics session (not always the case :)).

Seriously, though; finding inspiration beyond looking great in my wedding dress has been tough. The best way to get myself out of bed at 5 a.m. is to stock up on cute workout gear that makes my workout clothes as chic as everything else in my closet. Right now I’m loving this hot pink and yellow combo, with a little grey thrown in as a neutral. Plus, the quality and versatility of these items is unparalleled; they keep me cool in the 100 degree Kansas City heat (no, not an oxymoron) and go from a barre fitness class to yoga to a run seamlessly rather than having to stock up on lots of different pieces.

What do you do to motivate yourself to work out? What are your favorite workout brands?

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1. Top: Under Armor | 2. Shorts: Lululemon | 3. Water bottle: Victoria’s Secret | 4. Shoes: Brooks (the most amazing running shoes) | 5. Headbands: Victoria’s Secret

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13Jul2013

An Outfit + Delicious DIY Vanilla Iced Coffee

Posted in Fitness & Food, Work Chic by livechicly

I like to fancy myself a morning person; even on the weekends I tend to wake up early and can usually jump out of bed ready for the day. But to keep that energy up, I must have coffee. I don’t think I’ve gone a day without coffee for almost 10 years. And as much as I love a hot pot of coffee in the morning, the Kansas summers are just way too humid for this. Hence, I switched to Starbucks iced coffees; they’re a delicious and cool way to get my caffeine consumption without adding to the unbearable heat and humidity we’re experiencing. If you’re an every-day coffee drinker like me; however, you know Starbucks can get expensive (and fattening!) depending what you get. To alleviate this issue (and save more of my hard-earned money for the items on my wishlist), I devised a delicious DIY iced coffee that is easy to make on a busy morning, transportable to work, inexpensive, and super-low in calories. Plus, it doesn’t have too sweet a flavor and the coffee-flavored ice cubes keep it from getting too watery. What will you buy with the money you save?

xoxo, k

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24Jun2013

Wedding Get-Fit Plan

Posted in Fitness & Food, Wedding Chic by livechicly

As a former dancer and track runner, I’ve always loved the endorphin rush I get from working out, whether a ballet class or a 12 mile run. Being busy working, in school, and in a long-distance relationship; I let my workout routine get a little stale and typically focused on running in the morning. It was great, easy, and I got a good cardiovascular workout, but I wasn’t challenging myself and toning or building flexibility.

Now that I’ve graduated and have a lot more routine to my travel schedule (and, by the way, am getting married next year, yay!), I’m upping my workout routine to really challenge me and get in tip-top shape for the wedding. I don’t need to look like a body builder, just nice and toned will do (especially if we honeymoon on a beach somewhere 🙂 )

I find that writing things down and planning or making a schedule helps me stick to something (and some cute workout clothes, like this and this). So, I’ve created a “Wedding Fitness Routine” to give myself a plan every day. It’s pretty aggressive – I went to my first Barre Fitness class on Saturday and I’m having trouble using every part of my body right now. But I guess that means it’s working, right? Speaking of, I am OBSESSED with Barre Fitness now. I went to a class at Brookside Pilates & Xtend Barre and will definitely be a regular now. If you ever danced or are looking for a great way to tone your entire body without lifting a lot of weights, you should check out a Barre Fitness class. There were plenty of people there who didn’t have a dance background, so if you don’t, you won’t be behind. It was a lot different than what I expected; I was picturing more of a traditional ballet class with the typical warmup exercises, but this took pliés and relevés, upped the tempo with modern-day dance music, and used resistance balls and pulsing moves to kick. my. butt.