For awhile I have wanted to start a weekly post featuring some of my favorites from the week. Featured workout move (with a short vlog to show each week), favorite moment of the week, top posts I recently read, favorite meal, and whatever else pops in my head. And what better time than now? I hope you all like it!!!

Featured Move: The Plank
I haven’t started fully working out again yet, but I did want to go ahead and begin strengthening my core again. Enter the plank – my all-time favorite core move. You even get a peek at cutie pie Makenzie doing her own version.

[click to watch on YouTube if video not displaying properly]

Featured Moment: FFF’s Blog Birthday/Anniversary
I had a lot of memorable moments this week – my “Real Deal” post and fitting into my jeans again – but reaching the 1 year milestone stands out to me personally.

Featured Meal: Care Meals
I can’t pick one meal this week. I appreciate the numerous meals our friends have provided for us recently.

Featured Post: Katy from The Singing Runner - “The Tides Have Changed”
I’m a sucker for when people pour out their emotions and things they currently struggle with. There was something special about Katy’s post that reflected her uncertainty on different paths she faces in the upcoming future.

Featured Fun: Despicable Me
Peter & I watched this movie one night and it was surprisingly very funny and cute. I love kid movies with a hidden adult sense of humor.

Featured Cuteness: Play  time together

Featured Question: What things would you like to see in the FFF Features?

Catching up from the weekend? A few fun posts for you:

• How I Scored A Better Deal At The Gym
• My Current Favorite Workouts
• A Fun Survey I Shared
• LAST DAY TO ENTER – CSN Stores Giveaway

Fitness is my passion. Or one of them at least. I love finding new ways to challenge myself physically. It motivates me. It gives me strength. It makes me downright giddy inside. No wonder I anticipate going for such goals again.

I have already discussed the general manner with which I plan to approach fitness after giving birth. I believe shooting for a gradual increase in intensity will help me stay motivated and continue to see improvements. Now, for more specifics!

Weight Training
My heart lies with strength training. I believe it always will. I gain such a sense of accomplishment from seeing my body get stronger and stronger. Plus, there are so many fun ways to mix it up! Listed below are some steps I plan to use for getting back into weights workouts.

1. Light at-home circuit workouts 2-3 days per week.
2. Begin back at the gym with 1 or 2 full body workouts a week, focusing on using machines to reacquaint my muscles with the moves.
3. Ease back into Bodypump style classes 1x/week with the above workouts.
4. Move on to more traditional workouts 3 days per week – adding in more free weights moves. Beginning to add more intensity with things like supersets.
5. Branch out to 4 day workout rotations with a focus on free weights and compound body moves. Add in even more fun and intensity with plyometrics, drop sets, giant sets, and more. Not sure what all that means? Stay tuned and I will be happy to share as I progress to these workouts. We can do them together!

Standard Cardio
Since I love all aspects of fitness, I love cardio as well. The only requirement I have for cardio is that I have a variety. I can’t do machines every workout. Nor can I go to class after class after class and upkeep motivation. I plan to incorporate the following for cardio workouts, rotating them regularly. I have a lot of cardio options, including the running I mention later, but will make sure to not go overboard.

1. At – Home DVDs: Turbo Jam and Cathe Friedrich are my top options currently. I already own them and they never let me down. Cathe tops everything though! She has a great variety with kickboxing workouts, fun step routines, and some great high intensity boot-camp style drill workouts. I LOVE those! Maybe eventually I will get to add Insanity or Turbo Fire to my collection as well.

2. Spinning: That will be the main class I use at the gym since I can do kickbox DVDs at home. Perhaps I will fit in an occasional Zumba as well.

3. Machines: I like to use machines (especially the stepmill) on occasion. Its a fun challenge to switch things up that way and they are great for interval style workouts. Must have a magazine though!

Running
I know running is cardio, but I’ve included it separately. Why? Well, I want to give running a more solid effort. I have always shied away from running because I felt I was no good at it. Now, I realize from blogs that its a personal challenge and I expected too much from myself before. I don’t have to excel at something to feel accomplished doing it.

I want to give it a real chance. I used to love running, but lost sight of it somewhere along the way. I plan to start out with the Couch To 5K program and run my first race ever. Who knows if it will lead to more running? I also have my thoughts on possibly doing a longer distance at the end of the year, depending on how it fits into my overall fitness picture and how much I enjoy it again. That’s all I will say about that for now. Don’t want to get all you running fanatics too excited.

Yoga/Stretching

I know I need to continue focusing on flexibility. I let stretching slip way too often in my past and my body could feel it. I want to make sure I stretch fully after each and every workout. Ideally, I will also manage to fit in yoga 1x/week as well. However, with the gym’s schedule and the cost of yoga studios, that may not be feasible. I will look into options though and do what I can to focus on keeping my muscles limber. Foam rolling will certainly be involved!

So, that’s part two! I’m so ready to get started!!!!

Question of the Day – What workout have you refrained from trying or fully giving a chance because of fear/uncertainty/not feeling good enough?