Fitness Friday: from gym to home

My absolute favorite thing to do at the gym is the stair climber. I love that machine! It burns a ton of calories and builds almost every muscle in your legs while working core muscles at the same time. I usually do it for 30 minutes. I climb around 130 flights. But, since we are living the quarantine life, I’ve had to improvise. This is what my new stair routine looks like. Not pretty but it gets the job done.

I climbed 56 flights in 30 minutes. Not quite what I get done on the stair climber but it will have to do. I put on my favorite true crime podcasts and climbed away.

I recently started using the rowing machine at the gym. It’s a great all over workout but I still prefer the stairs. I only do 15 minutes on the rowing machine. I cannot replicate this machine at home without actually buying a rower. If anyone has one that they could recommend, I would love to hear all about it. 🙂

After I do my cardio, I move to weights. I alternate the body parts I work. One day is arms/shoulders. The next day is legs/booty. Abs can be done everyday. I belong to Planet Fitness and just work my way through the machines. I spend about and hour and a half at the gym.

Now that I’m home, I’ve been using resistance bands and dumbbells. I watch You Tube videos of my favorite fitness accounts …Mr. and Mrs. Muscle and 12 Minutes to Toned are my top two. You pick an area of the body on which you want to work and there is a video for it.

I have tons of workouts and ideas on my Healthy Living Pinterest board. You can find them under Ramona Turzio. Sometimes I pick a couple and do those exercises just to switch it up a bit.

Yesterday I did arms and shoulders with a routine by Kelsey Wells from the Sweat App. You should check out her Instagram. Its fantastic. I also just discovered Kayla Itsines She is also a Sweat trainer and the creator of BBG. Where have I been living? I could have been doing these workouts for the past month I’ve been in isolation. I also absolutely love @squats, @mkfitness, and @fitstylegrace on Instagram. They offer tons of free workouts.

Everybody is different. What works for me might not work for someone else. I just found what habits and routines work for me and if I stick with it, I can maintain my weight give or take 2-3 lbs.

Do I miss going to the gym? Yes. Do I see a difference in my body since being home? Yes. I’m just trying to give myself some grace and not be too hard on myself. This too shall pass. In the meantime, check out those accounts I mentioned above. You wont be disappointed. Trust me.

Happy Exercising!

What We Wore Wednesday

If you follow us on Instagram, you can see what Karen and I wear to school each day and our weekend looks as well. We try and post a “what we wore” photo every day of the week. Sometimes life or the weather gets in the way but at least one of us manages to share an outfit of the day picture.

If you don’t follow us on Instagram, here’s a peek at what we wore to school/work/play this past week …

For Valentine’s Day, we celebrated as a family and went out for sushi and a movie.  I wore an oversized top from Old Navy over Joes’ Jeans with my trusty Steve Madden riding boots.  I get so many compliments on my statement necklace from Walmart every time I wear it.  My pink Kate Spade studs, Target belt and pink Sugar Lips add a little bit of color to my neutral look.

 

For Friday, February 13th, I participated in a style challenge by our insta friend @shannonsa.  The challenge was to wear red.  I wore my favorite red lipstick from Revlon.  It’s number 740 and its called Certainly Red.  This is my very favorite scarf in the world.  It was only $6.00 from Forever 21.  My long sleeve tee and boyfriend jeans are from Gap and my Lucky Brand booties have been on serious repeat lately.

 

Some days you know you’re not feeling it but you still have to get dressed and be a functioning human.  Today was one of those days.  I opted for easy casual.  My jeans are Paige Denim, booties are Lucky brand and earrings are Bella and Jack all from TJ Maxx, My leopard belt is from Target.

 

I got this tee over the weekend at Target on clearance for $5.00!  Score!  I couldn’t wait to wear it.  I am dying for spring to arrive so I broke out my favorite Amrita Singh spring necklace   Skinnies and there are those booties again round out my look.  😉

 

On Sunday, Karen and her husband celebrated their wedding anniversary and she wore this stylish blazer from Gap.  She paired it with skinnies, a tassel necklace and heels for a perfect date night look.

 

For a midweek look, Karen paired Gap skinnies with and oversized sweater from Abercrombie.  Her booties from Toms and necklace from Loft round out her look.

 

For a festive Valentine’s Day Eve look, Karen wore a pink bubble statement necklace over a pink and red striped long sleeve tee from Gap. Jeans and her Toms booties finish it off perfectly.

 

How cute is this anchor top that Karen is wearing!? It’s from Express.  I love it paired with the red Banana Republic skirt and black Tory Burch flats.

Make sure you’re following us on Instagram. If you ever want to know where anything is from that we are wearing, all you have to do it just tap the photo on Instagram to see the tag. We would love to have your support. Thanks for stopping by!

Ramona’s Favorite Casual Looks of 2014

While I love dressing up just as much as the next girl, I’m most myself in casual clothes. Now, that’s not code word for sloppy. I believe you can absolutely look stylish and feel good about the way you look in a casual outfit.

My life as a preschool teacher lends itself to a more casual work look. Let’s face it, we are painting, making music and sitting on the floor for most of the day. I also assist in gym. It’s kind of hard to do that in a skirt.

My go to sources for trendy casual clothes that won’t break the bank are GAP, Old Navy, Target, Forever 21 and TJ Maxx. Their prices, sales and selection simply cannot be beat.

So, without further ado, I bring you my favorite casual looks of 2014…

I love this plaid shirt from Target. I get so many compliments on it. I almost always pair it with a fun statement necklace like this one from Wrist Soirée to dress it up. My Ugg boots are the ultimate in comfort and casual.

For the above look I paired a buffalo plaid shirt from Forever 21 and a jewels sweater from Loft with black skinny jeans and tall black boots.

I got this sweater from GAP last year and I’ve worn it to death. I’ve seen a similar one recycled at Old Navy this year. Here I wore it with jeans and my new wedge booties from TJ Maxx. I sometimes wear it with a blue and white gingham shirt underneath.

And for my final favorite casual look of 2014, I paired the unexpected, a really amazing statement necklace with a super casual look of Forever 21 sweatshirt, Old Navy skinny jeans and printed pointed teo flats from Banana Republic. I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my favorite casual looks from the past year!