My Favourite Fitness Apps

 I love my phone… It’s always in my hand and I always have it near by… So when I can incorporate it with my hobbies (ie. fitness) it’s a little win for me! Over the last year and a half of having my phone I’ve found three apps that allow me to combine my phone and my fitness!

So I thought I could share them with other phone lovers who want to incorporate these two aspects of their life like I did.

• The first of my three favourites is Yogify by EA Sports. This app is a free download but you only get a limited number of free classes – after which each class is $1.99. So, although these classes do cost money they are way cheaper then an actually yoga class would be, you can do it in the comfort of your home AND you can do the class numerous times! Definitely a great deal!

Reasons to Love It!

- It provides programs based on what you want to improve. So, you have three choices: strength, balance and flexibility

- Not only do you get to pick your focus but you also get to choose your level (1-3). So it works for everyone, from starting out or professional!

-There is a range of times in each program. So once you have selected your focus and your level you can choose between 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes and an hour!

This app is free to download so check it out and see if you like it!

•  The second of my favourite apps is Nike Training Club. This app is 100% free! It’s incredible the workouts that can all be done at home! In addition, many programs are without equipment, meaning you can spend $0 and still burn off those calories!

Reason to Love It!

- You can select a workout right for your schedule and goals! With programs from 15 minutes to 45 minutes and ranging from beginner to pro this app is another one perfect for everyone!

- Once you know your goals (burn fat, get toned, gain strength) they have programs tailored to your every need: Get Lean, Get Toned, Get Strong, Get Focused!

- This app tracks your progress and the amount of time you’ve spent working out with it! Over time you even get rewards! Smoothie recipe, bonus workouts from Pro athletes such as Olympic Gold Medalist on the Women’s soccer team for the USA, Hope Solo! The features with this app are almost endless!

If your goal falls into any of those categories (which it will!) download this app from the iTunes store.

• My third favourite is My Fitness Pal! I have one word for this app – WOW! This app is again 100% free and 100% worth the download!

Note: This app was recommended to me because of my dietary needs and I have found it the best way to ensure I am getting enough calcium and vitamin B along with minerals contained in gluten products. If you have any dietary needs with application is a MUST for you to download!

Reasons to Love It!

- This app tracks the calories you consumer and the calories you burn. So, whether you’re a pro athlete and need to consume 3000 calories a day or your trying to lose weight and you want to consume 1200 calories a day this app will keep you on track!

- This app doesn’t just track your calories, it tracks all the fats you consume, sodium, sugars, vitamins and so much more!

- One feature that I love about this app is it has so many foods already programed into it! You can so on and check the amount of calories in anything and everything!

- The best part about this app is that it’s all in one place! Your calorie intake, what you need to eat more of, what you need to avoid! It’s all here!

Download this free app from the iTunes store!

I hope you found this helpful and has inspired some other phone obsessed people to get their butts moving!

Love, Peace & Yoga,

Laura

P.S. New posts will be available every Thursday!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins:

I love chocolate! 

But I also like to keep my eating as clean as possible! In addition, I’m gluten intolerant so finding any muffins to eat can be rather difficult… But I’ve found it! This recipe was originally from The Gluten Free Vegan’s website (click here to check it out!).

In these chocolate zucchini muffins I’ve found the best of both world! Not only are they delicious and chocolaty, they’re good for you! (Or at least not bad ;) ) Now, because I’m not vegan I didn’t have lot of the original ingredients so I just made it up as I went.

My (slightly adapted) version:

Ingredients:

½ cup of butter

1¾ cups of sugar

½ cup of unsweetened applesauce

½ tsp of baking

½ cup of grape seed oil

½ cup of almond milk or diary milk

1 tsp of lemon juice

1 tsp of vanilla

2 cups of grated zucchini

1½ cups of brown rice flour

½ cup of tapioca flour

½ cup of cornstarch

2 tsp of xanthan gun

⅓ cup of cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp of baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

chocolate chips (or smarties)

Directions:

1) preheat oven 350 F

2) cream butter and sugar together

3) mix applesauce with first amount of baking soda

4) in a separate bowl mix milk and lemon juice together – set aside

5) add applesauce and baking soda mixture to creamed butter and sugar then add oil and beat until combined

6) now that your sour milk has stood for a few minutes add it to the wet mixture then mix well

7) sift all dry ingredients together (except the chocolate chips) in a separate bowl

8) add slowly to wet mixture

9) beat well for 2 minutes

10) portion into paper-lined muffin tins

11) sprinkle 5 chocolate chips on top of each cupcake

12) bake for 25 minutes or until it passes to toothpick test

13) let cool in muffin tins for 10 minutes then remove and let stand

*the muffins will sink slightly while cooling*

The cupcakes in my picture are slightly underdone I would recommend putting them in for 27 minutes for you know your oven takes a long time.

If you try this recipe let me know what you think! You can comment or email me!

Love, Peace & Yoga,

Laura

P.S. New posts will be available every Thursday!

My Quick 15 Minutes Workout!

 It’s a proven fact that 15 minutes of exercise a day can extend your life expectance by 3 years! Only 15 minutes! We all have time for that!

Here are my tips on how to have a quick workout and what I do to make sure I exercise at least 15 minutes a day!

Tips:

Get your stuff together the night before.

By throwing all your stuff in a bag or a box (runners, water bottle, yoga mat, etc.) your automatically cutting out a chore for the next day’s workout. Even if you aren’t going anywhere you still have all your things in one place for the following day.

As tempting as it might be to just jog for 15 minutes, do something more exciting! Mix things up!

There is nothing more boring then the same workout day in and day out! Google interesting quick workout routines! There are tons of ideas out there!

Plan what you’re going to do!

This will further eliminate all excuses of “I don’t have any idea what to do in 15 minutes” and “I’m to busy to figure it out!” I use a small to do list I bought at target for a $1 to write my plan on!

Plan when you’re going to workout the next day!

Don’t tell yourself, “Oh, I’ll do it later.” The day before pick when you are going to workout – morning, afternoon or evening – and stick to it! This will help you actually complete your workout and be proud of what you did!

Give yourself a reward for completing your workout!

Make your reward something that is good for you but that you also enjoy! (No chocolate!) My reward is almond milk in my tea (YUM!), this isn’t anything special but I’m not a fan of my tea without it so its motivation to get my butt into gear and get going!

When it  comes to planning your workout I have two guides, a low intensity and a high intensity, and each night before my workout I change a something about my workout guide to keep things interesting.

Low Intensity:

This workout consists of might jogging and yoga. If you’re a beginner I would recommend you start here!

Light Jog – 2 minutes

Hare Pose – 1 minute

Cobra Pose – 1 minute

Low Lunge – 30 secs each side

Warrior Pose – 30 secs each side

Eagle Pose – 1 minute each side

Sitting Forward Fold – 1 minute each side

Half Boat – 1 minute

Plank Pose – 1 minute

Cobra Pose – 30 secs

Hare Pose – 30 secs

Light Jog – 2 minutes

High Intensity:

This workout consists of sprinting and high interval training! This workout is for a more advanced person or someone wanting to really get started with a new workout routine!

Light Jog – 1 minute

Sprint – 1 minute

Plank – 1 minute

Split Lunge Jumps – 1 minute

Push Ups – 1 minute

Bicycle Crunches – 1 minute

Sprint – 30 seconds

Light Jog – 1 minute

Sprint – 30 seconds

Side Plank – 30 seconds each side (9)

Squat Jumps – 1 minute

Push Ups – 1 minute

Crunches – 1 minute

Sprint – 1 minutes

Light Jog – 1 minute

Sprint – 1 minute

Sometimes I’ll start with this workout and then do yoga for 30 minutes! It’s a get mix of fast pace and then slowing things down!

I hope you all get active for at least 15 minutes a day – walk your dog if that what you can fit into your schedule! Anything is better then nothing!

Good Luck!!

Love, Peace & Yoga,

Laura

P.S. New posts will be available every Thursday!

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