blacKandi Fitness

OK so February was a very crazy month for me in terms of diet and fitness. I spent three weeks sick from infection from a spider bite I had gotten. I was even admitted into the hospital for four days. I did not get a lot of workouts in and I found that eating often made me sick so I didn’t. But through adversity I didn’t gain any weight or fat which I am so thankful for. I’m back into the home gym and found that I have not lost any strength whatsoever so I am back on my grind.

I am now ready to give you my February 2010 favorites!!!

My Favorite February 2010 Links!

I found the information located within these links interesting…

Fitness Advice & Workout Videos by Zuzana
Binge Eating to Become An Official Mental Disorder
Organic Connections

My Favorite Home Workouts for February 2010

February was circuit workout month for me, but I didn’t get many workouts in. I did, however, get attached to Susan Dozois’, “Your Body Breakthru The Ultimate Workout with Michelle Dozois” which is no cake walk circuit. I like the fun factor of this circuit and constant moving. I found that everything included in the workout is effective. For this workout you need a pair of hand weights and high step.

I also did a little Yoga for the first time starting out with the “10 Minute Solution 5 Day Get Fit Power Yoga” workout with Amy Bento which was cool. I liked it so it prompted me to look for a more advanced Yoga workout. I searched and watched a lot of Yoga workouts and found one of Kimberly Fowler’s (purchased this last month). I’m totally in love with this Yoga workout. Since then, I’ve gotten serious about Yoga and have incorporated it into my fitness program on Sundays. I went out and got more Yoga DVDs by Gaiam, a cool designed, extra thick Yoga mat, a pair of Yoga gloves and socks by Gaiam. I already have a pair of Yoga blocks so I’m all set now.

More about my Yoga gloves and socks.  Well, I really like them because they have grips on them so no sliding for me when I’m doing Yoga.  Some will say this is cheating, but since I’m a newbie to Yoga these supplements will do me no harm.  As I get better and better I will eventually remove my gloves and socks!

Here are pics of my new Yoga mat, gloves and socks!

Extra Thick Leopard Print Yoga Mat $12.99 @ TJ Maxx

Gaiam Yoga socks and gloves $9.99 each @ Target

My Favorite Book(s) for February 2010

I only have one for the month of February and it is my Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises. I bought this book from Costco for $11.99 which is a good price considering it would be $16.99 + tax + shipping from Amazon.com.

Every strength training exercise, its variations, rotations for each muscle group and pre-made workouts can be found in this colorful and pictureful big book. I love it! If I don’t want to follow a workout video I can just bang out any strength workout I want from the book.

My Favorite Foods for February 2010!

I’ve really been loving squash. I’ve taken a liking to acorn squash and butternut squash. This was my first time cooking and eating squash. I have been missing out on this great vegetable all this time and didn’t know it. I will be incorporating squash into my diet every so often because it tastes good to me and it’s healthy. Thank you Clean Eating magazine!

New Purchases Made in February 2010!

Here is a list of my new workout DVDs:

1. Ilaria’s Powerstrike 5 which I haven’t tried yet.

2. Ilaria’s Abs & Pushups which I love and love.  It’s a great supplement to any workout.  I’ve been doing the 20 minute workout after every workout every other day.

3. Tonique Mat Workout which I haven’t done yet, but I heard it was very very good.

4. Tonique 2 which I haven’t done yet, but also heard this workout is very good as well.

5. 10 Minute Solution Carb Burner instructed by Susan Dozois which I did a long time ago after renting from Netflix.  I like the workout so much I had to own it.  I own many 10 Minute Solution workouts and I love them all…very effective and fun 50 minutes of workout each time.

And I bought the Gaiam Yoga socks and gloves as stated above.  I bought Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises as well.

Last, but not least…I bought a Stretch Barre from Costco.com.    Here are some pictures of the barre and Hubby putting it together.  I don’t have any workouts for it yet, but I’ve been doing lots of pullups and stretching on it.

I really like my barre a lot!  I can’t see myself trying to carry it anywhere because it’s too heavy and it seems like a hassle to take it a part and move it…it doesn’t seem too portable to me, but that’s OK because I don’t need to ever move it.  The barre is sturdy and can hold my weight.  I am able to do pullups on it and I lean on it when I stretch.  I think this barre will do well once I get my Cardio Barre DVDs in.  I really love it and I really love the price too.  It cost me $129.99 + tax, free shipping through UPS.  The package got to me four days after I ordered it.

So, that’s it for Januray 2010!!!  See ya’ll with another FAVORITES next month!!!