Recreational blizzard

To educe last winter and some of the fun, made me think of some really great activities that can help you get that extra calorie burner in for the day. 

As December hits in Utah, snow regularly fills the once hiked on trails. (unless it is like last winter, cough cough) This makes life really difficult for those of us who love hiking. However, thanks to the genius who decided to put tennis racket looking things on his feet, we can now enjoy hiking all year. Yes they are called snow shoes, use them. Last year this became something that I really enjoyed. Although "enjoyed" is a word to be taken lightly. It was fun don't get me wrong but it is a good warning to remember that snow makes the load a lot heavier so it is a little more work than your regular hike, but well worth it! The first time I went was for a date and we went up American Fork canyon. If you decide to go snowshoeing for your first time, I recommend that you do not dress too warm. The snow tends to play tricks on us and it is not quite as cold as it appears. 

Snow boarding is another winter passion I have. For those who have never been it is hard the first couple of times and then it becomes the most fun thing you will ever do. For the workout aspect of it, you get a great thigh, glut, and abdominal workout. Beginners will also probably have an arm workout as well. If you are one of those people who have lived in Utah their entire life and still have never been snowboarding but still claim to be a Utahan, then I would advise you to take up this great hobby soon. As a college student, snowboarding may be out of the budget but Brighton does night boarding 2 for the price of 1 nights so we can all participate. The way it works is you go to your local Arctic Circle and get a ranch burger asking for the Brighton night boarding pass. They will give you a 2 for the price of 1 pass for every burger.  Then 2 people get in for the price of like $34. It comes out to be like $17 each. I will be the first to tell you it makes for a great date! 

Last but not least, our beloved sledding. Sledding will be my favorite past time from child hood for ever. The list of memories from sledding seem to appear never ending. I remember running in the door from school changing with my siblings into our beat up, hideous old snow clothes and busting back out the door to run to our neighborhood park where there was a huge hill. The hill would be covered with kids of all ages and we would all sled till our parents forced us home because we could no longer see it was so dark. The fun didn't end their though, we would take off the wet clothes and replace them with PJs so we could eat dinner, drink hot coco and watch movies. 

Street Soccer

Street Soccer from Sheridan Shannon on Vimeo.


Sometimes the best way to have fun while getting a workout is to do something you love!

I am a "do stuff" type of chick, I love to play sports and be active, even if I am not good at them.
My really good friend Adam Frogley played street soccer for a club in high school. He loves soccer and would like to still have it part of his life now that he is in college. Him and I were walking to my apartment one day and passed through the tunnels that go to UVU. He instantly thought of how much fun it would be to play street soccer in the tunnels. That night we grabbed all of our close friends and played street soccer, it was a blast. The vimeo above is a music video of it that my friend Sheridan made because she thought it was so much fun.

Since we all had such a great time it has become a tradition. Every Monday night at 9:30 we play street soccer in the tunnels. It has been a fun way to be active and spend time with friends making memories.

Our street soccer tradition has evolved a lot since we started it over 2 months ago. We now have little street soccer goals and many new friends. Every week is different but some weeks we have up to 20 or so players. That is the best part. UVU has a large Middle Eastern community and many of them have came and have joined the fun.

With there being 6 other nights in a week sometimes I need other fun activities to stay active. With it being cold outside people often tend to cling to the idea of movies every night. To my loss I have tons of energy and can not watch movies all day everyday. Lately I have been playing basketball at a local LDS church with my friends. This has also been something that I have enjoyed a lot.

Work in Progress

So it has been awhile..

My cardio cut down has not been quite as successful as I would of wished for. I was doing really great and I was looking really great but then a couple weeks ago I got caught up with life and stopped doing the daily workouts. Not only did my gym determination fail but so did my great eating habits. 
I love candy and sweets as do most woman. I started compromising my healthy eating for sweets around halloween time. 

On top of all that I also ended up going for an 8 mile run the other day. I still have been doing some of the daily workouts just not consistently. Since I wasn't doing it perfect anyway that run was needed. 
The moral of the story is that... Well, this workout program from what I have done was a success, no one is perfect, it is just time to get motivated and keep doing it but the right way again (: 

The cool thing about eating right and working out is that it is never a waste, even if you do not do it perfect the first time or you mess up a lot. You always are better then the people who never tried and sit on the couch. You are always progressing if you are trying. 

Keep working hard!