A close second to my passion for organizing? Health and fitness! Therefore, this season wouldn’t be complete with sharing my absolute must-haves for working out and prepping food. These are loved items I can’t live without and have owned them for years. Years. Well, maybe I can live without the weight scale – lol – but if you need to buy or gift one, this is the scale to own!

Someone recently asked how my workouts are going. I know, I need to update you soon! It’s going ok – a few aches, pinches and pains..and could be doing better in the kitchen. Will update during the holidays when I have a little more downtime to blog.

THE GEAR

On weight training days, five days a week, I go to the gym for the larger dumbbells and machines, but for my home workouts I have a few key items. I workout at home two or three days a week. Also try to do as much outdoor cardio as possible.

I’ll let you know what I use each of these for.

I have a set of 3 pound and 5 pound weights…but you can choose whatever you need. This is the brand I own…

( weights )

I use these during Peloton rides (if I take a class with an arm segment – rarely) or for high rep / low weight barre exercises. These will humble you, trust me!

This yoga ball is new to me because the one I owned was – wait for it – PRE CHILDREN! Yes, I said it! (By the way – my oldest is 18) It was from one of those calisthenics programs you purchased with VHS tapes. LOL!! No joke. I had it that long. It finally became too thin to use and wouldn’t stay inflated. I worried one day while using it behind my back it may just go ahead and pop on me.

Throwing it away was a sad moment. It had been with me through all the moves and my entire fitness journey. Anyway, here’s my new guy!…

( yoga ball )

I use this ball for ab work (put it behind your back or between your thighs / ankles) and hamstring work (put it between your legs with your feet on the wall). Crushers! Lots of options and if you do barre classes you know what I mean.

Ankle weights are a must-have! I LOVE these for at-home workouts. Mine are 3 pounds and add the perfect amount of fire.

( ankle weights )

 

Foam rollers are essential in recovery. This one has more than 90,000 reviews!…

( foam roller )

Resistance bands are a great tool for at-home workouts and add additional fire as well. My set is the pastel colors, but they still have them in black. These come as a set of three with varying resistance…

( resistance bands )

While doing cardio I wear waist and thigh wraps. I don’t care how ridiculous I look, they work! Look at this from a few days ago…

Hard to see my thigh wraps with my black leggings on, but they are there…and they work. SO well! Here’s my waistline after removing the waist wrap…

( waist wrap | thigh wraps )

They wipe down easily and you can roll them up for a gym bag.

Not a fan of getting on a scale and usually don’t. But it’s great to have an accurate scale with more than just weight measurements if you do feel brave to step on. This is FitTrack and it’s amazing! Has an app and gives you lots of great health info…

( scale )

I finally invested in a gym bag in September 2021 and so glad I did. Previously, my gym items were rolling around in the back seat or on the floor of the back seat. This is my bag and I love this thing!…

( gym bag )

It has lots of compartments, comes in a wide array of colors and it’s lightweight. Of course, mine is heavy because I keep everything but the kitchen sink in here. The shoulder strap is adjustable and there’s a wet section in case you change at the gym and have sweaty clothing or a bathing suit. LOVE this thing!

I also have a Peloton and this is the protein / supplement brand I purchase from 100000% of the time. I LOVE their products and flavors.

THE CLOTHING

Thankfully I’m able to work in the same clothing I workout in, which is a huge cost savings. You know the uniform – in general I wear black leggings, a top and a jacket of some kind. All weather-dependent. Sometimes it’s lighter weight for spring / summer, sometimes warmer for fall / winter. But I love these leggings, especially now in our cold 50 degree / rainy temps…

( zella leggings )

And recently discovered this Lulu dupe top…

( top )

That top has almost 15,000 Amazon reviews and isn’t even $20…while this one from Lulu is $68!…

( top )

I’m wearing it here…

I’d much rather buy three than one!

I’m a die-hard adidas gal and can’t wait to buy a few new pairs. Each year I buy 3-4 new pairs and toss my old ones I wore the entire year. You should see the condition of the three I own and wore all year on projects or at the gym. They have been well-loved! I’m checking out this pair among others…

( adidas )

MEAL PREP

No matter what you do in the gym or how organized you are with your workouts, NONE of that matters unless you’re consistent in the kitchen. If you think about it, your workouts are only a small part of your day…but we eat ALL day long.

I’m consistent with my workouts because if I don’t it affects my mental health, but I wouldn’t say I’m perfect in the gym. Where I really need to be more consistent is with meal-prep. It’s a job for sure…doesn’t have to be, but it can be. When I do make the time to prep, it pays off big time. And these are my glass meal prep containers…

( glass containers )

Love these! I also have a set that is divided…

This is the food scale I have owned since April 2017. And it still works like a charm!…

But it’s showing unavailable now – boo!

This one appears to be the best-seller now and has over 120,000 Amazon reviews…

( food scale )

It’s only $14.

You may be wondering why a food scale. I don’t weigh every single meal. Where this comes in handy is for those who are in serious meal-prep BUT ALSO in case you really want to know what you’re eating. We can be guilty of just pouring stuff into a bowl or serving a plate to ourselves without really knowing the nutritional intake. Having a scale has helped me in being able to eye-ball measurements more accurately – instead of eating blind. Instead of pouring things into a bowl or eating out of a bag. You know? It gives you the information and I love to know the information!

Whether you have plans to start working out in 2023 or someone on your list who’s a fitness fanatic like me, these are great items that are definitely not going to be clutter….unless, of course, you don’t use them! But you’re going to use them, riiiiiightttt?? 🙂

Christmas is only 10 days away – I’m getting so excited to celebrate with the kids. Wait until you see one of my gifts for them…literally can not wait for them to open this gift! Ack – so excited! We also have some fun Christmas traditions planned, including a day in SF to see a show and have dinner. And we’re hosting a couple family gatherings as well. Really looking forward to bringing everyone together and SEEING everyone!

Back soon with more – hope you’re all enjoying the magic of the season!

xo,

Sam