Deciding to stay on the road wasn’t an easy decision but I’m so glad we did! It feels so good to be moving and exploring again. In the last few weeks, we’ve traveled from California to Texas stopping to see cool places (even walked across the border to spend a day in Mexico) and spending time with friends.  I’m loving almost every minute of it. We are on our way to Florida where we’ll spend the winter exploring and early spring we’ll have our baby near Ft. Meyers if all goes as planned.

All the traveling explains (Along with my desire to stay in bed in the morning and cuddle with Brent…gotta enjoy that while I can!) my lack of blogging lately.

Here are some mostly food and fitness related glimpses from our life on the road lately. I’m saving our day in Mexico, Salvation Mountain, Saguaro National Park, and White Sands National Monument for my travel blog.

After spending over a month in our hometown area we headed south to Julian, California where we spent three days with my friend Deb. I met Deb through blogging almost four years ago and although she doesn’t blog anymore, we’ve built a true friendship. Not only have she and I maintained our friendship but it has grown to include my kids and our husbands. My kids just love her and her husband.

While there we went on a long and beautiful hike.

And out to a few dinners.

(Thanks for the pictures Debs!)

We also explored some local markets and stores.

Our next stop was near Yuma, Arizona. We stayed at a very mellow and nearly empty campground where I decided to get some sun on my growing baby bump.

Speaking of baby bumps, I took this a few mornings ago. My bump is still small but I decided I finally looked pregnant. I’m 21 weeks in the above picture. The next day at the grocery store a stranger said something about having a baby to me. I’m glad to be looking pregnant. It feels like I’m taking longer to show this pregnancy which is strange since I’m 11 years older than last time. I’m attributing it to being more in shape at 36 than 24. Thank you kettlebells!

After Yuma, we headed to New Mexico for a few days where I got in lots of steps climbing and playing on the dunes. By the way, I have reluctantly accepted that I’m not going to reach my goal of 3 million steps this year. It will be close but I decided I didn’t want to stress of reaching a number. Maybe next year.

Then we headed to Dallas where we spent a wonderful week with some of our friends who we spent the winter with snowboarding in Breckenridge. We hadn’t seen them since we say goodbye in Salt Lake City last May. While there I got in a few workouts.

One morning in Dallas, it was so cold I had to break out the Jack Skellington gloves.

I’ve been averaging 2-3 strength training workouts a week for the past month and I already feel much better.

Along with strength training, I just bought this DVD. So far I don’t like it as well as the Yoga Studio app but I don’t “dislike” it. I wanted something specific for pregnancy.  I’ll let you know how  I really like it once I’ve done all the routines.

Last but not least, I bought myself a gift with the birthday money I received back in August. A fancy pants blender!!!! I spent hours and HOURS reading reviews on Vitamix vs Blendtec and ended up going with the Blendtec. Costco had a good deal on one that came with the Wildside and Twister jars. I ordered it back in Ventura but had to wait until I got to my best friend’s house in Austin to get it. So far I’m liking it. I’ll try to write a full review after I have spent some more time using it.

Well that’s what’s been going on in a nutshell. What about you? Do you have a fancy pants blender? Have you ever been to White Sands?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States.

The post Recent Glimpses from Life on the Road appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Sometimes I think we make things harder in our head they they are in reality. How many times have you talked yourself out of workout because it just seems like it’s going to be “too hard” or “you don’t have time”.

I know I’ve done that more than I’d like to admit.

Working out isn’t the only thing I put off because it seems “too hard” or “too time consuming”.

Editing my workout videos is another thing that always seems overwhelming in my head but once I start I realize that it’s not that hard. I was reminded of that this morning when I sat down to edit another kettlebell workout for my state series. It took all of two hours instead of the all day job I had envisioned. In hindsight, it would have been easier just to start in the first place instead of keeping it on my to-do list. Kinda of like a workout.

I filmed this kettlebell workout early last fall in Minnesota. It was a beautiful morning on the lake and a perfect way to start the morning before we headed to North Dakota. Before my workout I did a series of mobility drills for warm up.

As usual it’s a simple kettlebell workout that  requires one bell but if you are really advanced it could easily be done with two substituting presses for the reach.

Kettlebell Workout Minnesota

A. Squat Reach 10x
B. Snatch* 10x each arm

AMRAC in 9 minutes. AMRAC = As many reps as challenging.

Most often you see AMRAP (as many reps as possible) used in timed workouts. I have posted AMRAP workouts before but recently I’ve been working on listening to my body more. While I’m not against  AMRAP workouts I no longer think that language is the most beneficial as it encourages people to get in as many reps as possible oftentimes at all cost. Form may be sacrificed (I’ve done this) and when you are racing the clock then it’s easy to forget to listen to your body (I’ve done this too). Of course, it’s absolutely possible to do an AMRAP workout safely but perosnally I prefer the word “challenging” because the goal is to challenge your body not push it to its limits. Every once in a while is fine but to push to your limits all the time is not necessary nor is it smart.

*If you aren’t comfortable with snatches just substitute swings instead.

Do you prefer kettlebell snatches or swings? Do you ever put things off only to find out it wasn’t near as “bad” as you thought? 

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States.

The post Snatch It Up- Kettlebell Workout – Minnesota appeared first on Girl Heroes.

This morning I spent some time reading some fitness/healthy living blogs of friends who I have “known” for the last 3-5 years of blogging. I have not done this regularly for months and months. It made me nostalgic in a strange way for the time when I read blogs and interacted with bloggers almost every day.

It also made me want to come here and post because blogging has almost always been a very fulfilling hobby.

As we approach our 48th state and near our two year anniversary on the road we are facing some big decisions and life changes. I’ve been so preoccupied with traveling and schooling (we homeschool year round) that I haven’t made much time for myself. My workouts have been sporadic, internet not always reliable, and I find myself reluctant to go online much of the time.

Then this morning I realized how much I missed this space.

So I’m dropping in to say hello. I haven’t forgotten the state kettlebell workout series. I plan to follow through with those even if it takes me another year to finish editing because it’s not good for my self-esteem to start something only to quit halfway through. Something I’ve been known to do more than once.

Anyway all in well in my life. I’m enjoying my family more than I ever thought possible and while life on the road is challenging at times I can’t imagine having spent the last two years any other way.

I’m still doing yoga although it’s more like 5 times a week instead of every day like I had hoped. I’m also still working out with my kettlebells a few times a week with the intention of maintenance instead of pushing myself to be stronger, faster, or any other “more”. There is certainly a time and a place for that mentality but now is not the time for me. For a period of time working out was my life, or at least a huge part of it. Now it’s just something I do to live a more full life.

I workout to live not live to workout.

I’ve not been as good about taking pictures of workout locations lately but here are few of the food and fitness highlights from the last few weeks.

We stocked up at another another farmer’s market.

We picked over 8 pounds of organic raspberries and blueberries at the original Cascadian farms. The berries were $2.25 a pound! At that price, I will never be able to buy berries from a store again!

There have been hikes in the Cascade National Park, Olympic National Park and the Hoh Rainforest which is part of Olympic NP.

There was some yoga with Brent overlooking the Puget Sound.

Just to keep it real there has been yoga in the RV because there were too many mosquitoes outside.

What have you been up to lately?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States.

The post Life Lately appeared first on Girl Heroes.

I have one thing to say about last week.

Amazing.

We stayed on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. Our friends who we met up with in Provo the week before, the ones we spent the winter with in Breckenridge, came with us. Not only that but my longtime internet friend, Janetha, who I met on a fitness forum before we both had blogs came for dinner.

Rather than tell you about my week, I’m going to show you. At least I’m going to show you the fitness-y parts. I do a lot more than exercise. I’ll save the details on bison, floating in the Great Salt Lake, and jackrabbits with ears as long as my arm for my adventure blog.

Our campsite was incredible. It was large and open and faced the Great Salt Lake making for the most stunning sunset workouts.

I did a few strength workouts and pulled out my heavy rope for the first time since last fall.

I’ve gotten so strong that I broke my rope into pieces. He he. (If you look closely- I know the photo is kinda small – you can see how the panorama app composited the rope into pieces.)

Brent and I also slipped away for a bike ride.

We started off on this trail which got progressively more rocky, so much so that we were walking and hauling our bikes over rocks more than we were riding. Biking is hard for me especially through rocks. I get really scared especially since my little brother almost died from a bike accident when I was a kid

So we found an easier trail. Much easier for me because while Brent went to the top of that moutain I sat on the side of the road.

We passed a heard of bison on the beach.

To add to an already beautiful week Janetha came to visit along with Marshall, the pups, and Momma B. I had actually met Janetha once before briefly before we left when she came to LA. Our meeting in LA was a short visit and their were a lot of people. I’m an introvert and prefer small groups so this was perfect.

I’ve met a lot of bloggers in person. Most of the time they are as nice in person as they are on their blog. Janetha is no exception. She is every bit as sweet in person as she is online and then some. As are Marshall and Momma B, who I’ve also known and interacted with online for a number of years. I actually did a Girl Heroes feature with Janetha and Momma B a few years ago. Not only is their transformation inspiring but so is their friendship. Wonderful wonderful people.

I was thrilled when she said they would bring the dogs.

I was secretly planning to kidnap Penny but once I met Randy (the basset) I  decided I had to have them both but couldn’t figure how to keep them without Janetha and Marshall noticing. These two were ridiculously sweet and well behaved. They hung out with us inside our RV until 11 pm! Janetha and Marshall told us the funniest stories about Randy  honking the horn and getting into food. Ornery fellow! My kind of dog!

We also ate dinner while watching the sunset.

A bison even decided to cruise by while we were eating!

Thank you so much for visiting Janetha, Marshall, Momma B, Penny, and Randy. It was such a treat! In case you haven’t read Janetha’s blog (you probably have she has quite the following) it’s called Meals and Moves. She wrote about our time together here.

Have you ever met an online friend in person? Any mountain bike tips?  

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States.

The post Fitness, Friends, and Fun on Antelope Island appeared first on Girl Heroes.

We’ve been having a ton of fun visiting with my family. I just love being here and wish so much Indiana had mountains and an ocean like California. It’s hard living far away from family but now we live in an RV we regularly get to see friends and family all over the country.

Being with family does have it’s challenges, though. Like my dad’s sliders on King Hawaiian rolls. Or my mom’s pickle dip, a childhood favorite.

I’ll just say my food choices haven’t been something to brag about.

But let’s focus on the positive shall we…

Monday, Brent and I did a light strength based kettlebell workout together in my parent’s backyard. We finished with some sprints races.

These guys were our audience.

I intended to workout again on Wednesday but didn’t get to it until Thursday when I did medium strength based workout with lots of clean and presses, pull ups, push ups.

Friday, I did some conditioning with my Ultimate Sandbag.

I finished my workouts for the week Saturday with a heavy strength workout followed by some swings. Even though my parents have a nice home gym set up inside their house, I still find myself wanting to workout outside.

There were also fun activities last week like a family bike ride.

Feeling bad ass with a mustache.

And playing with mustaches. We  had waaaay to much fun wearing mustaches. Life is too short to take yourself too seriously.

I hope you got your workouts in last week. If not this week is a new week so get to it!!! Sharing workout pictures has been a great way for me to stay accountable. Maybe I should start sharing food pictures.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at New School Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Move It Monday appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Hope you had a great weekend. We celebrated my grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary. The week before we celebrated my other set of grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary as well.  I’m so grateful to not only have all four of my grandparents still with us but to have such wonderful examples of loving marriages in  my life.

Here are last week’s workout locations. Most of them I did in my parent’s house which was a nice change but by the end of the week I was craving the outdoors even if it meant battling the humidity.

On Monday I just did 10 minutes of light turkish get ups and mobility work since had hurt my back the previous Friday. This was the first workout in almost a year that I got to do on carpet.  No bugs. No itchy grass. So awesome!

Although my back was feeling better by Wednesday I decided to play it safe with ten more minutes of light get ups and mobility work.

Friday, I played with a fun new toy, the Ulitmate Sandbag. I’ll have a review soon.  Loving working out in my parent’s house!

Saturday I took my workout back outside. My sister and I did  a short partner rope/kettlebell intervals in the backyard. This was the first time in over a year I have worked out with someone other than Brent. It was so much fun despite the icky humidity!

Sunday –  After the anniversary party Brent and I took a walk on a nearby bike path. I didn’t want to walk in my heels so I went barefoot. Talk about some dirty and sore feet!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at New School Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Traveling Fit appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Last week’s kettlebell workouts spanned Vermont to Indiana. Like the previous week, I didn’t really follow a schedule because we were moving so much. I just did what I could when I could.

Sunday – Brent and I got up early to shoot my Vermont workout at the wild flower farm where we spent the night. I also started breaking in my new Vibram 5 Fingers.  So far I have mixed feelings about the frog shoes.

Tuesday–  This was my favorite workout location of the week. It was right behind our rv overlooking a lovely lake. Brent and I did a super short strength based workout. After two really hot days in New York it was wonderful to have a cool evening in Ohio.

Wednesday – We shot my Ohio workout in front of this covered bridge.

Friday – We made it to my parent’s house. I decided to workout in their basement. It was pure luxury working out in air conditioning without bugs! Unfortunately, in a middle of a push up I felt a lighting bolt of pain across my upper back. Ouch! I spent the rest of my workout foam rolling and stretching. At least, the floor was clean.

I haven’t worked out since Friday because of my stiff neck and back. I can tell it’s healing so today I’ll probably do something very light. Lately, I’ve been really inconsistent about warming up with mobility work. I’m certain this injury wouldn’t have happened had I taken the time to do a proper warm up. Ugh. It happens.

That’s it for last week’s workouts. I’m hoping to find time to edit a new kettlebell workout and have it posted later this week.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook (Be sure to click “subscribe” if you want posts to show up in your feed.) Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at New School Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Travel Fit appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Last week was a week fit for adventure. I got in four kettlebell workouts, two long hikes, and multiple short hikes.

It was sort of a weird week because we were traveling a lot. Typically, we like to stay put a week or so but we have a family commitment at the end of July so we were moving more than usual.

A flexible workout schedule works the best for me but last week was one of those weeks where I had to workout when and where I could. This resulted in a workout schedule that was all over the place. Literally.

Sunday – Warming up before we shot my Maine workout in Acadia National Park. This location was AMAZING. Someday I’ll get around to editing it.

Monday – Practicing Turkish get ups in the campground activity center. I don’t like to lay down on the grass (afraid of ticks) and it’s tight on the inside of our RV so I don’t get in nearly enough get up practice. This location was not so amazing but it was a tick free zone.

Tuesday – A very short strength based workout at our campsite. We had a lot of space behind our RV which was nice and I could see the ocean from our site. Yeah!

Thursday – We shot the New Hampshire video.  I actually didn’t workout in this exact spot but I thought it made a cool picture.

I took off Friday and Saturday.

Along with the kettlebell workouts we hiked more than usual. I loved every step.

Almost.

I’ll have to tell you about it later. It certainly tested my “fit for adventure” mindset.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook (Be sure to click “subscribe” if you want posts to show up in your feed.) Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at New School Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Fit for Adventure appeared first on Girl Heroes.

While traveling the country fulltime in a RV allows me to do kettlebell workouts in some pretty amazing locations like on the top of a mountain in Yosemite or next to the aquamarine waters in the Florida Keys, most of my workouts take place in less “magical locations” like Texas Longhorn pastures.

Since I no longer have a gym membership or a garage gym, most of the time I’m dealing with the weather, bugs, or dirt. Not only that I don’t always use just kettlebells.

A heavy rope and kettlebell workout in New Jersey.

I love working with my heavy rope almost as much as I do kettlebells.

I also use the picnic tables a lot.

Brent rocking some double kettlebell swings in Massachusetts.

Working on my double single leg deadlifts. Yes, I occasionally workout flip flips.

I typically don’t take pictures of all my workouts but I want to remember every detail of our travels so I’m going to start regularly sharing all the places I workout even the grubby ones. It will also help me stay accountable because sometimes travel and fitness are hard to merge. Most of all thought, this is such an amazing time  in my life and I don’t want to forget a single minute or…workout.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook (Be sure to click “subscribe” if you want posts to show up in your feed.) Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at New School Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Travel Fitness appeared first on Girl Heroes.