Mom Works It Out by Angela Gillis

Angela August 15, 2017

Group fitness etiquette

I don’t really talk about a bunch on the blog, but I am a group fitness instructor. I am a HUGE advocate for group fitness for many reasons. There has been a surge in group fitness over the years with Crossfit, barre, spin, yoga and many other choices. If you’ve never been to a group fitness class, here are some tips before you go. Show up to class on time. I know it’s hard sometimes and there are times when you’re just running late. Just because you’re running late doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to get your workout on. Access…

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Angela August 8, 2017

Giveaway: Keep a cool head with Headsweats

Disclaimer: I am a Headsweats ambassador. The views about this product or solely my own and not influenced by the company. It’s your chance to win a Headsweats hat or visor. The only hats/visors I wear are Headsweats. I don’t know what it is about this brand but it feels light on my head and collects my sweat like no other. I can’t think of one run that I’ve done without a Headsweats hat or visor. That’s a lot of running, right? My closet is full of these hats and visors and I want to share this great product with…

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Angela August 7, 2017

Starting the weight loss journey is the hardest …

People often ask me what was/is the hardest part of the weight loss journey. Sometimes I want to say, “keeping the weight off” and that is true, but the hardest part is really just getting started. If you are ready for your weight loss journey it is important to take the steps. I wanted to lose the weight many times before I actually did. Do you know what the biggest difference was the last time? I actually took the steps to make it happen. I would always think about what life would be life if I lost the weight. I…

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Angela August 2, 2017

Meal prep this week: Maple Dijon chicken

I haven’t really been talking about my meal prep on the blog lately. I know it’s bad because people want to know about the meal prep. I haven’t really talked about meal prep in a long time but that doesn’t mean I’m not doing it. Meal prep has become a little less high maintenance these days, but it’s still getting done. I’m not fancy. I don’t create recipes on my own. If I’m doing some creating, I’m just throwing stuff together we have in the fridge and making it work. There’s nothing creative happening in my kitchen. I know the…

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Angela July 31, 2017

Don’t let a one-upper steal your shine

Happy Monday! I hope everyone is starting off their week off right. Monday is a time to start anew and set new goals. This is your moment, don’t waste it. Today I wanted to talk to you about the one-upper. I don’t know how to exactly phrase this to you so I’m hoping you will understand. Don’t let these people get you down. Beware of the one-uppers in your life. The people who are always trying to get the last word. The people who are always trying to do you one better. Sometimes it seems like those people are just…

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Angela July 29, 2017

Focus is real

To put this into words is hard because I have been extremely focused lately. I’m the person you come to for motivation and inspiration to tackle your dreams and lately I’ve just been focused on chasing my own stuff. It’s been hard for me to put it into words to post here on the blog. I’m still here. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’ve still been around. The goals I’ve set for myself aren’t visual goals. That’s why I haven’t had much to post on Instagram (besides in my stories). The goals I set are kind of…

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Angela July 14, 2017

Giving up on THE goal

I’m not going to bury the lead today. I’m not going to run the Chicago Marathon. This is the post I’ve been struggling to write for the past two weeks. This is the reason I’ve disappeared off social media. This has been a huge source of sadness in my life. It’s like I gave up or something. But I came to a point where I just physically couldn’t do the training. It makes me sad because this was a goal I set for myself. I was running for the charity (Action for Healthy Kids) that I love and I still must…

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Angela July 11, 2017

Returning to fitness after baby

It’s been almost 7 months since Baby G arrived in the world and it’s been a lot of change. I considered myself a fit person before pregnancy but returning to fitness after the baby has been a bit different than I expected. I did stay pretty active the entire time I was pregnant because I just don’t know how to stop. I also wanted my pregnancy weight to be manageable after she was born. I did run into things I didn’t expect and aren’t really things people told me. These are things I want to share with you if you’re…

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Angela June 30, 2017

Five Things Friday: self care edition

Happy Friday! It’s late on Friday but this is the first time I’ve been able to sit down and blog. Maybe I should have got this post going when I up at 2 am this morning because I couldn’t sleep. Anyway, I am here blogging about my Friday favorites. This week has been pretty good for me. I managed to hit my workouts and did a double workout yesterday (because I missed my run on Wednesday). All I have to say is, I’m too old for the double workouts, lol. It’s something I use to do all the time but…

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Angela June 27, 2017

The portion control dilemma

Last week I posted about how I’m not really counting calories to lose weight. This week I thought I would try something out to see how it goes. I always say that portion control is key to any weight loss plan and I was looking for ways to help. I bought these generic 21-day fix containers on Amazon for $8 and I thought I would give it a try. Sometimes you can’t always weigh out your food or sometimes you just don’t want to do all that. I have always been curious about the containers and how they worked. Maybe…

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Angela June 20, 2017

Why I don’t track my food anymore

I know I’ve talked about how we tracked our food using Lose It! to lose weight the first time around. It was completely helpful and a good tool for me at the time. But I had to step away from tracking my food because even after I hit my weight loss goal I was tracking my food the same way. It became a very serious part of my life that I became too neurotic about. No lie, I would hit my calories for the day and feel guilty about being hungry. It took me a long time to transition from…

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