Before I talk about exercise, I first would like to thank all of you for your amazing and encouraging comments on my last post! It truly made my day knowing that there are plenty of people thinking about us and praying for our well-being. Plus, knowing that you’re so excited to meet Selah makes me that much happier! And with that being said, I’d like to share some things that entail well-being and maintaining a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
Today has been a rather relaxing day for the most part, and that allowed me a chunk of free time to hang out at the gym to bust out some sweat on the elliptical machine. As you may all know, I usually tend to lean towards the treadmill and stepmill because they’re such fun ways of getting in my cardio at a high intensity level without spending hours at the gym. If you’d like to read my post on why I love the stepmill so much, you can click on the link right here.
This afternoon I was in and out of the gym within less than 45 minutes thanks to this challenging interval workout on the elliptical. If you decide to give it a try, keep in mind that you can keep it as short or as long as you want. The workout format that I’m about to show you is only a piece of what I performed today, so in actuality I went for almost 30 minutes on the elliptical.
I know that the format is a bit on the wordy side, but I didn’t know how else to make it specific enough. Let me explain a bit of how this is supposed to work.
One of my main fitness philosophies is that in order to be balanced and truly in good shape isn’t to just look like an athlete or someone on the cover of Oxygen magazine—but most importantly, we need to make sure that we target all the muscles in our body—especially opposing muscle groups. For example, if we perform 50 pushups then we need to work our backs and rear delts as well, and whether that happens on the same day or some other time during the week is up to the individual, but it is essential that we don’t neglect other muscle groups. That’s why when I do elliptical intervals, I often try to keep my feet straight forward and then switch it up by turning them outwards because that targets a different type of muscle in my lower body. In addition, I like to do half of the routine by pedaling forward and then pedaling backwards for the latter half. This way we can work our quadriceps as well as our hamstrings! 
Healthy Mind+Spirit
Now I’d like to touch upon the importance of having a healthy mind and a healthy spirit. It is far too easy to fall into that trap where all we focus on is our outer appearance, physical health, choice of career, and all those things that are actually good for us. However, we need not forget that the most important aspect of health and life in general is a sound mind and a sound spirit.
I’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten busier and more “flustered” over the past few weeks over little details regarding Selah’s birth, my focus on relationships and God has been slowly dwindling as well. Due to my lack of focus as of late, it’s been a lot harder to just let go of burdens and things that have been weighing me down. I’m so grateful though, because without this epiphany I would have continued on that same road that leads to confusion and frustration, and I’m reminded that it’s okay to veer off the path once in a while, because if we trust in God we will always end up on the right place. He works all things together for the good of those who love Him, after all.
Group Classes
And onto the next subject! 
While I was doing my cool down on the treadmill today, I saw this huge group of lively members in the group fitness room. Supposedly they were having a “party” of some sort in honor of the company they work for, and man! They looked like they were having a blast! The music was blaring with crazy beats and tunes. I recall seeing a few of those members practicing in the past, but I’ve always wondered what they were up to, and it turns out that they’re part of the Body Combat class.
Even though I’m more of a lone ranger when it comes to working out, I have to say that this class is the only that has ever sparked some curiosity about group fitness.
Have you tried Body Combat before? What are your thoughts on group fitness?
-The only groups I’ve been to are yoga classes, and I love those. But I’ve never done anything at the gym.
In what ways do you need to take care of your spiritual/mind’s health?
Love,
Ellie <33
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I do have great news though, and that is the fact that Greg’s parents are visiting us and already spoiling Selah like there’s no tomorrow. I probably screamed “eeeeeek!” about twenty times since I saw all the adorable outfits that Sharon got for her soon-to-be granddaughter. We’re still working on Selah’s room and all I can tell you for now is that the room is turning out exactly how I had envisioned it and then some. I will be showing you pictures once it’s more presentable—and that better be somewhat soon because I truly don’t know if I’ll make it to June 14! You probably don’t know how much I’ve been praying and hoping that she won’t come too early because of obvious health reasons, but also because our house isn’t ready for her yet.
