Ok, so all this weened I was saying, what I’m sure we are all sick of saying, “My diet starts monday” but this time it’s totally true! I had such a great easter weekend with my friends in Vegas and had so much tasty easter candy:) but my husband is taking me to Barbados for my birthday, the week of May 9th, which I’m really excited for, so it’s time to get swimsuit ready! So I have just over a month do it! This weekend I tweeted about starting my diet Monday and asked who wanted to do it with me and since quite a but if you asked me to share I figured I would!! So i’ve come up with my workout plan for the week, and will post what i’m eating for each day.  My husband does this crazy no carb diet, and I’ll admit, it’s really hard for me to dive into it, so i’m taking it week by week, lowering my carb intake as i go, starting with breads and processed carbs. This morning I had a little bit of cream of wheat for breakfast, and for lunch i’m having steamed vegetables and small chicken breast (baked) over a bed of brown rice.   I don’t usually love brown rice, but when you cook it in a little bit of chicken broth and some lime, it’s not bad:) and then at sometime during the day i’ll have a small fruit and veggie smoothie/juice, pictured above.  See also Homemade Green Monster for another recipe and to see how I do carrots in my juices.  For dinner, i’ll have a light vegetable stir fry:)

Today’s Daily Fav is The Sisters in the City blog. I’m kind of obsessed with her outfit:) Check it out HERE!

ps – if you have any questions about how to do any of these, feel free to ask! Just remember that we all have our own goals, strengths and abilities, be safe and know your limits.  I usually do 3 sets of 12-15 of light weight to try and build long, lean muscle.

good luck to us all:)

xx Amber

I get asked a lot to do health and fitness posts and to share my favorite work out songs.. I have been meaning to do it for so long and just keep forgetting!! So please keep emailing requests for posts, I promise I will do them! (eventually)

The post Work Out Songs! appeared first on Barefoot Blonde by Amber Fillerup Clark.

So today I am talking fitness! Quite honestly I haven’t worked out much since I have been pregnant, not as often and not nearly as hard as I was before. I believe in being active for mental health as well as physical health and love to be active in some way each day even if while I am pregnant some days it is just taking my dog on a walk and playing with him out back and making sure I park in a far parking spot haha

The #1 thing I get asked to do a post on is my work out so I will be sharing some of my favorite work outs (throughout the year!) and the ones I found most effective (these I did PRE pregnancy) but I will also share pregnancy work outs as I get further into my pregnancy.

This work out I am sharing today may seem a bit silly because they are really simple moves but to me this is what gets me the leanest and most toned. I usually do this work out three times a week:

CARDIO 60 MIN (I usually do 30 min on the bike and 30 on row machine!)

300 LUNGES (If this seems like a lot, start out at 150 like I did and I worked my way up adding about 20 each day. I usually do 25 at a time walking around an indoor track and walk 200 yards in between and your legs are supposed to shake afterwards )

300 REPS OF VARIOUS AB EXERCISES (again I know this may seem outrageous if you are just starting to get working out again but just start doing 100 a day and add 15 or 20 each day you do them.) I will do 25 sit ups, 25 air bike, 25 butt ups, 30 second plank (I count as 25 sit ups) and just pick 4 different exercises and rotate between those that day and then the next day rotate a couple different ones into it.

And after that I am beat. On the two days in between I do various arm work outs and work different parts of my body with weights or I do boxing work outs but I will share those work outs another day

Also music is huge for me in working out, if I can’t find my headphones or something I will not go to the gym until I have them found! It is so motivating for me and sometimes just listening to a certain song can put me in the mood to go do a really good work out so as I do these work out posts I will also share my current playlist!

MY WORK OUT CURRENT PLAYLIST:

Doses and Mimosas by Cherub

Do My Thang by Miley

The Illest by Far East Movement

Do I (Where We Are) by Cherub

Dark Horse by Katy Perry

Big Poppa by The Notorious B.I.G.

Cinema by Benny Benassi (Skrillex Remix)

React by Eric Sermon

Thats all for today! Check back tomorrow to see the Chunk Side Braid Tutorial!! xo

The post Fitness Part 1 appeared first on Barefoot Blonde by Amber Fillerup Clark.

^^Went to take pictures in my new work out clothes and thennnn

LEGGINGS: Nike via Macy’s // TOP: Nike via Macy’s // SNEAKERS: Adidas // SUNGLASSES: Ray Ban

And then I started jumping up and down and doing really weird things because I was FROZEN. So we ended up with a ton of pictures of me looking like a cold bird trying to pee like a human haha! Not cute. BUT I wanted to do a post on work out clothes because it is almost the new year and I REALLY want to set new fitness goals for myself because I have not gone to a gym since before I had Atticus! I have always been very into fitness and love lifting weights and just being active and this is BY FAR the longest I have ever gone and hopefully the longest I will ever go again because I am turning over a new leaf and going to tone up again. I don’t know what my fitness plan is going to be yet – probably boxing and pilates but whatever it is I will share it on here.

Before then I figured why not get some new work out clothes?! I am getting rid of ALL my old stuff and starting fresh so here is some work out inspiration and/or gift guide (almost Christmas eek!) for the fitness lover. Macy’s has the cutest workout clothes!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

The post Fitness Gear appeared first on Barefoot Blonde by Amber Fillerup Clark.

JACKET: Race with Grace // BOTTOMS: Wunder Under // SHORTS: Breezy Short // MATT: 3mm // SHOES: Nike // STROLLER: Uppababy

This week has kind of been a weird, off week for me! I don’t even know why – I have just been feeling off! So it was nice to get outside and get some fresh air with my boys. Working out and getting fresh air always make me feel better. I also got an excuse to wear my new work out clothes from Lululemon! I have always heard the craze about them and its all just so so true. Everything fits like a glove and the colors and strap designs are so unique and make it fun to get dressed to work out.

Living in the city we have been so much more active that I honestly don’t feel bad if I don’t make it to the gym! Between walking Chauncey a few times a day, random trips to markets, trips in the park, shopping, or whatever, the miles really add up! Somedays we walk (excluding cardio) 6 or 8 miles! The warmer it gets too, the more miles we add up because it’s easy do cardio in the park. I love that we have the trail that goes around Jackie Onassis Reservoir so close to us! It is such a a beautiful view and I love just walking and thinking!

I really love lululemon’s strappy workoutout tops/bras which I normally wear to the gym, or for an at home workout, but for outdoors long sleeves, pants and gloves are still the way to go.

I also wanted to share with you this short video of my top 12 favorite ab workouts that you can do at home or at the gym! Honestly I always think it comes down to butt and abs! If those two things are in shape you can usually fool the rest into looking in shape too plus I love the feeling of having tight abs – it makes me feel good and helps motivate me to want to stay in shape! The only thing you need is a mat, and a weight (or a baby or something heavy).

**Disclaimer – I am not a professional AT ALL! So I am not saying any of this is “correct form” I am sure some of you professionals will be thinking, she needs her back straighter!!! Or whatever. But this is just how I like to work out, thats all Watch the video HERE or scroll down!

Hope you all have a great day!

*Thanks to lululemon for sponsoring this post!

The post 12 Favorite Ab Workouts appeared first on Barefoot Blonde by Amber Fillerup Clark.

Where we stayed

You may have noticed that The Four Seasons Bora Bora hosted us while in Bora Bora and it was a dream! It’s been on my bucket list for sooo long and I’m so happy we finally got to go. Four Seasons is for sure a luxury resort and it’s not the kind of place we would ever go spontaneously or on a whim, its moreso the kind of vacation you plan for a while and save up for. Especially since not only is it a luxury resort but you just can’t find cheap flights there, I would say if you’re leaving from the states you won’t pay less than 1,500 per person and that would be a very good deal! But you absolutely get what you pay for, it is so unbelievably nice and the staff/service is the best we have had. Most people there were on their honeymoon, babymoon, anniversary, getting married there (they have a wedding almost every day of the week there!!) etc. We stayed in an over the water bungalow with glass bottom windows. The view was honestly overwhelming it was so pretty. It was so nice to stay at a resort where you feel like you’re on vacation when you are in your room or back porch. Most of our vacations I would feel guilty laying around because there are so many things to go see but here you can lounge and everywhere you are lounging has the best views EVER!

How we got around 

When you’re at the resort, there really is no reason to get around. Everything you need is at the resort. So we ended up just walking around or hitching rides on the golf carts around the resort. There are ferries to the main island twice a day. The one during the day is free and drops you off for 4 hours but the one in the evening costs. Do yourselves a favor and just take advantage of everything the resort has to offer, no real reason to have to leave:) Everyone we talked to who had left the resort to the main island said they regretted it because the resort is so much better!

What we did

There is so much to do there. At the concierge they have a book of all the activities you can do. Snorkeling and swimming with rays and sharks, paragliding, helicopter tours, kayaking, jet skis, and paddle boarding and so much more and its all at the resort so you don’t have to leave. We honestly ended up relaxing on the beach and swimming most of the time because we just wanted to relax (I am pregnant, people!)

There is also a spa which is soo nice and I got a prenatal massage! It was heaven!

For the kids  

I went back and forth for months on whether or not I wanted to leave Atticus with family. We ultimately decided to bring him and I’m so glad we did! My biggest fear, and I kept on having nightmares about this, was sleeping in an over water bungalow. I almost canceled our flights multiple times but then just agreed that we would never let him outside. I kept worrying about the balcony and him falling off:/ I bought a Puddle Jumper and planned on having him pretty much live in it. But when we arrived we walked to the back balcony and noticed that they had installed plexliglass childproof panels on the rails and a gate! It was SUCH a relief I can’t even tell you! They do this for all their guest with small children and we were so grateful. We were definitely still cautious and always had our guard up but it was great to know that we always had that barrier.

There really is so much for kids to do. They have a kids center where you can drop your kids off for arts and crafts, movies nights, games, and so much more. They even have a splash pad outside the kids center which Atticus loved! They have so many beaches there on the resort but a few of them were our favorites because of how shallow they were and because they were protected in the lagoon so they didn’t have waves. They were pretty much kiddie pools which was great because Atticus could just splash around and play with the fish:) There were fish everywhere on the beaches, especially the lagoon! I am talking like hundreds of tropical fish, right at our feet, it was amazing. They even have baby sitting available upon request.

The staff was so friendly and would come up and give him hugs and play with him, they would even bring him fruit and snacks on the beach just to be nice. I was worried about him getting fussy on the beach since its so quiet and I knew so many people paid a lot to be there, but honestly everyone was so nice and would come say hi and talk to him. He only got fussy a couple of times and it wasn’t a big deal.

Where we ate

The resort has 4 amazing restaurants. We got to eat at each one. We had their breakfast buffet every morning and it was SO good (crepes, waffles, pancakes, eggs benedict, fresh juice, and like a million other things! Best buffet I had ever been to). When we relaxed at the beach, we ate the beach side BBQ. For dinner they have the Sunset Bar and Grill which has a great view of sunset and one night we got to go to their fine dining restaurant Arii Moana. Most nights Atticus was out early so we ended up just getting room service but we loved everything we had.

Getting to Bora Bora

We were in Bora Bora for a week total but with travel time it ended up being a 10 day trip! But before I get into all that I get asked all the time what we do with Chauncey when we leave for so long. A couple years ago we discovered DogVacay. It has been so great for us. On one of our first trips after we got married, we boarded Chauncey at a kennel. We dropped him off and when we saw the place we looked at each other and never again! So we discovered DogVacay which is pretty much a social network of regular people who take your dog into their homes, the best part is, they walk them, cuddle them, play with them, even let them sleep in their beds! Here in the city we met some really good friends who we found through DogVacay and we have Chauncey stay there whenever we can. They love him so much! He takes him on runs in central park with him, he’s taken him camping, and they even have a back yard where they hang out. You may have seen the picture I tweeted of them lounging in his hammock while we were in Europe. They really are so great and love Chaunce almost as much as we do. The other family he goes with love him just as much and the husband even takes him to work everyday with him and says the whole office loves him! It’s more affordable but it’s just so much more comforting. It’s always sad to leave him, but when we do at least we know he’s in good hands and sometimes I think he might be having more fun with them ha!

We broke up our travel because total travel time was 34 hours! So we stayed a night in LA on the way there and the way back. If you’re traveling with children I’d definitely recommend doing this. Atticus does great on flights but 34 hours is a long time even without a baby. From LA we flew into Tahiti (if you are on Tahiti Air make sure you don’t get a front row because the arm rests don’t lift up which is a major bummer when you have a baby with you!) It seems like really long travel time and it is, but trust me this trip is totally worth it!

When you get to Tahiti you take a quick flight to Bora Bora and then from their Four Seasons picks you up on a (really nice) boat and takes you over!

Hope you like the video we made from our stay:) You can shop everything from the video below!

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