The Fun Fit Blog

Late Night Gym Workouts

In theory, the morning is the best time to work out. But for many of us, we're just lucky if we can wake up and make it to work on time.

Because I work during the day, I often work out at night. The trick is to go to a gym that has a positive workout environment even when the gym is practically empty.

My Late Night History

When I was a little younger, I would go to the gym around 10 pm on Saturday nights at my local 24 Hour Fitness. I would typically end up leaving a little bit after midnight. Surprisingly, even after midnight, there were still people coming into the gym.

A few years ago, I went on a 22-day vacation to Hawaii and Australia. I would vacation in the day time and then in the evening, I would work out at the hotel gym every night. I came back from vacation not gaining any weight and fitter than ever.

Then last year I ending up getting some really nice equipment for my home gym. Since the gym was right there, I have been working out at home around 8 or 9 at night.

Recently,  I've been going to my local gym around 8 at night and leaving right before closing at 10 pm. I'll come home, drink a shake, take a shower, and go to bed. And when I wake up in the morning, I feel great.

Advantages of Working Out at Night

Typically, there's no wait for any weight equipment or machines at night. But what I really like about the night time environment is that it's very easy to try new workout routines. I'll grab some dumbbells, claim a long aisle, and start doing walking lunge exercises. Or I'll go to a cable machine and try to create a new exercise for myself. These are things that are difficult to do in a packed gym.

If you're having trouble making it to the gym, try a night time workout. It certainly beats staying home at night watching TV. Maybe a night time workout is what you need.

Have Fun, Be Fit!

"Functional Marc"

Easy, High-Protein Lunch at Work

  

If you work, you probably don't have much time to make your lunch every day. Maybe you find yourself eating out more than you should at lunch. And when you do eat out, you end up eating not the healthiest foods and still find yourself hungry.

I recently found myself in this predicament. Today I'll share with you my solution. I was finding my cafeteria choices at work to be very low in protein and too generous in fat. And what's the point of working out if you're not going to fuel your body with healthy, high-protein foods?

I needed something that was easy to make, didn't require cooking at work, and would keep for a few days.

I decided to make a pasta salad. For the past month, I've been making pasta salad on Sunday nights and then eating it for lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

Here's the recipe:

Cooking Phase

• 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (chopped into small pieces)
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• 4 green onions (chopped)
• 3 cups of whole wheat pasta

Cook the chicken in olive oil and season with pepper.  When the chicken is almost cooked, add the green onions to the chicken in the pan. Boil the pasta. Make sure to add some salt to the water before boiling.

Mix Phase

• 2 cups of fat-free Miracle Whip
• 3 tablespoons of fat-free balsamic vinaigrette dressing
• 1 and a half packages of cherry or grape tomatoes (washed)
• 1 to 2 celery sticks, sliced into thin pieces
• lettuce

Wait for the chicken and pasta to cool, then place both in a big bowl. In a small bowl, mix the Miracle Whip and the vinaigrette dressing well, to create the pasta salad dressing. Stir in the tomatoes, celery, and pasta salad dressing into the bowl containing the chicken and pasta. Refrigerate.

Next wash a few leaves of lettuce and dry them. Place the lettuce leaves on the bottom of a tupperware container. When you are ready to take the salad to work dish the pasta salad on the top of the lettuce.

Don't let unhealthy food choices at work bring you down. Be creative and bring your own healthy, low-fat, high-protein lunch to work.

Have Fun, Be Fit!

"Functional Marc"