AFAA Certification

Today I took my AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) Primary Group Exercise certification. I have been secretly stressing about this day but  feel as though it went pretty well. Last Saturday I spend 11 hours completing the study guide. If you have a background in exercise it really isn't anything to stress about. We went over everything before being tested on it. The day started at 9 AM. We covered anatomy and strength exercises to perform for each major muscle group. We then went over our cardiovascular demonstration. Each person picked 3 moves and incorporated them into a warm up and cool down. Keeping it simple was key.

After practicing we broke for lunch. I packed some cereal, a sandwich, and a banana. I can't tell you the last time I had a sandwich. I don't eat bread anymore but figured I'd need something that would hold me over for the duration of the workshop. I was lucky enough to know three other people so during lunch we got a chance to catch up. One of my friend's brought chocolate covered almonds from Trader Joe's that I will be purchasing the next time I go grocery shopping! After lunch we went over the study guy. I  started to get tired from my lunch and it didn't help that we were sitting for this portion. We flew through the study guide and then were tested on our cardio and strength portion. Did I mention there were almost 80 students? 80 students in one room... doing all different exercises! I was a little overwhelmed at first but did my best of blocking everyone else out. It was hard to not stare at the guy in front of me who was performing jumping jacks while spinning in a circle...

Finally it came time for the written portion. I came across maybe two questions that I wasn't really sure about but everything else was familiar  I was the first one finished which kind of scared me. I won't find out my results for 4-6 weeks. I'll keep you posted though!!!

Once I got home I was starving so I had the rest of my Cornish hen and some spaghetti squash. I really love spaghetti squash. I have asked my dad to grow some next year along with egg plant. I decided to make my hummus with cauliflower this week. I tossed the cauliflower in EVOO, paprika, cumin, chopped garlic and roasted for 30 minutes. This batch is a lot thicker then when I make it with eggplant. I had to process it much longer. I'll let you know how it tastes once its refrigerated overnight.

I have experienced some cramping in my stomach the past few days and think it's from the non-paleo things I've been eating. I have decided to be Paleo Monday-Friday and then semi-Paleo on the weekends. By that I mean If I go out I'll have a few drinks. I'm still undecided what my next challenge will be. I may just focus on training for my first 5k and work on my flexibility. We shall see...

Happy Grammys!

xoxo