Good morning!
I’m coming to you bright and early before another long shift at the gym today. Yesterday was a doozie! I’m thankful that I had a little bit of downtime in between appointments to draft this post, because my head hit the pillow as soon as I got home and out of the shower last night.
A case of the post-holiday lazies, perhaps?
As we gear up and get ready to say goodbye to 2015 this week (whoa!), I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the most popular LIL posts from the past, and share the all-time top posts that have been clicked and viewed throughout the year.
To the newer readers out there (thank you for following along!), I hope you enjoy a look back into the archives and maybe even stumble upon something new. If you see something with the “housewifeglamour.com” stamp, that’s just my old blog title.
Without further ado, here are the most popular food and fitness related posts currently floating around the blog!
15. Chicken and Mixed Vegetable Soup
Soup has always been main go-to for me, and this recipe is extremely easy and light.
All you need is water, chicken drumsticks, onion, potatoes rotini noodles, frozen mixed vegetables, salt and pepper, and about an hour of time!
14. 25 Min. Cardio Core Tabata Workout
If you have 25 minutes to spare in your day, you can still stay active and incorporate quick, intense workouts into your fitness routine.
This workout takes less than a half an hour to complete once you add in the four one minute breaks in between each (full 4:00) Tabata set.
13. 5 Reasons You Need Rest Days
Whether it’s one, two, or more, it is extremely important to include days to rest into any type of training plan. Life happens, and you can’t get hard on yourself about “skipping” a workout every once in a while.
Here are plenty of reasons that might make you feel better about taking that day off!
12. 30 Min. Total Body Dumbbell Strength Circuit
This workout requires two sets of dumbbells and a stability ball if you have one. (You can use a bench or even lay flat on the floor if you don’t have access to one.) Complete at home or at the gym at your convenience!
And while we’re on the subject of dumbbell workouts…
11. 20 Min. Dumbbell Upper Body Workout
I threw this workout together on-the-fly, but it’s been one I’ve turned to plenty of times since then. You can take it to the free weights section at the gym, or even complete it in the comfort of your home.
Grab a light, medium, and heavy set of dumbbells, and give it a try!
10. The Best Bodyweight Workouts By Bloggers
No surprise here that this list includes the work of some of my favorite bloggers.
If you’re worried about staying on track with your fitness goals through the new year and travels, it would be great to save a variety of workouts you can take with you and complete anywhere.
9. SO many What I Ate Wednesday posts
I guess this is a category that shouldn’t leave anytime soon… a lot of y’all enjoy reading what I eat on a regular (Wednesday) basis!
My hopes in sharing WIAW posts are for you to see that eating (mostly) healthy doesn’t have to be a chore. I started reading healthy living blogs on the regular to bring an every day dose of positivity and inspiration into my life, and I truly hope LIL does the same thing for you.
8. 5K Training Plan For Beginners
This one goes out to all of you who want to run a long distance race and don’t know where to start. You can do it!
After searching around online and piecing together what makes the most sense to me, I formulated a 9 week plan specifically for runners at the introductory level. The only things you need before starting this program is proper running shoes, a phone or fitness watch to track your time, and a GPS app like RunKeeper or MapMyRun to keep track of your distance.
See my 10 Things You Need to Train For a Half Marathon post for more ideas!
7. Chocolate Chip Banana Mini-Muffins
This has to be one of the very first recipes I ever shared. Don’t worry, it’s ridiculously easy (and delicious).
I’ve also used the same recipe to make regular sized muffins, and they always turn out a hit.
6. Healthy Tuna Casserole
Even though I’m not the biggest fan of tuna on its own, I love tuna casserole.
This recipe is getting mighty popular and features my favorite lightened-up way to enjoy the dish.
5. Stretching After Running
This one is super ancient, but it’s a good one that has turned into the most pinned LIL post yet!
I can’t help but to laugh a little when I look back and watch the video stretch “tutorial” that I included, too. Regardless, it takes you through five minutes of real-time stretching and might just help you with those tight muscles. Give it a try!
4. Easy Cream of Mushroom Chicken
It didn’t shock me to see this as the all-time top recipe this year. Bear with the post and pictures (as it was shared in the very early days), but the recipe is a good one and couldn’t be easier.
It’s by far the most pinned LIL recipe to date!
3. Ballet Beautiful Workouts
It came to my surprise to see this unofficial review at the top of the fitness list the year!
Here I share my experience online streaming Ballet Beautiful, a ballet inspired workout focused on creating tone, lean dancer physiques. I was able to take a class from the creator, Mary Helen Bowers, in person in New York City, and she’s amazing!
2. Tips For Studying With NASM
This is basically everything you need to know to feel over-prepared to take your test to become a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) through NASM.
If you are signed up to take a test through another company, I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to use this as a base, either. Check out my NASM & Study Guides page for more tips!
1. 6 Week Half-Marathon Training Plan
This is a six week half-marathon training plan I came up with on my own, specifically catered to what works best for me, and I would only recommend it to those who can already run a 10K or 6 miles without stopping. Check out the Race & Running Recaps page for my 10-week training plan if you are looking for something closer to a beginner level.
By the way, before I trained for any race (circa 2011), I could barely run for thirty minutes at a time. Slowly but surely, I built that up to three and then four miles. Next came five, six, and now I can run seven or so (at a slower pace) without training if I really wanted to. It’s all about setting a goal and having mental determination!
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It’s always interesting to see which posts and what type of content becomes the most popular around here. Hopefully you enjoyed some of the throwbacks featured above.
Have a great rest of your Tuesday!
Disclaimer: Although I am a certified personal trainer, I am not necessarily your personal trainer. The workouts I post are what work best for me, and might not be the right type of exercises for you. I always recommend consulting a doctor or health professional before making changes to your diet and/or fitness routine. <3

Hello it’s me, I am also visiting this web site regularly, this web page is in fact nice and the people are actually sharing pleasant thoughts.
That chicken vegetable soup jumped out at me as perfect for our first frosty week in New England this year! Happy holidays 🙂
renaissancerunnergirl recently posted…Holiday Weekly Workouts and Updates 12/22-12/28
I’d love to have some this week since the temperatures have dropped. Happy Holidays to you!
Love love love that you advocate for rest days! I feel they often get overlooked in the blogging world which makes me sad. Resting your body is so important! I appreciate you bringing the topic to light. I’ve loved following along with your blog and I look forward to another year of life in leggings. 🙂
Julia @ Lord Still Loves Me recently posted…2015 Year Best of Lord Still Loves Me + What’s to Come in 2016
Thanks Julia! Yes, rest days are very important. I always advise clients to look at what is realistic and schedule at least one day a week to rest from any type of intense workout. Your body needs it to recover and function at it’s highest potential! Thanks so much for reading <3
One of the newbies here! Looking forward to more of you in 2016 That sounded kind of creepy, but I didn’t mean it to….. Anyways… Happy new year!
Mary recently posted…Vacation!
That’s a lot of good work up there, Heather! 🙂
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West recently posted…Christmas 2015 in San Diego
Thanks Ashley! It’s fun to look back and see what becomes the most popular through the years.
In what world are deadlifts an upper body exercise!? You’re a trainer and this is ridiculous.
If you click on the actual workout, she actually adds a note that the dead lift compliments the upper body workout by working the biceps and back.
If all you are gonna do is troll this blog and leave negative comments, move the fuck on and continue your amazing life elsewhere, you miserable troll.
Deadlifts don’t work the biceps and should not be using the back . Use the glutes that’s how you avoid injury. And also why people who take weekend trainer courses should not be advising exercise
Yes, that’s actually the cues I give my client with the exercise. Dead lifts primarily works the legs, but it’s also a great core stabilizer – which includes working the back and I included that in the workout that I chose to put the move in to give a break to the upper body. Nothing having to do with NASM includes a weekend certification process? I’m not sure where you got that information, but the CPT cert is not an easy course or test to pass. And, although I don’t agree with the language the previous commenter left, she has a point. I recommend taking your negative comments elsewhere.
Deadlifts are a great full-body workout. My back and biceps are usually completely destroyed after doing deadlifts, even if it may be considered a glute exercise.
John recently posted…Build Mass Gain Muscle
Agreed John! It’s a great one I turn to often.
Love that 5K plan for beginners! I sometimes cringe when I look at the stuff I wrote a year or more ago…but, it’s all part of being a blogger, right? I’m sure this will be a great resource–you have so much great content, and it’s nice to have it all in one place. 🙂
Beth @ Sublimely Fit recently posted…How to Start Running: 5 Top Tips to Help You Become a Runner
Thanks for this post 🙂 I think I jumped in near the middle of the year so it’s great to see the top posts!
alexandra @ my urban family recently posted…Top Drinks, Appetizers, and Desserts for a Party!
It’s great that you came up with this post! All of my favorite posts on your blog is on here. I’m going to bookmark this!
All the best for the new year! 🙂
Thanks, you too!
Write more, thats all I actually have to state. Literally, it seems like you trusted the recording to produce your point.
You obviously understand what youre referring to,
why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you might be giving us something enlightening to
learn?
DerickIGrano recently posted…DerickIGrano