In case you missed our last episode, you can listen to that here! We are so glad you all are enjoying us again and LOVE hearing your feedback and sweet words :)!
In case you miss any of our future episodes of An Extra Dose, you can listen to them under on our main page (adoubledose.com > Lifestyle > Podcasts).
A little about this episode:
The Belbel sisters share what color they get on their nails and how the dip nail process works. Alexis and Samantha talk about their workout routine and some tips for getting started. They finish off with their favorites for the week.
We also answered our most frequently asked questions in this post, so it may answer some that you had about our nails, too!
We would LOOOOVE to hear your feedback. We are just starting out, so any tips or anything you want answered, we are all ears! Also, don’t forget to rate + review us on iTunes.
To listen to the episode, click the PLAY button at the top, or you can search “an extra dose” in iTunes or the podcast app!
Send any questions you wanted answered on An Extra Dose to [email protected] OR comment below on this post.
Whether you’ve been dating someone for a long time, or just started dating, you always want to look your best, right?! Y’all know we are SUPER into fitness and working out, and of course, both of our boyfriends are, too! Honestly, fitness is such a huge aspect of our lifestyle that it would be impossible to date someone who didn’t love working out as much as we do. Can y’all relate?
And we both love to workout with our boyfriends, especially on the weekends. A running date is great because what’s better than having a fun running partner that will cheer you on? Don’t get us wrong, we love running with each other, but doing it with someone else that you actually want to look cute and athletic for is so much more of a motivation, haha
But whether we’re going to a class, going to the gym to lift weights, or going on a run outside, we definitely don’t want to smell like it afterwards! UGH!
You all may remember we got really into running this past fall and did a 10K. We were so sweaty afterwards. The last thing we’d want to do after sweating like that is cuddle up next to our boyfriends! We were so excited when we found Downy Fresh Protect In-Wash Odor Shield Beads because it’s like deodorant for our athleisure – it keeps our workout gear smelling fresh and the motion-activated beads work better the more we move (so cool, right?!), so we can run hard with our boyfriends but not smell like it after.
In case you all are planning a running date, we wanted to share some of our top tips:
#1 – PLAN THE OUTFIT:
Of course, the outfit is crucial! You want to pick something that is cute, but also practical! We both like to run in either cropped leggings or some looser running shorts. When it comes to leggings, we always make sure they are not see-through, and that they are moisture-wicking material, so they don’t show sweat stains! As far as shorts, we go for the pairs that have the built-in underwear, so you’re not exposed when the wind blows, haha.
Having a good pair of running sneakers is also critical. We have run in some cute, but not practical shoes, and it is not a good experience, so make sure you have a comfortable, supportive pair!Especially in the cooler months, we like to layer up. We will usually wear a tank with a light jacket on top.
For accessories, we always run with a fitness watch to track our speed, distance, etc. and some earphones (we love the wireless earphones or the AirPods).
#2- PREP THE OUTFIT
Now that you’ve picked out your gear—it’s time to prep it for the run. We have been using these Downy Fresh Protect beads every time we do laundry, especially before a workout! They are super easy to use: add the detergent to the watching machine, pour a capful of Downy Fresh Protect beads directly into washing machine drum, add the clothes to the washing machine, and start! There’s no need to wait for the rinse cycle. What we love about these beads is that it gives you 24 hours of odor protection, yes please, AND, it works with all running gear—even ones with moisture-wicking materials!
#3- KNOW YOUR ROUTE
Getting lost on a run is literally the worst, so we always make sure to have a game plan of what our route is going to be. Of course, we always bring our phones so we can follow our planned route and track our progress along the way. We also like to pick an easier, short route, as well as a harder, long route, and then decide which route we feel up to when we head out.
#4- TAKE IT SLOW
When we are running independently, we will usually go at a faster pace, but when we are running on a date with our boyfriends, we like to take it slower, so we can chat and have more time to actually bond. It is better to go at a conversational pace for most of the run, and then sometimes you can have a little fun and have an unexpected race or something at the end to have fun;)
#5- END SOMEWHERE FUN
After our workouts or runs, we like to grab a coffee or smoothie close-by. We love being able to cuddle up next to our boyfriends (and grab a snack) and still smell good after a run! And trust us, they will want to still be cuddled up next to you, too!;)
We would love to hear how you put Downy Fresh Protect beads to the test on your next run! Check out how we put them to the test throughout our running date below and get your own here:
Happy Wednesday, y’all! We are FINALLYYY back with a fitness post. A lot of you girl had been requesting more fitness and recipe content, so we promise to share more. Today, we will be sharing another downloadable workout, and some easy breakfast ideas. If you all are looking for more fitness-related content, you can find a ton of workouts under the main page under the big drop down at the top right-hand side that says FITNESS POSTS, or you can just search ‘fitness’ on our blog!
In case you missed they last one, you can check it out in this post. Each day (workout) is split into a muscle group with rep amounts, set amounts, and weight amounts. We also are giving a few tips as well. This workout schedule is available for download for $10. It is exactly what we will be doing this week, and you could always re-use this plan for other weeks, and mix and match them. To download the workout schedule, click below:
Note: you will be taken to PayPal to pay, and then should receive a link to the download shortly after that in your inbox. If you do not receive it, please email us!:)
We get a lot of questions about what we like to eat for breakfast, and the answer is, it really depends on how busy our mornings are. We know, like most of y’all, mornings can be crazy and rushed, but breakfast is something we NEVER skip! We know it sounds cliche, but really, you should never skip it, and it really is one of the most important meals. Honestly, we think EVERY meal is important just because we loooove to eat, haha, but in all reality, if you skip breakfast, you will just be staaaarving at lunch, which leads to poor choices. We have all been there!
We suggest starting your day with some protein and carbs. It can be something like the following:
egg white or 1 egg + 2 whites omelette or scrambled eggs with some fruit or whole wheat toast/Ezekial bread
2-4 GG crackers with eggs (same as above) or with smoked salmon
Happy Tuesday! Hope you all had a great weekend. We had the most gorgeous weather this weekend, so we took full advantage and got to be outside a good amount. Hope you all are as ready for spring as we are!;) Speaking of nice weather, it is starting to get nicer out, so that means we are going to try and get outside more for some runs. We got more into running last year, and it can be so refreshing! We wanted to share some of our running essentials with you all because we get asked a lot of questions about what our favorites are.
To start with, having a good pair of earphones is KEY. We cannot run without music or something to listen to. These earphones are wireless, so they connect via bluetooth. These actually stay in your ears! We also just got these Apple AirPods and love them, too. These stay in, too and when you pull them out, the music stops.Another essential is a fitness tracker. We both have an Apple watch. One of us has the Series 1, and one of us has the Series 2. They both are great watches. Samantha also has this Garmin watch, and it has a GPS and is great for running. When we are headed out on a run, we like to layer up, and take off layers as we get warmer outside. A good quarter-zip jacket is a great piece because it is light enough that you won’t be super hot, but it keeps you warm. This one is a great material, too! As far shoes, we get asked a lot about what our favorite running shoe is. We have these Mizuno shoes and swear by them. They are very supportive and comfortable for long and short runs. We also recommend getting insoles for them.
We also recommend a highly supportive sports bra to keep your girls tucked in, and not bouncing everywhere, haha. This one is a great bra!We both usually run in sunglasses like this classic pair, or we will wear a baseball cap to keep the sun out of our eyes. We usually like a basic black legging crop, but we also wanted to share some of our fave leggings below:
You can find so many great fitness pieces at eBay. What we love about it is that it is a one-stop-shop to find the latest trends and brands. A lot of pieces actually ship for free and are actually new, and not used! If you’re not really into bidding for items, there are a ton of items that are “Buy It Now”, which is more up our alley! We also love that they offer quick shipping on a lot of items that ship in less than three days, yes please!
It is winter, and it is also flu season, unfortunately, so we had a few requests to do a post on easing back into workouts whether you’ve been sick, or just have had a lot of time off! I (Alexis) have personally had to take a lot of time off because of an infection (more in this post). It can be so exhausting to think about working out again, especially if you’re super low on energy, or just haven’t hit the gym in a while. Before we get into our tips, we want to share a little bit about our fave part of this outfit: THIS WHITE VEST! It is so soft and warm. We love the white, but it does come in a few other colors. We are wearing xs for reference! These leggings are literally like butter. They are so soft and you’ll literally want to live in them! We are wearing xs for reference, and want to order like 10 more pairs because they are that good! You can wear them for workouts or just running around! This tee is not super warm, but we love that it is looser and more lightweight. It has really cute cutouts in front, too!These shoes are so lightweight! They are great for training workouts and just running around, and we just love the colors! And, now for our tips on easing back into a workout. Trust us, we know how hard it can be!
Don’t overdo it right away: even if it is just 10 minutes, it is better than nothing. Your body has been through a lot (whether it is being sick or just out for a while), you don’t want to go too crazy!
You don’t have to workout every day: make it a goal to workout at least twice a week, and then work your way up!
Take it slowly and focus on form: it is not a race, so go slowly, and really focus on your form and feeling good, so you don’t get injured!
It is okay to take rest days: we are really bad at this, but getting better! It can be hard to not to go the gym, especially if you’re a creature of habit, but your body needs days off. We are trying to take at least two days off!
Walk on the treadmill or walk outside: this is what I have been doing. Just a steady, easy pace (like 3-3.5 mph) with little or no incline, just to get moving!
Dont skimp on sleep: we know you have heard this before, but sleep is KEY. We were getting up really early and heading straight to the gym, but we are trying to focus on starting off slower and letting our body get up slowly, and sometimes starting with yoga in the mornings.
Happy Friday! If y’all have been following along on our insta-stories and/or snapchats, you have seen that we have been running a little more! We are definitely not major runners by any means, but a couple months ago, we started running more because we switched gyms, and since our gym didn’t open until 2 PM on Sundays, we decided to start going on short runs in the mornings on the Katy Trail in Dallas. We have not been runners really any of our lives, but have always had a goal to run some kind of race, whether it is a 5K, or something a little longer. When we were in college, we would sometimes run on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, but didn’t really have the endurance or desire to run that far.
Before we get into our running tips, we wanted to talk about this outfit! We are major fans of running shorts for any type of workout. We don’t really like working out in crops or leggings unless it is freezing out. These running shorts are a great fall color and great for running! We paired it with this super cute strappy sports bra (read more about sports bras in this post) and this comfy hoodie that you could wear with jeans, too! The black kicks are great for other types of workouts (we wouldn’t suggest for running), but great for the gym!When we started running a couple of months ago, the furthest we ran was 4 miles, and it felt like a million miles. The furthest we both have ran up to this point is a little over 7 miles. Some days, we feel like we can do a lot more than that, and some days even one mile is killer. There are so many factors that play into how your run will go! On that topic, we are both running in our first race this Sunday! It is a 10K, so we have both ran way over that mileage, but it is going to be an early morning, so we will see!We wanted to share some of our tips for running (not that we are experts by any means!) Do you all have any other tips for running?! We want to hear yours!
Start Off Slowly: you don’t have to start off running tons of miles. You can even start just power walking and adding in a couple minutes of running in between. It takes practice and consistency, so be patient!
Download A Running Training App: we don’t personally use one, but there are several apps like Couch to 5K
Track Your Runs With Your Apple Watch Or Fitbit: we talked about our Apple watches in this post, but we highly recommend using some kind of tracker to track your runs. It keeps you motivated and allows you to measure your progress!
Get Good Running Shoes: we were honestly running in bad shoes, and that will make all of the difference! We suggest this pair for running. They are super supportive!
Listen To Good Music/Podcasts: having a good playlist is key! We use Spotify or FitRadio, and also love listening to podcasts (PS- you can listen to ours here)!
Drink Enough Water: we know everyone says this, but really it is SO important! If you aren’t hydrated, you will feel tired and could even pass out or become dehydrated, so drink up!
Maintain Cardio Workouts At Gym: it can be extremely daunting to go on a run. Even when we see people running outside, we think it looks miserable, haha. If you are not in cardiovascular shape, running will be extremely difficult, but if you do cardio on a regular basis at the gym like on the bike, elliptical, arc trainer, stairmaster, rowing machine, etc, your body is used to cardio and being under stress for a while. This has definitely helped us because we know that if we can do 40 minutes of cardio at the gym, we can definitely run outside for that long!
Run With A Buddy: sometimes it is nice to go on a solo run, but there are days when you need accountability and someone to motivate you! Grab your friend, boyfriend, sister, brother, anyone to go on a run with you! You all will motivate each other to push yourselves further than you would solo!
Find A Trail That Has People On it (Busy): for us, we like having people around us that are being active, too. If we are running on an empty path, it can be hard to push yourself to go further if there is nobody else out there. We personally like going on the Katy Trail in Dallas or White Rock Lake. If we go to a school track or something like that, we will lose motivation.
Purchase An Arm Band + Good Earphones: this arm band is what we use when we are running so we can still use our phone music and not have to carry our phone in our hands. We love these earphones because they use bluetooth, so you don’t have any annoying wire hanging. They actually stay in your ears!
Y’all may have seen or heard us talk about ExhaleSpa in Dallas. We love going there for spa treatments and for great fitness classes like power yoga and barre. Right now, and through the end of the month, they are offering a special promotion:
50% off any 60 or 90 minute facial or massage. Please mention Double Dose to receive discount.
25% off any classpack purchase. Please mention Double Dose to receive discount.
They are officially carrying Emergen-C!
They are offering an acupuncture and chill series on 10/16.
PS- we just got these adorably cycling shoes if you go to spinning classes a lot, or just love to cycle, these are SO cute!