Friday Fun…Be a Good Tree!

Here’s a little Friday Fun.

My mom actually owned this album back in the day. She would put the record on and attempt to do the exercises that Jane was describing, without actually being able to see her. My good friend Jenelle and I stumbled upon one of these “workouts” one night and decided to join the fun. For giggles, we took everything Jane said literally. She would say something like,”Lift your right leg, raise both arms, now twist, twist…” It ended up being much like a game of workout Twister which eventually ended when we collapsed in FITS of laughter! I guess if nothing else, we all got a pretty decent ab workout. 🙂

After that, my mom was an avid Jazzercizer! She would don her most fabulous Jane Fonda-inspired workout attire, and head to class with her towel and her water bottle, and sometimes, me. Jenelle’s mom even started up a Junior Jazzercize program and we would meet at her house and workout together with our friends to all the latest and greatest hits of the 80’s! The Pointer Sisters come to mind. I remember ‘jumping for my love’…in leg warmers. What a blast!

Times and workouts have changed a bit since then. For one, I can actually SEE what Chalene Johnson would like me to do when I’m working out, which is awesome! I don’t own a pair of tights OR a leotard…which is a good thing for EVERYONE! I still think leg warmers were kind of sweet, though totally useless; I have fond memories of my exceedingly warm ankles. 😉

So here I am…in this new and exciting fitness business. How did I get here? It’s becoming plainer and easier for me to see every day. This has ALWAYS been a part of my life. I didn’t realize it then, but my mom-who we’ve already established was a health nut before it was cool-was a fitness junkie, too! She still is, in fact. In her 60’s now, she is still an active runner, competing in a few 5 K’s every year. She also just finished “Slim in 6”, and loved it! But she is always looking for MORE! She is definitely my inspiration.

The lesson to learn here I guess is that apples don’t fall far from trees. Be a good and healthy tree, and your apples will take seed, and grow up to be just like you!

I love you Apple Tree!

Always,

Your Apple

30 Day Results Are In!

There are some excellent results coming from my October Challenge Group!  With 5 challengers reporting so far…check this out…

In 30 days they have lost:

5.1 pounds and 6.25 inches

9 pounds and 6 inches

3.4 pounds and 6.5 inches

8 pounds and “I lost my before inches number, but it must be less now”

5.6 pounds and 9.5 inches

Five of the participants so far have reported losing a total of 31.1 pounds  and 28.25 + unknown 🙂 inches !!!  And more importantly…they’re still in it, pressing forward and committed! We are all using programs such as ChaLEAN Extreme, Turbo Fire, Yoga Booty Ballet and Tony Horton’s 10 minute Trainer. You don’t need a gym to get results like these! The participants were all able to accomplish this while working out in their own homes, and eating well. Most importantly, we keep ourselves accountable and provide support to each other along the way! I cannot wait to see how we all do over the next 30 days.  I love my job!

Also…want to see how I make my Shakeology every day? It’s quite possibly my favorite meal of the day. I actually start looking forward to it the night before. Is that weird?

Hold On to Your Bootstraps!

I wanted to find a fun way to show people who are curious, what it is that a Beachbody coach does all day. 🙂 It’s really not all that different than being a stay at home mom. And anyone can do this, not just a stay at home parent, but anyone who has an interest in making time for health, fitness and helping others. I am fortunate to have found something that lets me be here with my kids, focus on my heath, work with other people who want to do the same thing, and… make money doing it…BONUS! As silly as this video is, it’s not much of an exaggeration to tell you the truth. I may not ACTUALLY move this fast, but sometimes it feels like it! I’m a mom on a mission.

Fall Off Horse, Get Back Up, Repeat?

If you’ve never ridden a horse before, it’ll take some time to learn how, right?  If it’s been awhile, you’re going to need some practice.  If it’s something you want to do…you’ll keep trying until you are securely in the saddle and riding into the sunset, or wherever you want to ride…it’s just that the sunset seems like a place that people on horses want to go.  Just saying.

You’ve heard all of the sayings…”Fall down 7 times, get up 8″, “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today”, “I get knocked down but I get up again…” (ok, maybe not a saying, but a catchy tune).  I guess you can hear these words and say these things until you’re blue in the face, but until you’ve lived it and embraced it might not seem real.  I can say these words to someone everyday, loudly even, and that person may hear what I’m saying, but not believe me.  What advice would you give to someone who thinks they’ve failed, and finds it easier to stay down rather than get up and try again?

We’re all going to fall down sometimes right?  But if you’ve clearly defined goals in your mind that you really want to achieve…you MUST get back up.  Don’t forget what’s important to you, and don’t let a misstep or a step backwards distract you from what you want.  Keep it in sight, remind yourself of it everyday.  Let every choice you make start with a question: “Is this going to help me reach my goals?”  I want to shout from the mountain top, or at least a really high hill, that YOU CAN DO IT!!!  Of course you can! It’ll take time, committment and a whole lot of hard work, but if it’s your goal, than do it.  Take the time, make the commitments and do the work. We may or may not be discussing horses at this point, but you get where I’m going here. I can believe in you, your friends can believe in you, but you’re the one who needs to get in the saddle and ride.  So…do you believe in you?  If so, than grab my hand, get up and try again.

Challenge Days 8 & 9

Nothing fancy going on here.  I did find some tasty organic pomegranate oatmeal at Costco that I like…so that’s good.  I had my leftover frittata for lunch. That tasty looking snack is some plain Greek yogurt, sweetened with a little Stevia and blueberries and crunched up almonds on top.  A big salad, some Shakeology and a ChaLEAN Extreme workout rounded out the day.  I was pretty low on calories, but I ran out of time in the day, and wasn’t particularly hungry…so what are you gonna do?

Man, I need to do some more cooking.  Yesterday I was a little desperate at dinner time and seriously just grabbed stuff out of the frig and threw it together and called it dinner.  I had a leftover chicken breast that I chopped up and put on 2 whole wheat tortillas that I spread with avocado.  I put a little reduced fat cheese and homemade salsa on top and that was that.  Not pretty, but filling and fast.  I made another bowl of yummy oatmeal for breakfast.  We went hiking so I grabbed a bag of almonds for the trail.  I enjoyed another big salad for lunch and worked out like a ninja in my black clothes. No mask though…too sweaty.

If you fell down while reading this blog…GET UP!

The Glass is Almost Totally Full! and Challenge Catch Up

I am an optimist.  It has mostly served me well in my life.  I say ‘mostly’ because I can think of a few instances where it hasn’t…like believing that people are always good, nobody will ever hurt me, and nothing bad could possibly happen.  I’ve been wrong a few times about those things.  But overall I’d say I’m right most of the time.  I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.  Actually, I have no choice.  I’m a die-hard optimist.

I was thinking about this today in terms of health and nutrition.  Here’s how an optimist looks at these particular goals: I like to think of what I CAN eat, as opposed to what I CAN’T.  As you know I’m participating in this cleaner eating challenge, and when I look at the pictures I’m taking, I can’t help but think how pretty and delicious everything looks.  It doesn’t seem like a sacrifice at all to me when I GET to eat all of that yummy food.  I go to the store with a different mindset.  I’m looking for what I can have, and not begrudging what I can not have. I come home with bags of fruits and veggies and other healthy foods. I get excited to cook new recipes and try new foods.  Maybe I’m weird.  Ya, probably.  😉

For exercise, I like to think of what I CAN do, and not what I CAN’T.  Maybe not everyone can, or wants to try, to run.  So, what CAN you do?  Can you walk?  I bet you can.  Maybe not everyone has weights in their house.  Can you do push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups (there are a lot of “ups” here that require only your body as weight) squats, lunges, etc? I bet you can.  Maybe you can’t go to the gym, but do you own a DVD player?  I’ve got some awesome workouts I could recommend to you.  And they’re FUN, too!  You see where I’m going here.  Start with what you CAN do.  Focus on what you CAN eat. Your mindset will change, and so will your habits. You’ll be on your way to eternal optimism. Well…maybe. 🙂

Who would think that they could start a new health and fitness business at 40?…Me! But this one was kind of a no-brainer for me.  I love to workout.  I enjoy eating healthy foods. And I LOVE to talk.  That just about sums up my new job.  These are things I most definitely CAN do.  🙂

So here are my weekend Clean Eating Challenge pictures and a couple of recipes:

 Nothing remarkable on Day 5, except I learned how to make my own “almost” fat free coffee cream.  Want the recipe? Click here:   Oh, and the pretty green drink is a spinach, kale, strawberry, pineapple smoothie that was delicious!  Seriously, don’t knock it til you try it.

Day 6 looked like this:

  This was my “cheat” day, well sort of.  I ate really clean during the day and then it was “Ladies Night Out”.  So for dinner I splurged on 2 small pieces of veggie pizza and a salad with a little drizzle of raspberry vinaigrette dressing…oh…and 2 vodka tonics :o. Ladies night out doesn’t happen very often, so I forgave me.

Day 7 looked like this:

 I had a big salad for lunch, with lots of veggies and 1/2 of a very lean turkey burger sliced on top. Raw almonds are an excellent snack to keep in the house. I had mine with half of a honey crisp apple and a tall glass of water and felt very full.  Dinner was so yummy, I’ll have to share the recipe.  I made a spinach, ricotta (low-fat), tomato frittata.  It was delicious!  Recipe here:  (I added tomatoes to mine, but it wasn’t part of the original recipe).

So there you go!  What CAN you do today?

Realistic Goals

So a very good friend of mine is getting set to begin a 30 day fitness challenge that we set up.  She’s nervous.  She’s afraid she’s going to sabotage herself, as she says she’s done before when she realizes she just doesn’t think it’s possible to EVER reach her goals.  Well here’s why:  her goal is to be “thin”.

What’s wrong with that goal you ask?  Well…listen…there’s a better goal to have, and if you trust me, you’ll see it’s better than “thin” or “skinny”.  Those are simply unrealistic, unhealthy goals to have when you’re starting your journey.  Aim for fitness, and aim for health.  That’s it!  Make it a daily effort, for the rest of your life; not a 30 day challenge…and then back to where you were before.  See every day as a new opportunity to make better choices, and before you know it, it’ll be your habit.  It’s not going to happen overnight for sure!  But once your mind is on board, your body will start to notice.

We all have very busy lives.  We all have the same number of hours in a day.  We all have the same choices at the grocery store.  Make health and fitness a priority in your life, and you’ll start to make choices that will make you stronger and more resolute each day.  You might need to wake up a little earlier (I’m still working on this one myself).  You might need to plan your meals ahead.  Your health is important, right?  It’s worth the effort right?  Keep in mind that you’re not going to change in leaps and bounds…it’s going to take baby steps.  All the little things you do will add up and they’ll change you.

Aim for strength, both mental and physical.  They sort of go hand in hand.  Once you see yourself becoming stronger, you begin to feel stronger.  Once you feel stronger, you realize…it’s not about being thin, or skinny.  It’s about being your best you.  You’ll be proud, satisfied and confident.  ‘Strong’ looks different on everybody, but it looks perfect!

It Can Be Done!

You can have your vacation and your workout, too!  Found a Bow Flex, a 30 pound dumbbell, a 12 pound medicine ball and some perfect push-ups in my friend’s basement.  Add that to a power-walk to the post office with a bff…and my workout is checked off for today!  Yay me! 

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