OK, so here's the scoop. One of my oldest and dearest friends is about to embark on a huge effort to change the course of her health. I'm really, really excited for her so the two of us have hatched a plan to work together and support each other.
She's working on updating her blog and when she does, I'll post the address here. If you get a chance to go and give her a boost, it would mean a lot to both of us!
Now, as for the challenge, I'm not doing prizes or anything, and really, it's whatever you want it to be. It's not weight loss specific, eating a certain way, or working out a certain number of times a week. It's about setting some goals around what you want to accomplish for your own health.
Here are the goals I set for myself for August:
1. Weigh in and record weight in Bodybugg on Monday, Aug. 1
2. Clean eating 6x/week, one cheat day (usually Friday)
3. Workouts 6 days/week, one rest day (usually Sunday)
4. Log food in Bodybugg each day
5. Report in on Get Fit, Have Fun at least 3x/week
I know for a fact that my goals will be different for September. The kids will go back to school, I'll want to start a full-fledged Beachbody program again. This summer I've been doing a lot of walking while the weather is nice and I plan to keep that up for awhile longer.
So that's what my personal challenge looks like for the month of August. What goals will you set?
Tip of the Day: Make a plan. Decide which days you’ll workout and stick to it. Exercise is a non-negotiable appointment with yourself. Period. Nothing interferes with your workout time.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Homemade Energy Bars and a Challenge
I'm alive! Made it to my high school reunion at my goal weight--SWEET! And very exciting.
I'll be back later to blog more about what I'm up to fitness-wise these days, but a few quick things.
First, this morning I made these homemade energy bars. They are v v v v awesome. Why, why did I feel compelled to make my own energy bars? Well, not to be gross, but Eamonn cannot eat oats. Well, he can, but the consumtion of oats comes with dire intestinal consequences. Actually, I'm the same way. TMI, I know. Anyway, he needed an alternative for when he's out on his bike. These are tasty, but we'll see if they stand the rigor test in the pocket of his cycling jersey or his Camelbak. Or the heat. Always have to think about the heat, even out here.
Energy Bars with peanut butter and sunflower seeds
1 cup peanut butter (or experiment with almond butter, too)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 cup dried cherries or dried cranberries or raisins (or a combination)
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/3 cup shredded coconut
3 cups puffed brown rice cereal
Grease an 8×8 pan with a cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract until well-combined.
Add the sunflower seeds, dried fruit, sesame seeds and coconut and combine thoroughly with the peanut butter mixture.
Gradually add the puffed brown rice cereal to this.
Firmly press the mixture into the prepared 8×8 pan; you’ll need to wet your hands slightly, otherwise the mixture just sticks to them. (I used wax paper to press in the mixture and it worked great)
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours, then cut and go biking, hiking, skiing, snowshoeing or whatever floats your boat!
You can also change up the fruit or add some chocolate to this mix to change it up a bit.
And a final note about energy bars. I don't usually eat them in conjunction with a regular workout because they tend to be high in calories (get a load of all that peanut butter!). I tend to consume them as a snack or even a meal replacement when I'm out doing a long hike or skiing. It's different for Eamonn who is out on his bike for rides of 2, 3, 4 or even 5 or more hours. My guess is he's earning those calories far more than me.
And as for the "challenge" part of this post, a friend and I are kicking off a commitment to wellness starting Monday. Not a challenge, per se, just focusing on our health and wellness. We're talking today to map out the details about how each of us will achieve our goals. I'm going to try and convince her to put her progress on her own blog. I'll keep you updated, but if you want to join in, the more the merrier!
More later...
I'll be back later to blog more about what I'm up to fitness-wise these days, but a few quick things.
First, this morning I made these homemade energy bars. They are v v v v awesome. Why, why did I feel compelled to make my own energy bars? Well, not to be gross, but Eamonn cannot eat oats. Well, he can, but the consumtion of oats comes with dire intestinal consequences. Actually, I'm the same way. TMI, I know. Anyway, he needed an alternative for when he's out on his bike. These are tasty, but we'll see if they stand the rigor test in the pocket of his cycling jersey or his Camelbak. Or the heat. Always have to think about the heat, even out here.
Energy Bars with peanut butter and sunflower seeds
1 cup peanut butter (or experiment with almond butter, too)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 cup dried cherries or dried cranberries or raisins (or a combination)
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/3 cup shredded coconut
3 cups puffed brown rice cereal
Grease an 8×8 pan with a cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract until well-combined.
Add the sunflower seeds, dried fruit, sesame seeds and coconut and combine thoroughly with the peanut butter mixture.
Gradually add the puffed brown rice cereal to this.
Firmly press the mixture into the prepared 8×8 pan; you’ll need to wet your hands slightly, otherwise the mixture just sticks to them. (I used wax paper to press in the mixture and it worked great)
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours, then cut and go biking, hiking, skiing, snowshoeing or whatever floats your boat!
You can also change up the fruit or add some chocolate to this mix to change it up a bit.
And a final note about energy bars. I don't usually eat them in conjunction with a regular workout because they tend to be high in calories (get a load of all that peanut butter!). I tend to consume them as a snack or even a meal replacement when I'm out doing a long hike or skiing. It's different for Eamonn who is out on his bike for rides of 2, 3, 4 or even 5 or more hours. My guess is he's earning those calories far more than me.
And as for the "challenge" part of this post, a friend and I are kicking off a commitment to wellness starting Monday. Not a challenge, per se, just focusing on our health and wellness. We're talking today to map out the details about how each of us will achieve our goals. I'm going to try and convince her to put her progress on her own blog. I'll keep you updated, but if you want to join in, the more the merrier!
More later...
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Scheduling My Workouts is Saving Me
I am crazy, crazy busy--and yet, I am getting nearly 2 hours of exercise in each day, and then some.
I know, what the heck? Why am I doing this? Two hours? Am I a glutton for punishment?
Not really, but I'm finding I really actually like and need it. As I get fitter, I feel like I want and need the challenge. Plus, in a small town, we're able to walk and ride bikes to a lot of places which gives my calorie burn a little extra boost each day. I feel lucky in that regard. Our old neighborhood in Ohio was waaaaay out away from anything and that wouldn't have happened at all.
Anyway, I wrote about how Eamonn is also working out to Insanity (he is already developing a 6 pack after just two weeks--UNFAIR!!!) in the mornings now and that is creating a great demand for basement space. So I've been getting up and walking while he is working out and then I take my turn with the DVD player when I get back.
I've discovered a few things:
1. The 60 minute walk is a great warm up for TurboFire. I've always struggled with getting up at 5:30 or 6:00am and diving right into a high intensity workout. It's hard to jump and bop around when you've just rolled out of bed. I feel like my DVD workouts are better for the walking warm up.
2. It's really quiet and pretty outside at 5:45am or so. I enjoy the time to listen to my favorite music and enjoy the scenery. Sometimes I think about work or what I need to do that day and I text myself notes as reminders.
3. My reward at the end is picking up a newspaper that I'll read when I sit down and eat my Shakeology after my DVD workouts.
4. It's a great calorie burn/jump start to the day. Adding that walk in before the DVD workout usually puts me at burning 700 calories via exercise BEFORE I even eat breakfast. I am a person who does not like to eat before they exercise. That doesn't work for everyone; do what's right for you. But I love seeing those calories tick away and put me in a deficit right from the start.
5. Scheduling my workouts is keeping me on track so far this summer. I don't want to get all cocky and out of control though because summer has traditionally been a downfall. The boys are sleeping in--I'd like to, too!
But my whole point of this post before I started yammering about walking every morning is that I've really made an effort to follow the advice of my favorite expert, Chalene Johnson. At the end of many of her DVDs she gives tips of the day, and one of the most common one she talks about it scheduling your workouts and making them non-negotiable.
I've tried to do this for a long time and know how hard it is. It was especially hard when the boys were younger, but I just remind myself that getting my workout in is going to make me a nicer person and better mother all day.
Plus, we deserve it. We deserve some time to ourselves.
So, if the kids need to get up and sit in front of the TV for an hour while you workout, I think that's just fine. When they were younger, I used to set out little bowls of dried cereal for them. I'd even put the TV on their favorite channel so all they had to do if they woke up was get their dried cereal and sit down until I finished.
It is OK, and necessary, to make time for yourself, AND to explain to the kids what you're doing. "This is Mommy's time to exercise and be healthy." When he was 3, 4 and 5 years old and still getting up at 6am (UGH!), Finn used to hang in the basement and play trains while I exercise. Some days he could play and be quiet. Other times he kept asking me questions and I'd have him go upstairs so I could concentrate!
Whatever works.
So MY tip of the day is stolen from Chalene: Schedule time for you and stick to it. Period. Work doesn't interfere. Kids don't interfere. Husbands don't interfere. If you want to hang with a friend, strap on yours shoes and hang while you're walking. Just make it work.
I've said before that I use Beachbody's WOWY scheduler and I still love it. I'm such a competitive person that I even love competing against myself. I preschedule my workouts, which appear in blue, and live for turning them green when the workout is completed. When I have a completely green month, I feel so smug.
With that said, I've cobbled together a schedule to get me to July 12 when the boys and I leave for Ohio, but then I figure my schedule will be pretty blank until we return.
Ah well, I can look forward to turning August blue instead.
I know, what the heck? Why am I doing this? Two hours? Am I a glutton for punishment?
Not really, but I'm finding I really actually like and need it. As I get fitter, I feel like I want and need the challenge. Plus, in a small town, we're able to walk and ride bikes to a lot of places which gives my calorie burn a little extra boost each day. I feel lucky in that regard. Our old neighborhood in Ohio was waaaaay out away from anything and that wouldn't have happened at all.
Anyway, I wrote about how Eamonn is also working out to Insanity (he is already developing a 6 pack after just two weeks--UNFAIR!!!) in the mornings now and that is creating a great demand for basement space. So I've been getting up and walking while he is working out and then I take my turn with the DVD player when I get back.
I've discovered a few things:
1. The 60 minute walk is a great warm up for TurboFire. I've always struggled with getting up at 5:30 or 6:00am and diving right into a high intensity workout. It's hard to jump and bop around when you've just rolled out of bed. I feel like my DVD workouts are better for the walking warm up.
2. It's really quiet and pretty outside at 5:45am or so. I enjoy the time to listen to my favorite music and enjoy the scenery. Sometimes I think about work or what I need to do that day and I text myself notes as reminders.
3. My reward at the end is picking up a newspaper that I'll read when I sit down and eat my Shakeology after my DVD workouts.
4. It's a great calorie burn/jump start to the day. Adding that walk in before the DVD workout usually puts me at burning 700 calories via exercise BEFORE I even eat breakfast. I am a person who does not like to eat before they exercise. That doesn't work for everyone; do what's right for you. But I love seeing those calories tick away and put me in a deficit right from the start.
5. Scheduling my workouts is keeping me on track so far this summer. I don't want to get all cocky and out of control though because summer has traditionally been a downfall. The boys are sleeping in--I'd like to, too!
But my whole point of this post before I started yammering about walking every morning is that I've really made an effort to follow the advice of my favorite expert, Chalene Johnson. At the end of many of her DVDs she gives tips of the day, and one of the most common one she talks about it scheduling your workouts and making them non-negotiable.
I've tried to do this for a long time and know how hard it is. It was especially hard when the boys were younger, but I just remind myself that getting my workout in is going to make me a nicer person and better mother all day.
Plus, we deserve it. We deserve some time to ourselves.
So, if the kids need to get up and sit in front of the TV for an hour while you workout, I think that's just fine. When they were younger, I used to set out little bowls of dried cereal for them. I'd even put the TV on their favorite channel so all they had to do if they woke up was get their dried cereal and sit down until I finished.
It is OK, and necessary, to make time for yourself, AND to explain to the kids what you're doing. "This is Mommy's time to exercise and be healthy." When he was 3, 4 and 5 years old and still getting up at 6am (UGH!), Finn used to hang in the basement and play trains while I exercise. Some days he could play and be quiet. Other times he kept asking me questions and I'd have him go upstairs so I could concentrate!
Whatever works.
So MY tip of the day is stolen from Chalene: Schedule time for you and stick to it. Period. Work doesn't interfere. Kids don't interfere. Husbands don't interfere. If you want to hang with a friend, strap on yours shoes and hang while you're walking. Just make it work.
I've said before that I use Beachbody's WOWY scheduler and I still love it. I'm such a competitive person that I even love competing against myself. I preschedule my workouts, which appear in blue, and live for turning them green when the workout is completed. When I have a completely green month, I feel so smug.
With that said, I've cobbled together a schedule to get me to July 12 when the boys and I leave for Ohio, but then I figure my schedule will be pretty blank until we return.
Ah well, I can look forward to turning August blue instead.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
TurboFire is History
And I have to say, I'm a little sad about it. It has been my favorite Beachbody workout, bar none. I love Chalene Johnson, she's my idol. I think I might be a groupie. I love the music on TurboFire and I love the moves.
When I finished TurboFire last week, I found myself with a little gap though and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Historically, in the summer, when I'm not officially doing a full-on scheduled BB routine, like not following anything, I don't do well. I need structure. I'm like a preschooler that way. Except without the nap. But I would like the nap if anyone could please make that happen.
Anyway, I knew I had missed a few workouts here and there when I was sick or when I didn't want to do one of the yoga workouts during the weight loss challenge because I wanted to crank on the cardio routine to burn more calories. Plus, I'd shuffled some things around when we traveled. I made those up, but there were "blue spots" in my WOWY schedule and I could see exactly what I had/hadn't done.
I admit I've become freakishly obsessive about the WOWY calendar. I love making the whole month green, which means completed workouts, except for the rest days. Obviously, I can't go back and fix those specific days, so I constructed a schedule of all of those "blue spots" and it was exactly 12 days--the amount of time before we left for Ohio.
Pefect. Except that I realized about three of the days were HIIT (high intensity interval training) days. Ick. I thought I was done with those. But I'm doing it.
And an interesting aside: Eamonn is doing Insanity. And get this: he can actually do it. Unlike me when I did Insanity and spent most of my time just standing there watching in horror.
It does create a bit of a logjam in the basement in the mornings, but since the weather has been so great, I do a walk while Eamonn is Insane and then when he's finished I do my TurboFire schtick.
So far, so good.
And in further news, on Friday, I hit my revised weight loss goal. Very exciting! Then, because Friday was my cheat day, I ate guacamole and chips in wretched excess and that number bounced back up. It will be back, I know it. It was fun to see it for a fleeting moment though.
Happy Fourth of July!
When I finished TurboFire last week, I found myself with a little gap though and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Historically, in the summer, when I'm not officially doing a full-on scheduled BB routine, like not following anything, I don't do well. I need structure. I'm like a preschooler that way. Except without the nap. But I would like the nap if anyone could please make that happen.
Anyway, I knew I had missed a few workouts here and there when I was sick or when I didn't want to do one of the yoga workouts during the weight loss challenge because I wanted to crank on the cardio routine to burn more calories. Plus, I'd shuffled some things around when we traveled. I made those up, but there were "blue spots" in my WOWY schedule and I could see exactly what I had/hadn't done.
I admit I've become freakishly obsessive about the WOWY calendar. I love making the whole month green, which means completed workouts, except for the rest days. Obviously, I can't go back and fix those specific days, so I constructed a schedule of all of those "blue spots" and it was exactly 12 days--the amount of time before we left for Ohio.
Pefect. Except that I realized about three of the days were HIIT (high intensity interval training) days. Ick. I thought I was done with those. But I'm doing it.
And an interesting aside: Eamonn is doing Insanity. And get this: he can actually do it. Unlike me when I did Insanity and spent most of my time just standing there watching in horror.
It does create a bit of a logjam in the basement in the mornings, but since the weather has been so great, I do a walk while Eamonn is Insane and then when he's finished I do my TurboFire schtick.
So far, so good.
And in further news, on Friday, I hit my revised weight loss goal. Very exciting! Then, because Friday was my cheat day, I ate guacamole and chips in wretched excess and that number bounced back up. It will be back, I know it. It was fun to see it for a fleeting moment though.
Happy Fourth of July!
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