Remember, that little voice inside your head begins to lie when you force yourself out of your comfort zone. You are capable of amazing things, you just have to keep pushing yourself.
Tag Archives: Personal Growth
Healthy Baking Substitutes
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and that means many of us will begin baking for family events, holiday dinners, office parties, cookie exchanges and quite honestly, just because it makes us feel festive.
That sweet tooth and favorite cookie recipe doesn’t have to be ignore this season. All you need to do is change your perspective on food and make a few improvements on those sugary, overly processed ingredients our recipes normally call for.
Here’s a handy list I found on Pinterest:
It’s amazing how much sugar and how many calories you can save with these simple substitutes. What’s even more amazing is that you can’t even tell you changed anything with most of them.
Do you have any healthy holiday baking tips?
Filed under Recipes, Snacks & Treats
Post Sandy: Helping A Friend To Rebuild
As many people know, the East Coast was pounded by Super-storm Sandy a week ago. She devastated communities along the Jersey Shore, Staten Island, Queens and Long Island. She left millions without power or heat and created a gas shortage that sparked an odd/even gas rationing here in New Jersey.
After being hit hard only a year ago by Irene, my family was thankfully spared any true damage from Sandy.
Unfortunately, a friend of mine from High School was not. Jen, who was set to run the NYC Marathon last Sunday, and Pedro who served our country in Iraq, lived in the Oakwood Beach area on Staten Island, with their two young children, before Sandy washed her house off its foundation, and into a marsh about 1/2 mile away. When I heard the news and watched THIS video, my heart sank for them. *Their story starts at the 2:10 mark*
As you can see, they lost everything and need to start from scratch. If you are looking to donate to those who were hit hardest by Sandy, please consider donating to them. Another friend of theirs set up a link for monetary donations HERE which will help them to get back on their feet during this rough time.
If you are not comfortable sending money, which I know some people are not, one of Jen’s blogger friends over at A Healthy, Happier Bear, set up a Target gift registry for all the essentials that they will need for their new rental home, once they find one. To view her blog post and donate, please CLICK HERE
A special thank you to everyone I know who has already donated to them, either monetarily or by dropping clothing off here for them. I know that many people were impacted by Sandy, but I had to share the story of someone who I know personally. I urge everyone to help out in anyway they can. Volunteer time to communities to help with clean up, donate clothes, cleaning supplies, whatever is needed.
Please feel free to link to this blog, RT, share, whatever it takes to get the word out and help a family in need.
Filed under Family Fun, My Ramblings
Do It Daily Workout
This morning I decided to take my own advice from yesterdays post “Progress and Change”. I haven’t had to leave for work as early the past few shifts and I was either reading in the morning or wasting time on Pinterest. (Neither is an awful thing, but I have recently set some fitness goals for myself and neither was really helping me reach that goal, know what I mean?).
While on Pinterest, I tend to look for healthy recipes and new workouts to try, so it’s not a total waste of time, but I could be doing the workouts I already pinned and haven’t tried before looking for new ones, right?
This morning I tried this one:
It’s a perfect before-you-take-your-morning-shower-workout. I felt a great burn in my core from it, and since I had extra time, I held the plank till I couldn’t anymore, which resulted in 5 minutes 10 seconds of plank. (Not too shabby)
I’m in my rest week for P90X right now, so I’ll be doing Core Synergystics later tonight. Phase 3 starts on Monday….I can’t believe how fast this round is going by!
Filed under Health & Fitness, Quick Workouts
Progress and Change
You have to change the way you think if you want to see results.
Stop telling yourself you can’t run, do circuit training or even attempt yoga. You might not be able to run a 5k right away, complete the circuit or hold all of the yoga poses without toppling over, but with practice and persistence, you will begin making great strides in less time than you think.
Stop telling yourself that eating fast food is your only option or that it’s cheaper to do so. With proper planning, eating healthy doesn’t have to cost a fortune and it can be even easier! Your body will thank you for doing it, too!
It’s up to you to change your mindset and believe that you can do these things. Once you do, anything is possible and change will be inevitable.
Filed under Fitness Inspiration, Health & Fitness
{Fitness Friday}
It’s Fitness Friday again! I know I missed last week and kinda dropped off the grid for awhile (I do that…I know. I try not to but life just kinda happens..sorry) but I’m still doing P90X and as a matter of fact, just completed the 3rd week of Phase 2, which means next week is my rest week!
The hubs and my schedule got a little wonky this week, so we ended up doing Back and Biceps last night instead of Wednesday. As a result, I can’t do Legs and Back tonight because my back needs the day of rest. The hubs birthday is tomorrow so pushing Legs and Back back a day won’t work either. To remedy this, I decided to do a lower body workout I found on the web to see how I liked it. Here is the workout I followed:
Move 1: Squats (15 – 25 reps depending on fitness level. Add weights if you would like for extra resistance)
Stand with feet hip-width apart, feet facing forward, arms by your sides. Sit back and lower down slowly, as if you were sitting into a chair. Keep your back straight and lower yourself as far as you can. Keep your eyes looking ahead. Immediately rise out of the squat and return to standing.
Move 2: Forward Lunges (10 – 20 reps on each side, depending on fitness level. Add weights if you would like for extra resistance)
Stand with feet hip-width apart. Step a wide step forward with your right foot, and bend both knees as far as you can without losing your balance until your right thigh is parallel to the floor and your left thigh is straight up and down. Your back foot will be flexed. Press off your front foot and step back into starting position. If you can’t go all the way to parallel, start by going partway down. If you need to, stabilize yourself with your hands on your hips, or a stable object.
Move 3: Plie Jumps (15 – 25 reps, depending on fitness level)
Stand with feet wide apart, with your feet turned out, and hands on hips. Stand tall with abs in. As you squat, press knees wide over your feet. You should feel a stretch along your inner thighs. In one explosive movement, push from your feet to straighten your legs and hop into the jump off the floor. As your feet come back to the floor, try to land softly, absorbing the landing from toes through heels.
Move 4: Fire Hydrants (10 – 20 reps on each side, depending on fitness level)
Start on all fours, knees directly under your hips, and hands directly below your shoulders. Keep your back and neck straight and look forward. Keeping your knee bent, raise your right leg out to the side, until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Keep your pelvis stable. Slowly lower your leg back to starting position. (You’ll feel this in your shoulders and core, too.)
Move 5: Quadruped (10 – 20 reps on each side, depending on fitness level)
Start on all fours, knees directly under your hips, and hands directly below your shoulders. Keeping your right knee bent to 90 degrees, lift right leg until thigh is parallel to floor. Your foot should be flexed. Pump the sole of your foot toward ceiling in a small movement. (You’ll feel this in your shoulders and core, too.)
Move 6: Bridge Lift (10 – 20 reps, depending on fitness level)
Lie on your back on a mat, knees bent, feet flat on the floor near your buttocks. Place your arms along your sides with palms flat on floor. Contract your abdominal muscles and slowly lift your hips off floor so that your body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders. Squeeze your glutes tight, as you press your hips toward the ceiling. Hold for a second, then lower slowly back down to the floor.
Move 7: Clams(10 -20 reps on each side, depending on fitness level)
Lie on your side on mat with your hips and shoulders in a straight line, head lying on your outstretched arm. Bend your knees so that your thighs are at a 90-degree angle to your body. Stack your hips, shoulders, and knees directly on top of each other. Use your core muscles to hold this alignment as you do the exercise.
Keeping your big toes touching, open your top leg up like a clam shell opening. Press your knee open only as far as it can go without disturbing the alignment of your hips. Slowly return your knee back down. Repeat. You should begin to feel a burn in your upper hip muscle.
I repeated the circuit 3 times and was very happy with the muscle burn I felt. I achieved a nice jello feeling in my legs from this and I will definitely keep this in the rotation. As many of you know, I become bored quickly with workouts and often look for the quickest, yet effective ones to do.
Nutrition has been going pretty well for me too. I had a few slip ups here and there but that’s life and I no longer beat myself up over stuff like that the way I used to. I have a few recipes that I tried and plan on sharing soon!
What have you been doing to get fit and healthy? Do you have any workouts or recipes to share? I’d love to hear about them if you do.
Filed under Health & Fitness, P90X
Love The Journey
Three years ago, I had a goal to lose weight. That was it. I set up small goals to reach, always thinking that one day, I would reach my goal and finish. Little did I know back then, that this becomes a way of life.
No wonder I had failed so many times before.
There is no finish line when you truly embrace a healthy lifestyle. The key is to enjoy what you are doing to become healthy. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t do it.
Filed under Fitness Inspiration, Health & Fitness
Lucky vs Strong
I consider myself healthy, not skinny, and the road to getting healthy definitely made me strong!
Speaking of strong, today starts Phase 2 of P90X for me. As I expected, I didn’t see a change in my waist, hip or thigh measurements and I’m happy with where I’m at with those, so it didn’t bother me. I did however see a half inch increase in both of my biceps, and I can see nice shoulder definition which really makes me happy!
Results take strength and determination, not luck. Put your mind to it and the results will come.
Filed under Fitness Inspiration, Health & Fitness
No Excuses!
You don’t even need a full hour to make a difference and start moving toward a healthier you! If you have time to sit and watch a TV show, or time to catch up on your DVR, you have time to better yourself. No excuses!
Filed under Fitness Inspiration, Health & Fitness
{Fitness Friday}
Hello everyone! I decided to try and start a little something new with a weekly, Fitness Friday check-in. I’ll tell you what I’ve done to make myself healthier during the week, and you can tell me what you have done either in the comments, or if you blog, do your own Fitness Friday post and leave me a link below. (I’m not sure how these link-up things work so please feel free to school me if you have experience with them.)
Let’s see….
I’m just finishing up week 3 of P90X, which means that next week is my rest week. Phase 1 seems to have flown by and I’m looking forward to the change in workouts that Phase 2 brings.
In addition to P90X, I’ve also been doing the Plank Challenge. If you don’t know what that is, CLICK HERE. I’ve been doing the challenge for almost 2 weeks now, and I’ve added 1:38 to my time! I can feel the strength in my shoulders and core improving each day!
This was today’s plank time. I found that if I do it as soon as I wake up, my mind doesn’t realize what I’m asking of my body to do. Also, coffee is a great reward!
As for nutrition, I am proud to say that I have been REALLY good here. I’ve been testing new recipes and trying to utilize my slow cooker more. The more organized I am, the lower the chance of me being tired and just saying “fuck it” and ordering a pizza. (Oh, how I love my pizza! Nom Nom Nom!) I normally cheat here and there at work with all of the chocolate temptation that is everywhere I turn, but I have not since starting this round of P90X. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a few tastes of the yogurt flavors we carry, but nothing crazy…I promise!
Now it’s YOUR turn! I want to know what you’ve been doing to improve your health and get into shape! Leave me a comment below, write a Fitness Blog and link back here or leave me a link in the comments, tweet at me….whatever! Speak up…enjoy a little time in the spot light and let’s cheer each other on!
Filed under Health & Fitness
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