~10 Reasons to Exercise~

It can be so easy for me to skip exercise.  I put it off and put it off, next thing I know it's the end of the day...I'm tired and I just don't feel like doing it.  I can think of 10 reasons during the day why I should be doing something else instead of exercising.  Isn't there ALWAYS something else to do?

But today, I did it.   Today I accepted NO excuses.  I let the dishes sit in the sink.  I let the Legos stay scattered ALL OVER the floor.  The bathroom could wait one more day.   Today was my day.  And tomorrow is mine too!  I won't meet my goals if I keep making excuses. 

I'm not gonna lie. I did not meet my exercise goal on the ~Spring Fling~ Challenge last week. But I'm not going to let that stop me!

Here are 10 Reasons why we need to exercise!

1. It renews your self confidence
2. It reduces your risk of cancer
3. It makes you feel good
4. It gives you energy
5. It helps you loose weight
6. It boosts your immune system
7. It reduces your blood pressure
8. It reduces stress
9. It builds muscle and prevents muscle loss as you age
10. It revs up your metabolism

And a bonus reason why you should exercise......
Because YOU ARE WORTH IT!

Now go out there and sweat a little. 
We Can Do This!

~blogaliciousness~

I've been messing around with the look of this blog.  Ya know, make it a little more blogalicious.  I really have no idea what the heck I am doing.  Just hoping that I don't up and delete the whole thing with one quick slip of the finger.  I'm pretty sure I backed this baby up....but...you know how that goes.  So if you visit and the place looks a wreck, (like... what the heck is she trying to do..kind of thing) sorry about that!  It's a work in progress.

Anywho, I've been doing some thinking about the direction of this blog.  I've been focusing a lot on the challenges.  You can read about the challenges here and here.  They are my most popular posts and I am really excited about them.  I want this to be a place where we can go to find motivation to get healthy and stay healthy.  Yes the main goal is to be HEALTHY!  Not necessarily to just get skinny.  Weight loss will come if we are making healthy life choices.

We need to take control of our health now!  Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoporosis...the list goes on and on.  These are the things that will steal our bodies away from us.  Forcing us to be on a list of medications.  We need to make better choices now so hopefully we will enjoy full, active and healthy lives no matter how old we are!  I know that healthy people get sick too.  And that sometimes no matter what, it's just in our genes.  I'm not trying to invent a cure-all.  I just believe that when we take care of our bodies, minds and spirits we have a better chance of defending ourselves against the aforementioned diseases.  If we take charge of our health, we can live fuller, happier lives.

And those three words at the top, that's my new motto!  I am going to try very hard to Live Life Well! 

I'm in this for the long haul, the rest of my life!  Join me!  And together...

WE CAN DO THIS!

~Spring Fling~ Check In!

Hi Guys! 

Checking in to see how you are doing on the
~Spring Fling~ Challenge

 

 

I'm doing pretty good.  Today was not as good as the others but I'm not going to let that get in my way.  I still have to get my rear end downstairs to exercise.  Man, when I was single with no kids, exercise fit in any time I wanted it to.  But trying to exercise now is no easy task.  I would like to get up early in the morning to get it done for the day, but my kids seem to always hear me if I'm up.  And when I'm up, they are up.  And believe me, I don't want them up at 5:00 am!  So, I usually wait to exercise until they go to bed. 

 

Oh, I've tried exercising while they play.  Except they usually stop what they are doing and start stealing my hand weights and stretchy bands.  I love that sometimes they try to exercise with me (you know, trying to set a good example by showing them that exercise is a normal part of the day), but they usually end up in the way, and I'm afraid they are going to get trampled or kicked while I pretend to be Jillian Michaels in my living room (funny, I was going to type "pretend to be Jane Fonda", but that would show my age!).

 

And that darn Easter candy needs to be consumed already!  When there is no junk in the house, there is no temptation!  Curse you! Mini M&M's!

 

This challenge is all about making choices to make a healthier you and me!  With heart disease, breast cancer, high cholesterol and high blood pressure in my family I really need to make a whole lifestyle change! 

 

We Can Do This!

 

How are you doing?  What kinds of things motivate you to stay on track?  What things get in your way?  I would love to hear from you! 

 

 

 

 

 



~Short and Sweet~

Hello friends!

Just checking in with a short and sweet post.  I wanted to let you know that you can "like us" on Facebook!  Just click on the link at the top of the page and it will take you to the "We Can Do This" page.

If you are doing the ~Spring Fling~ Challenge, Congratulations!  You have taken a step to a healthier you!  We can do this together. 

If you haven't started yet, it's not too late.  Go here to see the challenge and print out your chart.

If you have started, but it's been a while since you have exercised, don't get discouraged if you aren't able to do a full 30 minutes.  Heck, I just tried to do  The Firm Body Sculpting System workout video (on VHS...haha) that I used to do about 10 years ago.  For the love of Pete, I'm 40 now!  Needless to say I did not make it to the end.  I only made it to 20 minutes.  But I still counted it and put a big ol' smiley face on my chart!  The point is, if you can't do a full 30 minutes yet, keep going.  Do what you can.  I'm right there with you!

We Can Do This!

Drink Your Veggies!

Hello!  I hope everyone had a beautiful Easter.  Did you get a chance to enjoy some yummy treats?  I sure did!

The 21 Day Challenge was a success. 

Now we are on to the April ~Spring Fling~ Challenge.

Part of our new challenge is to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day!

Have you been curious about all the green smoothies and juicing that's buzzing up Pinterest right now?  I sure have.  Everything I read about green smoothies tells me that it's super healthy.  I mean it's a bunch of super healthy fruits and veggies all blended together.  How can you go wrong?  But yet I was scared.  What if I spend all the money on the produce, blend it up and then HATE it?  Money wasted!

But then I came across the website , SuperHealthyKids.com. 

They have a whole post on how to make a green smoothie.

 

Click here to get the recipes from superhealthykids.com

 

 

Go to their website and check it out!  They even have a printable chart to help you mix your own smoothie depending on your own tastes! 

 

I started with the recipe for a Basic Green Smoothie
and modified it just a tad.

 

Green Smoothie

3 cups packed baby spinach

2 cups frozen peaches

1 cup frozen mango (I used more peaches)

1/2 cup skim milk

1 cup orange juice

1 scoop EAS vanilla protein powder (didn't use this)

1 cup vanilla Light and Fit Dannon yogurt ( I used lowfat vanilla yogurt)

1 block silken tofu (I left this out)

{source} 

 

 I used a regular old blender that I bought at Wal-Mart

about seven years ago.  It did the trick with no trouble. 

 

I really liked this smoothie and so did my oldest superhero (he's five).  But my three year old not so much!  And my husband wouldn't dare try it.

It's very green in color and I was afraid it would taste like straight spinach, but I didn't taste spinach at all!

The flavor was like a creamy orange peach.  The vanilla yogurt made it just sweet enough.  I will be making this again!  For Sure!
 

This recipe makes about four servings.  And it freezes really well! 

 

So how many servings of fruits and vegetables do we have here?

• Greens like spinach and lettuce have a serving size equal to one full cup. 
• We generally count one piece of fruit as one serving. 
• One half cup of fruit juices are equal to one serving. 

 

So in this smoothie I'm guesstimating there are about six serving of fruits and veggies all together.  Of course we need to divide that into four individual servings.

One serving of this smoothie will give you about 1 1/2 fruits and veggies for the day.  Not too shabby! 

I'm going to experiment with some other combinations.  Do you juice?  Have you made green smoothies before?  Do you have any yummy recipes to share?  I'd love to hear from you. 

Let's get our five servings of fruits and veggies a day!
We Can Do This!



BTW...I've been hearing some feedback that my comments section is not working.  I've researched and tried to fix the problem.  I'm sorry if you have tried to leave a comment but were unable to.  I'm working on it!