~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!

~Spring Fling Challenge~ Here it is!

 

I am so excited to share the new challenge for the month of April. 

 This challenge is all about getting healthy.  

And I'm hoping to shed a few pounds too!

 

Before we begin the challenge:

1. We all need to record our current weight. 
2. Choose a weigh day. 
3. We need to record measurements of our hips, thighs, belly, bust and arms. 

If you need some guidance on how to take your measurements visit LIVESTRONG.COM.

 

It's important to get your measurements because sometimes we don't lose pounds but we do lose inches.  As you make better food choices and exercise, your body will tighten and firm! 

Choose a day that suits you to weigh in.  Don't weigh yourself everyday.  Our body fluctuates from day to day.  Just choose one day to weigh yourself.  Mine is Saturday morning (in my underwear, before I eat and after I pee...eek TMI...but I want the greatest chance of seeing that scale move!).

 

And now without further delay:  

Here are the new goals for the month of April

~Spring Fling Challenge~

• Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (combined)
• Eat an apple a day.  There ya go, one fruit down already
• No fast food, chips, pop, muffins, cookies, brownies, cakes, pies.  You get the picture.  Basically no junk! 
• Don't be discouraged already..I have a surprise....keep reading
• Take a multi-vitamin everyday
• Drink at least 8 eight ounce glasses of water a day
• Do 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week.  Yep you get two days off, you choose which two!
• You get one SPLURGE a week

Splurge!  That's the surprise.  This month long challenge includes one splurge day per week!  What is a splurge?  It's an ice cream cone, a can of soda pop, a serving of chips!  It's whatever you want it to be and whenever you want it to be.  But you only get one per week, so use it wisely.  And be smart.  A splurge is not consuming an entire family size bag of potato chips in one sitting.  It's just one serving to get you over your craving. 

~Bonus~

 

If you add a sixth day of exercise during your week, give yourself a bonus splurge to be used on another day!

And my favorite part...........
The printable chart to keep track of all those things we need to do.

We Can Do This ~Spring Fling~ April Challenge Printable

 

 

This printable is only good for one week.  So you'll need to print out several.  Just check off each section as you go.  The water section only has seven water drops.  I thought we could put eight dots in each water drop to keep track of the day's water intake.  This way the chart wasn't loaded up with a bunch of water drops.  After all we will be drinking 56 glasses of water a week.  Say What? 

We will be starting in the middle of a week so this printable won't match up exactly to the weeks in April.  For example, the first week of April only has six days, but you get the idea.

 

Ready to start with me? 

Go to the store this weekend and buy your fruits and veggies!  Don't forget the apples and a bottle of multi-vitamins too.

 

This challenge begins April 1st and runs the whole month!

 

We Can Do This!

 

 

 

 

As with any diet or exercise program, consult your doctor before starting.  I am not a health care professional.  This is just something I'm doing be a healthier person! 



~Three More Days And A Sneak Peek~

Only three days left on the 21 Day Challenge!  We will wrap up the challenge the day before Easter.  Just in time to delight in whatever the Easter Bunny brings to your house.  Rumor has it that the Easter Bunny is bringing me a new hummingbird feeder instead of chocolate!  I can always pinch the kids candy, right?

My little superheros are getting so excited for Easter.  They love going to church.  They can't wait to wear their new ties to Easter service this Sunday.  And the Easter bunny visiting adds a whole new level of excitement.

I'm excited for Easter too!  I'm excited to celebrate the risen Lord and reaffirm my commitment to Christ!  I'm excited to see those little superhero smiles when they find their Easter baskets full of goodies.

AND...I am excited to have a nibble of chocolate.  Did I say nibble?  Um, probably will have a little more than a nibble on Easter morning.  It's tradition in this family to eat some Easter chocolate for breakfast! 
 
What kind of silly traditions do you have?


The new Spring Fling Challenge will start on April 1st!  I'm really excited about it.  My friend, Karin, and I have been working on some new goals.  We've decided to keep the apple a day from the 21 Day Challenge. 

Here's a little sneak peek of the new printable coming your way.

 

A new post will be up soon detailing the whole Spring Fling Challenge. 

Can't wait to share...I'm kinda like really excited about it  (have I said that already...)

 

We Can Do This!

~The Final Challenge Check In~

How are you doing on the 21 day challenge?

 

 

I really, really want to hear from you...

I want to know what the best part has been so far.

I want to know what the worst part has been so far.

 

 

For me, the best part has been my success in drinking water.  I'm actually doing it.  Yesterday I drank ten 8 ounce glasses!  Can I get a woot woot?  Prior to this challenge I hydrated with coffee and diet soda.  What a poor choice on my part, eh?

 

The worst part has been daily exercise.  I'll be honest, I haven't done 30 minutes EVERY day.  But I'm doing more that I was 16 days ago!  I have more energy now.  I can run around with the kids without getting out of breath!  I'll take it!

 

There's only 5 days left in our 21 Day Challenge.  We got this, baby!

 

If you haven't started this challenge, there will be a new one starting April 1st with new goals!  I'll be putting up a post all about it this week.

 

We Can Do This!

 

 

~New challenge just in time for April~

 

 

We Can Do This

~Spring Fling~

April Challenge

 

A new challenge is being prepared for the month of April!

 

Starts April 1, 2013

 

There will be new goals and a new printable chart to help you stay on track.

 

This week is your prep week. 

We all need to weigh ourselves and take our measurements.

 

Think about what day you want to be your weigh day (once a week).

Record your current weight.

 

Grab a cloth tape measure and record the following

measurements (you may need a friend to help you).

 

Hips, thighs, arms, belly and bust.

 

If you are unsure how to do this go to LIVESTRONG.COM.

There are good directions there.

 

The 21 Day Challenge has motivated me. 

It's a great starting point for anyone wanting to make a healthy change!

 

I hope you will join me for the April ~Spring Fling~ Challenge!

 

We Can Do This!