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February Challenge Results

My personal challenge for February was to do at least 30 minutes of activity each day. I knew this was going to be a particularly tough challenge. I had 2 business trips scheduled this month and the weather has been down right awful. We've had some type of snow storm or wintery mix EVERY WEEK this month. Ugh. 

So how did I do against the odds that were stacked up against me? 

There is strength in cute clothes

Lacking motivation to workout? 

Been there! I found a fun solution to that pressing problem. 

Buy some cute workout clothes! 

source

I admit, some of my workout pants and tops, I have had for years. They are a bit faded, stretched out and dare I say, have a few holes. However, they fit (sort of), they're comfy, but not really that cute. When I pull them out of the drawer, I am not inspired or motivated to get moving. As a result, my workout motivation mirrors my gear - faded, stretched out and a little holey. 

Getting fit with Nike Training Club

Day 5
Work up early this morning and put on the workout clothes. I decided to skip the hotel gym and workout in my room using the Nike Training Club aka NTC app. 

NTC

I love this app. You can select from dozens of workouts based on your time, training goals and equipment. Today, I picked the Jump Start workout which lasted 30 minutes. It was easy to do in my hotel room without any equipment. 

February Challenge

1st day of a new month.

A fresh new start and a clean slate to make some life improvements. This month, I'm starting a brand new challenge for myself and this one is going to REALLY challenge me. In fact, it took me a few days to even commit to doing it. 

A friend posted this video on her Facebook page a few weeks ago and it really inspired me. Please watch...


Woman goes to the gym for 100 days and documents it.

After watching this video, I kept thinking about this young girl who was depressed and very unhappy. She found the strength to motivate herself to just do one thing each day...go to the gym. And she did it for 100 days. 

If she can do it for 100 days, surely I can do it for 28!

If you haven't guessed already, my personal challenge is to do some type of physical activity every day for the month of February (is it a coincidence that this is the shortest month of the year?)

This is going to be a hard one for me, but I'm ready to JUST DO IT! I have two out of town trips for work this month and I'm not great at keeping to a regular workout schedule. I won't be keeping a video diary like Lakeisha, but I will tweet my workout daily to keep myself accountable. Twitter @jenniferdent #febfitnesschallenge

Here we go...

For today's workout I went to my favorite fitness studio, Unite Fitness. I did the Cross-Training D class which is 45 minutes of cardio intervals, 30 min of strength and a quick stretch.

My results for today...

Time: 1 hr 25 min

Burn: 613

Activity: Cross Training

source

I will check in at the end of the month with my challenge results!

#beFit

Workout before church - The Daily Burn

Morning!
Day 2
It's 8:45 AM and I just tried a new at home workout program on my laptop called The Daily Burn. I heard about it yesterday and they offer a 30 day free trial so I figured, why not? This is the perfect month to test it out. 

Whoa.

I think I picked the hardest workout as my first workout today. It is called Scale the Ladder in the Inferno program. It's basically laddering a few exercises. If you're not familiar with it, you start with 10 sets of 5 exercises. For each exercise, you do 10 reps. This is called a round. You take a one minute break and then you start  your second round with 9 reps. Third round is 8 reps. Fourth round is 7 reps. As you "climb down the ladder" your rest breaks get shorter. 

today's workout from The Daily Burn

Simple enough, right? This particular workout was so hard because they went through the exercises FAST. I mean, lightening FAST. By the time I finished my first rep, they were on their third! I felt like I was moving at the pace of a senior citizen compared to those folks!

I paused a lot and at the 30 minute mark, I was only on round 5. That's about the time, I almost passed out. So I stopped the video and did a quick cool down. 

I checked my HR monitor and it told me to stop moving. 

Just kidding!

My results for today's workout:
Time: 36 min
Burn: 208 calories
Activity: Scale the Ladder on The Daily Burn

Now, off to get ready for church! 

#beFit

Lose weight at work

This morning I saw personal trainer and fitness mogul, Jillian Michaels, on the Today show. One of her fitness tips that I recently started to implement is to STAND more during the day. If you have a sit-on-your-butt-all-day-job like I do, you can burn twice as many calories by standing. 

I'm all about burning more calories, but standing more can improve your overall health and well being. Standing more during the day can:

• increase your heart rate 
• burn more calories
• lower your blood glucose levels (this is really important after lunch)

On JustStand.org, I read that the American Medical Association (AMA) agrees that sitting for extended periods of time can be bad for personal health. Their newly adopted policy recommends business organizations offer sitting alternatives, including standing desks. 

I looked into purchasing a standing desk, but they are expensive and not that cute. I tried standing at my kitchen island, but it's not really high enough for me to properly work for hours at a time.

One day my boyfriend suggested I try using my ironing board as a standing desk. Eureka! It's adjustable, it's flat, it's wide enough to hold my laptop and mouse. I tried it and it works perfectly! The best part is I can store it away when not in use. 

My standing work space at home.

I declare, I will not suffer from  Sitting Disease! Neither should you! Get up off of your duff during the day. 

source

JustStand.org has some great cures for the sitting disease. I encourage you to check them out and if you're on a budget (like me), pull out the old ironing board. Whatever you do, just STAND!

beHealthy
beFit
beCreative

Power through your workouts with coconut water

I've never been a big fan of coconut, but I've learned to enjoy the taste and what it does for my body. I recently started drinking coconut water during my workouts. Not only is it more interesting than regular water, it seems to give me a bit of a boost during my intense cross training workouts at Unite Fitness Studios. 

At one point, I poo pooed drinking straight coconut water because of the carbs. Now, since I am on a quest to break the diet mentality, I realize those carbs work FOR me rather than AGAINST me during my workouts. Honestly, there aren't even THAT many carbs in CO2! 

Now understand, coconut water and coconut milk are two different products of the coconut. Coconut WATER is the clear liquid in the center of a young (green) coconut. If you grab a coconut from the tree, crack it open, the water is what will come out. 

Coconut MILK is created when you blend the white fleshy meat of the coconut with water. Check out this recipe on how to make your own coconut milk. 

Now that you have a bit of background on coconut liquids, let's get back to the topic at hand. Why do I drink coconut water during my workouts? 

1. PREVENTS DEHYDRATION 

Coconut water is super hydrating. When you sweat as much as I do when working out, staying hydrated is extremely important. It's 95% water! Rehydration allows you to push yourself a bit further in your workouts.

2. PREVENTS MUSCLE CRAMPS

It also contains a ton (yes, that's a very scientific measurement) of electrolytes. Who needs Gatorade or Powerade with all that sugar and artificial coloring when you can drink pure, refreshing coconut water? It's also rich in natural salts like potassium and magnesium. Studies have shown that coconut water has five times more potassium that some popular sports drinks. 

3. IT TASTES GOOD!

Like I mentioned earlier, it's a bit more interesting than plain old water. I have a 16 oz. reusable water bottle I take to the gym with me. Before my workouts, I fill it up with 8 oz. of coconut water and 8 oz. of filtered water and I'm ready to rock and roll. 

Next time you have an intense, sweatabulous workout planned, drink some coconut water and see if you notice a difference. If so, leave me a comment and tell me about it!

Cheers!

I got that runner's high

Day 24!
I can't believe September is almost over and there are just 6 more days left in this month's challenge. Time flies when you're feeling healthy.

Speaking of feeling healthy, I saw this post on Facebook this morning and it reminded me that this journey to healthy is not about weight loss or fitting into a size 2. It's about being the happiest and healthiest person I can be. 

Today is my "off" day from Unite Fitness. I usually decide in the morning what my workout will be. Sometimes I don't work out at all. Other days I will walk outside or on the treadmill reading a magazine (yes, I am one of those people). In the past few weeks, I've had the urge to go running. I may have mentioned this before, but I don't consider myself a runner...at least I didn't before today's run. 

Let me explain. 

Right after I read this post on Facebook, I saw another post from a friend at 6:15 am. She was FINISHED her early morning run (3.2 mi in 36 minutes)! Wow, this mother and wife made the time to get up and out. What's my excuse?

As I got ready to go running in the park this morning, I was overcome with gratitude that I had legs that moved and feet that carried me. I had running shoes to put on and cute workout gear to wear. I thanked God for the air that filled my lungs with each breath. This mindset made a HUGE difference in my attitude this morning.

Not only did I actually get up and out to go exercise, I ran. 
And I ran. 
And I kept running. For 3.89 miles. 

I usually tend to walk more than I run, but today, I was working off of some other energy. Even when I stopped to walk (out of habit), I realized that my body wanted to continue to run.

So I ran. I kept running until I completed the loop at Cooper River Park in 45 minutes. 

When I got back to my car, I was like wow, I feel good!  Is this the runner's high that has been so elusive? If so, I liked it, and I want it again.

I imagine if I invoke a spirit of gratitude before any workout, I can expect the same high. I'm going to test my theory out tomorrow. 

#runhappy

When I returned to my abode, I prepared the following smoothie:

2 c dandelion greens

1/2 organic bosc pear

1/2 frozen banana

1 tbsp walnuts

1 serving Amazing Grass Organic Wheat 

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Cheers!

FUN FOR THE DAY

I ran and I liked it!