Challenge!

Are you ready? Did you prepare all your food and plan how you are going to dominate your week??  If you are like me and feeling groggy from the weekend, then starting fresh is exactly what you need today.  So let’s get to it.  Now is always the best time to start and I am here to help you along the way if you need it.  This challenge is simple and many of you might be tweaking it to work better for you and that is great, as long as your are pushing yourself to change habits.  The habit of eating late at night or eating too much sugar or too much salt etc.  Whatever it is, make the choice to be a better you. Not because you want to look good for summer or for that big event coming up…but because this is YOUR body and you only get ONE.  So why not take care of it and feel your best?  When you take better care of yourself, you feel like you can conquer the world.

Some questions that came up over the last few days….

Is Dairy bad?  Why  Almond Milk?

I have nothing against Dairy, but I am lactose intolerant,  so Almond milk is a great alternative and is SO good in smoothies, with granola etc.  I get the unsweetened kind from Aldi.  Sweetened is fine, but just keep in mind there is added sugar.  So if you are switching over, Vanilla might be a good choice and then work your way to having unsweetened.  The cool thing about clean eating is that your taste buds will literally change.  And the sugary, fatty things you used to crave will eventually go away!

I have to give up coffee creamer??

I know, I KNOW this was really hard for me when I first did it.  I love coffee with my creamer.  BUT I now use coconut milk creamer or soy milk creamer and it does the trick.  I get these at Woodmans, Whole Foods and Fruitful yield and they are delish.  Take a look on the back of your coffee creamer ingredients and tell me you know what any of those ingredients are, I bet you don’t.  Not clean.

I know you said no processed food, but what about cereal?

Most cereal is sugary and processed, pay attention to ingredients.  There are many “clean” cereal choices out there, but I am sorry to say Coco Puffs is not one of them.   Just remember this is YOUR challenge, so don’t give up everything at once just a little at a time.  If having a bowl of cereal after dinner is what curbs you wanting to eat the whole pantry, then by all  means go for it.  Just don’t have 5 bowls, make a rule for yourself.

What if I don’t get home until 6pm to eat dinner?

When I say no food after 6pm, this is because I am usually in bed around 9pm. As a general rule you should avoid eating 2 hours before you go to bed.  So it does not HAVE to be 6pm, but just as a way to kick the late night munching which I always struggle with.

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Remember this is a CHALLENGE, it is supposed to be hard!  If making truly healthy choices was easy, we would not have an epidemic of diseases or obesity in our society.  You can do this, but you have to DECIDE you will do it first.  You are either all in or not.  No fuzzy lines.

My apologies for not posting workouts, this weekend was a little crazy.  Try to get 4-6 workouts in a week, does not have to be an hour.  It can be 20 minutes.  Here is a workout I use with clients all the time and is super easy and quick to do on your own…only takes 20 minutes!

Circuit style workout, do as many repetitions as you can in 1 minute of each of these exercises.  Rest for one minute at the end of the 4 minutes (no resting between each set) and repeat 4 times total:

1 minute of burpees

1 minute of air squats

1 minute of pushups

1 minute plank

1 minute rest

REPEAT 3 MORE TIMES

Other ideas for exercises to do in this same format:  mountain climbers, jumping jacks, tricep dips off your couch or bed,  1 minute of going up and down your stairs, jogging in place,  jump rope or high knees.

Easy peasy right? Set your clock for 20 minutes, put on some good tunes and boom you have a 20 minute workout done.

YOU CAN DO THIS, GOOD LUCK!