Traded The Gym For A Juicer

A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from my gym stating that I only had a short time to renew because my 2-year membership would be ending. At that time I wondered if I should renew or look for a new gym to join. One afternoon I stopped by LifeTime Fitness to see what a membership would cost. LifeTime is a massively huge and beautiful facility that has everything you could ever want in a gym. During the tour I started to feel very anxious. I don't know if it was the used car salesman I was walking around with or the women working out in full make-up that made my dream gym feel so fake. After the tour, the salesman took me into the little room with no windows to talk about my contract. The panic really started setting in. After he told me it would ONLY cost $71 per month, I respectfully declined the membership and ran out of the gym. 

After that I decided I would just renew my less expensive membership at 24-Hour Fitness and try and go over and work out more than once per month. But after renewing, I just didn't feel like that was the right decision for me either. I didn't use my last membership as much as I should have. Having a two-year-old makes it difficult to go anywhere. I cancelled my membership and decided that I would purchase a Breville Juicer with the money I saved. I also had enough money left over that I could buy Les Mills Body Pump for home. Body Pump was my FAVORITE class at the gym and now I can do the same workout at home. I am so excited! I feel like this was the perfect decision for me at this time. 

Product reviews coming soon.

Good Morning Yoga Sequence

Via Thoughts By Natalie

I love this morning yoga routine. All of the poses are easy to do and they give your body a really good stretch to start the day.

My 7-Day Detox Plan

When you hear the word detox do you think of a juice cleanse or a fruit and veggie fast? Detoxes can be number of different plans, but the main purpose of a detox is to eliminate poisons and toxins from the body. Detox plans can help prevent chronic illnesses, reduce damage to your immune system, help rid the body of excess weight, and more. 

One of the main reasons I am going on a detox plan is to get my healthy eating habits in check, kick my wicked sugar addiction, and rid excess toxins from my body. I have done so well adding healthier, whole foods to my diet but I am still struggling with my sugar addiction. My goal is to finish this week long detox with my bad habits in check.  

Inviting Waters from Martha Stewart

Here is my 7-day detox plan:

Water. 
Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Add lemon, lime, or other fresh ingredients to jazz it up.

Eat Clean.
Eat foods that are whole, all-natural, organic, and clean. Focus on eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, legumes, and healthy fats (like avocado, olive oil, nuts and seeds, etc.). Avoid dairy and gluten for the next 7 days. Eliminate added sugar, caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, and artificial ingredients.

Drink Green.
Drink 1-2 green smoothies per day. I blend 1-cup of spinach or kale, 3/4-cup fruit, 1/2 banana, and 1 tablespoon of chia or flax seeds.

Get Your Z's. 
Sleep 7-9 hours per night.

Exercise.
Spinning, weight lifting, walking, etc. Sweating eliminates toxins from the body.

Breathe Deeply.
Practice yoga or meditate daily.

Body Brush.

Brushing your skin five minutes a day sloughs off dead skin cells and improves circulation. Read more about why I love to body brush, here. 

If you are interested in a detox plan, you can find a great starting plan here: Whole Living Action Plan. Also, one of my favorite documentary films has a short video about detoxes, click on Hungry For Change Detox to watch.

Choose Good

I love this! It's just what I needed today to keep me motivated. I posted it just incase you needed a little extra motivation too.

Delicious Post-Workout Green Smoothie

Last night after a very intense step class (I burned almost 600 calories in 60 minutes!), I came home and whipped up a very delicious post-workout smoothie known as a "Green Monster." I have found many variations of the Green Monster on Pinterest, but this one is made with fruit, Greek yogurt, ice, and spinach - which is obviously the reason it is green. But I must assure you, it is DELICIOUS! You can't taste the spinach at all. Even my baby loves it and it's such an easy way to sneak more greens in her diet. Plus, the Greek yogurt adds lots of protein. 

Here are some facts on why you should include spinach in your diet;

• Spinach is low in calories, and is a great source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and minerals like iron. 
• The high amount of vitamin A promotes healthy skin by allowing proper moisture retention, which helps fight acne and even wrinkles.
• Leutin is an antioxidant that promotes good eye health, and may help prevent cancer of the liver, ovaries, colon and prostate, and even dementia. 
• Dole lab tests found spinach has twice the chlorophyl, eight times the calcium, six times magnesium, 10 times the potassium, 15 times the vitamin C, and 43 times the vitamin A of wheatgrass juice. 

Some of these fantastic facts are from Iowa Girl Eats. 

Post-Workout Green Smoothie

1/2 Orange, peeled and sectioned
1/4 cup Mango, frozen chunks (or you can use 1/4 cup pineapple)
5-6 large Strawberries, frozen
1 Banana
1 cup Greek Yogurt (I used Chobani, Plain, Non-Fat)
1-2 cups Baby Spinach (I used Organic Girl)

Put all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. Serves 1

Update: I started adding 1 tablespoon of Chia seeds to my smoothie. They have no taste and have great health benefits. Read more about Chia, here.

Well, I am off to Spinning so I can come home and have another one of these refreshing gems. I hope you try one soon - they are so yummy!

Happy New Year

Wow, where did 2011 go? Seriously? This past year just flew by for me. I think it's because I was having fun raising my little one and just enjoying life.

Did you make any 2012 New Years resolutions? Every January I make a list of several different goals I would like to achieve in he upcoming year. Sometimes I meet them, sometimes I don't. But I always try. 

I thought this was interesting - half of the people that resolve to lose weight, exercise regularly, or eat healthy stop around three months. Only one in every ten people keep their resolution for a full year. I think this chart could probably apply to most New Years resolutions. 

This year I resolve to continue improving my lifestyle (meaning it will need to last for the rest of my life, not just this year), which will include; eat even more healthy less-processed and organic foods, exercise more regularly, travel, work on becoming a Yogi (one who practices Yoga), learn something new, hike more, run a couple of 5K's, drink tons of water, do something kind every day, and laugh more. Sounds like pretty manageable goals, don't you think? I can totally be that one person standing at the end of the year (see the little green person above that feels accomplished and proud).

Good luck with your 2012 resolutions!

Taking Exercise To The Next Level

During the final season of Oprah she had her personal trainer, Bob Greene, on the show to talk about his new book, 20 Years Younger (I just caught this episode during the summer reruns). This show completely inspired me to focus on different areas of my life to live longer, look younger, and get healthier. I am not the type of person to try fad diets and that is why I think this one caught my attention. It is not a fad. It focuses on four areas that everyone should be working on - nutrition, exercise, sleep, and skin care.

I have always exercised sporadically, but on the show Bob talked about doing 200 minutes of cardio per week (about 3 1/2 hours) and working up to 300 minutes, along with strength training. Since watching the episode a couple of weeks ago I have been trying to do something active everyday and have had no problem getting 200 minutes of cardio in. I have been taking step, Spinning, and weight lifting classes at the gym,  my Mom and I have been walking 3-4 miles on the parkway (with Ella in her Jeep stroller), and on the rainy days I even dusted off the old treadmill and walked a couple of miles. I also have incentives like after I take 10 or more Spinning classes I am going to treat myself to special Spinning shoes.

I also got a backpack for Ella so we can do active things as a family, like hiking. I love hiking and we have planned a couple of really fun hikes in the next couple of months. And I have the Love Your Body 10K/6K coming up in October. (If you are wondering, I am not doing the Iron Girl Triathlon this fall - we are waiting until next spring to do it.)

Bob also suggested not to weigh for a whole month and I think that has helped so much. I have been focusing on how I feel and how my clothes fit and not the number on the scale which seems to derail progress at times because the number isn't moving in the direction I want or as fast as I want to.

I am just so motivated and have so much more energy since I have changed just a few minor things. I will post about the other three changes I have made coming up.