December to January

I think the holidays are wonderful but I’m slowly packing up the decorations and putting the furniture back in place.

Getting my home back to normal reminds me to step back into my normal routine which includes going to the gym instead of wrapping gifts and making a salad instead of treats.   There is no better day to start than Today because once Today is under your belt tomorrow is so much easier to repeat the behavior.   I am happy to say that today has been a good day of taking care of myself.  I’ve had a protein smoothie for breakfast, did the following workout at the gym which was inspired by my daughter’s  free bootcamp and had a yummy lunch of salad and Red Pepper and Tomato Soup.

Here is the workout I did:

Warmed up by stretching and holding planks.

20 minutes on elliptical – my iPod ran out of juice 10 minutes in 🙁 so no tunes but I kept going

Pyramid Workout – 4, 6, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4 reps of the following exercises (Example – first you do 4 of each of the exercises, then 6  and then 8, etc:

1.  Laterals on back with 15lb weights

2.  Triceps on back with 15lb weights

3.  Bicycle Crunches

4.  Legs on Stability Ball Crunches

5.  Bridge on Stability Ball

6.  Pushup on Knees

7.  Plank Position Leg Jump Outs

Now you may not know what all the exercises listed are and that’s okay.   You can always choose your own exercises that fit for you but it is so important to move.  Daily decisions not to move will impact your tomorrows.   I want to be able to play with my grandchildren on the floor, tie my shoes, carry my groceries – you get the picture.

Did you notice I said grandchildren?  On December 23rd the family gathered around while my little grandson pulled out a colored bow that would tell us if he is having a brother or sister.  Here is the answer and we are thrilled – of course we would have been thrilled either way.

 

Now back to the workout..

Finished up with 10 minutes on the stair master.

I also started getting a weekly box of organics from  Sunizona for $22.00 and used several items in the Seasoned Quinoa Salad pictured above for my lunch.  This is a great meatless dish and I definitely have eaten my veggies today. Recipe will be coming in January.

This fall at work I had an opportunity to participate in a Healthy Challenge.  I was part of a team and we daily tracked our sleep, eating, exercise, etc.  It was very helpful and found the chart very motivating so I am creating a weekly chart to continue this support to my health goals.  It is my hope that I will find a way to share that with you also in case you’d like to give it a try.

I like the message below: