If You Think You Don’t Have Time to Exercise….You’re RIGHT!

Exercise…..

• relieves stress
• improves mood and lifts depression!
• helps with weight loss (obviously)
• increases confidence and self esteem
• increases lifespan
• decreases risk of many diseases
• strengthens your heart!
• makes you cuter! 😉

SO WHY NOT MAKE IT A PRIORITY!?

The #1 reason people DON’T exercise is because they don’t have the time!

We are all so BUSY!

The world we live in is so fast paced and constantly pulling us in a million different directions.

We are NEVER going to find ourselves with a big chunk of time and think, “Hmmmmm, I have all this time and nothing to do….I guess I will exercise!”  (However, if that actually does happen to you…..you are very lucky!)

Sadly for most of us, it doesn’t work like that.

We have to MAKE the time to exercise.

We have to make it a priority.

It is a sacrifice.

It is not easy.

It is not convenient.

But, it IS worth it!!

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Sooooo, if you are already exercising regularly…..good for you!!!  Keep it up!

If you are not and need some ideas and motivation….here are my 2 cents.

Look at your calendar and schedule it in!

• Get it done on your lunch break.
• Wake up a little earlier and do it FIRST thing!
• Go straight to the gym (or on a run, bike ride, etc.) right after work.  It’s harder to do it if you go home first!
• If you are a stay at home mom, go to the gym and take advantage of the daycare!
• If the only time you can do it is late at night….then do it!
• Split it up into 2 smaller workouts

Set a realistic goal for yourself.

• If you can only exercise 3 days a week….then set it as a goal and make it happen!
  • I find I have more success if I try to exercise every day!  That way I don’t “put it off until tomorrow!”  Just do whatever works for you!
• Reward yourself as you reach small goals (# of pounds lost, # of weeks of consistent exercise, # of miles run, etc.)
  
• Don’t set yourself up to fail.  If you’re not used to exercising….start slow.

Don’t compare yourself to anyone but YOU!

• If you are just getting into running and can’t even run 1/2 mile….who cares!  Just get out there and run the best 1/4 mile you can and work from there!
• If you’re intimidated by the gym (it is an intimidating place!), just remember that most people there are too engrossed with themselves that they probably won’t even notice you (sad, but true)!  Be confident, hold your head high and just remember you are there to exercise!
• If you are unable to exercise (due to injury or other things), just do the best you can!  Find something you’re able to do.  Go for short walks, lift weights or swim!

Find something you can stick with!

• If you hate (insert form of exercise here), then don’t do it!!!  Find something you love at least don’t hate.
• Go on a bike ride, run, walk, hike, etc. with friends, by yourself, with your kids, etc.
• I love to go to classes at the gym because it’s easy to plan it on the schedule and get it done!
• If you can’t afford the gym, find some killer workout videos (the library is a great resource too!)
• Find an exercising buddy!  It really helps!

Well, there are my 2 cents for now.

Oh, and here’s one of my favorite quotes….

“If you always do what you’ve always done….you’ll always get what you’ve always got!”

I don’t know who said it, but I LOVE it!

If you need some more motivation, here ya go….

I love you all!!  xoxo

Be Empowered!

Sorry guys, I’ve been a little MIA…

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I just dropped off my 12 year old for his first day of Middle School this morning!!

I’m kind of freaking out.

Time flies, ya know???

It seems like he was just a little baby a few years ago…

and I feel like I was just in Middle School a few years ago!!??

How does that happen?!

!?!?!?!?!!!!

I guess it’s just another reminder that I need to seize the day and get a handle on my health and my life before I’m a little old lady, huh.

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I have always valued health.  I haven’t always been committed to it, but I’ve always known it’s important.

I’ve exercised fairly regularly most of my life.

When I was 14 or so, my sister and our friends would workout to Jane Fonda videos in the basement.

It was fun.

I joined my first gym when I was 16 and loved it.

For most of my life I’ve usually either gone to the gym, done exercise videos, or created my own workouts at home.

I also started running about 3 years ago…LOVE it!

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However, I must say that sometimes I’ve been an exercising slacker.

For big chunks at a time too.

Like the last few months of pregnancy or when I have little tiny babies at home.

At those times, just surviving is about all I can handle…;-)

Or sometimes, I just really don’t feel motivated to exercise…at all.

But, I love it in a weird sorta way.

I don’t love the time commitment, hard work and effort it takes…

But, I do love the physical and emotional satisfaction I feel afterward.

I love pushing myself and feeling strong and empowered.

I love feeling disciplined.

It is worth every minute I put into it.

My body will thank me. 😉

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I’ve been a pretty decent eater most of my life.

I’ll admit, my idea of “healthy eating” has changed quite a bit over the years.

When we were first married, I tried to include vegetables with dinner every night.

I ate whole wheat bread, brown rice (although I always made white rice for Kev!), chicken, eggs and had cereal for breakfast most mornings.

I thought I was A-OK.

About 4 years ago, I really started to discover what it means to eat healthy.

My sister introduced me to a book by Tosca Reno called “The Eat-Clean Diet.”

LOVE it!

It’s basically a straight-forward “eat real food” kind of diet.

It seemed to make sense to me.

It intimidated the heck out of me though.

The book introduced me to things I had never heard of like Agave Nectar, Kefir and all kinds of funky grains and flours.

I started to improve my diet and take a lot of her advice, minus all of the funky intimidating stuff.

I eventually started to include a lot of the funky stuff too.

Now, I think it’s kind of fun to discover new healthy ways to eat.

I love checking health books out at the library, reading health magazines, searching the internet and learning more and more.

Sooooo, I will share what I learn with you!

If I ever use a “funky” ingredient, I will tell you everything you need to know so it won’t be so “funky” anymore.

K?

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With that being said, here are a few (not so funky) things I’ve been eating lately.

I’ve been feeling very very worn out and run down lately, so I’ve kept breakfast pretty simple and “comforty”….

Egg whites (with a little ketchup) and a side of fruit

OR

Cereal with Fruit

These are some of my favs...Uncle Sam (bought at Walmart) and Flax Plus (Costco).

Uncle Sam is an amazing cereal!  10 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein and less than 1 gram of sugar!  WOW!  Love it! 

Oh, and the ingredients are: Whole wheat kernels, whole flaxseed, salt, barley malt.

That is it.

It’s pretty tasty too.  I eat it topped with a little fruit or mix in a little Flax Plus to sweeten it up sometimes too.

Flax Plus is pretty awesome itself (5 grams fiber and 6 grams protein).  It does have a higher sugar content (10 grams), but it contains all real and healthy ingredients.  I just use it as an accent.  Oh, I also love any cereal made by Kashi (Go Lean is my fav!) and Fiber One cereal is good too!

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For lunch the other day, we had BLTs!  Yummy!

I used Turkey Bacon for the “B”,

Jennie-O Natural (no nitrates/nitrites) Turkey Bacon. 40 calories, 2 grams fat, 6 grams protein per slice! Not bad!

Iceberg for the “L”, and tomatoes from our garden for the “T”.

I put all the yummy ingredients on these yummy sandwich thins I found at Walmart.

Served with a side of veggies.

Guess what I had for lunch the following day too???

BLT+C Salad!

I just threw leftover iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, crumpled turkey bacon and cucumbers (because we have a million of them in the garden right now!) together and topped it all with a little mustard.  Very yummy!

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The other night we had a crazy night….so I just made breakfast for dinner!

Healthy Whole Wheat Waffles with egg whites!

I topped mine with a little Smart Balance spread, sugar-free syrup and fruit! YUM!

Easy, yummy, and the kids loved them!!!

I gotta go to bed….I am draggggggggggggin’