In an attempt to begin 2014 with focus on clean eating and healthy living...today is day 4 of "no alcohol" for me. I find it interesting that alcohol is the first thing that I will eliminate from my diet without a second thought and without any hesitation. Fortunately (or, in my case, unfortunately), since I already exercise and I don't have a sweet tooth and I don't smoke and I don't have any other significant vices, wine is the thing to go. Although I do miss having a glass of wine before and/or with dinner, now that the holidays are over, it hasn't been all that difficult to go without. However, it has been only four days so I will have to update you in another week.
My resolution of clean eating does not extend to caffeine and I won't ever consider eliminating my morning cups of coffee. And I would certainly never replace them with decaf.
I would also like to make some changes in how & what we eat at home but, since those types of changes will affect Kevin and the kids as well, I need to think about it some more.
I am considering my goals for 2014 as far as running and exercising are concerned. One of the women in my running group ran 1234 miles this year and I thought that was fun so I am thinking about aiming to run 1234.56 miles in 2014. I would also like to get back in a regular routine of strength training and cross training. When we lived in Miami, I regularly did either the Jillian Michaels' "30 Day Shred" or "Ripped In 30" programs. If you haven't ever tried those workouts, I would highly recommend them. She has a few other programs that I haven't tried but will take a look at soon. I downloaded the programs from iTunes and followed along while they played on my laptop. In my non-professional opinion, I think Jillian is an awesome trainer and the programs, while not easy, are not beyond the capabilities of a beginner. In fact, Jillian has two trainers with her - one demonstrates a more intense version of the exercise and the other demonstrates a lower impact version of the exercise. You do not need a large space or fancy equipment to do the workouts and the programs really are 30 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down) so it is easy to fit a workout in your schedule. I tried to do one or the other program at least three times a week and definitely saw results. Each program begins with a warm-up before moving on to 3 sets each of three minutes of cardio, two minutes of strength (compound and isolation exercises) and one minute of abs. A cool-down finishes the program. Each set has different exercises which keeps it interesting. The only thing I didn't like was the music she chose to accompany the programs. Music is a big energizer for me so, as I became more familiar with the exercises and the routines, I would play my own music and just follow along visually on the laptop. Jillian is a fantastic motivator, she is in great shape and her personal story is very inspiring. I have a major girl crush on her!
This morning, in addition to all of our streets and sidewalks being covered in a solid sheet of ice, it is a chilly 10 degrees outside. So, definitely no running this morning and mostly likely not tomorrow either. Maybe Monday. We have a recumbent bike so I am up early to ride that for a while before the craziness of our weekend begins. We have a busy day of crew practice (Caitlynne), basketball games (Christopher) and home improvement projects (Kevin).
Have a great Saturday!
I am considering my goals for 2014 as far as running and exercising are concerned. One of the women in my running group ran 1234 miles this year and I thought that was fun so I am thinking about aiming to run 1234.56 miles in 2014. I would also like to get back in a regular routine of strength training and cross training. When we lived in Miami, I regularly did either the Jillian Michaels' "30 Day Shred" or "Ripped In 30" programs. If you haven't ever tried those workouts, I would highly recommend them. She has a few other programs that I haven't tried but will take a look at soon. I downloaded the programs from iTunes and followed along while they played on my laptop. In my non-professional opinion, I think Jillian is an awesome trainer and the programs, while not easy, are not beyond the capabilities of a beginner. In fact, Jillian has two trainers with her - one demonstrates a more intense version of the exercise and the other demonstrates a lower impact version of the exercise. You do not need a large space or fancy equipment to do the workouts and the programs really are 30 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down) so it is easy to fit a workout in your schedule. I tried to do one or the other program at least three times a week and definitely saw results. Each program begins with a warm-up before moving on to 3 sets each of three minutes of cardio, two minutes of strength (compound and isolation exercises) and one minute of abs. A cool-down finishes the program. Each set has different exercises which keeps it interesting. The only thing I didn't like was the music she chose to accompany the programs. Music is a big energizer for me so, as I became more familiar with the exercises and the routines, I would play my own music and just follow along visually on the laptop. Jillian is a fantastic motivator, she is in great shape and her personal story is very inspiring. I have a major girl crush on her!
This morning, in addition to all of our streets and sidewalks being covered in a solid sheet of ice, it is a chilly 10 degrees outside. So, definitely no running this morning and mostly likely not tomorrow either. Maybe Monday. We have a recumbent bike so I am up early to ride that for a while before the craziness of our weekend begins. We have a busy day of crew practice (Caitlynne), basketball games (Christopher) and home improvement projects (Kevin).
Have a great Saturday!
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