Happy, Healthy, Fit Challenge: Week 3

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Good morning! How did you do with Week 2 challenges? I’ve been enjoying the small, daily “task” or challenge as it helps me stay more present and gives each day a purpose. I want to recap my challenges thus far, so hopefully I can do that later this week. For now, let’s talk week 3!

Happy, healthy fit week 3

*Monday 12/15: Give up sugar for the day. Ugh. I have a HUGE sweet tooth, and while I may have enough self restraint to not eat 4 cookies at once, it’s still an issue. Today, I challenge to you remove all sugar from your diet. This is probably going to be the hardest challenge for me, because although I try watch and limit my sugar intake, it still creeps up on me. Read your labels, make food yourself and make sure you’re not adding any sugar in your coffee or tea. I know this is a tough challenge for all you fellow sweet-toothers, but we can do it!

*Tuesday 12/16: Try a new workout class. There are so many amazing fitness studios in and around the Boston area (and I’m sure there are just as many in other states/cities, too!) just begging for you to try one of their classes. The beauty about almost all fitness studios, is they offer a free first class, or at least a discounted one. Also, if you chat with them and explain what you’re interested in and how much you’ve been wanting to try a class, you may even be able to get a free one! If you’re in the Boston area and looking for a new class to try, I list a bunch of great studios in this post. My plan is to take a morning class at The Club as I’ve never taken a full class there. Maybe some gym friends would like to join?!

*Wednesday 12/17: Meditate. Remember how I added 10 minutes of meditation/quiet time time during Lent? Well, it was great throughout those 40 days, but unfortunately I don’t think I’ve done it once since then. It’s always something I’m telling myself I need to do, but, like yoga, it just doesn’t happen enough. Today I challenge you to take 10 minutes for yourself to meditate or just sit quietly and breathe. Try not to focus on your thoughts- let them come in and go right back out. RM gave me a few meditation apps to suggest to you guys. He does this almost daily and enjoys all of these- search for them in the App store: Simply Being, Yoga Nidra, Power of Mind. There are dozens of other free ones, too. Let me know what you do!

*Thursday 12/18: Walk during lunch- This is something I try to do every day, but sometimes (and more often than not recently) work just gets the best of me and I don’t make the time to sneak away for a short walk. Today though, I’m challenging us to step away from our desks and get outside for some mid-day movement. It’s a littler harder when the weather is cold, but I always feel so much better after!

*Friday 12/19: Upper Body Workout– I LOVE working my upper body, and have found that short upper body workouts are a great finisher after a run or other leg-based cardio. Here are some to choose from, but if you don’t like any of those, try this: 60 seconds each, 3 rounds: bicep curls, alternating shoulder presses, upright row, tricep dips, push-ups. Otherwise, here are some I’ve posted on the blog in the past:
Wednesday Workout: 7 Minute Body Weight Upper Body Burner
{Holiday Series} Wednesday Workout: Body Weight Upper Body Blast
Wednesday Workout: Upper Body Tabata Workout
Wednesday Workout: 30 Minute Upper Body & Core Super Sets Workout

*Saturday 12/20: Treat yourself! I think I was most looking forward to this challenge 😉 Today is all about treating yourself. What’s something you’re currently lusting over? New workout top, new mittens, a massage, manicure… you get the idea. It doesn’t have to be anything big (it is holiday season, afterall, so I’m sure extra money is being spent on gifts), but it’s about getting yourself a little something that puts some extra pep in your step. I’m thinking a Fitbit is something I’ve been lusting over… hmmm…

*Sunday 12/21: Core workout. Sunday’s tend to be lazy, lounge around the house days, right? The beauty of this workout is it can be done in your pajamas in front of the TV 🙂

4 minute plank workout

If you don’t like this workout, feel free to choose from one of these:
{Holiday Series} Wednesday Workout: Warm Up Your Core!
V-Sits and Leg Lifts and Planks, Oh My!
Wednesday Workout: No weights? No problem! {Cardio & Core workout}
Wednesday Workout: 4 Minute Plank Series {Video}

There you have it! Have fun with the challenges this week and remember- we’re almost through the 24 days, so don’t give up now 🙂

Questions for you: What was your favorite day of the challenge last week? What will be the most challenging thing for you this week?

Paleo Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread

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Ok, so even though this isn’t a recipe I came up with (I don’t even do much to alter it), I feel like I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t share it with you. It’s been a staple around our apartments for the past month or so, and I don’t see it going away any time soon. We’ve made muffins and loafs and not only does it taste great right out of the oven, it freezes and thaws incredibly well, too.

What I love about the recipe is how few ingredients there are and that there is very little sugar. It’s super quick and easy to put together and I swear you’d never know it was a “healthy bread”.

I found the recipe over at Paleo Leap, which has a ton of great recipes!

Paleo Pumpkin Banana-Nut Bread (Recipe is directly from Paleo Leap)

Ingredients

  • ½ cup coconut flour;
  • ½ cup almond flour;
  • ½ cup very ripe banana, pureed;
  • ½ cup pure pumpkin puree;
  • ½ cup melted clarified butter or almond butter; (I use almond butter and like the flavor/texture it adds)
  • 1 tsp. baking soda;
  • ¼ cup raw honey;
  • 4 eggs;
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract;
  • ½ tsp. salt;
  • ¾ cup pecans, chopped; (optional) (sometimes I use walnuts or a mixture of both. Any will do!)
  • 2 tbsp. unsweetened coconut flakes- I’ve been adding these in
  • 1tsp cinnamon- again, I’ve been adding this and love the little extra it gives
  • If you want extra sweetness, feel free to add in some chocolate chips 😉

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350*. Mix together the coconut flour, almond flour, baking soda, salt, coconut flakes & cinnamon. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, mix together the banana, pumpkin, almond butter, honey, eggs and vanilla extract.

3. Combine the wet and dry. Add in the nuts (if you choose to add them in) and/or the chocolate chips (again, if you choose to add them in).

4. Grease either a loaf pan or a muffin tin, depending on what your preference is. Bake for 30-45 minutes.

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RM created the most delicious post dinner faux sweet treat with these muffins/bread, which is also worth sharing. It’s almost like a bread pudding, but a heck of a lot healthier 😉 He warms the muffins/bread and tops them with a little coconut oil, almond butter and cinnamon and holy moly is it absolutely fantastic!!! I highly suggest trying it!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite faux sweet treat? Do you have a big sweet tooth?

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Count Down Body Weight Workout

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Since I know December is a busy month for most people, I’ve decided to keep my Wednesday workouts for you on the shorter side. But, don’t be fooled- just because they’re short doesn’t mean they are not effective and it certainly doesn’t mean they won’t be challenging 😉

I did this one last week as part of my Happy, Healthy, Fit Challenge, since the challenge required a body weight workout. I love body weight workouts for many reasons:

  • they can be done anywhere
  • you don’t need equipment
  • they’re effective
  • you can make standard moves more difficult by changing things up
  • you can choose the format you want to use

…the list goes on and on.

For this particular workout, I changed it up and did a format that I don’t generally do: count down. I often get bored with workouts that repeat the same handful of moves throughout, but lately I’ve actually been enjoying those, so that’s where the idea for this one came. I picked some good moves that worked all the key areas: upper body, lower body, cardio and core. You’ll start with 10 reps of each exercise, then do 9, then 8 and so on. When you get down to 1 rep, do 10 instead of 1… that was the killer round!

20 minute count down workout

A member was early for my class so I asked if he wanted to join… we were both dripping by the end of it! And the best part was that the whole thing took less than 20 minutes. Have fun!

Questions for you: Do you like count down workouts? Do you like body weight workouts?

Weekending: Lots of Birthday Celebrations

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Good morning and happy December! Last weekend was a fun, birthday-filled weekend. RM and I headed up to New Hampshire on Friday afternoon for my friend Nikia’s surprise 30th birthday. I ended up finding a great deal at The Exeter Inn so we headed there first. This hotel was SO cute and charming- a nice change from the normal chain hotels I stay at. They had a gorgeous REAL fireplace in the lobby area, old, intricate details, funky little rooms and an amazing restaurant/bar… not to mention Exeter is a super cute little town. After a quick gym trip on Saturday morning, RM and I headed to Portsmouth and had brunch at Michelle’s. I’d been there once before and was happy to see that this experience was just as good as the first. I got the Truffle scrambled eggs and they were SO good. Sunday was spent celebrating my sister’s birthday at Gem. Post brunching, we came back and I decorated the tree and food prepped for the week. Solid weekend- enjoy the pics!

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Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Have you ever been surprised with or helped to throw a surprise party? Where’s your favorite restaurant in Portsmouth (if you’ve been)? Have you ever been to a boozy brunch? Have you decorated your tree yet?

This Week: Workouts, Loving Challenge Workouts & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Good morning! This week is a little weird as I have to be at a client site all week, which sucks because I have really grown to LOVE my Monday work from home days. I’m also not looking forward to driving to Canton every day- yuck! But, at least it’s just a week! I’m hoping to get most of my workouts done in the morning so that I can have the evenings to finish decorating my apartment and stuff.

Luckily, this week has a few challenges that are workout based so that will make it easier to decide what to do! And, speaking of my challenge- I’m having SO MUCH FUN participating and seeing so many of you participating! I’ve definitely been pushed out of my comfort zone a few times, but it’s been great. Don’t forget to let me know somehow that you’re participating- I’ve got some great prizes lined up 🙂

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I went for a gorgeous 4 mile run during my lunch break. The weather was perfect and it felt so good to be running outside! I also did 3 pull-ups (!!!) and 1 minute of push-ups.

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  • Tuesday- I went to the Wellington BSC for a bootcamp class. It was heavy arm-focused and I loved it!
  • Wednesday- I did my 20 minute AMRAP workout as part of my #happyhealthyfit challenge before teaching UXF Burn. One of my members was at the gym early for class and he joined me- it was fun and it was a tough workout!

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  • Thursday- I went to the gym during lunch and ran 2 miles before doing some kettlebell tabata rounds.

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  • Friday- Rest day, although I did get up early for some stretching, as part of Athena’s Holiday Hustle. It was a really nice way to start the day, especially since I don’t ever take time to specifically just stretch.IMG_9541
  • Saturday- Roberto and I were at a hotel in NH, so I hit the gym when I got up for a quick total body workout as part of my challenge. I ran 10 minutes on the treadmill, walked 10 minutes then did a bunch of different exercises. The gym was the size of a closet, but it got the job done.

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  • Sunday- Rest day

This Week’s Workouts

I have no idea what my workouts will look like this week, but I do know that I’m teaching UXF Burn on Wednesday and cardio kickboxing on Saturday 🙂 I’ll also be doing all of the fitness challenges in Week 2 of the #happyhealthyfit challenge.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

Although I’m really NOT looking forward to being in Canton all week, there are lots of other things I’m looking forward to, including decorating my tree and apartment, book club on Tuesday, massages on Friday and a quiet weekend. After last week, I need a quiet weekend!

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? Are you participating in the challenge? What was your favorite challenge last week? What are you looking forward to this week?