How was your Monday?
I never remember it being this difficult to get back in the grind after a holiday. It must be my old age.
Have you started to make this a December to Remember? With tomorrow being December 1st, you still have 31 whole days to start living your healthiest life NOW – long before January 1st. Get that head start!
I highly encourage you to write your goals down and place them somewhere you can see them. Even if you are not participating in the December challenge, it is always exhilarating to have a goal to work towards. It doesn’t even have to be a fitness goal – it can be any goal. Believe it and it will happen.
Since tomorrow is the real beginning of December, I decided to post my meals today to kick off my own challenge. This also gives you an idea of what I eat everyday, and more specifically Monday through Friday, when I’m on more of a schedule.
I had a huge green monster for breakfast, but didn’t take a pic since I was sooo out of it a bit rushed this morning. It was giant, and took me an entire hour to drink. I can never eat or drink cold things quickly – ice cream takes me forever to finish.
Around 10, I had some greek yogurt, Trader Joe’s Twigs, Flakes and Clusters cereal, dried strawberries and bananas, and 1/2 of Angela’s Renew bar. This was the first time I had a Glo-Bar in something, like yogurt.
It was incredible, and I thought it was my favorite way to eat it.
But then I had some oatmeal for lunch, and crumbled the remaining half of my Renew bar into it.
Now, THAT was incredible.
In the afternoon I had a protein shake,
an egg in some terribly burnt whole wheat Tuscany bread,
and then I sucked every last bit of juice and ate every aril out of this pomagranate half.
It definitely looked like a murder scene afterwards.
For dinner, I had a sweet potato, some spring greens, chickpeas roasted with smoked paprika, and a boatload of asiago cheese.
I covered my salad in my most favorite dressing ever.
I have never been a fan of salad dressings, most likely because I’ve never been a fan of salads, unless they are covered in fries and cheese. I usually just use vinegars because I love the tart taste, and this vinegar takes the cake. It is so good – especially in a salad with greens, walnuts, chopped pear, and goat cheese.
I am craving something sweet (huge surprise), so I’m not sure what is going to come next.
My workout today consisted of about 20 minutes of yoga, because I am meeting Kema 3 days this week for some butt kicking workouts. Can’t wait!
As for some of my goals?
3 veggies: 2 cups spinach in my green monster, 1 cup greens with dinner + sweet potato
3 fruits: 1 banana, 1/4 cup pom seeds, 1/4 cup dried strawberries and bananas
water: 100 oz
Pretty good! How did you guys do today? Did you follow you goals? Remember, baby steps . . .
25 Days of Workouts
Workout #1 – UPPER BODY BLAST!
Combo 1: Complete one set of each exercise, then repeat for a total of 2 sets. 12 repetitions of each.
Lat Pulldowns
Dumbbell Chest Flyes
Side Lateral Shoulder Raises
25 pushups
Combo 2: Complete one set of each exercise, then repeat for a total of 2 sets. 12 repetitions of each.
Seated Row
Dumbbell Chest Press
Triceps Overhead Extension
25 pushups
Combo 3: Complete one set of each exercise, then repeat for a total of 2 sets. 12 repetitions of each.
Overhead Shoulder Dumbbell Press
Triceps Dips
Biceps Curls
25 pushups
Remember to ask yourself:
Am I challenging myself?
Is the weight challenging enough?
If I can easily do 15 repetitions, I need to increase my weight.
If I can’t get 6 repetitions, I need to decrease my weight.
Am I using proper form?
Am I performing the exercise at the proper speed? A good rule of thumb for beginners is 2 seconds up, 2 seconds down.
Note: It is always best to work your largest muscles first, and do compound movements first. For example, you want to work your back and chest before your triceps. If you work your triceps out first, they are too fatigued to help with your chest and back exercises.
If you have any questions or concerns about some of the exercises, or are not sure how to do them, please contact me at merchant.jessica@gmail.com. 
About push-ups: Feeling down and frustrated because you have no idea how you will do 25 pushups? I received the best piece of advice when I was 15 years old: do pushups everyday. Even if you can only do 1, do it every single day until you can do 2. Then 3. I set out to do 50 push-ups everyday. I did it in sets of 5, or sets of 10. But I wanted to get 50.
Set a push-up goal for yourself. Do some everyday. You will feel strong and your strength will increase. I suggest starting with 10 push-ups every day. And if you can’t even do 1, start with push-ups on your knees until you can do 1.
Before you know it, you will have those 25 push-ups!
How are you feeling? Are you motivated? What motivates you the most?
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