daily eats

Good evening.

I’ve been cleaning and relaxing this evening, with one of my most favorite candles burning:

And the trees lit:

With some Christmas music playing. My favorite way to relax!

I have been craving Thai food for weeks. My hubby and I used to eat it all the time – in fact we ate it on our first New Year’s Eve together. Unfortunately, someone has a habit of eating something 6 times a day everyday until they are sick of it. Hint: it’s not me.

I made my own peanut sauce w/ some whole wheat noodles and shrimp.

The year is winding down and exercise is probably one of the last things on your list, right? Just think – in 2 more weeks it is a new year, and time to start over! Wrong.

Have many other times have we made ‘resolutions’? They obviously haven’t stuck, and it’s time to change somethin’! Think of some small changes you can make in the next 2 weeks that will make you feel better and more confident.

Everyone falls off the wagon sometimes, but the key is being able to get right back on. So start eating healthier today, right now, at your next meal. I’m not saying skip the cookies- but make some smarter choices this week! And by all means, rev up that exercise.

And remember – next week I’ll be posting the first workouts for the No More Resolutions January challenge!

25 Days of Workouts
WORKOUT #15 – More TREADMILL HITT

10 minute warm up

For 15-20 minutes follow:

15 seconds at 9.0 mph

45 seconds at 4.5 mph

10 minute cool down

Take it at your own pace – stop if anything feels off. This should be your only cardio for the day. Don’t overdo it!

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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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