30 Day Challenge #3 and an Update

Yesterday was my final day on my 30 day Challenge #2.  It actually took me 2 months to finish and I ended up really doing it 1 1/2 times because of sickness and an injury, but I am finally done!  Wohoo!!!  These really are incredible.  I am so pleased with how far I have come in the last 3 months.  So, I finished doing the Push-ups and Buttock challenge.  I was also doing squats and sit-ups every day so I didn't lose what I gained with the last challenge.  It still only took me about 30 minutes or less each day to complete it.  After the 1st challenge, I had lost 8 1/2 inches collectively between my each of my legs and arms, my waist and hips.  I did not measure my butt of my neck with that challenge, but I did with this one because I could see and feel the difference.  I am once again happy to say, I lost another 5 inches bringing me to a total of 13 1/2 in 60 days of exercise!!!!  I still have only lost 1 more pound, but my sister Melanie keeps telling me, "it's not the number that counts, it's how you feel.  If you are seeing a difference, it IS making a difference!".  I will keep this in mind as I continue with my challenges.

This month I have chosen to do a Lunge Challenge and a different AB Challenge.  The Lunge Challenge is also through the 30 Day Fitness Challenges site.  It does not say specifically if you are to do each number it says per leg or total, so I am assuming it means per leg.  For instance, day 1 says 20 lunges.  I will do 20 on each leg.  Honestly, I will probably to 10 forward, per leg, and then the other 10 as side lunges, per leg.  That way it will strengthen each muscle and work on the inner thighs too!  Fun times.

ABS

For the abs, I am choosing to do the P90X ab workout each day for the next 30 day, plus 2 others.  I will list the order of the sit-ups for the P90X, just in case you do not have access to the DVD.  It should only take 14 minutes to complete this part.  You should be able to have the whole workout done in 30 minutes each day. You wll do each of these for 1 minute each.  Some you will do for 2, if it says  

 to switch sides.  Here is a site you can see Tony Horton (the maker of the P90X videos) doing all of the sit-up poses.  Down below is a description of them.

After doing this for a couple of days and not being able to complete any of these exercises for the full 1 minute yet, I have an easier option if you'd like to try it.  The first day, I did 15 of each of the exercises.  The second day I did 20.  From then on, I am just adding 1 more per exercise, per day until I can do the full minute.

If this is too easy after a few days, start adding an extra 5 seconds per exercise, per day and by day 30, you should be getting quite a good challenge!  

1.  In and Outs

  You will sit on your bottom, leaning back on your hands.  Your body will shape a V.  You will move your legs out straight (in the air, not touching the ground) then bring them back up towards your chin.

2.  Seated Bicycle

Stay in the same position you were just in for "in and outs".  Again, lean back on your hands.  The first round you will bicycle your feet forward, like you are peddling a bike.  The next round you will go backwards.  

3.  Seated Crunchy Frog

For this one, you will again stay in the same position as the first 3.  This will be like the "in and outs" with your legs moving straight out, the crunching back to your body.  Your arms, however, will wrap around your legs when they are in, and go out straight out to your sides when your legs go out.  It is really hard, but by day 30, you will be a master!

4.  Wide Leg Sit-ups

For this one, you will lay on your back with your legs spread out wide and straight.  Put one hand behind your head, the other one straight out.  Lift your body up and with your straight hand, reach across your body and touch the toe of the opposite foot.  Lay back down and switch arms.  Continue alternating until the time is up.  

5.  Fifer scissor

You will continue lying on your back for this one.  Both legs will be off of the ground; one just 2-3 inches off the ground, the other straight up in the air at 90 degrees.  You will alternate each leg while maintaining your lower leg off the floor.  

I will admit, the first few days of this, my lower foot will probably touch the ground off and on.  By the end, I know they will both be able to maintain their distance from the floor.

6.  Hips Rock and Raise

You start on the floor again for this one.  Your legs and knees will be "rocking" from just off the floor to 90 degrees in the air.  Both legs together, keeping your heels together.  When your legs go up, your bottom comes off the floor a little as well.

7.  Pulse Up

 Stay on your back again for this one, feet straight up in the air at 90 degrees and together.  You will raise your feet as high up in towards the ceiling as you can.  Your bottom will again come off the floor.

8.  Roll-up/V-up Combo

You will start out on your back, everything touching the floor.  You will sit up, arm straight out in front of you, touch your toes.  As you are lying back down, your feet will follow you up into the air.  You will raise your arms back up in the air to touch your feet again.  

I hope that makes sense.  You will basically be doing a full, straight leg sit-up, and then a half one following that when your feet are in the air.  

9.  Oblique V-up

For this one, you will be lying on your side.  Put the arm of the side facing up, behind your head.  Both legs will be together and off the floor.  You will do side crunches in this position with both legs and head off of the ground.

You will do this on both sides.  

10.  Leg Climb

You will lie on your back again with one knee propped up and the other leg straight in the air.  You will climb up your leg until you reach your straight up foot.  Grab the inside of your knee with one hand, the outside of your calf with the other hand, finally your foot with the opposite hand again. 

Repeat on the other side.

11.  Mason Twist

This one stinks, no way around it!  It would even stink at the very beginning!  

You will sit upright, knees bend, and legs off the ground.  With your arms, you will twist from side to side, touching your hands to the ground before switching to the other side.  Your feet will be off the ground for all of this!  OUCH.  

For the first few days, you may need to touch your feet to the ground for a period of time but at least try to keep them off.  

*******************************************************************************

My 2 that I also want to add are these.  This may be too much.  As I have never done this particular challenge all together, I do not know but I am going to try all of this together!

1.  Lower Ab Crunch

For this one, you will lie back onto your back again.  Bring your legs together until your feet touch (forming a diamond with your legs).  You will just do regular crunches from here with your hands behind your head.  Day 1, start with 20.  Add 5 more crunches everyday.  The final day you will be doing 150 of these.  You can take the same days off as the lunge challenge.  

2. Standing Side Crunch with a Weight

Stand you with your legs spread apart, at least as far as your shoulders.  Put one hand behind your head and the other down by your side.  I use a 10 lb weight, held in the one by your side.  You will stretch that arm down your side, until you hit your knee or a little lower.  The arm behind your head will then go the opposite way and crunch down the other side, almost touching your elbow to your side.  The farther down you go either direction, the more you will get out of it.

Day 1 you will do 30 on either side.  (Make sure to switch the weight to the opposite arm).  Each day increase by 1.  

Happy Challenge!!!  I'll share again after I finish this challenge.

~Stacy~

30 Day Fitness Challenges

  I am so excited to share this fitness challenge with anyone willing to try read it and possibly try it too.  Michelle introduced me to this 32 days ago and I am really thrilled with the results from the first challenge.  Out of all of the sisters, I feel like (and look like) I have had the hardest time losing baby weight after each of my 3 children.  I am usually able to lose about 1/2 of what I gained in the pregnancy and then it just stops and piles on again after the next child.  I just experienced this AGAIN with my 3rd child and FINALLY after 8 long months, I am starting to see a change again.  I know I am not the only one who has this difficulty even though it feels like it sometimes, so I hope this will give someone else out there hope and support as I have needed it!

So, 32 days ago, I started the 30 day ab and 30 day squat challenge found at the 30 Day Fitness Challenge site.  They have 18 different challenges to choose from, basically for any part of the body that might be a problem.  They start out small and by day 30, you are doing crazy amounts of things.  When I first looked at it and saw the day 30 challenge, I thought, good luck.  It actually was quite manageable and I was able to finish it no problem!  A piece of advice is to measure yourself on day 1, day 15, and again on the final day so you really can see where you are.  I tell you, my day 15 measurement got me very motivated as I had already lost 2 inches at my waist, and another 2 inches between my legs!  My final measurements were 3 inches off my waist, 1 inch off my hips, and 3 3/4 inches off my legs.  Grand total 7 3/4 inches!!!  I only lost 3 pounds, but I am not letting that defeat me.  Muscle burns fat, right, so it should show in the pounds shortly.  I will be happy to report when that happens too!  I also have gotten comments (really good ones) about 4 times in the last 2 weeks about my legs and how I am looking so YAY!!!

So here is the chart, directly from the 30 Day Fitness website for the ab/squat challenge:

   If you have an android or iphone, you can also download their apps for each challenge.  I also added 2 things to my routine.  First, when I did my squats, I would also do 30-60 calf raises.  I have 3 positions for it.  1.  First is just with toes pointing forward.  2.  Next, toes pointing in toward each other.  3.  Finally, heels touching and toes pointing out.  I would do either 10, 15, or 20 in each position.  If the squat day was light, I would do 10, after 2-3 days, I would do 15, and the last 2-3 days I would do 20.  You can either do these all in a row, or space them out in between squats.  For instance, on day 12, it calls for 60 squats.  I would do 20 squats, then 15 calf raises, 20 more squats, 15 more calf raises, etc.  It worked awesome!  

   The next thing I added was leg lift ab crunches.  I would just do as many as it said to do with the sit-ups.  This is the one where you lie on your back with legs out straight.  Lift your toes straight up toward the sky so your body makes an L. 

   This month, I am definitely continuing to do a 30 day challenge.  I am using their push up challenge, found below.  

  I am also going to continue doing 20-40 squats everyday with 10-15 calf raises in-between each group of squats.  I am also going to continue doing about 20 sit-ups and 30-40 crunches every day.  I am also adding a butt and hamstrings challenge and it is one I have created on my own.  I will explain the exercises and then give the plan at the end.  

  Hamstrings:  If you have an 8-12 pound hand weight you will hold it horizontal with each hand holding one end.  You simply bend over until your hands touch the ground, and then stand back up, squeezing your buttock.  If you want to make it more challenging, stand on the edge of a stair or chair or bench and allow your hands to go BELOW your feet.  It will add more resistance and you will feel it more the next day!

Buttock:  This one I am using from an old tae bo workout I used to do.  There are 4 steps, each one building on the last and getting a little harder.  You will do a set on each leg, so alternate from one leg to the next so your bottom has time to relax a minute in between!  You will be down on hands and knees for all of these.  

1.  Lift your leg (bent knee) straight up in the air, and heading to your head, then back down to the ground.

2.  Lift your bent leg up to the side like a male dog would to a tree.  Your leg should be straight with your back at it's highest.

3.  Lift your leg like in step 2 and hold this position while you stretch and straighten your leg back and then pull back to the bent position.

4.  Lift you leg (like in step 1) up in the air, curve your leg into the bent knee position as in step 2, and continue rotating down until your knee is on the ground again.  You will be making a circle with your leg.  

I really don't like pictures of myself right now, but I will post video clips to help explain these steps a little better as soon as I can see Michelle to tape them!  I just wanted to post this now because I am so excited about it. 

Here is my flow chart for this month incorporating the push-ups, hamstrings, and buttock.

Day 1:  Push ups- 15 / Hamstrings- 25 / Butt-10 Each Leg/ X 4 positions (see above)

Day 2:  Push ups- 16 / Hamstrings- 30 / Butt- 11 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 3:  Push ups- 17 / Hamstrings- 35 / Butt- 12 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 4:   Push ups- 18 / Hamstrings- 40 / Butt- 13 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 5:   Push ups-  19 / Hamstrings- 45 / Butt- 14 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 6:   Push ups- 20 / Hamstrings- 50 / Butt- 15 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 7:   Push ups- 21 / Hamstrings- 55/ Butt- 16 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 8:  Rest

Day 9:   Push ups- 22 / Hamstrings- 20 / Butt-  17 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 10:   Push ups- 23 / Hamstrings- 30 / Butt- 18 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 11:   Push ups- 23 / Hamstrings- 40 / Butt- 19 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 12:   Push ups- 24 / Hamstrings- 50 / Butt- 20 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 13:   Push ups- 25 / Hamstrings- 55 / Butt- 21 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 14:   Push ups- 26 / Hamstrings- 60 / Butt- 22  Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 15:  Rest

Day 16:   Push ups- 27 / Hamstrings- 25 / Butt- 23 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 17:   Push ups-  28 / Hamstrings- 35 / Butt- 24 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 18:   Push ups- 29 / Hamstrings- 45 / Butt- 25 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 19:   Push ups- 30 / Hamstrings- 55 / Butt- 26  Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 20:   Push ups- 31 / Hamstrings- 60 / Butt- 27 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 21:   Push ups- 32 / Hamstrings- 65 / Butt- 28 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 22:  Rest

Day 23:   Push ups- 33 / Hamstrings- 25 / Butt- 29 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 24:   Push ups- 34 / Hamstrings- 35 / Butt- 30 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 25:   Push ups- 35 / Hamstrings- 45 / Butt- 31 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 26:   Push ups- 36 / Hamstrings- 55 / Butt- 32 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 27:   Push ups- 37 / Hamstrings- 60 / Butt- 33 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 28:   Push ups- 38 / Hamstrings- 65 / Butt- 34 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 29:   Push ups- 39 / Hamstrings- 70 / Butt- 35 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Day 30:   Push ups- 40 / Hamstrings- 75 / Butt- 36 Each Leg/ X 4 positions

Good luck and please send a comment back if you do this.  I'd like to hear how others do!  Thanks for reading.

~Stacy~

Warm Cinnamon Grapefruit

 

  This is another recipe that I tried from "The Biggest Loser" cookbook after Heather had told me how good they were.  I would have never thought to try cooking a grapefruit, or adding cinnamon to it for that matter, but it is really delicious.  It is also very simple.

  1.  All you have to do is cut your grapefruit in half, use a serrated knife to cut the piece loose, and then sprinkle with cinnamon.

  2.  Place it in the oven at 400° for about 20 minutes for until it is browning and the juices are coming out.

  3.  Take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes before you dig in.
***If you have never heard of a grapefruit spoon, they are fantastic and just something fun to have when eating grapefruit.  You can purchase these at somewhere like Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $4.99 (for 4).  These just help you cut out the fruit without having to peel it or use the serrated knife, not a necessity but nice to have!

The best part is half of the grapefruit is only 52 calories!!!  That is all I usually eat at a time but even if you eat the whole thing, that is a large snack for barely over 100 calories!!

~Stacy~

Thought of the Day!

This is definitely how I feel when I am first starting to exercise again, but it is always worth it!

Love,

The Sissies!

Motivational Monday!

  I haven't watched this years season of "The Biggest Loser" but I know a couple of my sisters have watched it religiously and I have heard parts of their conversations.  It has been really neat to hear some of the transformations from this years group. 
 
  I know we all really know how important being healthy, eating right, and exercising is, but it really can be a challenge.  Throw in all of the things we have to do in life and the many balls we are juggling, and that just may be the last thing we can do at the time. 

  Michael Dorsey was not the winner this year but he did still lose 136 pounds over the course of the show!  That is really like taking an entire person off!!  I know most people do not have that much weight to lose, but we all have something we can improve on, whether it is walking the mile to pick your kids up from school instead of driving, exercising 2 more times a week, or even just eating breakfast in the morning.  We need to be able to teach our kids good habits by what they are watching us do, so just take a minute to sit down and write some personal goals.  Write down simple, achievable things and start working on them now.  Involve your kids (if you have them), friends, neighbors because it is a lot more fun and it will help you be more accountable and achieve your goals!

 Enjoy Michael's journey on the show summarized here. 

  ~Stacy~

What Ryan says goes....

Ok fine Ryan. If you say so.

When the weather starts getting warmer there is one thing my very white, slightly-chubbier-from-winter body wants to do.....go for a nice run. I love running, especially in Spring and Fall weather. The scenery is amazing and the air is perfect. Fresh and clean.

Here is a great workout plan for beginners or for those of us who have avoided it in the Winter months and would like to start it up again.  It is here.

And here is a list of great playlists for running, according to Women's Health Magazine.

Make sure you fuel up with some carbs before your run so you will have the energy to keep going. Eat some toast, a granola bar, a piece of fruit or if you are going on a longer run (45 minutes or more) make sure you eat a couple of these. After a long run, make sure you refuel and replenish lost electrolytes with preferably coconut water, or you could have a Gatorade or something similiar.

I hope you enjoy your run, I know I will! :)

Mary

Why Walking is Good for YOU

I really do love "Walk with Walgreens" program.  It is easy to use, it gives you money to spend in their store, it has all kinds of support for you, and they have great articles.  I found this one last Monday and thought it was very interesting.  Go ahead and read the whole article, but I will tell you, in the study the performed, they found the ones who walked to have the better heart benefit than even the ones who did the VIGOROUS cycling program.  So if walking is what you like, if it is all you can do, or maybe it is just all you can afford to do, don't discount it.  It has great benefits for you and your body!  Enjoy :)

~Stacy~

Walking Can Be More Effective Then Gym Workouts

 by Walk with Walgreens

Can a just walking beat out the benefits of workout at the gym? A recent study conducted by Maatricht University in the Netherlands claims that the answer is yes.

Researchers found that for the same amount of calories burned, standing & walking over the course of a day has more benefits than an hour of intense exercise in regards to improving cholesterol and preventing diabetes. "Get out of your chair as much as you can, take the stairs instead of the elevator, go by bike," said Hans Savelberg, who authored the study.

Tests were conducted on a group of healthy adults who were asked to perform different exercises over the course of the study. For the first test, the group sat for 14 hours with no exercise. During the next test, the group sat for 13 hours and performed one hour of high intensity cycling. For the last test the group sat for 8 hours, then walked for 4 and stood for 2, in total burning the same amount of calories as during the cycling period.

The research revealed that the participants had improved insulin levels and lower cholesterol after walking and standing compared to no exercise at all. Where it gets interesting is that when the group took part in the walking & standing test, insulin and cholesterol levels where more significantly improved than even during the cycling tests.

"If you exercise for half an hour and are sedentary for the rest of the day, that represents an unhealthy lifestyle," said Savelberg. "Long periods of non-sitting at a low intensity level should be classified as an active lifestyle."

In short, getting more movement in throughout the day can be more beneficial than one workout in an otherwise sedentary day.

Converting Exercise Into Steps

 

As we were trying to figure out how to launch our "March to Health" month and get more people involved, a couple of the sisters expressed some concern that they, like many other people don't just walk, run, bike or do things that are easily calculated into a mile.  They do things such as aerobics or zumba, where you are very much actively working and but stepping at the same time.  We really do want all of that to be counted in our "Marching" numbers and we really would love to reach our goal or 5,000 miles "Marched" this month or more.  I have found a site that can help convert all that hard work into miles so you know how far you go each day!

The full article can be found by clicking on the title!

How to Convert Exercise Bike Miles to Steps

By Shauntelle Hamlett, eHow Contributor

Instructions

1. • 1
     Record the calories burned or miles biked as listed on your exercise machine after you've completed your workout. You will use that information, along with the following conversions, to calculate your steps: One mile equals approximately 100 calories; 100 calories equals approximately 2,000 steps.
   • 2
      Use the following formulas and a calculator to figure your approximate steps:

     Number of miles times 2,000 equals your number of approximate steps.

     OR

     Number of calories divided by 100 times 2,000 equals your number of approximate steps. 

3     Use the following process to determine your true number of steps. Start by using masking            tape and a tape measure to mark the start and end point of a 30-foot straight line.

4     Begin walking a couple of feet before the starting point so you can get into your normal walking stride. Count the number of steps you take until you reach the end. Write this number down.

5    Calculate how many steps you would take to walk a mile by using the following formula: Number of steps you took in 30 feet times 176 equals the number of steps you would walk in a mile. (30 times 176 equals 5,280, the number of feet in a mile.) You can then use your answer to calculate how many steps you've taken when using your exercise bike or stair climber with this formula: Number of miles biked or climbed times the number of steps you walk in a mile equals the exact number of steps you've walked.

***This is Stacy again.  If you need to figure out how many calories you burned, one tool you can use is www.caloriecount.com.  Under the "Logging" tab, there is an activity log that can assist you in figuring out how many calories you burned.  

For example, Mary rode her stationary bike vigorously for 60 minutes last week.  She burned approximately 896 cal.  Using our steps above, divided by 100, Mary rode approximately 8.96 (or 9) miles.  

Rachel also did "Hip Hop Dance" for 45 minutes.  She burned approximately 376 calories which converts to approximately 3.75 miles.  Great job to both!

Hopefully this is helpful to someone out there.

~Stacy~

Walking IS Excercise!!!

 So, I am really excited about our "March to Health" month.  As we shared in January, our family has started a family health challenge again this year.  It has been pretty fun.  I will just say, we are all pretty competitive so it helps make the challenge work.  Rachel was our first winner of the year for January, HOORAY!!!  She did great.  The winner for February will be announced in just a couple of days.  We make it simple so anyone can do it, but also with things that will make a difference and can be a challenge.  For instance, exercising 30 min a day, no sweets (including pop), reading 30 minutes, not eating after 8:30 p.m., drinking at least 64 oz/day, eating nutritious meals.  You get a point for each item, for a total of 9 points per day.  So for some, no sweets will be no big deal at all but eating breakfast might be extremely hard.  Each can be accomplished by anyone, but can be a challenge.

  When we did this 2 years ago, my husband did not want to be part of the challenge, but I finally convinced him this round.  He has been debating with me since we started (only in February because of the move) on whether or not walking is exercise or not.  He does not believe anything but running is exercises so I have set out to show him that indeed it is exercise, and good exercise at that!  As I have posted in the past, I had joined "Walk with Walgreen's" sometime last year because they will give me points toward merchandise in their store for something I am already doing, so I started there. 

  1.  The first article I found was called, "Turn Your Walk into a Workout".  It basically talked about how walking is the easiest form of exercise we can do and there are ways to make it more effective and beneficial.  It talks about your target heart zone and staying in that to help you "achieve cardio benefits, burn fat, and become more fit".  The other tips the article gave are:
"1. Walk for a good amount of time. It’s recommended that you walk 10,000 steps or five miles a day, and research shows that just 20 minutes of walking has health benefits.
2. Increase the speed and incline you walk at. Walk up a hill or raise the incline on your treadmill. This will help get your heart rate up and increase the intensity of your walk.
3. Use a heart rate monitor during your walk. A monitor will help you track your heart rate, alert you when you are in the optimal zone and warn you if you’re too high.
4. Use music to stay motivated."
  To read the rest of the article, go to "Turn Your Walk Into a Workout".

2. The next article I found was also from "Walk with Walgreens" it is called, "5 Reasons You Should Be Walking".  The five reasons it gives are:  1. Increase Your Fitness Levels, 2. Lose the Weight, 3. It's Easy, 4. Muscle Tone, and 5. Stress Reduction.  You can read the rest of the article at this link here:  "5 Reasons You Should Be Walking".

  Being a nurse, I could not have felt right without doing a little research from the medical standpoint, so I turned to the one and only webmd!  There were several good articles but I narrowed it down to the following 2.

3.  The first one is called "Heart Disease: Walking for a Healthy Heart".  It had the key points nice and summarized for me on the first page so here they are, "Walking is a form of aerobic exercise and is one of the easiest ways to increase your physical activity and improve your health. Physical activity increases your heart rate, strengthens your heart, and increases blood circulation through your body, bringing more oxygen and nutrients to your organs. Exercise also increases your lungs' ability to take in oxygen, lowers blood pressure, helps to reduce body fat, and improves blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Key points

• Have a checkup before beginning an exercise program. If you have heart problems, your doctor may want to do tests to find out how much activity your heart can safely handle.

• Start out slowly at first, with a warm-up in the beginning, a faster pace in the middle, and a cooldown at the end.

• To stay motivated, walk with friends, coworkers, or pets. Set goals you can reach.

• Use a pedometer to count your steps. Wear it all day and try to take at least 2,000 more steps a day than you normally do, and gradually increase your steps over time."

• Try to do at least 2½ hours of moderate exercise a week.¹ One way to do this is to be active 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week.

The rest of the article can be found here:  "Heart Disease: Walking For a Healthy Heart".

4.  The final article is called, "Walking for Exercise, Americans Making Strides".  My favorite part of the article was this little phrase here, "The ideal walk, says Frieden, is a brisk one. "You should get a little winded," he says. 

And the ideal exercise is one that you like doing. "The key concept is to do something you enjoy, to build it into your routine, and to keep doing it throughout your life."   It doesn't clarify who "Frieden" is but it does say that although walking is more popular than it was 5 years ago, most adults are still not getting the amount of exercise recommended by the Federal Health Guidelines.

Hopefully you found these articles somewhat informative and entertaining.  If you have a friend or spouse who likes to argue with you that walking is not exercise or you don't believe it is yourself, maybe these will help convince the unbeliever it truly is!!!

~Stacy~

March with us to Health

  We would love to invite everyone to join us in a "March for Health" this month.  We want to see how many miles we can walk, jog, run, bike, or even complete on an eliptical.  Our goal is to reach 2,000 miles over the course of the month. We do not want to limit it just to those who walk run or jog, anyone who exercises be it aerobics, zumba, dance, weight lifting please leave us a comment on how many minutes you exercised.

  Over the next 31 days, we will also be posting more healthy recipes, exercise ideas, and more.  While you are logging your walks here, don't forget one more step and log them at http://walk.walgreens.com/ and earn money to shop with!

Please leave us a comment everyday so that we can add up the totals!  If we make our goal, we will have a fun giveaway at the end of the month!!!

Have a HEALTHY month!!

Zumba Workout

I am not a runner...I've never understood how people loved to run. I wish I loved to run because that would make working out a lot easier for me. I've tried so many different workout videos, I've done Jillian Michaels, P90X, Yoga, Abs and I will do them for a while and then get bored and move on. Finally I have found something that works for me, my all time favorite work outs have been Zumba. I was super scared of it when it first came out. I did not want to dance in front of people...I'm not a dancer either. Right before I got pregnant my Mom started going to Zumba classes and she would invite me every time and I'd come up with an excuse every time she would invite me. Finally, I had to do something to loose a few pounds so I decided to go and I LOVED it! I went all throughout my pregnancy and it was perfect for me because I could work out however intense I wanted. Today I thought I'd show a great one I found on You Tube that you can do in the comfort of your own home. It's 50 minutes, and when it's over I can feel that most of my muscles have been used! Enjoy!

--Michelle--

Please stop by again tomorrow as we will be sharing some ideas to get ready for Valentine's Day!

Weight Loss Yoga for Beginners

I am a yoga fanatic now! I am someone who is not very flexible in some ways (like I can't even touch my toes) so I always thought I wouldn't like yoga or be very good at it, but boy was i wrong! Yoga is something I started a few months ago because I have a very busy life and I don't handle stress very well so I was looking for something that could help me handle stress and has the added benefits of being fantastic for your body in so many ways! Here are 20 of the hundreds of reasons yoga is awesome! :)

It has become a staple in my routine at least 3 times a week and I have come to be so excited about my alone time doing yoga! I have never felt so peaceful and relaxed as after I'm done with even just a ten minute session. I am becoming more flexible and can almost touch my toes now! :) Honestly, if you are worried that you won't be able to do it well beacuse of flexibility, don't worry about it. There are some very basic poses that feel fantastic that anyone could do. Sometimes if they are doing a pose that is too difficult for me, I will just switch to one I love so that I feel comfortable and then move on. Someday I hope to be able to do poses like this

or even these

 

 Melanie and I got together last night to do yoga and it was SOOO much fun! Of course we ate cookies afterward which probably counterbalanced any progress we made in our bodies from the yoga :) But....whatev! 

Here is a link to the lady on youtube Tara Stiles, an awesome yoga instructor from New York, who I just love! She has a ton of videos on youtube so search Tara Stiles yoga and choose 1 or 2. It seems like most of them are about 10 minutes but she has a full 50 minute class on there which I am dying to try. But here is a great one that I really like. Enjoy!

For a great breakfast to start your day before your yoga session, try oatmeal and adding a frozen fruit to it like blueberries or strawberries.  I will often eat this because it is quick and easy and adds great nutrition to your diet.  Blueberries are great antioxidants and power fruits so they are my go-to fruit and I have them in my freezer year round for this reason!  Just add 1/4-1/2 cup and follow the directions for making the oatmeal.  It us usually adding 1/2 cup of water and cooking for about 2 minutes in the microwave.  I usually stir and cook just a little longer and then add a little milk (or silk-I love this substitute for regular milk!).

* Mary *

Recipe and Workout

My husband and I decided that we wanted to get healthy together. We get up 45 minutes earlier than normal so we can work out together in the morning before he leaves for work. That way we can make each other get up in the morning and we are done working out by 7:00 am. We are both REALLY out of shape so we have started to these workouts to begin with:

Of course we wanted to start eat healthier as well, so I went to Costco to load up on some food and here is one thing that I have found that has become a regular for us, they are Multigrain Rounds that come in a pack of 24 buns, 1 bun is 100 calories. 

I have used them for a lot of different kinds of sandwiches  in the morning or for Brenner (breakfast for dinner) I scramble egg whites and do a scramble egg sandwich with spinach. 

For lunch or dinner I do ham, turkey or chicken sandwich with spinach, tomato, cucumber, and sometimes avocados. I add just a little bit of Mayo on it also.  On the side I add veggies or a fruit, in this picture I also add Veggie Straws, that you can get at Costco also.

--Michelle--

Health Corner, Edition 2

  As promised, I am back with part 2 of the story.  Again I hope this is informative and not too boring!  Also, I know my story is a long one, but hopefully it will help someone along the way and give someone out there some hope and maybe some alternative you haven't explored if you or someone you suffers anything like what I have been through!
  Ok, here goes!  As long as I can remember, I have had headaches.  In high school I remember having them on occasion, but nothing Ibuprofen wouldn't take care of in a couple of hours, same as in college.  At least, until my allergic reaction.  After that, I tried Tylenol (Acetaminophen) and it kind of helped.  Usually a nap or just going to bed for the night was the cure.  I remember having one horrible migraine either just before I was first pregnant or right after that lasted about 3 days and was so bad I couldn't get out of bed.  My husband finally went to the doctors office and came back with Imitrex.  Miracle medicine for me!  It went away within 2 hours!  I don't remember anything significant like that again until about 6 months after my first son was born.  I started having a headache 4-5 times every week.  This went on for a few months before I went to the doctor.  He prescribed Allegra and an antidepressant (which at the time I did not realize they use to control migraines).  This seemed to work for about 2 months and they slowly started to increase in frequency again.  I waited again I good while before I went to see another doctor because my husband thinks I am a hypochondriac and makes fun of me when I go to the doctor and so I thought I would just tough it out!  It is just a headache, right? 
   Well, in the meantime, I was doing all of the allergy testing and having all of the allergic reactions and such.  It took me about 7 years of headaches 3-5 times a week to finally say enough is enough, I need to see a neurologist and get these under control. 
   Just before this happened, I was talking to one of our family friends who happens to be a pharmaceutical rep.  We were talking about my allergies and all of the things I had tried and the fact that now I have to be on 5, yes that is correct 5, antihistamines a day to keep the reactions from happening.  He asked me if I had ever had my thyroid tested.  I told him, yes, several times because I was often very tired, and had all of the headaches, I had gained 50 lbs since I was married.  UGH!  He told me multiple food allergies, the black under my eyes, and other things I had mentioned were also thyroid related.  He sent me an email to a video talking about thyroid problems and how many times your TSH is normal and the doctor won't look any further, but your thyroid is truly not functioning correctly, causing all these and more symptoms.  He encouraged me to find a doctor who would test more than just my TSH and would treat my thyroid, believing I could really fix some of these problems.  So, I checked out the video found at this link:
 http://w3.newsmax.com/newsletters/brownstein/thyroid_video/video.cfm?s=al&promo_code=C771-1.  No, you do not have to buy their book!  I just took really good notes and wrote down anything that pertained to me and found out there was much more than I realized pointing to my thyroid not functioning properly.
   For the past 3 or 4 years, my blood pressure has been off and on elevated, my hair (which is usually REALLY thick) has been falling out like crazy, my hands are EXTREMELY dry and no amount of lotion helps, I have facial puffiness, I always have black bags under my eyes, and always had a low temp (97.5 of less). . .  I was getting to the point that I would wake up and take my son to school, come back home and climb right back into bed because I was so tired, or just take a nap every day!  It is not that I didn't sleep enough at night, I was getting about 10 hours!  I had one month were I had 28 migraines in one month!  I talked to 3 different doctors before I finally found one who would listen to me.  All of the others just kept saying, your thyroid is fine, it's not your thyroid!
   This doctor was great!  My neurologist was great too, he just couldn't help with the thyroid!  What she had me do was take 3 temperatures a day for 3 days.  The first one you take is 3 hours after you wake up, then 3 hours after that, then 3 hours after that.  She recommend you use a glass thermometer because they are most accurate, but they are expensive and I broke mine in the first week so I was not going to keep buying them!  (You can buy mercury free ones at your pharmacy.  They have a green tip).  Once she had my temps, we started the Wilson's Temperature Syndrome Protocol.  You can find more information about it here: http://w3.newsmax.com/newsletters/brownstein/thyroid_video/video.cfm?s=al&promo_code=C771-1.
   I am going to leave you with a little homework this time.  If you or anyone you know has had ANY of the similar experiences I have had, please take the time to watch this video and write down symptoms that pertain to you.  Also, take the time to do the 3 temperatures 3 times a day as I described in the previous paragraph.  I will go into further details of why these are important with Edition 3!  Until next time, happy health!

~Stacy~

Health Corner, Edition 1

    As promised, here is the first installment of our Health Corner!  I hope this will be informative, not too over the top, and not boring!  I thought I would start with the thing that has been plaguing me for the longest and is probably the strangest of them all: my allergies.  As I mentioned, my allergies didn't start until I was about 20.  I didn't have any kind of anything allergy wise until then.  Both of my parents and several of my siblings had "hay fever" and had taken allergy shots for years to get over their allergies, but I had never suffered any of this. 
     The first time anything happened was during a summer between college semesters,  I had a headache and had asked someone if they had ibuprofen.  They had Motrin.  I didn't realize it was the same thing and I took the equivalent of 800mg.  Within about an hour, the person I was working with asked me what was wrong with my face.  I looked in the mirror and my face was swollen like Quasimodo.  My mom brought me Benadryl and after about a day, it went back to normal.  During the next year of college, I took Advil, Aleve, and Ibuprofen again not realizing it was all the same, and got the same reaction.  I also took an Aspirin and got a much smaller but similar reaction.  During the same year, I also started having an itchy tongue and swollen lower lip anytime I ate Mexican food or bell peppers.  I finally figured out it was the Avocados in the Mexican food causing the reaction.
    Slowly over the next few years, I started having the same reaction (swelling lower lip and itchy tongue) with more and more fresh fruits and vegetables.  I have had 2 children and after each child, the allergies got increasingly worse.  After my 1st son was born, I finally went and had the skin allergy testing done,  I believe there are 9 areas they test in.  I wasn't allergic to anything in the mold category, but in every other category, I was allergic to everything but 1 item in each category.  I started the allergy shots and allergy medication.  I hadn't gotten very far into them and found out I was pregnant so they told me to stop the shots until after the baby was born.  I started again 6 weeks after my 2nd son was born.  I made it into the 2nd vial before I had my first reaction.  They had me back off and only take shots once a week.  I had another reaction a month later.   The doctor then had me restart from the beginning and then only do one shot a week.  I had another reaction within a month again.  It was at that time she told me I had to stop allergy shots and said I could NEVER do them again.
     6 months later, I went to New York with my husband.  I had a very severe reaction to something while I was there.  To this day, I am still convinced it was the Yankee's shirt I bought to wear for the game, (no offence to Yankee's fans, although I did have to tease my Dad it was because I was unwillingly supporting his team!).  I had hives and swelling all over my body and ended up in the E.R. there and again in Utah when I went to pick up my boys.  Since that event, I have had 14 other similar reactions.  Some of them I know exactly what caused it, like an antibiotic, latex, or laundry detergent, but most of the others I have know idea.  I now have to be on 5 antihistamines a day to keep from having reactions and carry around an emergency kit EVERYWHERE I go, just in case and even have to pack my own laundry detergent and bar soap anytime we go out of town.  I have had to use it on more than one occasion too.  The reactions are very scary, especially when your lips start swelling because your lips are close to your tongue, a tongue swelling could mean anaphylaxis and death!  This has also happened MANY times to me in the middle of the night, when my husband is out of town, and I have 2 young children.  It is VERY scary!
     Over the last approximately 12 years, I have had to give up eating all fresh vegetables, nuts, and fruits (except the berry family).  I have to make sure they are either cooked, dried, or processed somehow before I can consume them and even then, some things like bananas and nuts I just have to avoid.  Just in this last year, I have been introduced to 2 new possibilities, however!  One of them I am still very leery of, but the second one I did and I am happy to say that for the past month, I have been able to eat lettuce again!  This was the last food I had to give up and that was over 3 years ago!  Can you imagine not being able to eat a salad for 3 years!  Can I tell you how foolish I feel at social events when there is nothing but salads and unhealthy foods to choose from!  "Well, I'd like to take the salad, but I really don't want to go into anaphylactic shock, so I guess I will have the jello salad and  . . ."  It is just a bit frustrating!
    The first possibility is sublingual allergy drops.  They are basically the same idea as the shot where you are given very small amounts of the allergens you are allergic to, under your tongue each day, building up your bodies immunities to these allergies.  You give yourself the drops each day at home.  I have been very nervous about these because they are very new in the United States and frankly, putting them right under my tongue when I have had my lips swell so many times before and had an itchy tongue from causes unknown, freaks me out just a bit!  Right now, insurances will not pay for this because it is still considered an investigational drug, so it is a bit pricey too.  (Here is a link to the John Hopkins Center if you want to read more on their page about Sublingual drops: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/sinus/allergy/sublingual_immunotherapy.html).
    The second possibility, I am going to put on hold until the second edition, because it goes hand in hand with the next topic. . .
    Like I said, I hope this was informative in the manner that maybe someone has had similar problems.  I have only met 2 other people since all of this started who have had anything similar to this, and one of them happens to be a sister starting to have the same symptoms and I am hoping I can find a way to save her from going through what I have!  I hope this was not too boring, and I promise to follow it up in the next edition.  Until next time, Happy Health!

~Stacy~