Thirty-One Days of Fitness

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I decided to workout every day this month for at least 20 minutes. I just didn't expect it to coincide with the government shutdown. As the nation counts the number of seconds, minutes, hours, and days the government has been shutdown, I've been counting my 31 days of fitness. I'm half way through.

What inspired me? A pending medical procedure. It will have me out of commission for a few weeks and I want to make sure I exercise as much as I can before the procedure. Working out everyday will help tone my muscles more, increase my endurance and may be shed a few inches or weight.

I'm having fun doing a variety of exercises. Besides teaching my group fitness classes four times a week, I run outside or on the treadmill, take indoor cycling classes, Latin dancing, body weight exercises, or kickboxing. I do about an hour of aerobics or circuit training. I do about 20 minutes of strength training which machines, free weights, and body weight exercises such as squats and push-ups. I always stretch.

Even though I'm working out everyday this month, I work out 4 - 5 days a week religiously. Well, unless I'm under the weather. I enjoy exercising and it's a life style. Here's to your health!

Fitness Inspiration

Celebrities and athletes inspire some of us in a variety of ways. A few people such as Jillian Michaels, First Lady Michelle Obama, Dara Torres, and Diana Nyad inspire me to be better in my fitness life. As a group fitness instructor, the participants in my classes inspire me the most.

Not long ago, after teaching my water aerobics class, I struck up a conversation with one of the students. She shared with me that due to her weight, obesity induced diseases and a car accident, she was in a wheel chair for six years. She couldn't stand on her own two legs to walk! The wheel chair was her only way of getting around all those years.

After loosing weight due to a medical intervention, she's been able to walk since early this year. She's making healthy food choices and is exercising. She enjoys working out and wishes she'd done it sooner.

Exercise and weight loss takes a great deal of work and dedication at 120 pounds or 500 pounds. On the days that I don't feel like working out, I think about this lady, grab my shoes, and get moving.

As long as you're medically cleared to exercise, do at least 30 minutes of aerobics three times or more a week. You can even do 20 minutes and build up from there. Also include strength training with machines, free weights or body weight exercises such as push-ups, squats, or mountain climbers. Find your inspiration to exercise and here's to your health.

Exercise Will Get You Out of a Funk

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I always exercise with my over all health in mind but never think it'll help lift me out of a funk. I know that exercise is a stress reliever but it's not on my mind or the reason why I workout. I just think it's good for me. Earlier this week, I was feeling blah and I had a choice to make; sit idle, lay in bed, eat mindlessly or exercise.

I chose to get moving to help burn of what I was feeling. I laced up my running shoes and went for a four mile run. Emotionally, I felt fantastic at the end. According to the Mayo Clinic, physical activity increases endorphins in the brain and increases self confidence and lowers symptoms of mild depression. Endorphins are chemicals released in the brain and they help deal with pain or stress.

I can definitely say that my brains released endorphins to help get me out of my funk. I do a variety of exercises ranging from Zumba, indoor cycling, running, or use an exercise equipment such as an elliptical. I usually exercise for about an hour doing aerobic and strength training exercises. But physical activity for even 10 minutes will make a difference.

As a group fitness instructor, I encourage my students to exercise even when they don't feel like it. I'll share my experience of the benefit of physical activity reducing stress with them. Here's to your health and reducing stress.

CRAVINGS: Everyone Has Them

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I'm a strong believer in giving into your cravings. I usually have strong cravings for something sweet such as Cold Stone Creamery, delicious moist brownies, something spicy (Habanero spicy) or a nice juicy steak. Most of the time, I don't satisfy my cravings immediately. I wait it out hoping it goes away. Not. So, I'm a believer in giving into my cravings but I wait it out.

On the Fourth of July, I had cravings for brownies but there were none at the neighborhood gathering. The craving was so strong that, the burgers looked like brownies. Hilarious!

According to WebMd, nearly 100% of young women and nearly 70% of young men have food cravings. When we're stressed or anxious, the cravings are high. I've never thought of my cravings being related to my emotional state. I've associated them with my hormones. I found it interesting to read that we usually crave things that are fatty, sugary, or both. Well, if I look back at the foods I crave, they sure are high in fat and or  sugar.

WebMd recommends eating low calorie foods to satisfy the urges. For instance, a delicious low calorie brownie will be enough to curb the craving. As for me, I made the brownie's but I didn't select a low calorie recipe but next time, I'll consider that.

I'm a happy camper and I no longer have my brownie cravings. I'm glad I don't constantly have these urges. I'm also glad that I workout nearly everyday to help burn of the high fat and sugar calories. Almost every one has cravings and it's okay. Here's to your health and to our cravings.

Fit Streak Complete

In May, my goal was to workout everyday of the month and I accomplished it. I followed Fitbie's FitStreak challenge and worked out for at least 20 minutes daily.

The first 10 days were easy but day 11 was challenging. I wanted to take a day off but I was motivated by my goal to push through the goal. On that day, I decided to workout for only 20 minutes but exercised for 40 minutes. Starting a workout is the hardest but once the body is warmed up and endorphins kick in, you can go longer.

Although the goal was to exercise for at least 20 minutes, I worked out over 40 minutes almost everyday. I did a variety of exercises such as Wii Zumba, interval training, indoor cycling, Jillian Michaels' (30-day Shred Level 1 and Six Weeks Six-Pak Ab Workout) and strength training. I did these exercises on my own time in addition to teaching my group fitness classes four times a week. One of my favorite was interval training using Greatist' 30-Minute, No Gym Bodyweight Workout.

It was my favorite because I didn't need weights to get a great cardio and strength training for my body and I was drenched in sweat and tired at the end. Instead of doing jump tucks, I ran for a minute because I didn't want to do anything that would cause pain in my lower back. I'm still nervous about certain exercises since my bulging disk issue last year.

I tweeted my daily workouts to Fitbie and sometimes they retweeted my tweets. It wasn't challenging to workout everyday. It was part of my daily schedule and I strive to make it happen. There was only one day I was working out late around nine o'clcok in the evening because of a family obligation earlier in the day. I'm glad that I set this fitness goal and  I achieved it.

I'm looking for another fitness goal to accomplish but I don't know what yet. Working out everyday is doable but it's important to vary the exercises. Here's to my health. 

Thirty-one Days of Fitness

I've not written for a while and I don't have a particular reason for that but here I go...

I follow several fitness blogs and one of them is Fitbie. Before the end of April, they started a fitness challenge that got me excited. The fitness challenge, also known as FitStreak, is to workout for at least 20 minutes everyday in May.

I jumped on the opportunity because prior to seeing the promotion for the challenge, I was going to workout everyday in May anyway. Participating in the challenge makes me more accountable and it's fun. It's exciting to tweet hash tag "FitStreak" that I completed the challenge. It's even more exciting when I get a retweet. Simple pleasures.

In addition to teaching group fitness classes, I make sure I still workout so that I focus on me. When I teach, I focus on making sure that the participants get a great workout, check their form because I want them to do the exercises correctly, and have fun. When I do this, I don't get a full one hour workout as I would like.  

I'm on the #FitStreak challenge and for my health, I feel great. Here's to your health!

Kale and Goat Cheese Empanadas

Photo by Mrs. O

I like simple 30 minute meals so that I don't spend long hours cooking in the kitchen. I do understand that some things will take more than a half hour but it's nice when some things don't take long to make. A few days ago, while reading the March Oprah Magazine, I came across the following title: Easy As 1, 2, 3. It featured very simple to make recipes that also looked delicious.

I salivated while I read each recipe and got excited to try a few of them. Out of the six I've tried two. Actually, I modified one of them. Featured were the following meals and desserts:

• Lemon and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza
• Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings with Bok Choy and Peppers
• Cod with Chirizo and Tomatoes
• Kale and Goat Cheese Empanadas
• Raspberry Buckle
• Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

Photo by Mrs. O

 I couldn't wait to try the Empanadas because I like Kale. I add handfuls to my smoothies almost everyday. It's very nutritious and some say it packs more punch than Spinach. I don't think Popeye would be happy to hear that. Goat cheese is a healthy alternative to cream cheese, it's higher in Calcium and Protein compared to cheese made from cow's milk. It's also easy to digest. This is a plus for people who are lactose intolerant. I enjoyed it warm, at room temperature and cold from the fridge. To me, this is a healthy grab and go snack.

Photo by Mrs. O

I also made the hot wings but I modified it a bit. Instead of Bok Choy, I used Broccoli because my local grocery store didn't have any more. I also added garlic. It was simply delicious. The Raspberry Buckle is the next item I'd like to make.

I like simple and healthy recipes and look forward to adding to my repertoire. Here's to yummy foods and here's to your health.