June's Challenge

It's time to introduce a challenge for June! This time it will be a nutrition challenge! For May it was my Pushup Challenge, which I'm rounding out today. Those that were taking the challenge with me - how did you do? I fell behind because of injury and then illness! Blech! I found a way to catch up without totally burning myself out, though, by just doing so many every couple of hours. My maximum limit was 12-15 at one time (unmodified) when I started the challenge, but now I can do 20-23 before I hit my limit! I'm so excited! :)

So, for June we'll be doing a nutrition challenge! One of my friends happened to invite me to one of hers, and it's perfect, so I'm hopping on board and hope you will join us, too! It's the "Get Your Greens on Challenge." I challenge you to eat AT LEAST one green thing every day in the month of June. That green thing must be a fruit or veggie. I'd really love to see us all strive for a green veggie every day. There are so many fresh and local green veggies available to us this time of year. Visit your local farm stand or farmer's market. Why not come home with something you've never tried before?



Green vegetables particularly have SO many health benefits yet is one thing we don't think to have daily! Green vegetables are:

• Loaded with vitamins and minerals. Dark leafy green vegetables are one of the best sources of nutrition, and they’re low in calories to boot. Greens such as spinach, kale, broccoli, and dark-green lettuce contain minerals including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium as well as vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins. Vitamin K alone can help regulate blood clotting and may help prevent and reduce inflammation, protecting us from inflammatory diseases including arthritis. A cup of most cooked greens such as chard or kale provides at least nine times the minimum recommended intake of vitamin K, and one or more servings of greens a day has been associated with a lower risk of diabetes.


• They keep our immune system functioning well!Green vegetables also contain many phyto-chemicals and beta-carotene. These nutrients help protect cells from damage, improve immune function and can help protect our eyes from age-related disease, and some studies suggest that lutein and zeaxanthin may reduce the risk of certain types of cancer such as breast and lung. Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli are rich in substances that also help guard against colon and other cancers. And green veggies are loaded with folate, a B vitamin especially important for women of childbearing age (remember how they always tell us to take vitamins with extra folic acid?). The Centers for Disease Control and the FDA currently recommend that women take in 400 micrograms of folate daily, twice as much as was previously recommended.


• They're a great for any nutrition regiment (I hate to use the word "diet," but that might be what you call it). Greens are naturally low in carbohydrates and rich in fiber, making them slow to digest, so you’ll feel full longer. And the good news is that in order to get the most out of your green vegetables you should eat them with a little fat, such as olive or walnut oil, so you can sauté, stir-fry, and make tasty salad dressings for your greens and enjoy!

So what do you say? Will you be joining us for this challenge? If so, she even set up a support group on Facebook! Join here!

Are you up for another challenge? Join me at my sister site Pea of Sweetness for this challenge as well as The Love Dare!

Flexibility

Wow, I'm so behind! I'm still behind on my pushups challenge, but I'm catching up! I'm most definitely behind on updating on here! I'm so busy with life, business, etc. I'm actually in the process of downgrading this site for that reason as well! That post will have to wait for another day, though! :-)

I wanted to update on how things are going in my personal health and fitness world. As I mentioned, I'm still working on catching up on my pushups and I am still having a few issues with my neck, though, but nothing I can't work through! As far as my workouts with Turbo Fire I still have some days I have to modify, but it's definitely getting better! I'm still playing with our daily schedule to find the ideal workout time for me! I noticed late afternoon is definitely NOT my ideal as that seems to be my "down time." Even with the Energy and Endurance Formula I still feel a bit tired during that time frame! That's good to know, though, because it narrows it down a little more!

I got a new heart rate monitor because the kids did something to my other one that is beyond my being able to figure it out! I wanted to be able to see how my heart rate is particularly because I'm doing a cardio intensive program (and it's actually just good for me to know in general since I've had heart surgery) but also to monitor calorie burn so I can start tracking that again more sufficiently! I've noticed probably 90% or more of the workouts I'm above my "fat burning zone" and sometimes even above my "cardio zone." When it gets to 100% it just says "HIGH" haha Now that I can see what's going on it helps me to better gauge what I need to do as far as intensity. I think it was a wise decision to get another one!

One thing I have noticed besides my cardio obviously improving is my flexibility and posture! Posture is particularly a big deal for me! I have scoliosis in my lower back PLUS I tend to slouch. It's actually why they believe I have issues with my neck and tension headaches (it's been an ongoing problem, so although I did actually strain a muscle in my neck a couple weeks ago general neck pain is an ongoing problem). My husband is always on my case about slouching (as he should be!), but he said he's amazed and how much better my posture has been! He insisted on taking some photos of my posture as well as my flexibility improvement! I'm excited because I know it will ALL continue to get better! :-)

May Challenge - Pushups

So I've decided I'm going to implement monthly challenges to focus on better nutrition and fitness. Last month was the water challenge. It actually didn't go as well as I had hoped. I know I started out sharing how I still wasn't drinking enough despite not having other beverages. I still continued to have that challenge. I decided it was time to back to an old trick. I am not one to mark down each time I have a cup of water. I don't remember to do it! It's much easier for me to remember everything in ounces. So, I'm back to using (re-usable) water bottles. The bottles that come with my water filter are 16 ounces, so I have to drink at least 4 of them per day. That is MUCH easier to remember, and I'm back on track. I'll admit, though, I'm happy to add some flavor back into y drinks! I'm still making sure I get enough water, but I'm enjoying my tea and juice again as well! :)

Since last month's challenge was nutrition based this month I'm going to implement a fitness based challenge! I'd love for you to join me! My goal for the month of May is 500 pushups! I'm admittedly terrible at pushups right now. I do have to be careful because I do have a nerve issue in my wrists, and pushups can trigger it. It doesn't mean I can't do them, though! I may have to split them up to different times of the day, so instead of doing 15 in a row I may have to do 5 three times a day. Whatever it is I'll find what works for me, and I encourage you to find what works for you! :) I want to take this known weakness of mine and turn it around!

Pushups are such an amazing exercise! They work so many different muscles and build a stronger core. I think with all the new fitness trends pushups get lost in the past, but still there is nothing that is better! So I'm going to make it part of my daily routine, and my goal is 500 pushups for the month that are NOT modified. If you need to modify (on your knees) that is OK! If you want to challenge yourself more by doing them on an incline, that's great! Take what level you need and join me! I know I'm really challenging myself by doing them without modifying, but I'm ready for the challenge! It's obviously already a couple days into May, but that's OK! The goal is 500 for the month, so if you take a day off, that's OK, too! Don't save it all until the last few days, though, to where you have to play "catch up" because you could burn yourself out! Try to finish all 500 by the last week of the month and give yourself a few days to spare. Then if you do fall behind you have those extra days. If you don't fall behind you can still continue your pushup routine anyway! ;) So, will you be joining me?