HEY, NEW LEAVES!!!!  It’s HERE! Day 30 of the Turn Over A new Leaf Fitness Challenge!!! Yesterday, I asked you to share what you learned, if anything, over the past month. It’s only fair that I, too, share my learning experiences with you.

• I LOVE coffee! I don’t think that one 4 oz cup a day is so bad.
• I think I have a salty tooth instead of a sweet tooth.
• I prefer working out for shorter periods of time and more days as opposed to longer workouts and fewer days.
• Music makes working out AWESOME.
• I will never like radicchio, but found, much to my surprise, that arugala is pretty darned tasty. Who knew?
• I like raw cashews better than roasted ones.
• I LOVE UDON NOODLES!
• Ramekin (our senior cat) would rather do pretty much anything besides watch me exercise.
• Mugsy (another one of our cats) will never laugh at me, no matter how goofy I look in my gigantic sweat pants. He thinks I’m a rock star!
• Pasha (the third of three of our cats) doesn’t like it when I bust a move. It scares him (but then again, so does the sound of a light switch, his own shadow, etc.)
• The 30 day Challenge was FUN!

Thank you all for taking part in this with me!

Howdy New Leaves!  This is ALMOST it!! I certainly hope that you’ve learned something new over the course of our 30 Day Challenge.

Yesterday, as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought about the last month and it made me smile: I’ve been “blogging” to no one in particicular… I wonder how many people are reading this? I have received emails from a few of you, but I wonder exactly how many people particiapted in the challenge.

If you joined the Turn Over A New Leaf 30 Day Fitness Challenge 29 days ago or 2 days ago, please share with me what you learned. I am VERY anxious to hear your story!!

Good Day, NEW LEAVES! In case you hadn’t heard… today’s my husband’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAS!!!!

In honor of this monumental occasion, I baked a dense & rich chocolate cake with a dark chocolate glaze and I WILL enjoy a BIG slice of it tonight… after the birthday boy, of course! I’ll post the recipe this weekend.  It’s very easy to make and it’s DELICIOUS!

We have two more days left it the challenge.  My workout this morning was really wonderful. My overall strength has increased significantly in the past 28 days, most notably in my legs and abs. I like the “spill over” effect that regular exercise has on the way I feel about my workout: The stronger I get, the more I look forward to the challenge of lifting even heavier weights… in small increments, of course.

I must remind you to be sure that you warm up thoroughly BEFORE you workout. This is particularly important if you workout first thing in the morning. A warm-up should consist of simple exercises that will increase the blood flow throughout the body. The idea is to slightly raise the temperature of your muscles, so they won’t tear as you begin to exercise.

If you have been drinking more water, you will undoubtedly notice a marked change in your skin’s texture and appearance. The good news is once your body has grown accustomed to your increased water consumption, you will develop a natural thirst for it, so it won’t seem like such a chore. I hope that you’ve also been treating yourself to a weekly “spa day”.  Good work should be rewarded!

Good Morning, New Leaves! Our Turn Over A New Leaf 30 Day Fitness Challenge is coming to an end. I hope that this has been an enjoyable and education experience for you. I’ve enjoyed the experience of blogging every day (something I NEVER thought I’d do).

In the process of daily blogging for our 30 Day Challenge, I’ve done a lot of reflecting about exercise and nutrition.  I re-read many of the articles I used to draft and send to my students when I taught a lunchtime exercise class at my “other job”. I also wrote out and actually followed a brand new workout regimen for myself. Prior to this, I was just adding more weights, sets or repetitions to the same exercises I normally did.  I’ve been eating breakfast everyday, which was another thing I often slacked on. Most days, I would just have a cup of coffee, fill up on water and of late, drink a BIG thermos full of juice. My first real meal was usually at noon or even 1 o’clock.

I had lofty plans to prepare hot cereal every morning, but time did not permit this.  I also had plans to cook 7 different vegetables for dinner every week, in an effort to expose myself to a wider variety of one of nature’s finest gifts, but that didn’t quite pan out either.  I pre-packed several little sandwich bags with raw cashews and walnuts to snack on during the day, but once those were consumed, I never made it back to the health food store to restock.

I’m not beating myself up over these things, though. I’m very happy with the changes that have come about as a result of this 30 Day Challenge. I thought long and hard about my time and commitments to myself, my family, Brendita’s Body Works, etc.   For the first time since Cas and I launched BBWs, I am following a work schedule. It’s such a simple concept, but for some reason, I never gave it much thought. My new schedule details EVERYTHING, from the moment I wake up until the hour my body tells me that its bedtime.  There’s a time to workout, prepare my meals, mix products & fill orders for BBW,  take care of my skin and of course,  FREE TIME. Thanks to having a coherent schedule, I have A LOT more free time and I don’t feel guilty about it:   During this “me” time, I don’t have to worry or wonder whether or not there’s something else I should be doing.  I’m shocked at how truly relaxed I feel!

I would like for each of you to think about ONE CHANGE, related to your health, that you have made as a result of this challenge. If you’d like to share it with us, that would be just wonderful! Maybe your words will inspire someone else.

Howdy New Leaves. I went to bed and woke up with a WICKED headache, so I don’t have much to say today.  I hope that you’re all doing well. I will post something fun and exciting tomorrow. In the meantime, hang in there and keep up the good work!

Good Morning New Leaves! I hope you’re all doing well today. I am VERY eager to hear about your experiences with the 30 day challenge. At the risk of sounding like a corrupt .mpg file, scratched CD, broken record, etc…  Please know that you CANNOT fail this challenge!

I want you to learn how to make healthy food choices and exercise properly.  Armed with the proper tools, you will be able to incorporate good eating habits and regular exercise into your lifestyle.  If you have a spouse and/or children, they, too will benefit from your new lifestyle:  You can exercise and plan meals together, experience the wonders of new and exciting fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains that you’ve never tasted before.

You’ve seen ads for facial serums, creams, lotions etc. that promise results in “just one week” or infomercials for a new exercise gadget that ”guarantees” results after just one use? You KNOW it’s not possible, yet, these advertisers make it sound sooooo tempting.

I’m sure that at some point in your life, you’ve received an email detailing a new diet that consists of things like unlimited grapefruits, as much bacon as your stomach can hold, a side of beef, 2 gallons of green tea, etc. The promise is that you WILL lose 5 pound in 5 days… and you probably will. Trust me, that weight loss is PURE water and as soon as you resume eating in a normal fashion, that “lost weight” will come right back.

You may have heard of or even tried a high protein diet. These types of diets instruct you to greatly limit, to the point of almost eliminating, the amount of carbohydrates you consume. Your body uses complex carbohydrates as a fuel source. Supposedly, by eliminating carbohydrates from your diet, you will force your body it to burn excess fat stores for energy. This is a VERY dangerous and unhealthy approach to weight loss. The rapid weight loss that occurs in the first week of such diets is, again, water weight.  High protein diets are almost always heavy with fats, as they encourage the consumption of lots of red meat, such as steak and bacon, while discouraging fruits and whole grains.  ANY diet that advises you to eat an excess of ANY one food group is unhealthy.

Our bodies need a variety of nutrients that can only be obtained by eating a wide variety of wholesome, nutritious food sources.  Similarly, diets that encourage drastically low daily caloric intakes are not healthy either.  Food is used by the body the same way gasoline is used by a car; as fuel to keep the body functioning. When you don’t supply your body with an adequate number of calories to burn for energy, it goes into self preservation mode and actually holds onto its excess fat stores: It does this because it’s not sure when it will be getting more “fuel”.  So, please, don’t starve yourself!

When we are done with this 30 day Challenge, I will continue to make blog entries about a wide variety of things, not just healthy eating and exercise.  I don’t think it’s healthy to spend too much time consumed (no pun intended) by what you should and shouldn’t eat. There are so many things in life to enjoy. Thinking about what you’ll be eating or what you ate should only be a small part of your life.

With that thought, I invite you to think about something other than food and exercise… something that will make you smile or maybe even…LAUGH OUT LOUD!