Brendita's Blog

Today is Day 11 of our 30 Day Fitness and Healthy Eating Challenge. There are quite a few people participating and a few participants who are posting about their workouts and daily eating habits in the Global Community Forum. I haven’t recorded/videoed any exercise routines for participants because it seems that everyone has their own workout routines that they’re doing. I just wanted to give everyone an update on what’s been going on with me for the last 11 days… regarding the 30 Day Challenge, that is.

When the challenge began, I wrote down some semi-long term goals for myself. After the challenge, I will make some changes to my workout to make it a bit more challenging, but for the next 19 days, I’ll continue with my workout schedule, which is as follows:

Monday and Thursday

Legs & Shoulders

Leg Extensions + Dumbbell Presses,
Squats + Upright Rows
Leg Curls + Rear Deltoid Raises
Stationary Lunges + Front Deltoid Raises
Calf Raises
Leg Raises + Twisting Incline Sit Ups
Stretches


Tuesday and Friday

Chest & Triceps

Push Ups
Flat Dumbbell Presses + Tricep Extensions
Flat Flyes + Tricep Kick Backs
Overhead Pulls + Dips
Leg Raises + Twisting Incline Sit Ups
Bike or Elliptical
Stretches


Wednesday and Saturday

Back & Biceps

Chin Ups
Double “One” Arm Rows + Dumbbell Bicep Curls
Barbell Row + Barbell Bicep Curls
Good Mornings + E-Z Curls
Leg Raises + Twisting Incline Sit Ups
Bike or Elliptical
Stretches

I do 3 sets of the free weight exercises. I only do one set of legs raises and sits ups. Each set is done to failure (until each muscle is completely exhausted and I can't do another repetition). I use weights that are heavy enough to permit me to do no more than 12 to 14 repetitions because I want to increase my strength and add some muscle density.

I put on my heart rate monitor at the beginning of each workout and do two different exercises per set, with little to no rest in between sets. I work to maintain an average heart rate of 140 BPMs so that I won’t have to go on the bike for too long: I make sure that I keep my heart rate beating in its target range for 40 minutes, minimum. That includes my strength training exercises and the time I spend on the bike. I stretch immediately after the bike, while my muscles are nice and warm.

I enjoy working out 6 days a week because the workouts are shorter and more focused. I also have enough time to do everything without feeling rushed. I used to workout 4 days a week, doing three body parts per workout. When I did that, I’d often have to skip a couple of exercises and shorten or eliminate my stretching routine.

I was EXTREMELY sore for the first 5 days of this challenge because I haven’t worked out with this kind of regularity in a long time. I worked through the soreness and each time I did it, I felt GREAT. I don’t, however, advocate or advise working out when injured.

We also did a juice cleanse yesterday. I drank a little more than quart of fruit/vegetable juice, about 1.5 litres of water and 1 cup of green tea. I thought I’d feel dizzy or hungry, but I was fine. I woke up feeling wonderful and I think I’m going to do a juice fast once a month. We will be doing two more 1 day juice fasts during this challenge.

As I mentioned, this challenge marks the start of working towards the list of fitness and health goals I plan on achieving by my 46^th birthday (on Christmas Eve ). I will DEFINITELY keep you posted!

More information regarding the goals of our 30 Day Challenge:

• Increase your overall strength, including the strength and efficiency of your heart: This will happen by using (or working up to using) hand held weights while performing various exercises or by working out with free weights. Your workout during the challenge needs to include some form of resistance/strength training and at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity three times a week (minimum). As your strength increases and you build your aerobic endurance, all sorts of wonderful things will happen. One of these things is that your heart (the hardest working muscle of all), will be forced to work harder because it will have to pump more blood throughout your body during your workout. This will make your heart stronger and a strong heart is a happy heart!

• Increase your endurance and stamina: The increase in your hearts efficiency will lead to an improvement of your overall cardiovascular (circulatory system) health. If you’ve ever had to run for a bus, train or to get to an appointment you’re late for, you already know how truly awesome a properly functioning cardiovascular system can be. Improving your hearts efficiency has long term benefits, too. A strong and healthy heart beats less often but pumps more blood, so there's less wear and tear on this vital muscle/organ.

• Increase your body’s flexibility: Pliable muscles are happy muscles. Imagine that your muscles are a piece of taffy. If you pull the taffy while it’s at room temperature and it will tear. If you place that same taffy in between your palms for a few seconds to warm it up, you will then be able to stretch it easily without it tearing it. Your muscles work the same way. For this reason, you should include stretching exercises at the end of each workout, when your muscles are warm and pliable. This will increase the flexibility of each muscle and in so doing, greatly reduce your chances of injuries and post workout soreness. Increased flexibility has a host of other benefits as well: I will address as many of them as possible throughout the 30 Day Challenge.

There’s an awesome phenomenon called “muscle memory” that occurs after exercising consistently for a few years. Once your body has become accustomed to being physically fit, it will remember it. If something unfortunate or unforeseen should occur and you’re unable to exercise for an extended period of time (surgery, an injury, etc.), when you resume your normal exercise regimen, your muscles will remember how they felt when they were in peak form: It will not take you very long to get back in shape, because that’s the state that your muscles remember being in. This is one of the reasons that women who are physically fit can “snap back” into shape so soon after giving birth.



Finally, one word about post workout soreness: It’s gonna happen.You must allow a 48 hour period of recuperation in between workouts because your muscles strengthen and firm AFTER your workout, not DURING it. If you don’t allow for this recuperative period, you will not gain any true benefit from your workout and you’ll eventually hurt yourself, because your muscles will sort of go on strike by either tearing, or cramping so severely you will be unable to exercise. This is their way of saying to you “Hey! Buddy… can you give me a break here?”

You can workout on consecutive days if you vary the muscles you're working on. For example, Monday and Thursday: Biceps and Back. Tuesday and Friday: Triceps and Chest. Wednesday and Saturday: Legs and Shoulders.
With the schedule above, each muscle group has a chance to recuperate. Another alternative is doing strength/flexibility training one day and then cardio-vascular/flexibility training the next.

• Increase your daily water intake: During the challenge, I'd like for you to drink one tall glass of water AFTER each meal. I'd also like for you to refrain from drinking anything along with your meal. When you drink while you eat, you give your stomach a false sense of fullness and it interferes with the digestive process. I'd also like for you to drink as much water as your stomach can hold in between meals. If you enjoy your water cold, there’s an added bonus to increasing your water intake: When you drink cold water, your body has to burn extra energy (read: calories) to warm that water to the temperature of your body, so in a sense, you are burning calories (again, not a lot) just by drinking cold water. If you are a fan of soda, diet or otherwise, I am going to ask you to STOP drinking it during the challenge. Along with caffeine, most diet sodas and energy drinks are LOADED with high levels of sodium: bad for so many reasons. If you have a big diet soda habit, you can’t just cut it out all together, because you will go through caffeine withdrawal and that is no fun, folks. If this is the case, I would like you to wean yourself off of diet soda during the first two weeks of the challenge, by eliminating one can/bottle every two days.

• Cut down on or eliminate caffeine: This one is really up to you. Every morning, my husband and I each enjoy a lovely four ounces of Cuban coffee. I have no intention of giving that up. As with so many other foodstuffs, the “good” and “bad” information we get regarding caffeine changes so drastically from one week to the next, it’s tough to know what to believe. I would just like for you to reduce the presence of caffeine in your diet.

• Eat more “live” foods (uncooked foods, like lettuces, green leafy vegetables, carrots, sprouts, radishes, etc): Every time you add heat to a “live” food, some of the nutrients are lost. Lightly steamed and raw vegetables are sort of “negative calories” in the sense that they contain so few calories, your body burns up an equivalent number of calories by simply digesting them. They're rich in fiber, so they help the body cleanse itself. This also gives you a healthy feeling of fullness. They also supply your body with a wealth of nutrients. There will be A LOT of meal suggestions on the 30 day challenge that include raw or “live” vegetables.

I would also like for you to slow down when you eat. It takes the stomach approximately 20 minutes to signal the brain that you are indeed full. I don’t expect you to take 20 minutes to eat each meal, especially the small ones, but I would like for you to just slow down a bit. Sometimes, we continue to eat just because there is food on the table, so I’d also like for you to plate your food at the stove/counter instead of bringing platters and bowls to the table and serving yourself and your family. I have not addressed alcohol (wine, beer, martinis.. whatever): I am going to leave that one up to you. But, please, try to drastically limit your alcohol consumption. If you do drink, please drink one glass of water for every alcoholic drink you consume.



The 30 Day Fitness & Healthy Eating Challenge will start TOMORROW! We can all "meet up" on the forum in the Fall 2011 Fitness & Healthy Eating Challenge thread. That's where every one should go to list what you ate and what types of exercises you did for the day. I'll post different exercises every day and I'll post "challenges" at least every two days. I will try to make a few workout videos, too, just to switch things up a bit.

Remember, even if you don't have everything ready (you haven't had time to go grocery shopping, etc.), you can join and start the challenge tomorrow: Just do whatever you can! Tell a friend! The more, the merrier!

I will address the first two points of our Turn Over A New Leaf Goals:

• Make exercise a regular part of your life: “Event dieting” is a term I made up when I was teaching exercise. When one of my students would show up to every class (I taught three classes a week) after not coming to class for several weeks or even months, the reason was almost ALWAYS a vacation at a location where she’d be wearing a bathing suit, a wedding (her own or as a bridesmaid or maid of honor), a family reunion, etc. Repeated drastic changes in weight are unhealthy. There have been countless articles on the subject, so I will not restate what most of you already know. Regular exercise (three times a week, minimum) needs to become a regular part of your life if you want to be healthy.

• Think of and know that “DIET” is a bad, bad word!!! “Going on a diet” is probably the single biggest way to ensure that any weight loss will not be permanent. The human body is a wonderful work of art. It is engineered with very intricate systems designed to protect itself. One of these systems safeguards us against starvation. Our body stores fat to insulate vital organs and also to burn for energy when there is no food in the stomach. Any food eaten in excess of what the body needs to function is stored as fat. When you do not eat the sufficient (minimum) amount of calories your body needs to function, it will hold off on burning/using it’s excess fat stores. It does this because you have, in a sense, forced it into “survival mode”. The only thing your body knows is that it is not getting enough calories and it’s not sure when it will. As a survival mechanism, it will actually slow down the rate at which it burns up excess fat stores. That, my friends, is the main reason why starvation diets do not work. The best diet in the world is eating well rounded, healthful, nutritious meals throughout the day. I will try to get you to rethink your definition of a “meal”. Most people need to eat more than three meals a day. Having said that, the standard portion size of U.S. Americans meals are SO large, it’s kind of scary. Eating small meals every 2 1/2 to 3 hours will ensure against sudden drops in blood sugar/energy levels. Remember an apple or a container of yogurt would be considered a "meal".

• “Teach” your body to burn fat for energy: A woman needs to ingest approximately 1550 calories per day. Anything in excess of this will be stored as fat. Aerobic exercise (any exercise that keeps the heart beating in its target range for a minimum of 20 minutes) causes the body to burn excess fat for energy. The wonderful thing about aerobic exercise is that the body continues to burn fat for several hours after your workout is over. This amount of fat that is burned after your workout is, of course, not as high as when you are actively exercising, but it is a pretty substantial amount.

The 30 Day Challenge will involve strength training, so I'd like for you to refrain from weighing yourself for the next 30 days. Why? You may have heard the term “muscle weighs more than fat”. This is a physical impossibility. A pound of bricks and a pound of feathers both weigh the same, but it takes a lot more feathers to equal a pound when compared to bricks. The same is true with muscle and fat. Muscle tissue is denser and takes up less room, so as you firm and strengthen your muscles, you may notice that the number on the scale is going up. You will also notice that your clothes are feeling looser. This is because you are burning fat and increasing the density (not size) of your muscles. An increase of lean muscle tissue means that your body will burn more calories when at rest. This is because muscles move and require energy to do so. Fat, on the other hand, just hangs around waiting to be called upon for energy.





The photos below are clips from my workout DVD



Here is part one. You can watch portions of the entire video on YouTube but if you can order the uncut, 45 minute video.

The 30 Day Fitness & Healthy Living Challenge will begin on Saturday 17 September. We will not be counting calories or weighing food (BORING!). We will be exercising better judgment regarding portion size. A serving of fish, poultry or meat should be no larger than your closed fist. This also applies to tofu and TVP, textured vegetable protein/“vegetarian meat”/veggie burger patties.

To get started, using the sample daily meal plan below, write out your preferred menu for the entire first week of the challenge. This will make it easier to make a grocery list. If you haven’t budgeted $$ for a new eating plan this week, that’s OK. Just try to make healthier choices with the foods you’ll be eating. When you’re fiscally able to do so, make your new menu plan and shop accordingly. In other words, there’s no reason for you to postpone starting the 30 Day Challenge. You can do the exercise routines and then change your eating habits when you’re able financially able to do so. The eating plan won’t be that expensive. On the contrary, if you cook your own meals (as opposed to buying pre-made meals) it might be less expensive than normal. I hope that you will ALL take this opportunity to broaden your culinary world: Try some fruits and/or vegetables you’ve never eaten before! I believe that the meal plan listed below will give you a pretty good foundation to start with.

I have not listed any serving sizes for the raw or lightly steamed vegetables because you can (and should) eat as much of these as possible. They will quench your hunger because they add “bulk” to your meal. They will also provide your body with an astounding amount of vitamins & minerals.

If you are cooking for yourself and your family, I do NOT want you to prepare separate meals: You’re not on a diet (bad word!)! The foods listed can and SHOULD be eaten by everyone in the house. One of our goals during this challenge is to change the way we eat. Introduce new foods to young people slowly. You just may be surprised to learn how many different vegetables your children will enjoy. If I may offer a bit of advice: Don’t make an announcement to your family that you’re going to make changes to your cooking/eating habits. Just do it. I am not a believer in “disguising” healthy food in an attempt to get your children to eat it. If your children do not want to eat what you have prepared, don’t force them… but please, don’t make something else for them. You will start a vicious cycle. They will not starve: They will eat when they’re hungry. Trust me on this one.

The first meal of the day is traditionally called “breakfast” because you are breaking the fast you underwent as you slept. Your stomach is empty and needs replenishment. When you wait too long in between meals, you have a higher chance of over eating because you feel ravenous.

If you drink coffee early in the morning, chances are you won’t be too hungry soon after. If your first meal of the day is more than 2 hours after you wake up, this is the one major change in diet I would like for you to make. I would like for you to start your day with fresh fruit. The naturally occurring sugar in the fruit will also serve as a pick me up.
Fruit is loaded with such a variety of nutrients it is truly nature’s best “fast food”: It comes wrapped in its own handy container (its skin) and it’s ready to eat. Eating fresh fruit on an empty stomach allows your body to fully utilize all of the fruits nutrients without any interference.

If you’ll be working out in the morning and need a little pick me up before your workout, have half a banana before you begin and then have the other half after your workout. Your meal number one can be up to 2 hours later. If you absolutely must have coffee as soon as you wake up, go for it, but make sure it’s just coffee.

Meal Number One: (no more than 2 hours after you wake up):
One whole citrus fruit (grapefruit, orange or tangerine) + about ½ a cup of strawberries, cherries, blueberries, blackberries or raspberries (you don’t have to pick just one “berry” you can have a mix of several) + One tall glass of cold water.

If you’re “zombie like” in the mornings, cut up the fruit the night before and put it in a covered glass container for the next day. Eating citrus fruit quenches the body’s morning hunger and also acts as a mild appetite suppressant.

ALTERNATIVE: Fresh made juice!! Don’t have a juicer? Try “Naked Juice”.

Meal Number Two:
1 Cup of Whole Grain Cereal + ½ Cup of rice, soy or cow’s milk + 1 hard boiled egg
OR
1 Cup of hot Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Cream of Rice OR Oat Bran + + 1 hard boiled egg
OR
2 Slices of toasted whole grain (not whole wheat) bread or English muffins with a thin layer of sugar free peanut butter
OR
2 Slices of toasted whole grain (not whole wheat) bread or English muffins with a hard boiled egg white
Drink one glass of cold water AFTER you have eaten your meal.
If you prefer your hot cereal sweet, replace half the water in the recipe with 100% apple juice (not apple drink). You can add a little rice, soy or cows milk to this if you’d like. The cereal (hot or cold), whole grain bread or muffin provides fiber which is essential to keep… things flowing. The protein in either the egg white or peanut butter will provide energy. When choosing your cold cereal, look for those that contain whole grains and no added sugar. Read the nutrition label to make an informed choice. A good rule of thumb is: Don’t choose any cereal with a cartoon character on the front of the box.

Meal Number Three (Optional, can be skipped if you’re not really hungry):
A handful of unsalted RAW walnuts, almonds or cashews. Drink one glass of cold water AFTER you have eaten your nuts.
You can eat this “meal” two hours after your first meal OR two hours after your fourth meal.
You can choose walnuts, almonds or cashews or mix all three, but you can only eat as much as you can fit in your hand (wearing a baseball mitt & counting that as a handful is not acceptable). We want the nuts raw because the heat from baking nuts destroys most of the valuable omega 3 fatty acids in these nuts. Buy them in bulk and keep them in the refrigerator, in a zip locked bag or tightly sealed glass container: If you store them in your cabinet or pantry they will go rancid.

Meal Number Four:
½ cup of cooked whole grain pasta
OR
1 small boiled white or yellow potato, ½ of a green or yellow plantain, diced
OR
½ cup white or brown rice

PLUS

1 tablespoon of low or non fat mayonnaise/ Nayonnaise ® (optional, for flavor) + your choice of one or all: shredded carrots, scallions, frozen green peas (thawed and rinsed), frozen edamame (thawed, rinsed and drained), chopped broccoli florets, cucumber, finely shredded cabbage, green peppers, red peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers, chopped or torn baby spinach leaves, thinly sliced radishes + 1 teaspoon of fat free Italian salad dressing (optional, for flavor) + ½ a cup of water packed tuna or home cooked shredded or chopped OR ½ cup of water packed or home cooked shredded or chopped salmon OR ½ a cup of water packed or home cooked, cubed or chopped white meat chicken or turkey OR ½ cup of home cooked thinly sliced or cubed lean, non-marbleized meat OR ½ cup of water packed diced tofu.
Mix all of the above together and eat as a salad. Drink one glass of cold water AFTER you have eaten your meal.

OR

Instead of pasta, rice or potatoes, make a sandwich: Mix the mayonnaise or Nayonnaise ® with the tuna, chicken, salmon or tofu, place on 2 slices or whole grain bread and dress with a variety of lettuces (romaine, green leaf, red leaf or bib), cucumber slices and baby spinach.

You can omit any of the raw veggies in the salad that you don’t like. Tuna, salmon and chicken are all available in cans or aluminium pouches in the canned fish aisle of any supermarket, or you can use your own from dinner the night before. If you’ll be going to work the next day, pack your lunch the night before. Nearly ALL the veggies listed are available in the supermarket pre-cut. All you have to do is rinse them well with cold water.

ALTERNATIVE IF YOU ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT/CANNOT COOK: Get a Subway or Blimbie sandwich with turkey, non-smoked ham, roast beef or veggie patty. Ask for whatever fresh greens you’d like, omit the cheese, and choose mustard or non-creamy fat free salad dressing.

Meal Number Five (Optional, can be skipped if you’re not really hungry):
About one handful of pretzels (approximately 8-10)

OR

1 Rice, Corn or Wheat Cake (NOT the kind with caramel, chocolate, butter or cheese)

OR

4 saltine or water crackers. Drink one glass of cold water AFTER you have eaten your “meal”.
You can eat this “meal” two hours after your first meal OR two hours after your fourth meal.

Meal Number Six:
Your choice of broiled skinless salmon, swai (sometimes called “basa”), tuna, flounder, chicken breast, turkey breast, turkey tenderloin, lean, non-marbleized steak, pork loin (the serving size of any of these options should be the size of your tightly closed fist), non-breaded TVP (textured vegetable protein) patty, ½ cup of canned red, black or white beans + One or more of your favorite vegetables, seasoned and lightly steamed: String beans, green peppers, red peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers, snow peas, carrots, broccoli, yellow squash, zucchini, brussel sprouts, bok choy, cabbage + Your choice of a small baked or boiled yellow potato, white potato, yam, sweet potato, 4 inch slice of yucca, 4 inch piece (about half) of a yellow or green plantain, ½ cup of boiled pasta, ½ cup of white or brown rice + BIG salad with a variety of lettuces (romaine, green leaf, red leaf, Boston or “bib”), baby spinach, cucumber, shredded carrots, shredded broccoli, sliced radishes, scallions, sliced red or yellow onions + 1 teaspoon of a non-creamy low fat salad dressing. Drink one glass of cold water AFTER you have eaten your meal.

You can pan cook your fish, poultry or meat in a skillet that you’ve wiped with a thin layer of olive or canola oil, steam, broil or bake. To cook it, allow it to come to room temperature (set it on the counter for about 15 minutes), pat it dry with a paper towel (then use the same paper towel to apply the olive or canola oil to your pan) and add flavor to it with your favorite seasonings (no Adobo or Sazon because of the MSG content). Good seasonings include garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt (go lightly here), pepper (I prefer fresh ground & you will, too, once you try it), dried herbs or fresh herbs that have been finely chopped.

If you’re using fresh herbs, this means already know a little or a lot about cooking, but just in case: Add fresh herbs to your food when the food is nearly done, if you will be cooking it in a pan. If you will be baking or broiling, sprinkle on the fresh herbs as soon as the food comes out of the oven or off the grill: The heat from the food will soften the herbs and enhance their natural flavors.

Prepare and cook more fish, poultry or meat than you will eat for dinner and then use the rest for the next day’s lunch.
You can add about ½ a “pat” (approximately ½ a teaspoon) of butter or ½ a teaspoon of Smart Balance spread to your potato, yucca, plantain, rice, etc. If you’re eating yams or sweet potatoes, feel free to sprinkle on some cinnamon.

Again, when cooking your potatoes, rice, pasta, etc. cook more than you will eat at dinner and use the rest for the next day’s lunch. When you pre- pack your lunch, pack the salad dressing in a separate container (the empty travel sized shampoo bottles), so your lunch won’t get soggy overnight in the fridge.

Pre-cut and pre washed (you should wash them any way) salads are readily available at any supermarket. Be sure to check the expiration date. The fresher packages are almost always stocked all the way in the back, so look there first.

Look for “Broccoli Slaw”. It’s a wonderful blend of shoestring cut broccoli, radicchio and carrots.

If you’ve never tried yucca and would like to experiment, you can buy it fresh or frozen. I prefer to use frozen. It’s easier to cook and I find it less stringy. Frozen yucca can usually be found in the “ethnic” or Goya® section in the frozen food aisle.

To season and steam your vegetables: Place washed and chopped (if needed) veggies in a bowl, add a half a teaspoon of chopped or minced garlic, diced onions, sea salt, pepper, fresh or dried herbs and stir well. To steam them, fill a sauce pan with about ½ an inch of water, bring it to a boil and add about 1 cup of vegetables, your seasonings (sea salt, pepper, garlic powdered or chopped, onions, powdered or chopped). Once the water begins to boil again, stir well, reduce the heat as low as you can get it, cover and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain and serve. Another option for those of you who don’t shop too often, FROZEN VEGETABLES! They’re frozen soon after they’re picked and they are FABULOUS! Cook them in the same manner I’ve described above, except use about an inch of water instead of ½ an inch. Kindly note the cooking time may be slightly shorter… don’t overcook your veggies!
Feel free to stir fry your fish, meat, poultry or tofu with your vegetables! Use a small amount of canola or olive oil and have fun!

ALTERNATIVE IF YOU ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT/CANNOT COOK: A Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Smart Balance OR Amy’s Low Fat/Low Calorie Variety (Vegetarian) frozen dinner.

Dessert (Optional, but completely acceptable): ½ inch slice of pound cake (with or without frosting), single serving cup of pudding, ½ of a “regular size scoop of ice cream. There is no need to buy “sugar free” or “fat free” cake/ice cream for your dessert. You’re going to have a small serving, so you might as well enjoy it.
If you’re choosing a frozen dinner that includes a dessert, please, don’t add the above optional dessert. Obvious, I know, but I felt I had to say it any way.

OK! I’ll be back tomorrow with some information about exercise.

It's that time again! The end of summer/start of autumn. I am going to embark on a new workout regimen and healthy eating plan. My goal is to get back in tip top shape so that I can stop taking the two anti-inflammatory medications I've been using for the last 18 months. My doctor prescribed them to reduce the chronic/daily pain I have from my old back and head injury.

When I was exercising regularly, my tolerance for pain was a lot higher. I never wanted to have to take any medication every single day, so I'm going to wean myself off of it. I already spoke to my doctor about it and he gave me the green light. The medications are non-narcotic, so there won't be any physical withdrawal. There are a few side effects of the medications that I won't miss, but my biggest fear is the return of 24/7 pain. I do know, however, that when my muscles are strong, the pain is a lot less noticeable and definitely more tolerable.

I'm also going to use this time to start eating properly. I've been very negligent about consistent healthy eating habits this past year and I'm not proud about it either! I'm the "nutritionist" of the Garcia household: I make the grocery lists; I prepare dinner every night and lunches on the weekends. I've been slacking with regards to preparing consistently balanced and nutritious meals. REALLY slacking.

I'll post the challenge this week. It will be nearly the same as last years "Turn Over a New Leaf" challenge... with a few updates. I think I'll film a couple of daily workouts... we'll see. I'll have to see how the lighting is in my workout room at 4:30 in the morning. More information soon! If you think this is something you'd like to do, please post HERE!