Motivation Monday

Weigh in today and you are finished!  How do you feel about your success on the challenge?

I lost less than I wanted but was
yo-yo with my eating habits and workouts.

Although the challenge is over I am going to continue eating smart and exercising regularly.

Please comment with:
1) Your overall weight loss
2) One idea that you will take with you from the challenge.

Best wishes to you all!  Thank you so much for joining us in the challenge.

Fitness Friday

Today we celebrated Boomer's 7th birthday with a surprise party. I stayed up too late, (several nights) skipped breakfast and ended up sampling the cupcakes and frosting. It seems like every birthday party is filled with sugar, which is part of what makes a birthday party so fun.  However, I was thinking today about how I could have done better.
1) Eat a good breakfast
2) Serve more healthy treats including fruits,(fruit skewers) veggies and air popped popcorn.
3) Serve water instead of sugary drinks.
4) Grab a 1/8 of a teaspoon for sampling things like cake or frosting.
5)Put candy in the gift bags but not out in the open...(otherwise I will be eating it too.)
6) Skip the pinata..I love pinatas but more candy means more chances for me to snack while filling it.

Here were some other good ideas for filling treat bags from eatright.org


1)94% fat-free microwave popcorn bags
2)Single serving bags of corn nuts
3)Sugar-free gum
4)Fruit cups in their own juice or unsweetened applesauce
5)Tangerines
6)Single serving boxes of lightly sweetened whole-grain cereal
7)100% fruit leathers

Additionally, you can put non-edible things like books etc.

We were successful with 50% of those things... We'll try harder on the next birthday!  What are your favorite healthy birthday treats.

Motivation Monday-- Final Week

Hello Ladies! This is our last week of 10inSix. Let's finish up strong!

May I introduce you to Icebreaker clothing.
Icebreaker is washable, wearable merino wool.  Many of my workout clothes trap odor. Icebreaker doesn't! It absolutely doesn't smell when sweaty.  I've had friends tell me that they wore it for weeks before washing it. (Great for the days when there is no clean laundry.)Icebreaker is a little spendy but comparable to other brands like Lulu Lemon or Lucy. They have everything from bras and undies to jackets and dresses.

You can find them online or at the Woodburn outlet stores.

What are your favorite workout brands?


P.S.  I stumbled upon a fun website Ellie a few weeks ago that will send you high end workout clothes (a top and a bottom) monthly for 49.95.  I love this idea-- a personal shopper for workout clothes.  I'll have to join this right after I start my subscription to Stichfix and get my personal hair stylist and makeup artist.

Fitness Friday-- Angie

photo via 

What did you do for Fitness Friday? Jon and I did a cross-fit workout called "Angie".
100 Push ups
100 Sit ups
100 Squats
100 Pull ups
Do it for time.  It can take you 15 minutes if you are amazing or an hour if you take a lot of breaks. Doesn't matter, Just keep going until you finish.

 It's a little late tonight but there's lots of time to try Angie tomorrow!  Hope you had a great Friday.  ( Click the photo link for other good cross-fit workouts)

Whatcha eating Wednesday?

Your turn! What did you eat today?  What is your favorite healthy food as of late?  I saw something good on Pinterest tonight from He and she eat clean that you might like.  So simple too!
Ingredients:

1 large banana

2 tsp honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Slice banana into 1/4-1/2" slices

2. Combine honey & cinnamon into small bowl (if necessary, heat honey in microwave until it is liquid enough to spread over bananas)

2. Spray pan using an olive oil mister

3. Once pan is warm, add banana slices

4. Cook on one side until browned (1-1 1/2 minutes) then flip over & cook (1-1 1/2 minutes)

5. Add honey & cinnamon mixture over banana slices

6. Flip bananas back over one more time for a few seconds & then serve.  Makes 2 servings.

Macros (per serving):

Calories: 95

Protein: 1 g

Carbs: 22 g

Fat: 0 g

Sugar: 14 g

Motivation Monday- Music

Hello 10insix gals.  Did you remember to weigh in today?

When you exercise do you "have" to have music to work out to or do you prefer to be alone with your thoughts?
Here's some reasons from the diet Channel for listening to tunes while exercising. (copied word for word)

1.   Listening to music promotes dissociation

When totally absorbed in music, your focus changes from what your body is experiencing to the external sounds you’re hearing. This situation leads you into a state in which you ignore negative feelings of fatigue and focus on the pleasurable feelings you get from following the rhythm of the music.

2.   Music acts as a performance aid

Whether you need to step things up or cool down, music can help you achieve both. Energizing, fast music can inject you with vigor. Slow, mellow music can lead to a state of deep relaxation. Depending on your goals and what you need most, you can use music to achieve it.

3.   The rhythm of the music can enhance your movement flow

If you select the ideal tempo of music for the exercises you’re doing, you can actually heighten the flow of your exercises. When strength training, chose songs with a BPM (beats per minute) of about 120 to keep your speed on track. When running, chose a higher BPM to match your cadence and keep a comfortable pace. When you’re in sync with the music, exercise seems smoother and more motivating.

4.   Choice of music is important for increasing muscle strength

If your goal is improving strength, don’t listen to relaxing music while pumping iron. Studies suggest that you’ll have bigger strength gains if you exercise in a silent atmosphere than if you exercise while listening to softer tunes. In fact, slow music can actually decrease muscular ability.

5.   Listening to music you like helps with motivation

This goes right to the core of every workout—motivation. If you hear music you like, you’re more likely to return and do it again. Listening to songs that you enjoy increases exercise adherence, thus leading to fitness gains over time.

What is your favorite music to work out to?
Here's a fun list of 30 songs from lifehack:

30. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
29. Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
28. Jump by Van Halen
27 It's My Life by Bon Jovi
26 International Love by Pitbull feat
25 When the Going Gets Tough by Billy Ocean
24 We will Rock You by Queen
23 Firework by Katy Perry
22 Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
21 I Believe I can Fly by R Kelly
20 Good Life by One Republic
19 Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves
18 Thunderstruck by AC/DC
17 Enter Sandman by Metallica
16 Bang a Drum by Bon Jovi
15 Get up Stand up by Bob Marley
14 Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder
13 We are the Champions by Queen
12 I Will Survive Gloria Gaynor
11 Iron Man by Black Sabbath
10 Livin on a Prayer by Bon Jovi
09 Gonna Fly Now (Rocky Sound Track) by Bill Conti
08 Proud by Heather Small
07 Where the Streets Have No Name by U2
06 Never Surrender by Corey Hart
05 Beautiful Life by Ace of Base
04 I Feel Good by James Brown
03 Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
02 Lose Yourself  by eminem
01 It's a Beautiful Day by U2

Want more?  Here's a Pinterest board all about workout music. Have fun!

PS (If you go to the lifehack link above you can watch the videos for the 30 workout songs)

Fitness Friday-- Weight weight--dont' tell me!

I get it...finding time to exercise can be nearly impossible some days.  Encouraging you to get to the gym and lift weights sound entirely insane.  It feels that way to me most days too.  I'm standing there lifting my 12 pound weight and He-man next to me is doing the same exercsise with a 100 pound dumbell.

Here's a few reasons to lift weights:

1. Muscle is a powerhouse.  Muscle uses a lot of calories.  The more muscle you have, the more calories and fat you will be burning.
2. Strong muscles are a necessity for everyday activities.  The stronger your muscles are the less you risk getting injured from scrubbing the floor or bending over to pick up a child.
3. You will look amazing.  Don't worry that you are going to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are four things you need to look like Arnold: A) 4 hours a day to lift B) Heavy Heavy weights C) Genetic predisposition for huge muscles D) STEROIDS.  I'm guessing you probably are missing at least three of those items so there shouldn't be any concerns about getting "huge".

Here's how to get started:
1) You don't need a gym.  If you are intimidated by the hulks at the gym or you don't have a membership, you can buy some dumbbells or fill up some milk jugs with sand. Most gyms have a women's only area.  The only problem with these areas is that they don't always have mirrors.  Although it seems entirely narcissistic to watch yourself lifting weights, it is good practice to see your form when lifting so that you do not get hurt.

2)Pick a body part or group of muscles you want to work.  For example, you could do something like:

• Monday: Legs and glutes
• Wednesday: Back and Shoulders
• Friday: Arms and abs  or Here

or you could work the whole body everyday. See Here

3) Lift weights three times a week. You can do it daily if you want but it's not necessary.

4) Find a good program to follow.  In the beginning, it's nice to use programs for ideas.  Once you are more experienced you can make up your own.  Use the links above or try Laura Bailey, Felicia Romero or Linsay Miller's programs.  There are many others to choose from if you put "weight lifting" in your search engine.

5) If free weights (the ones that don't have cables) intimidate you, try using the cable weight systems.  You can simply move from station to station and try them all out.

6) Keep track of how much weight you are using and try to add a little more each week.

7) Have fun! Put on your head phones and listen to your favorite music or bring a friend along.  I'd love to meet you at the gym.  We could wear socks like these!