Christmas in December

Of course, Christmas is always in December, however, for some reason my friend just said this out of the blue and it made me chuckle. (I have a strange and simple sense of humor...). 

Christmas in December was a lovely chance for two of my friends and I to get together and have a dinner party sleepover... (You're never too old for sleepovers). 

We had a fairly healthy dinner compared to the traditional turkey, gravy, and potatoes spread I'm sure a lot of you will be having this winter. Our dinner was light, and refreshing. Of course, we had to throw in a little bit of indulgence... ;)

Menu

Cranberry Hazelnut Baked Brie 

Citrusy Herbed Baked Salmon

Steamed Broccolini

Fresh Spinach Salad

Baked Butternut Squash

Olives

Dana's famous Buns

Berry Cheesecake

A 'Healthy' Christmas in December

Stunning Berry Cheesecake

The highly recommended Piat d'or Merlot... must buy 1.5L. 

Run - 3.5 km

YAY!!! Second day I've made it to they gym at 6am!

It was a much better run than yesterday. I didn't do any floor exercises but I did spend 5 minutes walking at a 'brisk' pace.

I ran at 6.5 today as well. Slowly getting up to 7.0. I took a 1 minute walk break at 10 minutes (which is a surprisingly refreshing break.)

If you are new to running I would highly recommend the 10:1 run-walk ratio. The running room recommends this 'pace' for a lot of their training programs. However, I prefer to do a 9:1 ratio. Using a 9:1 ratio means that every time you reach a number that ends in '9' you walk, and '0' you start running again.

Run - 2.5km

First morning run of December!!

A friend and I are attempting a two week, morning exercise commitment. Basically we both want to work out in the morning, but we hardly ever do it. Most days, it makes no sense to peel ourselves out of a perfectly comfortable bed, therefore sleeping in beats going to the gym 9/10 times.

However, in an effort to end the year on a good note, we will be attempting to exercise in the morning. (Or at least for two weeks, before I leave on Vacation).

Her and I live over an hour apart so we will be supporting each other by being an additional alarm clock. We call each other each morning, and we cant' hang up until the other is dressed and ready to go to the gym.

Day 1 = success.

As for the run... I only got in 2.5km. My body felt stiff, and I was hungry. However, I was so proud of myself because I was actually at the gym at 6am.

I have been consistently running at 6.0 mph, which used to be a struggle for me. I am now feeling quite confident at this speed, so I'm thinking I'll bump it up to 6.5 mph by mid week. My tri goal pace is 7.0 mph for 10km. :)

I also did some body weight/floor exercises this morning which was a great wake me up (tomorrow I think I'll start with these). The gym I go to is great! They provide sample workouts posted on a bulletin so gym-goers don't have to think about 'what to do next'.

Basic Total Body Warmup:

50 squats w 15 lbs 

40 bicycle situps

30 push ups

Broken down into 3 sets

Are you SURE you want to be Healthier!!

I get it... you want to be healthier. But why? Are you just saying that because it sounds nice? Because it's expected? Actually 'being healthy' may be more difficult than you think. Especially if you're not very healthy to start with.

Changing a behaviour can be incredibly difficult. Desire to change is in abundant supply, but the reality of change is that it is hard. Research around behaviour change consistently shows the 80-20 rule to be true: that is, 20% of people show up ready to change and the remaining 80% are not ready to take action (Behaviour Change Institute). Think about a time in your life when you've wanted to just change one thing.. how did that go? Chances are you were part of the 80% that wasn't quite ready to make the change.

#iwish

In order to set yourself up for success, I recommend setting a very specific goal. Instead of just saying, "I want to be healthier." try shaping it as "I want to eat vegetables at every meal" or "I will go to the gym everyday". Setting goals such as the ones I've suggested, give you more direction and help in adapting your goals if something's not working.

Some things to consider in your attempt to "Be Healthier":

1. You will go to the gym when you'd rather do ANYTHING else. 
2. When someone offers you that extra sugary and buttery dessert, you'll say "no". 
3. You will keep going to the gym even though you don't think anything is changing. 
4. When you're out with friends and they order the extra big nachos with extra delicious cheese, you will keep telling yourself that 'you don't want any'. 
5. After a long day of work and you're cuddling up on the couch you'll want nothing more than popcorn and some treats. Instead, you'll just have water. 
6. When the weather is less than ideal, you'll put on your runners, layer up and go for a run anyways. 
7. You will be sore a lot of the time and spend way more time stretching than you ever thought possible. 
8. At times you will think you're hungry... but in reality you're just bored of plain broccoli. (spice things up a bit.)
9. When shopping for groceries, you will avoid certain aisles. The power of the snack aisle can be overwhelming. 
10. You will own more water bottles than you need.

2015 New Years Resolution: Be Healthy

Yay!!!  You want to be healthier this year! Congratulations! You deserve it!

First things first... Are you SURE you want to be Healthier?

Second things second...

The 30 day 'Body Loves Health'  Fitness and Food Challenge

How it works:

Because there is already soooo many 'challenges' online I will not be creating a new one. Chances are if you're looking at this post you already know how to 'google' anything.

Body Loves Health will help you to successfully complete this 30 day challenge. For those of you with copious amounts of will-power and drive to complete a 30 day challenge without some assistance... good for you! The majority of us will not stick to a 30 day challenge and before we know it, we're right back to where we started after only doing the 'challenge' for 2 or 3 days.

How to successfully complete a 30 day challenge:

1. Pick a challenge
2. Make a Schedule
3. Identify your Barriers
4. Have a Back up Plan

1. Pick a challenge
1. This may or may not be something that you enjoy doing. Perhaps you're wanting to 'learn to love burpees', or maybe you want to 'be a runner', even though you don't enjoy even 1 minute of running. Remember that, as humans, we are programmed to take the path of least resistance. In this case, the path of least resistance is sitting on the couch, ordering take out, being comfortable. So by changing your habits, you are asking your body to go against what we are programmed to do.... hang in there, keep a long term goal in mind, and constantly try to overcome your human nature of taking the path of least resistance. 
2. Make a schedule
1. Ensure this is as specific as possible. I would shy away from generalizing a schedule that sounds like "every morning", or "before I go to bed". Get out your schedule for the next month and determine when you will make the time for your challenge, every day. Don't underestimate the power of special events, birthday parties, dinners out, to take over your "challenge" priority. 
3. Identify your barriers
1. This closely aligns with making a schedule. If you know 3/30 days are going to be crazy busy while doing your 30 day challenge, prepare for this. Schedule this day ahead of time to determine when you will make time complete your challenge. You may have to sacrifice some things, but remember... you're doing this for your health. If you know, seeing the 'golden arches' every day on your drive home will make you crave fatty food, then take a different way home. If you need to eat a sugar treat every time you turn on the Food Network, don't watch the Food Network. Instead of sitting on the couch as soon as you get home, go and change into your work out clothes. You may not get to work out right away... but at least having the clothes on is one less barrier to completing your challenge. 
4. Have a back up plan
1. Life is not as perfect as you want it to be. Even if you want to clear your entire schedule for 30 days just so you can finish this challenge, something may come up that won't let you do that. All things in life are temporary, and you never know what's going to change and when it's going to change. If you happen to miss a day of the 30 day challenge, don't let it ruin your intent to finish the challenge. At the end of the 30 days, would you rather have quit after missing Day 16 of the challenge or say you completed 29/30 days in a 30 day Challenge. Keep going, and figure out what will work best for you if 'life' happens to get in the way of this precious '30 day challenge'. 

Other tips to help have a successful 30 day Challenge

1. Write on your bathroom mirror in dry erase marker. If you're willing to sacrifice a clear mirror for one month at the cost of your health, keep a dry erase marker in your makeup kit. Use the mirror as a tracking tool, a motivator, or a goal reminder. Write whatever you want on the mirror, just make sure it acts as a constant reminder of your desire to finish a 30 day challenge. (you could also write on your fridge, microwave, CAR (if you're feeling so brave), glass coffee table, TV(you may want to test this out first), basically any smooth shiny surface is great for dry erase markers)
2. Set alerts in your phone. For instance if you're doing a 30 day water challenge, set a timer to go off every 20 mins that says, 'Drink Water'. 
3. Tell people that you're doing a 30 day challenge... some people may not be supportive, but more than likely they will be supportive, ask you about it later, and possibly even join in! 
4. Remember that you're not doing this challenge because you hate your body and you want to change it... do it because you love what your body is capable of, and because of what you want your future body to be like. 
5. Control your environment. If you want to take your vitamins or floss your teeth for 30 days, keep floss and vitamins EVERYWHERE that you'll be. Keep running shoes or a spare change of clothes in your car, and NEVER miss a workout because you can't find a hair tie... (I've actually used this excuse before). 

Run - 4.3km

Second run in a hotel today. This one went much better. I had the whole place to myself.
I cranked up the TV and ran alongside some Duck Dynasty adventures.

Near the end of my run a guy came in and started running at what looked like a fairly leisurely pace... however, when I sneakily glanced over he was running at 12mph!! Meanwhile there I was prancing along at an easy 6mph. Somewhat discouraging and motivating....