After a month of dedicating time to working out and eating healthy meals, I am feeling good and motivated. I want to keep the momentum going. Hopefully it has become part of your daily routine. The workout challenge for March will be to follow the Tone It Up workout schedule but taking it to the next step by doing any of the following:
- Switch it up one or two days a week with a longer or more intense work out. We recently purchased the P90X3 workouts, so I will do one of those twice a week. You can find lots of good workouts on Youtube if you want to switch it up some days.
- Doing an extra set (some of the videos have just 2 sets, so rewind and do a 3rd...or 4th)
- Spend an extra 5, 10, 15 minutes doing whatever cardio or toning you like. I sometimes put on the latest Tone It Up YouTube video and workout till the end of that.
- Run stairs, do squats while holding your child (Ashton loves that)...or just any extra exercise you can get in while you go about the day. Ashton now thinks counting and doing squats is the appropriate thing to do while waiting for the microwave to beep.
Follow your own healthy meal plan or use mine. This is my personal meal plan so it's a mix of my favourites and ones I've been wanting to try. So...there's a chance that some of the test recipes will be flops. I am compiling all of my favourites so that I can eventually share with you a few months of delicious, simple meals.
Organize and Simplify
Do something that will makes you happy and give you energy. For me (and my type-A/OCD personality) that is organizing. I find I have more energy and eat healthier when my home is organized. I occassionally get into a funk; I am tired and unmotivated and I just want to eat carbs or sweets. Doing little projects like organizing and decluttering or decorating actually helps to keep me on track. Just make sure to complete it to get that serotonin boost.
I plan to tackle one project each week:
- Closet - Keep only what you regularly wear in the closet. Items I still want but don't wear often will go to spare room closet, others I will sell or donate. Necklace storage.
- Office area- organize, file papers, declutter.
- Pantry - refill jars/containers, declutter, organize crafts
- Basement storage room - sort, organize, declutter
Extra Challenge:
Sit down now and plan some fun things you would like to do each month. Here are a few things we are planning to do regularly:
- Kid-Free Night - Get a babysitter once a month so my husband and I can have time together to go for supper, see a movie, see a comedian, etc.
- Family Movie Night - New animated movie, (healthy) snacks or appetizers, and no computers/cell phones.
- Activities with Ashton - Plan a few activities, outings or crafts to do with Ashton.
- Daddy/Daughter Date - This is something we recently started doing. Jason and Ashton go out for supper together. I enjoy it just as much as they do because I don't have to cook (I either pick up sushi or eat leftovers) and I get time to myself.