Fitness Friday: Yoga with Adriene #YogaRevolution

It is 2017 and I truly want to lose weight and keep fit.  Even though you can't see it, it doesn't mean fat is not there and I have felt a bit overweight for years.  With Fitness Friday I hope to keep exploring and traveling on my health and wellness journey as I find it is not getting easier the older I get.  

My "sister" from London was telling me about her daily routine and it included daily YouTube yoga practice.  I would have never though about doing yoga at home but with the cold weather it is a great idea to still be able to practice in the comfort and warmth of your own home.    

So I got my mat out and saw that Yoga with Adriene had a 30 Day Revolution Challenge in January.  It's a 31 day journey of daily yoga practice.  Even though January had already started, I loved the idea of a challenge and figured it is better to start late than never.  

So the yoga revolution began.  I loved her #YogaRevolution Day 1 practice so much that I did Day 1 & 2 in the same day.  One in the morning and one in the evening.  WOW!  Yoga is back in my life!  I felt calm and at peace after each yoga session.  I've already shouted on Twitter, told my friends, and am practicing everyday.  The best part about YouTube Yoga with Adriene is that it is free and easily accessible.  

Let's see if this can become a daily habit of yoga practice everyday.  After all itis the #yogarevolution.  It is great for yogis of all levels.  The sessions are around 30 minutes each so it is easy to squeeze in the yoga practice but in reality one I felt how it made me feel, I wanted to keep doing more.  Instead of watching TV, I calm my mind with the #yogarevolution and Yoga with Adriene.  Ease into Day 1.  

Fitness Friday - 30 Day Squat Challenge

As a part of National Blog Posting Month in November, I am blogging everyday.

#NaBloPoMo Day 4 - 30 Day Squat Challenge

  

Fitness Friday is fantastic alliteration and November is also the month where my work place decided to get fit before the holidays and participate in the 30 Day Squat Challenge.  

What is the 30 Day Squat Challenge?  There are many different versions and initially I was told we started with 30 squats and it would go up to 175 squats a day!  Say WHAT?!  I knew I couldn't do that.  I'm still a good sport and went along promoting the squat challenge and looking forward to taking part in it.  Luckily my words were heard and they found the 30 Day Squat Challenge that is beginner friendly.  Day 1 started with only 15 squats.  Thanks goodness!

It is Fitness Magazine's 30 Day Squat Challenge that has different squats to tighten and tone your tush.  Find out the details here:  http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/butt/exercises/30-day-squat-challenge/

Now after day 1 of the squat challenge I realized that I am out of shape.  After day 2 I realized this is more different than it looks and almost fell on top of my colleague.  And after day 3, I have the words of encouragement and technique ringing in my ears.  

"Push your butt out, Sit down, Knees are too forward, Don't fall, Don't curve your back, Don't fall.  Weight in your heels.  Getting better.  3 more.  Now the other side.  Not bad.  Yay, I'm done!"

All of this has spurring this blog post because a year ago I was going to hot yoga and then tried a gym membership and then life which stopped it all.  I know that after all of this, I need work, and I need more activity and fitness in my life.  

But I don't want to spend a lot of money.  So I'll continue with the 30 Day Squat Challenge no matter how difficult it is.  It can make me sweat which is a good thing.  Hopefully at the end of the 30 Days I'll have fitness goals and workouts to keep me going.  I'll continue with my exploration of fitness with #FitnessFriday in November.  Come back to read the about the fitness journey!

Smoothie Sunday - 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge

This has been one hot summer!  So smoothies are a great way to cool down so I jumped on the bandwagon when I discovered the 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge.  I signed up and have been getting my daily emails with smoothie recipes and tips.  I'm practicing now before the live 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge that begins in October.  

At first I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make green smoothies since I don't have a fancy expensive Vitamix or Blendtec blenders.  However, the recipes are super simple and easy to follow.  The key is to mix the spinach with water first before adding the other smoothie ingredients.  

I have a Magic Bullet and even though it does has its downfalls (sometimes I have chunks if I don't blend long enough), overall it can still make green smoothies.  Here's the first green smoothie that I made.  Not perfect but good to trial with what was in my fridge.  I didn't have any bananas but adding 1/2 banana would be a nice addition to this green smoothie.  The smoothie was a success as I have plans to make more green smoothies!  Such an easy way to eat your green vegetables.  

1 cup spinach + 1 cup water (blend first)
1/2 cup frozen pineapple, 1/2 chopped fresh peach

  

April Challenge - YYoga 30 Day April Challenge #atozchallenge

Hello Vancity Girlfriends,

This is the year of health and fitness and I have fallen in love with YYoga again because of their holiday special.  Last year I bought a 10 class pass for $110 and the downfall is that YYoga is a little bit of a commute.  But I have tried to make it worthwhile.  I procrastinated until its expiry date of March 31st but through that time discovered Warm Yin Yoga, YRide, and Pilates Fusion.  

What is the April Challenge?  

In April YYoga is having a 30 Day Challenge where you can pay $135 for a one month pass and try to go to YYoga everyday for the entire month of April.  When you go to a class you get entered for prizes and this is a wonderful way to stay fit, motivated, and mindful.  I wish I lived across the street from a YYoga studio.  

If I did I would do it!  I'm sure it would be transformative.  One day....

YYoga Website:  http://www.yyoga.ca/


Or find a way to do your own Active April Challenge and find time for fitness, and health into your life.  It might be going to the gym or yoga studio, walking or running with a friend, stretching at home or meditating everyday.  It's good to mix it up to motivate yourself a bit more.  I know I would get bored of doing the same thing everyday.  

It's just a way to bring a bit of fitness into your life for 30 days and after that who knows, it just might end up becoming a healthy habit.

I'm joining the Blogging from A to Z for the first time this year in 2016.  

Fitness Friday: Super Sister 30 Day January Challenge

Hello Vancity Girlfriends,

It's Fitness Friday and I wanted to let you know about a 30 Day Fitness Challenge that I'll be trying out with the Super Sister Fitness.  They have YouTube daily workouts.  I first tried to do a 30 Day Fitness Challenge with Super Sisters in October for their Lean Halloween Challenge.  My friend asked me to try it out with her so I did and we motivated each other to do the daily workouts.  Truth be told, I only lasted 4 days.  I know that's pretty sad.  

So when I saw that they had a January 30 Day Fitness Challenge, I was up for the challenge.  Come on, my goal last time was 4 days so that shouldn't be too hard to beat.  Plus all of their workouts and challenges are free.  There's a calendar for the January Challenge that you can print out and follow along.  Then everyday they will email you the workout.  Of course you can join the other Super Sister Fitness participants on the Facebook group for the January Challenge.  

Yesterday was New Year's Day and they were nice to us!  All I had to do was watch a Form Video on how to do some of the exercises properly like squats and the plank.  Today is the big day where we have to do our first workout routine.  The workouts are short with doing each exercise for 1 minute and then changing to the next exercise for 1 minute and so on.  The total workout time can be completed in 20-30 minutes with running shoes and a mat at home.  

Come back again next week on Fitness Friday for an update on my 30 Day Fitness Challenge.  Thanks for reading!

Super Sister Fitness Webiste:  http://supersisterfitness.com/