mnbc Archives - My Life: A Work in Progress

Week 3 Recap of Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge

22 February, 2014 6 Comments

It’s over already! The Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge, hosted by Lorna Jane, has definitely helped this month fly by. The theme of week three is BELIEVE in yourself. I think that’s often sooner said than done. The challenges this week helped me focus on the positive things in my life and remember that I AM BLESSED.

Week Three Challenges:

Monday- Spoil Yourself! – Do something just for you today! Take a walk, go to yoga, spoil yourself!

Well, I thought about taking a bubble bath, but I realized the best way to spoil myself would be to take a nap! So instead of cleaning, blogging, etc., while Baby J was napping, I took one too! It was awesome!

Tuesday- 5 Mindful Minutes – Do good to your body, meditate for 5 minutes and find your zen.

During my walk/jog/run at the park, I was able to enjoy the beautiful day around me and pray.

Wednesday- Be Happy – Show us your happy place!

Although coffee does make me super happy, what makes me happiest is my little boy. Because we were still having nice weather, I was able to get my bicycle and his bike seat out- the first time all winter! We had so much fun together.

Thursday- Thankful Thursday – Let us know what you are thankful for!

This was an easy one. I’m thankful for my family, my good healthy, and God’s endearing love.

Friday- Share the love – S/O to your #1 supporter/motivator!

My friend Nicole at The Fresh Kitchen definitely deserves an honorable mention here! She was the one who got me out there and pushed me to start running again…and motivates me to workout most of the time.

But I did give my MNBC shout-out to my Hubby. He supports me in so many ways. I love him. =D Oh, and the photo I posted of him for the challenge is super old, just a couple of months after Baby J was born. I was going through my phone, and I didn’t have any recent pictures of J on there, and since he’s in a different state for training, snapping a new one isn’t an option.

Here are my photos for this week’s challenge. I posted one each day on Instagram and Twitter. The photos start at the top left and move clockwise.

Did you participate in the Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge? What’s your happy place? Who’s your number one supporter?

fitness

Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge- Week 2 (NOURISH) Recap

15 February, 2014 13 Comments

Week two of Lorna Jane and Sweat Pink’s “Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge” is already complete! I really can’t believe how quickly time has gone by.

During the first week, participants focused on “Move,” with a variety of physical challenges. This week our Nourish challenges were:

Monday– Go Meatless. Try vegetarian or vegan meals.
Tuesday– Take Your Lunch to Work Today. Choose a recipe from movenourishbelieve.com to inspire your packed lunch.
Wednesday– Write it Down. Keep a food journal today.
Thursday– Smoothie Day. Make a healthy smoothie.
Friday– Go Raw Today. Choose a recipe from Movenourishbelieve.com and go raw.

Here’s my photo recap of the week:

Meatless Monday was actually really easy for me. I don’t eat a lot of meat, for both health and budget reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s plenty of nutritional benefits from lean meats and fish, but it’s easy for me to go overboard. We had quinoa burgers, potato/veggie stir fry, lentils, yogurt, and fruit.

As a Stay-At-Home-Mom, every day is a take your lunch to work day. Coincidentally, it was another meatless meal on Tuesday! We had mini veggie pizzas.

Wednesday I just filled out MyFitnessPal is usual. Again, that was part of my normal routine. Easy peasy!

On Thursday I made a delicious, healthy smoothie for Baby J and I as an after-dinner treat. I used plain Greek yogurt, honey, frozen berries, bananas, whole milk, and natural peanut butter. Packed full of nutrition and filling.

Friday wrapped up the week with raw foods. I had plenty of fresh carrots, celery, chick peas, arugula, almonds, peanuts, apples, and cucumbers to go around. Fiber’s always a good thing, right? 🙂

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter for more photos of the challenge! And feel free to visit my latest Fitness Friday post. Every week I link up with other bloggers to share and motivate each other on our fitness and/or weight loss journeys. If you’re a blogger, you’re welcome to link up with us. If not a blogger, please feel free to share your goals and successes in the comments section of each Fitness Friday post.

Have a happy weekend!

fitness

Fitness Friday: 2/14/14

14 February, 2014 18 Comments

It’s Fitness Friday! I’m not even sure I want to link up with my usual groups this week, because it was kind of a FAIL. I’ve been eating too much junk, and I also went almost all week without working out. I probably gained some fat back! It’s probably because I had a great stats update last Friday. When I’ve made good progress, I sometimes slack off for a bit. It doesn’t make sense, but that’s what I do. I had excuses all week for not running outside (too cold, too wet). And my reasons for not going to the base gym? Timing never worked out/bad traffic/etc. Lots of excuses.

I did do some crunches here in there, and I did a light cardio DVD for about 20 minutes a couple days ago.

There’s a little good news too. When I lifted weights yesterday, I was able to do more reps and heavier weights than previous weeks! This mama’s getting some muscles! Just imagine how much progress I’d make if I’m ever actually consistent!

Today was the first day I ran all week, so I pushed myself. It was TOUGH! Today was the warmest day all week (upper 40s), but the wind was biting and strong. I put 10.24 miles in, but that was walk/jog intervals. After the first 2 miles I realized that I could walk against the wind almost as fast as I was jogging, and without being nearly so exhausted. There was a stretch…probably a mile long…where the wind either wasn’t blowing strong, or it was helping push me and the jogging stroller forward, so I ended up jogging that stretch every lap and walking the really windy areas.

My average pace was 12:32, and you can see my splits below. It really wasn’t bad at all! I’m not sure why mile 3 was so slow. I did fumble around with my phone a bit, looking for the pause button Run Keeper, so perhaps that’s why. I had to pause to get my son his water bottle and snack. Maybe today’s run was enough motivation to kick me in the pants, so I’ll actually not be lazy next week!

Since I ran over 10 miles today, I did meet my Winter Miles Challenge for the week. I’m hoping to get a quick, easy 2 miles in tomorrow morning, and then take Sunday off. I’m also still doing well with Lorna Jane and Sweat Pink’s Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge. I’ll post a weekly recap tomorrow.

Did you participate in the Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge? What’s your happy place? Who’s your number one supporter?

How was your week? Any big plans for this weekend?