Fit Approach #NoExcuses 2015 Challenge for Elle

Today I’m sharing my #NoExcuses for 2015 as part of the Fitapproach Challenge. Check out this Mad Lib that I filled out!
 
 



Hey 2015, it’s me Elle.

This year I would like to have more fun with my fitness actitivities and food plans… to enjoy it all more and not get so wrapped up in taking it all too seriously.

It would also be super-duper awesome if I also did the camel pose this year. It’s not a resolution, though, just a reminder to myself to try and have the best year yet because I want to be more flexible.

The thing I am looking forward to most this year is travelling with The Captain.

I’ll use the one thing that truly gets me out of bed in the morning which is my amazing husband to help me get up, get caffeinated and get after my #NoExcuses 2015.

Speaking of excuses (ahem), my very favorite excuse is my part time job as well as writing two blogs and I have used it to get out of doing the dishes and cleaning the bathroom on more than many occasions.

I vow to move my body and be more healthy this year even if it means I have to get up earlier.

Even if my alarm clock gets eaten by the dog in the middle of the night, I’ll still wake up naturally, bright and chipper and refreshed.  

I will stop blaming him for drinking the rest of the red wine when everyone knows it was really me.

My tight quads are not the reason I make excuses. I will show my quads who’s boss this year and get my flexibility on.

I know that stretching is better than not working out at all.

I will reward myself by getting in some road time and visiting some neighboring towns.

No Excuses 2015 has just begun and already I am imagining myself a winner. I can’t wait to rock a hoodie from Augusta Active. I can’t wait till my sweaty friends are jealous of how fresh, clean and shiny  I am between workouts with help from ShowerPill body wipes. I can see myself rocking camel pose in new Tie One On Leggings from Actio926 and looking fit and fly while doing it. And of course, I’ll be taking my workouts to the next level and improving my posture with my new ActivMotion Bar to help me train for my next  5km race withSasquatch Racing.

Oh, and let’s not forget how amazing my tank top will smell in my / during my yoga class after washing with some WIN Detergent. And lastly, I’ll keep rocking my 2015 with clean eats and nutrition from Beaming with Health!

Tag, Tweet, shout-out, call, text, fax or email 3 friends to take this survey and share how they will have a #NoExcuses 2015. Remind your friends to simply fill in the underlined parts!


Three friends:

Christy at My Dirt Road Anthem

Marcia at Marcia's Healthy Slice

Sara at Words to Run By


And a big thank you to Anna at Piper's Run for tagging me!  You can read her #NoExcuses 2015 Challenge post HERE.

Sunday Run Day

We had a great week of workouts. There were 3 strength training sessions, some yoga, and lots of walking.  I am still using the Gigabody online workout video service.  I had planned to run on Saturday afternoon but it just didn’t happen.

However, I couldn’t let the weekend go by without logging at least a short run, so instead of our usual lazy Sunday morning routine, we had breakfast, waited a short while, and then headed out.  I was dying to try out my new Tiux compression socks.  It was a bit cool this morning, only about 6°C and gloomy, and the ground is wet from last night’s rain so it was not very inviting…  but at least the wind wasn’t blowing and I knew there would be lots of dogs in the park.  That is always a bonus for me.

I put on way too much gear… capris over my compression socks… a Tommie Copper tank, then a Tommie Copper long sleeved shirt, then a New Balance long sleeved shirt and then a running room jacket… a headband, some gloves and my running shoes.  Wow!  Half way through I ditched the headband and the gloves and tied the jacket around my waist… I always wear too much clothing but I hate being cold!

It was a fun 5 km run around the park and along the Strait today… lots of big dogs playing in the wet grass and lots of other runners out too. I saw one young woman in shorts and a tank top.  Yikes!  I am always suprised by how people can expose their bare arms and shoulders in these lower temperatures.

After we came in, we drank some DRIP DROP, had a good stretch and then I made us some protein shakes and we shared a banana.  Oh yeah.  I mixed my chocolate Vega One with some hot cofee and when I shook it, it sort of exploded and sprayed all over the kitchen counter and the wall!  Was it the heat from the coffee?  That has never happened to me before.  Nice mess to clean up.

But now I can enjoy the rest of  my Sunday morning in the typical manner… being lazy and planning the rest of the week.

What are you up to today?

Do you start out cool weather runs in too much clothing too?

Fun in ‘15… Waffle Egg-ffle

When we moved onto the sailboat in 2001, I gave up most of my small kitchen appliances, keeping only a small hand mixer on board... either giving away or leaving for the new owners, all of the other electric gadgets except the pasta maker.  It went into a box, along with some prized personal keepsakes that friends stored for us in their garage.

Now, all these years later, and after becoming landlubbers again a couple of years ago, I now have acquired a very few more electric appliances… a coffee maker, a crock pot, a new hand mixer, a kettle, a food processor, a can opener (don’t get me started!)… only things that we reallly need to function on a day in day out basis.

But, I have sorta been wanting a waffle iron… I miss waffles and even though I do not eat gluten, I have been thinking about trying to come up with some gluten free waffle options.  But I just couldn't justify getting one… and then, about a week or so ago, I ran across a Facebook post by Larissa Archer Dixon, blogger at Zero To Twenty Six Point Two, about making omelets in her waffle iron.  She called them egg-ffles, I think.  I followed that thread and was quite intrigued.

Actually, that conversation pushed my off the fence.  After several days of searching and looking at reviews online, I found a very inexpensive waffle iron at Great Canadian Superstore… it is their house brand and only cost $12.  I picked it up immediately.  For $12 if it was horrible or didn’t work, I could affort to ditch it, right?

And I decided to try the omelets for dinner that night.  I couldn't find that original Facebook thread so I put out a call for help on Facebook to Larissa who answered me right way. I think she may have been a bit amused by all the fuss… but she told me how to prep my eggs and make the egg-fles and so we had omelets with chopped ham for dinner on Wednesday night.  Awesome!

And then again for breakfast this morning… this time with chopped onions and mushrooms.

I know I still need to play with this all a bit to make them picture-worthy… but I couldn’t wait to share.  They are delicious and make eating eggs a bit more fun again…. I am all about FUN this year. 

So, thank you , Larissa for giving me the inspiration I needed to get me a waffle iron, and now I need to start experimenting with some ingredients to make some gluten free waffles… Hmmm… protein powder… sweet potatoes… PB2…??

If you have any ideas, I am open to suggestions!

Are you a waffle fan?

Do you use social media to ask for help and advice, too?

Ah, Reflections and Plans

l really love Sundays. 

Sunday is my favorite day of the week.  It always starts out slow and relaxed… jammies and coffee and email and puzzles.  The Captain reads his papers.  We chat idly and comment on people and pooches walking past our windows.

Then, after a leisurely breakfast,  I look back at the previous week to think about how it went… what I liked, what I didn’t, and what I might have done differently... even what I might want to do again. This is a relatively new exercise for me as I have always had a tendency to just discard the past and look forward, but I have come to realize that I actually can learn from past actions and decisions if I let myself.

I started out the New Year last Sunday with with some some definite goals.  I planned to track my eats on my Weight Watchers mobile app, and to follow an exercise/workout schedule that I mapped out, using some videos from an online service I am trying out called Gigabody.  And I am happy to report that I followed through on both.

Sunday:

• 4 km run followed by a guided stretch thanks to Fitknitchick (check it out for yourself, it’s about 8 minutes and hits the main parts!)

Monday:

• full body strength workout

Tuesday:

• after dinner brisk 35 minute walk

Wednesday:

• lower body workout followed by a brisk 35 minute walk

Thursday:

• 5 km run followed by a 5 minute stretch

Friday:

• upper body workout followed by 20 minutes of yoga/stretching

Saturday:

• brisk 45 minute walk

All in all a pretty good week to start the New Year!

A couple of pictures to share:

I put on my brightest gear to head out on New Year’s Day for our 5 km run.  Bright pink socks and capris and blue running shoes and tee.  It was my way of celebrating because I was happy to be runnning 5 km… it had been many months since I ran that far.

Our first dinner of the New Year was a seafood feast.  We cooked lobster tails and prawns, and I made a crab dip as well. I do so miss all of the fresh crab we used to catch almost daily when we lived on the sailboat.  Mmmmm.

Now I am going to to move on to making plans for the upcoming week.  I need to juggle my work schedule with our social calendar and then pencil in workouts and runs. And check the weather report too!

And I am also excited for Laura’s 21 Day January Reset Challenge, which officially starts tomorrow… but for me it starts today.  Sunday, of course!  I am quite excited to to take part in this new challenge and join in the FB group that Laura as set up as well.  I like the accountability of the group and know this 'detox' will be good for me.

Time to get  moving…

What went well for you last week?

What are you excited about this coming week?

And The First One is in the Books

We actually slept in a bit on New Year’s Day and then enjoyed a leisurely morning lingering over breakfast and coffee.  There was a definite nip in the air with some ice on the surface of the lake in the park across the street. This happens so seldom I had to snap a picture.

At about 11 a.m. we decided it was time to get moving and put on our running gear to head out for our first 5km run of the year.  Actually, it was our first 5 km run in several months. All of our runs over the past many months have been between 3.35 km and 4 km… easy loops around the park and along the waterfront .  But I wanted to log my run for the 5 by the 5th challenge because it is supposed to be a rainy week here and I am not enthused at all about the prospect of running in the rain.

Little update here... Laura just reminded me that 5 by the 5th is not starting till February!  Oh well....

So, I donned my brightest running gear… pink Tommie Copper capris, pink Pro Compression socks, my blue Mizuno kicks and a blue Tommie Copper shirt… drank some DRIP DROP, and then I added several layers on top, along with gloves and a head band, before setting out.  I am such a wimp when it comes to being cold… it is hard for me to recall what it felt like running outside in the snow and well-below freezing temps where we used to live in the interior.

I made sure to run at a snail’s pace – I wanted this 5km to feel really easy so I would be encouraged to do more of them, and to start lengthening the distance again soon.  And it was easy… it took 38 minutes and 15 seconds to complete.  Hey, it can only get better from here!  And stopping to pet a Newfoundlander pup along the way may have added a few seconds, too.

We came in and stripped off our sweaty gear before having several glasses of water and doing a good long stretch.  The first run of the year is done.  YAY!

How did you start the New Year?

Have you entered the 5 by the 5th challenge this year?