Merry Christmas!

I was absolutely blessed on Christmas this year. First off I was feeling pretty horrible with a cold but if I was going to get sick I'd rather be sick while I'm at home all cozy at my parent's house.
My family has clearly been listening to all my fitness talk and goals because I was showered with Lululemon and Nike clothes so I can look super stylish while I'm getting my sweat on in 2014!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

12 Days of Fitness Day 6

Unfortunately I caught an awful cold that left me sniffling on the couch like one of those DayQuil and NyQuil commercials with Drew Brees. You know which ones I'm talking about, where he doesn't look sick at all after taking it. Ha! Don't I wish it worked as well as those commercials but I was down and out for 3 days, so hitting the gym was out of the question. On the plus side, I did get some excellent restorative sleep! So forgive me, there is no Day 5.

I don't know about you but when I'm sick all I want to eat is carbs, and all I want to do is sleep, an awful combo for someone trying to shed fat and sculpt a ripped, lean figure. On top of that it was Christmas so I ate all the usual no good for you Holiday goodies. But my favorite saying applies here: One day of poor eating won't make you fat, just like going to church one Sunday won't make you a Saint! So True!

Anyway, I woke up feeling like myself again this morning so it's time to pick up where I left off. I really wish I was back in SD at my usual gym today but I'm not and I don't have time to go find a different gym that will let me use the facilities without paying (yes, I'm cheap). Home workout it is!
So here's the workout for today to burn off the all the holiday deliciousness curtesy of instagram user fitness_food_motivation. If you aren't following them, you should they have great motivational pics, workouts and clean eating recipes.

And if you aren't following me on Insta, well you should! IG: itonlytakesasparkSD (and if you can name that song or tell me the rest of the verse I will donate 10% of your Advocare order to Make a Wish, just comment on any picture I post)

12 Days of Fitness Days 3 & 4

So I picked up a lovely little cold, probably in the airport and this bitter cold weather is not helping, but I've felt awful the last two days. :( I'm really sad but going to the gym and exerting any extra energy was just not happening. Plus I don't want to spread these germs to anyone else. (GROSS!)

It's still early in the evening on Day 4 though and I just got some cold medicine in my system so I'm hoping to do these short stretching and abs videos from Casey Ho's Blogilates. I really like her videos if you can't get to the gym but you have about 30+ minutes to get moving at home or say if you are traveling and staying in a hotel room. She also has some really cute clothes in her shop so you should check that out. ;)

http://www.blogilates.com/stretching/

http://www.blogilates.com/abs/

Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow and I'll be trying out a gym with a steam room and sauna to help get rid of whatever this bug is.

12 Days of Fitness Day 1 and Day 2

Day 1 - Eco Gym

Today I tried out this really cool gym in Naperville (my hometown) called Eco Gym. I dragged my mom along with me today for some mommy-daughter time. ;) 

I LOVE the concept of this gym! I wish it was in California, in fact if they franchise this gym I would totally invest. I'll attach a video below that explains how this gym works because it's pretty genius. They have machines that turn the kinetic energy we create working out into kilowatts to add that energy to their grid. (I'm no engineer so I can't explain it any further than that but I know it's pretty awesome!) On top of that the more you check into to and use this gym the less your monthly dues are! 40+ workouts a month and your dues could be less than $6 a month. How much do you wish that was true of your gym? Not only that this gym has hyerbaric chambers available for their members to use, which increases the red blood cell production in your body reducing recover time. 

So after the tour and talking with the gym for a while, completely in awe of this place, Mom and I jumped on these really cool treadmills (Eco mill) that are self powered and burn about 30% more calories than a regular motorized treadmill, then did some legs and hit the road. 

Day 2 - Back to Eco Gym

Today I went back to Eco Gym, I really really like this place! AND my mom is actually the one who asked to go back today :). So Hopefully I've got Mom hooked. 

We hit those super cool treadmills for a warm up and moved on to some back and shoulders. 

12 days of Fitness

I'm heading home tomorrow for the holidays and I'm worried about staying in the fitness routine I've got going here. So I've designed a Challenge for my self and I'm calling it "The 12 Days of Fitness" running from Dec 20 - Dec 31. I'm going to workout all 12 days (not all will be super intense workouts because your body does need a few days of rest) but I'm going to try several different gyms in the Naperville, IL area.

Not only am I doing this to keep up with my fitness goals and prime myself for the incredible body transformation I have planned for 2014 but I'm also hoping to drag my family along with me and maybe get them to jump in the bandwagon too. ;)

Now I know I missed the typical 12 day of Christmas countdown but that's fine because I need this to go through New Years as well. So Stay tuned for my updates and keep me accountable! 

The 24 Day Challenge - A Quick and Dirty Explanation

So one of my very good friends sent me a Facebook message saying "ok tell me about this Advocare stuff" so I tried to give her a quick and dirty explanation of the 24 day Challenge. I figure this explanation might be helpful to others as well. Here is what I told her (yes, I copy and pasted this response from Facebook):

So the 24 Day Challenge is made up of 2 phases. The easiest way to describe the challenge is a kickstart to a healthier lifestyle and weight loss goals. 

The first phase is a 10 day cleanse that will kind of reset your body and prepare it to absorb all the nutrition that comes in the second phase. (Don't be scared by the term cleanse, it's not the type that will send you running to the potty all day long). This phase is going to get rid of the toxins in your body and restore the good bacteria in your tummy. You'll cut out processed foods (dairy, white bread, refined sugar, alcohol, etc.) and eat clean during these 10 days.  But it all pays off, the average weight loss is about 5-10 pounds! 

The second phase is the Max phase which is really going to pump your body full of nutrition. This phase is 14 days. You will continue to eat pretty clean but can enjoy alcohol, coffee and dairy in moderation now (notice the order I put those in, clearly says something about me :)).  Again, you see weight loss/inches lost here and muscle gain. (Not body builder muscle but muscle to help support a healthy metabolism).During the whole challenge you are eating real food with the exception of a meal replacement shake for breakfast in the second phase. This is one of the reasons I prefer Advocare to other programs because you need to know what foods to choose after the challenge to continue on to more weight loss and maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

So there you go, that's my quick and dirty explanation of the 24 Day Challenge. I will gladly answer any questions you may have if you leave them in the comments or email me. And keep and eye out for my group challenge competitions!