10-Day Holiday Healthy Lifestyle Challenge

Happy Holidays Fitness Friends,
The holidays are here again and I know we all get caught up in shopping, movies, parties, eating, and um, not exercising. Don't fret, taking a little time off from your usual exercise routine or healthy eating isn't going to sabotage all your hard work from the rest rest of the year. However, I know some of you would feel better if you had something to challenge you through the holidays. I was going to make this just a workout challenge, but, this is  a crazy time of the year, so I want us to be mindful of all aspects of our life and do something good for ourselves for the next 10 days. This challenge will start Saturday December 23 and go through to January 1.
Here is how this challenge will work: You will be given one exercise, one nutrition tip and one self care exercise to complete each day. Every day you will combine the previous day with the current day so that by the end of 10 days, you will have 10 exercises, 10 nutrition tips and 10 self care exercises.
I will give you all of them now.  Please post comments below or on the Facebook posts on how your challenge is going.  Ready? Let's Go!.

Day 1
Exercise: Walk somewhere/anywhere for 15-20 min
Nutrition: Drink a glass of water
Self Care: Take 5 mindful deep breaths in and release slowly because you are probably somewhere where you need to slow down and breathe (it's two days before Christmas after all)

Day 2
Exercise: Take the stairs or do some step ups at least 5 min, and add that walk
Nutrition: Eat a piece of fruit, you can add it to the glass of water
Self Care: Roll your shoulders back 3-4 times, forward 2-3 times and back again 3-4 times and add your 5 deep breathes

You see how this is working by adding to each day?

Day 3 Oh boy, it's Christmas!
Exercise: Squats probably from picking up all that wrapping paper from the floor. 30-40 total, break it down however you like
Nutrition: Eat slowly
Self Care: Take 5 minutes and  find a quiet corner and pause, let your mind and thoughts be quiet

Day 4
Exercise: Jog in place for 3 min. You are either at work or maybe standing in line returning stuff
Nutrition: Eat breakfast
Self Care: Stand up or lie down and stretch from the tips of your fingers all the way through your toes

Day 5 Halfway there!
Exercise: Biceps curls 30-40 total. Let's face it, we need to be able lift our Champagne glass in a few days, let's do it with strength
Nutrition: Drink only one cup of coffee or other caffeinated beverage
Self Care: Stay positive

Day 6
Exercise: Triceps dips from a chair, bench on the floor because let's face it we don't want the biceps to steal the show
Nutrition: Skip the salt
Self Care: Spend 30 minutes writing your thoughts down in a journal

Day 7
Exercise: 10-15 minutes of movement, jump rope, dance, run, whatever, just move!
Nutrition: Drink a second glass of water
Self Care: Get enough sleep

Day 8
Exercise: Lunges, your choice 30-40 total
Nutrition: Eat a serving of vegetables, remember those?
Self Care: Laugh

Day 9 Last Day of the Year!
Exercise: Front/lateral raises 30-40 total
Nutrition: Sip your beverages
Self Care: Forward fold stretch and a nice roll back up one vertebrae at a time

Day 10 Happy New Year!
Exercise: Yes, we are starting the new year with an ab exercise, you choose sit ups, plank, ab twist
Nutrition: Make a healthy meal plan for the new year
Self Care: Set your intention for the new year

Congratulations! You made it through the 10-day challenge and by now you should feel better, be less stressed and have a healthy plan for the coming year! 

Wishing you all the best this holiday season!

Yours in fitness,
Lori

Are you a superhero?

Wonder Woman, Thor, Justice League, the Avengers, we are living in a world where we are drawn to these movies, because, yes the action and CGI are amazing, but in uncertain times, we deep down wish that these superheros really existed in our universe. That these beings with special powers who want to save mankind could swoop in and make everything alright with our world. But what is a hero, what do all of them have in common?

A hero is defined as:

he·ro
ˈhirō/
noun

1. a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.

So based on that definition of a hero, one does not have to be able to fly, shoot lasers from your eyes or webs from your hands, or have super gigantic muscles and smash things.
Let's take a look at who some of these figures actually are. Superman and Supergirl are from another planet, Thor comes from another universe from the Gods. Wonder Woman, Black Panther and Aquaman are of this planet, but also have connections with the Gods. Spiderman was bitten by an irradiated spider, giving him special abilities and The Hulk was caught in a gamma radiation blast that makes him a green smashing machine when angry. Batman and Ironman are both ridiculously wealthy humans with no special superhuman powers except that they have the resources and knowledge to create with technology superhuman suits and gadgets. These commonalities run throughout the superhero universe. They are from other planets or universes, they were created by the Gods or connected to the Gods, they had some kind of accident that gave them abilities or they were created here by the use of knowledge and technology. These things make them special, but what makes them a hero? As the image states above, they all want to use what they have for the greater good and it all starts with a kind heart. Those qualities make a superhero a hero. 

Are you a Superhero? What qualities or abilities do you have that you can use to make the world a better place one small or big piece at a time? What do you do everyday that makes someones else's day just a little brighter? Do you smile at everyone you meet, do you lend a helping hand or let someone know they can count on you, do you make a donation to an organization that is doing good work, or call your politicians when you think they need to vote a certain way? You don't need a cape or mask or super abilities to be someones hero. A superhero shirt might help, just kidding. You don't need to be wealthy in the monetary sense. You just need the desire to use who you already are to work for the greater good using kindness.

List one thing below in the comments section that makes you a superhero. I look forward to seeing what everyone is doing to make this world a better place in their own special way!

Now, if you do want to add the hulking muscles or ability to run, swim, or smash like a hero, then let's get down to business with the following workout:

3 Sets 12-15 Reps for each exercise, use your desired weight

3-5 min warmup (rowing/running)

1.   Side to side wide squat

2.   Squat with Arnold hold into a press

3.   Chop lunge

4.   Reverse lunge-hammer curl-front kick

5.   Mountain climbers

6.   Deadlifts

7.   Bear crawls

8.   Single arm row-triceps kickback

9.   Pushups

10. Regular crunch

11. Reverse crunch

12. Plank 30 sec each

3-5 min cool down

Be a Superhero today!

Yours in Fitness,

Lori