I'll be honest. I don't like vegetables. I have NEVER likes vegetables. Growing up, the only vegetables you could get me to eat were carrots, celery, potatoes and iceberg lettuce.
No corn.
No broccoli.
No tomatoes.
No cauliflower.
No squash.
No zucinni.
No peas.
No green beans.
No peppers.
No Joke.
I have branched out a little as I've gotten older, but I emphasize the word LITTLE. I will now eat cucumbers, but I had to force myself to eat them every day for a really long time before I actually started liking them. I will eat corn, tomatoes and peppers now, but they have to be cut up really small and mixed in with a lot of other things so I don't feel the texture. I love salad, so I have branched out to romaine and spinach instead of iceberg. I know... it is a little ridiculous. I don't enjoy being this picky with vegetables. I WISH I could love veggies because I know how good they are for me. However, regardless of my age, I still literally gag when I try to eat certain types.
Now, this might be an issue for you and it might not be. However, it is very possible that you have children that react to vegetable an awful lot like I do. I am hoping that my children don't inherit my distaste for healthy greens, but I am sure that at some point I am going to have to be very creative to help them eat healthy vegetables to get the proper nourishment and nutrition that they need. So between my own distaste for veggies and the distaste that my children might likely have for them in the future, I figured we'd start working out fun ways to sneak vegetables into a meal without compromising taste. Here is our newest successful attempt! We threw some spinach into the blender with a little water and poured it into our waffle batter. It was delicious and we got a full 1-2 servings of spinach each. You could barely taste it and it felt so great knowing that I was getting some of my vegetable servings for the day. We will definitely do this again. On St. Patrick's Day it will be a MUST. While this is just one example, there are endless other ways you could sneak veggies in. The key is cutting them up very small so little children don't recognize them. One of our favorite meals is Lettuce Wraps. I LOVE them. When we were at my sister-in-laws house, she made them only she added in some squash cut up really tiny. Remember how I don't like squash? Well, I had no idea there was squash in her recipe and I ate them up with vigor. So will your kids. Just think sneaky. Good luck!
Every feel like this is the only exercise you can fit into your day?
Our To Do list can sometimes seem dauntingly long. With all of the expectations and responsibilities we have to fulfill each day, how are we supposed to find the time to exercise and take care of ourselves? Even when we feel extra motivated and dedicated, it can STILL be hard to dedicate an hour or so to physical activity. Luckily T25 is here! T25 is a new workout program put out by Beachbody. It is led by Shaun T (the same guy who leads Insanity). The glorious thing about this workout is that it is only 25 minutes every day. 25 minutes! That is less than or equivilant to the time it takes to watch one TV sitcom. Anyone can find 25 minutes in their day in order to keep themselves healthy and fit.
I have been using T25 for the last three weeks and I absolutely love it. I can even exercise when my daughter is awake (rather than trying to fit it in during her nap time) because even she can be entertained for 25 minutes. She will sit in her bouncer and watch mom move up and down doing all kinds of crazy things in her workout. Last month, Focus T25 came out for the first time and Beachbody had it on a special introductory price for the month of July. Well, it has been so successful, they decided to keep the promotion through the month of August. That means you can buy the challenge pack which offers the Focus T25 program plus a month supply of Shakeology for only $180, instead of the usual $205. You save over $90 when buying the challenge pack compared to if you were to buy each item individually.
To watch a video showing a peek into the program, click below.
To purchase the T25 challenge pack at the great discounted price click here.
Due to the lovely shade of my hair, I had many nicknames growing up. Some more desirable than others... Scarlet Scalp. Pretty cool.
Red. I liked it.
Carrot Top. Seriously? How original.
However, the one that was always my favorite.... FIRE!
When walking down the hall of my high school, I'd often hear the comment... "Look! She's on fire!" or people would hold their hands over my head and say "Oooohhh, so HOT!" My birthday gifts even reflected my well-known nickname as you can see from the photo of my 15th birthday. Anything with the word FIRE in it was sent my way. While I am sure the nickname was meant to tease, I secretly loved it.
The word fire can be used to reference or describe so many different things. Think of the many catch phrases, idioms and song lyrics that use the word fire...
** We didn't start the fire
** If you play with fire, your bound to get burned
** Baptism by fire
** Goodness Gracious! Great balls of fire
** Set the world on fire
** Fired up
** Fire away
** In the line of fire However, for the purposes of this blog, we want to think of fire as motivation. Visualize a fire being lit underneath you that will literally Fire you Forward to your health and fitness goals. We are here to help. Sometimes one just needs a little motivation and accountability to get started and truly find success.
We must remember, as Stephen R. Covey says, "Motivation is a fire within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly." We have the ability to help light that fire under you, but you are the only one that can take that fire and keep it burning. Scott and I want to help motivate that fire within. Everyone wants to be fit and in good shape. Life is easier and better when we feel good about ourselves. We hope that we can help you Fire Forward to finding success in your health and fitness goals.
