What's Working?

 First, I try and start my day with Shakeology.  Not because I always want to, but because it's what I have time for.  I've been using it for over 4 months and I haven't stopped yet.  It's good stuff with a good purpose.  It's quick and easy to throw in the blender or a shaker cup with some milk or coffee, add a little PB2 if I have time.  It starts my day off right, gives me energy, makes me feel full, curbs cravings and if I start my day off right, I tend to follow through better.  Why ruin lunch if I already have done good half the day?!

GOALS
I have them and I like having them.  If you don't have goals, what do you have to work towards?  What's going to make you the best you that you can be?  I have goals and I find it helps me to do things when I otherwise might not.  They keep me on track to having a better future.  They keep me working on me and focusing on what I want.  Every decision I make focuses on what do I want and how does this play into the big picture.

I make grocery lists and don't shop when I'm hungry.  Somehow I manage and my kids want things like apples.  I'd like to think I have something to do with that, but my kids make healthier food choices than I ever have.  They live for peanut butter on chocolate rice cakes topped with bananas.  Their snacks are things like apples and fruit snacks.  And, they have Halloween candy from last year!  We keep good food in the house and I always cut up veggies when I bring them home.  It makes healthy options convenient and an easier option than making cookies or brownies.

I also try and eat at home.  It's easier to make good food choices at home.  Eating out throws me off track every time, but I'm getting better at ordering a salad or something grilled, getting a half order and getting the veggies instead of fries or at least a baked potato.

WATER.  I drink it.  You should too.  Not tea, not soda, not juice, not beer, not wine, just plain, clear, healthy, clean WATER.

EXERCISE- It makes it happen.  It gets endorphins flowing and makes me feel good every time I do it!  Not only that, it helps burn fat, gain muscle and get rid of that handful of M&Ms I couldn't help but grab from the cabinet.

 Plank.  It works everything, everywhere, all at the same time.  It works the core, it works the legs, it works the arms and all those muscles you didn't really know you have.  Start planking.  I did.


Staying active.  It's not hard with a 18 month old, a 3 year old and a puppy.  But, I have my lazy days.  I just have to pull myself out of the chair I'm snuggling my kiddos in and get on my feet.  Once in motion, it's so much easier.  An added Turbo Fire workout here and there helps too.  And, I've been swimming laps and doing water aerobics while the local swimming pool is open.

Pushing Your Goals and Your Push Goal

I've said how much I admire Chalene Johnson before.  She's amazing.  She's been in over 150 fitness videos, is a fitness coach, an expert on fitness, a work/life balance expert, and she helps people change their lives from the ground up!   What's not to love?  Okay.  I get it, only in case of jealousy and envy can you actually hate her.  But, once you read her and work out with her, she'll change your life.  Check her out at http://www.chalenejohnson.com and get up to speed.   Read her book, Push.  You can thank me for suggesting it later.

Chalene raves about her smart phone and how it changed her life.  After reading Push, and breaking my phone, I finally joined the smartphone revolution and bought my first smartphone, the Motorola Electrify.  Was it worth it?  Yes.  Do I enjoy having everything in one place?  More than I could have imagined.  Has it enhanced my life? I'll go out on a limb and say yes.  But, it has helped me get a little more organized and stopped me from running around in circles looking for that grocery list I misplace and the to-do list that I forgot the last item on.

To have goals, you have to decide what's important to you.  What's the one thing you wish you could improve on?  What's the one area of your life you're unhappy with?  What thing about yourself would you change if you had the power or willpower to?  These questions and more can get you to your goals and help you set them.  Beyond setting goals, you have to have action steps to reach them.  Ok, so you want to lose 10 lbs, now how are you going to do that?  Workouts? Meal replacement? Increased activity level? Better Nutrition?  Only you can make those choices.  Now, after you have decided your goals, what's the one goal that would change your life the most?  What goal aligns with your happiness so much that it's the ultimate goal?  That's your push goal!  Ideas like these are exactly what Chalene talks about in Push.  She goes way beyond these simple, basics of smart phone use and goals.  But, it all goes along with streamlining your life into what's important to you and forgetting the rest!  It changes your life in more ways than you could dream.