Keeping Things Interesting For Your Body

I believe that I have a bit of a reputation .. I never say ‘no’ when people ask me to sub classes for them. I do it for a few reasons ..

1. I handle excessive free time poorly. I will admit it. I am lazy in my spare time and I like to munch. While I need to learn to manage my down time in the meanwhile I never say no to the chance to eliminate a bit of it.

Never Turning Down a Chance to Sub a Class!2. For instructors it always feels good when people ask you to sub. At the gyms I teach at it is usually a compliment. When I find subs I will ask only those people that I know will give the class as good of a workout in my absence.

3. It’s always good to throw a wrench into your ‘typical’ fitness regimen. It keeps the body guessing a bit more often. Guessing leads to changing and adjusting. That usually leads to good stuff!

Number 3 is what we’ll talk about.

Most people who have exercise as part of their lifestyle tend to find what they love, and they stick with it. We get comfortable and we tend to not only stick to those workouts but we also develop a pattern with exercising.

What happens? The body learns the patterns, knows what to expect, and may stop responding as much as we’d like it to.

How can we avoid this? Throw some wrenches in the mix. Maybe add a new workout in there, do things out of order (or in reverse), change the intensity and focus. Find a way to throw your workout out of what you expect it to be. Then, do it again.

Make those changes start happening for you once again because, after all, that is what we work so hard for!

Happy day and thanks for reading!

I have tons of playlists on Spotify, by BPMs, by moves (i.e. seated flats, standing climbs, etc). Feel free to follow me as I am constantly adding to my playlists šŸ™‚

Christina

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How is that Water Challenge Treating Me?

So .. as I discussed in a previous post I am taking a 30 day water challenge. You may ask .. how is it going?

The first couple of days were miserable .. at one point I wanted to move my laptop into the bathroom to save myself the walking. The bonus in this? I easily hit my daily quota in steps walking back and forth again, and again, and again, and …

Taking a 30 Day Water ChallengeThings I’ve Learned …

  • Don’t drink massive amounts of water before you are going to be in a situation where you cannot go to the bathroom. Thankfully I ‘thought’ about this and tapered before I had to teach classes at the gym. That would have been miserable!
  • When you drink water more consistently that ice water really keeps your body temperature lower. I switched to luke warm water pretty quick
  • After a couple of days I started to drink it more consistently on my own (I was having an app buzz me every hour to drink water) .. it definitely feels both that my body needs it and wants it

Things I’ve Noticed …

  • For some reason my system feels cleaner, head to toe. I really don’t know how to explain it but I feel like I’m flushing myself out constantly.
  • I’m not as hungry as often as I thought I was … that is in part because we sometimes mix up signals of hunger and thirst and well, I’m definitely never thirsty! šŸ™‚
  • My skin feels better .. I noticed today that some of my dark circles seem a bit better (and it’s not because I’m getting enough sleep at night because that is one of my issues..)
  • I am more alert during the work day, which is great because right now my job is slooooow

Are they related? I don’t know but they are different, and positive.

I’ll post another update on this soon but I’m pretty sure that 30 days will end up being a permanent change!

Happy day and thanks for reading!

I have tons of playlists on Spotify, by BPMs, by moves (i.e. seated flats, standing climbs, etc). Feel free to follow me as I am constantly adding to my playlists šŸ™‚

Christina

Feel free to follow me on social media!

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This is Good For Our Health – Taking a 30 Day Water Challenge

At times, I am fantastic at drinking water. If you count the water in my coffee then most days I’m great. Other days I really don’t drink enough. Part of it is that whole out of sight, out of mind aspect.

Taking the 30 Day Water Challenge
Water bottle in hand, ready to take this 30 day water challenge!

So .. I have decided to take a 30 day water challenge. That sounds easy, right? You would think so! For the next 30 days I’m going to make it a point to drink at least my quota of water .. and let’s see how life is when I’m done.

How much water? Well, I was doing a bit of research and there really is no straight answer .. so I’m going to go based on what the Mayo Clinic has posted

For females they recommend 74.4 ounces, and they say …

  • Short exercise sessions (but where you still sweat) increases that number byĀ 1.5 to 2.5 cups (or 12 to 20 ounces). If it lasts longer than an hour (this is me a few times a week) it requires moreĀ (although they don’t specify how much).
  • During the extended exercise sessions they advise to drinkĀ sports drinks containing sodiumĀ toĀ help replenish theĀ sodium lost.
  • They also advise to continue drinking after exercising (<< — this isĀ never a problem!)

Ok .. so I’m going to wrap my brain around this for a minute .. but I’m doing this! Let’s see what happens and feel free to join me if you are up for it!

Why drink more water?

  • It helps your complexion .. I know this because on consecutive days where I don’t drink enough water my complexion goes South. If for no other reason I’m doing this for my skin šŸ™‚
  • Cravings controlĀ .. did you know that sometimes when we think we are hungry our body is actually just thirsty? Yep .. I used to think it was just because I was looking for an excuse to eat
  • It could give you that energy you need .. one of many signs of dehydration is becoming tired. This could cure that
  • It keeps your muscles hydrated .. when we sweat during workouts we are losing water from our muscles so definitely make sure you drink just enough to stay ahead of the extreme muscle fatigue
  • It keeps your internal systems moving along .. our body is made up of 60% water .. drinking keeps everything internally moving ahead

I’m sure there are a bunch of reasons but instead of looking them up I’m just going to find out for myself! See you on the other side šŸ™‚

Thanks for reading!

I have tons of playlists on Spotify, by BPMs, by moves (i.e. seated flats, standing climbs, etc). Feel free to follow me as I am constantly adding to my playlists šŸ™‚

Christina

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Instagram

Follow Me on Spotify

 

Mealenders – could be the cure-all to that second helping! (with a Giveaway!)

I have a *crazy* appetite .. I will openly admit that. If there were no calories I would make a career out of eating.

I work out quite a bit while teaching group fitness classes and so it is quite often that I struggle with keeping my never-ending stomach in check..

MealendersThis is where Mealenders come into play. I was given 4 packs of Mealenders to try through my affiliation with Fit ApproachĀ / Sweat Pink ..Ā and I amĀ impressed!

Let’s talk about how they work first:

Coming from their website … MealEnders consist of two components: a sweet, outer reward layer and a cooling/tingling inner core. The outer layer provides a measured dose of ā€œdessert,” Mealenders in Citrususually associated with the end of a meal. The inner core engages the trigeminal nerve (the nerve that senses ā€œtasteā€ sensations in the mouth) with long-lasting cooling/tingling sensations to cue the end of eating and clear the palate.

By keeping your mouth and mind occupied for up to 20 minutes (the Overeating Zone—when you are full, but often continue to eat because your brain has not yet received the ā€œfullnessā€ signal), MealEnders naturally transition you away from the desire to overindulge, giving your body’s natural satiety process time to catch up and let you know your full.

How were they for me, you ask?

MealendersI tried the mocha flavor first. They have a chocolate / mocha exterior that is nice and sweet. After that they have a hard interior.

Of course, the goal of this is to savor them, and not *chomp* and swallow them, like I like to do. Yes, there is a reason for this šŸ™‚

The lozenge lasts a while. I’m guessing it could have lasted the 20 minutes that it takes for my stomach to tell me that, yes, I really am full.

Following the chocolatey coating the interior was slightly tingling. It was interesting enough that I really thought it distracted me from my mental urge to eat everything in site. Next thing you know I had stopped obsessing over food and was
back to human again šŸ™‚

For me, they are fantastic! I have to have something sweet after I eat (thanks Dad for the sweet tooth!) and this cured me of my urge to eat a third and fifth helping! I have tried all 4 flavors and am SOLD on these Mealenders!!

I highly recommend checking them out! You can read more about them on their website, which also explains the more technical aspects to these sweet craving curers!

Mealenders - so many flavor options!GIVEAWAY TIME!!Ā 

One lucky reader will win their own set of 4 packs of Mealenders! If you are interested in winning, there are quite a few ways to enter! Follow the link below to enter the giveaway! There are lots of ways to enter and I promise they are worth it!

Mealenders Giveaway

Good luck and I hope you LOVE them as much as I do!

Thanks for reading!

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