Help on the 12 Acts of Fitness Challenge

There's been a few questions about some of the exercises for the challenge, so here are some answers: 

First, I want to make sure it's clear that you can do the challenges in ANY order.  You don't have to worry about counting down or up.  Just do as many as you can by New Year's Day.  And keep track so I can award your points!

Here's a link that shows how to do my favorite neck stretch and the doorway stretch:  http://taylorgoldensneaker.blogspot.com/2011/11/im-thankful-for-novembers-challenge.html

Here is a yoga tree pose:

Remember, you can modify by placing your foot on your ankle or waaaaay up on your thigh.

Here are some of the squat varieties:

The classic ball squat.  You can hold weights too.

The sumo squat is just a body squat but with a wider stance and toes slightly pointed out.

The plie squat has a very wide stance and your body stays more upright.  You can add a heel raise for more challenge.

The chair squat just gives you a target to make sure you squat nice and low.  Plus it gives you the security of knowing something will catch your fall if your legs give out!  Raising arms is optional.

The sissy squat is more advanced and can be a bit awkward at first.  But it's a great challenge for the quads.  Make sure you have something you can hold on to for balance.

My favorite way to do single-leg squats is with the ball because I'm not ususally strong enough to do it unsupported!

Here is a reminder for the crunch.

For this challenge, hold the "crunched" position for a count of 5 before lowering, then repeat. You can also lift your feet off the ground and/or hold some weight (medicine ball) between your knees.  You can do these in bed!

Those are the exercises I've received questions on so far.  Sorry it took me a bit to respond, but let me know if you need any others clarified.  I'll reply as soon as I can!

Healthy Recipes

Now more than ever I need to make healthy recipes for me and my family.  I have the hardest time resisting all the holiday goodies.  My game plan at this time of year is to focus on eating healthy during the day so that I can indulge a little at night. 

I have tried some new healthy recipes the past few months that I wanted to share with everyone.  First, we have enjoyed using our Blendtec for smoothies, but we have a new favorite recipe.  Whole Wheat Pancakes!!!  Madison asks for these all the time. Unfortunately I don’t know how to adapt these pancakes to making them without the Blendtec; I am guessing that you just use whole wheat flour (I am just not sure how much).

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 ½ C low-fat milk

1 C wheat berries

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 lg eggs

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp kosher salt

These pancakes take me minutes to make and they are cheap and easy!

The next recipe also is made in my blender.  Everyone loves spinach and artichoke dip, right? Well, I have a recipe for a lighter version of the delicious dip.  It is a perfect party dip.  Bryant even requested that I make it for his homecoming lunch. 

Creamy Spinach Dip

2 tsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

4 C spinach, lightly packed

½ tsp crushed red pepper

1 C low-fat cottage cheese

4 oz Neufchatel cheese

¼ C Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in sauté pan and add garlic, spinach, and red pepper flakes.  Cook until spinach is wilted and set aside.  Add cottage cheese and Neufchatel cheese to jar and secure lid.  Blend just before smooth.  Add Parmesan cheese and sautéed ingredients to jar and secure lid.  Blend until ingredients are incorporated; do not over-blend.

The last recipe I want to share is one I found on skinnytaste.com.  It is called spinach lasagna roll-ups. It was a good recipe, but Dave and I decided that in order to make it really good we need to use a really good marinara sauce.  These are a great way to eat pasta because they are perfectly portioned.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

9 lasagna noodles, cooked

10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained

15 oz fat free ricotta cheese

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

Salt and fresh pepper

32 oz tomato sauce

9 Tbsp part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine spinach, ricotta, parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottle of a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles.  Make sure noodles are dry.  Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle.  Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish.  Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese.  Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until cheese melts.  Makes 9 rolls.

Well, those are the recipes I have tried recently.  Even though we are almost done with our goals for 2012 I am going to continue trying new healthy recipes.  When I find something delicious I will send the recipes your way.

I love you all and hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!

The Twelve Acts of Fitness

On the first day of Christmas my trainer gave to me... a really awesome fitness challenge!

See how many of these 12 acts of fitness you can perform by the New Year.  You get 1 point for each one you accomplish.  PLUS you get to double your points if you accomplish ALL TWELVE.  Yes, that’s right:  DOUBLE POINTS!!!  This is a good way to really rack up the points (and perhaps make up for your slacking on the previous challenges) during, this, the last Golden Sneaker challenge of 2012!!!

You can choose to do them all at once or spread them out until the end of the month.  Here's to a healthy, happy holiday season!

·         Spend 1 minute doing a yoga tree pose on each foot.  (Foot can be placed on thigh, calf or ankle – avoid placing on the knee)*

·         Do 2 minutes of stretching.  Must include a neck stretch and doorway chest stretch.*

·         Do 3 varieties of squats, 10 X ea.  Choose from the following:  body squats, ball squats, sumo squats, sissy squats,  jump squats, plié squats, chair squats, single-leg squats, or choose your own! *

·         Spend 4 minutes dancing to a song you love.

·         Eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies in a single day.

·         Do something active 6 days in a row.  This can include anything from an actual workout to standing and marching in place during the TV commercials.

·         Eat 7 shelled Brazil nuts; or 26 almonds; or a handful of shelled pistachios.  Find out what 1 serving of your favorite nut is and make it a regular snack… just don't over-do it.

·         Take 8 deep breaths before responding to someone who just really ticked you off.

·         Take no more than 9 bites of a particularly indulgent treat.  Depending on what it is, this could be quite a lot or not nearly enough!

·         Spend (at least) 10 minutes doing something that will make you feel like a kid again:  hula hooping, trampolining, playing hop scotch, jumping rope (But you MUST also do a chant. Y’know:  Cinderella, dressed in yellow went down stairs to kiss a fellow…), skipping to your Lou (or is it loo… I’ve always wondered).

·         Perform 11 crunches with a 5-second hold.  Too easy?  Do them with feet elevated and squeezing a medicine ball between your knees.*

·         Knock out 12 pushups (wall, kitchen counter, knee, standard).  Too easy?  Make them burpees instead.*

* email me, text me or leave a comment if you have any questions about the technique of any exercise.

 

Thanks Ashlee!!

So for the past few months I have been struggling with a foot problem that had been making it hard for me to exercise.  I would still exercise but I wasn't able to always give it my all and my arches would hurt.  I went to Walmart and bought some arch supports that really didn't help.  I was starting to think that eventually I would have to go to the doctor and pay lots of money until my AMAZING SISTER, Ashlee helped me figure out what was wrong with me.  After a very, very, excruciating leg massage, some instruction on how to strengthen my arches, and some really good arch supports I am doing soooo much better!

I just have to say that Ashlee is so nice to always be willing to help her poor family out with our many problems.  Almost every time we all get together at our Mom and Dad's house she pops someone's back into place or examines an injury.  She is so knowledgeable and we all owe her so much!!  Thanks Ashlee!!  I plan on paying you back somehow someday.

One other thing Ashlee told me I needed to do was get some new running shoes (mine were about 8 years old!!).  So we looked at our budget and I was able to buy a very beautiful new pair of New Balance shoes!  I was so excited and I can feel an amazing difference when I am exercising. Below is a picture:

Aren't they pretty?!

I am so happy to have happier feet and pretty shoes.  I feel like I keep running into little issues that are frustrating, but I am grateful that I have people that are helping me push through.

Thanks family!

Problem Solved!

Ok, sorry about complaining about my sugar dilemma last week. I guess I never realized how much sugar is in certain fruit. Well, I am no longer discouraged and I changed my smoothie recipe a little so it doesn't have quite as much sugar. I found fruit that has less sugar than the fruit I was using, I switched to using water instead of milk, and I add more greens. The smoothie isn't as sweet and creamy but Madison will still drink the smoothie and I feel better about my sugar consumption.

Also, I wanted to share a little tip. Maybe everyone already does this but I recently started focusing on always tightening my stomach muscles. I read this tip in an article that listed little things we can do to burn calories. Tightening your stomach muscles not only helps you burn calories but it improves your posture and can help with lower back pains. I feel like I haven't tightened my stomach muscles since before Madison was born so this is challenging for me right now.  Anyway, this tip is helping me so I decided to share with everyone else. 

Happy Friday everyone!

SUGAR problems!

So last week I got back from a trip to California; I wouldn't call it a vacation but my exercising and good food habits did take a vacation. I am not good at eating well and exercising at anyone else's house. Now that I am back I am slowly getting back to normal. I downloaded an app that tracks your calories to help me get back on track. This program tells you how many calories, sugars, fat, etc. you should eat.

This program tells me that I should eat no more than 31 grams of sugar each day. That seemed like a lot of sugar to me until I tracked my breakfast I ate this morning. As you know Dave and I bought a Blend tec and we enjoy green smoothies every morning. Well, I entered in the foods I put into my smoothie and the program said the smoothie has 18.6 grams of sugar per serving. I thought I was being a good girl by eating greens and fruit, but all that fruit is taking up over half of my sugar consumption for the day! 

So here is my question, should I stop drinking green smoothies or eating fruit? According to this program I will eat too much sugar everyday even without eating Halloween candy! This discovery dampened my spirits a little bit. Please tell me it is fine to eat fruit and that the program is wrong! I don't always understand nutrition. 

I hope everyone is doing well and that everyone is happy and healthy! Oh, and congratulations to Jerica on getting engaged! 

October Halloween Challenge

I challenge you to not buy any candy until the day you need it.  Too late?

Okay, if you've already bought your candy, don't open it until the moment you need to hand it out.  Too late again?

All right, all right - here's the REAL challenge:

By the way, good job to any of you who have accomplished either/both of the above challenges but assuming that most of us haven't been that disciplined, I'm focusing on improving the aftermath of the nutritional debacle known as Halloween:


Aww, makes me wonder
what little Madison will be
for Halloween!

Challenge:  Get rid of any Halloween candy you have left by the end of election day, November 6.  Give yourself/your kids a week to enjoy the spoils of All Hallows' Eve.... maybe even celebrate the outcome of the election (because Obama WILL be out... we hope, we hope, we hope) but come daybreak on November 7, the leftovers go promptly in the trash. 

So make sure you've eaten any of the good stuff you want, then throw it out and clean up your eating for a few weeks before the next round of holiday goodies!  I think we should enjoy our holidays, but we don't need to prolong the debauchery so that it becomes a two-and-a-half-month-long "chew-chew" ride on the (literal) gravy train.  (Can you believe I just made that up... I know - waaaaay clever).


So.... you get 1 point if you wave bye-bye to your left-over candy by November 7.

And don't forget to vote!

The First Great Commandment (of Unlaziness)

Of all the fantastic messages I managed to hear during this General Conference, Elder Holland's words really struck a chord within me.  I take this excerpt from his talk:

Elder
Jeffrey R. Holland

“’Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.’  Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back.

“To all within the sound of my voice, the voice of Christ comes ringing down through the halls of time, asking each one of us while there is time, ’Do you love me?’ And for every one of us, I answer with my honor and my soul, ‘Yea, Lord, we do love thee.’  And having set our ‘hand to the plough,’ we will never look back until this work is finished and love of God and neighbor rules the world.”

This resonated with me because to show God we love Him requires conscious effort from us in both our thoughts and actions.  It requires from us a lifetime of service to our fellow man.  It requires the discipline to overcome negative and complacent attitudes.  It requires us to overcome Lazy in spirituality, attitude and action!

Let's show God how much we love Him!

Did anyone else listen to conference?  You get a point if you did!!!

Overcome Spiritual Lazy(ness)

This man has probably never been lazy
a day in his life.

This is the first challenge in October; there will be another one coming.  This one is for this weekend and involves General Conference so I wanted to get it out there, pronto!

CHALLENGE:  Pay attention and select a principle/thought/teaching, etc. from any talks from this General Conference that you will incorporate more fully into your life to help you overcome spiritual laziness.

This challenge was inspired by a portion of Sister Carole M. Stephens' talk during the General Relief Society Broadcast where she talks about becoming more "spiritually awake" in order to fulfill our duties.  This concept really hit home with me as I realized how easily I can become lazy in my spiritual attitude and actions.  I really needed to hear her words:  "It isn’t enough to just be on the journey (of life); we must be awake to our duty and continue with faith as we draw upon the comforting, strengthening, enabling and healing power of the Atonement.”

Since this challenge will be hard to quantify and thereby reward points.... how 'bout this:  If you watch any part of General Conference, you get 1 point!!!  This should be a gimmee for everyone, right???

So, pay attention to the talks and I would love, love, love it if any of you emailed or posted about the principles that stood out to you this session.

Overcome... snoozing during conference!  (You thought I was gonna say Lazy, as usual, huh?)

Going for the Gold(en Sneaker)!

Well, our family didn't exactly go for the Gold.  But we did get a couple of medalists!  I am finally reporting in on the Olympic Challenge.  Congratulations to Erin for winning Silver medal status and Jenny for the Bronze!  I managed to also get a Bronze medal as well. 

But, don't forget:  the challenges always continue!  Just because I put a time limit on them for point-earning purpose doesn't mean you can't keep doing them!!!

I did find out from the survey that "Brilliant," was the favorite British phrase most of us picked up during the Olympics.  I just don't see "Bob's your uncle" ever catching on here in the States.

So... here's September's challenge:

Do something active 6 days a week so that Sunday is truly a day of rest.  Make yourself earn that day of rest!  "Something active" can mean several things:  a formal workout, an evening stroll, some yoga/stretching... even a quick set of 10 body squats and 10 kitchen counter push-ups. 

JUST DO SOMETHING ACTIVE EVERY SINGLE DAY, except Sunday.

Point Value:  4 points if you do the 2 weeks left in September; 2 points if you do this for 1 week.

This is an easy one even if you haven't been very active up to this point.

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START MAKING YOURSELF HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER... or earn "Not-So-Dumbbell Award" points!

Brilliant!!!

BlendTec!!

Dave and I bought a BlendTec last week and I am in love!!  It is a high power blender that can blend things to perfection!  We have green smoothies everyday.  It is a great way for me to feed Madison and Dave fruits and veggies.  I don't use a specific recipe but I love using spinach, strawberries, banana, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, milk, and vanilla yogurt.  I have never eaten so many fruits in one day.  I feel fantastic!

I can't wait to try new recipes.  You can make whole wheat waffles, soups, banana bread, etc.  Not only are  these recipes healthy, but they are super easy and fast.  I love my new blender!

Recipes!

I have made a lot of new recipes in the past two months, but I haven't been able to post them because Dave and I don't currently have the internet.  I always have to go to my mom's house to use their internet.  Well, I am just going to write one blog post dedicated to all these recipes I have tried.

First, I tried a new way of using zucchini.  My mom always has so many zucchini's that I get to reap some benefits.  I found this recipe on pinterest (of course) and it was a big hit!  It includes potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, yellow squash, and zucchini.  It was the perfect summer side dish!  Here is the recipe:

Summer Vegetables

1 Tbspolive oil

1 medium yellow onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 medium zucchini

1 mediumyellow squash

1 mediumpotato

1 mediumtomato

1 tspdried thyme

to taste salt & pepper

1 cup shredded Italian cheese

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about five minutes).

STEP 2: While the onion and garlic are sauteing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables.

STEP 3: Spray the inside of an 8x8 square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.

STEP 4: Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

The second recipe I made was a cajun chicken pasta.  It was a great healthy pasta dish.  I learned from this recipe that the best way to lighten up your pasta dishes is to add lots of veggies to it. If you like pasta and you like veggies, this recipe is for you!  Below is the list of ingredients, but if you would like step-by-step directions go to this link:

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces uncooked linguine (I used whole wheat penne)
• 1 pound chicken breast strips
• 1-2 tsp Cajun seasoning (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup fat free low sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp light cream cheese
• fresh cracked pepper
• 2 scallions, chopped
• salt to taste
• Olive Oil cooking spray

The the third recipe I made was these amazingly moist and delicious healthy pumpkin muffins. Dave and Madison eat these for a snack everyday.  These are perfect for a snack on the go or just at home. We LOVE these muffins I found on family.com.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin, or line with paper.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, oil , eggs and sugar until well blended.

In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Add to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each about 2/3 full. Sprinkle a few more chips on top of the muffins.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick, inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack.

The last recipe I made recently was these baked oatmeal bars.  I thought they were great, but Dave didn't love them.  I plan to try and tweak these so they become a family favorite.  I love the idea of baked oatmeal so I plan to find a recipe that we all love.  Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Squares

Ingredients (9 squares)

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 large mashed banana
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Instructions

• Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon.
• Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.
• Then add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.
• Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
• Cut into squares and enjoy!

I found all these recipes on pinterest.  If you don't have a pinterest account, it is a great way to find healthy recipes.  I hope everyone is doing great; I have felt very motivated by this competition.  The more healthy things I am doing the more I have the desire to be even more healthy. Thanks Aunt Sharon for keeping me accountable!  Go Taylor's!

Jumping for Fitness

Flat Stanley has been enjoying his visit immensely! He is literally jumping for joy fitness during his trampoline workout!

The Power of Steel

I must admit I had high expectations when I purchased an industrial-sized package of steel cut oats at Costco. I was going to have a healthy breakfast every morning that was going to energize me and get me through the day. Well . . . I can't even tell you how long the package stayed in the cupboard before I actually got around to opening it. (hint: a loooong time!) But now that I have I'm a FAN!! I LOVE this stuff. It isn't mushy like oatmeal and tastes absolutely delish. Here is how I prepare it:

1 cup of steel cut oats
3 cups water

In the evening, bring to boil on the stove. As soon as it boils, take it off the burner and put a lid on it. Leave it there overnight and when you get up in the morning, just dish some up and put it in the microwave for about a minute, until hot.

Now for the fun part: What to put on top . . . you can sweeten it with sugar, brown sugar, honey, yogurt, maple syrup, agave then add fruit, fresh or dried, nuts, cinnamon . . . anything you can think to make it yummy.

Super simple and absolutely doable . . . and on the road to healthier eating.

Black Bean Burgers

*I did test this out during the Olympics and am now finally getting around to posting it.  Any of you who have tried out their recipe for the Olympic Challenge can still post it and get the points for it.  But you gotta act now!

I am on a quest to find the ultimate black bean/veggie pattie.  I've tried a few lately and I'd say that this is my favorite so far.

I think they key is to not expect a traditional "hamburger" taste.  If you can thusly adjust your burger mentality, veggie and/or bean burgers are a yummy, healthy way to get a protein/vegetable-packed meatless meal.  And the girls really liked them!

Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

• 3 medium carrots, grated
• Half a medium onion, finely chopped (I grated mine since I was already grating the carrots)
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup kale
• 1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I used ground unfrosted mini wheats - those with wheat/gluten issues maybe could try crushing rice chex???)
• 1 tsp salt

ONE: Spray a skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the cumin, chili, garlic, and onion powder and continue to cook until the veggies are soft. Remove from heat and set aside in a large bowl.

TWO: Place drained beans, kale, and cilantro in a food processor and pulse several times until beans are mostly mashed but a few chunks still remain.

THREE: Add the beans, mustard, bread crumbs, and salt to the bowl of veggies and stir to combine. Scoop out scant 1/3 cup portions and form into patties.

FOUR: Heat the skillet you cooked the veggies in over medium heat and spray generously with cooking spray. Place the patties in the skillet a few at a time and cook 4 minutes a side until lightly browned and heated through.

TO FREEZE: Before cooking, form the patties and place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place in the freezer for about 20 minutes to flash freeze the outsides and then place them all together in a freezer bag. Defrost overnight and cook according to the directions above.

After cooking, follow the same directions as above and reheat in the microwave.

NUTRITION INFO:


Per Serving (1 burger) - 124 Calories (7 Calories from Fat), 1g Total Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 463mg Sodium, 22g Carbohydrates, 6g Dietary Fiber, 4g Sugar, 6g Protein, 75% DV Vitamin A, 13% DV Vitamin C, 5% DV Calcium, 36% DV Iron

Sharon's Note:  Adjust spices to taste.  I, personally, cut the cumin and chili powder in half.  I also used my George Foreman grill which worked nicely.

Training To Be The Next Gabby Douglas

Okay, so Gabby would laugh hysterically at our balance challenge and the fact that I was having a hard time even demonstrating the exercises on the video!  But while none of us will be flipping and twisting on a 4-inch balance beam like our Olympic gold medalist, I think we'll all benefit greatly by adding a little balancing work to help balance us out!



Sorry for the wait!  Click the link below to watch my impressive balance performance (hahaha!).

As a reminder:  The challenge is to do any or all of these exercises 2-3x/week.  Do on each side about 10x each.  Any of them can be made more difficult by closing your eyes.  Highly recommended:  Stand close to a counter or chair for safety!

http://youtu.be/sourb7KCJTg

I hope the other challenges are keeping you busy!  I will send out a survey monkey at the end of the Olympic games to see how everyone did!

The Real Olympic Challenge!

Olympic Creed:

The most important thing in the Olympics Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.  The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

I think this is applies perfectly to our own Olympic Challenge:  I know many of you don't even bother with the bonus challenges because you think, "why bother; I haven't done many/any up to this point, and any points I get won't help me win."  But, the important thing is to just take part!  Fight with us to overcome Lazy!

You MUST see this video, by the way, it gives me goose bumps every time!  Click on the link below to watch.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HBu14q1dNP0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Olympic Challenge:

Complete all 5 challenges during the duration of the 2012 Olympic Games (July 27 - August 12).

Point Value:

Gold Medal:  Completed all 5 challenges:  10
Silver Medal:  Completed 4 challenges:  8
Bronze Medal:  Completed 3 challenges:  6
Honorable Mention:  Completed 2 challenges:  3
Way-To-Go Mention:  Completed 1 challenge:  2

Physical Health Challenge:  Do any (or all) of the balance exercises in the video 2 x/week.  Do 10 repetitions on each side.  Note:  you can make any of them WAY more challenging by closing your eyes.  Also, I highly recommend standing close to a counter or chair so you don't fall over!

(Please note:  The video will be coming demonstrating the above exercises.  Keith has not had a moment to spare to help me with this and I can't do it without him!  Pathetic, I know.  So work on the other challenges for now!)

Nutritional Health Challenge:  Try out a new healthy recipe and share the results on the blog (good or bad!).  Use one that's already been shared on the blog or search for one of your own.  I know this is a goal for many of you but I've enjoyed it so much, I want ALL of us to do it.

Spiritual Health:  Add a little more gratitude to your attitude.  Pay particular attention to the gratitude portion of your prayers.  Use this thought to help you:  What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?

Mental Health:  Limit the amount of time your TV is on to 2 hours every day.  Not how much you watch it, but how much time it's actually ON.  The only exception is if you are watching the Olympics.  No joke.  This might be a tough one for many of us, but this is an excellent anti-aging practice for our brains.  (Read this link if you need convincing: http://longevity.about.com/od/lifelongrelationships/tp/Turn_Off_TV.htm)  Use your free and quiet time to exercise your brain (these might help: http://www.brainmetrix.com) and/or work on any of these Olympic challenges!

Emotional Health:  Compliment at least one person each day.  Mix it up:  family, friends, strangers.  Try to do it verbally and in person, but I'll even count texting, emailing and phone calls.

Please note:  you don't have to do these challenges perfectly!  In the spirit of the Olymic Creed, just take part!  You will earn your points if you honestly attempt to incorporate these challenges during the next 3 or so weeks.

"Faster, Higher, Stronger" - in all aspects of our lives!

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Okay, mi familia, I have not been a strong presence in our Golden Sneaker Challenge lately.  Sorry.  But, let's move on to bigger and better things.  Like our Olympics bonus challenge!!!

I am not going to issue the actual challenge just yet.  But, I want to get you motivated and prepared to jump into it!  Even if you have not been participating up to this point, this is a good one to start with - everyone can do it and it has plenty of variety.

This challenge is based on the five Olympic rings.  You will have 5 different challenges to work on during the 2 weeks of the 2012 Summer Olympics which run from Friday, July 27 to Sunday, August 12.

The 5 challenges cover these areas:  Physical health, nutrition, spiritual health, mental health and emotional health. 

I repeat, EVERYONE CAN DO THESE, I promise.  I will issue the actual challenge within days (I know you've heard that before!) so you can hit the ground running after watching the Opening Ceremonies on July 27!

Let's DO THIS, everyone!

Overcome Lazy!!!

This reperesents my dream Olympics!

No, wait... this one does.  Really!