Motivation

Last week I took a vacation, so no blog post. And then I have been working on this one for a while trying to make is perfect. I have been thinking a lot about why many of us, including myself, can't keep up on the exercise. It has come down to this....

What motivates me to exercise?

Others? Myself? The media? The world telling me I have to be skinny? Why can't I do it to live longer and live a happier life? That should be the biggest motivation.

Well now that I have a sweet little baby, I want to be able to be around for her for as long as possible. So if that means getting into shape, you bet I want to do it! I also want to be able to play with her and teach her how to stay active and healthy.
I have never been a morning person. My husband is definitely a morning person. Since I married him, I have been able to get up earlier because we enjoy that quiet time in the morning together, making breakfast, telling each other about our crazy dreams and just enjoying the fresh air that comes with a morning. Also, it is good pondering time to sit and think about what needs to be done in the day and what is most important. Well anyway since we had Ella, I have not been able to get up and share the morning with my husband.  At first it was because I was up every 1.5- 2 hours feeding the baby, but now that she sleeps almost all night (9:30-4), I should be able to get up at 6 right? UGH!! It's so hard!

I have noticed that Ella is a morning baby. She is SOOOO happy and playful, but I miss that time with her when I sleep in. I have been pretty good about getting up at 8. and some days it's not until 10.  It does crack me up though to see Ella snoozing, cuddled up next to me and the second that I pick her up she is wide awake! She's a pretty good fake sleeper!! But I can tell that she is starting to pick up my habit of sleeping in and not being a morning person!

I don't want this to happen! I want her to be able to get up and be productive and look forward to the day, just as she naturally does! So my goal is to get up no later than 8 am. That way we will have time to go for a walk, get ready, eat breakfast, enjoy our happy playful time and take a morning nap (for the baby) all before lunch time!

The way that I see that I'm going to accomplish this goal is to: JUST DO IT! (thank you nike!) Just simply ACT and follow through.  I see many people struggle with exercise because they give excuses, for example,

-not enough time in the day
-tooooooo tired
-too many other things to do
-don't know what to do
-it doesn't even work it just makes me sore
-etc

It feels easier to give an excuse rather than just doing something. I go through phases where I am the queen of excuses- just being honest. But I know I am suffering for it because it gets me out of good habits and turns them into bad habits.

My husband has always been great at doing push-ups, crunches or lifting weights at night. Last week he asked me to do it with him. So I did. Well since then we have been doing it every night (except Sunday :)) And now that we have been doing our little nightly exercises, the pain in my back has significantly decreased and I feel stronger, better and even a little happier!

He claims that he needs my help to be able to keep exercising and stay healthy, but really I think he has a secret plan to help me get back into shape. It's awesome though, either way. I'd say what motivates me is my husband. I also think I am motivated more that I have started, to keep going and to keep up with my husband.

Here's my challenge. Get together with your husband, roommates, family members- who ever and JUMP IN AND START YOUR EXERCISE!!

 This is what we do...

We start with pushups. 30 each.  We don't have a very big space so we trade off. We do ten at a time and count down for each other. (This is a good way to make sure they have proper alignment.No cheaters with your bums in the air! )

Then we do some crunches, obliques and sometimes bicycles. Depends on the night and how tired we are. ;)

Then we hold plank for one minute! Yeah I know it's not very long, but plank is brutal!

We always do push-ups and plank. I don't know if I've lost any weight, but I do feel better than I did before.

If you don't have a partner to do this with in your home, or in the neighborhood, consider this- 

Make a promise to a family member that you will do this then report to each other every night- like send a text saying- DONE! It's so easy to do. NOW DO IT! (I will too).

Also- figure out what motivates you? Since I have discovered this, I feel like exercise is always possible and I don't have to give an excuse. :)

Happy Exercising!!

BREAKFAST

Why is it called Breakfast?  I've always wondered.

According to Wikipedia, the word Breakfast "literally means break the fast of the night."
Hmm, makes sense. Hopefully most of us are sleeping 6-8 hours a night and not eating in those hours.
So when we wake up our bodies are pretty cranky for food and we need to feed it!

Also from Wikipedia- "Nutritional experts have referred to breakfast as the most important meal of the day, citing studies that find that people who skip breakfast are disproportionately likely to have problems with concentration, metabolism, and weight.^[3][4]"

 

Wow. So what does breakfast do for you? Well it starts your metabolism! Imagine this: Instead of driving your car to work, you push it because we don't know how to start it. Although it might be a great workout, it's not the most efficient way to get to work because- #1: It takes longer to get there. #2: It uses more energy, therefore you have less energy for the rest of the day. Well when you don't start your metabolism by skipping breakfast your body does the same thing!#1: Takes longer to get going- to wake up (that feeling like you need caffeine to function).  #2: It takes more energy to do things, since you didn't fill up the gas tank and therefore have no energy to do the important things in the day like: work, exercise, talk to people, walk, think, remember things, etc. The list goes on and on.

 Going back to the original meaning, as mentioned above, the point of the meal is to break the fast of the night. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? 4? 6? 8? Well no matter, try going that long in the day and see if you can not eat- IT'S REALLY HARD!! So by the time you wake up, your body is longing for that egg burrito, or protein shake.  BUT if you skip breakfast, add that many more hours to lunch to hours of sleep OH and don't forget to also add the hours from dinner the night before... that might be more than 12 hours!!

 This is a problem! Only leaving yourself about 6 hours of blessed sunlight to eat ALL of the nutritional goodness your body needs to function! No wonder weight loss doesn't happen, or we are sick all the time or any other weird phenomenon with the body. 

(Okay so the number of hours between dinner and breakfast may not count as much because that is when digestion happens and it is better for it to happen before you go to bed so all the energy can be concentrated on sleep.Also it takes up to 7 hours to digest food so we need a break for eating sometime.) Breakfast is still important. It ends the digestion period. and.....

Even so, consider starting your car, rather than pushing it.

Well I hope that puts a little perspective on BREAKFAST. and why it is CRUCIAL that we eat it. 

What are some reasons you don't eat breakfast?

Post them in the comments. Let's learn together how to make changes to eat breakfast every day and any other unknown things about breakfast.