March is almost here, and we’re on a roll! We kicked of 2023 with the Firm It Up Challenge. Now we’re in the final days of the 28 for 28 Challenge. I figured we should keep the challenges rolling with the March 2023 Flexibility Challenge.
Why Focus on Flexibility?
One of my first Weekly Wednesday Weigh-In posts was about 3 HUGE Benefits of Stretching. I wish I could say that I’ve been an effective and faithful “stretcher” since then, but I haven’t. I just don’t make the time.
Even so, I know that there are TONS of great benefits to stretching, so that’s why I’m challenging myself – and you – to incorporate more flexibility into life.
This is just another attempt at building good habits..
The Details
The March 2023 Flexibility Challenge is simple. The goal: stretch for at least 15 minutes every day. You can come up with your own stretch routine or do your track stretches from back in the day.
You could start with the lower body routine that I posted on my first YouTube Channel several years ago.
Or you could join me for a FREE Livestream every night from 8:30 pm to 9:00 pm Central Standard Time.
Why Does It Start So Late?
When I was a kid, I had to be in bed by 9:00 pm. I that that was SO early. When my bedtime was changed to 9:30 pm, I was grateful for the extra time, but I still thought that it was way too early. I had important things to do.
As an adult, I’m usually fast asleep by 9:30 pm, so I can understand the push-back on the time for our Stretch and Roll session.
Stretching is actually a really good way to winddown and prepare for a good night’s sleep. The rational behind having such a “late” start time is this: when we’re done stretching, it’ll be time to hop directly into bed.
Registration links will be posted daily on both Facebook and Instagram. This month, every Stretch and Roll session is free because I want as many people to join me in this challenge. Just be sure to use the student code that will be provided. The code is the same for the whole month.
Post Your Progress
If you accept the challenge, I’d love to see how it’s going! Please head over to Facebook or Instagram and post your progress using #getfitwithcharityflexibility
I can’t wait to see our flexibility levels increase.
January is quickly coming to a close. If you’re anything like 75% of Americans, you made a resolution this year. It probably had something to do with leading a healthy lifestyle.
We’re 28 days into the new year. It’s possible that you haven’t been as successful as you hoped you would be. That’s why I’m here to tell you about the 28 for 28 Challenge.
Habits Rather Than Resolutions
Three years ago, I posted an article about why we should create habits rather than make resolutions. However, people have made resolutions for generations. It seems like what we’re supposed to do at the end of the year.
If you’re still going strong with your resolution(s), then the 28 for 28 Challenge isn’t for you. But maybe you’re still struggling to gain traction.
If you really want to make positive changes in your life; this challenge was created just for you. It’s all about building good habits.
How to Form a Habit
It’s been said that it takes 28 days to form a habit. That may seem like a long time, but in the overall scheme of things, it’s not. Twenty-eight days out of a lifetime is like a raindrop in the ocean. It’s a tiny increment that’s part of a much larger thing.
There are all sorts of habits that we’ve created without every thinking about them. Having a daily cup of coffee. Watching the nightly news. Checking our social media accounts during lunch. We automatically do tons of other things, too.
The 28 for 28 Challenge is a concrete way for us to be intentional about creating an exercise habit.
The 28 for 28 Challenge helps you create new habits!
The Challenge in a Nutshell
The 28 for 28 Challenge is simple. For each of the 28 days in the month of February do 28 minutes of movement. What you do is up do you.
Maybe your resolution was to walk more. Take a look at your schedule. Then plan a 28 minute walk after dinner or during your lunch for 28 days.
Suppose you wanted to become more flexible. Well, you could do 28 minutes of stretching before bed for 28 days.
I want to develop a habit of swimming. I plan to get in the pool and swim for 28 minutes ever day in February.
28 Minutes Seems Long
If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking, “28 minutes?!?! That’s almost half an hour. That’s too hard!”
My response is you’re right, but you’re wrong. Twenty-eight minutes is nearly half an hour, but it’s not too hard. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be a challenge.
If the idea of doing some form of physical activity for 28 consecutive minutes is impossible for you, you can break it up. Try two 14 minute sessions. Or three sessions of 9 minutes and 33 seconds. The goal is for you to complete 28 minutes each day…it doesn’t have to be all at once.
Post Your Progress
If you accept the challenge, I’d love to see how it’s going! Please head over to Facebook or Instagram and post your progress using #getfitwithcharity28for28.
Water consumption! Nearly every adult has said something like, “I really should be drinking more water.” But it’s easier said than done.
Sometimes it’s a bit more convenient to drink more water at work than it is at home. However, when you’re working from home for an extended period of time.
The Importance of Water Consumption
It’s a bit perplexing that a colorless, tasteless liquid can be so refreshing, but there’s nothing quite like a cool glass of water on a warm day. However, we don’t just need water for refreshment and rehydration. Water helps maintain our body temperature. It also removes toxins and wastes from our bodies. If you want a clear, less oily complexion, more water may be the secret. Drinking more water before or during a meal could result in eating less food.
Tip #1: Get a Clear Water Bottle
Water bottles come in all sorts of styles, colors, and shapes. But all of them were designed to keep you hydrated on the go. I’ve discovered that the best water bottles are those that are clear or see-through. Why? When you’ve decided to start drinking more water, it’s important to be able to access your progress very quickly. A brief glance at a see-through or clear water bottle lets you know whether you’re right on track or you need to take a sip.
Tip #2: Take Your Water Bottle EVERYWHERE
The easiest way to make sure you’re getting enough water is to drink during the course of the day. The best way for you to do that is to take your water bottle everywhere you go. That means, your water bottle is going to be your most popular accessory. It should go with you to the grocery store, to church, to every work meeting, to social events…everywhere. It should be such a part of you that if you’re without it, people actually ask you where it is.
Tip #3: Set Checkpoints During the Day
When I was younger, I was told that everyone should drink eight 8 oz glasses of water each day. I thought that 64 oz (or half a gallon) was a lot. During my personal trainer coursework, I learned that we should be drinking half of our weight in water. So if you weight 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 ounces of whatever every day. That was overwhelming.
I discovered that the best way to get all those ounces of water consumed is to work within the idea of checkpoints. Suppose you wish to drink 80 ounces of water each day, and you have a 16-ounce water bottle. You would need to drink empty that water bottle five times in the course of a day. That may seem impossible.
However, you could use 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm and 9 pm as checkpoints. Then you could aim to drink 16 ounces of water within each of those time frames. Drinking 16 ounces every three hours makes drinking 80 ounces in a day, a reality.
One Last Tip…
If you’re still having a little troubled drinking more water because you don’t like the tase, spice it up a bit. Add a little lemon juice. Or maybe some sliced fruit like strawberries or limes.
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!
This time of pandemic has greatly impacted how we do life. By now, many of us have adjusted to working from home. Or we work an essential position with a variety of different adjustments and new restrictions. But what about the kids, though. They’re missing out on recess, physical education, and youth sports. This week, I simply want to share a few fun family fitness ideas.
What is Family Fitness?
Family fitness isn’t all that different from personal fitness. Personal fitness is simply a person making the decision to get fit. Family fitness is nothing more than a family making the decision to get fit together. They could hire a personal trainer and have group sessions. It’s possible that they could attend the same fitness classes. However, the following options may be more appropriate for younger children. And they are definitely more applicable to our current situation
Play Tag
Most kids LOVE playing tag, but not the way you remember. When I was a kid, tag was simple. Someone was “IT”, and everybody else ran away from that person. If you made it to “base”, you were safe. If you got tagged, you were “IT”.
You don’t have to worry about coming up with new tag games on your own, though. Your children can probably teach you variations from recess our their PE classes. If not, check out these 10 Fun Tag Games for Kids.
Create Your Own Olympic Games
For the first time in history, the summer Olympic Games will be postponed, but your family can host your own version of the international sporting event. Simply pick categories like running, tossing, or jumping. Then create events that you can do around the house using minimal equipment. For example, you could have a paper towel toss or do rolled sock golf.
Don’t forget to include a scoring system and medals.
Geat a Daily Dose of Fresh Air
Maybe your family just isn’t into physical activity. The idea of running around playing tag or going all Olympian just doesn’t appeal to you…at all. You can still promote family fitness by making a commitment to getting some fresh air every day.
You could by walking five minutes away from the house before turning around and walking five minutes back. It might be surprising how accomplished you’ll feel. Who knows? You may even want to extend that walk the next time.
Keep It Moving
If these fun family fitness ideas work well for you, let me know. If you come up with your own fitness ideas, I’d like to know that, too. It doesn’t really matter what you do to keep your family fit. Just get out there and get moving!
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!
Years ago, I dreamed of working from home. I desired to be in charge of my own schedule and make a living doing only what I wanted to do. Since we’ve been “on lockdown” the past few weeks, my dream has come true; it just doesn’t look the way I thought it would. Beyond that, there’s one aspect of working from home that I’d never really considered until now: naps. I’ve realized that are significant pros and cons of naps that you might be interested in learning.
The Negatives of Naps (aka The Cons)
Let’s start with the bad news. There are definitely a few cons that should be mentioned before you settle in for your nap today.
Con #1: Inability to Sleep at Night
Last week, we discussed How to Avoid the Quarantine 15 last week. The first two things we talked about were getting enough sleep but not getting too much sleep. We normally take naps when we’re tired. But super long naps or naps that are too late in the day, aren’t good. They keep us up at night.
Con #2: Grogginess
Naps are thought to help you catch up on some rest or give you a boost of energy. That’s not always the case, though. Sometimes after a nap, you feel groggy or cranky.
The same Texas A&M article also stated that long naps have the potential to increase our risk of death.
The Positives of Naps (aka The Pros)
There is a wealth of research on the benefits of napping. In fact, it was a little difficult to restrict myself to just five. Even so, I think I found the five pros that will bless your soul.
Pro #1: Resembles a Mini-Vacation
According to the National Sleep Foundation, “A nap can be a pleasant luxury, a mini-vacation. It can provide an easy way to get some relaxation and rejuvenation.” I couldn’t have said it better, so I let them take that one!
Pro #2: Boosts Energy (and Saves Money)
This one may seem like a stretch, but it’s not. A lot of people hit a slump sometimes after lunch. Our energy seems to have evaporated, but we need to stay awake. So we spring for a drink or snack that will give us the kick we need to make it through the day. A quick nap can actually boost your energy…allowing you to save a little cash each week.
Pro #3: Relieves Stress
The National Sleep Foundation said that we can lower tension by taking short naps. A variety of other sources indicate similar findings. In fact, one article said that even five minutes of rest has a positive impact on stress.
Pro #4: Improves Memory
Sleep experts say that sleeping at night helps make our memories stick, so we can bring them up in the future. Other research studies have shown that taking longer naps has the same effect on memory consolidation.
Pro #5: Improves Your Appearance
I’ll bet you’ve looked at a friend or co-worker and thought, “They need some sleep.”
We can tell when people aren’t well-rested. There are dark circles under their eyes. And they just look…tired. Napping can help out with that. Sleep restores and rejuvenates our bodies. So if you think you look tired, you might just need a nap.
Weighing the Pros and Cons of Nap
As you can see, there are some legit negatives against and some compelling positives for napping. There are additional pros and cons of naps that aren’t listed here. One expert says that naps are detrimental to your health, and another states that naps can help you lose weight. You will need to decide for yourself. If you notice that you don’t sleep well when you take naps, then avoid them. However, if naps help you feel energized and alert, keep doing what you do. The choice is yours alone.
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!
I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to think that these shelter-in-place orders and work-from home options, may have a negative impact on my waistline. Everyone knows about the Freshman 15. Those extra pounds that a lot of people tend to gain during their first year at college. I recently saw someone joking about the “Quarantine 15” and had an idea! Why not write a quick guide about how to avoid the Quarantine 15.
I know that I’m not alone when I say that my schedule has drastically changed during the past month. Some of the changes have been good. Like not being constantly on the go, and saving money on gas and eating out as a result. Then there’s the added bonus of spending more quality time with family! I’m guessing you can probably relate to some of those. You may even have some positive changes that are a bit different than what I shared.
The Flipside
Of course, there’s always a flipside.It seems that for every positive there’s at least one – maybe even two negatives. Like I’m not able to burn extra calories by swimming twice a week or teaching multiple fitness classes. Or being in super close proximity to foods that were supposed to be my quarantine snacks for the next several weeks. How about spending the overwhelming majority of my work day sitting at a computer, when I used to be up and about all day? I’m sure that you have some that are even more frustrating than mine.
The point I’m trying to make is this: our current life is way different than it was six weeks ago. Most of us have become quite sedentary, yet we’re eating the same amount of food or perhaps more than we used to. (Confession: I made a two-layer cake a couple of weeks ago and ate the whole thing in less than a week without sharing it with anyone.)
No one knows how long, we’ll be living life this way, so it’s probably best for us to create some new habits now. What follows are 10 tips on how to avoid the Quarantine 15. Every tip may not work for everybody, but I hope you’re able to find something that works for you.
#1: Get Plenty of Sleep…
Studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between sleep deprivation and weight gain. During this season when most of us don’t have to be up at O’ Dark-thirty to get ready for work (or head to the gym before going to work), it’s really tempting to stay up much later than normal. However, since we’re creatures of habit, most of us still wake up at our formerly “normal time” even though we don’t have to.
Perhaps we should consider going to bed as close to our normal time as possible, just so we can still get enough sleep. According to the Sleep Needs article from HelpGuide.org, the average adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. One way to help ensure that you get enough sleep is to turn off the alarm clock and let your body wake up when it’s rested.As long as you get in bed at a decent hour, you should be able to wake up refreshed with plenty of time to get ready for that 8:00 virtual team meeting!
#2: …But Don’t Get Too Much Sleep
Believe it or not, there are also studies that show direct links between too much sleep and weight gain. If you read that part from the previous section about adults needing up to 9 hours of sleep, you may be thinking, “That’s waaay too much sleep for me.” According to that same article, if you’re alert and energetic all day, then you’ve had plenty of sleep. However, Matt Valentine’s Goal Post article about “6 Signs You’re Getting Too Much Sleep”, let us know that fatigue is a major sign of sleeping too much. So if you wake up tired and are completely exhausted after nine hours of sleep, maybe you should try seven or eight hours next time.
#3: Create a New Routine
Do you know what I finally realized this week!?!? Since I don’t have to be up super early, I don’t need my alarm, my secondary alarm or my final warning alarm to make sure I’m up on time. So I turned them all off. In addition to that, it occurred to me that it’s both pointless and impossible to try and maintain my old daily routine. So I created a new one.
How does creating a new routine fight weight gain? There’s a huge chance that when you realized your old schedule just wasn’t possible anymore, you sat around and snacked all day like I did. However, when I created a routine things changed. I something to do at a specific time, and it helped give me a sense of accomplishment.
If you’re not into routines or schedules, try making a list of ten things you want to finish each day. You might be surprised how great you feel at the end of the day.
#4: Plan Your Meals – And Stick to the Plan
I realized quite a while ago that I have a very interesting relationship with food…I eat it all the time. In a way, it makes sense. I mean, I typically teach five super intense fitness classes each week. Plus after running up to four times a week and swimming twice, I burn a ton of calories, so I need to eat to replace what I’m using.However, I take my food to work with me, so when I’m done eating them, there’s nothing left.
The food game has changed since I now work where the food lives. I’ve really had to be intentional about what I’m eating and when I’m eating. Now more than ever, it’s really crucial to focus on meal planning and meal prep. But more than that, we need to self-control to ensure that we only eat what we’re supposed to eat at a given meal or snack time. This is one of the best ways to avoid the quarantine 15.
#5: Switch to Daily Weigh-Ins
I am a HUGE fan of weekly weigh-ins to make sure you’re on track with your fitness journey. A lot can happen in a week, so making sure you have a dedicated time to check the scale helps you see the changes you need to make the following week.
Now that so many of us are working from home, there’s a lot that has the potential to happen from a food consumption standpoint each day. For that reason, it may be worth it to step on the scale once a day for the next month or two.
The focus isn’t so much weight loss as it is maintenance. The goal is to keep it the same from day-to-day. I’ve found that knowing I’ll face the scale first thing in the morning causes me to have a really thoughtful conversation with myself when I head to the kitchen for something to eat. I ask myself things like, “Am I really hungry? Do I need this or do I just want it? Are there any healthier options for me right now? Is this going to make me tip the scale on the heavier side if I eat it?”
Don’t have a scale? You can still monitor your weight by using a tape measure, taking pics of yourself and trying on “real” clothes to make sure they still fit.
#6: Drink Plenty of Water
I’ve said this before, but the body doesn’t have a die hard way to let us know that we’re thirsty. Sometimes our mouths are dry or our throats are parched, so we drink a little water.But did you know that a growling stomach doesn’t always mean that your body needs food?
The next time you think you need something to eat in order to satisfy your hunger, slowly drink 8 to 12 ounces of water and wait about half an hour. If the hunger pangs go away, you were simply thirsty. If they persist, you really could use a healthy snack.
Experts say that we should drink half of our weight in water, so if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 oz of water each day. Drinking enough water does some amazing things for you. First off, it helps clear up your skin. Secondly, it actually energizes you! Finally, it helps release toxins and wastes in your body which positively affects your overall health and can assist in maintaining your weight. All o that will help you avoid the quarantine 15.
#7: Schedule Three Rounds of Physical Activity Each Day
One thing many of us have right now is an abundance of time. Even though we’re working from home and helping children finish out their school year at home, we still have a ton of time because there aren’t sports practices and games to get to; we can’t go to church anymore and every form of entertainment is shut down. We’re really tempted to sit in the house and watch TV or cruise social media after the work day/school day is complete. But all that sitting is not going to help us avoid the quarantine 15.
We have to get moving, and the easiest thing to do is plan three rounds of physical activity each day – making sure that each round is a minimum of 10 minutes. If you have a dog, you can walk your dog three times a day. If you have young children, you can play tag with them for ten minutes, ride bikes or just take a walk. Turn on some music and have a dance off. Just commit to get moving for ten minutes three times a day every day.
#8: Break a Sweat for 30 Continuous Minutes
Strongly consider changing one of those ten minutes sections from the previous section to a thirty-minute exercise session that’s going to raise your heart rate and make you sweat. Run, dance or ride a bike. Head over to my YouTube channel and do five of the six-minute workouts. Join one of my online Zumba classes (just comment on this post to let me know you’re interested). Or google someone else’s workout videos.
Just break a sweat for thirty minutes a day to fight off that quarantine 15.
#9: Limit the Amount of TV Time
I’ve already hinted at this a couple of times in this post, but sitting there watching TV all day isn’t going to help anyone avoid gaining weight at this time. Why? Most folks don’t workout while watching TV. (I know I typically don’t.) Plus most of us like to snack while we’re watching TV.
If you’re having trouble finding time for that thirty minute sweatfest I mentioned earlier. Turn off the TV, take a break between episodes of whatever show you’re binge watching and get your workout on.
OR you could alternate between squats, lunges, jumping jacks, and burpees while watching one of the episodes. That could be really fun!
#10: Switch Refined Sugars for Natural Sugars at least Twice a Week
Let’s face it! It’s going to be hard not to snack, so let’s do so wisely.
I have the worst sweet tooth in the world. I rarely buy sweets or make them because they’re gone almost as quickly as I make them. Remember the cookies I mentioned?
However, I’ve learned that my taste buds enjoy natural sugars, like fruit and honey, as much as it enjoys refined stuff. So I would challenge you to take a couple of days each week to avoid refined, processed sugar and only eat natural sugars…just go easy on the honey.
How’s It Going?
Now that you have 10 tips to help you avoid the quarantine 15, I want to know how’s it going. Click the pink banner below to join the Facebook group, and let us know which tip is your go to!
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!
Today’s post is a little different than usual. You haven’t seen me in a while because things have been tough lately, and I just haven’t had much motivation. Though things have gotten a bit better for me personally, the whole world is in a weird state of chaos mixed with uncertainty.
Instead of talking about physical health, I wanted to talk about mental health. I’m not an expert in this field. I just want to share what’s been working for me lately.
#1: Keep Moving
Schools, fitness facilities, churches and some places of business are shutting down indefinitely. We’re being told to self-quarantine or practice social distancing to slow the spread of the virus. However, that doesn’t mean that we stay in our home and do nothing.
Exercise is one of the best ways to relieve stress. Instead of staying glued to the TV for the latest news update, get your sweat on! Pause your streaming service for an hour or to go for a long walk or hop on YouTube and follow a workout video.
#2: Maintain a Schedule
We’re creatures of habit. Most of us wake up at the same time every day. Then we go through an almost identical morning routine because we have to be at work at the same time every day. But what do you when your business shuts down indefinitely and you have nowhere to go each day? You create another schedule
Most folks have things they’ve been meaning to get around to. We even have projects that we’ve been putting off until we have more time. This is the perfect opportunity to work on those things by creating a schedule.
If you work an eight-hour shift, I’m not suggesting that you create a schedule for every minute of your workday. However, I would suggest that you keep your same morning routine so that when work resumes, you’re good to go. Beyond that, you should schedule some things you need to do, some things you’ve been putting off and some fun things, too.
#3: Keep in Touch
This is one is especially for introverted single folk, like me, who live alone. However, it applies to others, as well. This is prime real estate for us. We have a legitimate reason to pull inside of ourselves and cut off all contact with the rest of the world. Let’s not do that.
One of the best ways to stay grounded is to connect with other people. While we may not be able to meet up with people face-to-face, we can FaceTime, Skype, host Zoom meetings and do Google hangouts. Check on the folks you love and let them know you’re okay.
#4: Go Offline
Turn off the TV. Go on Facebook fast. Stay off YouTube. Things are already bad enough. Just take one day – a full 24 hours – with no media or technology. You might be surprised how grounded you feel…and how much time you have.
This Too Shall Pass
Things won’t always be this way! They’ll get better! I promise.
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!
There aren’t too many fitness professionals out there advocating low-impact exercises. In the age of cross-fit and HIIT, some think that the more intense the work out the better. I don’t believe that. In fact, I encourage people to engage in low-impact exercises.
What are low-impact exercises?
Low-impact exercises include any form of physical activity that has a “low-impact” on your joints. Exercises like walking, bike riding, swimming, and yoga. It’s even possible to convert a number of high-impact exercises, like jumping jacks, to low-impact exercises.
There are four distinct reasons people may want (or need) to consider low-impact exercises.
Reason #1: Change Things Up
The human body is completely adaptable. Your workout starts to seem ineffective if you always to do the same thing. However, incorporating some low-impact moves can help get things going again.
Reason #2: Increase Intensity and Preserve Your Joints
Some people are convinced that you can’t get a good workout with low-impact exercises. That’s not true. In reality, you can have super intense low-impact workouts that produce more sweat than some high-impact workouts. How? If your high impact workout, requires a great deal of jumping, you can only jump for so long. Your knees and ankles will eventually need a break from all the pressures. However, switching to a low impact form of the same exercises will enable to have longer more intense sessions because your joints won’t suffer.
Reason #3: Build Strength and Endurance
If you’re just starting out on your fitness journey, you might not be in the best shape right now. You may even have a significant amount of weight to lose right now. The idea of doing plank jacks, burpees and high knees probably sounds a bit intimidating or even painful. Starting out with low-impact exercises allows you to gain strength and see just how far you can grow in your fitness. When you’re ready, you can switch out some low-impact exercises with their high-impact counterpart and see how you feel.
Reason #4: Injury Recovery or Limited Mobility
Every exercise isn’t for every body. In other words, we all have physical limitations. There are things some people simply can’t do as a result of limited mobility and former injury. Someone who blew out their knee playing college football, might not be able to perform jump squats. The person who had shoulder surgery won’t be able to do push-ups or planks. Even so, there are low-impact versions of exercises individuals can do that will help them reach their fitness goals.
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!
