What's Your Excuse?

This is going to be a short post, but mostly just to give you some food for thought! I am pretty sure I have said some of this before. There are so many reasons to become healthier and improve your quality of life. But why wouldn't you?

I have a whole list of reasons I could decide not to work out right now:

• Pregnant
• Deployed Husband
• Two science classes
• Toddler
• Tired
• Have housework
• Still feel sick some days

I'm sure if I sat here longer, I'd have more excuses as to why I could skip working out. For a while I did take a break. But now I am back on the wagon! Most days I park as far away from my class building as possible. I have started minor weights again. On sunny days, I am going to start taking my daughter to the park in her jogging stroller and walking a few miles each day.

Instead of focusing on the excuses to not exercise, I choose to focus on the reasons that I should! 

• Prevent certain ailments later in life, like heart disease
• Stay at a healthy weight, even during pregnancy
• Boost endorphins. As the chick on "Legally Blonde" said, "endorphins make you happy! And happy people don't kill people!" 
• Keep metabolism going strong
• Have a healthier pregnancy, and hopefully a quicker recovery after delivery

So really, what is your excuse to not work out? Instead of choosing your excuse for the day, chose to be healthy in spite of your reasoning! If you can say " I had a busy, tiring day, but I still found time to workout and do something for me!" then the feeling of accomplishment will be almost as uplifting as the exercise itself was!

So go ahead, get out of your chair and go pick a workout. Remember to send me a message if you need a suggestion for a program to start. 

Shakeology Recipes

One of the wonderful things about drinking Shakeology every morning was that it never had to be the same twice. It comes in powder form, so you can put it in a variety of liquids and ad a lot of different ingredients to make it interesting! After just a few weeks, I had favorite "formulas" I had tried. I could make it like a milkshake, a dessert, or even a fruity combination with chocolate.

Now mind you, most of my experience is with the Chocolate Shakeology. I didn't get to try Strawberry for long before I was pregnant, and Greenberry is not my favorite (it is all a matter of preference, of course. Some people love Greenberry).

My personal favorite was simple, and it is what I tell everyone to start with. I get about 12 ounces of milk (for me, it is Lactose Free Skim Milk), some crushed ice, and a scoop of Shakeology. I mix it all in a blender and to me it tastes like a milkshake. Simple, easy, and delicious. You can also try adding some Sugar Free, Fat Free Vanilla Pudding mix in with your shake. It makes it extra creamy and smooth.

Another favorite of mine has to be with bananas and peanut butter. I would cut up a banana and freeze it in a Ziploc bag when they were nice and ripe--not like getting black kind of ripe, but the nice pretty yellow color that means they are just right. In the morning for my shake, I would break out half of a banana, and throw in a tablespoon of all natural peanut butter. Don't use Peter Pan or Jif, please! Those have a lot of sugar and additives. I mean get the stuff that you have to refrigerate after opening and use before a certain date. I added those to the milk and Shakeology scoop. It was definitely thicker, but it was like a sort of banana split.  You can totally do banana split, by the way.

I loved adding Strawberries to my shakes when they were in season. You can freeze them if you want. I would forget to freeze my strawberries. Go figure! I remembered to cut up and freeze bananas but never the strawberries. Maybe because the bananas sit on the counter to ripen and I put strawberries in the fridge. Anyway, I digress. The strawberries and chocolate shake were perfect together.

There are so many things you can try. Some people add honey in to their shakes. For a seasonal drink, try adding pumpkin. There are a lot of different recipes on my Shakeology Site. You are getting nutritional value, a healthy start to your day, losing weight, and drinking something enjoyable.