Challenge Yourself!! Keep the Love Alive

Having a set routine is great. Don’t get me wrong. But do you ever get in a rut and even though you love your routine, you just aren’t motivated by it? I’ll have times like this and feel like the fun has been taken out of working out. And for me that’s a total red flag because I LOVE working out, just ask anyone who knows me, it’s just what I DO. I think it’s easy to get a little too comfortable in your routine and lose that motivation to push yourself to that next level so don’t be afraid to switch it up. There are many ways to sculpt your body but one of the most important things is that you feel energized when your done and that you enjoy it. take your favorite classes and choose the type of training you love. You’ll not only be more likely to stick with it, you’ll feel good and LOOK GREAT.

Here’s an example of a routine I put together to switch up my normal workout:
HIIT & ABS




1) 5 min warm-up on treadmill

2) 5 min incline intervals

3) Abs Routine:
20 Reverse Crunches on bench holding 10lb weight in between feet
20 Reverse Crunches on bench w/out weight
20 Stability ball pike roll outs
20 weighted crunches w/ 25 lb weight plate
20 leg raises w/ reverse crunch up @ top
3 sets-facing front, left side, right side of 15 weighted rope crunches

4) Repeat Steps 2 & 3 three times

5) Warm down with 5 minutes treadmill walking and stretching

So next time you feel like you’re getting in a rut and just going through the motions rather than pushing and challenging yourself, try something new: boot-camps, take your workout outside or try making up your own workout. There's no right or wrong workout, each person is at a different point in their fitness journey. Focus on challenging YOURSELF and take back your motivation!!

Green Mint Delight

I wanted to share my latest obsession for my post workout smoothie. I try a lot of different things and love to create new recipes for my post workout shakes. This one is the GREEN MINT DELIGHT

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen spinach
1 scoop favorite protein powder
8-10 ice-cubes
1 cup almond milk/water (your choice)
1 scoop SoTru organic greens (found @www.sotru.com)
1/2 banana
Stevia or all natural sweetener (sweeten to your liking)

Combine all ingredients into blender and blend until creamy. ENJOY. Repeat as desired.

This shake not only takes amazing, it's packed full of antioxidants, 7 servings of vegetables, protein and will curb any sweet tooth you have. BACK AWAY FROM THE ICE CREAM!

Frozen spinach makes a great addition to smoothies, its low in calories and FULL of benefits. Blending frozen spinach with the other ingredients gives you a fresh and minty taste (thanks to the SoTru organic greens powder which has a minty flavor) It's full of antioxidants, vitamin C and E. It's also an excellent source of beta-carotene, potassium, zinc, magnesium, iron and calcium.

One of the reasons I have been adding spinach to my shakes is for its magnesium content. Lately I've been having various symptoms, I wasn't recovering from workouts, feeling weak, my muscles were always sore or aching, I had tension headaches, back pain, anxiety, my nervous system felt fried and I craved chocolate constantly. I did a little research of my own and found I may be deficient in magnesium so I found ways to naturally increase my levels by adding dietary rich foods into my meals. Spinach is one of the richest sources of magnesium and one frozen cup contains 117mg or 29% of your required daily amount. Not only is this an easy way to increase your dietary amounts, frozen spinach is cheap, all natural and readily available.

Healthy Food Finds

ALMOND CHEESE!!!

I'm constantly trying to find alternative high quality LEAN protein sources to keep things interesting with my meals and have heard about almond cheese for a while. I finally picked some up on my trip to Sprouts and am completely sold! It's absolutely delicious. So far I have made-

Fajitas w/ melted cheddar cheese tortillas

Protein Pizza w/ veggies and shredded almond cheese

Cheesy Broccoli

Nutrition Facts: Lisanatti Almond Cheddar Cheese Serving Size 1 oz
Calories: 50 Fat: 1g Protein 7g

It comes in cheddar, jalepeno jack and mozzorella. You should be able to find it at your local health food store eg: Whole Foods, Sprouts, or in your natural or organic food section at your local grocery store. Give it a try, you won't be dissapointed!