This week I challenge you to do as many burpees as you can in one minute. Burpees are an amazing exercise that work so many muscles in your body. The exercise works through your legs, core, and arms. There are so many variations of the burpee. You can really push yourself or you can modify it if you are just beginning. You can also add a squat and do the push up to really push yourself.
Start today and use your minute burpee count as a guideline for the rest of the week. Try to push yourself to increase your burpee count by the end of the week. If you start with a modified burpee, try to do at least one regular burpee and work your way up to increasing your regular burpee count. Remember that this is for you. You are challenging your self and working to get better at yourself.

I had to share Tate's version as well! Not sure his version works  many muscles but it makes us smile!

Why Don't You Exercise

Why Don’t You Exercise?

We all have reasons why we do and don’t do things. When it comes to exercise, there are valid reasons to do it, but many times it is really hard to start exercising or find the motivation to do it. If you don’t exercise, I want you to come up with 3 reasons why you don’t. What are the biggest things holding you back right now? As life changes, I realize that these reasons will change too. But what are 3 things holding you back today? If you are exercising but are having a hard time getting to where you want to go, what are 3 things holding you back? Think and reflect for a bit. Once you identify these hurdles, you can then work on overcoming them.

Before I started working out the way I do today, I had many excuses but my top 3 were kids, time, and fear. My kids needed my attention, they took up my time, and I couldn’t workout with them. Working full time and being a mom gave me no time to work out. I had a huge fear of it too. I was intimidated to go to a gym where I knew nothing and I really didn’t know where to start or how to start so that fear kept me away.

Looking back, those reasons or excuses were pretty silly. And I actually took those excuses and turned them into my motivation. Now I work out for my kids. They benefit from me being fit. I want to be able to keep up with them and be a role model for them. Time doesn’t ever become more available but with working out, I became more productive and efficient. A good workout can be squeezed in in 30 minutes or stretched out to a few hours and they can vary. When planned, both work and can be fit into your schedule. Working out has become a huge part of my social life, which actually freed up time. Working out has actually given me a lot more confidence, which helps with the intimidation factor and fear. I also learned not to compare myself to others but to my old self and who I want to be. People don’t go to the gym to judge you they go to work on themselves.

I also had excuses about pushing myself to the next level. I got comfortable where I was and in a bit of a rut. This is when it was important for me to establish goals and constantly evaluate them.

I encourage you to conquer your excuses and try to turn them into motivation. It’s hard to imagine my life without fitness being such a priority like it is today. 

 

Today is the Day

What are you waiting for when it comes to changing your fitness and health? Today is the day. Sundays are great days to plan the week and remember to take it one day at a time and to start slowly. Let today be the day that you change your eating habits and start working out!

Paleo Peach Pie

I love to buy fresh seasonal fruit. It's even better if it is local. Sometimes I get carried away though and buy tons and tons because I like it so much so then I have to be creative with it before it goes bad. Sometimes I just freeze it. Other times I overload us with it at every meal and snack. But my favorite is to bake and cook with it. Today I had peaches on my mind so I made a paleo peach pie.
I thought it was delicious but the true test is always the kids. Ella came in from playing outside as I was pulling the pie out of the oven. When it cooled off, El tried it and she asked if she could eat the whole thing. She said it tastes just like what you would buy just a little bit more crumbly. Another plus is that it is so healthy it can really be eaten any time. I ate mine with plain yogurt.

Paleo Peach Pie

 Ingredients-
2 cups almond meal
2 tbsp coconut oil
pinch of salt
1 egg
3 peaches
 Crust-
In a food processor, mix 2 cups of almond flour with a pinch of salt, 1 egg, and 2 tbsp of coconut oil until it forms a ball. Then press it flat into a 9 inch pie pan.
For the filling, I used 3 peaches. I balnched the peaches for a minute so I could easily peel the skin off of them. I peeled them and then sliced them and placed them on top of the crust.
I then baked the pie for 30 minutes at 350