2012 health challenges

Tomorrow I start my 2012 health challenges.  Not a lot, but I think by keeping it simple I will ensure a greater chance of success hahah.  Who knows, maybe I will add some more down the road.  But for now, here we go: 

-WATER CHALLENGE: drink 2 liters of water every day.  This is extremely hard for me because I am a human camel.  I can and do go whole days without drinking water, simply because I'm lazy, don't think about drinking, don't get thirsty, and because it's just hard to drink that much water.  I can't find the motivation.  I will say that I tried a few times to drink 2 liters of water a day, (and I think each time it lasted about 2 or 3 days) and I always really felt the difference.  My skin felt better-cooler, brighter and more vibrant.  People commented to me that my skin looked like it was glowing.  My whole body just felt better too.  It's rare that I can actually feel a health difference if I make a diet change..so I was excited to experience this..and I know that it really helps.

*for all you smoothie and juice drinkers, just a tip I found online: smoothies should be treated as a food, not a drink, because they contain very little water.  As far as fruit juices go, while their water content is high, they can contain quite a lot of sugar.  So stick to one glass a day (which can also count as one of your five-a-day portions of fruits and veggies). 

-HAND CREAM CHALLENGE: I never saw people using hand cream as much as I did when I moved to Germany.  These people are crazy about it.  It has made me become much more aware of how my own hands look, and how I never take care of my hands.  So, I'm going to challenge myself to use hand cream every day, at least once a day.  I actually have 2 kinds in my house, and barely ever use them.  But I do love them: they are both from Alverde, which is a cheap and all-natural certified vegan line you can buy at DM (which is the local Duane-Reade type drug store here).  

-TAE-BO CHALLENGE: Gonna try stick to doing 1 level of Tae-Bo a week, and doing each level at least 2 times a week with my husband.  I posted a link to the videos we are doing in an old post here.

So that's it!  Not too crazy.  Let's see if I can pull it off...I guess I will make some progress updates too ;) 

Tae-Bo party!

I made a new years resolution to start getting in shape.  For real.  I just turned 28 and grannies are flying past me on hikes and I'm out of breath walking up the stairs to our 3rd floor apartment.  I have a huge sweet tooth, and I'm lazy.  Plus, my husband, 17 year old cat, and I are gonna me moving from Europe back to the States (to a beach state) so we really have to start getting our beach bods going!

However, I think I have found something that will help motivate me to start being more active.  And if it can motivate me, I think it could motivate anyone..so I want to share it.  It's Tae-Bo videos!  Did I mention I'm lazy?  What about cheap?  That means there's no way I can get out to a gym to work out.  But I found these videos online, and I've convinced my husband to do them with me in the living room.  I'll admit that having a partner, friend, roommate, sig other definitely helps you to keep the workouts going day to day...but really, you can't get much easier and convenient than this.

-I found about 15 or maybe more levels online..and the first 3 or 4 are only about 20 minutes long (half of which is just talking) so they are perfect for people who are total beginners and really REALLY out of shape (me).  Having so many different levels also keeps you from getting bored doing the same thing all the time.
-You don't have to leave your house!
-It's free!
-Watching and listening to Billy Blanks show off his abs and brag about his fitness at 52 years old is so entertaining, you will forget you are even working out.

To all my fellow lazy and out of shape bloggers out there, try these videos! At least a couple of times...and see if they work for you.  Walking up the stairs and hearing my heart racing, I wonder if I will even live to be a granny- but watching Billy gives me hope that I too can be old and kicking ass!