I'm Baaaaaaaack! Time To Get Busy!

Well, I'm back from vacation in the Hill Country...It was a wonderful trip to one of my favorite parts of the state. We stayed in a beautiful house and had a great time being away from our busy life here in Sugar Land while enjoying some quality family time. Lots of swimming and shopping and eating and drinking were done with a couple of workouts thrown in. I must say that the sleeping in was a definite highlight. I joined my husband and brother-in-law in boot camp workout one morning. We kept saying we would do another one or two, but sleeping in over ruled that. Hey, it was vacation, right?! I did also manage to do an interval workout on the hilly roads where we were staying. Whew, that was tough--kicked my butt! I definitely didn't get as much exercise in as I wanted to, but the rest and time off were kinda nice. Now the few pounds I found while away were not the souvenirs I was looking for. I hope you all did better than I did this past week!

Time to get back to work! Let the butt-kicking reconvene! I may be joining you in all 3 classes this week! But I definitely need to refocus my eating habits again. Time to try some new stuff. Below are some links you might want to check out. I haven't had a chance to look through them all yet, but it's on my to do list.

Salads:

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/salads/

Smoothies:

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/drinks/healthy-choices/healthy-and-refreshing-smoothie-recipes/

And Sasha found this website:

http://www.eatingwell.com/

I hope you find some good ones and share with us the ones you tried. See you all on Tuesday!

Top 5 Reasons to Love A.M. Exercise

Check out this article from Spark People regarding early rising and exercise. You guys are fabulous! I love seeing your smiling and/or sleepy faces first thing in the morning!

1. Exercising early in the morning "jump starts" your metabolism, keeping it elevated for hours, sometimes for up to 24 hours! As a result, you'll be burning more calories all day long--just because you exercised in the morning.
   
   
2. Exercising in the morning energizes you for the day--not to mention that gratifying feeling of virtue you have knowing you've done something disciplined and good for you.
   
   
3. Studies have shown that exercise significantly increases mental acuity--a benefit that lasts four to ten hours after your workout ends. Exercising in the a.m. means you get to harness that brainpower, instead of wasting it while you're snoozing.
   
   
4. Assuming you make exercise a true priority, it shouldn't be a major problem to get up 30 to 60 minutes earlier--especially since regular exercise generally means a higher quality of sleep, which in turn means you'll probably require less sleep.
   
   
5. When you exercise at about the same time every morning--especially if you wake up regularly at about the same time--you're regulating your body's endocrine system and circadian rhythms. Your body learns that you do the same thing just about every day, and it begins to prepare for waking and exercise several hours before you actually open your eyes.

Exercise Extra: More than 90% of those who exercise consistently have a morning fitness routine. If you want to exercise on a regular basis, the odds are in your favor if you squeeze your workout into the a.m.

Keep up the great work and stay focused on your commitment to your health!