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If you need a humor break today, take a moment to enjoy this video made by fellow ExerciseTV blogger Jumoke Hill. (A word of caution, however: This video briefly shows Kermit the Frog getting caught shopping in the liquor aisle at the grocery store, so you may not want to watch it when your little ones are around.) It’s hilarious — enjoy!
“I’m too tired to make healthy meals for my family.” This excuse can be scrubbed out with a little planning and effort. Do what I did: Motivate yourself by reading about all the ways healthy eating can benefit your family, and how junk food harms their bodies. You’ll find yourself more motivated to make meals that are good for all of you. “I’m too tired…period.” If you have a physical condition that is causing fatigue, please check with your doctor before starting an exercise program. If you’re otherwise healthy, you may be surprised to know that exercise – hard work that it can be – will actually give you more energy and help you to sleep better at night. I’m living proof. I have more energy now (previously sapped by my fibromyalgia and poor health habits) than I’ve ever had in my life. I feel great! Also, make sure you’re getting enough sleep. “I don’t have the time/I’m too busy.” You’ve probably heard the phrase, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” It’s true. If you let the trivial busyness of the day take over, hoping to fit in a workout somewhere along the line, it won’t happen. Make it a priority. If you use a planner, schedule it as an appointment. “I’ll start exercising when my life calms down … I’m under too much stress right now.” My doctor once told me, “If you don’t let the stress out, it will find its own way out.” Ominous words, but very true. Stress left unchecked can cause a host of health issues. Exercise, therefore, is an excellent stress-reliever. During one weekend that was hard for our family, my daughter Erica and I both felt the need to get outside and just walk. We went around our block at a good pace twice (joined for a portion of it by our neighbor’s black lab), joked around a little, and felt pretty good by the time we got home. Was the stress and worry over a particular situation (my husband’s health) totally gone? No, but we both felt better able to manage it. So, really, when it comes to exercise, there’s no time like the present. Here’s a simple thing to do: Take a few moments to think about the excuses you’ve been making when it comes to getting in shape, then write those excuses down. Next, think of a rebuttal for each excuse, and write that down, too. For example, if you wrote, “I don’t have time to exercise,” you can counter that with: “I can fit in a brisk, 15-minute walk every day.” If walking isn’t your thing, try the 10-minute workouts on ExerciseTV.tv, or through your cable TV provider (I do the workouts that I find on Exercise TV through the Sports and Fitness Channel on Comcast’s OnDemand). Remember: No more excuses! ©2009 Sally Dinius
Along with our new plan, we also got unlimited texting. At times I like it because it’s an easy way to reach my kids. At other times, I’m not so sure…like when one of my kids texts me from a room away instead coming to find me. We’ll work on that. After a few years of having a cell phone that would ring only when it wanted to and didn’t like to make outgoing calls, it was time for a new one. Seriously – when you’re at one end of a grocery store, your child is in the electronics section, and you want to leave, you need to be able to reach your child. What you don’t need is to hear a “doob-la-do-doop” and see the words “CALL FAILED…RETRY” on your cruddy little screen. I can’t tell you how many times I had to resist the urge to fling that phone as far as I could after receiving that message. Even Brett Favre couldn’t have thrown it farther than me. If I had. Back to my new baby, my iPhone. I’ve been having a great deal of fun with it, like adding new apps, figuring out my calendar, downloading podcasts, looking up websites…and on and on. I’m sure there’s got to be a healthy recipe app out there somewhere. If there is, I’ll find it! How handy would that be? I could look up a certain recipe while at the grocery store just to make sure I’d gotten all the ingredients. And I promise I wouldn’t even check Facebook while I’m there (and if you believe that…). Speaking of apps, if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you’ll know I’m a big ExerciseTV fan. You might be able to imagine, then, how happy I was a couple nights ago when I found an ExerciseTV app! It’s not free, but all the mini workout videos that come with it are worth the $1.99. Read all about it in my post on the ExerciseTV blog. (Which, by the way, is not a paid endorsement.) Try it out! Got an iPhone? You Might Like These:
©2009 Sally Dinius
Visit us here: CrazyBusy Mama’s Get Fit Blog
In other cool news, CrazyBusy Mama now has a Facebook fan page! Become a fan by clicking here to get lots of useful news, fun updates and great freebies. If it’s something that will encourage you in your own quest to be healthy and fit, I’ll post it!
Today’s exercise video is by Cindy Whitmarsh, one of my favorite trainers on ExerciseTV. If you’ve ever hated those cheerleaders on TV because of their fit physiques, stop hating. Sure, there’s a little bit of “they were born with it” that comes into play, but they also work very hard to get in shape. Thanks to Cindy and this workout, moms like us can have cheerleader legs, too (personally speaking, I don’t think I’ll be jumping up and doing the splits in the air, but I’ll definitely settle for looking good in a pair of shorts). Take a look: I hope you enjoyed today’s workout. Check out the DVD recommendation below to get your entire body toned and fit! COPYSCAPE ©2009 Sally Dinius (except video)
=============================================== Want to tone more than just your legs? Check out this DVD from ExerciseTV:
If you think you’re too busy to work out, think again. ExerciseTV offers some great, quick workouts you can do in under 30 minutes right from home. Some are even shorter than that, enabling you to tone your legs, abs, etc., in just 10 minutes a day. To see how easy it is to get your workouts in, try the following exercises for your arms, courtesy of Chris Freytag and ExerciseTV: Check back here often for more fun and quick exercise videos from ExerciseTV. Speaking of ExericiseTV, you are looking at their newest blogger (me, that is — not Chris Freytag)! I’ll be posting weekly on the ExerciseTV blog. More details coming soon! =============================================== RECOMMENDED WORKOUT If you liked the above workout, you’ll love this DVD from Chris Freytag and Prevention Magazine:
Go to ExerciseTV.tv for complete rules and prize details. Get posting!
If you know me, or have been reading this blog for a while, you know I’m a huge ExerciseTV fan. My daughter and I do our favorite workouts together as often as our schedule allows (at least a few times a week), and separately when we can’t find the time to work out together. We typically use the workouts on the ExerciseTV channel on Comcast OnDemand, but many of the same workouts can also be found on the website. Truth be told, it’s been a few days since I’ve been able to do my workouts. I’ve had a doozy of a migraine since Friday, but I think it’s realizing it’s no longer welcome and is beginning to leave. I can’t wait until I can work out again tomorrow. I have been stretching, though, and working out a little with light weights. I can’t stand doing nothing. And that’s a good point…no matter what your reason is right now for not working out, you can always do something. A friend of mine with multiple sclerosis uses a hula hoop (which is going to be great for strengthening her core and helping with her balance difficulties). Back to the cool thing you’ll find at ExerciseTV.tv: free workout videos (and some very inexpensive ones). Some are just a few minutes long, but some are longer, like 10-15 minutes (those typically are not free, but are very affordable). I love that — string several 10 minute workouts together and you’ve taken care of working your whole body in just 30-40 minutes. (We all have an extra 30-40 minutes a day. Get off of Facebook, etc., and you’ll see how many half hours you find. Here are the links to some of those free (or cheap) videos for you to download: Start Walking With Leslie Sansone FREE Mini Workouts–Video Download. 15 mini-workouts. I love walking with Leslie. I’ve had weak hips and knees since birth, but now they’re really strong for the first time in my life. Amy Dixon 10-minute Workouts. Just $1.99 to $2.99 each. I credit Amy with helping me to get my abs in shape. Fun workouts! Pink Ribbon Workouts Free Mini Workouts with Holly Perkins. “Pink Ribbon,” of course, represents the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Race for the Cure. Working out with Holly’s Pink Ribbon workouts on Comcast is what inspired me to start training for next year’s Race for the Cure in Seattle (no date yet, but I’m assuming there will be one). Jillian Michaels’ Free Mini Workouts – 14 videos. Yep, that Jillian Michaels, from TV’s The Biggest Loser. Get ready to bust your fanny. Really. Have fun with these! Feel free to tool around the ExerciseTV site for more free mini-workouts. These are great to download and take with you on vacation. (Yes, fall’s coming, but we still have a month of summer before school starts!) ================================================
I never was the strongest kid in my class. Okay, scratch that: I was the class wimp. (Classmates loved breaking through my spot in a Red Rover line because I was such an easy target.) I didn’t have a “strong constitution,” as my English ancestors would’ve said, and couldn’t keep up with the others. After 10-20 minutes of jumping over that flipping piece of overgrown twine, I began to get lightheaded. In fact, I had tunnel vision and almost passed out. (Looking back, it’s obvious that I was dehydrated…besides being a weakling.) I want to talk today about preparing to exercise…beginning with that necessity of life: water. You’ve probably heard that if you want to build muscle, you need to eat more protein. Protein, after all, is the building block of muscle. But did you know that your muscles are also 73% water? I never knew that until recently. If you want to build muscle by working out, drink water. Cindy Whitmarsh of ExerciseTV recommends drinking 90 ounces of water per day. That’s around five 16.3 ouncers. That may seem like a lot of water, but trust me: If you’re working out like you should, drinking that much will come easily. Also, if you want to give your body the right fuel for your workouts, you need to stay away from junk food. I’m not a nutritionist, so I’m not going to tell you exactly what you should eat — you can find that information yourself just by doing a Google search. But I will tell you that when I eat too much sugar, I feel weak and even sick to my stomach. Also, and maybe this is because I have fibromyalgia, my body will start to ache shortly after eating sugar-laden “food.” (A side note on my fibromyalgia, which I’ll cover in more depth in a future post: Since I’ve begun working out, my flare-ups have pretty much been non-existent.) When I eat right, which includes whole wheat or whole grains, dark green veggies, protein, small amounts of fruit (fruit is good for you, but is still full of fructose, or “fruit sugar”), etc., I feel stronger and have more endurance for my workouts. Try eating better — you’ll find you have more energy for your daily tasks, as well. Also, if you’re serious about working out, stay away from alcohol, especially if you’re training for a race. Because it’s a depressant, it affects your brain’s and body’s ability to do normal tasks. One little glass of wine can slow you down and inhibit your endurance for four days. The last one should be obvious: Get the sleep you need. My mother has told me for years (she’s always reading the latest research) that the sleep you get before midnight counts twice as much as the sleep you get after. I don’t know why that is, but I know my body sure feels it if I make it a habit of not hitting the hay until 1 or 2 in the morning. Sometimes I work out late at night after my three year-old is asleep. That’s really not the best time to exercise. For one, if I do several ExerciseTV workouts in a row (10-20 minutes each on average), I can pretty much plan on being awake for at least another hour or two afterward. Because exercise gets your heart rate up and your adrenaline flowing, it’s a great way to begin your day, but not such a great way to end it like that. If late at night really is your best time for working out, then do what works for you. Otherwise, try switching it to sometime earlier in the day. You might find you’ll sleep better, too. ==================================================== |
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Copyright © 2012 CrazyBusy Mama! (Dot Calm) - All Rights Reserved |
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I’m so excited to make the official announcement…right here on CrazyBusy Mama…that I am now also a blogger over at ExerciseTV! I’ve been doing the ExerciseTV workouts with my daughter, Erica, for a while now and we’ve seen such a change in our bodies and lives. It’s the coolest thing to be able to share that journey with the world! Erica will also be giving her take on our continued quest for fitness, and we’ll be sharing our updates as we train for next year’s Race for the Cure in our area. 
I’m still on my freebie and deals kick this weekend, and I want to tell you about something cool you’ll find when you visit 
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