February's Challenge!!!

So, did you complete January's goal of removing high fructose corn syrup from your home?  I hope you found that you could find plenty of things to eat that did not contain the harmful chemical.  We're doing these monthly goals to try and help you weed the bad things out of your diet without the stress and anxiety of doing it all at once.  This month's goal is going to be:  remove all dyes from your diet.  This includes any dye you see on the ingredients list of a package such as yellow #4 or red #40 (not sure if those numbers go with those colors or not- I don't have any in my house to check!!), but, you get the idea.  You will be surprised as to what foods really do contain these chemicals.  Foods like pickles!!!  They actually put yellow dye in pickles.  I don't understand why, because the pickles I eat, which come from Earth Fare in the packaged meat section, taste delicious and look great.  No need for dyes!!!

How is your exercise goal, which for the month of January was to exercise at least 5 days a week for 20 minutes?  I hope you have found ways to get active.  We started slow so that you didn't do too much too fast.  So, for the month of February let's bump that up to 5 days a week for at least 40 minutes.  You can split that between cardio and weight training.  I would suggest combining the two, such as:  do a set of bicep curls and in between sets jump rope or do pushups to exhaustion, then do another set of biceps.  Do three sets of each.  You could also do a set of biceps and in between those sets do squats.  This way you are working your upper body and your lower body and doing them without resting you are super setting, which is a great way to get your heart rate up and burn lots of calories. Be creative!!!  A great way to get started is to hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to be able to learn more about ways to work each muscle group, or attend a boot camp.  Take advantage of the internet and find exercises on there.  Many sites give very specific instructions so that you don't hurt yourself.  Always remember to protect your back by not locking your knees and no jerky or flinging motions with weights in your hands- this will protect your joints.  Use slow and controlled movements.

How important is your health to you?  Remember, exercising is more than just losing weight.  It's about decreasing your chances of a heart attack, stroke, type II diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer, lowering your blood pressure and stabilizing your blood sugar levels, decreasing stress and anxiety, improving your balance and flexibility, and improving your muscle strength.

Happy exercising!!!