seven healthy habits.

hey, friends!

hope your mondays went off without a hitch. mine was pretty mellow, especially for a monday.

it was also pretty boring and repetitive in the meals department (as mondays can usually be) so i won’t bore you with every last detail. all i need to say is eggbeaters, oatmeal, fruit, big huge salad with cottage cheese & garbanzos (salad #5 of my salad challenge! 15 to go), protein bar, a couple cups of coffee and tons of water. there, that was my day.

my day also included finding a super cute tree skirt, a couple festive christmas dog collars, vanilla bean paste and a winter welcome front door hanger. aaaaand a few unmentionable christmas gifts for the mister.

i will share my workout with you because it was a good one. i love lower body workout day, it is my VERY favorite!

body for life style lower body sesh.

instead of doing abs as a separate set, i superset each leg exercise with an ab exercise—this kept my heart rate up and got the job done faster.

*5 minute treadmill sprint warmup

quads

move	weight	reps	rest
bulgarian split squat	15#	12 each leg	30 ball crunches
bulgarian split squat	20#	10 each leg	30 oblique crunches on ball (15 each side)
bulgarian split squat	25#	8 each leg	30 bicycle crunches
bulgarian split squat	30#	6 each leg	30 floor crunches
bulgarian split squat	20#	12 each leg	none
jump squats	body weight	12	NA

hamstrings

move	weight	reps	rest
single leg deadlift	15#	12 each leg	30 ball crunches
single leg deadlift	20#	10 each leg	30 oblique crunches on ball (15 each side)
single leg deadlift	25#	8 each leg	30 bicycle crunches
single leg deadlift	30#	6 each leg	30 floor crunches
single leg deadlift	20#	12 each leg	none
stability ball ham curl	body weight	12	NA

calves

move	weight	reps	rest
lying calf raise (on leg press)	140#	12	30 ball crunches
lying calf raise	160#	10	30 oblique crunches on ball (15 each side)
lying calf raise	180#	8	30 bicycle crunches
lying calf raise	200#	6	30 floor crunches
lying calf raise	140#	12	none
standing calf raise	body weight	24	NA

this took just over 30 minutes. pretty speedy!

dinner tonight was great, i couldn’t let it go unblogged.

i purchased a pre-marinated/seasoned turkey breast from costco yesterday (i roamed every aisle of costco yesterday! it was glorious. i spent 90 minutes there) and roasted it at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half. i topped the turkey with some trader joe’s orange cranberry relish that i brought back from california.

i also roasted some diced & seasoned sweet potatoes.. which i also bought at costco. love that place.

for a little color, i steamed some veggies as a side dish.

such a simple, non-labor-intensive dinner!

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let’s talk about habits.

it is easy to think about the bad habits we possess.  focusing on what we need to stop is definitely useful in breaking bad habits, but it is also important to remember the good and healthy habits we keep. remembering the things we are doing right is a great way to motivate those healthy habits to continue as well as help us pick up even more healthy habits as days go by.

healthy habits don’t have to be all about diet and exercise. it is important to develop healthy habits in all aspects of life.

i have compiled a list of seven healthy habits i keep in various aspects of my life. why seven? well.. why not?

healthy habit #1: i never skip breakfast and always make sure it includes some protein.

if there is one thing i learned from doing body for life (okay there is not only ONE thing i learned, but this is one OF them) it is to never miss breakfast. i used to never eat breakfast in high school and my early twenties.

now that i eat it regularly, i don’t know how i ever lived without it. incorporating protein into my breakfast definitely makes a difference in keeping me full longer! i read that it has something to do with your body taking longer and working harder to digest protein than carbs and that is why it keeps you full longer. don’t quote me on that.

some of my favorite protein packed breakfasts..

green protein smoothie (using 1 scoop of 100% whey protein) 

eggs! egg whites, eggbeaters or whole eggs. by themselves, in a sandwich, all wrapped up. scrambled, over easy hard boiled. i love them any way they come.

my very favorite way: protein oatmeal!

okay, the one time i DO skip breakfast is if i sleep through it.. but then that just means i eat my breakfast at lunchtime ;)

healthy habit #2: i floss regularly.

brushing your teeth is important.. but flossing is JUST as important. i used to be horrible at flossing.. as in, maybe once a month. now i floss twice a day (sometimes more) and my teeth couldn’t feel better.

i worked hard at getting a nice smile and teeth. five years of braces! i want to take care of them! love my pearly whites.

i keep floss in my purse, my car, my office and my bathroom. you never know when there will be a little extra flossin’ time.

healthy habit #3: i stay hydrated.

it’s not news that i drink a gallon of water a day. i do this not only because it is good for me, but because it keeps my UTIs away. i don’t talk about it often, but i get chronic UTIs and have since i was a little kid.. like, 3 or 4 years old. if i don’t drink enough water, i will get them on average of 4 or 5 a MONTH. if you have ever had a UTI, you know how painful they are. try having 50 a year and see how you like it. they have done a bunch of tests on me and really don’t know my deal. even shoving a camera up my urethra didn’t solve it. (TMI?) but the one thing that always keeps them away is drinking a TON of water.

so i do.

every day.

healthy habit #4: i call my mom every day.

my mom is my best friend. it’s no secret that we have a great friendship, i talk about her a lot. but even if i wasn’t as close with her, i would still think calling her every day was important. i realize how blessed and lucky i am to have a great mom. i have lots of friends who don’t have the greatest relationships with their moms and that makes me sad.

fact of the matter is, your mom gave birth to you. even if you have a lot of drama or bad history with your mom.. she still is your mom. and not all of us are lucky enough to have our moms alive.

my mom’s mom passed away eight years before i was born. i am sad i never got to meet her, but i know what a great lady she was because my own mom talks about all the adventures she would have with her mom. she sounds like a great lady. just like momma b. i like to think that my relationship with my mom is like the one she had with her mom. and that is important to me.

having a healthy, happy relationship with my mom is probably the most important habit i keep. i am grateful for every phone call we have, because i realize that one day (in, like, 50 years)—just like my mom with her mom–the phone calls won’t be able to happen.  so i make the most of every single second i have with momma b. there is nothing quite like our friendship.

great, now i am crying.

anyway, i really encourage you to call your mom if you have the capability. even if you aren’t friends. just call her.

healthy habit #5: i wear my seatbelt.

this was a hard habit to develop. i actually used to have the bad habit of NEVER wearing my seatbelt. marshall hated that and any time i didn’t buckle up, he wouldn’t shave. it was a little deal we had going on. hey—wait a tick! now that i buckle up all the time.. he should be shaving all the time! noted.

anyway, seat belts save lives. i used to not buckle up because i was lazy.. but really, it takes but a second and it is important! buckle up.

healthy habit #6: i exercise at least four times a week.

yeah. four times a week. realize i didn’t say seven. or six. or even five. i said four. i have no idea what the recommended weekly amount of exercise is, but i feel like 4 days out of 7 is pretty dang good. i used to be die hard and work out 6 days a week without fail, but things came up! life got real exciting and there is not ALWAYS time for exercising. plus, i am not trying to lose weight. so, i have decided, that as long as i exercise four days a week, i am in good shape. i go for at least 2 weight training days and 2 cardio days. sure, there are weeks that are 5 or 6 days of exercise, but if i don’t get that many workouts in, i don’t sweat it. literally

healthy habit #7: i have a savings account that i add to regularly.

i have always been good with saving money. i am one of those weirdos who thinks it is fun to see how much i can save. yeah, i know. but even on the months that money is tight, i still try to put at least $25 into my savings account. but more when i can, of course. i started this habit at a young age and by the time i got married, i had a nice little chunk of change saved up. no, not enough to be marshall’s sugar momma but enough that if something bad happened, i would be able to support us for a few months on my savings.

it is surprising to see how much can actually be saved. i will usually put as much as i possibly can into savings (after paying my bills) and then when i want to go shopping, i have to pull that money OUT of savings.. the mentality of doing that kicks in and spending money that is in savings is a little harder than spending money that is in checking. it is a mind game for me.

having a healthy outlook and relationship with finances is really important to me and this healthy habit has already helped my marriage! marshall has been getting excited by seeing how much of his paycheck he is actually capable of saving with a little motivation.

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there you have it.. seven healthy habits i keep.

sure, we all have our bad habits. but don’t get down on yourself about those. just work on breaking the bad habits and increasing the good ones. focus on your healthy habits you already keep in order to motivate you to develop more healthy habits for a long, healthy and happy life.

Qs~

1. is there a bad habit you are currently trying to break? you can do it!

2. what healthy habit(s) do you keep?

xo. janetha g.