2013 Weekly Challenge #43: Close the Kitchen

Late night snacking can sneak up on you when you don't even see it coming. That last bite of something left on the kitchen counter, a few cookies during the evening news, a cup of hot chocolate... Because you are slowing down for the day, late night calories don't get burned off. Instead, they go to bed with you, stowed away as fat.

To avoid late night munching, try "shutting down your kitchen" right after dinner:

• Put away leftovers and do the dishes
• Wipe down the counters
• Close the blinds and turn off the lights

Once the kitchen is closed, brush your teeth. This will further discourage you from snacking!

Creating a simple evening ritual of closing the kitchen can help you to avoid excess calories and bring an organized end to busy days.

This week:  Close your kitchen right after dinner!  Your body will love you for it!

2013 Weekly Challenge #42: Express Workout

Think you don't have time to exercise? Guess again! In just 10 to 20 minutes, you can get an excellent full body workout. Its called the Express Workout, and you can do it wherever you are, whenever you want!

For a quick workout at home, on vacation, or even in the office, try this circuit (repetitions in parenthesis are for beginner, intermediate and advanced, respectively:

Pushups - box-style, on your knees or on your toes (20, 25, 30)
Dips (20,25,30)
Butt Bumps (20, 25, 30)
Wall Sit (60 seconds for all levels)
Flutter Kick Hold 10 kick, 10 hold (3 sets, 3 sets, 4 sets)

Repeat entire circuit 3 or 4 times.

Need a refresher?  Check out our video section to see Master Trainer Lorri Ann Code at work!

Your challenge:  Do the Express Workout every non-Bootcamp day this week.  Your body will love you for it!

2013 Weekly Challenge #41 Break(your)fast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Broken record, right? In this case, the old cliche' is really true.

One of the most important things Mama Bootcamp tries to teach is how important it is to eat (i.e. FUEL your body) every 2 to 4 hours. We do this for a couple of reasons. First of all, if you keep yourself from getting too hungry, you'll make better food choices instead of just eating whatever you can get your hands on because you're "starving." But more importantly, eating frequent small meals or snacks keeps your metabolism steady so that energy levels are consistent. Eating every 2 to 4 hours also helps alleviate fatigue and hunger. Your body is always fueled and burning calories.

Imagine a sumo wrestlers - picture him in your head. He eats in order to gain as much fat as possible while using muscle for energy. How does he do that? In addition to making less-than-healthy food choices, he also eats only every 8 hours. If you starve your body all day you are doing the same thing; you are using your muscle for calorie burning instead of fat.

So...back to breakfast.

By the time you wake up in the morning (hopefully after a really good night's sleep), it has usually been at least 10 hours since you last fueled your body. You need to eat as soon as possible in order to refuel your body and turn your metabolism (calorie burning machine) back on. If you skip breakfast, your body will store away fat, and burn muscle to get what it needs instead of burning away the fat.

Now that you know WHY breakfast is important, let's talk about the WHAT! Sorry to break it to you, but coffee isn't breakfast, even if it has milk in it. Around 300 calories is a good target to get your day going.

Try to get in some whole grains, fiber, fruit and some protein. These will not only get your metabolism humming, but will give you the energy you need to get through the first few hours of your day. Add in 40 ounces of water by noon, and you'll be a calorie burning machine!

Your challenge this week: Eat breakfast every single day! Try something new, or stick to an old (HEALTHY!) favorite. And then share the love - come back here and leave a comment letting us know what you had for breakfast and how it helped fuel your day!

I'll start: My go-to breakfast is a whole wheat sandwich thin toasted crispy, with a thin layer of crunchy peanut butter on top. I eat it with a cold crisp tart apple cut into wedges. I've got my whole grain, healthy protein, fruit, and fiber all in one! Combined with my cup of coffee (okay, more than one cup) it give me all the fuel I need to get through the morning chaos.

Break your fast the healthy way EVERY day. Your body will love you for it.

2013 Weekly Challenge #40: Where's Your Mojo?

This week is all about excuses.

We all have them. The reasons we give ourselves, and others, for not doing what we know is best, or what we promised ourselves or others we'd do. But this time we're not just talking about being a couple minutes late to work, or not getting all the laundry done...we're talking about health, fitness, and overall MOJO.

Have you found your MOJO? If not...why not?

Are you in a job you don't like or that doesn't challenge you? Do you throw yourself under the bus first, giving up your fitness appointment for the benefit of someone else? Do you have a hard time setting boundaries with others (boss, spouse, etc.) making it impossible to take care of you?

If you are having a hard time getting motivated, or staying motivated, take a look at why. What are YOUR excuses and why are you sabotaging yourself?

Your challenge this week: Identify the excuses you make that stop you from finding and keeping your MOJO, and make at least one change in at least one excuse.

Knowlege is power. Figure out your inner dialogue (aka excuses) and you can change it. Change the way you talk to yourself, and motivate yourself, and you can find your MOJO.