Workout Motivations

I'm now on Day 7 of my 30-day health challenge and I'm feeling pretty good so far. I know it's just over 20 percent of my goal, but hey - it's 20 percent more than I did over a week ago!! 

I'm normally not one to stick to workout routines as I find them incredibly boring, but the one I'm currently doing is pretty good. It's only 15 minutes, consisting of three sets of a series of five to six exercises. So three minutes per series means you have to be very efficient with your workout. There's no time to be bored because you're constantly changing it up. And with barely any resting time in between sets, you're working your body pretty hard.

I'm already sore from these workouts but they are such a good way to ease myself into exercise. I'll see how I feel after a month as I'm sure my body will need to push itself further than 15 incredibly focused minutes.

Even though it's only Day 7, it can be tough to get motivated to exercise simply because of a busy schedule. Between my day job, the blog, Joue Design and being a mom, it can definitely be difficult to find even a 15 minute time slot. But if I can do it, anyone can.

My Outlook calendar and iPhone are my entire life. Everything is coordinated through those tools and it's amazing how much I manage to fit in when I'm organized and efficient with my time. You learn to do that exceptionally well once you become a parent.

So I'm eating all the right things (so far!), I'm following my 30-day meal plan and significantly reduced my alcohol intake. That last part is a huge sacrifice as I love wine. But luckily I get two cheat evenings where I can eat or drink whatever I want; keeping in mind that I've worked hard to get to where I am now so I won't just throw it all away and go overboard!

One of the things I've learned to make are these egg breakfast muffins made with kale, spinach and red peppers. They're so yummy and good for you - you can make a big batch for the week like I do, and pull them out of the fridge when you need them!

Here's the recipe that I borrowed (and slightly modified) from Betty Rocker of thebettyrocker.com:

Egg Breakfast Muffins

Yield: 6 servings (12 muffins)

8 eggs
1 cup egg whites
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cups baby spinach (or other leafy green), roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking oil.

2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, egg whites,
   salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add the veggies and stir.

3. Pour the egg mixture into the 12 muffin tins and bake 15-20 minutes, until cooked through.