do you journal?

Whoo-Hoo!!  It's Friday!  Do you get excited for the weekends or is Friday just another day for you?  I love the weekends because it usually means that I get to spend more time with my family!  We had planned to go to the lake, but it is going to rain all weekend, so we are going to hang out at home instead.

Friday Challenge:

I think it is so important to keep a journal.  Today's Challenge is to keep a journal of your food and water intake, your exercise, your gratitude statement and to-do list and a goals list

My journal entries look something like this:

b-
l -
s -
d-

Water - 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8

Workout -

Gratitude Statement -

to do list -

Goals -

I have a cute notebook (this is important!!) and just write it all down everyday.  I refer back to it often to update it and to mark off the things I have accomplished on my to-do list.  My goals are right in front of my face, so I know what I need to stay focused on.  I also think that when you write it down and really put them out there, you are more apt to reach those goals!  I love writing down what I am grateful for as well.  It puts things in perspective for me.  Be sure to write down everything you eat and drink.  If you eat 2 M & M's, then write it down.  It is so good to know how much you are eating and what you are eating. If you are struggling with losing, you will see a pattern and will be able to make some changes so that you will get results! 

So, the challenge is to keep your journal - for a day, a week, a month  or every day!

Friday Follow

You know the drill by now on Friday Follow, but if you are new, this is a great way to find other interesting blogs.  It can be overwhelming, just follow as many as you can!  There's no pressure and you will make some great new friends!

Be sure to visit the sponsors of Friday Follow:  Midday Escapades, One 2 Try, and Hearts Make Families!

Speed Clean Challenge

It's Friday again. This week has just flown by.  I got home from the summit on Monday evening and I've been playing catch up all week. But, I am just about caught up! 

Friday Challenge:

Today's challenge is going to be fun!  I am all about getting things done as quickly as possible and getting to the good stuff - FUN!  So, when I clean my house, I try to make a game out of it.  Speed cleaning is the best way to get a lot accomplished in a short period of time. Set the timer for 30 mins.  Then start cleaning and get as much done as you can in the 30 mins.  If you do this every day, your house looks good, you have time for whatever else you need to get done in your day or you can just play!

So today's challenge, set the timer for 30 mins and clean to your heart's content and then be done!  If you don't get it all done in 30 mins, don't sweat it, just get it done tomorrow.  Of course, this may not work if you have a big party at your house or company coming over, but on a daily basis, it will work.  Everything gets done.

Be sure to leave me a note and let me know what you think and how it goes for you!

Friday Follow

Be sure to check out One 2 Try, Midday Escapades and Hearts Make Families.  They created all the Friday Follow Fun! 

This is a great way to find new blogs to read and to help get new readers to your blog!  Hope you will come out to play with us!

Meatless?

Good Morning!  Yay for Friday!

Today's Friday Challenge is a good one!  Go meatless!  You can choose how long you go meatless for:  1 meal, 2 meals, or all day!

I eat a mostly vegetarian diet with no dairy (except for the whey protein isolate that is in my Shakeology) on a daily basis.  As soon as they come out with the vegan version of Shakeology, I'll be switching over to it and will not have ANY dairy!  (Note to Beachbody:  ANYTIME would be fine!)  When I changed my diet, I lost weight, I had a dramatic change in my health, no more headaches, no more stomach aches, and my skin cleared up.  WOW!

So, choose which option you will do - I really do encourage you to challenge yourself and not eat any meat at all today ( or if it is too late - tomorrow!)

So, what do you eat?  There are LOTS of options - fruit smoothie or shakeology for breakfast, veggie pasta salad with a nice crusty bread for lunch, beans and rice for dinner?  Soup, a big ol' salad,  I could go on and on.

There are many vegetarian cookbooks out there.  A few of my favorites:

Alicia Silverstone's Kind Diet













Dreena Burton - Eat Drink and be Vegan













Isa Chandra Moskowitz - Vegan with a Vengenance

Here is my favorite beans and rice recipe!  You can even use canned beans, just make sure to drain and rinse.

beans of your choice ( black, pinto, adzuki, or a combo of all are some of my faves)

brown rice ( or quinoa, millet, or a combo of all)

Put these in your bowl and on top:

add chopped mango, salsa, avocado,red onion, cilantro and hot pepper sauce.  I also like vegannaise on top.  YUM!  I may have to have this for lunch now.  Sounds so good!  Let me know if you try it!  I'll get a photo of it today and add it.  It's a pretty dish!

Friday Follow:

Friday Follow is a great way to meet new people, read new blogs and have a fun day!

Join in the fun and get to browsing!!!

Got Squats?

It's Friday Challenge Day! yay! I'm sure you are jumping for joy!!!!

We have done push-ups, sit-ups and drank our water. So today I think we should focus on our lower body. Yep, the dreaded squat! Now, be careful here. You must do these properly or it is hard on your knees. Put all the weight in your heels and stick out your booty! Just like you are sitting in a chair.

Source
The challenge is to do 25 slow squats. Now, when you are doing squats it can be deceiving. You may be able to do more, but you may not be able to walk tomorrow, so take it easy if you are new to doing squats. You can do more if you are used to doing squats, but I want everyone to be able to participate!

Be sure to let me know how you do.

I would love for you to check out my friend Valerie's blog. The Total Effect. She is such a cutie and has come up with the most interesting recipe challenge.

You can become a Master Shakeologist by creating the best tasting Shakeology recipe. She will even send you a sample of the Shake to create your recipe. I've got a few recipes up my sleeve to enter! The winner will be featured on her blog, facebook and twitter with the winning recipe!

Friday Follow!

Today is another Friday follow. I have to say that this is so enjoyable to participate. I am finding great new blogs to read. If you aren't participating, why not? Get signed up and start reading and following!




Discussion: What do you think is the best workout for the lower body? Squats? Lunges? Something else?

get gulping!!

We are camping this weekend. I love it! Such a good time and no matter where we go, we find interesting places to visit and things to do. Not sure what today will bring, but I'll be sure to capture some fine moments. Here is one from yesterday. We saw these apple chairs on the side of the road and decided to take our picture in them. We got out of the car, ran over and I was ready to plop down in one and thankfully I looked before I sat, full of mud and water. That would have brought our fun to a screeching halt. ( At least mine, they would've been laughing so hard).

We found a really cool restaurant to eat last night. It was a Roadhouse and imagine my surprise when black bean hummus and pita bread was on the menu! So happy and so delicious! Watch for a photo of me and Yogi Bear tomorrow! I know you can't wait!

Friday Challenge:
How did you do on the crunch challenge. I guess most of you thought 200 was too many. I got mine in, but had to get the last of them right before I went to bed. So, today's challenge is a little different.

It is so hard for most of us to drink enough water. So today I am going to challenge you to get drinking! You should be drinking 1/2 of your body weight in ounces of water per day. Minimum of 64 oz and maximum of 100 oz. So, this is your challenge today.

Ways to get more water in:

1) Keep a large bottle with you at all times. I have a great looking Insanity orange bottle and it always has water in it!

2) Don't like to drink anything without flavor? put in some fruit slices (orange, limes, lemons, strawberries) or I really like cucumber. Very refreshing. I also love my Herbasway drops. (no calories or sugar, plenty of good flavor and anti-oxidants)

3) Brian's advice, hold your nose and just drink it!

Grab a glass of water when you get up. Drink it before you eat or drink anything else. Then have a glass mid-morning, a glass with your lunch, another glass mid-afternoon, another one after your workout, grab a glass to sip on before dinner, refill and drink with your meal and then a glass before bed in the evening.
So, get out your water jugs, pretty water bottles or glasses and get gulping!

Today is also Friday Follow! If you are not participating, you should be. It's a lot of fun finding new blogs to read and meeting great people!

Crunch Time

It's Finally Friday! I'm so glad this week has gone by fast. I'm not one to wish my life away, but this was a tough week.

FRIDAY CHALLENGE

Last week was 100 pushups. Several of you participated and did all of them or as many as you could do! That makes me soooo happy! So today we are going to focus on our belly - CRUNCHES! 200 of em. Do all of them at one time for a great burn or space them out throughout the day. Lay on your back, bend your knees, let your head just fall into your hands and raise from the middle, not the shoulders. Try not to put too much strain on your neck. You can even put your hand on your belly so that you can feel the muscle working. This way you know you are doing them right. Be sure to tighten those muscles. This will be easy for some of you and really hard for others. You can do it! Of course, you can do more than 200 if you'd like. Be sure to let me know how you are doing here or on facebook or twitter!!!!

Crunches will help you to tone the muscles, but to lose belly fat, you must change your diet. "Abs are made in the kitchen" - Tony Horton

So, also work on eating a healthy diet, no processed foods, no sugar, no white bread, white rice, eat whole, nutritious foods and you will see changes in your belly.

FRIDAY FOLLOW

It's also Friday Follow. I really enjoy particpating in this, I get to find so many new blogs to read and new friends as well.

Today is the last day for the Function Drink giveaway. I'll be drawing at 6 PM today. Be sure to get your entries in! Just click on the link to the left (giveaways) and you will be taken right to the page!

Enjoy your Good Friday!

Friday Follow and Friday Challenge!

It's Finally Friday! Brian is going to a buddies night, so I am hosting a Girls Night In! Some of my high school girlfriends are coming over and we are going to make pizza and watch movies and just have a good time. We always do! I love that we are still in touch and get together! We get together for birthdays and that usually means once a month. It's so much fun!

I'm going to start a new Friday Challenge. Don't worry, it won't be too hard :) Every Friday it will be something different. Might be food or water related, might be exercise related. Could be organization or writing..... whatever strikes my fancy. But, I will be doing it with you!

Today's Challenge will be to do 100 push-ups. These can be spread out throughout the day or more power to you if you can knock them all out at once. I was in a push-up challenge a few years ago for one month to do as many push-ups as possible each day. I got to where I would stop and do 20 pushups every time I thought about it. Not only did I build up my strength, but my arms were looking great! You can do these on your knees, on your toes or against the wall. However you can get them in! Yes, your arms will probably be sore on Sat., but you will feel great knowing you got it done!

Be sure to post and let me know that you got them done!!

It's Friday Follow!!!












This Week's Friday Follow Sponsor:



Discussion: Do you still get together with your old friends? What are some fun things you do?

Ayla's Herbal Water and Friday Follow

I know that most people talk about how hard it is to drink water. This usually isn't a problem for me, but sometimes I just want something with a little flavor.

Did you know that you should be drinking 1/2 of your body weight in ounces of water daily? There are a few recommendations, minimum of 64 ounces and a maximum of 100 ounces. How are you doing according to this scale? I usually get around 60 - 80 oz.

I was so excited when I discovered Ayla's Herbal Water! Ayla's is just water with no calories, no artifical anything and usually essential oils added to flavor the water. Zero preservatives There are some very exotic flavors. My favorites were Cinnamon Orange Peel, Lemongrass Mint Vanilla, and Lavender Mint. They were all good, those were just my faves!

It is a nice change of pace to have something with a little flavor during the day. I do recommend that you not drink them with your meal unless you are coordinating the flavors :)

You can find Ayla's Herbal Water near you or make your purchase online.

Follow Ayla's Herbal Water on Facebook and Twitter.

It's another Friday Follow! This is so much fun, if you are not participating you should be. I am finding some great blogs!









Friday Follow Sponsor:
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I wanted to update on my P90X/Insanity journey. I'm still doing my workouts. I am not lifting as heavy as I would like, but with the back still acting up on occasion I'm a little afraid to push it just yet. I skipped Insanity on Monday and did Cardio X instead. It's not as jarring. I'm so ready to get back into it, but if my back hurts today after my Insanity workout, I'll probably bag the Insanity part and just go with the X and X+ workouts this round. I am also thinking of adding in some Slim in 6 in the mornings. Still having my Shakeology every day. I love this stuff. My energy level is up, my hair and nails are better than ever! I have a Shakeology 3 day cleanse if anyone is interested in getting more info - let me know. Great way to jump-start that weight loss!!

Fresh Wave

Good Morning! We are traveling and it has been so much fun, but my internet has been scarce to say the least. So sorry that I went MIA!

We are using our camper and loving every minute of it. I was so blessed to be able to try out Fresh Wave's products! I put the gel in the camper before we left. Brian walked in and noticed that it smelled better. No stale odors here please! The gel isn't over powering or too "girly" smelling, just very nice and fresh.

We workout in the basement. It can get smelly down there just from being a basement, but when you throw in some sweaty bodies, ooh, it can smell pretty ripe. So, I put the pearl packs down there and it is nice also. Again, it isn't overpowering, but I like that. I don't like heavy smells. This is just right.

Fresh Wave has so many great products. Candles, pearl packs, gels, sprays, anything you could possibly want to keep your home smelling fresh. The best part of Fresh Wave products is the fact that they are all natural, you don't have to worry about leaving them out, even around your pets! No harmful chemicals are used. Be sure to check them out today.

Follow Fresh Wave on twitter and facebook.

Today is Friday Follow! I am going to be busy all day today, but I'll be checking out some great new blogs this weekend. Jump in on the fun!

sleeping on the weekend

It's Finally Friday! YEAH!! I'm not sure why I'm so excited about Friday this week, I have such a busy weekend coming up. We are getting one of our rental properties ready to put on the market and we'll be painting all weekend. But, it is the weekend. So, YAY!!!

Do you change up your routine just because it is the weekend? I try to stick with my normal routine of workout, eating and water, but I just seem to have more fun on the weekend. Since I work from home, it doesn't make much of a difference for me. I do know that when I had an office job, it was completely different!

I think it is so important to get our sleep into a good routine. Even on the weekends, you should go to sleep at the same time and wake at the same times. You can vary a little, but getting out of my routine can affect me for days. Last weekend, my father-in-law, Bill, was in the hospital. I stayed overnight with the in-laws on Friday night and didn't get much sleep at all (about 2 hours), boy talk about a crabby patty!!!! I am still trying to get caught up on my sleep from that night.

So, even though it is the weekend, be sure to stick as close as possible to your sleep routine. A good night's rest is important :

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests six reasons to get enough sleep:

1) Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.

2) Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.

3) Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.

4) Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.

5) Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.

6) Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

I do know that when I do get enough sleep, I feel better, I look better and Brian will certainly tell you that I am easier to get along with :)

It's Friday Follow!!!!

This is my 3rd week to participate in Friday Follow. This is a lot of fun and a great way to find some great blogs and people!

If you are new to Feeling Fit With Dana, I'm glad you stopped by and hope that you will enjoy what you find here. I like to focus on being healthy and will include healthy recipes (usually vegetarian) and we always have Fit Club Mondays. I have a workout song of the day that you can turn on and dance around! I also do product reviews and host giveaways on occasion! So, take a moment and look around. Be sure to get to bed on time, no staying up too late on Friday Follow!

Friday Follow!

The concert last night was sooo good! I have to say that I absolutely LOVED every minute of it. Good friends, good food and great music. I love both Billy Joel and Elton John, but together they are just fantastic! The concert started off with the pianos rising up from the stage, then Billy and Elton came out and sang songs together ( hence the concert name Face to Face!) Then Elton John took over and played for almost 2 hours. I couldn't believe it. He was like the Energizer bunny. Billy Joel came out and played for a little over an hour and then they came together and finished up with songs together again. My favorites for the night were Crocodile Rock (today's workout song of the day, just try and listen without dancing!!), Piano Man, Uptown Girl and Saturday Night! All of them were good, but those were my favorites. I highly recommend that if you can get to one of their concerts, DO IT!!!!!!

As you know, yesterday I called the Ford Center and they said no photography would be allowed. So, I didn't take my camera. I was sooooo mad when I got there, cameras were everywhere, they didn't check my purse. I could've had so many great photos. I'm so unhappy with the little lady I spoke with. This is the photo I took with my cell phone.


It's another Friday and another Friday Follow! This is actually week 7, but week 2 for me! If you want to participate in all the fun, please just follow the instructions below and jump on the bandwagon!







Link up and spread the word! I'll be posting on twitter and facebook as well. Be sure to follow me there if you'd like!!!

For those of you that are new to my blog, sit back, relax and stay a while.

Friday Follow!

Today is the first day that I am participating in the Friday Follow blog hop! I think this is so much fun and a great way to find new blogs! Be sure to check them out and also, follow and leave a comment. We love nothing better than lots of comments and followers! This is a great celebration sponsored by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapes!

If you are new to my blog, you may like to know that we always have a Fit Club Monday. I highlight a workout of the week and include a healthy recipe (usually vegetarian). I also host giveaways from time to time. I don't have any going on right now, but be sure to check back often, some great things coming up! I do reviews of products. I try to focus on healthy, eco-friendly items. I love to cook and workout. I have been known to brag about my family from time to time as well!

Below you will find a list of blogs participating this week! Grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage (coffee, tea or that great hot cocoa) and check out these wonderful blogs.