Monkey See Monkey Do

Hi guys!
  Today I wanted to share with you the deep-seated reason of why I want to live a healthy lifestyle, no matter how challenging it might be (particularly in the kitchen!).

As a child, I loved being active. Growing up, I was involved in Tae Kwon Do, swimming, basketball, and dancing... not that I was exactly good at them. Ha.

But I loved being active. I really enjoyed weight lifting in high school as well.
I spend 1-2 hours in the morning working out and 2-3 hours of the night dancing.
There are times when I felt guilty for spending time away from my family.

But it's like what they say, a happy mom = a happy home = a happy family.
This momma needs her workouts and dance sessions :)

But the other day, I was reminded why I keep going, even if I do feel guilty at times.

When I work out, the kids are at home with me- either playing, napping, doing whatever it is my two little munchkins do.

I don't force them to exercise (at least not yet :P) but when they see me working out, they join me!
Well.. most of the time they do. Other times, they sit on the couch and cheer me on :)

But I absolutely love it when they join me, even if the living room space isn't large enough for the three of us to see the TV at the same time.

We jump, we sweat, we lift weights, we log our progress- they make my workouts fun and they are my workout partners! :)

With child obesity as an issue in the U.S., I really don't want my kids to be a part of that statistic.
In a CPR class that I had to take several months ago, my instructor said that, "back in the days", the depth compressions for an infant/child was 1-1.5" and adults are 2". Nowadays, it is 2" for children as well because of child obesity.

To live a healthy lifestyle is more than just about taking care of my body. It's so that my family can be healthy too. This is the reason, for the sake of my children's health, is why I pop in my workout DVD's or lift weights, or occasionally go to the gym. So they can see what I am doing to be healthy and follow along as they get older.

Cooling down in a lunge V-Sit with rowing

Melody and Jade tracking

 Excuse Melody's oversized pajamas haha :P


What about you guys? Other than the health benefits of eating healthy and exercising, are there any other reasons why you guys maintain or want a healthy lifestyle?
Share in the comments below! :)

April Ab Challenge Results!

Hi Everyone!
  I tried to post this before it was way too far along in May! (7 days isn't too far, is it?)

But I wanted to do a quick post before my day starts and won't get to share my before/after pics!
I see slight differences but it's nothing dramatic.
I did end up skipping some of the days because I didn't feel like doing them or I was just too busy.

But I didn't quit altogether and kept doing what I can to keep up.
Also, as hard as I have tried to eat clean at most and healthy at the very least, I failed miserably.
I'm sure, had I kept my eating under control, my results would have been better.

But here it is!
First picture was taken in the beginning of April.
The next one was taken in mid-April.
The last one was taken yesterday because I kept forgetting to take my pictures.. sorry!

 

 

My next challenge is a challenge I gave to myself- and you can most definitely join me in on this too, but I don't have  tangible workout system for you to use.

But seeing that I have a few workout DVDs from BeachBody, I figured I should at least complete the whole 90-120 days (instead of doing it for a couple weeks and calling it good).
I am on week 3 of Chalean extreme and week 2 of Turbo Fire.
We'll see how long I last :P
But I am tracking my progress, made a little calendar for me so I can see what workouts I'm doing ahead of time, and doing my best to eat keep my eating healthy.

Let's do this!
Huzzah for health!

P.S. If you have before/after pics, feel free to share!
Or you can share it with words- how great you feel, how slim your tummy got, etc.- pics aren't necessary and I would never use them for any reason at all!

How did you feel about it? Was it easy? Hard? Did you stay on track or miss some days like I did? Share your experience! :)