Week One--Fitness Challenge

"People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder." -Salma Hayek

My beautiful sister, loving on some broccoli

Welcome to Week One! 

The health challenge this week is to drink AT LEAST 8 glasses of water everyday. Then you can pee all the time and know how I feel.

These workouts are meant to be difficult but not to the point of where you want to die. Please leave comments below if they were too hard//too easy, and what you would like to see more of! A little bit of what I will use in this program will be YouTube workout videos. I have tested all of them out and will give you some of my favorites. In addition, find the instructions for how to do the unfamiliar workout moves at the bottom of this page. If I included something that doesn't have instructions that you don't know, or if you are still confused, google or YouTube how to do "____." Google knows all.

Here are three healthy dinner recipes that are easy and quick to try out this week. Enjoy!

Honey-Lime Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Corn Tacos (Really easy and so good)
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled if desired and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small yellow onion, diced (1 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5) oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen yellow corn, thawed and drained
3 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Corn or flour tortillas
Romain lettuce or purple cabbage, cotija or feta cheese (monterrey or manchengo would also be good), diced avocados, fresh salsa or pico de gallo and hot sauce (optional)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil then place sweet potatoes on foil. Drizzle with 3 Tbsp olive oil and toss to evenly coat. Sprinkle evenly with cumin, paprika, coriander, cayenne pepper and season lightly with salt and pepper to taste then toss to evenly coat. Bake in preheated oven 15 - 20 minutes until tender, removing from oven and tossing once halfway through baking.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot add onion and saute until caramelized (golden brown on edges and tender), about 5 - 6 minutes, adding in garlic during last 30 seconds of sauteing. Reduce heat to medium-low, add in drained black beans, corn, honey and lime juice. Heat until warmed through. Toss in roasted sweet potatoes and cilantro. Serve over warm tortillas with desired toppings.


Whole Food’s California Quinoa Salad (My favorite of all time quinoa anything!)
damndelicious.net
Total Time 20 minutes
Yield 4 servings

Ingredients
Instructions
One Pan Skinny Tex Mex Chicken and Zucchini
6 Servings (or 2 if you are me and Branden)
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium bell peppers, chopped
1 lb boneless & skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp cumin, divided
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup corn, frozen or fresh
14 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp taco (fajita) seasoning, all natural (substitute with cayenne pepper + cumin)
1 large zucchini, diced
1 cup Tex Mex or Colby Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup cilantro, chopped

Preparation
Preheat large deep skillet on low - medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion and garlic, saute until translucent. Add bell pepper and saute for a few more minutes. Move mixture to a side of the skillet and add chicken. Sprinkle with 1 tsp cumin, salt and black pepper. Saute until a bit golden brown, about 5 -7 minutes.
Add corn, beans, tomatoes, taco (fajita) seasoning and remaining cumin. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add zucchini and stir. Sprinkle with cheese, cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Top with green onions and cilantro. Serve hot, on its own or with brown rice or quinoa.

And here are the workouts! Go get em!


Monday: Full Body Strength/Cardio Circuit



Warmup: 1 minutes of torso twists, (keep your core engaged and twist your body from side to side) 1 minute of toe touches, (reach up, reach down) 1 minute of jumping jacks

Circuit One (Repeat this circuit 2 times for 8 minutes each. Get in as many rounds as possible!)

20 Squats
10 Half-Burpees (See instructions below) 
20 Tricep Dips (See instructions below) 
10 Bicycle Crunches (See instructions below) 

Circuit Two (Repeat this circuit 2 times for 8 minutes each. Get in as many rounds as possible!)

20 Mountain Climbers (25 per side) (See instructions below)
10 Push-ups (Full body or from knees)
20 Bicep Curls (If you have dumbbells laying around, pick up a weight! 5-20 lbs. If not, use something weighted--try cans from your kitchen, bottles of shampoo, etc...)
10 Squated Jumping Jacks (See instructions below) 

Cooldown: Stretch our those legs and arms!

Tuesday: Power Yoga


Copy/Paste this link into your YouTube channel. This workout is 40 minutes of power yoga with a lot of leg work, and some headstands which you can do against a wall if your balance isn't there yet. Make sure to follow through with the meditation at the end!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLmVBHN_Kdo&list=PLzsTkvstBHZNiVEufpZzqAbWWS2MS008f&index=5

Wednesday: Rest Day


Go for a walk with a friend or do some stretching!

Thursday: HIIT Day! (High Intensity Interval Training, focus on legs) 


Today we are going to do lots of plyometrics, plank, and cardio. You will need some sort of timer, because you will be doing each exercise listed below for 40 seconds followed by 20 seconds of high knees until you start the next exercise. I use a free app called the "Interval Timer." You could just use the stopwatch on your phone and pay attention to time on a wall clock as you go.

40 Seconds Work/20 Second High Knees (if you are beginning, use the 20 seconds to walk in place/rest) You will repeat these 8 exercises 3 times for a total of 24 minutes.


1. Jumping Jacks
2. Squats, or Jump Squats if you are feeling crazy (See instructions below) 
3. Push-up pulses (See instructions below)
4. Butt-Kickers
5. One Leg Back Lunge, right (See instructions below)
6. One Leg Back Lunge, left (See instructions below)
7. Half-burpee (See instructions below)
8. Half-Crunches (Keep your core tight and just crunch up about 6 inches and lower slowly down.)

 Repeat these 8 exercises 3x for a total of 24 minutes. Push hard today! Cool down with a 10 minute walk or 10 minutes of stretching. Don't abandon the cool down! 

Friday: Strength Day, (focus on arms and abs)


This is probably my favorite arm workout. You will need some dumbbells. Once again, if you don't have access to a set (I use 10 lb. when I do this. You will want between 5 lb-10 lb) try finding two of something around the house that will work as a weight!

Warmup: Three minutes of light cardio. I suggest jumping jacks, a quick walk around the house, etc...

Repeat each circuit here twice before moving onto the next circuit.


Cooldown: Stretch for three minutes. SET A TIMER. Stretch for at least 3 minutes wherever you are feeling tight.

Saturday: Cardio



Go for a brisk walk with a friend or a run, if you prefer. Try to go for as long as you feel refreshed but not too tired.

Now I know a ton of people hate running. Try calling a friend and putting in headphones and chatting. Or going WITH a friend. Or listening to music or a book.


Sunday: Rest Day



 If you're in the mood, try this video. It is for relaxation and stretching to prepare for the next week!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6d6buP_4PA&list=PLzsTkvstBHZNiVEufpZzqAbWWS2MS008f&index=24


HOW TO DO: 


 Half-Burpee: 

 1. Bend over/Squat in place, put your hands on the floor
2. Jump both feet back so you are in plank position
3. Jump your feet back to your hands
4. Explosively jump into the air, reaching your hands above your head

Tricep-Dips

1. Find a chair or couch in your house and sit down in front of it
2. Put your arms behind you on the chair, straight back
3. Lift yourself up from the floor, with your elbows going straight back
4. Slowly lower yourself down, without touching your butt to the floor if you can help it

Bicycle Crunches

1. Lay on your back and put your hands behind your head
2. Tightening your core, crunch in your left knee and extend your right knee out
3. At the same time that you do this, bring your opposite elbow, your right elbow here, across your body to your left knee
4. Switch sides without lowering your legs or arms or loosening your core

Mountain Climbers

1. Get in push-up/plank position
2. Keeping your shoulders strong, crunch your left knee to your chest as far as you can, tightening your core as you do
3. Repeat with your right knee

Note: For more cardio, do these as fast as you can while maintaining form

Squated Jumping Jacks

1. Get in a deep squat position
2. Jump your legs out wide, still squating, while bringing your arms above your head, and jump back in, bringing your arms down to your side. (This should be like a normal jumping jack, just keeping your legs in a squated position the whole time.)

Jump Squats

1. Do a squat, keeping your back flat
2. Explosively jump as you stand back up
3. Straight back into squat position

Push-up Pulses

1. Get in push-up position (Modified version, go from your knees)
2. Move down 3 inches or so, into a half-pushup
3. Move back up to the top of your push-up position

One Leg Back Lunges

 1. Keeping both hips even as you lower down, lunge back with one leg
2. Lift it off the ground and swing it through, without touching the ground if you can help it, and kick forward
3. Swing it back into a deep back lunge, again without touching the ground
4. Continue to repeat. This will feel like a lunge with one leg and a squat with the one standing still and stabilizing