Last week's SROTW

I'll start archiving the Shakeology Recipe of the Week so you can always see past recipes. Just use the Shakeology label to get all posts about this AWESOME shake!

From 10/18/10

Chocolate covered strawberries
- 1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
- 6 frozen whole strawberries
- 1 cup almond milk
- ice to taste

Blend well and enjoy!

To-do list! Inspired by @ChaleneJohnson with my own tips in the mix!

I create a to-do list every morning and every week based on goals that I re-evaluate and revamp every month. It is by far the best thing I've added to my daily routine and I'm convinced it's made me better over all. I started this practice half heartedly after getting daily loving reminders from Chalene Johnson to make my to-do list and keep it close at hand but I didn't really have a good handle on how to make a GREAT list and how to follow it until I read "Eat That Frog".

First off, I have to give credit where credit is due. Chalene Johnson has given amazing advice on how to create and use a to-do list on a regular basis. To hear her point of view, go to and download her audio at www.chalenejohnson.com/gift. If you aren't already subscribed, I also recommend subscribing to her audio program, Car Smart (TM). I love having her lectures on my Blackberry!

Since this is a blog about to-do lists, let's get this party rolling for how having a to-do list can improve your life!

• With the right construction, it can keep you on track to achieve your major goals by taking steps towards it EVERY DAY.
• If you put every little thing on your to-do list, you won't forget to do those "little things" that seem to fall to the wayside as bigger projects take over.
• You feel less stressed because you won't be trying to remember a ton of "things to do". Put it on your list and then focus on the task at hand.
• You'll be able to plan your day better because you know what you need to get done.
• I can't explain how good it feels to check things off your to-do list and see what you've accomplished - it's addicting!!
• Projects and major events don't seem nearly as daunting when they're broken down into manageable tasks.

There - 6 good reasons why you should have a to-do list. Just having a list isn't the magic part though...it's how you have, keep, and use your to-do list. So with that...you guessed it - another list!

How to use your to-do list to its potential!

• Put everything on that list! I don't care if it's a huge chunk of a project or something as simple as "send an email to Mom". If you have to do it, put it on the list.
• I've always believed this and you'll hear Chalene reinforce it in her audio: keep one list in one place where you can get to it all the time. I use my phone because that thing almost never leaves my side. Heidi Klum says she keeps hers on a notepad that she even takes into the bathroom because she thinks through things in the shower and wants to be able to add to her list right away. Do what works for you but keep it all handy!
• Make sure that you're being real with yourself. If it's one of those days that you have a dozen meetings or 3 kids who have to be at 3 different practices on 3 different ends of town at the same time - don't plan to knock out 40 things that day! Balance your to-dos with scheduled responsibilities!
• I recommend a layered system. I have major goals for the year that I have broken up by month. At the start of every month, reevaluate and see where you are and what you need to get done in the next 30-31 days. Every week take a look at that and determine which bite you can take that week and then every DAY look at your list, what has gotten done, what you need to do, how your week looks and make sure that you're doing everything TODAY that you can so that tomorrow can be better.
• When you look at your to-do list every morning, try to do so at the same time at the same place. This will put your brain in "to-do list mode" and will help you create a rhythm.
• If you're working on a big project - you know the kind...the one where it takes a little while to get going but once you get your momentum, you have to break it - and something little comes across your plate, don't let it distract you! Put it on your to-do list, forget it, focus on the task at hand. Jumping from task to task without completing anything doesn't amount to much. It's like taking a bite of a roll, then a bite of chicken, then some corn, then green beans...all without chewing and swallowing one bite before taking the next - before you know it, your mouth is full and you're choking! One. Bite. At. A. Time....same goes for your tasks.
• Got something done? Check it off! I'm pretty sure that especially as you learn to REALLY value your to-do list, checking things off causes the same chemical reaction in your brain as an addicting drug. You feel good, like you can take on the world, and you're driven to get the next task done so you can check that off your to-do list too and repeat that high!
• We all have emergencies that come up, things that happen that force us to move away from the task at hand....don't beat yourself up if that happens and you lose your list for the day - that's why you revamp it every morning!
• Prioritize! We all have those "fun" things to-do which are countered by the less exciting "must do"s. It's important to make sure that you can tell which things are "needs" and which are "wants". I use a color coding system - use whatever works for you!

The last point I'd like to make is around the 2:00 2 minute task checks. I've gotten a couple questions on them so I'll describe it now for all to "hear". As I've mentioned, I believe that every little task should go on your to-do list to help keep these little thoughts from distracting you from the task at hand. Since checking things off your list can also get addicting, what better way to defend against the 2 or 3 o'clock afternoon crash? My reminder is to encourage you to, at your next break between tasks, scan your to-do list for those little tasks that can be done in 2 minutes or less. Don't get too distracted by them as I'm sure you have high priority things to finish but tackle those little tasks. By crossing off a number of tasks in 15 minutes or so, you'll revitalize your "I can do this!" mentality and be reenergized to get through your afternoon. Look for my 2 o'clock reminders on twitter (@gabriellah99) or Facebook (Gabriella Harrison or Sweat.Eat.Repeat.).

I'd love to hear your ideas on a to-do list, especially if you have more tips that you think would help fellow readers! Have you recently started keeping a good list? How has it helped? What have you learned?

Resistance Bands workouts

The "easiest" way to burn more calories all day long is to have more muscle. I know many of us can't make it to the gym on a regular basis for a number of reasons but you can do a lot with resistance bands and the like. Hopefully with the ideas I've posted below, you can start incorporating some resistance band exercises into your daily workouts and start some strength training.

Don't have resistance bands? I love the sets I've gotten from Beachbody and highly recommend them. To order your set, visit http://tiny.cc/CoachG.

Ok let's get to it. I recommend picking a few upper body and a few lower body workouts each time. You should have a total of 8 exercises and do each exercise in 2 sets of 10-15 reps. Just make sure you jump rope or do some kind of warm up before your workout and finish with a gooooood stretch :-)

Upper body:
see http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exercise_demos.asp?exercise_type=upper for demos of these and other exercises

Bicep curls (one of my faves!)
Chest press
Front raises
Lateral raises (another fave)
Tricep extensions (lifts on the Spark page)
Tricep rows
Lower body:
see http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exercise_demos.asp?exercise_type=lower for demos of these and other exercises

Abduction
Adduction
Leg curls
Squats (looooove squats!)
Seated leg extensions (standing version is on this page as well!)
Single leg squats
Single leg hip flexon

Now I know most of these are listed as "beginner" exercises but if you keep increasing the strength of the resistance bands or shorten the band, it will in effect increase the difficulty of the exercise. Also, when possible, try doing these sitting on an exercise ball - having to balance will work your core!

My favorite combination of these exercises is:

Warm up / Cardio (typically TurboJam 20 minute)
Bicep curls
Lateral raises
Tricep extensions
Tricep rows
Abduction / Adduction
Leg curls
Seated leg extensions
Squats
Nice long stretch

Try mixing and matching! Can't wait to hear what works best for you!!

Another fun weekend halfway through!

So thanks to my awesome new laptop, I'm writing this blog as Daddy drives us back to my parents' house. From there I'll be heading to my friends' for their daughter's birthday party and finishing off my weekend by driving home and getting ready for the week ahead. I'm going to try to hit the sheets early tonight so I can get up early tomorrow and get back in my normal routine so I thought I'd post this now instead of waiting until tomorrow.

Pictures will be up and online sometime this week so while this blog won't be loaded with them, they are coming.

10.10.10 - what a date! Kinda cool, right? Only two more days we'll get dates like this for another few years (11.11.11 and 12.12.12). I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean anything but it's fun none the less!

It's been a weekend of athletic heartbreak but I have enjoyed the time with family and friends. I got to see a good friend from a lifetime ago at my high school's homecoming game Friday night which they lost to our rivals 49-13. ouch. She and I then went to grab some food with my Daddy while Mom (who had already eaten dinner) went home to work on cupcakes for the Michigan Drumline. Jenn and I had a great time catching up, talking and promising to stay in better touch - we both need each other right now and it's great to have good friends who support you.

My evening was about to end - or so I thought - as I went home to get some sleep. Mom was still working on these adorable cupcakes but had a bit of work left to do, so I helped. Out came the frosting bags and tips as I added "grass" to 48 chocolate and yellow cupcakes as Mom finished peanut butter football truffles to put on top. The result was adorable!

 

At about 2 am, I headed off to bed before an early  morning departure for Ann Arbor!

We got there just in time to set up the tailgate and food for the Drumline as they finished rehearsal. After a quick hug from my lil sis, she grabbed food and then ran off to prep for Stepshow. Now I know I've mentioned Stepshow before but I don't think I can portray how big of a deal it is. Since a picture is worth a thousand words... these are pictures of the crowd 20 minutes before Stepshow started...

Yeah. The Michigan Drumline is kind of a big deal. After they wrapped up (videos of Stepshow and the post-game Drum-off are to come...along with more pictures!) we headed out to the Stadium in our Maize and Blue. I sat with my sister's boyfriend (he's like a little brother to me) and we commiserated over Michigan's lack of defense and some bad plays and calls.  I also had an additional color yesterday - pink. Mom bought pink hair extensions for my sister and me in support of Breast Cancer awareness month. I wore mine with pride! Enjoy the last few pictures and look for more photos and videos to come this week!

Shakeology Recipe of the Week

I (heart) Shakeology. It's easy to make, super healthy, and absolutely delish! Haven't tried it yet? Keep an eye out for my next Shakeology cleanse by following this blog! If you've tried it and love it, please order from http://www.shakeology.com/GabriellaH99 and I recommend the home direct program :-).

I like experimenting with my shakes so I'll post my favorite recipe of the week here each Sunday.

This week's tastes like dessert but more often than not, I have it for breakfast!

Peanut Butter Cup of Health
- 1 scoop chocolate Shakeology
- 2 tbsp PB2 or natural peanut butter (I recommend the PB2 for far fewer calories and a lot less fat!)
- 1 cup almond milk / nonfat milk / soy milk
- ice to taste

Blend well and enjoy!

Do Less to DO MORE! #DoMore

My favorite phrase that I've picked up from Chalene Johnson has to be "Do More". I've bought her hat and am going to set a special goal soon and my reward for achieving this goal will be the DoMore twittabling necklace. Why do I love this phrase so much? Because it pushes me to not settle. I don't just do what needs to be done - I do more! Recently though I realized that there's a difference between doing more and doing things that don't add value to my life - that I need to combine "Do More" with "no" in my vocabulary. When you do too much and worry about doing things for other people that don't add to your goals, you take away from valuable time that you deserve. I'm not saying that you have to always be selfish and self centered but sometimes you need to do that - for your own sake and for the sake of those around you.

How many times have you been flipping through the SkyMall catalogue, listening to a flight attendant instructing you to make sure you secure your own air mask before you tend to those next to you? How is it that we can so easily accept that direction but it's so much harder to accept that you have to put your priorities and health (physical AND mental) ahead of always saying "yes". Think about it: just like passing out while you were trying to help the person next to you with your air mask is less than helpful, so is you losing a level of sanity and feeling miserable as you bend over backwards to accomidate to your friend's, significant other's, or even child's desires. You need to be at your best to really be able to support and love those in your life the way you both deserve.

Now I know that there might be some who struggle with the idea of putting themselves ahead of their children - especially since this blog is being written by a childless, spouseless 25 year old. Trust me - I know that having children is a sacrifice. Parents give up some of their desires, wants, and whims to afford the time and money to help their children's dreams come true. However, I don't believe a parent should feel like they have to give up their passions. In fact, when my parents demonstrated that they were continuing to do things they loved - whether it be their jobs, hobbies, sports, etc. - it made me feel empowered. My Mom went back to work, got involved in a professional organization in her field (and was voted to a high office in the organization), picked up tennis again in addition to being there for my brother, sister, and me...I don't think I could have felt happier for her or more empowered myself. Here was my mom showing me that I could have a life of my own and still be there for family - something I value to this day! Think of the message you're sending to your children if you GIVE UP your passion for them. You might say that they see how important they are to you. I'd argue that instead they'd see "Huh...so family is a burden? I have to give up what I LOVE to be there for people?".

How would you feel if you had to give up what you loved to do for a boyfriend or girlfriend? If you're married, think back to the bad relationships...the ones where your boyfriend or girlfriend at the time said "You passion takes too much time away from ME so I want you to quit". How did that make you feel? More often than not, you probably would have felt like that person didn't really know you - or worse, didn't care - to suggest that you quit the thing that makes you so happy because they needed that time instead. If you didn't think that right away, I don't doubt that you were advised by close friends that you shouldn't be in that relationship anymore. I'm not saying that if you're married and your spouse asks that of you that you should walk out the door but I also don't believe that you should drop your passion - talk it out. No one can read your mind so express how you feel. Talk it out. The same goes for all relationships I think. We enjoy being around people because of who they are when we met them. No matter who they are in your life, if you change FOR them, you are no longer the person they chose to be around so it is going to change the relationship.

So how does this doing less and making sure that you stay true to yourself and your passions help you DO MORE? You'll be less stressed if you're doing what makes you happy and cut out some of that clutter. You'll be able to DO MORE of the things you love and DO MORE for the ones in your life who mean the most to you. By cutting out some activities I was doing purely to make others happy, I was able to READ MORE, LEARN MORE, and DO MORE in my workouts, business, job, and not to mention for my family which has been especially important lately. Everyone always talks about priorities but everyone forgets the part where you have to APPLY those priorities to your life. What are the things that don't matter as much? How can you use do less so that you can DO MORE?

In wellness of mind, body and soul,
Gabriella

Sweat.Eat.Repeat.

I forgot to add the videos!

I've been uploading videos but not embedding them here! Here they are!

Brock Mealer was told he had a 1% chance of ever walking again. He dug deep and made that 1% come true. On 9.4.10 he led the Michigan Football team out of the tunnel. I don't think there was a dry eye in the Big House.

  Michigan Drumline always does a special performance after the 1st quarter. Check it out! The Michigan Marching Band after the win over Notre Dame!

Healthy 40 Holidays Program kicks off 10.10.10!

Last year I went into the holidays nervous but later realized that because I had established a good base for myself in terms of healthy choices and lots of activity, I gained very little weight, didn't over eat, and focused on spending time with loved ones instead of eating. I'd like to help you prepare the same way! Details about the challenge are below and you can follow the links to sign up! Let me know if you have any questions!

Healthy 40 (for the) Holidays is a 40 day wellness event with challenges, support and tips to help us all revive or create a healthy lifestyle before holiday sweets and treats get us off track!

The Basic Program details:
- Join Beachbody at http://tiny.cc/CoachG and click "join". Club membership is recommended but not required for this program.
- $25 to join
- Get 6 Shakeology packets ($24 value)!
- Get a Shakeology shaker bottle!
- EXCLUSIVE access to the H40H blog which will include recipes, tips, discussions, challenges, etc. to help you with your journey!
- Support from Gabriella as well as others in the program - having the right support network is KEY to developing the wellness lifestyle.

To get the most of the program, bump up to Go Getter status!
GoGetters Program details:
- Join Beachbody at http://tiny.cc/CoachG and click "join". Club membership is recommended but not required for this program.
- Program fee ($25) is waived!
- Order 30 days of Shakeology and / or 1 Beachbody program from http://tiny.cc/CoachG.
- Get a Shakeology shaker bottle!
- EXCLUSIVE access to the H40H blog which will include recipes, tips, discussions, challenges, etc. to help you with your journey!
- Support from Gabriella as well as others in the program - having the right support network is KEY to developing the wellness lifestyle.

Steps to sign up:
- Go to http://tiny.cc/CoachG and sign up for your free Beachbody profile. Club membership is not required ($38.87 billed quarterly) but is recommended because it gets you customized meal plans and access to exclusive content on the Beachbody site.
- Then, go to http://tiny.cc/H40H to sign up for this program. Make sure to include your Beachbody user name.
- Look for an email confirmation and next steps in the program!

*Already a Beachbody coach? Feel free to join the event on Facebook and help support! Just shoot me an email and let me know that you've joined, you're already a coach, and I'll send you an invite to the H40H blog!

Football and Weddings and Family - Oh MY!

So as mentioned in my last post, Football Season kind of takes over my life. However, since Michigan is playing at IU today (GO BLUE!) and I don't have tickets to that game, I'm using today to recharge, catch up and clean. And catch up on my blogging of course :-)

Since my last post, Michigan has won 2 more games to be 4-0 in back to back seasons for the first time since 96-97. Granted they've been easy games so far and I'll post pictures and videos at the bottom of this blog but wins are wins and Big Ten Conference play starts today! I had 2 weddings to attend the week after the Notre Dame game and I've been spending a lot of time with my family lately. I also got to see one of my best friends from college at the latest game in the Big House - JESS!!! She's been all over the globe since graduation and I don't think that I've seen her since grad ceremonies on campus. It was a great treat to spend time with her and catch up a bit!!

The first wedding was that of my nearest and dearest friend who is more like my sister than just a friend. Her parents treat me like I'm their own daughter and to have her ask me to be there with her on her wedding day was an honor. There were nine of us in total at the wedding including the bride and groom - no not nine in the wedding party, nine in attendance - and the small, simple but gorgeous wedding was just their style. The intimacy brought tears to my eyes and I'm so happy for them both!

The second wedding was more traditional in size but was gorgeous as well. Two of my friends - Scott and Cori - made it official in front of their wonderful families whom I loved meeting. I must admit that the earlier ceremony (10 AM) was very nice but as I was driving from about 3 hours away, I felt a bit silly doing my hair and make up so much at 6:30 on a Saturday morning. The photographer caught an awesome picture of Scott and me (I met him first and then Cori through him shortly after they started dating...) which I will treasure forever! Can't wait to get the jpeg I ordered so I can scrapbook it! Cori looked gorgeous in her dress - absolutely breathtaking! I was honored to be there and had such a blast with everyone!

After that, work has just been busy. I've been trying to stay on top of several programs and work and have been worn out. Hence the need for some recharging and relaxation this weekend! I've been spending a lot of time with my family too because so much is going on on that front as well!

Hope you've had a great few weeks - I promise I'm getting on top of things this weekend and will blog more often!!

Sweat.Eat.Repeat.
Gabriella

Christen and Jimmy

So happy for these two!!

Only my sister - gorgeous gown, dog leash, and sunglasses!

What a beautiful day for such a wonderful couple! So happy for you both!

Scott and Cori's wedding...love the train on her dress!

Love the way these two make each other laugh all the time!

Cake cutting! What a wonderful idea to do this as they walked in so everyone could see!

Their first dance!

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Mom, Amelia, and Daddy - Amelia (Stinker!) won a scholarship!!

Amelia performing at Stepshow before the game

Recognize them from Olympic ice dancing? They're Wolverines!

The game was a little boring so I turned my lens to my sister...she's the one just to the right of the pole.

Jess and me - so great to see you hun!