Keep It Real: Real Interesting

   Weeks 1 & 2 of my February long "Keep It Real" series we talked about "real simple" and "real food".

    Today let's talk about keeping health & fitness real interesting! 
 
    I know grammatically the word should be "really", but I live in the sticks, and saying something like, "real interesting" isn't uncommon, and I like it!

    Grammar aside, let's talk about keeping things interesting in health & fitness!  

     If there is anything I've learned on this journey through health & fitness, it's that what you eat and how you workout need to be interesting. If you do the same thing over and over and over and over and over (you get it), then you'll get bored and quit! 

    There are often times where you naturally fall into a routine, and that sameness can be comforting. But you need to be listening to yourself.  A comfortable routine can slowly turn into feeling trapped. That little voice in your head that says, "ugh....more salad....." as you're prepping your 15th salad in a row for dinner. Or that same voice that says, "I am so not looking forward to my workout today because I've done the same one for the last month...."

    That voice is the voice of health & fitness boredom, and that voice is not your friend!!! It's like the little angel and devil sitting on your shoulders telling you the right and wrong things to do, except one of these little creatures would be an unhealthy, sickly thing, and then there would be a healthy & happy one. Well, the "this is boring" voice is coming from the sick and unhealthy one. After thinking up this clever notion I Googled "angel and devil on shoulder", and found the images below. So much for being original! Haha...fail.   
   

​    One key in keeping it interesting is being willing to try new things. If you keep saying, "I only really like (fill in the blank), and so that's all you ever try, eventually you will become bored of it. 

    If you like having a workout video, see if a friend has one too and ask if you can borrow it or swap with one you have for a time. 

   If you need new recipes (and have the internet....which I feel I can safely assume you do because you are reading this...), then decide to look up 3 new, healthy recipes to try in the next 3 weeks. Or you can go to a local library and see what healthy recipe books or magazines they have that you can borrow to try out some new things (you may also find some workout videos there too!). 

    So, allow me to share with you some of my favourite recipes and workouts and maybe you can add them to your life to keep things "real interesting!"   

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Favourite Healthy Recipes

​Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad from Cafe Delites
There is brown sugar in the marinade/dressing that I have omitted and the salad was still amazing!

Cauliflower Chowder from Yes, More Please! 
Super yummy, super filling, super-duper!

Chicken with Rosemary & Mushrooms from Paleo Foodie Kitchen  
Such a simple recipe, but really full of flavour!

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Favourite Workouts

​A 20 minute workout from POPSUGAR Fitness

10 Minute Jump Rope with Tony Horton

15 Minute Power Yoga with Yoga by Candace

   A great way to find variety in YouTube without feeling overwhelmed is by finding a few channels you like (the 3 above are my favourites), and then just start working through their videos, and liking (clicking the thumbs up icon) the ones you really enjoyed to have as a reference for later use.  
  
    The other thing about workouts and keeping them real is to keep them challenging too. You will get bored if you consistently choose workouts that are too easy for you. Challenge yourself and your brain won't get so bored!

    A few other ways to keep workouts interesting is to workout with a friend. I personally prefer working out alone, but if you're more social, than maybe having a friend to workout with will give you the boost you need in your workouts. Another thing you can do is to add new music to a playlist you might use while working out. Even just adding 3 new songs can add up to 15 more minutes of music that will be keeping you moving!
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    So my friends, don't get stuck in a rut! There is no reason to in this day and age where we have so many resources available to us! Arm yourself with new and interesting recipes and workouts so that you can succeed in being the healthiest you possible!