Turkey Trot

  Thanksgiving day my family and I went to run in the Turkey Trot 8k. The Turkey Trot is a 8k run that benefits the Kidney Foundation.  For most of us it was our first race ever! We had to get up really early and spend the start of the day freezing outside. Not a typically start to a Thanksgiving day right? But, the excitement of the people around us kept our thoughts away from the cold!  My Mom, little brother and little sisters did the 5k fun run/walk while my older brother, Dad and I ran in the 8k. I had been training for this since we signed up, but I didn't realize how different running by yourself and running among so many other people was! I loved the energy that running with other runners gave me! My Dad and I kept together and I am proud to say that we ran more than we walked!

  Here is us getting ready for the run! My toes and legs were freezing....all until I started running! Then I wanted to take my jacket off because I was getting so warm!

  Mom and my little brother. He wasn't too happy about getting woke up so early, but he was great through the whole thing!

  The morning of the race we didn't have much to eat for breakfast, just something that would give us energy but not make our stomachs too full. I had a yogurt and coffee and I  wasn't hungry or anything until after the race.

  So since this was my first ever race, I  learned a few things. Firstly, make sure that your layers are easy to take off while running. I made the mistake of pinning my race number over the zipper of my jacket so I couldn't take it off too easily. Second, Covering up my ears and hands was a great choice! Like I said in a previous post, its important to keep your ears, face, hands and feet warm!

  The race was a mix of downhill, uphill, through neighborhoods and on highways. I was a little unprepared for this because I had been training going up and down my drive way and on the treadmill. I have made a mental note to change up my training for future races. The race started and the runners were let out in burst, so as to not crowd the running space. I was thankful for this because going around people is not always easy. As we ran through the neighborhoods there were people in front of their houses cheering us on and blasting music to keep us going! There were volunteers who handed us water and called out our times as we past the mile makers.  I was very thankful for those people, and for the running community. Every one was so nice and encouraging no matter what their abilities were!

  Like I said before, this was my first race so obviously I didn't win or finish in very good time. I started out slow and from start to about mile 2 I was still getting warm and I was a little uncomfortable. Once I got warm though I was feeling great and I was able to push a lot harder than normal for me! Running with my Dad was a lot of fun too! We were able to stay together and talk while we ran! We finished in just under an hour ( My older brother's time was 45 or 46 minutes) and afterwards the feeling of relief and pride was wonderful! I had just completed my first race and I was so proud of myself! No, I didn't have great time, but I finished and that in its self is something to be proud of!
After the race we went on to have thanksgiving dinner and I felt at liberty to stuff myself and not worry about it! After all, its thanksgiving!

This post really isn't informational or a healthy tips or anything, its just my take and story from my first race! I hope it inspires you to go out and try something new, run your first race like me or something else! Let me know if you have ever done the Turkey Trot or any other race! What did you think and how long was the race?


Remember to follow me on Pinterest and Keep Healthy and Safe!

H.Banana

The 'Wear Yourself Out and Feel Good About it' Workout

A few days ago I wrote down a workout which combined a few parts from several workouts that I have been doing. I was wore out at the end of it, but proud too because when I read over it I was amazed that I was able to do all of this in a short amount of time! Before I go on, I want to say that this workout may not work for every one. Please be careful and stay with in your means to avoid injury. Make sure you can do these exercises without harming yourself.

Here is the workout, get ready!
*
40 Jumping Jacks
30 Crunches
20 Squats
10 Push-Up
*                                (Repeat from * to * 5 times)

15 Super-mans
20 Donkey Kicks per leg
20 Lunges per leg
15 Dips ( I call then Bridges dips....)
10 Squat Jumps
30 Kettle Bell Swings

#
40 Jumping Jacks
30 Sit-Ups
20 Plie Squats
10 Push-Ups
#                           (Repeat from # to # 2 times)

50 Flutter Kicks
20 Burpees
15 Bicycle Crunches
10 Plank Knee to Elbow per leg
10 Single leg dips per leg
10 Shoulder (Or V) push-ups

*
12 Lunges per leg
15 Squats
12 Step-ups per leg
5o second plank
*                                   (Repeat from * to * 2 times)

Garb you ankles and hold for 20 seconds.
Bring knees to chest and hold for 20 seconds per leg.
Take 10 really deep breaths.

Well that it! I was sweating up a storm when I finished this, but I also have new workout to add to my collection! Let me know if you try and it and what you think! If you have any questions, leave it in the comments or email the blog at healthypinner@gmail.com . Please be careful and stay within your abilities.
If you liked this post, let me know and share it with a friend.

Keep Healthy and Safe!
H.Banana

Your Body On: Diet Soda

  Diet soda may seem like a good option to some. You get the soda you love without the calories right? But, what you don't know is that Diet Soda is so terrible for you! I did some research and I found out a lot! Here are the reason you should never drink diet soda again!

Teeth:
Drinking 3 or more diet sodas a day increases your risk of tooth decay due to the super high acidity level.

Mood:
Drinking 4 or more cans of diet soda makes you 30% more likely to develop depression.

Metabolic Syndrome:
Consuming diet soda daily can cause your risk of metabolic syndrome to increase by 36%. Not sure what Metabolic Syndrome is? Well, WebMD has a great article explaining everything you need to know! I encourage you to check it out!

Heart:
A study in 2012 found that drinking diet soda daily can increase the risk of a heart attack by 43%.

Kidneys:
Drinking 2 or more diet sodas a day has been linked to double the risk of kidney disease. The information came from a study of 3,000 women.

Weight:
A daily serving of diet soda increases the risk of obesity by 41%.

Diabetes:
Drinking at least one diet soda a day can increase the risk of type2 diabetes by 67%.

This information came from Prevention.com

  So, now that you know what diet soda will do to you, are you going to give it up? What about just regular soda? Are you going to give that up too? You should. I gave it up several months ago and I am so glad I did. I am healthier because of it, I know. And, to tell the honest truth, I don't miss it at all! I have tried to have a sip or two here and there but it doesn't taste the same and I don't enjoy it. I encourage you to try to give up soda. Maybe you feel like you can't live without your daily soda, but start with a week and then two until you're going months without it. I know it can be done, because I did it! Not just diet soda, but every sugary soda out there needs to be cut from your diet!

Let me know if you are trying to cut soda from your diet and how you are doing it! I hope this post has given you some proof that diet soda isn't good for you and encourages you to take another step to becoming a healthier you!

Keep healthy and Safe
H.Banana

Winter Workout Tips

As the weather gets colder I begin to dread going outside for the run that I know I need. I kept asking myself that surely there had to be a way to make this easier!  Well, thankfully I found several post on Pinterest that have given be helpful tips for working out in the winter. And today, I'm going to share them with you!


The first tip is to dress for the weather! But you need to be careful because you don't want to be in the middle of your run and want to take all your layers off! A tip from EatPrayRunDC suggest to dress like its 20 degrees warmer outside than it really is, that way when you start to get warm from the workout you don't start roasting in your clothes! Here is a Winter Guide to Layering Clothes .

 While we are on the topic of dressing, here are a few tips that I found various places.
   Keep your feet, toes and ears warm! You don't want freezing body parts to slow you down!
   Where clothes that allow you to move freely and don't weigh you down.
   Make sure your shoes aren't mesh or too thin. You might even need to get a pair of shoes just for winter workouts!
I have a few favorite Winter must have for my workouts. They are: Ear warmers (Nice toasting ears instead of frozen ones!) Thick socks! (No more frozen toes!) Neck warmer or Cowl ( I don't suggest running in a scarf because that can cause difficulties. Cowls are shorter, kind of like a short infinity scarf.) What are your favorite winter workout must? Share them in the comments!

Here is us getting ready for a hike last Thanksgiving! No, I wouldn't run in that jacket, but it was and still is great for hiking and low impact outdoor activities!

The second tip is that you need to drink water! Just because its cold outside doesn't mean that you need to drink less water than you did in the summer! Fill your water bottle up just as full as you did in the summer!

Stay motivated! Sometimes trying to get yourself to leave your cozy place by the fire can be so hard! Find some friends to workout with or set a goal of your self (Or both!) Let me know how you stay motivated!

Lotion up! I hate chapped lips, cheeks and hands and they can be so uncomfortable! Applying lotion and lip butters can help relive and even prevent chapped skin. Several places have suggested using coconut oil to treat the chapped areas.


Now, I can't lie, I sometimes just hang up the idea of going outside for a workout. I either run on the treadmill or do something different for the workout that day. I don't want to run in below-freezing weather or when its snowing outside, so here are a few indoor workouts that I like to do instead!

Pop Sugar's 9 workouts to try this winter

Indoor HIIT workout for the winter

Indoor Cardio Crusher for the Winter



There are so many other workouts out there so feel free to search around for yourself! Let me know what you like to do for a winter workout and if you workout outside!


I hope this post helped you and if it did please share it with a  friend!

Keep it healthy and Safe
H.Banana

ps. Follow be on Pinterest! I am under Hannah Plunkett!

Healthy Chocolate Cookies!

 

 

I love-love-love chocolate cookies and I was so excited to find a healthy recipe for them! When I found this recipe on Pinterest I tried it and fell in love! We have made them several times and the whole family enjoys them. To see the original recipe please go to my recipe's page. I took a recipe and added things to it to make it fit my tastes. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:
1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup Chocolate chips
2 medium ripe bananas
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 tsp of cinnamon (Or for a fall-ish twist, pumpkin pie spice!)

Start with peeling your bananas and placing them in a bowl. Blend them until they are creamy and smooth.

Add the oats, coconut and cinnamon. Blend till combined.

Next add the vanilla and chocolate chips and stir it all together.

I took a bit of coconut oil to grease my pan, but you can use butter or parchment paper to keep the cookies from sticking. Use a spoon to scoop out the cookies on to the pan. They don't spread much so make them the  sixe you want them to finish with.

Set the oven to 350 degrees F and bake them for 20 mins. They smell heavenly as they bake. I think it smells like banana bread baking!

When they come out of the oven they should be firm and starting to brown on the edges.

My goodness they smell amazing! Let them cool a bit and then remove them and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.

Please let me know what you think about these cookies! I love that they taste to good and they don't have any sugar or flour! If you enjoy this post and the cookies please share it with a friend!

Keep it healthy and Safe
H.Banana

 

 

Your Body On: Sugar

  Sugar is in almost everything! My family and I have been trying to stay off of sugar since we watched a film called Fed Up  and we have found it incredibly hard! You might be wondering, why is it important to stay away from sugar? I encourage you to watch the film mentioned earlier to get a bigger picture, but here are a few things that will happen if you eat too much sugar ( 24g and day for woman and 36g for men)

#1:
Sugar can rewire the brains pathways. If your diets contains too much sugar this can increase the risk of depression by 58%!

#2:
Sugar will inflame the linings of the arteries to the heart. This will increase the risk of strokes and heart attacks!

#3
Sugar can age the way you look, causing wrinkles! When you bombard you body with sugar, proteins incorporate it as a part of their structure which leads to aging of the skin and wrinkles.

#4
Kidneys have a delicate filtration system and sugar over load and damage that. Diabetes is one of the main causes of kidney failure.

#5
Being on a high sugar diet will affect your joints! High sugar diets pump inflammatory cytokines into your bloodstream which will exacerbate arthritis.

This information came from Prevention

So, now that you know a few reason to get off of sugar, what will you do about it? If you are like my family and you want to try to be on a sugar free diet, here are a few things that might help you.

What is your Sugar IQ?  This is a fun quiz designed to show you just how much you don't know about sugar. I found it very helpful. I got 6 out of 10 my first go, but my favorite part is that the website explains the answer so well! If you want to learn more about sugar, I encourage you to complete this quiz! If you do, share your score in the comment section and let me know if you learned anything new!

Added Sugar This website explains why added sugar is so very bad for you.  I enjoyed reading through this article and I hope you will too. It list several other things sugar will do to harm your body. Let me know what you think about this article!

Sugar Free Shopping List  This is a list of things to buy that are sugar free and there are also a few snack  ideas and things like that.

Sugar Addicts Listen Up! Here are a few tips and tricks for the sugar addicts out there who are ready to leave a sugar-high diet in the past! Let me know if they are helpful.

Pinterest is also a great place to find recipes and snack ideas that are sugar free. I have found so many and a few of them I have shared with you on my blog. Be sure to check back for more recipes soon!

  Like I said, my family is trying to get rid of sugar for good, but its hard. I'm sure you will find that to be true if you take the plunge. We often have to go without things that we really enjoy. A few months ago I liked nothing better than a nice cold Coke-A-Cola or Sprite, but I decided to play a game when I started my healthy adventure. How long could I go without a soda? It started with a few days, then weeks and now, I can't remember the last time I had a sugary soda. I can honestly say that I don't even like the taste of soda anymore. Now, when I need a fizzy fix I head to the fridge to get a ever present bubbly-water. Here is the brand my family loves: La Croix. I am trying to get the rest of my family completely off soda, and we are getting there! Let me know how long you can go without a soda!

I hope this post encourages you to start and have a sugar free diet and to help others as well! Spread the word about the truth about sugar and let me know some of the things you are doing to get off of sugar!

Keep it Healthy and Safe!
H.Banana

Quick and Easy Sweet Potato

I love sweet potatoes but if I want to have one for lunch, I have to plan it out at breakfast so they are done by lunch time! Not anymore though! With this new recipe, that I found on Pinterest, I can have a sweet potato at short notice! For the original recipe, see my recipe page.

You will need:
 1 potato per serving
Butter
Parmesan Cheese(Shredded)
Cinnamon
Honey
Salt and Pepper

To start with, wash and dry your potatoes and use a fork to poke holes in them. Place them in a paper plate and microwave them for about 10 minutes (If your potatoes are smaller you might not need that long. I did two at a time and they took about 12-13 minutes)

When the potatoes are soft to the touch, take them out of the microwave. Slice them in half and then make little slits along the cut side. Don't cut all the way down though, just half way.

Cut up the butter into little squares.

Add them to the tops of the potatoes

Now, decide whether you want to do cheese or cinnamon. If cinnamon, add cinnamon and honey to the potatoes. If cheese, add salt and pepper along with the cheese to the potatoes.

I did some of both. Now, set your oven to broil and place the potatoes in the oven for 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the butter and cinnamon start to bubble. Take them out and allow them to cool for a bit before trying to eat them!

They smelled so good at this point!

Place them on a plate and enjoy!

I made these for my family for lunch and we all loved them! My personal favorite was the cheese one but the cinnamon/honey ones were really tasty too! If you try these let me know what you think!

Keep it Healthy and Safe!

H.Banana

Get Ready for Ski/Snowboarding Season

Sure, it is still fall right now, but its never to early to start getting ready for the ski/snowboarding season. If you are planning to go to the slopes this year, or you just want to get in shape for winter, Listen Up!
My family and I are going on a ski trip this holiday season, and I don't want to come off the slopes sore, so I am going to start getting ready them now! I have been searching Pinterest for a while now, and I have found several workout and tips for getting ready for the ski/snowboarding season. Here are a few of them:

Yoga for Snowboarding

Exercises Every Snow Boarder Should Do

Get ready for the ski season

And lastly my favorite : Prepare for the winter ski season

I will be trying Snowboarding for the first time this year, and I'm super excited. Have you ever snowboarded? Which do you like better, snowboarding or skiing? Let me know!

I believe that its important to be in good shape for any sport to avoid injury and soreness. I hope that these workouts keep me from getting too sore, and help me preform better on the slopes! Sometimes I just do the exercises alone (Depends on which ones) and sometimes I pair them with a cardio session or something like that! Remember to have fun with it, Stay Safe and within you abilities, and that progress is progress no matter how small or big!

Keep it Healthy and Safe, and let me know if you found this post helpful!
H.Banana

Fitness Fashion

Work out clothes and gear are great motivations to work out and stay active! I love getting new work out clothes and then working out in them! Here are my favorite items and brands!

Staring at the bottom with shoes!

You need a good pair or tennis shoes no matter what you are doing! I got mine at www.academy.com and they are Nikes( Academy ). I've had them a few months and I have loved them since day one! If you have a pair of tennis-shoes you love, let me know!
Its important to have a good shoes, so don't be afraid to pay a little extra for them, as long as you are getting what you pay for. Here are a few to look into.

For Training - Training
For Training-  Training
For Running - Running
For Running - Running
Don't just pick a shoe and go, or take my word on it. Do your research, as your friends and find the shoes that is just right for you and your activities. Remember, comfort over style!

Next is sock! I never work out with out socks on because I hate stinking sweaty feet and shoes! Find a pair of socks that are for athletics and make sure they breath well.

Now on to pants/ leggings. In the colder months of the year, if you are going to workout or run outside you are going to want to bundle up a little bit. I don't wear leggings much, but here are a few that I do wear.

This pair from Athleta is great! I love them because there is a little skirt built into I feel a bit more modest. Plus, they are really soft!
Another pair are these from Oldnavy are nice because they are capris and work great for the fall and spring time.
As for pants I usually get them from Target and Old Navy. Most of them aren't even athletic-wear either. You don't have to spend a ton of money on workout clothes, just go for whats comfortable and meet your needs.

Shorts come next. I own several pairs and once again they are mainly from Target and Old Navy. I tend to like longer shorts, but shorter ones are nice for Summer. Here are a few that I have and like:

These from Target
And these, also from Target

Now, we get to Sports Bras. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a good sports bra. If you have a good one you will enjoy your workout so much better than if you didn't. Here are a few that I like;
This one from Target
This one, also from Target
Another one, this one from Academy

Now we come to a space between bras and shirts, so we combine them! I don't own one of these (Yet!) but I can't wait until I do!
Here is one from Target
Another one from Athleta

Okay, now we come to the tops! I love working out in anything from a tank top to long sleeves! You can really get creative and have fun with this part of the outfit! Here are a few of my favorites!

Athleta , Old Navy , Old Navy , Old Navy

Now, Jackets. I don't tend to wear a lot of jacket when I workout, mainly because when its that cold I workout inside! Let me know if you have a favorite workout jacket though!

Extras:
A few extras I like to have when I work out are as follows (I won't give you links because you can find these tons of places!)
Ear Buds (Why? Music of course!)
Head Band. (The fabric kinds are best to help keep hair out of your face)
Pony Tails (You never know when you might need to tie your hair back! I always have a few with me)
Chap-stick. (No one liked dry, cracked lips!)

So that's about it for my Fitness Fashion. If I have left anything out, please let me know! Also, if you have a favorite workout must have, let me know!

Keep it healthy and Safe!
H.Banana

Halloween Candy

   Halloween is almost here and you might be looking forward to eating all of your favorite Halloween candy. But what about being healthy?  I found a few tips for staying on the healthy side of things during Halloween and still enjoy some of your favorite treats!

How much to eat?
 So you still want to eat your candy-corn, M&M's, Snickers, Almond Joys, or Caramels, but you still want to watch your calories. Here are a few examples of 100 calories of different candies.

29 M&M's = 99 calories
4 Three Musketeers Minis  = 97 calories
1 Butter-Finger = 96 calories
4 Milk Chocolate Hershey Kisses = 89 calories
2 Mini Reese's Peanut Butter cups = 86 calories
4 Tootsie Roll Midgees = 93 Calories
2 Snickers Bar Minis = 85 calories
2 Twix Bar Minis = 85 calories
1 Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffle = 79 calories
2 Milky Way's Minis = 79 calories
1.5 Crunch Bars =  75 calories
1 Kit Kat Bar = 70 calories
This information came from dailyburn.com

Now, what about avoiding those, not-so-good-for-you candies, and stick to some healthier options?
Here are a few I recommend.

1. I've already done a Healthy Almond Joy recipe, you can see that here - Almond Joys
2. Clementine Pumpkins!
     Making these adorable snacks is so easy! Peel a clementine and stick a little piece of celery in the top of the 'pumpkin'. Make as many as you like, they are great for kids!
3. Booo-nanas!
   To make these yummy treats, take a banana and peel, cut in half. Stick a popsicle stick, or cake-pop stick in the flat end of the banana. Cover the banana in peanut butter or almond butter and then roll in chopped pecans, coconut flakes or chopped up chocolate chips! then take a chocolate chips, raisin or anything that will make good 'eyes' for you Boo-Nanas, and use a bit of peanut butter or melted chocolate to stick the 'eyes' on. Enjoy!
3. Apple Chompers!
     Theses treats are so cute! Slice a red apple into slices and spread peanut butter on one half of two slices. Place anything from peanuts, marshmallows, banana cubes, or yogurt-covered raisins to make the 'teeth' on one half then place the other half on top and enjoy!

Well those are just a few of the many healthy treats to make this Halloween! Stay tuned because I might me posting some more healthy Halloween treats soon!

Here are the links to the websites were I found these cool treats!

onelittleproject.com -  Clementine Pumpkins and Boo-Nanas (I add to the Boo- Nanas a bit, but this website gave we the idea!)

www.allthecooks.com - Apple Chompers (I used Peanut butter instead of jam)

I hope you enjoyed these ideas, and be on the look out for more Halloween treats. I will be posting a more step by step post on the Boo- Nanas and Apple Chompers soon, so be on the look out for those too!
Keep it healthy and safe!
H. Banana

Weekend Workouts!

Pinterest is full of great workouts, and I want to try them all! Over the weekend I was able to try three of them, if you would like the link to them see the Fitness page.

The first one I did was on Friday, It was called  Abs On Fire, and boy did my abs burn!

(I hope you can read that, if not you can go to the website linked in my Fitness page!)

This workout was amazing and I could really feel it work! It didn't take long either, which is a plus for those of us with busy lives! I was sore after this and I don't know about you, but I feel so satisfied when I'm sore after a workout!

The next two I did on Saturday and they were both Burn 100 Calories workouts.

 This one wasn't bad, but I'm not a fan of Burpees, even if I do feel them work. I did this one a total of five times to get a calorie burn of 500, which I felt pretty proud of! Other than the Burpees, I thought this workout was great, and I totally worked up a sweat!
The next one I did that day was this one:

This one was amazing too! I also did this one five times to get a calorie burn of 500, so I worked up a pretty good sweat! My legs were a bit sore after all the squats and jumping jacks, which tells me that it worked!

I love short work outs like this because they don't take much time and I can combine them with other workouts to get a full workout!  Also, knowing roughly how many calories you burned is helpful if you are working on losing or just maintaining weight!

Let me know if you tried these workouts, and what you thought! Remember to always stay within your abilities to avoid getting hurt!

Keep it Healthy and Safe!
H. Banana

Ginerbread Cookies!

I love Gingerbread cookies and I have been on the look out for a healthy recipe for a while! I found one on Pinterest and I added and tweaked it to make it my own! for the original recipe go here- food52.com

The ingredients:
2 2/3cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2teaspoon baking powder

1teaspoon cinnamon

 

1 teaspoon ground ginger

 

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

 

1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg

 

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

1/2 cup Sorghum or Molasses

 

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

 

1/2 cup Honey

 

1/4 cup almond milk, soy milk, or rice milk (I used Almond)

 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

 

Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix together

Then add wet ingredients and mix together. I used an electric mixer for this step.

Flour the surface where you are going to roll out the dough and place the dough on it. Sprinkle with a little more flour and then roll out.

Cut your desired cookie shape out. I used a biscuit cutter to do mine, but any shape will be lovely! Just remember to keep them all around the same size and thickness!

Yum! They look so good already!
Place them onto a pan. I used a stone pan so I didn't need to butter or grease it, but if you aren't using a stone pan you need to butter or grease it.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for around 8 minutes. If your cookies are smaller or thinner they may not need all 8 minutes to get done.

They smell soooo good!

I also made half-moon shapes!

Let them cool on a cooling-rack. While you do that, you can make some yummy icing for them!
Here is the recipe I used!

Half a block of cream cheese
Tablespoon  Honey
Sprinkling of  ground Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Ginger
A small splash of Almond milk.

Whip this up until its creamy and delicious!

Put the icing in a zip-lock bag and push it to one corner. Snip a tiny end off the same corner and decorate your cookies! I did smiley faces, swirls, dots, letters and more! Let me know how you like to decorate your cookies!

I am not an artist, but I tried my best to make these look cute!

I love to half-moon ones!

My family and I love these cute, delicious and healthy cookies, and I hope you do too! If you try them, let me know how it went and what you thought!

Keep it Healthy and Safe,
H. Banana

 

 

The Many Benefits of Green Tea

Green Tea isn't just refreshing and delicious but it has so many benefits! I did some research and found a few Pins on Pinterest that list the benefits of Green Tea! I will link those websites at the bottom of the post!

I love drinking Green Tea over almost any other kind of tea. You can drink it cold over ice or hot and curl up with a good book! I was excited to learn that Green Tea isn't just tasty, but good for your health as well!

Green Tea Can Help Weight Loss
Green tea has ingredients like Caffeine, Theobromine, Saponins, Theophylline, Vitamins and Epigallocatechin. These ingredients lead to thermo-genesis which lead to increase in your body's heat and that will turn up your metabolic rate and help keep your weight down!

Green Tea is Good for Your Heart
Green Tea helps fight Cholesterol Disease. Its helps keep your arteries healthy and unblocked which will help prevent heart attacks! This wonderful tea has ten times the amount of antioxidants that are found in fruits and veggies!


Dental Health
Along with the natural fluoride found in tea, polyphenols and catechins are associated with killing bacteria that cause a number of dental issues like; tooth decay, bad breath and gum disease, which by the way is the number one cause for tooth loss! A study published by the European Journal of Nutrition  found that drinking at least one cup of green tea a day can decrease that risk of tooth loss!

Green Tea can Help Avoid Cancer
Research as shown that tea is beneficial in preventing cancer including  prostate, pancreatic, breast, colorectal, esophageal, bladder, lung and stomach! The catechins found in tea prevent the cell mutation, deactivate certain carcinogens and reduce the formation and growth of tumors. To reap the anti-cancer benefits of green tea you might have to drink at least four cups of tea a day!

These are only a few of the many benefits from drinking green tea! If you want the website where I found this information, along with more benefits of green tea, you can go to - www.stylecraze.com

I hope this makes you want to drink more green tea and to learn more about the benefits associated with it! I personally love green tea but if you haven't tried it before, here are a few good brands to try!

www.wholefoodsmarket.comrepublic-tea-earth-day-mint-green-tea - Mint green tea is a delicious and refreshing drink hot or cold!

www.tazo.com

www.tazo.com

I hope you enjoyed this post about the benefits of drinking tea! If you want to know more about tea you can see my Mom's blog teainthemorningtoo  .


Keep Healthy and SAFE
H. Banana

Insanity

   Insanity is a workout  program created by Shaun T and Beach-Body. To learn more about it you can go to this link here - www.beachbody.com .
                                                                           

No I'm not trying to sell it to you or anything, I'm just going to tell you about my experience with the program and what I thought about it.
I am completing my 60 days of Insanity today and I thought I would write about it in a blog post for those who are thinking about starting it, or just curious.
 Now, before I start I want to say that this is just my personal experience, yours might and will probably be at least a little different.

Here is what the package or box looked like:

Why I Started INSANITY
My Dad had ordered Insanity for himself way before I had any thoughts about healthy living and exercise. But, after I did begin to think about becoming healthier, I remembered that box of Insanity DVDs and I decided to try it. I wanted to lose a little weight but I wasn't exactly sure how. I wanted to workout but again, I didn't really now how or what to do. Insanity provided that for me, and that's mainly why I started. ( Also the promise of results in 60 days was very inviting)


My First Thoughts
 At first I liked it, it wasn't too hard but it pushed me, and it didn't take a whole lot of time. Every day in the first month there was a workout usually about 30 to 40 minutes long with 1 rest day. I began to see and feel differences. I had more energy, I went to sleep and slept much better and I did lose a little weight. Also I began to see a little muscle definition in my arms and legs.


How the First Month Went
 It was a smooth first month, I hardly got off track and I was loving it. At this point I was happy with the program, and in a way I still am, but as time went on my thoughts and feelings changed a little bit.  Most of the first month workouts weren't super hard to me, and maybe that's because I had been working out before hand and I didn't jump in completely new to exercise, but it was to a point where I was enjoying the every day workouts.

How the 'Recovery Week' Went
Between the first month and the second month there is a week called the Recovery Week where you do the same workout every day for a week. This workout  is a bit different and you don't have a lot of super fast movement. I found that it was a lot of just deep muscle work instead of cardio. This week was a wonderful and much needed break for my body to, well, recover! I loved this week and found the workout enjoyable!

The Second Month
 By this time I was honestly a little tired of having to stick to the Insanity schedule. I wanted to get into running and yoga but I felt tied to the program and I didn't want to 'skip' a day or get behind in the program. The workouts defiantly picked up the intensity a lot! They were harder and longer and I felt myself being pushed a lot more than in the first month. At this point I have lost about 8 pounds total and at least gain a little muscle weight. I was happy with the results, but I had hoped and expected a bit more.  I also began to fall a little behind in the program as we began to travel a bit more and also getting school going full swing. I had hard time making time for an hour long workout session in a busy school-filled day.

The 'Fit Test'
The 'Fit Test' is designed to measure your progress over the 60 time period. At first I kept track on the sheet the package provides, but I ended up not completing the tracking progress because I didn't find it overly helpful.

The Meal Plan
Insanity provides a meal plan along with the workout program. I didn't really use their program because my family and I were already changing our diet and I felt a little over whelmed with the 'Meal Plan' in general.

My Over All Thoughts
This program works, it does, and I do recommend trying it to any one wanting to build up the intensity of their workouts, or you are looking for a balanced schedule. The pros and cons for me are as follows.
Pro: I loved that I didn't have to wonder what workout to do that day, or when to take a rest.
Con: I felt tied to the program and I felt like I couldn't try something new in fear of falling behind.
Pro: I did lose weight and gain muscle, which is what I wanted.
Con: I didn't see as much of a change as I had hoped or even was lead to believe by the program.

Like I said before, I am finished my last day in the 60 day program of Insanity, and I do have mixed feelings about it. I liked it for is schedule at first but then in the end that's what made not like it so much. Will I do Insanity again in the near future? Most likely not, at least not the whole thing anyway. We still have the DVDs so I might do a few of them individually but I won't go through the whole program anytime soon.
I encourage you took look into this program a bit before deciding whether or not to try it. Don't just take my word for it because I am just one person and one opinion, after all.
Please let me know what you think of my over-view, and if you have done Insanity before, let me know what you personally thought about it.

I hope you liked this post and it maybe even helped you a bit!
Keep it Healthy and Safe,
H. Banana

Post-Run Yoga Cool Down.

This Cool Down came from Pinterest as usual. Its a great way to cool down after a run and really relax and stretch.
Remember to keep it safe and stay with in your abilities!

Sadly the Pin didn't have a working website with the sequence on it, so I don't have the actual website, but I did by no means make this sequence myself and I do not take any credit from it at all.
My sister is going to help me show you what the poses more or less look like. She would like  me to say that she isn't a professional and the poses aren't perfect (But then, what is right?)

Lets jump right into it!
Start with Downward Facing Dog. Remember to take nice deep breaths.

Now on to the next pose,

 And the next pose:

And the next:

The arms are meant to be a little higher over your head, but it takes a while for your shoulders to be flexible!
Alright, next pose!

On to the Butterfly pose!

And the last pose!

Okay, well that's it!
Once again, I do not have the exact link to the poses on a website, but this is the website the Pins sent me to. http://www.naturalhq.org/ I don't know if that will help!

If you try this let me know how it went and what you thought!
Keep it healthy and Safe!
H. Banana