I Challenge You....

To a 4 week Health & Fitness challenge! 

Let's get on track with nutrition and fitness right in time for the summer. 

Been awhile since you have been to the gym? Never joined a gym before? No problem. This challenge will be for beginners +. I will be giving out free weekly tips and exercises for the 4 weeks on my Facebook & Instagram pages. 

Want a full program including meal ideas/recipes and workouts to either lose weight or build muscle? 

Sign up for my 4 week challenge program for $50. You will be added to a super secret email list & Facebook group (for conversation and motivation). This program is all online - can be done from the comfort of your own home - no gym membership required. You will need a couple sets of dumbbells, stability ball, yoga mat and a couple resistance bands. 

Help the dogs!

$10 from each participant will be donated to Rocky Road Dog Rescue. Space is limited.  Sign up today. I will be sending out the first email on May 6th, 2019! 

Want in-person training? I will be offering my personal training and nutrition coaching services starting in June - either in yours/my home or 1:1 online live training. 

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10 Budget & Time Friendly Home Workouts

Source:StockSnap

I know a couple of the biggest reasons people don't workout out is because of lack of time and costs of gym memberships, workout dvds & equipment. I was one of those people. As a working mom of two, when was I suppose to find time to go to the gym? Especially as my husband would be working until 8 pm. I went to evenings at work then to overnights and I found myself tired all the time. I was ready to cuddle down right after tucking the kids into bed for the night.

Since I have started my journey I have found numerous fitness people that share some awesome workouts with the world free of charge or very in expensive.  I love that there are also so many great workouts 30 minutes and under. The most popular workouts are HIIT workouts (High Intense Interval Training). These workouts are great to squeeze in either before work, after work, before dinner or where every you can squeeze it into your schedule.

Here are some of my favorite people to check out depending on what kind of workouts you are looking for: (The links will open up into YouTube channels)

Erin Motz - Bad Yogi

Betty Rocker

Fitness Blender

Loinsgate BeFit

Popsugar Fitness

Yoga with Adriene

Casey Ho ~ Blogilates

Tara Stiles

XHIT Daily 

Jessica Smith TV

Disclaimer: Please check with your doctor before starting any workout program, never sacrifice form for reps, only push as far as your body can handle it. 
 

~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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A Little Challenge Never Hurt Anyone, Right? ~ Fitness

Source: ClipartPanda.com

It has been a crazy busy month or so with getting back into the swing of things with school, my new fitness journey and getting prepared for Blissdom Canada conference. I wrote a post to update you on my workouts during level 2 of Jillian Michaels Beginner Shred and also to challenge myself to some personal goals. Guess what? I forgot to post it. I decided I would rewrite my post so that it is more up to date.

My husband has jumped into the workouts with me and has been really enjoying himself with the level 2 workouts. He didn't realize the other day after I came home from the conference that we were starting level 3! Were we both surprised on the difference between level 2&3!

In level 3 we have seen an increase in cardio, core and upper body workout. Who am I kidding my legs are burning after it also. It is just a huge increase in every part of our body. I am glad I decided to try this video workout before Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. There isn't much time to think during this workout. It is a get in there and get it done. I really like the 30 minutes or under workouts as I find it hard to make more time to workout. As it is I work out in the evenings even though I have been told it is better to workout in the am. I just can't squeeze it in. I am going to try to aim to squeeze in Yoga in the am or 10 minute HIIT workouts.  

This month I decided to also add a push up challenge to my regular workouts. This challenge is from Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. Check it out they even have a Facebook event to check in with each day to stay motivated. I am a couple days behind but I am taking at my own pace and working through the challenge even if it takes me a few extra days. The Jillian workout has push ups, burpees and side planks that make my arms jello at the end of the workout so on those days I try to work in the push up challenge in the am.

Next month I am thinking about working on burpees as they are a great total body workout and I would love to have the strength from them. Right now I curse them in the workout with Jillian but I know with time and practice I will get stronger and better at them.

What is your biggest workout challenge or goal?


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Fitness Journey ~ Workouts

Source Clip Art Panda

Now that I have been working on breaking my bad eating habits I have decided that I need to get on a workout schedule of some sort. I did the walking thing last year and I can tell you that walking alone doesn't get the results that you really want without a change in eating habits. It is the same if you do workouts all the time but eat really crummy. You may lose some weight or notice a few inches gone but with the combination on healthy eating habits and workouts you will be amazed at the results you can get!

Like most of you I pop onto Facebook a lot throughout the day and have been seeing one of my friends shedding some extreme pounds. I am super proud of her and know that it can't be easy as neither of us were really one to "workout" in the past. I then saw she was doing some of those workouts you see on tv infomercials from Beachbody and I was very interested. So I sent her a private message on Facebook asking her about the workouts, shakes and how she is liking it. Next thing I know I am part of this great group of ladies on the same journey!  I hope to one day be able to share my before and after photos and results but right now I will share with you what I am doing and what kind of results are happening right now. 

I decided to get right to work while I still had the motivation and grabbed a couple free HIIT workouts on YouTube. By the way there are TONS of amazing workouts online! I was finding the videos I started with hard on my knees and decided to grab the new Jillian Michaels Beginner Shred from Walmart when I was out grocery shopping.

I took some pictures and a week later some measurements and have been doing my workouts religiously every night/day I can with a few rest days here and there. With my work schedule I have had to really push myself to do workouts on the day I come off of an overnight and remember to do one in the daytime on the day going into my work night.

I started this journey at the end of August and it is finally getting easier to be motivated to workout each day that I can. I completed the first level of the Beginner Shred and am well on my way into level 2. Level 1 was tough for the squats, lunges and push ups. Now that I am on level 2 Jillian doesn't give us much of a break and we are working hard at blasting away that extra fat while working those muscles in every part of our body. I was just dripping with sweat the last night. I am enjoying it a lot.

Do you have a favorite workout or what workout are you currently doing?


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Journey to a More Healthy Me!

If you have been following my blog over the last year you will likely remember I was working last fall to get fit. I started to couch to 5K but then ended up with really bad shin splints. After that I continued to push through them by walking any where from 15-30 km a week.

I am sad to say I fell off that walking schedule over the summer with the kids being home, along with the hot weather. I usually got in a few .5 - 1kms day. I have decided that just walking wasn't getting the results I was looking for. I want to lose 15-20lbs along with firming/toning my body.

One of my bad habits is eating too much, I have really lost sense of a healthy portion size. Eating has also been hard with working overnights, especially where I can't bring in my own foods. This means you are stuck eating what other people deem as "healthy". I am sad to say that healthy isn't on their menu for the most part. Mainly the place is stocked with junk food from chips, cookies, ice cream and other carb heavy foods. 

As an overnight worker I find myself in the middle of the night snacking, as I work alone and some nights can be long. Mostly heavy carb foods and in the am breakfast is usually more carbs, then I would find myself hungry again when I arrive home so I eat before bed. BAD HABITS!

So first thing was first - get my eating habits under control. Portion control, less carbs and more water. I used to be awesome at getting 64 oz of water a day and then stopped. I don't even know why I stopped, I just did. As of the last week of August I have been monitoring my eating habits with an app called My Fitness Pal. It has been great as it gives me a set amount of calories to eat a day based on weight, height and level of activity. If you exercise during the day the app will factor that in and you can eat a bit more healthy calories. The first few days it really took a lot to stick to a "serving" size vs what I would normally throw on my plate. Now I find I am adding more smaller snacks throughout the day and staying full longer. I am also eating breakfast but a healthy one or a protein shake with a fruit.  

Do you have bad eating habits? What is your worst habit?


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Your 5 Senses Right Now ~ Day #6 Challenge

As I write this it is actually Wednesday (because today I am napping after working all night) it has been a quiet day because I choose to take it quiet and hibernate. We are getting tons of snow again. Of course the groundhog saw his shadow so we will see 6 more weeks of winter.

I did a couple loads of laundry, read half of a review book and now I decided I should write this post before the kids get off the school bus.

My 5 Sense right now...........

Hearing ~ I am listening to some upbeat music. Right now it is Timber by Pitbull. I also hear Miss Molly dragging her food dish across the kitchen floor in her way of asking for more food even though she knows she wont get anything until the kids get in.

Sight ~ I am looking at my netbook as I write this with a cat in the kitchen window and snow falling endlessly. I hope it quits soon as I need to drive to work tonight. It does look nice when there is fresh white snow out there instead of all the dirty slush. I am ready for spring though and really ready for summer and all the fun it will bring this year.

Smell ~ Right now all I am smelling is my hot caramel apple cider. YUM!

Taste ~ I am enjoying a very tasty hot caramel apple cider before heading out to get the kids. It tastes so smooth and sweet. Hot enough to have to sip but not too hot to enjoy every sip.

Touch ~ My fingers tapping on the keyboard. Pushing buttons on the tablet to listen to another song or petting Molly when she comes over to nuzzle her head on my lap. While I touch I look at my fun Jamberry nail wraps :)



~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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10 Songs I love right now ~ Day #5 Challenge

Since I have been working out more on the treadmill I have a list of "Workout" song on my playlist and I also have a few favorite new country songs and a few old ones I have started listing to again lately.

These are not in any specific order just wrote them down as I thought of them.

• Timber by Pitbull featuring Ke$ha
• Brave by Sara Bareilles 
• Roar by Katy Perry
• Say Something by A Great Big World & Christina
• Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus 
• The Fox (What does the Fox Say) by Ylvis
• We Can't Stop by Miley Cyrus 
• Radio by Darius Rucker 
• Watching Airplanes by Gary Allen 
• Is that a tear by Tracy Lawrence 

Actually any song by Gary Allen or Tracy Lawrence have been on my YouTube playlist.

What are your favorite songs right now?

~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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What are you afraid of? ~ Day #4 Challenge

This challenge had me thinking as there are the easy to come up with things that I am afraid of. I was thinking about the more common fears like how about being afraid of snakes? I am super afraid of snakes! Even those I know they wont hurt me because the ones in our woods are not poisonous. Snakes also do not jump from tree. They more or less fall from the tree. I learned a lot about snakes last summer when we were camping. They had a little demo in the evening about endangered animals in our area and Canada.  

I am also afraid of flying even though I have know flown twice. Both times in 2012 and to go to blog conferences. My fear of planes isn't the common fear that it will crash and I'll die no my fear is my ears. I have had numerous issues with my ears for the last few years after being exposed to some environmental hazards. I fear my ears filling up and rupturing. Yes, I know how silly that sounds but it is my fear to go deaf from flying. 

So my question now to you is - What are you afraid of?



~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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20 Things About Me ~ Day #2 Challenge

Today's writing challenge is 20 Things About Me. I tried not to give away too much about myself yesterday in my Introduction post so that I can give you 20 facts today. Here are somethings you may or may not know about me.

1. I am a crafter and have tried my hand at sewing, quilting, paper crafts, beading, rug hook, plastic canvas, knitting and now crochet. 
2. I am a Peanut Butter addict
3. I used to figure skate
4. I am a Independent Jamberry Consultant 
5. I am an introvert
6. I am a soccer mom
7. I have light blue eyes but want to get contacts to make them brighter 
8. My favorite Hockey team is the Ottawa Senators
9. I have been inside the TV show Cheers bar in Boston 
10. I drive a minivan and love it!
11. I don't like to be bored - I love to always have tasks to do (reading, blogging, crafts, baking, etc)
12. I love to bake 
13. I love to walk especially with our dog Molly
14. I have only been on a plane twice in my life and both times where in 2012
15. I cut 14 inches off my hair in 2011
16. I want to live in the country
17. I love watching the TV show Bizarre Foods in America with Andrew Zimmern 
18. I secretly hate kids toys that make sounds 
19. I would rather read than watch TV
20. I work overnights and have a horrible sleep schedule now

So there you have it. The 20 things about me that came to mind without thinking about them.

~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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About Me ~ Day #1 Challenge

This picture is the best more recent one but it is still a yr old.

Today's challenge is an introduction and recent photo. I will admit one thing I do not like are photos of myself. I have a feeling these challenges are going to have me stepping outside of my comfort zone. That is okay through as I am trying to become less introverted and try to be less shy.

My name is Jennifer and I am in my early 30's. My birthday is December 19th. I am a mother of two, P & A who are 7 & 6 years old. I am with my best friend & high school sweetheart. We are not "officially" married but we are common law and might as we be married as neither of us intend on going anywhere until death due us part. I work full time overnights in a group home for developmentally disabled adults. I went to school to become a Developmental Services worker in 2000 and graduated with Dean's Honors in 2002. It is amazing thinking back now as I have been working in this field since I was in high school, about 15 years. I have been blogging for almost four years and love all the opportunities that have come with it and all the fabulous people I have meet because of blogging and social media.

Tomorrow is 20 Things about Me. I will stop here as I will tell you more about myself in tomorrows post and throughout the month of February. 


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Writing Challenge for February 2014

With my goal in mind for writing more during 2014 I hit up Google over the weekend. When searching 30 day challenge I decided to check out the image section and you would be amazed with all the different challenges there are out there - fitness, photo, writing, blogging, organizing and so forth. I will start with a blog writing challenge but some of the others seemed interesting for sure!

The challenge I found that I liked the best for my first month is actually a 31 day and yes I know February has only 28 days this year. I will try and write an extra on a couple days. This is an old challenge but I don't mind trying it out before I link up to an active challenge. 

Over the month of February you will get to know the person behind this blog and I hope you will enjoy.


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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