April Challenge Comes to an End

Well, the April 'Abs are Made in the Kitchen' Challenge is over tonight. I can't help but feel a little sad because though there were days when it was difficult, it was also fun to know a ton of people were going through the same challenges and making healthy diet choices this month.

April Challenge Week 4!

You guys, it's the final week of the April 'Abs are Made in the Kitchen' Challenge! That means we successfully made it through 3 tough weeks! To be honest, this week was the easiest for me so far because I found that I mostly like to eat complex carbs anyway. But it was interesting for me to always have to think about the category of any food before I ate it.

Getting More Whole Grains in Your Diet

Well, we have about 2 days left in week 3 of the April "Abs are Made in the Kitchen" challenge. I mean, our focus this week is whole grains, right? Therefore, I thought it would be really beneficial to throw in a little advice on how to get more whole grains in your diet.

This is an excerpt from WebMD.com. You can view the full article and the sources (including the authors and reviewers) here.

April Challenge Week 3!

Heyyyyyy Fitfam. So I'm pretty excited I got through the week 2 challenge. No protein shake, sandwiches, or soy milk for a week was tough, but I think we proved how tough we can be as well. Today is the last day of week 2 of the challenge, and I for one am proud of myself and all of you who did it.

April Challenge Week 2

Oh my Lord. April Challenge Week 1 was a little tougher than I thought. It really hit me when I realized I could not have eggs for breakfast. I took it a step further and did not have anything grilled with oil spray either, because let's be honest, it is still oil though in a smaller quantity.

Now as we go on to week 2 starting tomorrow, it's time to cut out all processed food. Unless the ingredients on the pack simply reads "Peanuts", or "Carrots", we'll be staying away from it. This means no bread, no pasta, no yogurt, no chips; just things you cook at home with natural ingredients.

For breakfast, you can have some oats (with whole milk only), some eggs, or fruits. Every other meal is easier. Good luck!

Do you feel like these challenges help you understand healthier decisions you can make for your body? The purpose is to make you more aware of the food you eat.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

April Challenge Week 1

Well, it is April 1st in a few hours, and we are embarking on this April Challenge train. This week, the challenge is to not eat any fried foods. So anything fried in oil is out of reach this week, including eggs fried in oil, stew or sauces fried in oil, chicken and meats fried in oil, etc.

Of course there are substitutes you can use for all these foods. Adura, the health blogger, has posted a great substitute stew (Nigerian tomato sauce) recipe where you use chicken stock as the base for the stew. Check out her recipe here. You can also use coconut oil. 

Why are we doing this? This week's challenge is meant to help us think of healthier subsitutes for some of the foods we eat every day. Let me know your progress on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

March Booty Challenge Over!

You (and your booty) can finally take a breath; the March booty challenge is done! If you have been doing the challenge every day, you'd know that today we got in 310 squats. That's an awesome day for you, and a painful one for your badonkadonk. 

I hope you actually got something out of the challenge this month. Learning to push our bodies in a safe, yet challenging, way is the key to achieving our fitness goals. It may be difficult, and sometimes takes a village, but you can achieve it if you put your mind to it.

Now, am I going to get some booty pictures from you gentlemen and ladies? I'd really like some :)

The April Challenge starts tomorrow!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Get Ready for the April Challenge!

We've been trudging through March getting in those squats day by day. April is around the corner though, and as we continue to make healthy choices, I thought it would be great to focus on nutrition next month. April's challenge is called "Abs are Made in the Kitchen". See the picture above for what the April Challenge looks like. We will be breaking it up week by week. 

These challenges are meant to help us make healthy life choices, and see the way our bodies react to these choices. As we eat cleaner, we bring ourselves several steps closer to meeting our weight loss goals. So get our home ready, buy the food you need to, start looking at restaurant menu items you'd be able to order, etc.

If you tweet or Instagram the challenge next month, don't forget to include the tag "#Aprilchallenge" or "#Absaremadeinthekitchen" so we can follow your progress!

Cheers Eights & Weights!