I’ve just completed one month of my personal eating clean challenge. With four weeks left of my challenge, I’m already feeling a difference. I’m not too concerned about what my weight says on the scale, but I’m hoping to drop my body fat percentage a bit and of course feel better overall. When I complete my challenge, I will reveal my final results. In week one, I cut out eating junk food after midnight. In week two, I decided to eliminate drinking soda and caffeine from my diet. In week three, I cut out eating at fast food restaurants. In week four, I started preparing meals to take to work. Now in week five, I plan to eat more fruits, vegetables and protein.

In week three of my eating clean challenge, I decided to stop eating at fast food restaurants. I will admit, this was tough. I ate at a sandwich shop a couple of times during the week, but I made sure I didn’t get anything fried and loaded with calories. Being more aware of eating better is my primary goal. Before I started this challenge, I never realized how many times a week I would stop at one of these places because I was in hurry to get my next destination. Now I’m making a conscious decision about what I eat, instead of eating at a restaurant is based on convenience. I also know that there a few healthy options for eating out, I just need to choose wisely and watch my portion control.

Last week, I decided to take an eating clean challenge. Every week I plan to set a goal to help clean up my diet. During the first week of my challenge, I set the goal to stop eating after midnight. To be honest, this was quite difficult for me. My work schedule doesn’t allow me to get home until after 12 a.m. nightly, and the first thing I tend to do is reach for something to eat and plop myself in front of the television to relax. Eating right before going to bed is not a healthy habit. While sleeping the body naturally burns calories. But going to bed on a full stomach means the body then has to digest the food first and then it proceeds to burning calories. Most likely the food ends up being stored as fat in this

In a little less than two months I will be celebrating my 10-year wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe the time has gone by so quickly. My husband and I are excited about taking a trip in August to our favorite city, New York City. When there is a milestone in our lives, most people usually try to accomplish a fitness goal before the big day happens. A wedding, reunion, birthday or anniversary are usually the biggest reasons people feel there is a looming deadline over their head to get in shape or lose weight. In my case, I will take on an eating clean challenge before I head off to the Big Apple. This is not a fad nor is it a diet. The challenge is to cut out the junk and replace it with clean foods that will

It’s been almost two years since I hiked Pikes Peak. Taking a look back, I was a bit nervous that I might not make it to the top. Even though I was a full-time group fitness instructor and personal trainer, I was a little unsure how to prepare for my first 14er. Hiking the several trails that are in our region seemed to be the obvious place to start. Unfortunately in 2012, the wildfire in Waldo Canyon was raging kept some of the trails closed. Also, the heavy smoke from the fire made it unbearable to breathe while exercising outside. There was even a chance that the group hike to Pikes Peak would be cancelled. Luckily, the fire eventually was contained and the planned hike had a set date. In the meantime, I kept my