Motivation Monday + online food journaling

I think it's pretty common that Monday is the most motivating day of the week to start something new: a new diet plan, new workout routine, changing things at work, etc. Once again I find myself, excited to start a new week with big plans on Motivation Monday. Here's to hoping it becomes a habit :)

Here is the workout plan I'm following... the format came from a personal trainer a while back.

5 minute cardio warm-up (elliptical or treadmill)

Strength training circuit (alternating between legs, arms, and abs)

20- 30 minutes of cardio 

This is what I was told to do for lean muscle tone (not to "bulk up"). He said that women tend to think that lots of cardio is the recipe for fat loss, but all you really need is 20-30 minutes in addition to targeted strength training. This will actually help you lose weight/fat faster than overdoing it on cardio. Be sure to drink plenty of water in between circuits. 

To check out a good strength training sight click here.

ONLINE FOOD JOURNAL

In the past, I have started a food journal several times and been unsuccessful with sticking to it. I would conveniently leave out the junk food/snacks/fourth meal I had in between, forget to bring my journal to work, skip a day, whatever....but the end result was I never stuck to it and ended up in my old unhealthy habits. 

Over the weekend I thought to myself, what would be a motivating way to keep track of my eating and hold myself accountable, and came up with: online food journaling. It's simple:  snap a pic, and upload it with short description of what you ate.

Even if no one reads this, I will still feel accountable for watching what I eat, taking a picture, and posting daily. 

Day 1

Breakfast: egg beaters, strawberries & bananas

Lunch: spring mix salad w/ raspberry vinegarette dressing, fruit

Dinner: salad w/ ranch dressing & left-over crockpot pesto chicken (delicious recipe found here)

I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and cooked until the chicken kind of pulls apart (Blake described it as melting in your mouth!)

snacks: broccoli salad, grapes, handful of Starburst Jellybeans (oops)

So...while I was in the mood of holding myself accountable I decided my wardrobe could use a little motivation, too. If I take a pic of my outfit every morning before work, maybe I'll dress cuter ;)