Motivation for Your Mondays

Isn't this quote so true! One of my goals in life is to be welcoming to everyone I meet, to have them feel at ease and at home when they are around me. There is the saying, it's not the words, it's the music. I feel like that is exactly what Maya Angelou was saying in this quote. Words are so important, and what is often more important than the word is the meaning we give behind it.

I do not believe in the saying that words will never hurt me. Words can do a great deal of damage and they can also do a great deal of healing. This is a reminder that what we say and how we treat all people matters. A great challenge for this week would be to try and leave every person happier than you found them. Happy Monday and happy week!

Great Reads

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In preparation for our Greece trip happening shortly, I have been looking into many good reads and some very addicting blogs. In case you get bored this week or are heading off on a trip of your own and need some light reading, here are some things I am currently loving. All are blogs, of course, and none have been on P+K before. Yes, we are all exploring new things and finding new adventures! Yay for the internet, where you can travel so far without ever leaving you couch.

Life Behind the Tweet. I fell out of love with Twitter a few years back, but this post just might rekindle that honeymoon feeling we had once.

Bring Your Hangover to Work Day. Oh the joys of working from home!

Also from The Daily Tay, things for bloggers. And, if you liked that one, you are sure to like this one too.

This blog was a recent find and I am completely obsessed. You will be too!

Are you devoted to your ideal life?

Because P+K is first and foremost a fitness blog.

Let's DIY this B!

One GREAT overnight oats recipe.

I hope your weekend is filled with adventure, fun, and a bit of cuddling up in a slouchy sweater. TGIF!

Standing Bow Bulling Challenge

This is the first of our challenges that has nothing to do with cardio and everything to do with yoga and balancing. Standing Bow Pulling Pose is one of my absolute favorite poses in yoga because it works so many parts of the body. This pose also improves balance, flexibility, and posture. The pose also helps tone all the muscles of the arms, legs, and core.

I would recommend adding this pose to the end of a yoga flow once you are already warmed up. To complete this for the time needed, you will need to look at one spot straight ahead, having the balancing foot locked, and keep a pull between the upper body and the held leg. This pulling action is what helps keep balance in the upper body where both the leg and the body are trying to be as tall as possible. A balance in this push-pull will create a balance in the pose.

The pulling arm should be held around the ankle or foot while the other arm can be straight ahead like above, or, lifted upwards in an ark. Really, the only way the non-holding arm can be is loose and floppsy down at your side. Just find a comfortable place for it and keep it there :)

I would also recommend trying to hold the 90-seconds the first time you get into this pose. It may not happen, but the more you try, the harder it will be since the body is reaching exhaustion. If this pose is new to you, try holding it for 1-minute first.

Good luck and let me know how long you were able to hold this for!

App Review: Daily Green Smoothie Challenge

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Sometimes, life is just easier when we can revert to our childhood days and have someone decide what we should eat for us. That is where dieticians, nutritionists, meal plans, and handy-dandy apps can come in quite useful- especially if you do not have the extra dough laying around to hire a private chef.

I have been using a few smoothie and juicing apps to get on a healthier habit pattern. One of these is the Daily Green Smoothie Challenge. This smoothie app has plenty of great smoothie recipes along with all the nutritional information your heart could desire. Another great perk is that you can easily add all ingredients to a shopping list that will place all items on a categorized list according to where they are in the grocery store.

The smoothie recipes for this challenge are meant for mornings and are filled with fruits, honey, flax seeds, yogurt, and a few other knick knacks from here and there. I opted to add fresh baby spinach or baby kale to most of my smoothies to increase the vitamins, minerals, and proteins. It did not make them taste worse and the only one that tasted bad at all was the first Orange Creamsicle Smoothie. Be weary though, not all smoothies are created equal. Some are ridiculously low in calories and sugar while others are (what seems) like the equivalent of a Chipotle burrito.

Now to the app... Once you get into it, the app is quite clean and easy to navigate. There is plenty of information available about each smoothie and plenty of smoothies to choose from. It's also free, which is pretty great too. Unfortunately, like my Dad has always told me, "nothing is ever free, not even the prize in the Cracker Jack box." What this app lacks in price, it makes up for in advertisements. Any time you open the app or your phone goes to sleep, a new advertisement pops up and must be exited out of then a pop up will appear confirming you want to exit out. NOT FUN.

Other than the ridiculous free-not-free side of this app, it is pretty good. If you are looking for a price happy way to reboot your diet, I would suggest trying this one out. The app is free and there are no ridiculous ingredients that cost more than the mixer you are putting them in. A pretty good thing the way I see it :)