30-Day Ab Fitness Challenge

If you've been reading our blog for any period of time, you'll know we believe that abs are made in the kitchen. There's no amount of sit-ups for crunches you can do that will give you a six-pack. I also fully understand that some people don't want a six pack - no worries, this isn't going to turn you into a six-pack machine.

This was first published March 29, 2016. It was updated and re-published March 31, 2018.

This challenge is to strengthen your core. Strengthening your core is about more than appearance, it's about helping to prevent injury as well. Add this short challenge to the end of your workouts each day. Take notes about how you feel and how hard (or easy) the challenge was. This will give you something to look back on and compare how much stronger you are.

If you are advanced and this is too easy for you, you can double or triple each day. If this is too difficult, cut the time and/or reps down and work your way up. This challenge is totally customizable based on your fitness level.

This challenge was designed to be something that you do in addition to your normal workout (which is hopefully one of our workout plans!). We have 4, 6, and 12-week workout plans for all fitness levels!

Tag us on Instagram and use the hashtag #heandsheeatclean so we can follow along!

Not sure what these exercises are? This plank post explains seven different plank variations!

Detox Your Nutrition: March

MARCH. 2018. The fact that it is already March of 2018 blow my mind. The beginning of a new month means the beginning of a new challenge! If interested, we also have a Full Body March Madness Fitness Challenge here.

The entire goal of our Detox Your Life Challenge is to improve a different area of our lives each month. It's okay if we don't accomplish ALL of our goals; however, we will take much pride in tackling the goals we set and use those accomplishments to build momentum in tackling our remaining goals as the year goes on.

Last month, for the Detox Your Money Challenge, our goals were to:

• Opening a new savings account to maximize the interest we’re earning (check!)
• Categorizing our grocery receipts to help drill-down on wasted expenses (nope!)
• Reviewing our retirement investments to ensure we’re saving enough for retirement (check!)
• Reviewing the new changes to the tax code to identify incremental income that can be poured into savings and take advantage of new opportunities (check!)

I (Whitney) have been super busy over the last few days (weeks) getting everything ready for our taxes and Scott has been really busy at work. While we wish we would have been able to better analyze our receipts, we were pretty happy with how we didn't waste any money during the month of February and how we were able to open our new checking and savings accounts (that came with a $500 bonus!).

Again, just because a new month is upon us doesn't mean that we are going to completely forget about our January fitness goals or our February money goals. We will continue with our previous goals and simultaneously move forward with our nutrition goals!

Wondering what all of this detox stuff is all about?

Take a look at the concept behind our Detox Your Life Challenge here.

Let's take a simpler approach to nutrition this time, shall we?

High carb. Low carb. High fat. Low fat. High protein. Low protein. Juice cleanse. Cookie diet. Grapefruit diet. There are so many buzz words being thrown around that it makes my head spin! I have a feeling you feel the same way!

We're going to simplify nutrition for you: Eat Real Food.

Get started with these steps:

1. Read Getting Started with Clean Eating
2. Read 8 Things You Need to Know When You Start Eating Clean
3. Download our FREE 13 to Clean Challenge and/or take a look at our 1,500 Calorie Meal Plan

Keep in mind that just because your sister, brother, best friend, and/or co-worker lost 25 pounds on a certain diet doesn't mean that same thing is right for you. Just because you see it on Facebook or hear about it on a TV show also doesn't mean it's right for you.

Keep things simple. Our bodies need all nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Choose lean protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

So, what will we be working on this month?

March is a really busy month for us (big news coming soon!) and to top it off we travel to Arizona at the end of the month but we will keep nutrition at the forefront of our mind.

• Do an entire food prep each week
• Drink our apple cider vinegar detox water every day
• Try to incorporate vegetables into breakfast
• Drink at least 64 oz of water each day
• Limit added sugar
• Eat out twice per week, max

Looking for ideas for your own challenge?

• Join our 13 to Clean Challenge
• Join our 6-Week Get Fit Challenge
• No junk food
• Food prep each week
• Read labels while grocery shopping
• Only eat out once per week

Need to write down your goals with pen and paper?

We do too! We have a simple printable for you! You can print it in color or black and white and then just fill in whatever notes or goals you need to jot down. Get it here.

Reminder: Make sure you are signed up for the Detox Your Life Challenge emails so that you know when a new challenge is released or we have something fun to give you like a new printable!

Check out these additional resources:

• Top 5 Clean Eating Pantry Staples
• Essential Meal Prep Tools

Get Ready for New Recipes & Tips to Help You Along the Way!

Pictures of myself that I hated.

Just like almost all of my other body image posts, this one has been in "draft" mode for a LONG time. I figured now was the right time to publish it after posting a picture of me and Scott on Instagram and Facebook recently.

I think the picture I posted was taken in 2012. I posted it because it was funny that we had a picture flexing in Costco. We've been going there every week for YEARS. I didn't really pay much attention to US in the picture at first. After posting it, I started looking at it more closely and some of the body image issues I've had started to creep back in so I'm finally publishing this post. Since this Costco picture was taken a lot has changed. I don't know exactly when this picture was taken or what I weighed at the time but I would guess I'm about 15 pounds heavier right now. The picture in Costco was taken either right before or right after a photo shoot I was training for. My training and nutrition were ON POINT. My life revolved around it but my life doesn't revolve around that anymore.

But just like when I posted the picture below over the summer (I weighed around 147 pounds in this picture), it doesn't matter how small I am nothing seems to be good enough. I'm going to share a few pictures that I've absolutely hated for one reason or another. I've even added a big ol arrow to point out what I hated.

Before you read further >>>> read my original post on my body image issues.

So, just to emphasize...there's approximately a 17-pound weight difference between these two photos. Sure, some is muscle but not all.

Keep in mind that a person of ANY size can struggle with this. I've heard from people from size 0-20 who have body image issues. So just because you think someone has the "perfect body" or they are the "right" size or weight, doesn't mean that they don't also have body image issues.

The picture below was taken in Canyonlands National Park in 2015. I obsessed over the little bit of "fat" that you could see coming over the strap on my pack.

These next few pictures were taken in 2014 I think. Those love handles...I even posted about this picture in my first body image post.

And the stomach...

Again, that extra skin over my swimsuit bottoms...

Another one from Canyonlands National Park where my fat is hanging over my pack.

Oh and this one. My hips are just way too big. And that little roll under my right butt cheek?! End of the world.

These two I had my shirt on because of the fat on my stomach, not because I was cold.

Honestly, it helps me to write all of this out. I also want you to know that if you are struggling you are not alone. I had body image issues when I was 127 pounds and when I was 147 pounds, and everything in between.

Please take the time to read through the resources below if you also struggle with body image issues.

• How Getting Into Fitness Ruined My Body Image
• Stories From My Scale (Why You Need to Ditch Yours For Good!)
• 5 Things I Did to Achieve My Dream Body
• 5 Reasons Why You Aren't Achieving Your Dream Body
• 5 Things We've Done to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle 5+ Years