So It Begins.

Today marks the first day of the 30 Day Challenge, needless to say this new scedule I created is keeping me busy from sun up to sun down. My day started off by waking up at 8 AM, I woke up on time today so I made some coffee (black) then started my morning cardio at 8:30. This is a great first start to this challenge, I plan to start my morning cardio around 9 AM since it will last 45 mnutes, but I am all about getting a headstart in the mornings. The workout I did was Crunch & Burn on the Nike Training Club app. This is a 45 minute cardio workout that encourages maximum and explosive reps for each exercise.

Once cardio was completed, it was time to make breakfast. Since today is the extremely low carb intake day, I decided to make a "banana split". Now this isn't your typical banana split, this one is packed with nutrients to refuel our body from that intense workout.

The recipe for this low calorie breakfast is:

• 1 Banana
• 1/3 Cup of Fat Free Greek Yogurt
• Cinnamon (as desired)
• 1 Packet of Truvia
• 1 Tsp of Chia Seeds
• Raw Cocoa Nibs (as desired)
• 1 Tsp of Local Honey

 Once I finished breakfast I began to prepare my preworkout drink and my mid-morning snack to take with me to class. Today I decided to try a new preworkout drink called 1MR, I had the watermelon flavor and it tasted just like the Watermelon Dum Dums. I also liked that it did not make me shake or feel like I was out of breath, which can be common when dealing with preworkouts. The mid-morning snack I chose was a small bag of trail mix that I put together. This trail mix is full of healthy fats that will keep our metabolisim level throughout the morning.

In this trail mix is:

• 10 Almonds (raw/unsalted)
• 5 Cashews (raw/unsalted)
• 5 Walnuts (raw/unsalted)
• Handful of Sunflower Seeds (raw/unsalted)
• Handful of Raw Cocoa Nibs

Once class was over with, I headed off to the gym to do workout my legs using free weights. Using weights is esential when trying to loose fat by carb cycling. I you lift weights you will be lean and toned by the end of this challenge, if you choose to only do cardio you run the risk of being "skinny fat" by the end of this challenge.Now that we understand the importance of weight lifting, below is my leg workout for the day.

Leg Press - 140 lbs, 3 sets of 8 reps (3x8)
You do 3x8 with your feet straight, then 3x8 with your feet pointed in (pigeon toed), and then 3x8 with your feet pointed out (sumo).

Calf Raise - 140 lbs, 3x8
*SAME AS LEG PRESS*

Deadlift Rows - 50 lbs, 3x6

Squats - 50 lbs, 3x10

Various ab exercises for cool down and I ended my workout with a 30 minute sauna.

When I got home I quickly made my lunch to refuel my muscles. I decided to cook some chicken and have it with a spring mix salad on the side.

This recipe includes:

• 1 Chicken Breast (chopped)
• Dried Mushrooms
• 2 Tsp of Minced Red Peppers
• 1 Tsp of Garlic
• 1/2 of Lemon
• Avocado Oil
• Any Salad Mix

In one bowl combine chicken, 1 tsp of minced red peppers, 1 tsp of garlic, and 1/2 of lemon's juice. Let the chicken marinade for however long you would like (I only waited 10 minutes since I was starving) then throw all contents of the bowl in a skillet and add the mushrooms, cook for 10 minutes and you're good to go. For the salad, just mix 1 tsp of minced peppers with 3/4 avocado oil for your salad dressing. You can do more to the salad if you prefer.

After I had my lunch I made sure to work on my huge pile of homework for the night before I needed to cook dinner. I decided that I would just do an egg whites only omelet with a salad and beets on the side.

I am now currently relaxing with my cup of green tea before I go bed. I hope everyone had a great first day of October and I will talk to you tomorrow.