Elf for Health Update

Two weekends ago I was reading around blog land and came across this:
Lindsey and Elle were starting some called "Elf for Health."
Elf for Health Challenge

Basically it's to challenge yourself in the weeks leading up to Christmas to stay healthy and fit and keep everything in balance as the busy-ness of the holidays come.

Normally, I'm not one to just jump out there and sign up for something with someone who I really don't know, but I had read "The Lean Green Blog" before and loved it... so I figured, why not?  I love staying fit and if I can stay fit during the holidays and help others to do the same, then great!

So, two weeks ago I got our first email- our elves assignments!  Hundreds of people like myself signed up for this.  I read up and down the list and found my name, with my partner for the first two weeks- Amanda.

Ok, I thought, I will email this "stranger," tell her a little about myself, and we'll see what happens.  The  first challenge was "Meatless Monday," so being a vegetarian, I thought- no problem!  Well, what seemed like a basic "pen pal" via email has transformed into something quite larger!  I can't believe that there are now nearly 1,000 people signed up for this and am thrilled I am one of those thousand.

In addition to emails, we've also taken the elf for health to other social media- facebook groups, twitter, etc.  Via facebook, I've found there's another elf who lives a few miles from me, who I'm planning to meet up with after New Years and with a blog named "Running and Cupcakes" I have a feeling that we'll get along pretty well! (As long as she doesn't mind that I like the frosting more than the cake!) Check out this fellow Rhode Islander's blog here: Running and Cupcakes

Now back to my elf: Amanda.  She's been super supportive and fun throughout these first two weeks.  She's from Canada and says, "Eh?" I'm not sure why, but I love that fun fact about her!  It's fun to get an email from her and let her know what I'm up to as well.  I have to say that the other night I wasn't too thrilled that a run was on the agenda, but knowing that if I ran it I could report it out to my elf made me want to do it and do it well!

The challenge of the day also was to do some weight training... so I did a small amount of upper body too; have to say my arms are not buff at all! (My cardio is pretty good though-- just over in 8 miles in 62 minutes!!)

It's been fun to "chat" with Amanda about some healthy food ideas too.  When talking about the JAB's homemade pizza last weekend, she suggested a pizza she's made- with raspberries!! (I seriously am going to have to try a fruity/ sweet pizza in the future!)  

Facebook has been a great way of connecting to other elves and get inspired to stay healthy and keep everything in balance.  I haven't changed my ways too much, as I was fairly healthy before, but I did try some new things that were delivered with last week's csa from Farm Fresh RI.

I added leeks to a salad one day-- loved their flavor!

And last weekend, we went squash crazy!!  We had a butternut squash, sweet dumpling squash, and spaghetti squash in our box, so it's been a squashy week!  The sweet dumpling squash (top right) I cut in half, then roasted with a little cinnamon (could have added honey too).  The butternut squash I boiled and mashed, then added garlic salt and pepper.  (The husband added a brown sugar crumble to his for a sweeter dish).  Finally, the spaghetti squash was roasted with oil, rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, garlic salt, and pepper.  Lots of veggies were eaten in the JAB household--- I was proud my hubby was actually asking for more, he liked it so much!

The week finished off last night with another run...

But I really try to stay to my "take Fridays off" from working out.  I find that this helps to prevent injury.  So today I "rested"... still a full day of work, but after work no exercise.  The only "cross training" I usually do on Fridays is walking- around the aisles of the grocery store!

I replenished our chobani supply!

And now the week is done... and our elf for health first cycle is finishing up too!  Sunday we get new elf assignments, but now that I'm "friends" with my elf on the fb, I am pretty sure we will still keep in touch! It's nice to connect with people who are hundreds of miles away through the internet!

Now it's time for some ABC family holiday movies with Mr. JAB-- tonight's feature- "The Santa Claus"... hopefully this gets us in the spirit before we get our Christmas tree this weekend!

Any other elves out there? Leave a comment so I can check out your blog too! :)