Tag Archives: New Year

December 31, 2013 · 5:01 pm

Happy New Year!

It’s the last day of 2013! What a great year it has been!

I hope you all have great plans for tonight and start off the new year with a big BANG! As for me, my husband and I are going to our friends’ house. As any other girl, I STILL have to decide what to wear tonight! *PANIC MODE* It’s a Mexican-themed party in a snowy cold Montreal, so it should be lots of fun! Ah, decisions, decisions!

I wanted to finish off 2013 with a post highlighting the most memorable moments that I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.

A getaway with our friends to a cottage up north.

Our engagement party.

My baptism.

My little brother’s graduation from McGill University.

My grandmother’s visit to Montreal for the first time.

My sissy’s 16th birthday.

My surprise bridal shower…

and bachelorette!

Our wedding…

and our honeymoon.

And last but not least: our new puppy!

As I mentioned previously, I don’t really like the idea of New Year’s resolutions. However, I’d like to share with you some of my goals for 2014:

Continue working on my photography skills
Go on a vacation to Europe and the Caribbean
Participate in the various races such as Color Me Rad, Tour de l’île de Montréal, Pineapple Fun run, and complete the Spartan Trifecta
Drink more water
Say I love you more and show appreciation to my family and friends
Complete the Obedience course with my puppy Bella
And, start family planning *VERY SLOWLY: just a little clarification to you know who you are HAHA!

What are YOUR goals for 2014?

xoxo
Olena

How To Convince Your Lazy Friend To Be Your Workout Buddy

First of all, my dear lazy friend, you know who you are, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!

To the rest of you, we’ve all got a friend who constantly tells you that she would love and possibly should join you in your fitness endeavors, and yet there is always something. It could be a lack of time, too much stress, too many shows to watch *haha!*, in other words, excuses, excuses.

So I thought, why not help my friend out with her fitness quest, and at the same time help you all to *HOPEFULLY* get a gym buddy! Here are the results of my brainstorm session:

Go to a sportswear store with your friend and buy some CUTE workout clothes together. Make sure to go all the way out: shoes, pants, nice tops. It’s always fun to show off your sexy curves in a new cute outfit at the gym! *Girls, you KNOW it!*
Sign up for a fun class together. I heard that pole dancing is an insane workout! I’m sure that your friend’s significant other will appreciate it too and will even help you out just to get her there! Haha! Fine… Hot yoga or Zumba could be fun too!
Bring your friend to check out your gym, using a free pass that you normally get when signing up or renewing your membership. If she likes it, suggest starting out with a seasonal membership to feel less pressured. Plus, who likes to workout at the gym in summer, anyway?!
Register NOW for a fun race in early spring! That’s great motivation to keep on exercising regularly for you and your girlfriend.
Try out different classes at the gym; it’s like bar hopping, just healthy! WORD!
Suggest reading some fun fitness magazines or blogs *UHEM! Haha!* for her to learn more and to get pumped up for the next work out or challenge!

What are your thoughts? How do you get your friend to come to work out with you?

xoxo
Olena

3 Comments

Filed under Fitness, Motivation

Tagged as CrossFit, fitness, Friendship, Gym, Gym buddy, health, motivation, New Year, Physical exercise, Zumba

December 12, 2013 · 7:28 pm

Ditch Your New Year’s Resolution List!

As the holidays are quickly approaching, so is the ‘season’ of setting New Year’s resolutions. Personally, I see it as a good thing and a bad thing. Good – because people tend to see the new year as an opportunity to start fresh, and bad – because they tend to come up with a list of somewhat unattainable and unrealistic goals that are forgotten only after a few weeks.

Think about it, the majority of gym subscriptions happen in the first two weeks of January. There is an overflow of people, not necessary because they really want to work out, but because they feel bad about all the food they ate during holidays. So after a couple of weeks, when the excitement is worn out, anxiety, guilt and disappointment settle in as people fail to keep up with their own expectations. And that SUCKS!

In my opinion, you should set ACHIEVABLE and yet CHALLENGING goals. The problem with shooting for an unrealistic goal is that you may set yourself up for a failure. It’s so much easier to give up when you see that you’re far from reaching your goal. However, once you set a manageable goal and achieve it, you’re motivated to combat another challenge. Not only it’s a healthy way to go about it, it’s also SUSTAINABLE. Would you agree?

Say NO to New Year's Resolutions

Therefore, this year, I say, DITCH your list of New Year’s resolutions and say YES to a healthy lifestyle. Set realistic but challenging goals every week not to prove something to someone, but to better yourself and to have a great healthy life!

Who is with me?

xoxo
Olena

11 Comments

Filed under Fitness, Motivation

Tagged as Christmas, fitness, health, healthy lifestyle, Holidays, January, motivation, New Year, New Year Resolutions