Some early morning reflections on Day 13

Day 13, almost two weeks into the Whole Life Challenge. Things have been going really well, surprisingly.  I have accumulated some brief reflections so far. And I KNOW you have been dying to hear them. So, I shall keep you in suspense no more. 

Here they are.
* I really enjoy eating meat.
* Bacon, specifically turkey bacon is amazing.
* I set my sleep goal for 6 hours and 30 minutes each night. I should have set it higher, stretched myself a little more. I'm getting about 6 hours and 50 minutes each night.
* I'm sleeping like a rock.
* Fruit tastes AMAZING! I think it's because I haven't had processed sugar that I'm appreciating naturally occurring sugar.
* I am not missing bread at all.
* I would like a cookie.
* I would also like some peanut butter fudge.
* I still hate stretching. We have to stretch for 10 minutes a day.
* This week we have to turn off all electronics for an hour as part of the challenge. We are doing this as a family every night and I LOVE IT! This practice may continue.
* I haven't cheated. Not once. I'm blown away by this.

* I've eaten A LOT of eggs. See below!  

* I've earned some indulgence points. If you eat well for a few days you can have a treat.
* I ate CAKE with one indulgence point. This cake....Mmmmmm!

* I've lost some weight. Weight loss was not my primary goal, but I'm ok seeing a couple pounds go away.
* I'm becoming more aware of my hunger/cravings.
* So far, I'm happy I've done this challenge. I won't continue to eat this way, but I am learning a lot about myself. I have plans to start training for some running events and this is not the diet for a runner. And that's ok!

Question.....

What is your FAVORITE indulgence food?

A short mid day reflection....

It's almost lunch time on day 5 of the Whole Life Challenge and I've been thinking a lot.  A lot about my coffee.  I know, deep thoughts!

Prior to this challenge I would have never given up my creamer.  Never!  Why?  Because there was nothing "good" associated with giving it up.  Yes, I know creamer is bad for you, it has chemicals, added fat, unnecessary calories....blah, blah, blah.  But it tastes SO. DARN. GOOD!  Knowing the negative aspects of something does NOTHING for me, absolutely nothing!

So then this challenge started and I decided that I was going to give it my all, and it's a competition (sort of, more so of a competition with yourself).  You get points.  And I'm competitive, so I want all of my points.  Yes, I know I'll lose points during this challenge and that's ok, but if I can NOT lose points by something small, you better bet that I'm doing it.  So, shortly before the challenge started, I decided I was giving up my creamer.  I had just purchased a brand new french vanilla creamer, large sized of course.  So I sat down and drank it all.  Right from the bottle.  Ok, I'm kidding.  I didn't drink it from the bottle!  It's still actually in my fridge.  I should dump that out now that I'm thinking about it.  And now, by giving up my creamer I'm gaining something from it....I'm gaining those stinking points every day!  And, I'm gaining some pride.  There is a huge sense of pride in knowing that I can set a goal, make my mind up and do it.  And that to me is something GOOD!

On a side note, people have been giving me ideas of alternatives to put into my coffee.  Great ideas too!  But, I'm not doing any of them.  Why?  If I'm giving up my creamer (extra calories, extra fat, extra ickiness for my body), I don't want to replace it with something else.  Many of the alternatives, although "healthier" are just as high in calories and fat.  So if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this 100%.  Goodbye creamer!

What has been one of the hardest things that you have given up when it comes to healthy eating?  Maybe you were only able to give it up for a day or two.  Share with me!

Some "Whole Life Challenge" reflections on day 4

As you know, I'm always on some sort of wellness journey.  A few weeks ago I committed to joining an 8 week challenge, The Whole Life Challenge (WLC for short).  You can read more about it here if you'd like: https://www.wholelifechallenge.com/  It's pretty much the Paleo diet.  If this was the only component to this challenge I would have said no. Completely and totally NO!  I don't fully agree with the Paleo diet and would never choose to live my life eating like this.  It's great for some, just not me.  So you're probably wondering why I said yes to the challenge then, right?!  Well, there are things to be learned and I know that I can learn a lot about myself and my food choices by adapting a new way of eating for 8 weeks.  The WLC also incorporates many other components of wellness.  Sleep, water, mobility, exercise, short daily reflections, and a new weekly practice (this week is to journal for 10 minutes).  I FULLY believe that so much more than exercise and diet contributes to our overall wellness and the WLC picks up on some of these.  My husband also really wanted to kick his wellness journey into high gear.  Now, I eat pretty well and exercise everyday, but I cannot for the life of me get Brian to join in on the healthy eating part.  So, when he expressed interest in this, I ran with it.  I figured if we could do it together, we would have a shot at a getting some good habits going together.  The challenge is being hosted by Studio 223.  As an instructor there, I also knew it would be a great idea to join the challenge and support so many of the members that are doing it.  I am impressed by the amount of people that signed up.  So, let me share with you a few reflections so far.  Keep in mind, I'm only on day 4 and it's still early in the day.

• To start, I frickin love, I mean LOVE sugar.  There is no sugar allowed during these 8 weeks (normal occurring sugar is ok, like in fruit). I'm going through sugar withdrawal.  No joke.  I'm cranky, tired and all I can think about is chocolate cake.  I didn't think I ate that much sugar.  Obviously I did.
• I am giving it my all for this challenge.  I mean, I'm pushing myself.  I'm not cheating!  This means I gave up my beloved coffee creamer.  Black coffee is for the birds.  But I'm drinking it. People say I should mix some coconut oil and cinnamon in there, blend it up a bit.  Well let me tell you, I've got no time for that!  Can you tell I'm cranky?!  I'm drinking it black and I keep telling myself that I LOVE it.  
• The limited carbs (we're staying away from a lot of grains, highly processed crap) is actually going really well.  I thought I was a carb girl.  Turns out, I like carbs, but I'm doing ok with a limited amount.  Or maybe this is just one of the effects of the sugar withdrawal, I cannot totally understand what is happening to my body right now.  Regardless, I'm happy I'm not in carb withdrawal! 
• Sometimes I think about not having sugar and I get really mad, like resentful mad about this challenge.  I try to find someone to blame and think about reasons why I should have sugar.  It goes like this...."They don'y understand, they don't get it, don't you know that life is about balance and cake is part of that balance, I just want to be happy and having that piece of cake will make me happy".  Oh lord, I can't even believe I shared that.  First off, these thoughts are all product of my withdrawal right now.  I am really good at talking myself into bad things.  Really good!!!!!  Secondly, I don't even have cake in my house.  Although I've contemplated going to Costco and buying one of those delicious chocolate cakes. (I don't even have a membership, nor have I ever been there, I've just had the cake once!) There is a reason I signed up for this, and it wasn't to be mad!  So I switch my thoughts around and re-frame what's happening. This is only 8 weeks, there are indulgence points built into this challenge, so I know at some point I can have that dang chocolate cake (maybe I won't even want it at that point).  And I want to better myself, I want to learn more about why I eat what I do and how food impacts my body.  
• Having accountability is HUGE for me.  We check in everyday on our team page.  We share struggles, tips, ideas, etc.  We get points for completing things.  I'm very competitive, so although this is good for me right now, I can foresee this becoming a challenge in the future.....maybe! 
• Having my husband on board is AWESOME!  Had Brian not signed up for this with me, I would have cheated already.  I love having his support. 
• I am loving that I have to journal for 10 minutes a day.  I forgot how much I love to write and this reminded me.  Probably why I decided to blog about it on here actually.  So, thank WLC for "making" me journal.  I added a piece to my journal where I have to write down 5 things I am grateful for each day, 5 different things.  I'm loving it, it's helping my negative sugar withdrawal attitude!  

That's all for my reflections right now.  There will be more to come!   

Questions for you all:

Which do you prefer: carbs or sugar?

If you had to give up one, which would you give up?

And finally, I'll leave you with this.....or maybe this is more for me!