Challenge: What's Working, What's Not. And Some Pictures

I think I'm 5 weeks into the Whole Life Challenge. I'm not counting days. I don't want this to be something that ends and then I go back to the same old, same old. I am loving some things about the challenge and I want those things to stick around long after the challenge ends. Some things I don't love and I'll stop them once the challenge ends. 

Let's chat about this...

I'm loving the following:
1. Doing the challenge with Brian. We are having fun complaining together late at night about things we really want. He would like a beer or toast. I would like cake or cake. And then we talk ourselves out of it! I love his support. And I love supporting him!

2. Fruit. I've discovered a new found love of apples. So has Charlotte.  And she prefers to eat hers right off of the living room floor.  It's fine, it's relatively clean....

3. Reading the daily posts. Our team shares daily and I honestly love reading what everyone has to say. It seems like we all cycle through phases on this journey. It's great to be able to reach out and support and encourage from afar!

4. Getting the kids involved. I cannot believe how interested they are in what we are doing. I think our kids are holding us more accountable than anyone...."Mom, I don't think you can eat that".  Busted trying to sneak a handful of Oops All Berries. I thought they were fruit!! Our kids love stretching and working out with us and I love that!

Things I'm not loving:
1. I couldn't have a margarita on National Margarita Day. I thought this challenge was about a whole life approach to wellness. Have they not been informed about the importance of margaritas?!!

2. Stretching. I despise stretching, unless it's yoga, in a hot studio, with a fantastic instructor.

That's it...it's going well! I've been laying on my back, with my legs against the wall.  This counts as stretching....don't tell me otherwise!

Picture time.....

McDonald's challenged me this week.  McDonald's won.  I had a Caramel Frappe.  It was amazing.  I regret nothing!

I put chia seeds into my yogurt.  It's supposed to make me feel more full.  I just felt like I was eating a combination of fish eyes/mold.  It was different!

This girl....she sure is fun!!

And this....sometimes life can seem overwhelming and hard.  Sometimes it takes a coffee cup and sunshine to remind me that life really is a beautiful ride.

Five Fool Proof Ways To Make Sure You Are Doing The Right Exercise

Today I read an article titled "Five ________ (insert certain type of exercise) Moves That You Should Be Doing Instead Of Running.  I was appalled.  The first sentence of the article made a mean comment about runners.  How rude!  Who wouldn't want to run?  Geez people!  

So I've decided to write my own article.  Since I'm pretty much an expert at a lot of things, like walking, tying my shoes, filling my water bottle, setting my alarm.  You get it, I'm not an expert.  But I've still decided to write about it.  So, here you have it folks..........

Five Fool Proof Ways To Make Sure You Are Doing The Right Exercise

Below you will find a list of five questions.  These five questions will help you determine if you are doing the right exercise.  Think about what exercise you have been doing and then answer the following questions.

1. Does this exercise make you excited?

2. Does this exercise get you moving?

3. Does this exercise make you feel better about yourself: either while doing it or after completing it?

4. Does this exercise put you in a better mood, does it make you smile, does it make you happy?

5. Do you want to do this exercise again?

If you have answered these five questions with a "yes", then you are in fact doing the right exercise.

Exercise should be about achieving something.  It should be about achieving your goals and only your goals.  

How wonderful of a world would we live in if people encouraged each other instead of tore them down?  And to tear someone down because of what exercise they were doing?!  CRIPES!!

Go out there and Zumba, Crossfit, Run, Skip, Bootcamp, Spin, Hop, Swim, Bike, Spin in Circles.  Have fun doing it!  And know, that if you can answer those five questions with a yes, then you are in fact doing something good for yourself!

And remember, whatever you're doing....YOU LOOK AWESOME!  Keep it up!

Falling off the wagon was fun and exciting, being drug behind it hurts.

I fell off the wagon Sunday, BIG TIME!  I used Sunday as my "free day".  I can earn a free day through the challenge by earning so many points over a period of time.  Easy to earn for me.  Also easy to know when to use it.  Charlotte's 2nd Birthday Party!

The day started like this....eating marshmallow cream out of the container.  It went downhill from there.  I was like the Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar making my way through the goodness.  I was a gluttonous eating machine.

I enjoyed cheesy chicken sandwiches, fruit with fruit dip, buffalo chicken dip, spinach artichoke dip, fruit salad, orange dream salad, cheesy potatoes, cheesy rice.  I gorged on carbs!!  And CHEESE!  

The fruit salad....MMmmmmmm!

And the orange dream salad!!

I enjoyed cake, wonderful homemade carrot cake with real cream cheese frosting.  I ate more than one piece.  I won't disclose how many.  Ok, I ate 2, maybe 3.  Ok, I ate 3 pieces of cake.  THREE!!!!!!!

And then my Mom, my sweet, sweet Mom brought me a plate of my FAVORITE peanut butter fudge.  A plate just for me.  I hid it in the fridge and ate 3 pieces.  RIGHT. BEFORE. BED!

OH LORD, was it a day.  It felt like one of the best days of my life.  I went to bed happy, feeling a little guilty, but not too bad!  I enjoyed the party, I enjoyed the food and I enjoyed the company.  

And then I woke up..............OH HOLY H#LL!

I'm sugar hung over.  BAD.  And I'm craving sugar again.  I had another piece of cake on Monday.  And went out to eat last night and made poor choices.  I've run out of "indulgence points" so I must get my eating back on track....TODAY!

I learned a ton over the last few days.  The free day was fun, I had no regrets while I was in it, but the few days after are terrible.  I'm ready to feel "clean" again.  

Until next time free day, until next time......

Half Way Point Updates. Only Honest Updates Here

I am officially into Week 5 of the Whole Life Challenge. WHOOP, WHOOP!  I'm kind of on auto pilot at this point. I've fallen into a good routine.  I'm pretty much eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, with a few substitutions here and there. I'm a creature of habit, so this is ok with me and actually by choice!  And I'm enjoying the foods I'm eating.

Here's a little glimpse into what I've been eating...

• Yogurt
• Berries
• Steel cut oats
• My superfood shake
• Eggs
• Meat: bacon, sausage, beef (all sorts of beef), chicken periodically (Chicken isn't my favorite, but I eat it).
• All sort of veggies: carrots and broccoli are my go to
• Lots of apples and oranges
• Pretend brownies
• Dried mangos 
• Dried bananas
• Water
• Black coffee

**I don't put dressing or condiments on my food. I've never really been a condiment girl.

**I use fruit as a natural sweetener.  

Pretty simple, boring, yet effective food list.

Here are some of my mid challenge takeaways:

• I don't miss bread or pasta.
• I miss milk (This is weird because I didn't drink a lot of milk prior to the challenge).
• I miss cheese.
• I haven't had a headache since I started this.
• My energy is still lower than I want it to be, especially if it's a hard workout day.
• I'm sleeping fantastic.
• The fake brownies are actually starting to feel like a treat...haha, who would have thought.
• Planning and prepping is key.  Last week I failed to plan out my dinner and I ended up eating a bowl of cereal.  It was delicious, but not part of the challenge!
• Having in home support, Brian is doing this with me, has also been huge.  So many times I have mentioned eating something crappy....like pizza or waffles and he has talked me out of it.  He has great will power.  I can easily be talked into almost anything!
• I don't miss alcohol.  Not one single bit!
• Our lifestyle challenge this week....meditation.  Despise it.  But I'm doing it.  There's a reason it's being exposed to us, get it, but still don't like it.  I talk about in my job, tell people how to do it, walk people through it, yet I still don't like it.  It's not my thing....

This is it for updates I think.  Pretty boring this last week.  Nothing new and exciting to report.  I am still drinking my coffee black and.....LIKING IT!  I'm not putting stevia, butter, or anything in it.  Just good ole black coffee.  Toughens me up a little!

My goals for the last 4 weeks of the challenge....

1. Don't eat my arm between the hours of 4pm-6pm. (I'm ALWAYS hungry at this time)

2. Start running again.

3. Figure out how to continue eating like this and run. (low energy thing)

4. Try one new recipe a week.  Nope, scratch that.  Not going to do that!  

5. Make cauliflower breadsticks once a week.  Now THAT I can do!

6. Keep pushing hard and stepping outside of my comfort zone. (I'm actually learning A LOT about myself and more so others through this challenge).

7. Keep doing what makes me happy.  

Yesterday we celebrated my sweet little Charlotte's second birthday.  I've got a post in the works for you about that.  I did NOT eat healthy!!!!  This below is how my day started....Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Fluff jumped right into my mouth!

Super Bowl Success!

Good Monday morning folks!

I am happy to report that we (Brian and I) survived the Super Bowl with all compliant treats...I repeat....ALL healthy, sugar free, cream cheese free, nacho free, little weenie free snacks!  Take a look below.  You'll see what the kiddos had and what we had.

Each year we have a picnic in our living room and the kiddos get to choose whatever foods they like.  ANYTHING!  This year the boys did the picking and chose the following.

• Little weenies (cheese filled even!). With a special request for tooth picks to eat them with!
• Velveeta macaroni and cheese.  Only the best!
• Mixed fruit (this was Hunter's pick...this kid LOVES his mixed fruit!).
• Little cupcakes.

Typically Brian and I would just eat what the kids eat, plus maybe an extra dip.  Like a delicious cream cheese buffalo chicken dip....Mmmmm!  Can you tell I'm still missing some foods?!  Well, since Brian and I are challenge ourselves for eight weeks, our Super Bowl spread looked a little like this.

• Cauliflower bread sticks. These are actually amazing and I will keep making these even after the challenge.
• Homemade meatballs.  Also VERY good.
• Homemade veggie dip with sweet potato chips. Brian had fresh salsa with his chips.
• Brownies...healthy, compliant brownies of course.  They look SOOOO GOOD, but don't taste quite like they look.  They aren't bad, but they aren't brownies...if you know what I mean.  Each time I have one I enjoy it a little more.  It's an acquired taste, that's for sure!

And I'm happy to report that our grown up food was just as good, if not BETTER than the kids.  I felt very content and proud of myself for not indulging this weekend.  

Fact: I tried to get Brian to order pizza with me, but he just wouldn't budge!  

People have been asking....is there anything that you've been craving?  Why yes, yes there is...

• cereal with REALLY cold milk.
• A glass of milk.
• Cheese.

That's about it right now, which is good!  Oddly enough I'm not craving sugary crap!  Whoop, Whoop!!

Last week was HARD!  It was hard because of my own stuff I had going on.  I had 10,000 excuses for why I shouldn't be doing the challenge.  I kind of took me back to week 1 where I was blaming the challenge for my sugar cravings.  I'm a training clinical counselor....I knew what was happening.  I tried to outwit and outsmart myself....didn't work!  The challenge isn't bad, it's actually a pretty darn good approach to a mind/body shift.  It's really getting me to step outside of my comfort zone (which is HARD!).  Will it be a complete lifestyle change for me?  It could be.  It is really making me think about my food choices, fueling my body, not just with food, but with positive energy.  So last week, I wanted to give up.  But, the people who support me, love me and know why I'm doing this encouraged me to dig a little deeper, re-look at my why for joining the challenge and step it up.  Some close friends reminded me that there is growth in the struggle, there are learning moments in the weaknesses.  To give up because it was hard and because it was a struggle would not be me.  It's not my style.  I'm here to learn about me, about others, about why we chose the battles we do.  Life is going to be a struggle.  And that is OK!  So watch out....I'm back!  And I'm fired up!

Super Bowl Weekend!

Well, the weekend is upon us. And the Super Bowl weekend at that. Typically each year we would buy loads of junk food, make tons of dips  (usually with cream cheese...mmmm!) and just eat and eat. We always stay in and watch the game as a family. It's one of our fun traditions.

This year will be a little different thanks to the WLC. This year we are eating carrots and brussel sprouts. Fun huh?! Just kidding!! This year we are stretching ourselves and going to make healthy (FUN) food. 

One of the gals in the challenge posted this week about changing our thinking. Instead of being negative and saying "I can't have that", why not turn it around and say "I can have that but I don't want it or I don't need that". Something to that extent...I'm paraphrasing! But essentially turning our negative thoughts into positive ones.  Ummmm....GENIUS!!!

So that's what this household is doing...We're getting positive. 

Am I still struggling? Of course, the growth is in the struggle.

Am I giving up? HECK no!

Am I going to keep pushing forward? Yes.

Will I encounter road bumps? You bet.

Will I put barbecue sauce on the meatballs? No! Even though Brian tried to talk me into taking a point for it. No Brian, we will not eat the barbecue sauce!!

I plan to share all of my fun party eats with you on Sunday!

Happy Friday! 

Challenge for you today....Reach out and let someone know you appreciate them. Make this world a little brighter today!!

I'm just going to guess and say that this is probably compliant....right?! 

A Fresh Mindset

Today is a new day!

I headed to bed last night in a crummy, crabby, unhappy sort of way.  And that's not me.  Not at all.  So I headed back downstairs and grabbed my book that's been waiting for me since last week.  It was one of those books that I picked up at the library.  It was just sitting there on the shelf, staring at me, almost daring me to check it out.  It's called "Find The Good".

I figured it was as good of time as any to crack it open.  I read for about 20 minutes and instantly felt better.

So today, I decided on my bus ride into work, (I really wanted to be crabby today....and I almost decided that the Universe was sending me an "it's ok to be a crabby pants today signal" when the lady who stands outside the bus and frantically finishes her cigarette sits down next to me and turns on the brighter than ever shining light above me head) that I was going to find the good in this challenge I'm doing.  It's not meeting my expectations, and you know what, that's ok!  But I did sign on for 8 weeks and I'm going to give it 8 weeks.

So for today, I choose to look for the good.

Here is one good thing about the Whole Life Catastrophe, I mean CHALLENGE!

1. I am trying new foods that I never thought I would like.  We had spaghetti squash the other night and it was AMAZING!
2. I am connecting with friends I haven't talked too in a long time (that is one of our challenges this week)

Well look at that....two positives from the challenge!

QUESTION
How do you keep moving forward when you're stuck in a rut?

Motivation is fading....and fast!

A quick update on the Whole Life Challenge.

Things are a struggle right now. I'm questioning why I'm continuing forward. Ughh. Yesterday I went for a run. A very short run because I had no energy. I felt defeated, angry, frustrated and hungry. I'm learning a lot through this "challenge"  with one major thing being....this is not the eating approach for a long distance runner.

As I am planning my spring runs, I have my eye set on a half marathon (with some pretty significant time goals) in early spring. Training while eating like this would be miserable, just terrible. I may have to re-evaluate my goals and priorities.

As I talked with a co-worker and friend today she asked me what positives were coming from this experience. Spoken like the true health coach she is! I struggled....I came up with two.

1. I am sleeping like a rock.
2. I have lost some pounds/inches.

So as I sit here frustrated and hungry on day who knows, I wonder....why, why am I really doing this.

To be continued....