Just Me...

Update time! 60 Days ago I posted that I hadn't had coffee in 3 days.  I was excited to be alive.  Fast forward, still no coffee and I feel wonderful.  I completed the 24 day challenge feeling awesome.  I have so much more energy, my emotions are more under control and I am focused.  For the past 2 weeks I have been using an energy focused vitamin pack instead of just the general wellness pack and that has improved things even more.  I am down 2% body fat and the weight is ticking off.   I am fitting in clothes I haven't fit into (comfortably) for ages and I just feel more confident.  I smile more and believe I am generally a happier person to be around.  I have noticed that my family and my co-workers are appreciating these changes in focus.  At home, our house is becoming more orderly, we are having fun family game nights and I don't feel so guilty when I take a minute to relax.  At work I have been selected to apply fo...

As you know, I have started a track to a healthy life with Nuvita a few months back and now I am working through the 24 Day Challenge with Advocare.  My husband just finished the first part of the challenge, the cleanse phase, and lost 9lbs. Now I am on day 3.  I haven't had coffee in 3 days...I am alive! I am not planning to cover all of the details of everything I eat/take during this time, but I will say that it is pretty basic nutritional stuff.  The Cleanse focuses on detoxifying your body so that it can absorb and efficiently use the vitamins and minerals in our multivitamins and in the healthy foods we eat.  The only real restrictions in this phase are no dairy, wheat, alcohol and fried foods (duh!).  The phase promotes eating and I am enjoying all of the fruits and veggies that I am having daily plus the nuts and craisins that I have in the afternoon.  I have started working out daily.  My schedule isn't too complicated.  I have a ...

If you have seen The Lion King, you will get this, if not...well go watch it (even if you don't have kids or if they are grown...it is a great show!). Simba has been through a tough road realizing who he is supposed to be and denying it time after time.  When he finally overcomes his enemies and dedicates himself to repairing the damage to his kingdom, wise old Rafiki says "It is time..." Time for what?  How does this story make sense in my life?  I have toyed around back and forth for quite some time on why I need to incorporate exercise and healthy eating in my life.  For the most part I do ok...I maintain and do just enough not ot have to buy bigger clothes or feel like a huge blob at the end of the day, but that is not enough. For one, God gave me this body to do great things and doing "just enough" isn't going to cut it.  Secondly, when I am working to stay in shape and consistently eat healthy I just feel better.  I have more energy, better re...

The last two weeks have been a scheduling chaos.  With school ending, Memorial Day weekend and Jeremy being out of town, let's just say that my eating routine has gone a little haywire.  What perplexes me is that for the past two weigh-ins I have lost 1lb each week. When I first started Weight Watchers, one of the articles that was recommended talked about changing up what you eat every so often.  It talked about how your body gets used to digesting the same foods at the same time of the day so a "dietary confusion" of sorts can help your body kick start metabolism and move off a plateau.  I didn't feel like I was reaching a plateau, but I definitely added some "dietary confusion" into my daily eating.  They say the same for exercise, that "muscle confusion" can help kick start your body into shape more effectively as using different muscles, or even the same muscles in a different way helps to enhance the results of exercise.  This is the corn...

So, I am in week 8 of Weight Watchers.  I am loving the discipline that I have developed toward food. I am eating so many more fresh fruits and vegetables.  I have a pretty standard point value pattern throughout the day and have made some go to low point snacks when I "need" food.  I have been working to plan more of my family's dinners and trying some new recipies.  The kids have not complained once about any of the new foods.  They are usually not too picky, but when food looks different than something that they have seen before, they usually clam up.  This is slowly going away as they accept that they usually enjoy whatever I put on their plate and I won't intentionally give them something to eat that I don't think they will like.  They are even learning that if there is a part of the meal that they don't like (for example, mushrooms in the pasta) they just put them to the side and enjoy the rest. All this to say is that I think that I am well ...

A few weeks back I took the plunge and started Weight Watchers again.   I have tried this a couple of times successfully in the past and it was time to take the bull by the horns again to get back on track.  The first time I did weight watchers, I was about the weight I am now and I wanted to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  I did well with this and then about a year later I got pregnant with my second.  The second time I did weight watchers, I had more to lose.  I lost 25lbs and felt great.  I was on a roll at my previous job and working out was a part of a regular habit of life so I maintained well.  In the Fall of 2010, I changed jobs...that wrecked any exercise and eating habit that I had formed.  My location changes, I was trying to make new friends and impress those at my new job.  I lost track! At first I gained only about 5 lbs and I thought, I can live with this.  I'll get back those 5lbs when I get a bit more ...

I am reading a book right now that I would highly recommend by Andy Andrews.  It is called " The Noticer "...I just finished his book " The Travelers Gift " a week or so ago and would highly recommend it too.  The premise of The Noticer is Perspective.  There are many lessons to glean from the book, but the overall theme is that no matter what the situation, if you take a minute and look at the situation with perspective, your attitude is bound to change.  This got me to thinking that not all perspective is good.  We must seek God to give us the perspective He wants for us, not the perspective we want for ourselves.  We all want an outcome, we all need God's outcome.  Sometimes my perspective doesn't line up, but I get the outcome I want...well, what I think I want anyway.  I was reminded of this when listening to a Joyce Meyer podcast this morning on my drive in.  It was her podcast from Tuesday of this week (I am a bit behind :))... ...