Living between Black and White

Yesterday, I commented on this post on Instagram:

My comment was about how BECAUSE of INTUITIVE EATING, I come back to Arbonne's protein, fizz, and detox tea, and the recipes I've learned through them after a few days of eating all the foods I wanted to eat. I was fully expecting the crowd to debate me a bit, but I actually had quite a few people like my comment and then reply in agreement.

Except then my comment and like 9 replies were deleted, so one other girls asked why. The owner of the account mentioned that there are people struggling with disordered thinking around food and that their account was a safe space free from people promoting their MLM products. I get that. Except we didn't promote them, instead, were just carrying on a debate about detox. Also want to point out that the owner of the account used #arbonne in her original post, so, that just felt a little confusing. I understand that she was definitely not promoting arbonne, but she obviously wanted us to see it, but why, if you're not going to hold a debate about it? Seemed unfair, but oh well.

One part of one of the comments I made was about black and white thinking - that we can believe in intuitive eating AND healthy habits that can be found elsewhere, even from a company that is MLM. Like everything else, there's a huge grey area!

One of my very good friends recently started following #intuitiveeating on Instagram. If I had to sum up what I have found this to mean is that food is not our enemy; we should follow our instincts with eating - like if we are hungry, or craving something specific we should just have it; and we should work to be body positive no matter where we are on our on our journey with our health. Intuitive eating also rallies against diet culture, detoxing, cleansing, and processes along those lines.

As many of you know, I am also a consultant with Arbonne, so I've been working on making all this fit together. I have been asking myself, "Is Arbonne intuitive eating? Do we promote diet culture?"  Our program, called 30 Days to Healthy Living (30DHL) is an elimination diet for 30 days... so maybe? I went on to ask myself, "Am I part of this problem?"

But the more I follow along, the more I am finding that Arbonne's goals are in line with #intuitiveeating. It just takes some work on the front end for each individual person to find the specific things that trigger their individual bodies.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is highly addictive, acidic, allergenic, and inflammatory. Foods that contain gluten, caffeine, alcohol, sugar, dairy, and soy may not be in our best interest to be eating ALL THE TIME. With Arbonne, we omit those ingredients for 30 days, and then add them back one at a time afterwards to find out what ingredients are particularly triggering for each individual person who tries our program out. It's not that you can't have foods with those ingredients after your 30 days, just that you will be able to notice how different ingredients trigger you. Case in point for me: eating a TON of my dad's pizza (it's sooo good!) and then having to lay down for like 3 hours because I totally overdid it and my stomach was telling me so. Those moments of noticing is intuitive eating.

The goals of 30DHL are to promote health in many ways: better sleep, clearer skin, no head fog, more energy, less headaches and migraines, better digestion, and supporting organs of elimination just to name a few. Weight loss is also an effect for many who complete our program. 30DHL is built for individuals to find healthy habits that work for them. Our program is about being nourished, it's not a quick-fix weight loss strategy that makes crazy promises and ends after 30 days.

I've read countless books that echo the goals of our program: Body Love (Leveque), How to Make Disease Disappear (Chattergee), Medical Medium (William), and It starts with Food (Hartwig) to name a few. Furthermore, Dr. Tanda Cook, Naturopathic Doctor, also recommends the habits our program teaches.

And that's just it: we are habits-based and our goals are to help individuals find habits to last a lifetime. Learn about probiotics and then take them daily to aid digestive processes. Take a shot of Greens Balance in the morning because most people do not have the time to get all the servings of veggies our microbiomes truly need. Add a detox tea that will deliver nutrition to your liver so it can function AT IT'S BEST rather than being bogged down trying to process an excess of  inflammatory ingredients that don't  serve us. Turns out that Cheryl from the meme above is  right - that the functionality of our liver can be enhanced by nourishing it in the proper way. (See Medical Medium's book for more on that.)

It was intuitive eating that led me back to supplements that add health to my body after all that pizza. It's intuitive eating that has my body craving our vegan protein shakes. It's intuitive eating that says, "Go ahead, and have that ice cream, because you're fully aware that dairy is a trigger for you, and you are in fact choosing it's effects." 

I'm really curious to know your thoughts. How am I doing with this intuitive eating thing? Am I getting close to understanding it? Can I live in the grey area between that and 30DHL? I've never felt better about my appearance and how I feel on the inside, so something's working here!

Leave a note in the comments, let's keep this conversation going. And EB, I'm most interested in hearing your thoughts on this one, friend!

Be well everyone!

Welcome home!

I have missed blogging.

I wrote a post about Brené Brown's Daring Greatly (a book that has TRANSFORMED my life) over winter break and as I wrote, I thought to myself, "Wow, I love writing. I miss blogging. I need to do this more!"

For a LONG time I was doing most of my writing on my other blog, BigTime Literacy. I'm a teacher and an Literacy Coach, and so I have lots to say about that. But lately, I've found I've been super interested in nutrition and health and wellness, and really, I'd like to reinvigorate my little lifestyle blog over here.

So... I plan on posting more over here. March 1st starts the Slice of Life Story Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers, and I'll be connecting this blog with them for the first time (although it will by my sixth year participating in the month-long writing challenge!) It's always good to connect with others who have similar interests (writing and teaching to name a few) so I'm excited to see what will become of Hello Good Good Life over the next month and a half!

I originally began blogging here on HelloGGL back in March of 2012 as I took on my first Whole 30 for a month. Since then, I've learned so much about nutrition as I participated in and coached others through Arbonne's 30 Days to Healthy Living. But really, it's cool to come back to my initial purposes for writing, which had to do with living a healthy lifestyle.

And so I return home, where Hello Good Good Life was built on the idea of creating a great life, and was inspired by the song Good Life by One Republic. Our time here on Earth is so short, we should be living not just a good, good life, but THE BEST life. And so together, here with you, I hope to find things that can get at that.

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to connect with me on Instagram and Twitter. And if you're all about that teaching life, there's years worth of posts over at BigTime Literacy.

Anyone want to write with me for a whole month? LMK and I can help set you up on a blog easy peasy!

Until next time, sending wellness wishes :-)

fighting overcarbsumption

I'm five days into my second Whole 30 and it's been a combination of emotions.

I gave up coffee. Whole 30 doesn't require this, but Arbonne's 30 days to healthy living does, and so I haven't had coffee since Monday. I've had a pretty persistent headache all week. A few of the days I took Aleve, including today, and it's still here. So that's definitely not my favorite part of this.

Someone this week asked me, "Why coffee?" It's acidic. What I've learned about food in the past year since I began consulting with Arbonne is that ideally, our body should be alkaline rather than acidic. In an alkaline state, your body can relax, it doesn't have to work to "fight off" chemicals or rescue itself from ingredients in our foods that are not in our best interest. Check out this link for a cool graphic and see where your favorite foods lie on the pH scale! I also found this article (not sure of the source, but seems legit). In addition to the acidity, I always flavor my coffee with a sugary, flavored creamer, and if I can't have creamer, then may as well just forget it.

On day two I had zero energy. Like I couldn't even return a text in the evening, I just wanted to lay there with my eyes closed. My energy ebbs and flows, hasn't leveled out yet, but I did go for a run/walk last night after school so that was good!

The biggest thing has just been the ongoing narrative in my head, about the cookies, carbs, and wine in my vicinity. I haven't cheated once, but I have to seriously talk myself out of it each time. As I'm rereading It Starts With Food, I'm reminded that this isn't my fault - we are living in a world of FrankenFood - it's all manufactured to get at our senses of pleasure, but it's not nutritionally sound. To compound this problem, because of the overcarbsumption, the signals in our body do not function properly. We're eating superficially flavored and chemical-laden foods, but because they have zero nutritional value, the hormones in our body don't tell our brain we are full. So we keep eating and the pattern continues.

Why is this happening? Money. Nabisco wants to sell you massive amounts of Oreos, so they process the cookies with the best chemicals so you can sit and eat the whole pack in one sitting, getting not one ounce of nutrition, and since your hormones probably aren't working right, you never become full.

There's so much more behind the science of this, I am not even fully grasping it yet, but I highly recommend the book.

I tell myself this is hard, but then I read this:

So, I will persist, and hope for a dream of wine or Oreos.

thinking about croutons, dreaming of tortilla chips

Three years ago, on this day, I finished a Whole 30 (thanks, Timehop!) Today I'm starting another one... modified. Here's my plan:

1. Eat whole, clean food: fruit, veggies, meat, berries, nuts
2. Eliminate toxins: gluten, anything processed, sugar, alcohol, coffee
3. Add Arbonne supplements - protein powder, fiber boost, digestive enzymes, fizz sticks, detox tea, and a 7 day body cleanse
4. Workout (already did two miles today!)
5. Mind my mind - pay attention to the emotional stress that comes with all of this, and
6. Blog as I go, because it makes me more accountable and your comments motivate me (hint, hint) : )

Have you read It Starts with Food? I had to order another copy of the book because I'm already living the emotional hell of this food challenge, but it's definitely necessary since I had such a great time over the Easter holiday and gained 4 pounds in 4 days. #GrowUpMichelle

Today, I sat there at lunch eating a super healthy Greek Salad, with homemade dressing, and all I could think about were the croutons that were not in the salad. (Even though the salad was delicious.)

And then, I just came home, and had some guacamole left over and was seriously considering the tortilla chips - Just a few, I told myself - and was even reaching for and grabbing the bag.

I'm only on DAY ONE of this 30 days to healthy living!

(I put the chips back.)

Anyways, I know I always feel so much better when I am more proactive with my health and summer is coming so it is certainly time to do so. If you read my blogs the next few weeks, I'll be sharing from the book I mentioned above and also reporting on my status. Stay tuned for more!

Confessions...

I know...I know. It's been OVER a whole month since I last wrote on my blog! I've been thinking about writing at least once or twice a week, but haven't really had the time to get to it.


Confession: I've been kind of having writer's block since I ended the Whole 30!


So, writer's block yes, but also the end of the school year is always crazy - events and field trips and closing of grades and such. I'm hoping to write at least 4 times a week during the summer - and the summer starts next Monday! It will be the first summer that I don't work at all....I can't wait!

Ok so I'm sure you're wondering how the food is going since the Whole 30 ended...that was a little over a month ago.

Confession: I've eaten Eggo waffles in the past few weeks. Oh, and....wait for it - PopTarts today.

Confession: I don't have any desire to eat a PopTart ever again. Just tasted....ehhh. I could skip it.


As you can see, I haven't exactly completely changed my lifestyle. However, I have carried over some of the good habits I've picked up from the Whole 30.


For the most part, I still eat a really good breakfast - bacon and eggs usually (minus the Eggos the last week).
I have still been drinking lots of lemon water, and the only pop I buy is the La Croix that I started drinking during the Whole 30.

Confession: I still have some regular Coke and Pepsi every now and then.


We had a car wash a few weeks ago and I left it with the most splitting headache. My relief came from a fountain Pepsi at 7-11 and some Aleve when I got home. (It was so good, unlike those PopTarts I could live without.) So while I'm trying to not buy this fully sugared pop in mass quantities, it's not totally removed from my diet.

Confession: Because it's the end of the school year, I've been slacking and not preparing myself for a week of good eating.


I'm really hoping to get back to business next week when summer vacation starts. My Color Run in Saturday (have been trying to practice lots lately!) so that will be a great way to start a healthy summer.

I'm very conscious of what I'm eating, but the thing is, sometimes I just eat bad stuff anyways because, as I found out before, I'm an emotional eater.

Confession: I've had a few days where I didn't get on the scale because I was afraid of how bad it would be!


No, I didn't gain back everything I lost, but I did gain back some, so why am I going to go make myself feel worse by weighing myself when I know it's not going to be good?


Confession: Ignorance is bliss.


So, take it as you will. This food thing is a DAILY situation. It's not like you can do good for a month and then be in the free and clear for the rest of the year. I'm just trying to do my best by not doing the all-or-nothing thinking. Like, if I have a piece of candy, I don't need to throw away the whole day and binge on everything bad for me.


So there you have it. Are you judging me?

Fell off the wagon

Bacardio....not Whole 30 compliant

The Whole 30 hasn't even been over for a week and I've done myself in drinking last night.


Good news:
1. I didn't drink on Friday night - or any other day since I finished the Whole 30.
2. Food choices haven't been totally ridiculous.
3. I went running yesterday, and am planning on going again today.
4. I'm up at 8:30 am stressing about how much I drank, so the Whole 30 definitely is putting things on my radar.
5. I only drank Vodka and water last night. At least I saved myself the calories of sugary mixers.


Bad News:
1. All the hard work I did for the past 30 days is going to be shot to shit if I don't get myself together!


My biggest problem: Going out with friends and not having one or two drinks turn into eight.

Alright, so back at it. No drinking next weekend and back on the wagon.

Whole 30 Results

Results are in....I now look like Gisele Bundchen!! Haha...no, not so much, but I am happy with the turnout. Here are some lessons learned:

1. Stay off the scale.
I weighed myself this morning and I'm down six pounds. (!!) Here's the thing with the Whole 30 - if I would have weighed myself earlier in the 30 days, I may have been discouraged by the number I got. I'm not going to lie - I was hoping for like 10 pounds and was a little disappointed when I first saw the number. But, the more I think about it, the more I realize that six pounds is a healthy number for a month's worth of effort. A pound and a half a week? That's with just a clear focus on the food I was putting into my body, and randomly exercising along the way. Down six pounds is down six pounds, so I'll take it. And, I'll probably continue with weighing myself less frequently - either every other week or once a month. Better idea is to base it off of how I feel...


2. Read ingredients lists.
My mom and I kept debating this thing about the calories - yes, losing weight really is about calories in vs. calories out. So if you're using Weight Watchers, and you can eat anything you want as long as you don't exceed your calories, that's all well and fine, but you're still putting stuff in your body that it has a hard time breaking down. Rather than using my calories on some sugared candy that has all kinds of chemicals and high fructose corn syrup, I'd rather eat something that is more nutritionally sound. Here's a simple switch - use the organic ketchup instead of the regular one. Yes, it costs more, but the ingredients are better for your body and it tastes pretty much the same. After doing the Whole 30, I'm more more inclined to see what is in something and put whole foods into my body rather than a bunch of chemicals. Not only that, you will feel fuller longer if you're putting super nutritious food into your system.


btw - when I was in Florida, my mom and I were looking at getting some tilapia in the freezer section. I looked at the ingredients and one ingredient was carbon monoxide. CARBON MONOXIDE! (LeeAnn - I was about to call you and ask when I thought to myself, "Really, Michelle? You need to ask her?") Instead of purchasing that, we got some fresh flounder and cod, and even though it's more expensive, I felt better about putting that into my body.


which leads me to the next lesson...
3. It's okay to spend more money on food if it means taking better care of yourself.
Hektor and I were at the grocery store the other day and I spent over $30 on just one dinner. I needed a lot of spices, which was the bulk of the purchase, but I also had fresh veggies, guacamole,  and organic canned tomatoes. Yes, it costs more to put the whole thing together, but I'd rather spend more money on food...especially when I think about going out and having drinks and how much money I waste being out at the bars! Am I only going to buy grass-fed beef and free-range chicken? No, probably not. But will I more often than in the past? Absolutely.


4. When you eat crap, you feel like crap.
Are you wondering what I ate today? Well, started off really well - egg whites and some bacon like I've eaten every day for the last month. At lunch, I had some roast beef and turkey on a whole wheat bagel thin (first non-compliant item) and an apple with peanut butter (second). Stopped at the store, came home, and tried a small bowl of the Kashi Go Lean Crunch (Third noncompliant, but tastes good!) but then I was hungry shortly after. Day 31 and I was making the Mint Chocolate Chip Truffles for our Honors night tomorrow, and I'm not going to lie - I ate probably four cookies (Fourth noncompliant) and a bunch of mint chocolate chips (fifth). Of course I'm not full...since I wasn't putting nutritious food into my body, so I made some organic whole wheat pasta (sixth) and finished off the spaghetti sauce I had left over.


It's now 8:05. My energy levels have plummeted and I barely have enough energy to type this blog. (Totally serious.) Compared to yesterday, when I ate clean all day, and Hektor and I went on a 30 minute run around 7:30, came home, cooked dinner, and I was just starting to get sleepy around 10 pm.


I don't have any crazy sugar headaches and my stomach isn't going nuts, but I defintely feel SOOOO lethargic. That's what sugar (and probably those carbs) will do to you.


5. Don't: use food (and/or drinks) as rewards, eat because you're bored or because something bad happened...etc.
Think about how often people use food for celebrations - all the time! Birthdays, holidays, promotions, social events...the list goes on and on! Also, how often do we eat because we had a bad day or didn't get what we wanted or because we got in a fight with a friend? Or we eat because we're bored? Over the past 30 days I have found how much I am really an emotional eater, and that is something I really want to change.


I did my Whole 30 and had Easter, a vacation, and a baby shower during my 30 days. I made it through all of those and didn't really feel deprived - I still got to visit with all of my family and friends and do fun things, just minus the food. Was in inconvenient at times? Yep. Was it undoable? No.


Going forward, I plan on paying better attention to why I'm eating and what I'm eating. If I'm really not hungry, I better just get out of the house and do something.


6. Don't take anything to such extremes - variety is the spice of life.
This one I learned from Hektor. Am I going to just give up everything that is not a fruit, veggie, meat, or nut? Never drink again? Never eat a cupcake? No. I just need to keep everything in moderation. My body told me when I went off the deep end when I started this whole thing, but I'm not going to the other extreme, either. Sometimes it is okay to celebrate with food, or go to a cook out and drink 5 beers. It just takes a little planning and thought to even it out (read: go running five days that week you're planning to not think about what you're eating and drinking).


and one last lesson, related to the fitness/running....
7. Practice makes perfect...especially in running!
Yesterday we went running - 5 minutes of walking warmup, 20 minutes of straight running, and 5 minutes to cool down. I was wondering if I was going to be able to do it again, since I hadn't run that long in like a week, but I totally finished, easily. Throughout the run, I was even able to carry light conversation and I sprinted the whole last minute of the 20 minute run. Every time you run you get better. I've NEVER called myself a runner until now. If you don't think you can, you're so wrong. Download Couch to 5K, be consistent with it, and watch the progress. Anyone can do it!




Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout the last 30 days. My mom and sister, Katie and LeeAnn, my team of teachers at school (they sent me those flowers today to say congrats!), Hektor, everyone who asked questions and opened a dialog about this - all of you encouraged me in different ways. If any of you are ready for this challenge, I will be there for you just the same - but you HAVE to do the blog. I'm telling you, it's what will keep you accountable!


The blogging has been really fun - and I plan on continuing! It's become a great new hobby and a way to archive my stories...and open up conversation with friends. Please stop by often!


Until next time....
Michelle


PS - 6 lbs down and I forgot to mention I lost an inch around my hips! (Gained an inch in my bust...not sure why that happened!)

Cheater!

Alright, if I'm being honest, I have to let you know that I've cheated during the Whole 30. And, since all of you who read this are the ones who keep me accountable, I figure that I owe it to you to fess up. So here you go:


Random Sunday probably 2 weeks ago...
Had three sips of the bf's coffee - which was all sweet and sugared with a peppermint patty creamer. Then I went back to drinking my black coffee. Yes, I drank it black!


Easter
I had some salad dressing on an Asian Sesame Chicken Salad. Picked out all the wontons, but definitely ate the salad with that great dressing.

Last Friday
I tried Hektor's Peruvian Inca Kola - he usually never tries to get me to cheat, but insisted I try it since it came "from his ancestors." Tasted like cream soda! Then he told me about how he was going to invent a new drink with it and call it Atahualpa's Revenge. I told him the drunk people would probably have a hard time remembering what it's called, so the new name is still in the works. But it's the Inca Kola + Vodka. And not just any vodka, Heritage Vodka. (You don't recognize this vodka cause it sucks!)


Last Sunday
Bought a burger that I grilled, and then topped it with organic Ketchup. There was sugar in there, but no high fructose corn syrup. That's a definite switch I'm making - tastes just as good! And, if you know me, you know I love ketchup....it's the whole reason for eating french fries (which I shouldn't be eating...).


I also ate a tortilla chip last sunday for dinner. All the others were sweet potato chips, but one was a tortilla chip. I was good with one....can't wait to have more tortilla chips. They are definitely coming back!


Today
I tried to cheat today on some super garlic-y hummus, but the teachers on my team refused to let me. "BREZEK, NO! One more day! What are you crazy?" Turns out no one even liked that hummus because it was so garlic-y. Thanks team for thinking of me!


So there you have it. We'll see how it all turns tomorrow morning. Results will be coming on the blog tomorrow evening. Stay tuned!


Here's to no cheating for the rest of the evening.....

Good Eats & a Cool Treat

If you're trying to avoid carbs but are missing the spaghetti in your life, a spaghetti squash is a great alternative!

You'll need to pick up a spaghetti squash at the grocery store - they're pretty cheap and you can get them at any store, including target if they have a produce section.

When you get it home, pierce it a bunch of times with a knife. (I forgot to do this last time, and it exploded in the microwave, and I ate it raw.) You have to puncture it so the insides can steam thoroughly. After, put it in the microwave for 10-12 minutes on high. If you want to turn it over halfway through, you can do that, too. When it's done cooking, carefully take it out (super hot!) and let it sit for like five minutes.

Next, open it up longways. You'll need to remove all the seeds first and throw them away. 

Use a fork to pull the 'noodles' from the squash. The meat of the squash will shred and then you just need to transfer them to your pasta dish.

Top with some great sauce and you're good to go! Tomato sauce is one exception on the whole 30 - there's sugar in it, so technically you're not supposed to eat it, but you can. I put a ton of my dad's italian sausage in it, some onions, green peppers, and lots of spices.  Delish!

The sauce is the key to this dinner. I definitely can't use some random jar of sauce right off a store shelf (and I still read the labels on them to pick something that has the least amount of sugar). If you have a great sauce recipe, this will be a great dinner!


Cool Treat

I haven't had chocolate in ages, and tonight after dinner I was having some major chocolate cravings , so I made some Paleo Ice Cream! This is super easy as well - you need some chopped, frozen bananas, a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder, and some milk of some sort (coconut milk, but I used almond milk because I'm lazy and have one day to go) to thin it out. Put it all in the bullet and wha-lah - chocolate ice cream!

Tomorrow is my last day of Whole 30! I can't believe it's come and gone so fast....time really does go sooo fast (Anita, are you picking up what I'm putting down here?) I will fill you in on the handful of times I cheated (no, really cheated) over the course of the last 30 days tomorrow, and then stats on Wednesday! Exciting, exciting!

It's working.

Over the past few days, I've gotten such great feedback about my Whole 30 progress! Here's what people have been saying:


From Katie via Skype - Just look at your face! I can totally tell!


From Brian, who I haven't seen in a couple months - You're losing weight, Shel!


From coworkers, after I asked them if I could live vicariously through them by "smelling" the bag of candy - You don't need this Michelle! Keep doing what you're doing - we can see the difference!


From cousins today - You look so good! How much have you lost? (Me - can't weigh myself till Wed.) Oh, well, I'll definitely read your blog to find out!


I can tell, too. I've been buying some bathing suits online (plural, because I keep getting sizes that don't fit) and they look better on me today than they did a few weeks ago.


I'm really looking forward to checking the stats - I get to weigh myself first thing on Wednesday morning. I'll be sure to fill you all in on Wednesday night. Anyone feeling inspired to try a Whole 30? Yes, it's kind of annoying, but you learn so much about yourself by doing one.

First of all, I don't really have any cravings for anything sugared anymore. Eating an orange in the evening or drinking some orange juice is a perfect sugar fix for me. The hardest part is when you're at a party, or, like today, at a baby shower and there's cake, and chocolate covered strawberries, and cake pops, and lemon bars, and you have to see it all and not partake. It's not impossible (I didn't have any of it!) but I'll be better off when I can just have one of something. (But I'm worried that if I have one, I'll want like 5!) Or at work and there's sweets. There's actually sweets everywhere, so there's no way around it. You just gotta have willpower! I always just tell myself, "It will all be gone in an hour, and then I'll be feeling so good about good choices and my body will be feeling good, too."

Okay, next, my portions have totally shrunk. I seriously don't eat half of what I used to, and it's all because I'm putting quality food into my system. I don't need to eat as much when what I do eat is nutrient dense - it keeps me fuller, longer. Honestly, sometimes I don't even want to eat - like tonight, but I knew if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to sleep and then pissed at myself for not eating in the first place. If you do a Whole 30, you will eat less...and that will be just fine with you!

I guess I've always known this, but it was made SUPER clear to me from Katie, who, over the course of her whole 30 and 2/3 of a second one has lost 25 pounds. YES - TWENTY-FIVE. (Sorry for spilling that, KC!) She had been working out all the time prior to the Whole 30, but it was the eating that did her body good. I have been running during this challenge, but not consistently. It's the food choices all day long that are making the difference.


So three more days to go and then we get the results. I'm kind of scared for day 31....because I want to continue with all the success I'm having. After all, isn't the following so true?

No food necessary....

So yesterday I mentioned on facebook that I had a great day, and I totally did. I didn't do anything amazing, really just every day stuff but with Hektor. There have been so many "Michelle and Katie's Day of Fun" that it was about time to have one with the bf. (Click link for video - it wouldn't let me embed it!)


All we really did was go to some appointments (I graded the writing drafts while I waited) and then just going here and there. Ikea, where I had some crusted whitefish. Hektor asked me, "Uummm.....can you eat that?" and me, thinking, "Oh, it's whitefish, yeah, but he will eat the mashed potatoes." Halfway through I realized that crusted = breadcrumbs and yeah, probably shouldn't have done that, but it was almost gone so I finished it anyways. An hour later my stomach was a mess, so that will teach me!


We also went to Verizon - I wanted to add my educator 18% discount (just take a pay stub there and they can apply!) but turns out it was already on my account. Perhaps Verizon is just really expensive, idk. But, I also asked about getting an upgrade and I'm due in August. However, they are doing this promotion where I can upgrade now for a $20 fee. So, I'm hoping to end my relationship with Android tomorrow, but I'm waiting until after I have my taxes done tomorrow to see what the damage is there. Nothing like waiting till the last minute!

After that, really nothing to report on Michelle and Hektor's Day of Fun - just making jokes and checking out target and returning some stuff.


And all along the way I ate compliant with Whole 30 (except that crust on the whitefish) and was perfectly happy!


Lesson learned - food is fuel. I don't need to eat sugared, carby crap - just eat what makes me feel good....and reward myself with....wait for it....shopping!

7 days to go on Whole 30...can't wait for the stats. Today we had birthday for Smith and I skipped pizza and crackers and dip and chocolate pie AND cupcakes. I had nothing. I did, however, buy myself a treat for day 31, and I'm so excited for it. Cereal! It's Kashi and super protein rich. My mouth was watering at the thought of it, but I will show some self control. Hey, if I can pass on all the stuff at lunch, I think I'll be good to go.

And then she was a runner....

So I've been using the Couch 2 5K app for about five weeks now (although it's been longer since I sometimes repeat weeks and then there was a 10 day stint where I didn't do anything - I do NOT recommend that!), but I am just finishing up week five. I did the first day of week five in Florida. I was nervous because every time I go up a week, I'm worried I won't be able to finish. On the first day of week five, I ran 5 minutes, walked 2.5 minutes, ran 5, walked 2.5, and then finished by running 5. I was so proud of myself because I finished, easy peasy.

Then I didn't run for like a week.

Yesterday I went out to do day 2 of week five (a little apprehensive, but thinking it shouldn't be a big deal because it was easy the first time) and usually the intervals are the same all week. So there I am, la, la, la la la, running along and the little voice comes on to tell me my stats. Now, on this app, you always get the stats when the interval changes - so you go from a walk to a run, or vice versa and she tells you your pace, interval distance, and total distance. So I stop running and walk, thinking that my ear buds were kinda falling out so I must have missed her telling me to change to a brisk walk. Then about 2.5 minutes later she tells me to slow to a brisk walk. I was so confused.

So I keep going and the second time I'm running, I pay more attention to her and she gives me stats but doesn't tell me to stop running, so I realize that the running intervals are getting longer (in this case, a 10 minute run, then a 5 minute walk, and then another 10 minute run) and I that I just screwed up the whole run.

Oh well, I thought. There's always tomorrow.

I go out again today, and this time, I'm running, and running, and running - get stats - and keep running, running, running - get more stats - and keep running, running, lalalalala, running - more stats, and one more running, running, running. And I did the whole thing. The whole 20 minutes (minus a few 30 seconds waiting on a stoplight) but yea! I did it! I wasn't even feeling tired cardiovascularly or physically and I was thinking, "So this is what  actual runners must feel like. You really can go and keep going, going, going."

It was at this moment when I thought back to what I've been reading about the mind and your thoughts - that you can run if you want to. Or, if you want to be a cook,  or save up money and go to Greece, or have a husband and a baby, or whatever - you can if you point your thoughts in that direction. In the book I've been reading about thinking habits one line that really stuck out to me was that you get what you think about whether you want it or not. (Dr. Wayne Dyer) It's so true!

So I'm in the process of changing my thinking habits about the food I was eating and it's working. (I'm on day 20 today!) For 20 days I've been eating nothing but good, nutrient rich food and I don't really feel deprived. I've done a decent amount of running along the way, and my body is changing. (Goal: To run more than 18 miles in April.) Some of my clothes fit better and I feel better about myself. I am sleeping a little better - I still wake up at least once a night, but when I'm asleep, I'm deeply asleep.

Other than that I can't really report any other improvements, but I feel good, and I like where I'm going.

And I'm not going to lie - I definitely want to lose some weight and look good in a bathing suit this summer...

Eye on the prize.

Easy Peasy

Two weeks to go!!!

Today I was a little worried because I had a work training. No, not because of what we were doing/learning, but because of lunch. Lunch is usually catered, and I was just unsure if whatever lunch they ordered would comply with the challenge. I didn't want to have to be annoying and ask to run out - but I would have, had it come to that. Luckily, it ended up being subs and pasta salad, so I grabbed a sandwich and went to town on the insides, leaving the cheese and bread (ooohhhh....bread, how I miss you. I will more than likely have my reunion with bread on day 31 by way of bagel. I miss it way more than sugar!)


Halfway through lunch, someone who was sitting behind me from another school asked me if I had allergies (since I wasn't eating much), and I explained that I was doing the Whole 30. We ended having lunch together and talking about all of it, and I think she is going to look into it. What was great about it was that it totally took my mind off lunch and food, and I love when people are interested and ask questions. Of course, you have to come to this decision on your own to do something like this, but even planting the seed of Whole 30 into someone's head is just an excellent start. From there it can take awhile to come to fruition, as was the case in my experience.

I remember Katie telling me about the Whole 30 when she did her first one, and I told her there was no way in hell I could do that. That would mean giving up wine on Tuesdays and dinners out on the weekends. I would have to give up sweets and.....well, everything. It was great for me that Katie was blogging about it, because that seed that was planted kept growing and growing. By the middle of March, I was just going overboard with the eating out and drinking all the time (not to mention all the money I was spending on the two!) So here I am, months later and halfway through the challenge feeling so great.


At the day 17 mark, I still can't weigh myself, but I know I have lost weight. I was waiting until I came back from Florida to test it out with a few dresses I bought awhile ago. When I bought them, I really liked them but thought that if I lost just a little bit of weight they would fit perfectly. They definitely have a better fit than they did when I bought them, and I can only imagine how much better it will be two more weeks from today. (I'm officially done on Wed, April 18th.) I am definitely feeling so proud of myself and learning to appreciate how far I've come in just the two short weeks it's been.


The not weighing yourself is so key. I know if I got on the scale - even though I'm so curious - I could possibly be disappointed with the number that comes up. I wouldn't want that to ruin my progress and all that is to come, so if you ever decide it's time for you to partake in this challenge, stay away from the scale! The website even advises going "Office Space" on your scale in your backyard!


So for now, I will be happy and excited with the progress I'm making. I'll set a good example for others and hopefully inspire someone new into this challenge. Really, by the time you're on day 17, it's cake till the end! (But I will not be rewarding myself with cake. Maybe peas....? okay, not so much.)

What I'm Loving Tuesday

So I have a great blogging mentor (slash bff) and I figure it's better to not recreate the wheel, so Katie Cartier I am copying your ideas here.

Katie Started writing the "What I'm Loving" blog a long time ago, and she just started a new one - Permission to.... that I'm going to steal later on. But for now, I'll use her old stuff to add a little variety to my blog.


Here are a few things I'm loving at the moment...

Lemon Water

My cousin has blogged about it (find it here) and I've been drinking lots of it since I started the Whole 30 two weeks ago. I really like it SOOO much better than just plain water, so spice yours up too, and see what you think! I've also used limes and oranges. I know you can do cucumbers as well, but I'm not a huge fan.

Sweet Potato Chips

Finally - a crunchy, salty vehicle for guacamole and salsa! These chips are great. They are all different - some have more ingredients than others or are spiced differently. Now, maybe they're not the strictest version of Whole 30 compliant - some of the oils they use to fry them are canola and sunflower? (no, that doesn't seem right, but I can't remember at the moment) but either way, I'm doing so much better the last two weeks eating than I ever have!

No Nitrate/Nitrite Bacon by Oscar Mayer

So, the whole thing with the meat is trying to avoid any preservatives that are added. I may be mistaken, but from what I've learned so far, the nitrates/nitrites are preservatives added to meat to help it retain it's color - preservatives that could potentially mess up your digestive business. I originally found this when I was at my mom's and so I'm on the look out for it here, as well!

Pilot Easy Touch Pens

Anyone else a pen fanatic besides me? Best. Pens. Ever. I really don't like working with crappy writing utensils, so I have a few favorites, but these take the cake. I am even picky about the colors - I prefer blue and purple mainly, but if I buy the combo pack, I'll use all of them.

Next Dress to Buy

I've been eyeing this in my emails from The Limited - with a gold belt - but just haven't gotten there yet to try it on. My coteacher asked me today if I bought it yet. She had gone shopping with her friend, who saw it and told her to try it on, but being the good friend she is, she passed since I already called dibs. With my gold belt it will look so cute! We'll just have to see if it looks cute on me!

Modern Family

Okay, who loves this show as much as I do? I got season 2 for like $10 after Thanksgiving and the bf and I watched the whole thing through, and then he got me season 1 for Valentine's Day - which we're not yet finished with. So funny...best show in so, so long. I couldn't find my favorite episode, but here's Gloria, and all her mispronunciations....

and what I'm hating...
Delta Airlines

They definitely lost my bag. When I decide I need to pay up to check a bag, I take my moster of a suitcase - that thing was loaded. All my best clothes (including new dress), flip flops, running clothes and shoes, makeup, blow dryer and curling iron, jewelry, a few books - all tied up in that suitcase. Luckily I had the smarts to pack some overnight essentials in my carry on and I happen to have my glasses and makeup remover towel thingies (not that I need them tonight - definitely went to work with zero makeup...tan helped TREMENDOUSLY) but I'm NOT a fan of this airlines.

So there you have it - edition one of What I'm Loving. Next blog up will be pics from Florida, so stay tuned!