So my friend MAMA has posted a 30-day challenge for self discipline. You know how much I like challenges and thrive on them. =) Lately I've been really struggling with the issue of making my home a blessing for my family and really being disciplined to get off my duff and WORK HARD. It does take alot of work to run a family of 8 smoothly!! And I've been slacking off VERY much here.
I have my interests as always - working out, clipping coupons, surfing the net, and shopping at garage sales. Lately it seems like these things have been taking up more & more time - except for working out, that takes exactly the same amount every day, thank goodness. So I have this kind of guilty feeling in the back of my head all the time and it's so annoying, yet all I want to do is just ignore things that need to be done and do something else. Anything else.
So, MAMA, out of sheer necessity and the desire to bless my family I am going to do this too! I'm actually really excited to see how things go - I LOVE the feeling of seeing results and being able to see the fruits of my labors. I actually do like cleaning, too, it's just looking at the mountain of dishes, laundry, or whatever it is and contemplating actually doing it, that is hard. LOL!
Here is my list of things to do each day:
1) exercise
2) no more naps in the morning (for me, this is laziness - my baby is almost 6 months old and I can't use the newborn excuse anymore!)
3) Read God's Word or literature
4) Take time to pray
5) Do my housekeeping routine
6) Work on one section of my newsletter every day
7) Work on memorizing encouraging songs from church
8) Computer time until 10am, then get to work!!
9) Lights out by 10:30pm!
10) After school gets out, get up by 9am.
On a different note, it is now DAY 7 and I have not cheated once on my 5-week 100% raw challenge!! I am super excited about that. It's funny, though ~ I SWEAR my body changes every day, it is so weird! Like one day I'll see a difference in the mirror, and the next day NOTHING, in fact, maybe even worse? I'll be like OMG does my rear view really look like that??? I thought it looked different. Didn't it look different yesterday? What is UP with that? So I wonder if it's like psychological or something? Or maybe just the clothes we wear that are different.
I think my tummy is a little flatter, and I measured myself a couple of days ago and am happy to report that I am down 3.5" from the last time I measured. Which was 2 months ago, but still. =) I remember on the last 30 day challenge I did, which I made it to day 18, I could definitely see changes in the fat on my back, aka the muffin top.
Weighing day in 2 more days; I can't wait!!!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
One Month Goes By...
Oh my gosh, has it really been an entire month since I posted on here??? I think that is a record for me!! I suppose, though, not really that much has been happening so that's probably why...no big breakthroughs or anything. =)
Basically my diet the past month has been like this. Eat 100% raw for about .... 36 hours, then go ahead and eat cooked food with abandon and then vow not to do it again, and then .... do it again. LOL! But the good thing is, that little routine gave my body enough time to digest the cooked stuff before I introduced more. So as a result, I've stayed pretty steadily at my current weight of 134-135.
I've re-discovered CHOCOLATE which has been both fun and annoying, lol! Now one of my absolute favorite things to do is buy a package of Dove chocolates and eat, like, half the bag while I'm surfing the net & reading blogs or whatever. I know, awful! So that is definitely *not* on my list of things that are OK on a regular basis - but I do enjoy it. So maybe once in a while, who knows.
So here's where I am right now. My friend Jen & I have decided to do another challenge. This is soooooo exciting for me because for some reason, I can't seem to get the "umph" to really buckle down and just STAY low fat raw, unless I have some kind of accountability.
What we're doing right now is a no cheating whatsoever challenge for 5 weeks (she's doing Weight Watchers and I'm doing low fat raw again). We are currently on our 3rd day, and I've been doing extremely well!! I'm so thrilled that it hasn't been really really hard....but I know that is probably coming. We have also promised to work out 3-5 days a week minimum, and not weigh ourselves at ALL except for Friday mornings! I weighed in right at 134 on Friday, and I don't even have a number in my head that I want to weigh next Friday...mostly right now I'm excited to see my clothes get bigger. But being in the 120's again would be quite the experience...I haven't weighed 120 anything since before I had children almost 9 years ago.
I have never regularly lifted weights AND done my HIIT cardio 3x a week combined with eating low fat raw. I am so excited to see how this goes - I've read about others' good results with this particular combo and I am just so intrigued to see how it goes. My arms and legs are starting to show *some* definition, which just serves to give me more motivation to keep going. I really want to get rid of the cellulite on the back of my legs especially and I'm hoping this will do the trick. I know I've gotten a good muscle base in the past couple of months, it's now just a matter of continuing to build that and also getting rid of the layer of fat that is hiding it all!
I'm fascinated by the fact that God made me the way I am, yet through years of abusing my body by stuffing myself with foods that are detrimental to my health, my body has morphed into something that I don't believe it was intended to be - both inside & out. It's one thing to just lose the weight and be thin - but it's another to actually be strong and sculpted as well - and by sculpted I don't mean like a six-pack and major biceps...I mean that by building muscle it actually RESHAPES the body into a totally different look. It is so cool.
I think muscle building is kind of like my hobby, sort of. Some people are into shopping, others movies, some cooking, knitting, - I guess I'm into body transformations, LOL. It's just so fascinating to work hard for 35 minutes a day, about, and watch this magical sort of transformation take place. Our bodies are truly awesomely and wonderfully made! And the best part is - anyone can do it, if they choose to. It's not like it's only something that is possible for those who naturally have the muscle already. Yes, it takes a drive and certainly effort - but the rewards, I'm starting to see, are really fun. DH thinks so too. =)
My milk supply is still ample with no help from outside sources, even Fenugreek/Mother's Milk Tea that I was taking a while back. Jack nurses every 3-5 hours, usually, and there is lots of letdown and gulping, gulping, gulping along with those adorable little satisfied and "totally loving it" noises. He's so cute with his huge blue eyes that look at us with so much love. He is now 5 1/2 months, and we are nearing the point where I had to give up nursing with every single one of my other children. I've always had to quit by 6 months because by that time I'd been supplementing with formula for a good 1-2 months, and my milk slowly but surely just...disappeared. I'm so excited that I can say I have never, ever given him one drop of anything else but breastmilk - and mostly from a raw & living foods diet on my part.
Right now my diet is very simple, and I LOVE it that way. I love that I can eat simply, but if I want to, I can also make guacamole or something a little more "gourmet" to satisfy a craving if I want. The past few days I've been eating mono meals of OJ, TONS of watermelon (cleaning out my bowels!), lots of bananas, some coconut water (interestingly enough, the "meat" actually tastes very fatty to me now esp. if it's more solid than jelly), carrots, 1/2 bunch of greens (although I really don't want to eat them, I make myself), mangos, pineapple, and carrots. I'm also growing wheatgrass again that should be ready to harvest in 3-4 days.
Oh yes! I also had CHERRIES the other day that were absolutely fabulous!!! I am so excited that it is summer; I did so well last summer. It's just way easier to stay raw, and I think where I live has alot to do with it too - I don't live in a tropical place by any means, but being just one state away from California does have it's perks. Plus, here in OR we have alot of yummy local fruit too that thrives in our climate.
Basically my diet the past month has been like this. Eat 100% raw for about .... 36 hours, then go ahead and eat cooked food with abandon and then vow not to do it again, and then .... do it again. LOL! But the good thing is, that little routine gave my body enough time to digest the cooked stuff before I introduced more. So as a result, I've stayed pretty steadily at my current weight of 134-135.
I've re-discovered CHOCOLATE which has been both fun and annoying, lol! Now one of my absolute favorite things to do is buy a package of Dove chocolates and eat, like, half the bag while I'm surfing the net & reading blogs or whatever. I know, awful! So that is definitely *not* on my list of things that are OK on a regular basis - but I do enjoy it. So maybe once in a while, who knows.
So here's where I am right now. My friend Jen & I have decided to do another challenge. This is soooooo exciting for me because for some reason, I can't seem to get the "umph" to really buckle down and just STAY low fat raw, unless I have some kind of accountability.
What we're doing right now is a no cheating whatsoever challenge for 5 weeks (she's doing Weight Watchers and I'm doing low fat raw again). We are currently on our 3rd day, and I've been doing extremely well!! I'm so thrilled that it hasn't been really really hard....but I know that is probably coming. We have also promised to work out 3-5 days a week minimum, and not weigh ourselves at ALL except for Friday mornings! I weighed in right at 134 on Friday, and I don't even have a number in my head that I want to weigh next Friday...mostly right now I'm excited to see my clothes get bigger. But being in the 120's again would be quite the experience...I haven't weighed 120 anything since before I had children almost 9 years ago.
I have never regularly lifted weights AND done my HIIT cardio 3x a week combined with eating low fat raw. I am so excited to see how this goes - I've read about others' good results with this particular combo and I am just so intrigued to see how it goes. My arms and legs are starting to show *some* definition, which just serves to give me more motivation to keep going. I really want to get rid of the cellulite on the back of my legs especially and I'm hoping this will do the trick. I know I've gotten a good muscle base in the past couple of months, it's now just a matter of continuing to build that and also getting rid of the layer of fat that is hiding it all!
I'm fascinated by the fact that God made me the way I am, yet through years of abusing my body by stuffing myself with foods that are detrimental to my health, my body has morphed into something that I don't believe it was intended to be - both inside & out. It's one thing to just lose the weight and be thin - but it's another to actually be strong and sculpted as well - and by sculpted I don't mean like a six-pack and major biceps...I mean that by building muscle it actually RESHAPES the body into a totally different look. It is so cool.
I think muscle building is kind of like my hobby, sort of. Some people are into shopping, others movies, some cooking, knitting, - I guess I'm into body transformations, LOL. It's just so fascinating to work hard for 35 minutes a day, about, and watch this magical sort of transformation take place. Our bodies are truly awesomely and wonderfully made! And the best part is - anyone can do it, if they choose to. It's not like it's only something that is possible for those who naturally have the muscle already. Yes, it takes a drive and certainly effort - but the rewards, I'm starting to see, are really fun. DH thinks so too. =)
My milk supply is still ample with no help from outside sources, even Fenugreek/Mother's Milk Tea that I was taking a while back. Jack nurses every 3-5 hours, usually, and there is lots of letdown and gulping, gulping, gulping along with those adorable little satisfied and "totally loving it" noises. He's so cute with his huge blue eyes that look at us with so much love. He is now 5 1/2 months, and we are nearing the point where I had to give up nursing with every single one of my other children. I've always had to quit by 6 months because by that time I'd been supplementing with formula for a good 1-2 months, and my milk slowly but surely just...disappeared. I'm so excited that I can say I have never, ever given him one drop of anything else but breastmilk - and mostly from a raw & living foods diet on my part.
Right now my diet is very simple, and I LOVE it that way. I love that I can eat simply, but if I want to, I can also make guacamole or something a little more "gourmet" to satisfy a craving if I want. The past few days I've been eating mono meals of OJ, TONS of watermelon (cleaning out my bowels!), lots of bananas, some coconut water (interestingly enough, the "meat" actually tastes very fatty to me now esp. if it's more solid than jelly), carrots, 1/2 bunch of greens (although I really don't want to eat them, I make myself), mangos, pineapple, and carrots. I'm also growing wheatgrass again that should be ready to harvest in 3-4 days.
Oh yes! I also had CHERRIES the other day that were absolutely fabulous!!! I am so excited that it is summer; I did so well last summer. It's just way easier to stay raw, and I think where I live has alot to do with it too - I don't live in a tropical place by any means, but being just one state away from California does have it's perks. Plus, here in OR we have alot of yummy local fruit too that thrives in our climate.
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