Goals

Week two and I feel empowered. All my life I've never been great at committing and now by simply joining this challenge group, I've told myself that I can choose and can stay committed. A lifestyle change does not only focus on eating healthy or exercising more, it goes beyond that to mental wellness and positive thinking. Many laugh, and on most occasions so do I, but there really is a thing to the whole "Positive Power" belief. There are months where I have to wake up and consciously tell myself that I am happy and that "today" was going to be a great day. I believe Happiness is a choice. One you have to make till it becomes like muscle memory. "Fake it till you Make it" right?

This week at work I have been spending most of the time trimming large trees. At a glance doesn't seem so very hard, but in reality, it is a workout for the arms. I'm literally holding these pruning shears either above my head or at very odd angles, while trying to cut branches. Some of the branches might as well be small tree trunks! Anyway, point is - by the time I get home I feel as if I've already worked out. Don't confuse this with complaining, I love my job because of this reason. I love being physically active and enjoy the labor. It's the days I have off I dread. As nice as it is to have a whole day free - that's when I tend to waste most of the day and then there is the whole kitchen by my side issue.

However, this week I've really tried to start implementing weekly goals into my schedule. In the past I used to write my goals down on random pieces of paper. At the end of the week it was anyone's good guess where those papers went. So, I've been keeping a record of my day-to-day activities and goals along the way. That is what initially started this blog. In fact, writing in my blog has been a constant goal every day. So, beginning of a new week and here are some of the goals I've written down.

• Contact Parks and Recreation - research
• Family History - become more involved
• Taxes - get all my paperwork in order
• Work on blog

Not a whole lot of goals, but it is only the beginning of the week. Monday night I went on a Family History tour in Provo and learned how to use the various machines and computer programs they have in relation to Family History work. It is pretty amazing and I really want to set aside specific time assigned to work more on my family history.

Tuesday was a mentally uplifting day. While at work I decided to listen to The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen. Amazing. Okay, I have only listened to about 1/3 of the abridged audio version, but I have already learned a lot so far. My Fitness Challenge group coach, Brigitte, sent us a link highly recommending us to listen to it. She sent it to us last week but I never looked at it till now....
I usually turn on Pandora while working, but today I decided to listen to The Slight Edge instead and I got to say I am glad. I am not going to hash out everything I heard/learned because I think you should all go out and listen to it yourselves. Plus, I have never been good at retelling things...ask any of my friends. However, I will share the most important things that stood out to me during those few hours.

First off - Control. When we blame others we automatically give up any control we had. If we are to succeed in life we have to start taking responsibility for everything in our lives, even if it seems unfair. Wow - did I need to hear this! There are some things from my past that are difficult to "move on" from and "let go." I have been trying to truly forgive and forget, but it is so difficult at times. The word "unfair" often plays a key role in unhappy memories or old grudges. Crying "unfair" does not change our situation, it only makes us lose our control. I really like this. I decided then and there, standing on a ladder in the tree tops, that I was going to try to take full responsibility for my life. Does this mean I will say I broke the dish when my sister breaks one - No. It means I will take responsibility of the situation. I will try to turn the negative into a positive. Easier said then done, but making the mental choice is the first step.

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Second - "Tomorrow." How often do I wait for the tomorrow that never comes. Remember how I have all those unfinished projects, well they are incomplete because I added them to the "tomorrow" list. Jeff Olsen shares a story of two brothers faced with the decision of setting up an IRA (retirement fund). One chooses to wait for "tomorrow" while the other takes an active role in his life and sets one up. A couple years later they meet up and the first is surprised to hear that his brother has already set up a comfortable retirement fund. He himself had not, he had nothing. By starting later then his brother he would have to work a whole lot more before retirement was an option. I immediately felt guilty. My father had sent an email a month ago suggesting that I looked into setting up an IRA. I had read the email and told myself "tomorrow." No joke. After work I called my father up and got the information I needed to start the process of setting up an IRA. I no longer want to keep pushing things off. Why wait?

Third - Compound. Every decision counts in the larger picture. If I go running today it does not mean I am healthy. If I choose not to go running today that does not make me unhealthy. The choices alone do not label be as one or the other. It is a compound process. The choice to run today increases my chances of choosing to run the next day. Not running increases the chance of saying no to a run the following day. Simple, right? The small choices in life start heading us down particular pathways.

Okay, there you have it. A lot of mind changing thoughts this week and it is only Tuesday. I realized that there was a lot of changing I had wanted to do, and not just physically. The workouts have been great and I am really starting to enjoy Yoga, but I feel like I have taken a further step. A step towards true lifestyle change. One that improves my mind and outlook on life. Goals are no longer to be wasted on a stray piece of paper, but written down with purpose and the power of knowing that I can and will accomplish them.

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Week 1 Summary

Done and Done! I have survived week one and so far it has not been as bad as I previously thought it would be. Shakeology turned out to be better then I had hoped and I could already tell small differences in my body's digestion. Normally drinking milk or even Almond Milk would upset my stomach - especially in the morning. Oddly, drinking Shakeology with Almond Milk every day has been fine on my stomach. I was waiting all week for my body to turn against me but nothing. It feels fine. I was not really expecting that, but pleased it has. Next week I plan to try out having cereal for breakfast instead of just toast. I love cereal but my stomach is so sensitive in the mornings, that it truly only enjoys toast that early. I have a feeling that is all going to change! 

Every day I post in my Fitness challenge group how my day has been and I thought I'd share a few of those posts with you here.

On the Road

Roadtrips. Highly not suggested for your first week of a 90 day challenge. A couple friends and I decided to hit the road thursday and travel to Moab, Utah. I must say though - proud that I stuck to wheat crackers and trail mix for my car munchies. I was able to get my cardio workout done before we took off, so I didn't have to worry about that. Drank my Shake-O and headed out the door ready for warmer weather down south.

Friday morning I woke up early for my Total Body workout. Blended some shakeology for myself and my sister, Sarah. She was surprised that the shake didn't taste so terrible. Amber had talked to her about shakeology before and joining a challenge group. We will see if she decides to join! After breakfast my friends and I jumped back into the car and away we went to Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. We first stopped at 4 Corners and took a small hike around the area.

Next stop - Mesa Verde. Took a tour to one of the Pueblos built inside the side wall of a cliff. It was fairly intact and we were able to walk around part of it. I tried to maintain healthy snacks and not over eat, but by dinner time we were sitting in a Mexican Restaurant...  All in all, I spent most of the day driving around a few states and I was ready for some major physical activity. Fortunately saturday brought just that.

Arches National Park. One of my favorite places in Utah. Workout done and sandwiches packed, we drove through the entrance and made our way to Delicate Arch. The first part of the hike is always the worse - straight up! The weather was perfect. We could feel the warmth of the sun the whole way up till we reached the shaded areas. There was still snow/ice on the ground in the shade, but most of the hike was in the sun. We arrived at the arch with only a few others there before us. I have never seen Delicate Arch so empty, we practically had free range over the entire area. I busted out my SportMixer Blender Bottle and mixed some ice water with shakeology. Made my friends have some along with my sister again. Can't miss an opportunity to drink shakeology with arches as my background! Got to say - I was surprised how well the shake tasted even though I used water instead of Almond Milk. Though, I did make sure I shook my Blender Bottle really well and for a good amount of time. My friends did not particularly enjoy it, but I thought it was great. Must be the taste buds adapting to my new lifestyle change! At least I am able to maintain my workouts and shakeology while traveling - definitely one of the most healthiest trips I've taken!

Stop the Hunger

Eating right is a major key player in Lifestyle Change. I cant expect my body to change completely for the better without addressing my eating habits. And frankly, they are not always that great. I am not following any particular meal plan that Beachbody provides, but just focusing on my portion control and replacing foods with ones better for me. I have learned that I am not very dedicated when I completely restrict something out of my diet such as chocolate or candies. So, I simply told myself reduce not restrict. Allowing myself to eat sweets but limiting the amount works well for me most of the time. Now, given the choice to eat something "not so great" I usually turn it down or only take one. I often think, "I'd rather waste my sweets on something better." Confession - I'm not 100% with this mind set. Sometimes I just really want to eat all 10 of those homemade cookies. After starting this challenge group I have been pretty good at keeping away from sweats and fried foods. However, every day is a continual battle, at least for now. Drinking Shakeology does help fill the void of snacky foods, so that is good.

First step of eating right - prepare before hand. I went to the store day 3 and bought a bag of frozen chicken breasts among other things. I baked a few chicken breasts to have in the fridge, ready to be eaten for the week. Lunches have been pita pockets and I thought adding chicken would be a nice change. Last week I had bought a small container of Extra Firm tofu. So I busted it out and chopped the cube into small squares. Cooked them on a frying pan and soaked the tofu in soy sauce. Chicken and tofu cooked and ready to be added to any meal! I also filled a container with chopped bell peppers of various colors. So that has been helpful, also having a large bag of carrots - I reach for those instead of crackers. Add some humus and it's a fair trade, taste wise!

Second step - stay busy! When I have work off and I am just sitting in my apartment all day, I swear sometimes I can hear the kitchen calling my name. It is so easy for me to stop by the cupboards as I walk by. Staying productive keeps my mind off of eating. I eat when I'm bored! So, can't be bored, got to do things. To help with this I try to write a list of things I want to get done for the day and then do them. I know I have a few projects that I've started a long time ago, so those are nice to dust off and continue working on them for a bit.

I still have a long way to go before I get a handle on portion control and eating completely healthy. But one bite at a time, right? Today's mini challenge was to read Stop the Hunger from Fitness Motivator and comment how we can improve our diet. The article was pretty good and I recommend you all read it. What I took from it - I need to slow down when I eat! I usually rush through my meals because I hate "wasting" time eating, I just want to get it over with. However, this makes me eat a lot more before I realize my stomach is full. Slowing down helps me register what my body is trying to tell me. Also, I need more fiber. Replacing foods full of fiber with other snacks will help curve hunger and keep me feeling full.

Workout for the day - YOGA.
Countless of people over many years have always talked to me about Yoga and tried getting me to do it. I have done some moves here and there once and awhile but I have never liked Yoga. Never wanted to do it! Primarily because I know I am not flexible and it's just sad when I try to be. But, Yoga was on my workout schedule and so Yoga is what I am going to do. Today was the first time with it...got to say, not as bad as I thought. I actually liked it a lot. It was a nice and welcoming change from the resistant bands and cardio. Afterwards I had my Shakeology - this time I added a banana. I liked it, but in the end I felt there was too much banana, I really just wanted the shake plain in the end. Weird.

Shakeology?

The study of shaking something... just kidding. It's the 'Healthiest Meal of the Day." I have to drink Shakeology everyday as being part of the challenge group. I've seen Amber and her kids drink it but I won't lie - I was never tempted by it's looks while at her house. She had the Tropical Strawberry but I decided to try out the new Vegan Chocolate one instead. I've never been a big fan of strawberry flavored things (though I love the actual fruit). Last summer I had bought a case of Premier Protein shakes from Costco and finally used them up last month. I usually drank them if I had no time to eat something or right after playing a sport. I don't eat a lot of meat so I thought this would be a good way to get more protein in my diet. Anyway, point is - I knew that Chocolate protein shakes never actually taste like chocolate. So I mentally prepared myself for the arrival of Shakeology.

First off, I'd like to point out that Shakeology is not like your average protein shake - in fact, it is much much more. I don't even call it a protein shake, it's jammed pack with super-foods  antioxidants, and so on. Anyway, you should check it out if your interested, I've enjoyed it so far, but lets get back to my experience.

My Shakeology came in the mail a few days before I started the challenge group. I decided to go ahead and start drinking it. As a newbie, I simply put a scoop of Shakeology into a Blender Bottle with a cup of Almond Milk and shook. Only, I did not shake it very long. My first initial response: gag me! It was difficult to swallow the rest, but I did. The texture felt like fish food floating around in Almond Milk. I was prepared for this, but I still had about 93 days left of drinking this. Oh boy - there has got to be a better way to prepare this stuff!

I went to the Shakeology website and found lots of recipes for adding ingredients to your shake. Perfect. I decided to try something different everyday till I found one I really liked. Well...after day two, I decided to take Amber's advice and use a blender with ice. Fortunately one of my roommates had a magic bullet, so I poured the Almond milk and added my scoop of Shakeology and added ice. Blended for awhile and tried it out. Big Difference! Was not expecting such a change. The ice made it more smooth and creamy. Bending it with an actual blender and for longer extent of time then my original plan of hand shaking, made the taste so much better. I actually enjoyed drinking it. No gag reflexes at all! It's funny how simple it is to make things more enjoyable!

So, by day two of challenge group I was ready to add some extra ingredients. My first choice - mint extract. So, the recipe called for 1/8 teaspoon of mint extract combined with 1 cup of water, but I used Almond Milk instead. I was worried this make a difference with taste, but I should of been worrying about my measuring skills. I am pretty sure I used 1/4 teaspoon instead of the 1/8.... Overload of Mint! One sip and I thought I was going to die. I felt like I was drinking the mint extract straight out of it's bottle! I knew that I hade made an error, cause there was no way they would recommend that much mint - that can't be good for anyone! I told myself I would have to bare it and drink the rest...only made it half way. Poured the rest down the sink and rushed to rinse my mouth out. Later that day I made half a scoop of regular Shaekology - no mint. Word of advise - make sure you read your measuring spoons before adding!

Workout for the day: Total Body. Difficulty level for me: semi-hard. Okay, it's only for 10 minutes but I had to use the red resistant bands and most of the moves were okay but when it came to lifting my arms behind my head... well, let's just day embarrassing! But I guess I have to start at some level, can't be great at working out from the start. Got a bit more muscle to build! Hey - that's why I will keep Pushing Play and Moving Forward!