Did much better yesterday and more updates.

Yesterday I did great food wise. I had fruits, veggies, turkey sandwich meat as well as some low fat, low carb turkey smoked sausage for dinner last night. Again I didn't run out of energy at all and although I really wanted something sweet last night I had an apple! I did have some sweet potatoes yesterday with less than a serving of brown sugar (more just for taste than for the sugar content) and lots of fresh ground cinnamon! Yummy. I know some would say that the brown sugar was cheating, but seeing as to how it was only about 10 calories worth and I had control over the portion, I am not going to feel bad... it was much better than 100 calories from refined sugar or more in something that was processed and full of other icky things.

Other Updates

I have been frustrated because my scale seems to be stuck and I have only lost 3 pounds in the last month. I thought that my weight loss was at a stand still, but that is not the case. Today I took my measurements and I have lost 2 more inches off my waist, 1.5 inches off my hips and about .5 inches off my arms and thighs. I have also lost 3% of my body fat. This made me feel much better than I have about my progress in a while. I haven't been able to workout regularly for a while due to things going on in life and the fact that I have had bronchitis for 3 weeks and it causes an asthma attack in the middle of workouts. I am hoping that I can get back into working out full force this week. We shall see what happens, but the lungs are feeling better and so am I!

I have started my health and wellness coaching class in school and I am loving it already. It is full of useful information and my goal over the summer is to start a reading list for this subject and getting into some really useful books for you all so that I can answer questions and share with you all the best ways to be healthy and life a long, fit life.

An update to eating healthy....

I have been doing much better than I thought that I would- but I did slip up one time. All day Thursday I had fruits, veggies and Boars Head sliced turkey for protein (not the pre-packaged kind with all the extra stuff added to make it bad for you) and I felt great! I didn't get tired mid-afternoon like I always do and I slept well (except for the coughing). Yesterday I was doing well also. I had my fruits, veggies and turkey again. I did eat some soup for lunch and for date night we went to Panera Bread. I had a strawberry smoothie (it had plain, non-fat yogurt in it), vegetarian black bean soup and a salad with no dressing but lots of veggies. I know the smoothie was really on the line of what I should or shouldn't have, but I felt ok with it. What got me was the ice cream cone at McDonald's after putt-putt golf. It is a tradition that my sweetie and I have ice cream after we play putt-putt, but I think that tradition is going to end. I felt guilty eating the ice cream because I had to be honest with you guys. I don't want to feel that way again, so it is back to healthy eating today!

I know you guys don't expect me to be perfect, but I expect more from myself. I have made a commitment to my body and there is no backing out. There is no way in going half way and not finishing, so it is back on track and back to feeling healthy and whole. I am going to push through my bronchitis and asthma today and try to get a short cardio workout in- this is something that I have been dealing with for three weeks now, so I have only been able to work out a couple of times in the past few weeks. I will keep pressing on, even though I know it will probably be a little longer until I can get back at it full time.

A New Eating Journey Beginning Today!

I really have to get my food back on track. I am not one to eat a lot of packaged and processed foods anymore, but here lately, I've been doing just that. And sweets- ugh- I've let them creep back in under the influence of others, but it has to stop!!!! And only I can make it stop. So I am starting a new eating adventure today- my husband doesn't even know about it yet. He may hear about from me as soon as he is done with his work meeting or he may click on my facebook link as soon as he gets off work and read it just like the rest of you, lol.

I have decided that today through Sunday, I am only eating fruits, veggies and a couple of hard boiled eggs for protein. I don't have to change what I drink because I only drink water and coffee with the occasional cup of peppermint tea. I know that if I force myself to do this that I will feel better and I will have changed my eating habits. My body should be almost through its phase of going crazy for sugar, and if it is not, then I will continue to only eat this. I love meat, so this is going to be hard, but the kids are with their dad this weekend and my sweetie has to work, so I won't have to really cook meat for anyone so it is not in my face. This is also going to take prayer and strength from God, and I know that He is going to help me because God wants us all to be healthy!

If any of you have any good, yummy all veggie recipes that you would like to share, please do. If not, then I will be eating a bunch of raw food- which is ok by me. I love the taste of fruits and veggies.

It is harder than it looks...

I know that I started this blog out strong, but keeping up with it, being a wife, mom, full time student plus the other things that have been going on such as getting bronchitis, the trip we took to the mountains a few weeks ago, and all the other stuff that life throws at us, it is hard to keep up with it all! I am definitely not giving up. Even though stuff isn't being put on here all the time I am still coming up with ideas on what I want to write about and am even going to be covering some topics in depth that are going to be more focused on my beliefs as a Christian, but I still believe that the lessons I will be sharing will be valuable to everyone.

I want to talk about contentment, inner peace and joy, and being spiritually healthy. I want to start featuring a guest blogger, having a healthy recipe post, give in depth information on medical conditions, healthy habits,alternative treatments and tons of other stuff. I know that I keep saying that I am going to get this going, and it may take a while yet because I am still a wife, a mom and a student and life is fairly busy, but I know that in the end it will be worth it.


If any of you have any ideas about what you would like to see me blog about or want to be a guest blogger, please let me know! You don't have to be an expert to share something that you have learned along the way, you just need to want to help others! If you aren't a good writer, put something together, I can edit and rewrite and you still get featured. I really want my readers to be interactive.

Falling Off the Wagon...

I haven't been putting forth my best effort this past month in any area of my life. I haven't been eating the best that I could, working out very much or pushing myself when I do workout. I haven't gained any weight back, but I haven't really lost any more either, and trust me, I still have some to lose.

I realized all this over the weekend and I am stepping up again and am starting over. I revamped my diet, again, because I had pretty much stopped eating a lot of veggies and was only getting one or two servings a day. I had also let some sugary food creep back in, so those things are going again. I do love chocolate and ice cream, so I do have 1 serving of that in the evenings, and yes, I do measure out the amount so that I don't go over.

I am also ramping up exercising. I will be doing intense cardio (Turbo Jam) 3 days a week and on the other 3 days I will be lifting with ChaLEAN Extreme and doing light cardio (more Turbo Jam) as well as abs.

I think that my body needs me to do this to get through this slump and get back on track. I have used every excuse I could to get off track and I am done with that now. How am I going to be a good coach if I can't do it myself? So the only option is for me to do it!

One Of My Favorite Snacks!

I love smoothies, especially fruit smoothies. You can make all kind of combinations and make as much or as little as you want. You can also sneak yummy veggies and greens in and it not effect the taste. Here is a recipe for one of my favorites.

About 5 medium frozen strawberries
1 small or half of a large banana
About 2 ounces of orange juice or you can use water
5 leaves of spinich
3-5 cubes of ice (optional)

I put all ingredients except the ice in my magic bullet and blend until the strawberries are pureed. I then add the ice and blend a little longer until the ice is crushed. I usually make this smoothie about 2 times a week.

Reaching out to others with Fibromyalgia

I have been trying to give others with fibromyalgia that have asked for advice some tips on controlling pain with diet and exercise but it seems as if no one wants to hear any answers unless it is something that has to do with medication. I feel that everyone is searching for that miracle drug because no one wants to put in a little effort to get their pain under control. A lot of medications have horrible side effects, can cause you a large amount of weight gain and can make you a zombie. I wish that they could see that there is more to life with fibro than being in pain and being medicated. I am at a loss as to how to get through to people and help them if they want to toss aside everything that you share with them.