Before I get to the exercise part, I wanted to tell you that day 4 of the 5 day raw challenge is almost over. I WILL MAKE IT!! I honestly didn't have high expectations for myself. I've never in my life ate this many fruits and veggies in one week and when I heard that day 2 was the hardest, I didn't expect to get past that day. Day 2 definitely WAS the hardest. I had a detox headache all day long. I felt queasy, learning that I needed to eat a lot more than I was. It was a looooong and hard day. But I made it. And since then, I have felt pretty good. This is the hardest and most disciplined thing I've ever done with food. I've had greens for 9 of the 12 meals I've eaten this week. There were meals I choked down my spinach and kale salad and even today, I couldn't even swallow my smoothie (which was really pretty yummy!), but I didn't give in. My lifesavers have been guacamole, salsa, watermelon and cherries.
In the beginning of the week I dreamed of my 2 cheat meals this weekend. As the weekend gets closer and closer I've thought less and less about steak and cheese fries and more and more about eggs and oatmeal. Seriously, who am I!? Changes like this in my mind set makes me believe that anyone can do this. I can totally see how this trains our brains to think differently about food. I can almost guarantee if I do go crazy with the cheat meals, I'll more than likely pay for it. I don't want to screw up everything I worked for this week.
So moving on...
For the 90 day clean eating challenge, we get daily points for working out for 20 minutes or more. This part of the challenge alone could have killed me a few months ago. Not that working out for 20 minutes would kill me, but just making a routine of this and figuring out what I could successfully do without late night gym visits again.
In the beginning of the week I dreamed of my 2 cheat meals this weekend. As the weekend gets closer and closer I've thought less and less about steak and cheese fries and more and more about eggs and oatmeal. Seriously, who am I!? Changes like this in my mind set makes me believe that anyone can do this. I can totally see how this trains our brains to think differently about food. I can almost guarantee if I do go crazy with the cheat meals, I'll more than likely pay for it. I don't want to screw up everything I worked for this week.
So moving on...
For the 90 day clean eating challenge, we get daily points for working out for 20 minutes or more. This part of the challenge alone could have killed me a few months ago. Not that working out for 20 minutes would kill me, but just making a routine of this and figuring out what I could successfully do without late night gym visits again.
Last year (or maybe it was earlier this year) a friend from my hometown posted on Instagram that she was participating in the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge. I didn't pay too much attention to what it was. I've never had any luck doing any types of workout routines from home. But in April, she posted that another challenge was starting. This time I was in. And I told a handful of friends about it and they wanted in too. That's what REALLY helps. To be able to check in with friends and complain about mountain climbers and burpees.
So I'm now on week 5, or maybe it's 6, of the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge 2.0. You can find her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and her blog. And it's FREE! She'll post her daily video on Facebook, YouTube and you can even sign up through her blog to get it emailed to you. It alternates between cardio days and strength days and the only equipment you need is a set of dumbbells. It is so easy to fit a 20 minute workout into my day. Even if it gets late, I still find myself getting it in before I head to bed. In just 5 weeks I've noticed changes in my body. And my hubby has too. That's always the best when someone else can tell.
This picture was day 1. Dave was sick and I made him turn around so he couldn't watch me. I'm sure I was a bit painful to watch.
My kids love it too. They get pretty upset if they find out I did it without them. And sometimes Taylor turns it on by herself and leads her brothers.
You can start anytime. You can pick up on the current day's video, but if I were you, I'd start at the beginning. Each week changes, and gets progressively tougher. You can find the entire list of videos here on YouTube. That way you can start at Day 1 if you want to.
But here's what I'm most excited about. I used to think that I could overcome my food habits by working out hard. But that led to some frustration. I worked out so hard last spring and didn't really get anywhere. I saw some changes. But there wasn't really any weight loss. I got in a good routine of running for awhile, and I hardly saw many changes to my body at all. But you read it in my last post, that ever since I eliminated a lot of sugar and processed foods from my diet, I have seen the biggest changes to my body. I am closest to my pre-baby body (but still far away) than I've been in 7 1/2 years. I am FINALLY convinced (and am about to get even more convinced) that food is where my focus needs to be. I need to exercise too, but food comes first! Food will get me to where I want to be. And it was so fun to read this blog post from a friend that's been on this journey for the last year, it will REALLY inspire you! I am finally convinced that SUGAR is the biggest culprit to all of us moms (and really everyone) who think we will have to live forever with these mommy pooches. Diets don't last, the shakes and pills get expensive, we workout like crazy and it's still there.
I learned yesterday that in 1900 the average American consumed 10 pounds of sugar a year.
by 2010, the average American consumed 156 pounds of sugar a year, that's the same as 50 teaspoons a day. Something is obviously wrong here.
This isn't just the chocolate bar you grab, or the pop you order at lunch, or even the gatorade that we are tricked to thinking is healthy, or the dessert you have after dinner. While those are obviously full of sugar, that's the sugar we usually KNOW about.
It's everything you grab from your fridge and pantry that comes in packages and bottles, from your ketchup, salad dressings, that "healthy" cereal for breakfast and jar of spaghetti sauce. Sugar is everywhere. Even in the things with labels that make you think it is a "health food".
When I'm all done with this challenge, I know my eating habits will be forever changed, they already partly are. But when I make the choice to enjoy a cupcake or have ice cream with my family, I want to know that it was the only sugar I ate all day long. I want to know that I chose that sugar. I don't want my body to have been fed sugar all week long that I didn't even know about. That ultimately wreaks havoc on my body. I want the control in my hands. Because that will be how I can get the results I want.
Do you have any other good workouts that are free?
I'll finish the BBM challenge while my clean eating challenge is still going, and will need something to continue. I could always start repeating some weeks, but I'd love to know if there are other awesome things out there. Or if you are doing BBM too!
But here's what I'm most excited about. I used to think that I could overcome my food habits by working out hard. But that led to some frustration. I worked out so hard last spring and didn't really get anywhere. I saw some changes. But there wasn't really any weight loss. I got in a good routine of running for awhile, and I hardly saw many changes to my body at all. But you read it in my last post, that ever since I eliminated a lot of sugar and processed foods from my diet, I have seen the biggest changes to my body. I am closest to my pre-baby body (but still far away) than I've been in 7 1/2 years. I am FINALLY convinced (and am about to get even more convinced) that food is where my focus needs to be. I need to exercise too, but food comes first! Food will get me to where I want to be. And it was so fun to read this blog post from a friend that's been on this journey for the last year, it will REALLY inspire you! I am finally convinced that SUGAR is the biggest culprit to all of us moms (and really everyone) who think we will have to live forever with these mommy pooches. Diets don't last, the shakes and pills get expensive, we workout like crazy and it's still there.
I learned yesterday that in 1900 the average American consumed 10 pounds of sugar a year.
by 2010, the average American consumed 156 pounds of sugar a year, that's the same as 50 teaspoons a day. Something is obviously wrong here.
This isn't just the chocolate bar you grab, or the pop you order at lunch, or even the gatorade that we are tricked to thinking is healthy, or the dessert you have after dinner. While those are obviously full of sugar, that's the sugar we usually KNOW about.
It's everything you grab from your fridge and pantry that comes in packages and bottles, from your ketchup, salad dressings, that "healthy" cereal for breakfast and jar of spaghetti sauce. Sugar is everywhere. Even in the things with labels that make you think it is a "health food".
When I'm all done with this challenge, I know my eating habits will be forever changed, they already partly are. But when I make the choice to enjoy a cupcake or have ice cream with my family, I want to know that it was the only sugar I ate all day long. I want to know that I chose that sugar. I don't want my body to have been fed sugar all week long that I didn't even know about. That ultimately wreaks havoc on my body. I want the control in my hands. Because that will be how I can get the results I want.
Do you have any other good workouts that are free?
I'll finish the BBM challenge while my clean eating challenge is still going, and will need something to continue. I could always start repeating some weeks, but I'd love to know if there are other awesome things out there. Or if you are doing BBM too!
1 comment:
Way to go Amanda! Very inspiring. I love the BBM workouts, too - but I definitely need to get my eating on track, too. Keep it up!
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