Day 21-in the groove

Things are humming along nicely!! I went for a lovely morning bike ride and came back to find a meditation dvd in my mailbox from netflix, so I popped that in and LOVED it. It had a 20 minute yoga series (vinyasa) at the beginning and a guided meditation, and wow, it was really relaxing and actually quite energizing.  Yoga is so uplifting to me..  afterwards, I pretty much cleaned everything in the house while listening to funk on pandora and dancing around with my swiffer.  I had been really focused on my fitness and forgot to do laundry for the last few days. I might have stinky clothes, but they fit better now! lol

I find that I am really looking forward to working out now and that I'm starting to really see results. I am not to my goal weight yet, but I am looking better and feeling more flexible, and that's a good thing!! I have noticed that even if I get a little sore from working out, if I rest a day, I'm usually fine. I read an article about the branch-chain amino acids (like catalyst by advocare) and wondered what exactly they are supposed to do, and one of the perks is that they help you recover faster, so I'm sure that's why I am able to get up and move the next day under my own power. I am really trying to emphasize quality over quantity, too. I'd rather do 3 crunches correctly  than ten incorrectly.  It's funny, when the movement is correct, it just clicks, there's a different feeling than just trying to keep up with  the movements.  Tomorrow is day 22.. wooohoo!!
LOVE!!
See you tomorrow!

Day 20- a typical day?

My daily life has changed so much since I finally got to that place in my life that lead me to take this journey. I was writing the title of this post thinking, wow, it's day 20? already? It also occurred to me that I don't count the days like I used to. It's just another day, which means I've reached a point where this IS how things are,not "I'm trying to stick with this". I'm actually making new HABITS and I LIKE it, it's not something I dread, and I feel really healthy every day. Oh, sure I have to plan what I am going to eat for the day, and I have to remember to take the MNS pills a half an hour before I eat, so there's a bit of preparation involved, but it's not something that is too difficult. I  have forgotten a few times, but now, it's so much a part of the day, I rarely think about it. I just do "this" now instead of winging it! Something else that I love is that I LOVE to exercise! I have NO problem fitting it into my day and I LOVE how it makes me feel. How strange to feel that way. I have said before that I love yoga, but cardio? the very word used to send me running (ok, well walking briskly) to my inhaler. Now, if I DON'T work out, it feels wrong! I am shaking my head in amazement as I type this.

Some of the biggest challenges have been trying to make food my family will eat that's also good for me. I live with 2 very skinny guys, My husband and my youngest son. So the issues that I have are very different from theirs. While they are bulking-up, I am trying to slim down, and somehow, we have to meet in the middle. Luckily, I'm a pretty good cook, and they are both very supportive. I just eat a little less at the meal than they do and we've been sticking to basic foods. I have also brought more fruit into the house and more salad with romaine and tons of veggies. So we are all getting what we need. The boys are gonna start the advocare muscle builder shakes and I'm excited to see how well that works!
So a typical day at my house is changing for the better. We now do more activity together as a family, eat higher amounts of fiber and veggies and fruits and are making healthier choices. I have 4 days left on the challenge, and I know the habits I'm forming aren't going to end when it does.
LOVE!!!
see you tomorrow!!!

day 19- max-in and relaxin

So today I took a break from exercise and just did some gentle yoga stretching, and weighed myself again, and .. oh, ya know.. I kinda lost 2 more pounds or whatever.. no big deal.. !!!!!!!

  134 134 134 can i say it again? I don't tired of it! 134!
Max-e is doing  its thing all in there!!!  Tomorrow I am going on a long bike ride, so I am not going to over do it today. Yesterday when I worked out and went bike riding was a little much, I was pretty tired this afternoon after work, so I think I needed a little break, but I am feeling great about the progress!!
LOVE!!!
see you tomorrow!!

Day 18-Best.DAY.EVER!!!!

I feeel GREAT!!!!
love love love the new bike!! Went on a trail tonight. I haven't ridden a bike in a long time, a few years, even. But I was able to keep up and did not even get out of breath or need my inhaler. It's so weird for me to have this level of activity and not be chained to my drugs. You have NO idea how good that feels.
I am dying for day24, simply because I want to show you my picture and the changes in my physique. I am doing really well keeping up with the MNS and taking my catalyst every day. It really DOES help make me stronger and able to have more endurance. I mean.. literally 3 weeks ago, not even, I could do maaaybe 15 minutes of a cardio workout, stopping to use my inhaler halfway through and definitely not breathing to my fullest potential. (now? 30 min, and 15 of pilates on top of that, daily) and tonight I rode 4 flippin miles on a bike. After doing my workout this afternoon! And, I am not sore, I am not wheezing and I got checked out by some dude on a ten speed. So, yeah.. :)
LOVVVEEE,
"hot granny"


!!!! see you tomorrow!!

Day 17- Breathe....

I have dedicated a part of each day to just breathing. I sit and simply try to clear my mind and breathe. It sounds really easy, but it really takes practice. Being an asthmatic, I have a hard time with focusing on the breath in daily life, and even more when I work out. I think we all tend to hold onto our breath when we exert ourselves, but have you ever consciously concentrated for a long period of time on your breath?  I mean actually sitting down and doing NOTHING else? I breathe "in to the count of four, out to the count of five" through my nose. Your belly should rise with each inhale and squeeze out each breath by tightening your abdomen. If you try it, let me know how it goes. Post a comment, I love hearing from you.
Anyway, the reason I bring it up today is that I've been doing so well with my asthma, and this part of the year especially used to give me bad allergies, but since I have almost no dairy (I do kinda miss the cheese still though..) and really cut the processed flour, it's a whole lot better, and easier for me to breathe. Yet another benefit to this whole deal! So worth it!
Being in this phase of the challenge is, well, challenging! I have 14 pills to take from my vitamin/appetite pack  and 3 catalyst right before I work out..and taking them used to require a lot of psyc-ing myself out, even though I've never actually had a problem with pills, it makes me a bit nervous, because I never liked doing it. Something unnatural about swallowing something without chewing, I suppose.. Taking the pills was the one thing that made me the most worried about the whole cleanse thing! Turns out to be no big deal really.And this goes with the subject of my post nicely, because I breathe my way through it. Relaxing is pretty much the key to dealing with everything for me now. By trying to learn "relaxing at will" I have been learning to put my energy where I want to, when I want to, and it's really helped me on this journey. I try not to sweat the small stuff, but, I still sweat like a pig when I work out!  But I'm also breathing!! It's a great feeling..AHHHHH.....
LOVE!!
See you tomorrow

Day-16 - I ate a COOKIE!! ahhh!!!

OMG!!! relax... It was a healthy peanut butter cookie from the health food store. Even so, I don't have guilt about food. I just think that if you do eat something that's not as good for you as other things might be, you deal with it and move on. I mean, really.. am I going to do 10 more crunches because I ate a cookie? Oh HELL no. I work out pretty hard anyway. I didn't "CHEAT" or fail or screw up. And, I didn't eat it because I was depressed, or because I was so hungry I'll just grab anything that's there. I had saved a little room for it after dinner, then I worked out for about 45 minutes. So, my point, (and I do have one) is that I am not trying to justify it to anybody. I am actually impressed with that cookie I ate, it was full of fiber and whole grain and delicious peanut butter. It was yummy and way healthier than a million other foods, and now it's over. It's in my tummy with the better stuff I ate today. Low fat pasta with fiber ("Barilla pasta plus", try it, it's awesome) and pasta sauce with a TON of veggies, like spinach onions and green peppers.
I have had a few situations recently where someone said "oh do you want a .... (brownie,donut, cupcake, etc?)" and then they go on to say "Oh that's right, you can't HAVE one."  Sometimes that irritates me, but, in the last few weeks, I have seen far too many benefits from choosing better foods to fuel my body, and getting off my butt and changing my life, and I'm not going to let other people derail my efforts or upset me about my choices. This is my journey, and I'm really proud of how far I've come. My blood sugar is doing great today, by the way. 123 today! Even after the cookie! so, ya know what? I'm good!

Day 15-lean and strong and healthy

Today was lots of fun. I have a little substituting job at the daycare I used to work at for this week, so I got to see some old friends and some little guys who've grown a LOT!! Lots of singing today!
Spent a while at the pool this afternoon and got all pink and lobsterly. I need to go buy sunblock. That's really more a reminder for me than you, but, you know, you probably need it too.

I am loving the new bike, went for a little ride today and DID NOT wheeze. It used to be that even the smallest exertion made me grab the inhaler. I've got "exercise induced" asthma. Well, to quote "lord of the flies" SUCKS TO ASSMAR! I did pretty well. Cutting the dairy and eating fewer red meats and gluten is helping more every day.
I worked out again doing a pilates/yoga workout dvd and I LOVED it. I was able to keep up and remember to breathe and I have been looking much leaner in the mirror lately. I don't have 2 sets of boobies anymore and the muscles behind them are, shall we say LIFTING!!! It still amazes me that only a short while ago I felt like I'd never get the body I want. I get it more every day. My husband even remarked "hey, your tummy doesn't stick out farther than your chest now, looks good, honey!!"  Ab crunches are the devil but they work. curses. must.keep. crunching...
That catalyst stuff is awesome. I will be using that stuff for a long time. Amino acids really help tone the muscles. FAST.
I weighed myself today.... 136!  still not starving and feeling great!! Hope you are too, LOVE!! see you tomorrow!