Day 14-Reassess

It is Wednesday already!!! Are you doing everything you hoped to do? This seems kind of silly this week, since I totally slacked last weekend, but are you eating a fruit and veggie every day? Why not eat 2? Are you moving your body for 15 minutes every day? Try twenty! Are you keeping up with prioritizing, writing stuff down, and organization? Spend 10 minutes and see how you are doing!

And how is sleep???? Still the number one factor to work on if you want an improved mood (in my opinion!!) Aim for 10 more minutes of shut eye a night.

Now go chill out!

Day 4- Move Your Body!

Exercise is one of the best things for us, yet often the first thing to go. I know I haven't officially exercised or worked out for the last 10 months (probably longer but you get the picture!). I decided if I could look at facebook every day I could exercise every day. Run a marathon? Not any time soon. Exercise for 15 minutes most days? YES.

And so can you.

I just took my dogs for a jog since one of them has gotten "extra fluffy" in his older age....We jogged for 15 minutes. That is what we had time for and now everyone feels better. How else can you fit exercise in? do sit ups and push ups while you watch television. Do squats while you are on the phone. Take a brisk walk to break up your work day. 15 minutes. That is it. And you can do it in three 5 minute chunks if you cannot find a solid 15 minutes. Stretch for 5 when you wake up. Walk up and down the stairs at work for 5 minutes after lunch. Hula Hoop with your child or on your own for five minutes after work. Easy Peasy.

Give it a try!

Where the Heck Have I Been??

Well, I have been frazzled. That is putting it lightly. And to deal with my frazzledness I have been eating ice cream, not sleeping, grabbing coffees, not exercising, and doing everything I would tell my clients NOT to do.

So, after my trip to the Book Expo - I am starting a thirty day challenge to take my own advice. I am going to lecture myself, look in the mirror and raise my eyebrow when I claim I have no time to exercise or eat a vegetable, and TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!! I don't mean getting massages, eating bon bons, and ordering people around. I mean eating healthy, incorporating stress relieving practices, and not taking too much on.

So read on or join in!!! I would love to have some peeps relaxing with me!!!

I will be ready to chillax on Thursday (the next few days will actually be filled with relaxing since I am not working, but I felt like that was cheating.....)

First day With(out) Sugar!

Well, today I started with oatmeal, organic blueberries and walnuts for breakfast. Delicious!!! Then, I dropped the little guy to daycare and realized in the car I was craving something sweet. So I popped open the console, and wouldn't you know, the Divine white chocolate bar was still there!! Sugar Plums! I had a piece. BUT I stopped at one - which is rare.

Once I walked into work one of our MA's was standing at the door with a homemade mini gingerbread cookie - I ate it. It was good. I stalked the rest of the homemade goodies but actually didn't eat any. I kept saying to myself - there are better choices, and you aren't hungry anyway you are just avoiding work - which is true.

I then was fine until lunch, when I had a new healthy favorite!! evol burritos - They are DELICIOUS. The website is http://www.evolburritos.com/ I love the pinto bean, rice, and cheese - normally I would try to avoid the cheese but the company does its best to use humanely raised animals and animal products in all of their burritos - which is pretty neat.

After lunch a bumped into an issue - I felt like I needed dessert. I grabbed a banana taffy!! I ate half and tossed the rest - I stopped myself - I needed a distraction. Store 24 is right next door so I took a trip and grabbed a 100% apple juice and cashews - much better choice than taffy!! Okay, to be honest the cashews were honey glazed, but it was still better than taffy!

And since I was feeling pretty bad about the taffy I shut my office door and did 20 squats and 2o bicep curls with a bunch of books. Not bad! I actually exercised, proving it can be fit in to your day even if it is just a little bit!

Today was rough!!! Very rough!! But tomorrow is another day and as long as I improve every day, I think I am on the right track.

Some healthy options I am now in love with:

evol burritos: http://www.evolburritos.com/ (see above)

Gardein: http://www.gardein.com/

- totally weird, but pretty tasty - we had the pulled BBQ shreds last night - which freaked my husband out because they don't even try to pretend they are pulled pork, they just say pulled shreds. I thought the sauce could have been tangier, but it did the trick! Paired with homemade sweet potato fries, very yummy!

Izze: http://www.izze.com/

- sparkling juice - perfect to kill a sweet craving or a soda craving.

A note about sugar substitutes. I gave all of them up when I got pregnant and all of my headaches went away. It could have been hormones, it could have been coincidence, but I haven't gone back to the fake stuff and I actually think that helps me make some better choices overall.

Tomorrow is a new day - Thanks to support from old friends, new friends, and super fun cousins, I think it will have a lot less sugar!

Straight Up About the Sug...and Living Honestly

Ok, So just to make things clear, I am giving up the hardcore stuff. I am not by any means giving up sugar in order to lose weight or be super skinny or anything like that. I am actually trying to find my health again. With a new baby, a wonderful college-age stepson, a full and part time job, a husband with a full and part time job, and 2 dogs, I picked up some pretty unhealthy habits. I stopped exercising, stopped grocery shopping and started living on sugar and protein bars. Giving up the white stuff will help me make better choices (I hope!!). The goal is to eat more whole foods that can nourish my bod instead of making it wrinkly, tired, inflamed, and riddled with cavities.

All the while, I have been telling my clients to do everything that I don't do and then I lecture them when they don't do it. Oh, I am far from "holier than thou" and I certainly hope I never made anyone feel otherwise. So this blog is hopefully going to help me call myself out on everything I call my clients out on!!

What do I always tell people that I am infamous for not doing myself??

SLEEP - the bambino eats every 90 minutes all night long.

Eat Healthy - I just pounded a hot cocoa with chocolate covered almonds for dinner.

Take Time for Yourself - I don't know if I have shut the door to pee since I had my babe. Peeing at work is actually exciting.

Make "Couple" Time a Priority - We haven't had a "date night" in over 7 months.

Exercise - I used to run every day, do yoga every day, and lift weights AND I loved it. I haven't done anything in 7 months.

Be Responsible for Your Health - Okay, this I am doing. I just went to the Dr. after a raging headache for the past 3 months and realized I had a terrible sinus infection - I am on the mend thanks to antibiotics, had an MRI for a suspected stress fracture, went to the dentist to replace the crown that fell out thanks to a starburst (5 months ago) - I got a cleaning too! I am going to the eye doctor in 2 weeks and I have a physical in a month.

So hooray, I am doing one thing that I tell everyone else to do. Let's see if I can get back on track. If I can, I hope you can if you are off track. Being on track is better for everyone. Really it is.

So, no more of the white stuff for me - I have eaten almost all that we have in the house and feel pretty yucky!! I won't however be a nut job about it. No white sugar. No overly processed foods. If I have honey in my tea (bee-friendly of course!) that is okay. If the 10th ingredient in my salad dressing is sugar that is okay too. I am just trying to get away from my sugar habit and replace it with cleaner eating habits. So here is looking at tomorrow, a step closer to better health!!

Take Care of Yourselves. Really!

And, if you are a South Shore person, check out http://www.sustainablebraintree.org/food

This is Braintree's fabulous farmer's market - they rock and they are going to have a CSA this year!!! I haven't decided if I will do the farm share - I did one last year and sadly wasted a great deal of kale because I had no idea what to do with it. We'll see - it is a great thing to do!!