Day 13

Never thought I'd even make it this far on the FitFat40 challenge. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, then read my last post and it will catch you up. A few things have kept me going like the community that has been established. Doing a challenge like this with a bunch of people keeps the momentum up. I probably would have failed otherwise. We are all in this together and I even think it has allowed me to get to know more people because FitFat40 is certainly something to chat about. My partner for the challenge is Brittany, another staff spouse and it's been fun to encourage one another. Not going to lie, we also share our struggles which for me goes something like this..."IF I HAVE TO EAT ANOTHER SALAD..." or "I WANT SWEEEEEETS."

But I don't say or tell you those things for pity. I don't want this to be treated like a diet. Diets are temporary. I want to do this so that I can ultimately change my mindset about what I put in my body. I'm realizing my life has been all about convenience. If I'm hungry, I go get whatever can feel that void fast. So when I'm blurting the salad remarks, it's mostly because I don't feel like preparing food myself. Finding quality "fast" food is tough other than salads but I'm learning to really search over menus and ask ingredient questions to find the best option.

This challenge has forced me to get creative with cooking. My favorite meal so far has been the Philly cheesesteaks I made. Everyone needs to try this recipe...so good!

Photo Credit

I've also been educating myself on nutrition. In the midst of all this, I have discovered that I think I have a gluten intolerance. You see, before this challenge, my stomach ached 80% of the time. So painful that most of those times I would just have to go to bed and sleep it off. I'm 13 days into this challenge and I've been pain free. For years I thought it was a dairy intolerance but I've had a ton of dairy the past 13 days and no pain. Therefore, since I've cut grains completely, I'm thinking it has something to do with the grains. When I do bring grains back into my diet, I'm going to make every effort to go gluten free. I'd much rather do that then deal with being "sick" all the time again.

My next adventure is to start juicing. My cousin does it all the time and talks about all the benefits. I'm feeling like I need even more veggies in me and that will be the fastest way to get them. Any suggestions on juicers or recipes?

This saying is so true....

Have any of you cut out certain foods or are eating more naturally? I'd love to hear the benefits you have experienced and get encouragement/support. I challenge all my friends to try eating more naturally for a week and see how you feel. I never thought I would say this but I feel SO great. One of my favorite blogs is 100 Days of Real Food because she does such a great job educating you on reading labels and such. 

So what do you think...can you go a day without sugar? Grains? Try it ;)

-Sara

#fitFAT40

Hey friends! Life is good and time seems to be moving in turbo speed. The good news is that I only have 7 weeks of school left until summer vacation. Things are crazy this time of year at a school with all sorts of activities which makes the weeks go by even faster. I'm looking forward to wrapping up the school year so I can relax and mentally processing my first year of teaching.

In personal news, Elevation staff & spouses started a fitness challenge this past week. Basically you can get up to 4 points a day. Here is the breakdown:

• no sugar of any kind (except fruit)
• no grains
• exercise for at least 30 min.
• journal

We started this past week and I'm off to a great start. Todd had a few days of traveling so it was difficult for him but I think he will get back on track. I'm mostly eager to do this just because I've heard so many people talk about how much sweeter fruit and other real food will taste once your body detoxes from all the other junk. I'm not so much in it to lose weight but rather just get in better routines. I love that our church set up a website for all of the staff to hold us accountable to documenting our points. The challenge has already forced me in a good way to get more creative with dinners. Did I mention the challenge is for 40 days???? Bring it on!

Anybody else LOVING spring? Last weekend we went to Lowes and bought a few goodies to spruce up our yard. I love looking out our living room window to this view...

Plus springtime means lots of dinner dates outside and live music on the weekends! Charlotte is way more dog friendly than I actually imagined so we try to take Maggie wherever we go. We meet so many people this way because she is certainly a conversation starter.

 

And maybe my most favorite thing this time of year is fresh strawberries! YUM!

Have a great weekend!

{Health 101}

Well just like the majority of America, one of my goals this year is to eat more healthier. I really want to feel good about myself (you are what you eat) and remain a consistent healthy weight. I have a few pounds currently that I wouldn't mind saying "Hasta Luego" to.

I wasn't exactly sure where to start but after coming back from break and realizing we had lost power while we were gone, I took that as a clear indication it was time to clear out the fridge and start completely fresh. We stocked up on some healthier food, especially fruits and veggies so we will snack on those and totally avoided the chips/cookie aisle. Someone (hmmm, wonder who?) managed to sneak Oatmeal Creme Pies in the cart that I found when checking out. Not cool and I refuse to look at them!

On Tuesday, I got a free app called My Fitness Pal which also has a website you can find by clicking here. So no excuses if you want to give it a shot. Basically, the site allows you to put in your weight, goal weight, etc and helps you count your calories each day. Wow, I never realized how many calories I have potentially been eating a day! The site lets you scan barcodes for accuracy or search for the product. My cousin Jenny is super fit, super cool and a super vegan. Even she uses it so I'm sold.

Keeping a diary is great at making you self aware of what you are putting in your body and making sure you are drinking enough water (something I'm so terribly bad at!). I'm so thankful I kicked soda to the curb years ago or else I would be wasting away calories that I could use on better stuff!

On Wednesday, thanks to pinterest, I found this website that has a great little blog about educating yourself on what to eat. I'm sure there are plenty of more great sites so if you know of any please comment! I'm working on boosting my metabolism by eating 3 main meals and 2 mini snacks throughout the day.

I'm currently on Day 3 of my "plan" and I'm pleased to say so far so good. Ha, I know it's only been 3 days but I've kind of surprised myself that I've stuck to it. I've used the Kinect Fitness game to sub as my workouts (which are actually really tough!) until our school gym reopens for the semester. It's important to make small changes anyway so I'm working on getting this eating thing right first.

My friend Ashley S is on the mypal train (new lingo?) as well and she posted a great recipe today on her blog. She inspired me to do the same so I'm going to share my favorite salad dressing that I make. The recipe is actually a combo between a recipe my friend Mason gave me and something I found online.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

1/3 C of Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 C of Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons of Dijon Mustard

1 Tablespoon of Honey

Pinch of Garlic Salt

Pinch of Pepper

Whisk and place in Bottle!

We keep some always stocked in our fridge around here. Double the recipe if you need more but honestly just a tad of this in your bowl does the trick. Try it! You won't be disappointed. I'm not positive how many calories it is but by just putting a tablespoon in your salad certainly can't be terrible. My favorite is to add a little bit of feta, tomatoes and pine nuts. Yummmm!

Happy Eating! If you have any recipes or healthier ideas, do share!

-Sara

Couch to 5K

Yup, who would have ever thought this girl would start running?! Well I can't toot my own horn too loudly just yet because I've only completed day one of the Couch to 5K program. The point is, running is something I've always avoided like a disease yet I'm always envious of runners. How messed up are those thoughts?!

I just want to at least try. I may totally bomb the idea (I do have semi-weak knees) but I actually completed workout number one with no cheating and I felt so good about it.

Find the complete workout by clicking here

I realize running in a 5K isn't much but it is a small goal of mine that I'd love to say I did. Plus, I've had it on the list for a while now so I'd love to check that bad boy off! Right now I'm  going to try to do a M,W,F running schedule and do some upper body toning on my off days. Maybe by actually writing on this ol' blog, it will inspire me to keep it up. We shall see how Wednesday goes. I promise to be real with you folks and let you know how it is going!


Who wants to give it a shot with me? Who has tried it before? Any encouragement or advice?


Cheers,
Sara