Happy Sunday

Yesterday was such a great day. I had a lot of great quality time with my husband. Which is something has been sorely lacking. We enjoyed a walk together, watched a movie, spent some time doing laundry and overall just enjoying each other's company. And we are going to get some more of that today. Yay!

I do have lots to do today though, menu planning for next month and preparing for Jordan's homeschooling for this week.

I do want to take a short moment just to share what I spoke of yesterday. This is something that won't really start in effect until I can weight myself again next month. I think it will be both encouraging and will hold me to a level of accountability.

It's relatively simple;  whenever I weight myself I move beads from one side to the other, depending on what the scale says. I'm looking forward to moving some beads next week. I have yet to decide on the frequency with which I will weight myself, whether it be on a weekly or monthly basis. Or perhaps bi-monthly. I will update you on my decision. I don't want to go back to obsessively weighing myself multiple times per day.

Final Stretch

I am officially in the final stretch of my whole30, a week from today will be my final day. I
 know I haven't been on here this past week. I have been somewhat busy, but I promise I have stayed true to course as far as the whole30 went. Unfortunately I did not do my DDP. I will be doing it again, though, starting Monday. I am not wanting to make excuses, I really could have probably fit it in. I just felt rather overwhelmed and oddly tired.

There have been several trips to Midland/Odessa within the past week. And let me tell you, that takes a lot out of you. It by far has been my biggest struggle here while staying primal. Having to drive at least an hour to get to a decent grocery store can be quite tough! Especially if you forget one or two ingredients that you needed for dinner. To add to that challenge is the fact that Noah and I are currently vehicleless, which means we can only go up when my mother's van is available. This means no early morning trips, I have to wait until afternoon.

It is just one of the many things I miss about Fort Collins.

I am excited about a new cookbook I got.  Make it Paleo, by Bill Staley and Hayley Mason was such a great purchase. I got it at Barnes and Noble online for just under $20.00. Several recipes in every category: Breakfasts, Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Sauces and Dressings, Side Dishes, and Treats and Cheats. They are easy to follow, gorgeous pictures, and they actually rate the difficulty of each. I have yet to make a recipe that I haven't enjoyed. In addition to these wonderful recipes, they give their story and explain how and why they came to Paleo. There is a Foreword by Mark Sisson, if you don't know who he is you really should click on the link. Also there is an introduction that was written by Dr. Murray Susser, Hayley's Grandfather. I found each of these interesting and they really do add to the book as a whole. Continuing on, both the Paleo and Primal diet is explained clearly and concisely. It's easy to understand and helps to make this cookbook more accessible to those who are not (yet) Primal (or Paleo). The book gives greater detail and just what\ you should be buying. It actually has several charts that I found to be quite useful, dealing in meats, veggies and herbs. It even had a list of kitchen essentials that make primal much easier. I really did find this book to be a good investment. They do also have it in e-reader format if that is your thing.

There is something else that I am starting, but this is already so long, so I will post about it tomorrow.

:)

Rumor has it

Apparently I have abs! No one would have ever guessed, or at least I would have never guessed. I've certainly never seen proof. Not that I am exactly seeing proof at this point, but oh boy let me tell you. I feel the proof right now.

Today was the first time I did the fat burner exercise in my DDP Yoga workout, and it definitely lives up to its name. I was sweating, my heart rate was up, but it was fun, and it was doable. And I absolutely love and appreciate that it is a no impact workout.

See, Zumba is a blast. I enjoy it, it's fun. I get winded faster than I'd like and my joints get a little grumpy later on in the day. (Though often enough that later on is not as later as I'd like.) I'm not giving up Zumba, but DDP is giving me the workout - with more resistance training so it has more of a muscle building effect, but is helping to heal my body. While I might have some muscle soreness after, it doesn't actually cause me real pain. As you can imagine, it is a whole lot easier to go back to.

I'm on Day 12 of my Whole30. I cannot believe I am almost half way through. I'm staying strong, making smart choices, and also have better noticed triggers I have that contribute to overeating. I apparently like to munch when I'm bored. That's no good so it's got to stop.

Something I have noticed, physically, is that my skin on my face, while dry, is looking a lot more luminous and clear. More healthy. The dryness is more that I'm in the desert area of Texas, have a bit of allergy crud going on and haven't been the best at using my moisturizer. Shame on me, I know.

Can't think of much else for now, so I'm off to go enjoy a movie and a cup of herbal tea.

Case of the Mondays

I didn't want to get up this morning. I really didn't want to get up this morning. I don't know that I have a legitimate reason as to why I did not want to get up. I slept for 8 1/2 hours. Then I was sleepy all morning. I finally made myself do the DDP Yoga, hoping that it would wake me up.

SUCCESS!!! Plus it just felt good. I finally decided to do the DDP Monday-Friday (as opposed to Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat) This way my weekend is a little more free. Not that DDP takes all day, but if I were to go out of town for the day I don't have to worry about skipping for a day. I look forward to seeing the more tangible differences that this makes in my life. 

Yesterday was definitely a productive day. I got my make up organized, and out on a desk/shelf thing in my room. It delights me, and I love to look at it. It's nice to not have in 4 caboodles and spread out everywhere. Next month I'm going to be getting the Alex Drawer unit from Ikea (yay!) and that will help furthermore. I'll have to post pictures once I get the rest of my room cleaned up.

There have been two big hurdles that I have been working to overcome since going Primal and doing this Whole30. One problem is that my parents and little brother are not completely Primal. My step-dad isn't even close to completely Primal. I'm trying to get Jordan there though. The other problem is that I have to travel about an hour to get to a decent grocery store. I've stayed true to the plan though, I think I'm doing very well actually. 

I'm going to be taking pictures of myself at the beginning of every month so I can see the changes in myself. I think that will be an encouragement. Because changes are happing, and I'm going to do this. :)

Going Strong

   I am hoping that the hardest days of this month are past me, but I need to stay strong regardless. Granted, Valentine's Day is next week, but I will be fine without the chocolates. 

  It has been a good Saturday, my husband and I made a delicious whole30 approved brunch and we are having grilled chicken for dinner. :-) Small perk of the February 80 degree weather here in Texas - we can grill in comfort.

  I am loving the DDP Yoga, I think it is going to do a whole lot of good for me and I look forward to seeing my flexibility increase, my muscles tone up and the fat to start falling off. I believe, due to the dynamic resistance aspect, that there is less chance of plateauing with this workout. As your strength consistently increases, so does the resistance. Awesome.

 Sometimes it is a little too easy though, to not believe in myself. It's important that I don't do that. I can succeed, I can do this. 

Week 2, Day 1.

I had so much better sleep last night! It was just lovely, except for that last dream I had. In it I cheated. I had a chocolate frosty, possibly some candy also or other sweet item. 

I was devastated, and so disappointed in myself. In the dream I got sick and was throwing up. To make matters works then Noah decided that he should cheat also; he wanted a chocolate frosty. Not only had I sabotaged myself, but also my husband.

I was rather relieved to wake up and learn it was a dream. 

So I am on day 7, (with no actual cheating) or day 1 of week 2. 

I also do DDP Yoga today. The schedule has me doing it 3 days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I think I'd like to add 2 additional days: Tuesday and Saturday, or Tuesday and Thursday. This will start next week.

I AM doing this. :)

Week 1

I have now been on my whole 30 for a week. Without cheating. I'm pretty proud of myself. The hardest part, surprisingly, hasn't been not eating the things I'm not supposed, but instead it has been not weighing or measuring myself constantly (at all). I know that this process isn't just about losing weight, but it is an important aspect to me and I hope that I am not disappointed at the end.

Today has had it's own challenges. I woke up at 1:30 in the morning and wasn't able to go back to sleep. I was planning to get up early, but this wasn't quite what I had in mind. Hopefully, though, I will sleep well tonight.

I think that is about all I have for updates tonight, today was an off-day on DDP, but tomorrow is time for ENERGY! again. I'm excited. :)

I have to keep remembering that the biggest thing that will push me to succeed or fail is what I believe of myself.

I'm going to win.