Water!!!

So, I did well at last weeks challenge despite the fact that I was extremely dizzy and busy all week! I'm quite sick of being dizzy and I'm trying to evaluate why this might be the case (other than stress:)  In my evaluation, I realized that I've not had even close to enough water since Thursday!!! I've been horribly bloated and have not been in the mood to drink water, not to mention the main source of my diet is fruits and veggies... water just doesn't seem appealing when I'm getting a lot of water in the foods I eat. It's quite humorous to me that I'm even having to think about this because I've always been somewhat of a camel and have never had an issue with getting enough water in.

With that being said, this challenge may be very easy or very difficult for you, but nevertheless very important! Everybody's body needs different amounts of water and your body may even vary from day to day. The very best tell-tale sign that you're getting enough water is making sure your urine is clear. If it's not (other than colors that may occur from vitamins), you're not getting enough water. If you're not sure where to start, some studies say to take your weight (in lbs), divide it by 2 and that's the minimum amount of ounces of water you should be drinking a day. For example, if you weigh 150 lbs, you should be drinking a minimum of 75 oz of water a day. I personally feel that nobody needs more than 100 oz of water, even if you weigh more than 200 lbs, but I'm not a scientist, just a person who has an opinion ;)  While non-caffienated beverages will help you achieve this, I would encourage you to drink water only this week and see how it makes you feel.  Let's get hydrated!

Let's get a move on!

Ironically, right after my last post, my back went out... the one sign that I'm working too hard! I should have done last week's challenge a week earlier ;)  But I must say that I tried not to stress about my back and it healed in just a day! I loved last week and am definitely going to try to keep that challenge alive!

Even though it's really hard to tell somedays, spring has sprung! Which, in my book, means "time to quit making weather an excuse, and get off your duff!"  I've been okay about exercising lately, but considering I did a full marathon in October of last year and a half marathon in February (just 2 months ago) and feel exhausted after walking 4 miles now, I should be embarassed for myself!

I find, for me, that I'm either really good at weight training or I'm really good at cardio, but I'm never really good and weight training and cardio in the same week... hmmm. Both are extremely important in a weight-loss journey. One of my favorite quotes is by Chalene Johnson in Chalean Extreme... she says (paraphrased) Come on people, you're not getting fat because you're getting old, you're getting fat because you're losing muscle!  The more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn not only in your cardio, but while you're resting as well!

This week I'm challenging myself to do 3 days with cardio, 3 days with weight training (offset from cardio) and one day of yoga (the hardest exercise of all for me).  I'm challenging all y'all to give a little extra this week to exercise, whatever your level may be... unless you're one of those people who is already a little overkill. That can be extremely unhealthy as well, so be careful!

Happy moving this week!

Stress much?

Hey friends! How did your whole foods go? I did pretty darn well... I did manage to eat Kashi on a couple of occasions and I slipped and had ice cream once, but with all said and done I think I did pretty darn well. I definitely had more energy this week and lost a couple of the pounds I gained last week :s

So, I don't know about the rest of you, but stress has seemed to creep up in a bad way these last few weeks... and my body holds on to EVERYTHING when I'm stressed. I realized today that last week I took absolutely NO time out for myself. Every free moment I had was spent practicing for upcoming recitals, preparing taxes, or "supervising" home projects. Well guess what?! My body is starting to shut down... I can feel it. My back is starting to cramp up (my first tell-tale sign that I'm way too stressed), my body is holding on to some serious water weight, I'm not sleeping well, and I'm constantly "hungry".

Therefore, this week's challenge is dedicated to stress management: an extremely important aspect of health. This week we are taking some time out for ourselves! My challenge to you is to find something that you love to do, or something that really helps you unwind and give yourself 30-60 minutes a day to do it. It can be the same activity everyday or you can switch it up. This may be going for a stroll, watching tv, playing a game, chatting with a friend, crocheting, meditating, stretching, baking, yoga, dancing, singing... and the list goes on and on. I would doubly challenge you to find something that will contribute even more to your health and that will get your body rejuvenated, but if you really feel like tv is your best de-stressor then go for it.

What's amazing to me is the fact that I work and work and work to make things "perfect", but then come to the realization that too much work actually hinders my progress. There needs to be a balance in all things! If you don't take time out for yourself, you will have nothing left to give to others.

Whole foods

Well, I have good and bad news! The bad news is that I blew last weeks challenge! I started out great and did pretty well until Friday night and then over the weekend it was as if I had absolutely no will power whatsoever! AND the scale definitely showed it :p  The good news is that I got ENGAGED on Friday and am now super motivated to work hard so that I can feel good about myself come wedding time:)

I've decided to make this week's challenge about going back to basics. Whole foods are our friend! There's something invigorating about getting rid of all the processed junk we put into our body and eating the foods that God intended us to eat. Not only will I be eating only whole foods, I'll be giving up most condiments and salt and will be eating foods as naturally as possible. The reason I do this is because I learn to love foods for their natural flavor and realize that food is great without a bunch of unhealthy additives.

I realize that everybody is in a different place in their journey for health. Please feel free to adapt these challenges to fit your needs. For instance, this week you could try to replace one of your favorite processed snacks with a fruit or vegetable. Or if condiments are your favorite thing about a baked potato, you could try to cut down on condiments. I'm more die-hard about my challenges than most people only because my body is extremely sensitive to the foods it receives.

Good luck getting back to basics this week!