New Challenges

Hi. My name is Melissa and I am a SLACKER when it comes to writing in this blog!!

Actually I've just been very busy, so can you really blame me? It's not like I get paid to do this or anything so... Priorities my friends.

So, last week I was telling you that I was getting back to the plan. Hah. I lied. I didn't. I sort of took another week off. I did get back into the gym though so that was a start, but we all know, the food is what really matters!!

So this past Monday I embarked on my own little challenge - to stick to my nutrition and workout plans through October 31st.

Combined with this, I'm also doing a No Spend Challenge as well - details at livingwellspendingless.com

Doing both of these together will definitely help me out. Committing to not spending money on frivolous things like eating out, stopping at the gas station for unnecessary bottles of water, or grabbing a smoothie instead of making one; will help me stick to my nutrition plan. Meanwhile, continuing to go to the gym will keep my body occupied (tiring it out to get to bed early every night), so that I won't even want to go out and spend money.

I did grab just a couple things before this no-spend challenge started. One was an adult coloring book and colored pencils. This is just another activity that I can do to occupy my time when I'm bored and want to go out somewhere. It will also be great for listening to good music, and calming the mind. Love coloring.

I also bought a new color of nail polish. I never used to paint my nails, but always went to the salon to get them done. I thought I sucked at doing it myself, but as it turns out, I'm not that bad actually. This saves a TON of money!!! It's not like I went on a regular basis, maybe twice a year, but I always LOVED the way they came out and the way I felt after they were done. Now I can do them myself, get that warm fuzzy feeling more often, and only spend less than $10 when I want a new color rather than almost $100 that I would pay someone else!!

In other news, I've been feeling very good about my workouts at the gym, and decided to up some of my weights again on Monday. The soreness feels good and productive.

I also had my cycle teacher tell me this morning that she can tell I'm getting stronger. This felt GREAT!! Cycle/Spin is something that I had never done before August 2015, so to have a teacher tell me that they can see I'm getting stronger is huge. She also mentioned that they might be looking for instructors at my gym, and to consider doing it. I'll think about it for now, as I could use a bit of extra money coming in...

Until next time...
XOXOXO

Week 2 Recap and Challenges

I'm terrible at keeping up with writing in this but pretty good at taking care of myself all of a sudden.

Eating healthy and exercising has made me feel very good during the day. I have just enough energy -- not too much, not jittery, not tired or sluggish -- that gets me through the day and gets everything I need to done without feeling like "Ugh. I just don't want to right now" <-- which is what I used to say all the time.

And I don't mean things like going to the laundromat to do laundry, which I complained about on Facebook last week. THAT is a task on a Sunday evening. I mean simple things like doing dishes, cooking dinner and doing the laundry AT HOME. I used to DREAD doing those things and procrastinate them for days and days. Not anymore.

Turning all 3 of these things into habits are really helping to keep my mind focused and clear.

Everyday when I get home from work, I do all the dishes. Clean dishes mean that I have everything ready to prep any food or cook dinner.

I then start to work on dinner, which is something that usually needs to go into the oven for at least 20 minutes.

While it's in the oven, I'll start my prep for the next day's food. I make my smoothie (and rinse the Ninja afterwards for easier cleaning tomorrow), cut my apple to have with my almond butter, and portion out my chicken thigh and green beans for my lunch (both pre-cooked over the previous weekend). Now that all my food is ready for the next day, I go back to make my sides for that day's dinner (usually a vegetable that needs to be thrown in boiling water quick!) and voila. Food for the next 24 hours is done within 30 minutes.

Also, I always make my dinner foods in two servings. One for today, and one for the next day. Eating the same dinner two days in a row is very do-able (as opposed to eating the same dinner 5 days in a row or something; gets way too boring). Now my food prep for the next day is even shorter because I don't have to make dinner.

Every other day allows a little extra time in the evenings, which is enough to keep me going.

I always do laundry on the weekends, but then also always do it on Wednesdays (mid-week!). This makes sure that I always have clean WORKOUT CLOTHES. Yes, those are the most important because they are what I have the LEAST of out of my clothing attire. I always have enough clothes for work or lounging around the house, but I definitely need to make sure my workout capris and tops are clean so I don't have any excuses for not going to the gym.

Now, at this point, I have all of my food ready for the next day, and all my clothes for the next day clean. I then go through my short list of what I need for the gym.

Workout clothes - sports bra, tank top, capris, socks and undies

Work clothes - tank top, shirt, pants, and undies

Shower items - Full towel and hair towel (all other shower items are already in the bag and never leave it)

Once I get everything together, now I'm done for the night. Completely. Are there dishes in the sink? Yes. But I know I will be doing them the next day after work (this also works better because I live with a guy that dirties dishes after I go to bed). Is there laundry to be done? Probably, but I have everything I need for the next 24 so I'm not worried or doing anything last minute because of that.

Total prep for each and everyday; complete.

Some people think routines are boring. I think getting into a routine is more efficient. Because of it, I have more time to watch TV, read my book, or even get in another workout if I want to.

So a little recap of last week energy-wise -- for some reason I was very tired. I can't think of what caused this, as my sleep routines were the same and my nutrition was on point, but by Wednesday of last week I was dragging, so I had a cup of coffee after my smoothie that morning. Needless to say, it worked, because I was no longer tired or dragging the rest of the week. I was trying to only drink coffee on the weekends but one up each day during the week really isn't that bad, so I'm going to try for that now.

I've also been religiously ONLY drinking water other than the occasional coffee. It has definitely made me feel fantastic and every sip is refreshing (lots of ice please!).

I can already tell that my body is getting stronger, as the weights that I'm using on the machines are getting easier. Next week might call for an increase in weight, which I will discuss with the pros.

I tried my first spin class on Sunday and I didn't hate it, but not sure if I loved it? I liked it, that's for sure. Kind of like the elliptical, I don't love it, but I like it. It's do-able. Ironically enough, my gym added cycle zone classes at 5:45am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are my non-weight machine days. I'll start incorporating those classes tomorrow.

Challenges

Jack started a challenge group which will begin this coming Monday, August 10th. While I have not participated in one of his challenges before, my mom has and had great results. I've signed up and can't wait for it to start. I also believe it is a great way to get a taste of what the Jack Kunkel Revolutionary Nutrition program is all about. Check out the challenge website here, or the event on Facebook here.

In addition to this, I've also joined a DietBet group, just for some extra motivation and fun... and hopefully I'll win some money... yeah that was my only motivation for that. LOL