You Win Some, You Lose Some, You Get Back In The Game

Thank goodness for Mondays.  

I know, I know.  Only crazy people say things like that.  Hear me out...

I screwed up this past weekend.  Friday night I had my cheat meal.  I went with the family to The Olive Garden.  I ate way past the point of feeling a "healthy" full.  I ate a lot.  I ate so much that on the way home I thought I was going to lose my meal all over my steering wheel.  Thankfully I made it home, where I promptly rolled into bed, moaned about how stupid I was to eat that much, until I fell asleep.

The next morning I was still not feeling that great.  I blame the cream soup, white flour pasta and massive amount of breadsticks I ate.  Even on previous cheat meals, I've stayed somewhat healthy.  The healthiest thing about this meal was the creamy italian drenched salad I had.  I decided that Saturday morning, that I don't care how good of an idea it seems a the time, I was not having any more cheat meals like that.

I ate well the rest of the day, but I had horrible cravings for horrible food.  I haven't had any cravings for bad food before this point in the challenge.  And then at about 4pm while I was preparing to leave my aunt and uncles house, I decided to give in to the craving.  I decided I was going to go to Taco Bell for dinner.  I've been doing so well, I deserved it right? 

Somehow between putting on my scarf and coat, my aunt invited me to stay for dinner. She'd even make a meal I could eat, stir fry with brown rice and lots of fresh veggies.  The angel on my shoulder rejoiced that I was being presented a pretty great "out" from eating Taco Bell.  The devil on my other shoulder, he was kind of annoyed.  I stayed though, and I was thankful for the save.  However, as I ate my (delicious) stir fry, I formed a plan in my mind that I would still go to Taco Bell after this, only instead of a whole meal, I would just get nachos.

I am ashamed to admit that I followed through with that plan.  Except once in the drive thru I actually ordered 2 orders of nachos.  And I ate them all.  I instantly felt that sick feeling you get when you've been eating so well and then stuff a bunch of processed crap in your gullet.  Again, I went to bed and moaned at my idiocy until I fell to sleep.

I woke up on Super Bowl Sunday determined to do better.  I was back at my aunt and uncles that evening for the game.  My aunt was so great, she had trays of veggies and fresh fruit as great options for me, along with the other foods.  And I did pretty well.  Until it came time for my last snack of the day.  I went into the kitchen ready to pile on the veggies and fruit, when what did my wandering eye see?  A massive pile of taquitos.  And buffalo chicken dip.  And crackers!  Chips and guac!  I hesitantly made my way to the fresh fruit.  I ate a couple strawberries and grapes.  That guac sure looked good.  And it was just onions and avocados and salt, I had watched my uncle make it.  So I grabbed a chip (instead of just eating it with veggies as I should have done) and tried it.  

Countless chips and guac, triscuits and chicken dip and taquitos later, I was definitely in a state of loathing myself.  I was thinking things like "obviously I can't do this challenge.  I'm such a failure" and "who are you trying to kid eating like you've been eating?  just give it up and eat what you want".

I drove home after the game completely disgusted with myself.  I had been doing so great up until this point.  I thought about contacting a couple of my team members, but I was just too embarrassed to reach out.  *DANGER! DON'T ISOLATE YOURSELF!* kept flashing through my mind, but the shame was just too strong.  I went home and went to bed, completely defeated.

I woke up this morning and the first thought I had was of a quote I pinned on Pinterest (see below).  I instantly felt encouraged and strengthened to keep going.  So I messed up.  Big deal.  I'm human and we tend to do that from time to time.  There is no shame in it, so long as you don't stay in that place.

I am happy to report that I am 100% back in the game today.  And boy does it feel great! So yes, I am happy for Mondays, for new beginnings, for fresh starts and second chances.  Bring it on life, I'm ready!

What are you doing exactly?

This is the question I keep getting, "What are you doing exactly?".  Let me unpack this for you.

I am doing a 90 Day Fitness Challenge called Terrafit.  This is a program that was designed by some people who use doTERRA, not by the company itself. You do not need to use doTERRA products to do this challenge, literally anyone can do it.  

The Basics:

As simple as it sounds, the program is all about eating right and exercising. You know, the things we all know we need to do to get a healthy body!  What is really helpful to me, is that it teaches you about healthy foods and healthy portions.  Example: I had no idea you shouldn't really be eating soy products.  Go figure.  They provide a Healthy Food List and you can eat anything on that list.  What is also helpful to me, is that you CAN eat anything on the Unhealthy Food List as well, but it will be detrimental to your goals and health.  

You can take a look at the Healthy Food List here-- www.terrafit.com/healthy-food-list.pdf

As I already said, you will also be exercising.  Now, this was the part that was hardest for me. You workout 5 days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes.   For $11.99 a month you can get access to their daily workouts over the 3 months of the challenge, or you can be like me and not pay and just do whatever you want.  I've been doing a lot of walking, and some workout videos here and there.  What's nice about this for me personally, is I am not in the best shape (thus the challenge!) so I can take it at my own pace and work myself up to higher intensity workouts.  And the best part??  There is ZERO judgement!  You put in your 30 minutes?  Great job!  You're amazing!

The challenge is also a team effort.  I was pretty leery about being a part of a team.  I am the biggest person on my team and am pretty self conscious about the fact that I've let myself get so far gone in the body department.  For many years I wanted to just do it on my own, my rules, my way, my body.  I am beginning to realize how prideful that thinking was.  We need people.  We are born into families, we belong to one another whether through blood or friendship or marriage or what-have-you.  Why would I think this would be any different?  I am all about this kind of thinking in every area of my life, except my health.  Why?  Because it is something that can feel so personal and is so attached to insecurities and our sense of self.  Opening those areas up can feel threatening to the very core of who we are.

But we are not our bodies.

My team has been crucial to me in this journey.  Daily encouragement via texts and private facebook groups has been more helpful than I would have ever imagined possible.  We are all doing it.  We are all changing our lives.  We are all taking control of our bodies.  And while yes, I have the furthest to go than anyone on my team, I have just as much encouragement and love to offer as the rest of them.  This has been a very powerful part of this challenge for me.  It has built my confidence, it has built my self esteem, even my sense of worth.  I did not see this coming.  And I never want to do anything like this without a team!

Let me break down the food for you a little bit more.

Week 1 was pretty bad in the food department for me.  Yes, I had the list, but for whatever reason it took me about a week to realize what I needed was recipes.  I spent a lot of the first week eating a serving of brown rice.  Then a couple hours later a serving of carrots.  Then an apple.  Then some beans.  Then broccoli.  Basically I was eating off the food list, but I wasn't making any sense in what I was eating.  

Then I had a brainwave, DUH SARAH!  What would you normally eat?  Let's try and find a healthier version of that!  And it's been pretty great since then.  I've gotten into a food groove.

A typical day looks like this:

Breakfast--Oatmeal with local, raw honey and allspice.  A cup of tea with local, raw honey and almond milk.

Snack--Handful of raw almonds and an apple or string cheese.

Lunch--An omelet with spinach or kale, multi-colored tomatoes, garlic with Ezekiel bread toast with local, raw honey or natural peanut butter.  I vary between this and a large salad with either chicken, berries, seeds and red wine vinegar or a large salad with chicken, tomatoes, carrots, seeds and balsamic vinegar.

Snack--Veggies with a homemade dill dip using plain Greek Yogurt, plain Greek Yogurt with fruit/nuts/honey.

Dinner--This is where I've had the most fun.  I've done everything from tacos (lettuce wrapped!), stir fry, big salads, burgers and "fries", steak and potatoes, chicken and rice, all with a bunch of veggies.

Snack--This one varies.  Sometimes I'll do some more almonds, sometimes popcorn with nutritional yeast (you'd swear you're eating cheese popcorn), sometimes a protein bar, sometimes fruit, or more veggies if I didn't hit my daily quota of 4 servings.

And there you have it!  You're also required to drink 64oz of water a day, which is a breeze for me because I'm a big (water) drinker anyway.  

If you'd like to utilize doTERRA products in your day, you can use their TrimShakes, TerraGreens (whole food you can put in smoothies, etc), Lemon oil in your water, Breathe oil, Peppermint oil, Deep Blue oil during your workouts, you can take their supplement packs for energy and overall health, you can also use their Slim & Sassy oil to help manage hunger/cravings and help metabolism.

Everything is on a point system.  The goal is that at the end of the day you have 100 points. You can read about the point system here.  

Let's wrap this up with some pictures of meals I've made!  Yum!  Portion control is a huge deal, I'll post a pic that's helpful for that too. :)

Oh!  I almost forgot!  The reason you log points, is because on top of getting healthier, you can also win cash prizes!