Top 5 Why's

Top 5 Reasons Why I would do This Again!

Our cleanse phase is done and we are moving into our max phase...get strong time! I've learned a lot about myself, about nutrition stuff I didn't know before, and about my heart. So for today, my top five why's...

1.) Even though I ate fairly healthy before, I didn't eat properly. Too much of this, not enough of that sort of thing. This has helped me tremendously in the sustaining my own energy department. More protein, less yogurt for this girl.

2.) Snacks are important. Good snacks. My mid-morning sluggish time and my mid-afternoon sluggish time have been much better as I learned that eating every few hours is really good for my body to sustain good energy...and make my body use the nutrients properly to keep me alert and balanced. When we started this I never ate much for snacks. I now make sure I have a good solid snack twice a day. My blood-sugar level and my brain are thanking me for it!

3.) Eating better means sleeping better. That little to no sugar thing is awesome. And sugar sneaks in many places you wouldn't think!

4.) I clean up my kid's plates. Or I used to. A lot. I hate throwing food out, so as I clean up dishes I often would snack or graze off my kids plates.  Portion control is key and that means keeping to my plate and not cleaning up after my kids anymore!!

5.) It's how I feel that matters, not what size I wear. This cleansing has been a good reminder that I should honor my body the way it was made. I would rather feel strong in a healthy body that can do much, then a weak too small body that is too tired to finish a day. Skinny is not my goal, strong is.

What about you? Would you do this again?

how do you measure?

We have finished our first full week of our 24 day challenge. You have finished 8 full days! The results are slowly starting to take shape. And yet I can't help but feel this tug on my heart that tells me that results aren't the only thing that I need to see or hear to make me feel like I have accomplished or won this challenge or even done it well.

Most of us have our own reason for committing to this challenge. Whether it be for more energy, more weight loss, inches lost, better health, a better nutrition plan, helping our cholesterol, or whatever your reason might be...we all arrived here from different channels. Yet, we each came to the start with a similar tune. That some where in all our wanting better, we feel like we haven't measured up. We don't have the energy we need or we don't have the pant size we think we need or we don't have the tools to know how to eat well or we don't exercise enough or we don't...and we don't... and so we don't. We think we don't measure up. And most days it is just easier to stay in that place. Because once we think we don't measure up, that doubting place loves to keep us down there. Doubting ourselves paralyzes us, when really...He wants you to be energized by the way you measure yourself.

Nobody else is made the way you are. Fearfully. Wonderfully. In all your shapes and styles and dancing. It's true. You can't look like or run like or be like anybody else. You can only be you. And being you means measuring yourself the way He does. Let grace lay on you today. And love from that place. Be from that place.

What if when you measured yourself today, after a full week of challenging yourself you saw this...

 ...instead of the numbers? 

Would you believe it? Would you let yourself be you today? Would you keep choosing the best for your body if you knew how very much He meant for you to live in that skin and do it well for Him? 

I know some of you are stepping on that scale every day. Plus working so hard to see it change. And if seeing it change brings you joy to be a better you, then keep that joy wrapped around you... but know that weighing yourself with Him will always look more like this...

Our bodies are the tools we've been blessed with to use. Use for Him. Use for our families. Use for our friends. Use for ourselves. We need to take care of our tools and this challenge is a change most of us have needed to help us do that in a better way then we have been. But this challenge isn't meant to tell you where you don't measure up...where you don't weigh in. Because no matter what, you are loved. You are you, there is no one who could be you better then you. Measure yourself, weight yourself...but know nobody but you and He are looking. And nobody else is standing on your scale. And what you see through His eyes is what matters. See today, really see. Count your gifts of grace, starting with you. And continue to challenge yourself to be a better version of yourself. Always. Because when you get out of that doubting place and that tired place and that can't keep up place and the I don't measure place...you just might see how very much you do measure up. And perhaps you will now have the measuring strip you need to see just where your numbers are. 

Embrace the changes coming with this challenge, but mostly embrace the change in your heart that is telling you that you are wonderful just being you today. Use that truth to keep being a better you tomorrow... and while you let yourself be measured and weighed in through His eyes, pay it forward to the next person who is also trying to figure out how to stretch that tape measure around all the way. 

Do you know Kale?

Day 8 Challengers and no doubt you are starting to feel the challenge set in. After our first weekend, I think it is safe to say...weekends are hard. We knew it would be, as routines are different and staying within our habit of healthy eating choices would be pushed to the side some as we gathered with friends, family, and enjoyed nights out! But no reason to throw the towel in even if you indulged on that cupcake or had that beer during the football game. We are here to make it to 24 days of making new habits and one moment can't define all of your 24! So jump back on the horse today, friends...and gallop through your second week having learned a thing or two to make this week even better then the first! Habits take time. Habits take discipline. Habits take practice. Habits are worth you feeling better at the end of this. So stay with us! We got this!

I know some of you are getting braver in trying new things. So here is one of my favorite super-foods for you to explore with if you haven't yet!! Get some in your kitchen and try these ideas soon!!

Meet Kale...your new friend with benefits! This leafy green vegetable is known as "Queen of the Greens". And it has some serious health benefits! It is seriously one of the healthiest vegetable on the planet. And so easy to consume in different ways. My favorite is in smoothies, my kids love kale "chips".

I use it in a variety of ways though... 

 Kale is usually a green leafy, curly end type vegetable by the lettuces,, herbs, root vegetable, and other fresh items at your grocery store. Also a favorite down at the farmers market. I am spoiled and get it from my mother-in-law's organic garden. 

 You can easily chop kale up by cutting the middle stem out if you'd like...

Then simply add your chopped kale to any meat or veggies you are roasting or sauteing. It will cook down and you'll hardly even notice it. 

Other ways I use Kale:

1.) smoothies: blend it up well for extra nutrients in any smoothie

2.) Make chips! lay kale out on baking stone, lightly drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes

3.) Use kale in soups!

4.) chopped salads: blend with your other greens

5.) finely chop and use in any sauces (pizza, pasta, meatloaf)

6.) use it in your wraps or on a sandwich

7.) pasta's (when you cook your meat, add kale to it and it will cook right in)

this for that

Day 7 Challengers! If you haven't already...leave a comment in yesterday's post for a chance to win some Advocare Slam! It is like a premixed Spark for on the go or right before a work-out. One lucky winner gets to check it out!!

Part of doing this challenge is being willing to try new things. If we are to make new habits, things will need to change. A few helpful things today to help you slowly make some changes in your nutrition plan. Eating well doesn't mean you have to leave all good tasting stuff behind...it just means we need to make our tasty favorites with good things! If you haven't yet, try some of these below to transition some not-so-nutritious items in your kitchen for a bit more nutritious meal prepping. Little things can make a big difference! And know that some of these things are not on our 10 Day Cleanse list of good foods...but keep this in mind as you think into the future and start planning your meals.

Try this...                                                      Instead of...                                

whole wheat bread                                         white bread

whole wheat pasta/noodles                             white pasta/noodles  

sweet potato                                                   white potato 

Green beans, peas, carrots                              Corn 

100% honey                                                    white or brown sugar

fruit smoothie                                                  ice-cream shake

olive or coconut oil                                          vegetable oil or butter

almonds                                                           peanuts

dried fruit                                                         sugared candy

fresh fruit & veggies                                         canned fruits & veggies

spinach & mixed greens                                   iceberg lettuce

brown rice or quinoa                                        white rice

whole wheat flour or oat flour                          bleached white flour

almond or coconut milk                                    milk

raw oats                                                        pre-packaged oatmeal packs

natural peanut butter                                         plain peanut butter 

lemon/lime in water                                           soda pop

try grilling, baking, broiling,roasting                 frying

turkey, tuna, salmon                                          bologna or salami

90% lean beef                                                  low-grade beef

air popped popcorn                                         microwave popcorn

Plain Greek yogurt                                           sour cream

applesauce (for baking)                                   vegetable oil

frozen yogurt or Yonana                                  ice-cream
fresh meats                                                    pre-packaged frozen meats
whole grain cereal                                            sugared cereal

And the list could go on! Just a few tips to help you see your kitchen stocked differently. Start little changes now and work your way to healthier over-all eating for you and your family!

Tomorrow is DAY 8. Start drinking your FIBER DRINK again tomorrow morning and no HERBAL CLEANSE caplets tomorrow night. Note the change!

                            

Love Spark? Win Slam!

Day 6 Challengers! Almost through our first full week. Tell me today... 

When is your favorite time of day to drink your Spark?

Ready...set...go... leave a comment in the box!

(Leave a comment and be in the drawing for a FREE box of Advocare Slam. Not a current challenger? Share this blog site and comment that you would like to try a Spark drink to get yourself entered in the drawing too!)

Mine...first thing in the morning. Hello Mommy "Happy Juice"!!!

take it to-go!

The first weekend of your challenge is here! Where are you headed? Tailgating? Grill-out? Family reunion? Friends get-together? After church Sunday dinner? Chances are you will be out of routine this weekend...and that is when habits love to be broken. It doesn't mean you can't go and have a heck of a good time still. It just means go prepared. Be ready to see some oh so tasty looking platters of food and maybe even an adult beverage or two that you probably used to enjoy...and one day  will every so often again...but right now we are giving 24 days of our best eating choices. Only 24. Out of thousands of days you have. You can do this!

I love to take a side dish when we are gathering and usually try to take along something that is a healthy choice (not that I don't also take a non-healthy choice too, guilty as spoken :) But knowing I am bringing a safe option for me (and my kids) to eat makes saying no much easier to the cheesy potatoes and cream cheese dip staring at me. Three things you almost always find in my house are almonds, dried cranberries, and spinach leaves. Greens, protein, some vitamin E. Watch your dried cranberries though, choose natural ones over sweetened ones. They are sweet enough on their own!

For an easy side dish to take with you layer a big platter with baby spinach leaves, sprinkle almond shavings or slices over it. Sprinkle dried cranberries on it. Slice up a hand full of radishes, a cucumber or two, and if you want to really go crazy...add some feta cheese (you can also just have this available on the side for those avoiding dairy, a recommendation during your cleanse phase of challenge). Take along a red vinaigrette dressing and ta-da! You have a yummy side dish that you can eat and share. The bonus... if you are at a grill-out or pot-luck type gathering chances are you will find grilled chicken or steak. Just slice up some of that tasty meat, throw it on your salad, and enjoy a challenge friendly meal away from home!

Challenge Friendly Spinach Salad

baby spinach leaves
natural dried cranberries
sliced almonds
radishes
cucumbers
Vinaigrette dressing
(Feta Cheese optional, avoid dairy during cleanse phase)

what something new can do

So if you haven't noticed, we haven't been looking at our calories very closely. When people hear we are doing a 24 day nutrition plan, most wonder and ask how many calories we can eat. And when I tell them I am not counting calories I get the most puzzled faces looking back at me. Because counting calories is often times the main tool to healthy eating, but why so often does it fail us? So instead of looking at calories, we're focusing on whats good...and whats not good... for our bodies, our souls. And counting calories doesn't work for me, because I can eat a certain amount of calories, no problem. But it is the type of calories that matter. And so I don't count calories anymore. I count gifts. And I try to eat what is good. Let good fill me up, instead of the daily mundane things that can weigh a person down.

Yesterday I encouraged others to try something new. Trying something new can be scary, a little skeptical, and very unknown. I know. I avoid new things all the time. Remember, I don't like change. At least I don't think I do... yet it is the one thing I am learning that my heart really needs. A little over a year ago, I tried something new. I battled through post-postpartum anxiety and depression after my third baby boy arrived. And some where in the bottom of my hole of a life and between the piles of laundry and the foggy thoughts and the shortness of breath and the constant wetness that fell down my face and the bills piling up, I decided to try something new. I wanted to feel good. So I started eating really, really healthy. I ate what the good Lord grew for our bodies, the clean and natural fruits from growing-gifted friends and family. But I was still so...hungry...for more.

A neighbor friend gave me the book one thousand gifts by Ann Voskamp. She dared me, to like her, start my own list of gifts. 1000 of them to be exact. I laughed at her inside. I put her book back down. Not sure what counting gifts could really do for my tired and hungry soul. And night after night I stared at the cover of her book looking at me as I tried to fall asleep. I stared at it so many times, I finally opened it again. And kept reading...and started counting. I tried something new. And something new started to happen.

I was lost in a fog of hunger in so many ways, thirsty for more of something but I didn't know what. But the eating well was giving me some much needed energy to step up out of my dark hole and the counting was giving me the water I was so thirsty for. And I started to feel full. Awake. Still alive.

My cravings became stronger with the counting...craving more of His grace and I started to see more deeply, more joyfully. I knew this clean eating for both my body and soul went hand in hand for the fullest life. So I keep counting. I am well into the 1000's. I see much more then I did before, I long to feel much more each day... Because I want to live full. I want to be here and awake for all these things happening. Once again the something new, the change...is saving me. His grace, His wild love for me is always here...saving me. Breathing LIFE into me. And He has given me this body as a tool. And I want to use it well. Keep eating healthy, keep feeding myself the good stuff. It is a journey to joy that can not be separated...but done together. So if you haven't yet...number it. Not your calories today. But a gift. Open your eyes...look around...and eat well. Drink much. Give yourself something new. And know that change can be crazy good...