Where do I want to be in a year?

Where do I want to be 365 days from now? Wow, that is one big question but I actually think I have a pretty good idea. Give or take the minor details, my life looks like this in a year...

6:00 am - awake, vibrant and full of energy. I feel rested from my sleep and eager and excited to take on the day. I start my day with a jog around the neighborhood. If the baby is up, she's coming along for the ride. I'm training for some sort of fitness challenge (maybe a 1/2 marathon or maybe something a little different like http://toughmudder.com/). Throughout the day I enjoy my food and I definitely don't count calories. I do not stress about what I eat, I simply take joy in nourishing my body. I have no power struggle with my weight. I maintain my happy weight effortlessly. I do not obsess over the scale but if I did get on I'd bet I'd weigh between 106-112 lb. I'm slender and toned. I feel strong physically, mentally and emotionally. I cook the majority of my meals not because "I have to" but because "I get to". I enjoy my work and each day I'm filled with the excitement of the impact I can make in my life and the lives of others. My family feels loved and appreciated, as do I. I have close friends that share my same joy and passion for life.I have learned how to meditate and I never take things to seriously...life is about being flexible. My hair and skin are beautiful, youthful and lustrous (it must be all those fruits and veggies I'm eating). I treat people kindly. I love wholeheartedly. I have a strong relationship with my hubby and we take time to treasure and enjoy our little girl. At the days end I smile and realize everything is just as it should be.

...basic, right? I'm excited to look back a year from now and see what my life actually looks like compared to what I had envisioned.

So where do I start? I think my first order of business will be to work on mindfull eating. The way I eat bothers me more than most other things. I need to start connecting eating well with being happy vs. eating what I want and feeling crappy (this is where I currently am and it sucks). My mantra for the week is...eating wholesome, nutritional foods = happiness (in time I hope to link all the things I want to achieve with happiness because complete happiness and fulfillment are the ultimate goals, my day-to-day actions are just my channels I use to get there).

Things I can do to be a more mindful eater

-Breathe and breathe deeply before and while I eat. Hopefully focusing on my breathing with allow me to slow down and be more present.

-I will think about the choices I'm making and question why I'm eating what I'm eating. Are my reason good? If not, I'll work to redirect myself and focus on the fact that making change will take action and practice.

These are two basic strategies but if I can truly implement them I know they will be a significant step in breaking free from my food issues and the bad feeling that surround them. I'm totally eager to work within to feel good throughout. The journey starts now.     

Starting Point

This year has been a whirlwind...a year unlike any other. Almost a year ago I got married to an incredible guy who I had known for almost 6 years; shortly after that I got pregnant, which was completely unexpected; and not long after that my older brother, who was easily one of the most important people in my life, passed away. So as you can imagine, my year has been filled with an astounding amount of joy but has also been, by far, one of the hardest years of my life. Talk about emotions pulling you in every imaginable direction. Due to the history of this past year I am absolutely at a place where I now understand, with more certainty than ever before, that your health, your state-of-being is something to treasure, nourish and care for on a daily basis and that's exactly what I plan to do. So as a point of reference, lets take a look at where I currently am.

Physical
As of right now, I am VERY pregnant. In a matter of weeks we will be welcoming our new baby into this world. I am definitely no longer able to touch my toes without feeling discomfort. I am slightly swollen in my hands and feet. My energy level is a 5-6 on a scale of a 1 to 10. My skin is relatively clear. My butt is huge and I am unfortunately experiencing cellulite like never before. My thighs touch...who am I kidding, they totally rub to the point that I'm sure a fire could start if I walked fast enough. My arms are bigger and much more flabby. My sleep is interrupted by numerous bathroom trips and continuous discomfort. Thus far I have gained 23 pregnancy pounds.

Exercise
On average, I exercise by doing light cardio or strength training 3-4 days a week for about 20-30 minutes.

Eating
My eating has been interesting. For example, yesterday I had a tall chai latte (and not the skinny version) and a cake donut for breakfast; a salad for lunch; an apple and yogurt for snack; a super rich and creamy chicken, green chile lasagna (accompanied with a white dinner roll with a nice slather of butter) for dinner; and a fudge bar and grapes for dessert. The days before were a blur but I know one day this week included me scarfing down 2 large pieces of cake (I strategically took the corners because they had the most of the delicious butter cream/cream cheese frosting on them) and a chocolate chip cookie with milk all within a 30 minute time frame. But on some days I'm drinking green smoothies and eating low-sugar greek yogurt, fruits and veggies and black bean burgers. So depending on the day, I'm either a hot mess or a relatively healthy senorita. There is really no rhyme or reason to my eating but overall I would say I eat poorly 50% of the time and semi-well the rest of the time.

Emotional
"Numb" would most likely be how I'd describe my current emotional start. Since my brother passed away the thought of truly engaging with what has happened (especially now that I'm pregnant) has been a bit too much for me and therefore has caused me to just be a little numb to emotions in general.

My Level of Gratitude
I am continuously refocusing on all that I am grateful for and therefore would consider my gratitude level relatively high.

My Overall State-of-Being
I would say I am very much going through the motions of life...nothing too intense, nothing too exciting, although the decision to take this year-long journey has definitely sparked an excitement in me, a passion I had long been missing.
               -

Healthy In a Year?

This blog was originally titled 30-days to healthy but can you really "get healthy" in a month? I think you can definitely get "healthier" in that time frame, but would it really be possible to dramatically change the way you eat, the way you think, the way you live, the way treat people, your level of gratitude...your overall state-of-being in just one month? For me, the journey from where I am, to where I want to be, will be most likely be an evolution that will take much longer than a month. It may take a year for some of the significant changes to take place (that's where I am now) but will most likely be an evolution that spans my lifetime. My good o'le friend, Anthony Robbins (famous life coach) says, "if you don't grow, you die." So this is why my journey to health and wellness will be forever growing and developing (you will likely see a new blog title in the future but I promise, it wont be for at least a year). So for this year, what's my plan? My plan is to take a good look at where I am, get clear on where I want to be and then develop an action plan on how to get there. Thanks for joining me on this journey and please feel free to contact me or post any of your thoughts or comments but please keep your communication positive...this journey is all about positivity and growth ;-)

A Four-Day Win

In the new book I'm reading, The Four-Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace by Martha Beck, it all about creating a series of four-day wins. A four-day win is something you do consistently for four days. Beck gives this example of how four really is a magic number...if someone asks you if you play poker and you've played it one time you'd say, "I've played it once" but if you've played 2-3 times you'd probably say "I play sometimes" whereas if you've played 4+ times and someone asks you that same question you'd probably say "Yes, I play poker". Beck identifies 4 days as the amount of time it takes to start a habit. Obviously, you have to continue past four days to truly make something a habit but Beck says, four days helps lay the foundation. And if you think about it, there's nothing you couldn't do if you were only taking it four days at a time (she's calls this chunking your goals). If for example, your first four-day win was to exercise everyday you could probably incorporate exercise into your schedule for the next four days pretty easily. As you can see this book is all about building healthy habits...healthy habits that are formed in the mind but carried out through your day-to-day actions. It's really about making you think like a healthy, thin person.

My First Four-Win
Since I've started this blog I've notice what some of my bad eating habits are. One of which is always eating something sweet after lunch and dinner. Even if I'm full I will still want something sweet after my meal. So my first goal is this...no eating sweets right after a meal. If I still want that cookie or piece of chocolate an hour after I eat then I'll eat it but I at least have to give it an hour. Beck says the most important thing about your goal is that it has to be quantifiable. So say your goal is to eat more veggies, it can't just be "I'll eat more veggies" it has to be something like "I'll eat 3 serving of veggies each day".

As for my progress for the day, here is how it breaks down
6:00 am

•    Boot camp with participants (I participated in at least 35 minutes of it)

7:30 am

• Amazing grass with cranberry raspberry juice

9:00 am

• Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sandwich - It was a whole grain bagel, egg whites, turkey sausage and cheese (260 calories and really tasty considering it's from a box)
• Coffee, fat-free half&half, truvia

12:30 pm

• Red Lobster - Wood-grilled chicken and wild rice pilaf (I only finished about 70% of my meal) (around 420 calories for the amount I ate) 
• 1 of those wonderfully delicious cheese biscuits (140 cal)

2:30 pm

• Right after lunch I wanted something sweet so bad but I waited till 2:30, ate a Kellogg's FiberPlus bar and I was fine

5:30 pm

• Skinny Cow (150 cal)

6:30 pm - Working out 30 minutes with my evening boot camp class

After class I wasn't really hungry so I didn't eat but now that it's almost 10 pm I can feel myself getting hungry so I'll have an apple and call it a night. This is the second day of staying within my calories...I feel like a champ.

I Have A Choice

I know that each week it seems to be a "new strategy" but like I said before, this is all a journey and the most important thing is that I find what really works for me. So I have yet, another strategy...rather, a different mind set. With the prior attempts I felt like I was in this major food struggle. I wanted all these forbidden foods but my plan(s) didn't allow them so I felt this huge internal conflict which only caused more stress which in turn made me want to eat every more. It's weird how we make food into this huge force to be reckoned with when really, it's merely what we make it. I'm going to look at food like this from this point forward..."is this food going to take me closer or further from my goal?". If the answer is further, I need to make a better choice. My choices don't have to be dramatic or complicated they just needs to be a step in the right direction. 

Today in a nutshell

7:30 am 

• Amazing Grass (wheat grass) mixed with a Cranberry Raspberry Juice (made of 100% juice) 

8:00 am 

• Kellogg's FiberPlus bar -130 calories and 35% of your daily recommended fiber. I must say they did make we a little bloated (and gassy) but according to what I've read the bloated feeling will go away once your body adapts to the extra fiber. This bar kept we full all the way till lunch at 12:30ish
• Coffee with just a fat-free half & half     

12:00 pm

• Herbalife Aloe, Tea and Shake. I had Dani, the wonderful co-owner of D&G Nutrition, mix in a banana into my shake...super yummy

3:30 pm

• A gala apple and a piece of light string cheese (carb and protein mix)

6:30 pm

• Kashi Sandwich (300 calories and really tasty) 
• Skinny Cow Cone (150 cal)
• 10 Strawberries 

All-in-all my calories were right around 1200. This morning I also did some strength training and cardio...I feel great.

New Strategy

Ok. As you as you can see, I've kinda fallen off the wagon. But like the trooper I am, I'm back with a new game plan. Over the weekend I ate way to much and exercised way to little but I also happened to start reading a new book...UltraMetabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman. From what I've gathered so far it's all about reeducating your metabolism. The reason we need to reeducate is because most of us have poor eating and lifestyle habits which have thrown us way off track. His program essentially has 3 phases:

1. Preparation - is all about eliminating Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated fats, Junk Food, Alcohol and Caffeine. This pre-phase is intended to last 1 week. Although Dr. Hyman does give suggestions for weening yourself off coffee he thinks "cold turkey" is the best way to get off sugar (it's gonna be tough for me).
2. Phase I - Detoxify - this phase is intended to "unlock and restart" your metabolism. In this phase you are still avoiding the items from the preparation phase but you start to really incorporate whole, natural foods into your diet. This phase is 3 weeks.
3. Phase II - Rebalance and Maintain - This is what he describes as the "lifestyle phase". According to the book, at this point you have transitioned over to healthy foods, healthy living...leaving your bad habits and cravings behind.     

So this week I'll be eliminating all the food as indicated in the preparation phase. I'm nervous but I know I can make it through. Dr. Hyman gives the following suggestions for making the transition easier.

• Include protein at breakfast
• Eat something every 3-4 hours
• Eat small snacks. He suggests fruit and some nuts
• Avoid eating 2-3 hours before bed
• Avoid quick absorbing carbs like white bread and refined, processed carbs
• Pack healthy snacks to help you avoid temptation
• Plan your meals ahead of time
• 1-2 oz of 70% dark chocolate is allowed daily
• 30 minutes of exercise, 5 days a week

My Plan for Day 1 

8:00 am - Plain, Non-fat kefir and frozen blueberries

11:00 am - Chicken Salad

3:00 pm - Cantaloup and a handful of almonds

6:00 pm - lean protein and veggies

Exercise at least 30 minutes with my boot camp class

I'll check in tomorrow to let you know how things go.

Day 9

Breakfast

• Ezekiel Bread
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tablespoon Almond Butter

Lunch

• McAlister (new restaurant in town, located new Cattle Barons on Telshor) 1/2 Smoked Turkey sandwich and side greek salad
• Click here for McAlister nutrition info. The site actually gives some healthy recommendations

The rest of the afternoon was just a whole lot of snacking

• Skinny Cow Ice Cream Cone (150 calories)
• 3 Dark Chocolate Squares (50 calories per square)
• 1/2 banana (60 calories) 

Dinner was more snacking

• 2 slices sandwich turkey and a slice of cheese
• 1 tofutti cutie (140 calories)
• fat-free hot chocolate (50 calories)

I went to bed craving a smore (which I could have made) but I think I had cravings all day because I was only feeding my body empty calories so I was constantly hungry. I wasn't giving my body any sort of nutritional value, like the day before. Tomorrow, I'll try to get the most "bounce-to-the-ounce" from my calories.