Livin' Life

                Apparently this blog is going to end up being a once or twice a week kind of deal.  But the whole point was to get out there and live.  Well, we have been doing just that.  I have been on Facebook once since quitting and it was to upload photos for an event.  I therefore think I’m doing quite well in that department. Social texting, however, is still a work in progress. 

                Lately I’ve been feeling motivated! To clean the house…No.  To get projects done…No. Eating healthy and getting my body back to normal…YES!  Kyle and I completed our Whole30 on March 2^nd (four days ago now) and I have decided to continue to do at least a Whole45 and possibly even a Whole60.  Who knows, I might even end up doing a WholeForever!  So let me gush about what I think about the plan one last time and then I promise I will zip it from now on. 

                So first of all, I will admit that technically according to the rules, I cheated.  Once you hear how, you will not think of it as a cheat or at least I don’t.  So we had breakfast out once and I got an egg scramble with veggies and bacon.  For those of you who don’t read labels, almost every kind of bacon has some kind of sugar (honey, corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, etc.) and since we were eating out, I have no idea what kind of bacon we had or if it contained sugar (I’m just assuming it did).  The next cheat was at a family friend’s dinner and I had two ribs (the cheat was the sauce that contained sugar and soy sauce). The third cheat was this past weekend on our very last day (again I’m going to overlook it, but I wanted to be honest). I had veggies and chicken that had butter on them as well as half a white potato at dinner.  But all things considered, out of 30 days, those were the ONLY “cheats” and neither (in my opinion) ruined my experience.  I honestly can’t say that I am sleeping better because I’m eating better or that I have more energy because I am fueling myself properly, but I will say that both of those areas have improved.  Also, I lost six pounds on this plan in 30 days and Kyle lost 12 pounds.  We did take “before” measurements (which are a better indicator), but we didn’t take our new measurements. I will say that my jeans are at least two inches big in the waist and even when I don’t suck my belly in, it stays flat. With all of these results happening at once, I will definitely be monitoring what I eat and trying to eliminate sugars altogether whenever possible besides the occasional treat.  As for Kyle (who kept telling me all the foods he was going to eat on day 31), he had three donuts on day 31 and felt really sick and decided to continue to eat Paleo as much as possible.  We have both come to the agreement to keep our kitchen Paleo and only eat “bad” things when we are out.  That way, there is no temptation while we are home!  When he decided to continue after four weeks of complaining that he wanted pasta or to make mixed drinks or wanted a dessert that someone had brought to work, I was absolutely ecstatic.  And now, I’d like to help my loved ones, friends, and anyone else who is interested in bettering themselves.

                I’ve heard a lot of remarks including “wow, you’ve got a lot of willpower.” And while this may appear to be true, remember, I am the girl who works at a donut shop and was chowing down on three donuts a day just because they were right in front of me.  I will give all of you some advice though.  If you don’t think you can do the Whole30 cold turkey, then start small.  The reason the Whole30 was not as tough as I had imagined is because Kyle and I were already eating pretty well.  We rarely had pasta for meals, we occasionally had dairy, but mainly cheese and only with a meal, and I had already been trying to cut out bad sugars such as high fructose corn syrup and even regular sugar (replacing them with stevia, honey, and agave).  The point I’m trying to make is to start small and eliminate or decrease one group at a time.  If you’re a pasta lover, don’t have it every other meal, but instead only once a week.  And if you love dairy, try substitutes like coconut milk (with little sugar) or greek yogurt (with little to no sugar) and you can always add natural sweeteners like honey or even fruit to make things more appetizing. The biggest thing to restrict and cut back on first is processed foods.  I can’t stress how many chemicals and bad ingredients are in these things and your eyes will be opened once you start reading them.  If you truly have respect for yourself you will be able to do all of this and more.  If I could do it, then you can!

                Now, in addition to the Whole30 I am continuing to better my image and mind set by working out.  I have been taking a Barre class which is becoming very popular and rightfully so.  It works everything (at least it feels that way)!  I worked muscles that I didn’t know existed (ok, I knew, but they had probably never been worked before in their lives).  AND on top of that, I started playing handball again just two days ago.  I was even convinced to play in The Montana Doubles Tournament which is being held in Missoula this year.  I adore the handball community (which is slowly dwindling) and always have a great time with the players (most of which have been playing most of their lives—even the 80 year olds).  I can tell you all that I am SOOOOO sore!  I can feel every sore muscle with every movement I make and they all ache from my neck to my ankles.  It won’t be easy getting in shape, especially since I haven’t been “in shape” since my sophomore year of high school (which is about eight years ago now). At least I’m doing it now rather than later when it will be even harder (as I know watching my mother struggle and still succeed).  You are my inspiration mom!

                Well, other than my activities becoming more and more abundant, I visited with a friend this past weekend.  She was back in Lewistown, MT visiting her family as she now lives in Minneapolis and is a baby photographer for the hospitals there—so jealous!  It was so wonderful to catch up with her as if we hadn’t been apart since my wedding.  Not to mention her family runs a farm (her mom mainly does and her dad runs a welding business that has gone international).  I love to hear her mother talk about the animals and how lambing is coming up in the next couple of weeks. Also, for this visit we were greeted by six dogs (two more than last time) and two new cats (added to the three house cats they already had).  Oh, and a house pig name Rudy!  They definitely have a lively time over there!  Oh, and her mom introduced me to Bountiful Basket (a weekly delivery of fruits and veggies) which I immediately signed up for when I found out they deliver to Missoula.  It’s going to be so much fun to have surprise produce every week and hopefully they will be a fraction of the cost!  I paid $32.50 (including a sign-up fee) for a mixed basket, so we shall see what we get and if it’s worth it.  Considering our grocery spending doubled last month, I’m excited to see how this will work into our budget and if it will help.  I’ll post an update with more info later.

                There’s so much more I’d love to talk about, but it would take another two pages, so I’ll keep it short.  I have been learning to make donuts at the shop and LOVE it!  Other than getting up at 3 am, it’s my favorite job thus far.  I have also been filling any spare time with Plasma donations or knitting.  I haven’t quite finished my first couple of knitting projects as I ran out of materials, but with the money I make from my plasma donations, I was able to purchase more yarn and even a Downtown Abbey inspired knit magazine!  I love that I can give back to the community and earn some extra spending money for my projects at the same time. 

                Now, I’ll leave you all with this: We got dumped on late last week and the wind created huge drifts that were at least four feet high in some areas.  Now I’m not complaining, because I love the snow, but it’s all melting with the warm weather and rain this week.  This means there are puddles everywhere and it would appear that the town is regressing to it’s past of Glacial Lake Missoula!  Point being that my dog wanted to go out today and as we were walking across our parking area I watched her tip-toe around a huge puddle only to realize there was no way around it and then I watched her slowly walked through it with high paws.  I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically and our neighbors probably think I’m crazy (they’re right I guess).  Let’s just say the scene was YouTube worthy!

                Thanks for reading and as always, until next time…