I think it's time we catch up!

You guys, we have so much to catch up on!

So for my anniversary, my husband bought me the fit journal that I've really wanted!

I filled out the first week, but by the end of the 2nd day I got crazy "woman" sick.  Boo hiss.

Luckily my husband is amazing, and asked me if I'd start my 12 weeks over and do them with him.  Hallelujah! The time has come!  Yay for a future fit couple!!!

So today was our first day.  

I woke up a little late because we went grocery shopping at 12:30 a.m. so I missed breakfast.  

I had a healthy lunch though.  It was 530 calories and fit within all my dietary restrictions. 

Can I just say that fruit is delicious.  One of my favorite things right now is a banana with peanut, almond, or cashew butter; and sprinkled with cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or cardamom.  It's so good!

Then it was time to workout today...

I went with Zumba Max because I wanted a good 45 minutes of cardio.  It was amazing, fun, intense, and exhausting in a great way! After my workout I tried Almond Milk Light for the first time ever in a post workout fruit & yogurt smoothie... and it was amazing!

After getting cleaned up and cleaning my house I made some homemade hummus for dinner.  It's been warm outside and I didn't want to have to cook anything today.  So I had some turkey, light string cheese, pita, and hummus (with sriracha hot sauce of course)!  It hit the spot!  And the whole meal was only 520 calories. 

I hit 10,000 steps today, 50 active minutes, and burned around 700 calories total.  It's been a great day and a perfect start to the next 12 weeks.  I really look forward to seeing where I'll be in 85 days. 

It's going to be tough sometimes, but it's going to be worth it! 

Much love my dah'lings! 

Mwah!

HealthyMychal

Monday Motivation & Inspiration Anyone... ?

Who needs a pick-me-up?

I do.  

It's Monday. Who doesn't need a little pick-me-up?

The thing about Monday's though...

I love them.

Why? 

Because it's a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning.

We get to set the tone for our whole week off of one day.

We get to choose if we'll let it break us, or make us.

That's AWESOME! 

This Monday is a great Monday! 

Know why?

Because I'm going to change my life again.

How?

I'm getting back to basics.

I've been so focused on my "physical" health lately... that I've lost

 track of how important it is to have well rounded health.  

Mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical.

I hadn't realized how poor my emotional, spiritual, and mental health had 

gotten until the past few days.

I genuinely took note of the fact that I felt broken.

The kind of broken I promised myself I'd never let happen again.

I let the heartache of my miscarriages and the determination to get healthy enough to try again cloud my mind to the point that I was nothing but an angry, lonely, bitter, resentful, and sad person.

I was so preoccupied taking care of other people... that I forgot to take care 

of my husband and myself.

I focused so much on berating and beating myself up physically and nutritionally... that I forgot all about nourishing ALL of me.

It's no wonder I haven't made any progress in any of my goals... I'm not working on them; 

I'm working on one.

We all have to find our balance.

No matter how long it takes.

And when we do... we can't be too hard ourselves.  

Not emotionally, not mentally, not spiritually, and not physically.

The great thing about life...

We can always change it.

We can always change ourselves.

We can always change our attitude. 

We can always change our heart.

We can always change our habits.

We can change anything we put our mind to!

All we have to do is try;

and never, never ever, give up.

I love my Powerful "P" words.

We have to be positive, patient, and persistent!

We have to have the right perspective.

Always be proud of who you are, how far you've come, and where you're going.

Persevere through anything life throws at you.

Be passionate about your life and your goals.

Be proactive and never stop progressing!

AND

learn, remember, and love your purpose.

Life is beautiful. 

Life is wonderful.

Life is full.  

Life is rich and it is decadent.

Life is meant to be tasted, to be tested, to be triumphed over.

Life is meant to be LIVED.

So live it.

Live it the way you want to. 

Live it wholly.

Live it completely.

Live it without regret.

Live it with love.

Live it with joy.

Live it because it matters.

You matter.

Your life matters.

Live your life the way it's always been meant to be lived.

A Helpful Idea

I know it's been awhile since I posted anything...

It's been an interesting few months.

March was tough on me because I struggled with my depression again.  But I overcame!

Then, in the middle of April my Grandfather passed away.  It was really difficult and both led me to some pretty stupid dietary decisions.  I guess depression and emotional trauma do that to a person.

Everyday gets a little better and I happened across a photo on Tumblr that has helped me keep my workouts fun, fresh, and spontaneous.  I thought I'd share it just incase anyone else needed a little boost in their daily health routine.

What I did was this:

I know it doesn't look like much, but bear with me.

I wrote every workout, from every workout program I own, on a popsicle stick.  I threw in a few miscellaneous ones (for my Kangoo Jumps) and a few "Your Choice!" sticks into the mix as well.  

The idea is this:

When I don't know what workout I feel like doing, or if I don't feel like working out, I draw a popsicle stick.

There can never be the excuse of boredom, or disinterest... I draw a routine... I DO IT.  No questions. It might be 25 minutes, it might be an hour.  Regardless, I do it.  It's been awesome!

You can do this for workouts at home or workouts you have through your gym.  Just write them down! 

The sticks I bought were $1.25 at Walmart, the sharpies were on sale for $3.29... and the mason jar was FREE in my cupboard.  

My workout popsicle sticks include:

1. Insanity

2. T25

3. Hip Hop Abs

4. Zumba Exhilarate 

5. Zumba Incredible

6. Elliptical/Treadmill workouts

7. Kangoo Bouncing Shoes (run or dance)

8. Wii Zumba (2, Core, or World Party)

9. Wii Just Dance (2, 3, or 4)

If you don't have any of these... that's OKAY!  If you don't have any that's okay!  

You can list ideas like this:

1. Jog around neighborhood

2. Squats & Lunges

3. Jumping Jacks

4. Sprints

5. High Knees

6. Pushups 

And so on and so forth... (also, you may want to add a minute value to each exercise to help yourself be more accountable too!)

The best part about this is the fact that you can ALWAYS add to it!  There will always be new workout programs and routines or activities to add.

So if you need a little push or some motivation... try it!

Much love to you, my darlings!

Confession of Obsession

I have a confession.

And I'm really ashamed of myself.

I've developed an unhealthy obsession.   Let me explain...

One element of my goals for the year was to have a "weekly weigh-in" in order to track what I thought was evidence of success with my new lifestyle.

In theory it was an amazing idea!  I thought it would motivate and push me in my health and fitness goals.

Unfortunately, it had very adverse effect on my journey.

I've become obsessed with weighing myself.

Yesterday my husband had to take the scale and hide it from me.

I've been weighing myself 3+ times a day.  I had to sneak around the house or lock the bathroom door and fake being sick when my husband was home to peel my clothes off and hop on the scale without being caught.

You guys... I was waking up and sneaking into the bathroom into the middle of the night to weigh myself.

The numbers on the scale were impacting my mood and my life more than I thought they ever could.

My weight was making  me afraid to eat; it made me depressed when I saw them fluctuate up and down.  I was consumed by it.

I started looking for quick ways to lose weight fast.  Super foods, diet plans, supplements, programs... you name it I started researching it.

It was BAD.

I don't know why I finally told my husband what was going on... but I just told him what I'd been doing.

He was shocked, to say the least, and he was worried.  He immediately took the batteries and the scale and hid them in separate locations which he won't divulge to me.

We had a long talk about it, what our family goal was, and how far I've come so far.

Zach told me that he loved me, that he was proud of me, that I'm beautiful.

I've grown to understand, and I'm still learning to accept and understand, that the number on the scale doesn't fully represent my health status.  It certainly doesn't reflect my value and worth.

I'm learning to love my body, regardless of it's weight or appearance.  I'm honestly trying to focus more on my health and wellness now, not on my weight or desired weight loss.  It's time to stop hating on and being afraid of my body.  It is the most precious thing I will ever own.  It doesn't matter what other people think of it.  It matters what I think of it, how I use it, and how I care for it.

I need to be better.  I deserve to treat myself better.

So, take it easy on yourself guys.  It's true when they saw we are our own worst critic.  I don't think we really understand how much value we put on things that we are told are important.  We hold ourselves to societal standards more often than we realize.  Instead of focusing on getting to a place where we are our healthiest and happiest... we focus in on that place where we think we "should" be.

I think we should be exactly where we are at this moment.  There is a purpose to everything.  The entire journey is important.  There is never and end, not even when we reach the destination.

All we can do is keep moving forward.

Never give up.  Ever.