Tag Archives: eating

Tweaking The Routine

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I Snapchat my meals that I really enjoy and send to my friends and family. This is from this morning’s breakfast.

So, the habit stacking got derailed from travel 2 weekends in a row. Nephew’s basketball tournament and then a 50+ women’s tournament the weekend after. Did my best to eat good both weekends, but didn’t have the energy to meal prep or to prepare workday meals and snacks the night before. I’m so glad I went to both tournaments though. Love spending time with my sister and my nephew, got to see friends and family at the tournaments, and the 50+ women’s tournament was such an amazing experience that it deserves its own blog post. I am being more mindful of my social and emotional health, and the tournaments did give my heart a boost.

I’ve been tracking my foods but to be honest, I haven’t tracked everyday and on the days I do track, I don’t add everything I eat. Hence, the scale hasn’t moved and I’ve been feeling tired again. Also, when I do track my protein and I have my meals and snacks prepped, I realized that I am overeating….I’m finishing everything even if I’m full to make sure I get my protein in.

I feel like I haven’t quite hit on the right formula for my meals and snacks yet in order to see the results I want. So here are some of the tweaks I am going to try.

1- Slow down my eating, be mindful of how I’m feeling, and stop eating before I feel full or stuffed. I think that’s going to be really helpful right there, even if it cuts down on my protein intake in the short term.

2- Make sure I’m eating non-starchy veggies with my breakfast, lunch, and my snacks. Still save my carbs for dinner like sweet potatoes, quinoa, chickpea pasta, etc. Carbs at night help me sleep better.

3- Cut back on my dairy intake slightly and see if that makes a different. I love my cottage cheese and my yogurt, but I wonder if I have a little dairy sensitivity going on that is helping my body to hold on to some inflammation.

4- Find different food/meals/snacks that get my protein in without feeling stuffed. This will take some experimenting, some learning as I go, but I’m willing to put in this work because my health goals are everything to me right now.

This morning I wanted to put one of the tweaks into practice. I was hungry upon waking and but didn’t want eggs for some reason. So in my fridge I had a loaf of Dakota bread from Great Harvest Bread Co., some perfectly ripe avocados, leftover rotisserie chicken and some spinach. I toasted the bread, heated up the spinach and chicken in a pan with a little olive oil, mashed 1/4 of an avocado onto the toast, sprinkled some hemp seeds on the avocado, then topped it with the 3 oz of chicken and spinach, then sprinkled some Everything But The Bagel seasoning. This was soooooo good!! And I felt good after eating it. It was just the right amount of food where I didn’t feel full or stuffed, but satisfied. And it logged in at 35g of protein, 19 g of net carbs, and fulfilled about 25% – 35% of my magnesium, fiber, and Omega-3 goals!

I have to add that I’m surrounded by inspiring people. My sister is making astounding progress with her health, my oldest daughter Samantha has lost 30 lbs while being a busy mom and women’s health nurse, my middle daughter has lost 15 lbs on Noom and is doing PT to get her foot injury issues resolved, and my youngest is running track and very mindful of her nutrition. My husband is working on lowering his blood pressure and all his labs are good. Our family friend/brother lost 20 lbs during a weight loss challenge and he was laid up with a traumatic leg injury the whole time. He lost enough weight where his blood pressure came down quite a bit and his doctors have to adjust his medication.

I’ll keep the blog updated as I’m relearning this 55 year old bod. Sometimes I feel like I do not recognize or know this body anymore at all. That’s the frustrating part. But I value myself and my health enough to relearn myself.

Meal Prep

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I wanted to focus on some meal prep this weekend to see if I can have more time in the morning to enjoy my tea and relax before my day gets started. I also want to add more green and colorful veggies into my daily meals and snacks. 

I was going to go grocery shopping first and then meal prep. But I realized I bought supplies to prepare a few meals last weekend, so I started that prep before I went shopping. It cleaned out my fridge nicely and made room for the fresh stuff coming in later. 

I went to play basketball with my 50+ crew, assisted in our tournament prep by some youngsters who could hoop! Then went shopping and came home to do more prep. 

I had a wicked allergy attack that must have started before my b-ball, and I could not calm it down all evening. My head and sinuses ached from the moment I woke up this morning, and I felt groggy all day from the meds I took last night, so I’m glad I didn’t have to cook or prepare anything this morning as I was moving extra slow. 

These were my workday meals and snacks. 

Breakfast: Broccoli, bacon and cheese quiche with an almond flour crust. Using 5 eggs plus 5 egg whites for a protein boost. 2 cups of Tulsi green tea. 

Snack: 1/2 C Greek yogurt with 1/4 C each of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, topped with hemp hearts and walnuts. A cup of peppermint tea. 

Lunch: Salmon and asparagus. 

Snack: Venison Chomps stick with red pepper and cucumber. 

**I got 30 min of walking in after work at my school. Walked on the grass around the football field. I had to make myself go telling myself I would feel better, which I did.  

Dinner (not pictured): Leftover Cashew Chicken from last night’s dinner. I used sprouted pepitas in place of cashews and it was a good substitute. 

Snack (not pictured): Baked sweet potato with 1 tsp Irish butter and about 1/2 tsp Allulose sweetener. Cup of chamomile tea. 

I wanted to see how these work today and then tweak if necessary. 

I’m back to keeping a food journal, but I’m really only tracking 5 things: Protein, Vitamin D, Magnesium, Omega 3, and fiber. I have goals for each one, and trying to meet my goals with real food. It’s challenging to get some of these just from food. I have some good supplements that I take no matter what, but still trying to find and eat foods that are rich in those nutrients. 

Which these foods today, plus I had to take a fiber supplement since I was just a tad short of 28g, I hit alllll of my goals, including 130g of protein. Wooooo!! 

I have the foods to repeat this tomorrow.

My Fun Friday Lunch

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Understanding and addressing my emotional eating has been such a great way to take care of myself. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. And as a result, cooking and eating low-carb, high-fat meals has just been feeling very natural lately. I don’t want to say I’m all in with keto just yet because 1) I don’t want to put pressure on myself, 2) it’s going so good I don’t want to jinx it! lol. But I can feel my energy getting more consistent throughout the day, and my brain fog is starting to lift once again. Not struggling with cravings due to emotional eating has made a huge difference.

So here is a fun lunch I packed today on a whim, using whatever was in my refrigerator. I’ve been doing good getting my green veggies in this week so I wanted something different for my Friday lunch.

Inspired by the charcuterie board trend. Summer sausage, sliced Colby Jack cheese, celery, a boiled egg, almonds, blackberries and blueberries.

I seriously cannot wait for lunchtime. Lol.

Happy Friday!

Checking-In With Myself

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I made the executive decision to forego doing keto while I am figuring out my emotional eating. I will eat the keto meals that are nutritious and that I enjoy, such as my egg and veggie brunches, and I will continue to make food choices that benefit my health, but I feel it’s more important to not put restrictions on my self-learning. Restrictions induce stress when it comes to food for me, so let’s get that barrier out of the way while I get my learn on.

I am starting with taking note of how I am feeling throughout the day. I am putting a name to my feelings and differentiating between a physical sensation and an emotion. I’m not labeling anything as good or bad, each thought or emotion is simply something that’s going on in my body or in my head. It is what it is, yo. It is me and I am ok. I take a few moments to do a check-in with myself, and I am being deliberate about doing this frequently. I share these things throughout the day with my husband as well. That serves two purposes: 1) it helps me practice my marital communication skills, sharing with my companion because he is not a mind reader, 2) I remember when I first started on my anti-depressant and my provider suggested that my husband be my “barometer”. I can enlist his observation and intuitive skills to help show me the progress I am making or to bring something to my attention that I may not be seeing.

I have to slow down a little bit to take this mental “pause”. I am so used to being busy all the time that I always felt like this would be more hindrance than helpful. Like, “I got no time to be introspective!!!” But feeling compelled to be busy all the time is also stressful. Aaaahhhhhh, see what I just learned about myself there??? I’ve found that taking that pause takes less than a minute. And the more deliberate I am about practicing this, the better I will get at it and more comfortable I will feel with it.

When I was cooking dinner last night (my mom’s chili recipe), Joe B asked me if I was learning if I had any trigger foods (foods that set off a binge once I start in), or if I had identified the foods I most frequently crave when I’m stressed. I promptly responded “Popcorn, chips, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and butter pecan ice cream.” They are salty, crunchy, and in the case of cookies and ice cream, they have a salty-sweet combo, where if they are available and once I start in, then that’s all I want to eat. Now that I think about it and reflect back on yesterday, I also discovered that I have the same response to my homemade kale chips. They are salty, crunchy, and once I start in I will knock out a whole plate. But I’m not going to put the stamp of approval on this choice because it’s simply swapping one trigger food for a nutritionally-dense trigger food. That’s still emotional eating. Another “Ah-ha” moment for me there.

This path I’m on is already very interesting. I have to remind myself frequently that this is a J.O.U.R.N.E.Y. And I can take my time to take note of and enjoy all the new discoveries.

Intermittent Fasting

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It’s been awhile, I know….and I’ve had sooooo many topics I’ve wanted to write about. But the end of the year chaos as a middle school therapist is real….my energy was pulled in several different directions and I did not find the time to write. So there will most likely be several blog entries today. 🙂

As you all know from a previous blog post, I gave up artificial sweeteners in February. That is still very much in effect!!! There have been 2 times where a Diet Pepsi has sounded really good, but I just remembered how good my hip joints felt after giving up diet soda, so it has been fairly easy to avoid. It does feel a little strange when we travel to powwows now and we get snacks or drinks at a gas station. Since not all gas stations sell a LaCroix type of carbonated water, I find myself wandering the aisles before getting a bottle of plain water. It’s not bad though. The reduced inflammation in my hip and successful pain management is worth it.

Since giving up artificial sweeteners worked out so well, I decided on March 1 to give Intermittent Fasting (IF) a whirl. I became interested in it when I read a blog post on the KU Medical Center website about the benefits of IF. Intermittent Fasting is giving your body a temporary break from eating. Your body gets a break from the insulin response that occurs every time you eat something with calories, specifically carbohydrates. When I taught Diabetes and the Native Americans at Haskell, we went through what “insulin response” is, and which nutrients triggered a strong or mild response. Carbohydrates trigger a strong insulin response, protein a mild response depending on the amount you eat, and fat almost no response.

“When insulin blood sugar (from eating frequent meals or snacks, eg. every 90 minutes) dominates other hormones, proper gene expressions for longevity, healing and recovery won’t occur very much or very well. A temporary break from eating can give those healing hormones time to do their job. It’s actually very anti-inflammatory and can be corrective to hormone and metabolic issues, just to stop the food. It’s counter to everything we have been taught” (Randy Evans quote, KUMC Integrative Medicine Blog).

Hearing “anti-inflammatory” and “gut healing” was what really caught my attention. And IF as defined in the article I read wasn’t about extended fasts, it was about spacing out your meals and eating on a schedule. And the blog article talked about how traditionally, we used to have to fast at least overnight because we did not have access to food 24/7 like we do now. Grocery stores were not open 24 hours, nor were restaurants or fast food places, and convenience stores didn’t sell cooked food as they do now. When you stop eating at 6pm and don’t eat again until breakfast the next day, that is a 12-hour fast. Intermittent Fasting is not a new thing….it’s an old thing that the medical field is now realizing as beneficial.

I decided to try a 16:8 fast, where I stop eating around 8pm, then I don’t eat again until noon the next day. That gives me a 16 hour break from food, and then I have an 8-hour window to get my calories in for the day. What it meant for me was skipping breakfast, drinking my black coffee or green tea, and water until noon. It was not hard for me to do this. I read several articles and ordered books from Dr. Jason Fung and Dr. Eric Berg. It is suggested to put coconut oil in your coffee if you struggle with hunger pangs until lunch. The fat in the coconut oil will give a sense of satiety without generating an insulin response. I do this sometimes, I find that after a couple cups of coffee I don’t feel hungry anyway.

I also discovered that how I start my fast and how I break my fast are very important to how I feel doing IF. I break my fast with a low-carb lunch. I have been posting pictures of my lunches on my Wozani Waste’ Instagram blog page. That keeps my energy consistent after my  lunch and doesn’t create a strong insulin response. I continued to drink my kombucha for the gut healing properties. Sometimes I break my fast with a cup of homemade bone broth, sometimes I break my fast with 2 scoops of collagen protein powder mixed with unsweetened almond milk. The couple of times I broke my fast with a higher carb meal, my energy tanked and I didn’t feel as good I normally do coming off a 16 hour fast.

The results from Intermittent Fasting:

  1. I lost 10 pounds
  2. My hip feels GREAT!!
  3. My energy is better, no more mid-afternoon slumps
  4. I have a spring in my step
  5. It is very easy to maintain

Here are some links to the blog article and another blogger who had success with IF. I don’t think it’s an active blog, but it gives really good information and real-world experiences.

https://www.kansashealthsystem.com/InternalMedicine/integrative-medicine/blog-posts/intermittent-fasting

http://foodcanwait.com/home/my-weight-loss-journey-intermittent-fasting/

I told my friends what I was doing and they were very interested. I needed to write this a few months ago, but to be honest, I wanted to make sure it worked and that it was something I could maintain before I posted it in my blog. It works for me. Joe B started doing it too, he does a 12:12 fast. The nice thing about Intermittent Fasting is that YOU configure it to how it will work best for YOU. 16:8 works for me….I tried a 18:6 but I struggled a bit. I am so very thankful I found this information and tried it. The pain management, reducing the inflammation, has been the biggest benefit of this process.

 

Sharing a Comfort Food Recipe

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I’m feeling a little under the weather today. Tough week with a draining travel schedule, plus the winter weather this weekend in APRIL, has me feeling like I either have a cold or some serious allergy stuff going on. Trying this recipe today because I’m feeling like I want some comfort food. Planning on spending the rest of the day resting and watching some movies, and napping. 😊 I am listening to my body and it’s saying “Rest woman!!” Stuff will get done when I’m feeling better.

Vegan Chai Breakfast Quinoa

I had planned to write a new blog post today but this will have to suffice. I found this website and recipe on Pinterest. The ingredients list made me want to try it. Plus I’m a sucker for any type of quinoa porridge.

It’s Friday….

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I’ve discovered that I’m not a good “meal prepper”. Lol. I tend to pack my lunch geared toward whatever mood I’m in, and what I have in my house. I also tend to repeat stuff if I really enjoy it. Thus, 2 days in a row of 2% plain Greek yogurt. Switched it up slightly, added pecans instead of almonds and walnuts, and threw some raspberries and blackberries in because I felt like I wanted some more pretty colors. Lol. I’m not feeling the celery today though…I felt like treating myself a little. So I added some natural almond butter topped with some Enjoy Life mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and unsweetened shredded coconut. I have some Glutino gluten free pretzel twists. Not because I’m trying to eliminate gluten, I just happened to have some at a work meeting and I really liked the texture. Lol. Seriously! And my kombucha.

I want to add that I don’t usually make it a point to buy gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free stuff. I discovered the Enjoy Life chocolate chips because my daughter had a friend who was gluten and dairy free, and I wanted to fix snacks that she could eat when she came over. They were on-sale last week at the grocery store so I grabbed them. I have a budget that I do my best to stick to. If I buy a fancy organic whatever, it’s either because I find it on sale, or I buy it on Wednesday’s when HyVee has 10% off prices in the Health Market, or I decide I can afford the splurge. 😊

I think I may have enough lunch pictures to do the blog post on lunch ideas that I’ve been plotting.

#healthylunch

#healthyhabits

#healthymom

#packedlunch

Homemade Chai Tea Latte

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I’m still hanging tough with the no artificial sweetener, and I am still free of the strong sugar cravings I once had (M&M cookies from HyVee and Snickers candy bars were my go-to faves). I used to get a strong sugar craving mid-afternoon and I usually satisfied that craving with some kind of sugar-laden coffee from any number of the coffee shops here in my town. I have not had a sugar craving, but the weather got cold here 2 days ago and I wanted a hot, creamy, comforting drink. I didn’t want hot green or mint tea, and I didn’t want black coffee. I wanted something that reminded me of cuddling up on the couch with a fluffy blanket or my star quilt, and one of my big puppies. I didn’t necessarily want sugar, but rather some comforting beverage in a pretty mug.

Soooooo….I love Pinterest for times like this. I got to searching and browsing, and I came across this recipe from a young blogger’s site called “The Foodie Teen”. I’m not only amazed at her recipes, but her photography is just beautiful. And she started her blog when she was 14 I believe….I’m still reading her site and I highly recommend it for the photography alone. Lol.

http://thefoodieteen.com/almond-milk-chai-latte/

Here is how I prepared her recipe for an Almond Milk Latte. I always have Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk on-hand. I haven’t used regular dairy milk for a long time, although I don’t claim to be dairy free. I still eat cheese and Greek yogurt. I always read the labels of any milk substitute I buy and make sure it doesn’t include carrageenan, a thickener made from red seaweed extract, as I learned it promotes inflammation. If you want a thicker, creamier milk-substitute, I would use unsweetened cashew milk. I used that for awhile until I remembered my nephew has a tree nut allergy (hazelnuts, walnuts & cashews) so I keep it out of my house now.

I tried out the Zen Chai Tea bags, the caffeinated version. They are very flavorful! This turned out so sweet, and creamy, with just the right amount of sweetness….it hit the spot.

Almond Milk Chai Tea Latte* (from The Foodie Teen)

*I modified the amounts in some of the ingredients.

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

2 chai tea bags

1 Tbs organic maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves and nutmeg

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it’s just starting to simmer and steam. Remove from heat and add the 2 chai tea bags. Steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags (I use a tool to squeeze the tea bags to get all the spicy goodness out of them) and add the rest of the ingredients. I used a wire whisk to blend them in. Reheat the pan if necessary over low heat.

Use the maple syrup cautiously….I tend to think the sweetener is overdone in foods or beverages I buy. That’s what I like about making things at home when I can. It’s less convenient, but I can control and decide how much sweetener and spices according to my taste. I used 1 Tbs and added another small splash to my Latte.

I put my tea in a blender to make it froth up. What I really want is a small gadget that mitozan (my niece) HolyElk found to make milk foamy like in a coffee shop. I think I need to reconsider getting an immersion blender…..

This made my house smell soooo good. I haven’t had a craving for a warm, comforting drink since I made this. It’s good to know my cravings are still under control and that I have this wonderful beverage to satisfy it, if necessary. Enjoy!

No More Excuses

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I’ll be honest. I am an awesome, one of the best really, “excuse-makers”.

I can find a reason (read: excuse) for anything. I believe I honed this skill in my early college years where I earned a plethora of “W” (withdraw) and “I” (Incomplete) grades that still show on all my transcripts. I’ve used this skill to account for slacking on schoolwork, graduate papers, studying, housework, balancing my checkbook, sewing, beading, doctor’s visits (such as my annual mammogram), eating healthy, and working out. I’ve gotten by because I can usually pull something together at the last minute. I know my life is much simpler when I force myself out of my excuse-making tendencies, but that doesn’t keep me from making excuses consistently in order to enable my mindset. 🙂

This is a wellness blog. Yet my blogging is sporadic because I’ve come up with some of the best excuses for either not blogging consistently, or not practicing wellness habits consistently. Some of them were very valid at the time….I’ve had good honest reasons why I’ve fallen off the wellness wagon time and time again. But once those reasons or issues have been addressed and I still am not back on the wagon again…then they become an excuse.

So…in an effort to be brutally honest with myself….here are my best “reasons” for the past few years for not feeling like I was capable of practicing healthy habits. 2012 I remember as my last best year for wellness….I was running 5K races consistently and I felt great about myself. So let’s start there.

  1. Hip Osteoarthritis – this was a biggie. The OA diagnosis and the inevitable total hip replacement was huge. Mentally and emotionally it was tough…having to face the prospect on never shawl dancing again or running again. Then the actual hip pain made it hard to workout, and even harder to want to work out.
  2. Depression – this stemmed from the OA diagnosis, the unknown of total hip replacement surgery, not finding a good coping mechanism besides running, surgery recovery, marital issues, a pre-diabetes diagnosis, and job dissatisfaction. I often felt alone and lonely in my depression, which made motivation scarce and just about non-existent.
  3. Career Change – I wanted to get out of community health administration, and out of the 100 mile round-trip daily commute, and go back into clinical social work at a local agency. I needed to job search, study for my licensure exam, and get out of my comfort zone to follow my passion. That was all extremely stressful and daunting and I didn’t know if I could do it.

Those are the major ones. Every single one of them I allowed to take precious time away from me and what I wanted to do take care of me and my family. I was able to find a million excuses for not treating my body and my spirit well out of all of those 3 big categories. All 3 categories all fed off each other as well and just made things seem bigger and bigger and bigger, until I was overwhelmed on the regular.

So here is where I’m at now and where the excuses end.

  1. Hip OA – I’ve had one hip replaced and know exactly what to expect with my 2nd surgery. My recover was, upon reflection, fairly easy due to my age and my physical strength prior to surgery. My right hip has no more pain and normal range of motion. I got clearance to begin training to shawl dance last June, and I actually danced in a fancy shawl special at KU powwow last month. My left hip is still bad but I know with weight loss and supplements, and possibly a cortisone shot, I can put off surgery for another year or so. My arches hurt from the excess weight, but I have good shoes with arch supports for work and working out.
  2. Depression – I’ve been managing the symptoms with anti-depressant meds. I feel much more positive and self-sufficient than last year at this time. I am getting ready to start tapering off my meds now that things that overwhelmed me have settled down. We got a dog and he is the best thing for mental health. He is awesome and brings so much joy to us. My marriage is much better due to praying together daily. I am finding walking very enjoyable, especially with my big puppy. My sleep has improved and I don’t feel the food cravings often associated with a depressed mood. I went on a social media fast and that was an eye-opener…how the negativity on social media can permeate your brain and your mood. My now-elevated mood helps me feel motivated. I downloaded “The Secret Daily Teachings” app on my phone and it always has good positive words that I read every morning.
  3. Career Change – I successfully passed my master social worker licensure exam. I found an awesome job as a therapist at a local community mental health center. I work in a middle school so I work school hours. My job is 3.5 miles from my home. I love this work…the kids are awesome and so are the staff here. I worked through any internal difficulties I was having at my old job and I was able to leave on good terms….which felt amazing.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and my husband and kids gave me gifts all designed to get me healthy and strong again….new runners, new running tops, phone armband. I can’t use time as an excuse because I am home shortly after my kids get home. So I have time to cook earlier, time to get housework done, and time to walk or do something with my kids. I truly have no more excuses. I’m sure I can find some, since I’ve gotten so good at it over the years. I need to use my powers for good and not idleness. Lol. I should turn it around and make excuses TO BE HEALTHY for once.


So TODAY is the day of “No More Excuses”. It’s Day 1. I got my baseline info for Day 1 in the form of weighing myself and taking a picture. 🙂 I overslept this morning and ALMOST caved and said “Day 1 can start tomorrow.” Hahahaha. But I didn’t. That’s a good sign. See, I could have easily used that as an excuse to delay Day 1 but I did not.

I made myself take a few minutes for breakfast instead of running out the door since I was running late. My vanilla strawberry smoothie with cashew milk, vanilla Weight Watchers smoothie mix and 1 cup of fresh strawberries was only 1 carbohydrate serving.  My plan today is either to walk Mickey or ride the new bike my dad got me for my birthday (lack of a bike was a prior excuse to not exercise when my joints were hurting). I have a place to workout at the Sports Pavilion if the weather is bad. They have a nice indoor track and good cardio equipment.

I need to make myself accountable, so I will do my best to jot something here each day. I want to document this new journey. This is more for me than for you, but if you get something positive out of it as well, then that’s a bonus.

Here we go. Day 1. I’ll write later how it goes. #Letsdoodis

 

8-Week Wellness Challenge

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First of all, I want to say right off the bat that I have succeeded at losing 17 lbs since my highest weight post-total hip replacement surgery!! That means I lost the 15 lbs I gained post-surgery, plus an additional 2 lbs. I have 5 more lbs to go to hit my 1st major goal. My youngest told me today, “Mom, you’re getting skinny.” Lol. Even though “skinny” isn’t my goal, regaining my health is, it was still nice to hear that someone noticed some progress.

My eating and workouts kind of went up and down over the summer, as those who powwow understand the disruption of routines, driving for hours, dancing all weekend, not always having access to the healthiest of foods, packing a cooler, etc. The healthy habits could have been better, they could have been much worse. I concentrated this summer on not beating myself up over slip-ups and just trying to get back on as soon as I can.

My sister got me in the habit of walking for 45 minutes every morning at work. When she isn’t at work, she texts me to ask me if I went out for my walk yet. Lol. That got me going on the consistent activity. But today I want to write about a wellness challenge that has really motivated me.

Tracy is a woman I went to graduate school with and we both earned our MSWs at the same time. Our kids go to the same school, have played on the same teams, and she is friends with one of my nieces. She encouraged me after learning about my hip osteoarthritis back in 2012 to take her cycling class (which, by the way, was a killer workout) to give my joints a break from running, and she has conquered her own health challenges and surgeries. She is inspiring.

My sister-in-law invited me to participate in an 8-week wellness challenge that Tracy was organizing. She had participated the 1st time Tracy did the challenge and encouraged me and my sister to join. The details of the challenge and the structure really intrigued me, which are explained below.

For 8-weeks, each person can earn a point per day in the following areas: 1) Journaling/tracking food intake and following a safe, healthy and nutritious eating plan of our choice, 2) drinking half your body weight in ounces of water, 3) exercising (and she leaves it to us to determine what we think is a workout, there is no minimum number of minutes required to earn this point) – and with exercise one can only earn a maximum of 5 points per week to encourage rest days, 4) getting at least 7 hours of sleep per night. We all took a picture of our scale with our starting weight and sent it to Tracy, and at the end of the 8 weeks we will take a picture of our scale with our ending weight. We can earn 1 point for each percentage of total body weight we lose. For example, if someone starts out weighing 200 lbs, they would earn 1 point for every 2 lbs they lost by the end of the challenge. We have sheets were we can record our points daily. One can earn a maximum of 26 points each week, and then additional points at the end with our final weigh-in. The people who did this challenge the first time don’t mess around. The previous winner didn’t miss ANY of their weekly points and lost weight. There is a $25 buy-in which is given to the winners at the end of 8 weeks. And she set up a FaceBook page for the members of the challenge so we always get little reminders, or encouragement, or ideas for meals and snacks.

I am used to keeping a food journal, and when properly motivated I can exercise 5 days per week. I was really intrigued with the sleep requirement. My sleep routine has been non-existent for almost a year and I’ve never given it much deliberate thought. I go to bed early when I am exhausted or I push myself and don’t get rest. There is no consistency.

We just finished up Week 2 of the challenge. I think I’ve missed only 1 sleep point each week so far when my schedule was a little off on that day. I have been tracking my food faithfully and paying attention to my calorie goals. I even track my “free days” or free meals. There is nothing like seeing that you ate a DQ Blizzard, or 4 slices of pizza from Rudy’s to make you more conscious of your food choices. I make my water intake daily. I’ve earned 5 exercise points per week. I started using MapMyWalk and synched it to my MyFitnessPal so it automatically posts my workouts and calorie expenditure to my food log. Although I began the challenge intending to do the Metabolism Miracle, my actual eating has turned into more of a carb counting routine. I keep my breakfasts and lunches to anywhere between 5-15 grams of carbs or less, I eat many vegetables, take my vitamins, and if I feel like eating some popcorn or a small handful of chips, or 2 soft tortillas in the evenings, I do it. I usually keep dinners to 2 carb servings or less. And guess what…..my weight seems to be just dropping off!! I believe it’s because the structure of this challenge encourages several healthy habits, not just food and exercise. I think it’s the sleep requirement that’s made the difference with me as well as being mindful of my carb intake and not restricting myself as much as before. My energy is evening out more each day…I don’t have as many dips and my energy lasts longer. And I feel smaller already.

So if you haven’t guessed it at this point, Tracy is amazing!!! This was so needed at this point and time and I’m having fun AND improving my health. Thank you again for organizing this!!