The best thing about Week 2 of Whole30 is my strange "Oh hell, I just took a bite from a popcicle" dreams came to an end! Seriously, guys -- I had so many strange dreams in Week 1 where I bit into something sugary or filled with gluten, then spit it out and generally freaked out that I almost messed up this challenge! How crazy is that?
The worst thing about Week 2 of Whole30 is... well, to be honest, there isn't a worst thing. I was so scared that I would be angry and mopey and crying over my lost M&M's and ice cream, but I haven't missed them at all. I honestly can't believe it. Me! Without sugar cravings! It's a baby Jesus miracle.
Also, the splotchy red patches on my face seem to be disappearing. I have some new lame blemishes popping up, but I expected that, so I can deal for now. Here's my three week face-o-rama:
This picture freaks me out. It's like attack of the Kelly-clones.
I don't think you can really tell from the photos, but I feel like my wrinkles are even reducing! Amazing what happens when you give your body the water it needs. While taking the BodyFX Cleanse, which I finished on Day 10, it's uber-important to drink tons of water. Now that I'm back in the habit of drinking around 100 ounces of water a day, it's pretty much the only liquid I crave. Even the desire to drink wine is gone. And between Whole30 and CleanseFX, I'm down 12 pounds in the first 14 days! Unbelievable.
Thanks to the brilliant minds at Health-Bent for this scrumptious meal!
Also, I used ground pork to make my own italian sausage instead of buying it prepackaged. And added olives and spinach. Oh lordy hallelujah, this stuff is good. I felt like I was eating a "bad" meal.
Worst meal of the week: I'm not sure I can call it a meal, but I've been juicing once a day just for the hell of it, and I added dandelion greens to one of my juices. A little bitter. Next time I'll need to add an extra fruit to sweeten it up a bit.
What was new in week 2?
This week I've also noticed a surge in energy. I don't feel like I need coffee -- but I definitely want it for the flavor. We haven't been working out, since I really wanted to focus on things I'm noticing with food, but I felt the need to get moving this week so we went on walks around the neighborhood each night and basically just adventured and checked things out. Again, I was struck by how much more laid back life is this way. Even with the time it takes to prep and cook our meals, we were still able to go on a 45-60 minute walk in the evening. I definitely prefer this to the old merry-go-round dizziness that we were speeding by on before. Somehow, we're doing more but we have more time. I can get used to this!
Also, chia seeds! I am in love with chia seeds. I'll share some yummy recipes later this week, and explain how eating gelatinous foods like chia seeds actually helps detox your body.
I expect I'll actually start some workouts in week 3, because my energy levels have increased and I finally feel the need to be active. I love the rewards of listening to my body instead of telling it what to do! I've been wanting to review Figure 8 Fitness for you guys, so this seems like a good time to get moving and do some dancing! Can't think of a better way to reintroduce more frequent workouts.
Sounds good to me!!
What are your workout plans for the week? I hope you keep it fun!
I have officially made it 9 days eating the Whole30 way and using my BodyFX Cleanse. If you had told me 9 days ago that this week was going to be easy, I would have laughed heartily in your face.
Heartily, my friends.
Especially since the past week was the last week of school -- lots to do, tons of stress, and previously -- I would have shrugged my shoulders and complained that I was too busy and too tired.
But honestly, if you want to know what it's really like muddling through your first week with no sugar, grain, or dairy....
It's been pretty fanfreakingtastic! Over the last few months, The Hubs and I had gotten into the terrible habit of stopping off at whatever fast food joint or restaurant sounded good on the way home from work each day. I mean, that's supposed to be the easy way to do things, right?
But this week I realized something pretty profound. Even though it might be faster to swing through Taco Bell on the way home, I much more enjoy the time spent in the kitchen each night with my husband when we're prepping a delicious Whole30 meal. It takes a little more time, sure, but that time feels less rushed. It flows better. We throw on some good music and work side by side preparing our meal. We talk. Not just the rushed car conversation that happens when we're ordering out -- but real conversations. And more importantly -- we play. By the time our dinner is ready, we've been talking and laughing for a good hour.
I can't think of a better way to spend my pre-dinner time. And I'm delighted with the discovery that there really is enough time in the day to work and play. As always, it's all about mindset. I've decided what is truly important to me, and I won't let doubts or other obligations stand in my way.
In the past couple of years I have had a crazy strong addiction to sugar. I'm not saying I ate more than my fair share of M&M's or anything, but this year for Teacher Appreciation week, almost all my students gifted me with bags and boxes of M&Ms. Oh, the shame.
But this week, and I think this is mostly thanks to CleanseFX, I haven't had one craving for sweets. M&Ms have lost their hold on me! Queue the Hallelujah Bells! It also doesn't hurt that we watched Hungry for Change last week. If you guys haven't seen this documentary, you've definitely got to check it out. It's unreal the amount of poison and chemicals we ingest here in America without even thinking about it. The Hubs and I have decided to rewatch this documentary once a week until it all sinks in!
Oh, and as promised... here is what my pretty lil nekkid-face looks like one week into our Whole30 & BodyFX Challenge:
Left: Day 1, Right: Day 8
Thankfully, the Zit of Mass Proportions is calming it bad self down. I am noticing some red splotchiness appear, but I expected things to get worse before they get better. All those toxins need to bubble to the surface and get completely out of my system! One good thing I'm seeing is reduced puffiness -- in my face, hands, lower legs, and feet. In fact, after about 5 days, the chronic ache in my hip seems to have subsided. It's amazing what happens when you give your body the foods it needs to heal itself. Oh, and if all of that wasn't good enough -- I've also lost 9 pounds and found an increased amount of energy and general emotional outlook.
It's funny, the foods I ate when I originally began seeking a healthier lifestyle are no longer foods I will eat today. Although they were healthy to me back in 2007 and they did help me lose 100 pounds, I have learned so much more about nutrition and general health since then. I now know they aren't the foods my body needs to become as healthy as possible. My journey is constantly transforming, and I love that.
The more I learn -- the more educated I become -- the more primal my beliefs are.
Ironic, isn't it?
Here's looking forward to week 2! I'll try to share some of our fave Whole30 recipes and maybe even some of our more primal health and wellness thoughts throughout the week on our Off the Merry-go-Round Facebook page -- if you haven't been there yet, you should definitely check it out!
Today I came home ready to jump into my workout clothes and kill some fat! Unfortunately, my husband wanted to wait, and as the night went on my motivation flopped.
However! Later on in the evening he came into the living room and started up the JNL Fusion Bicep Builder DVD. Not to be outdone, I hopped up and got ready to get to work.
The first two circuits went by fairly easily and I was thinking this was going to be another fast and furious workout like yesterday -- all fun! Yikes. We hit circuit three and started getting into all sorts of crazy pushup variations. By the end of the 30 minutes I was a sweaty mess and my arms were completely spent. I crumpled onto the floor and lay there hoping someone would magically transport me to bed.
No such luck - but, this is a fabulous victory! It's Thursday night of a very strenuous work week and I have kicked my workout routine into gear. I'm excited about where I'm headed as a BodyFX coach and eager to see the transformation my body goes through with these killer workouts. I could have folded up and gone to bed without a workout tonight, but now I have one more victory to take pride in!
JNL Fusion TKO Blast - This Girl is Unstoppable Now!
Today was another long day at work and after! But I promised myself a better day, and promises are important! Especially the ones we make to ourselves.
Even though it was another day getting home late, I popped my JNL Fusion TKO Blast DVD in and got to work! I love kickboxing, so this was a great workout for a day with low motivation. Since the workouts are only 30 minutes, and doesn't require any drive time to and from a gym, the time factor was perfect too. JNL keeps a great pace, and doing the workout with my husband was pretty funny. We keep each other going with plenty of trash talking, laughing, and even had a little mock sparring going on with all the boxing moves!
After I got my bootie kicked with the TKO Blast video, I popped in the Stretch video and thoroughly enjoyed the next 30 minutes of stretching out all my tight and sore muscles. I have been needing this for a while! A great wind down to a very busy few days.
And since yesterday was such a bashing, making sure I did things right for myself today makes me feel unstoppable. It would have been easy to just tell myself I could workout tomorrow. But I have big dreams! Making the extra effort on a day when I'm feeling less than motivated will keep me on the right path.
What have you done lately to make yourself feel unstoppable?
You guys! I was super bummed because I thought my JNL Fusion DVDs were going to be sitting on my doorstep when I got home from work today. It was a rough day and I couldn't wait to jump out of my car and grab those DVDs.
Sadly, I arrived home to an empty doorstep. I went inside, plopped down on the couch and started fantasizing about burgers and fries.
Even though there was some delicious salmon waiting in my fridge. I was pouting.
But wait! There's more! At nearly 7:00 tonight, there was a knock at the door. I ran to the door, flung it open, and found my beautiful box of DVDs waiting for me.
"Thank you!!" I yelled to my friendly UPS driver, who was already back at his truck. He laughed and yelled a thanks back to me, and I bounced into the house to show off our awesome boxes of happiness to my husband.
Super excited to get my Fusion on!
The reason I'm so pumped about these workouts is pretty simple -- one, they're metabolic in nature. This is my favorite type of workout. Fast and furious, baby! 30 seconds of weights followed immediately by 30 seconds of plyo-style cardio. You are engaging muscles all over the place, burning away the fat, and you're done in 30 minutes. Bye-bye steady state cardio!! Another great benefit to this type of workout is it seriously revs your metabolism. Do a high-intensity circuit of weights and cardio in the morning, and that workout will keep your body rockin' away the calories all day. And I don't know about you, but I want my fat burning ability to be super-charged all day. I'm a fat killer, and proud of it!
So, metabolic workout = metabolism bonus! Yay!
Because my DVDs came so late in the day, I didn't take the time to do measurements and get all my pics ready to post. I'll measure in the morning before I do my second workout in the JNL Fusion set. At the end of the week I'll post a review of the first 6 workouts, and I'll have all my starting stats posted in the sidebar.
Today's workout was the Shoulder Shredder, and it was a-maz-ing. I loved the modifications shown throughout the workout -- definitely helped me find the right pace. I was sweating within the first 5 minutes. By the end of the 30 minutes, by arms and legs were spent. Great workout, and left me plenty of time to go cook that salmon, afterall!
You'll notice I'm holding two boxes of DVD's in my pic! Since I signed up with BodyFX as a Coach, I also received the Figure 8 workout set. I didn't have time to check them out today, but I'm excited to try them out as well -- and soon!
Loving my new journey to my healthiest body ever. Loving these metabolic fat busting workouts! Loving where I'm headed. And right now, that's to bed! I need my rest so I can get right back at it tomorrow.
JNL Fusion - The Right Time for a Fitness Makeover
When I first made the switch from being a dreadmill minion to slinging weights around in the gym, I became a little obsessed with fitness magazines. Watching my own body transform was amazing, but so was learning about different types of workouts. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with Jamie Eason. I picked up every magazine she was in, did every workout she recommended, and told myself if I worked hard enough, one day I could have a physique just like hers.
There were a few minor issues with this plan. First of all, she's 5'2. Honestly, we can really stop there. As much as I love Jamie and still follow her on FaceBook and Twitter, I think it's safe to assume I will never be a 5'2 fitness model that has never struggled with weight issues. I'll always love Jamie Eason's nutrition and workout advice, but I just don't identify with her story.
Now, I'm not saying you must have an inspirational role model to succeed in your goals, but it certainly doesn't hurt. I've always been that girl that loves making vision boards and having mentors. It's nice to connect with someone else that's been through similar struggles when you're fighting your own battles.
Enter Jennifer Nicole Lee.
I first read about her on bodybuilding.com when I was looking around the site for something new in 2011. This was right around the time Jamie Eason's LiveFit was launching, so after reading a little info about how JNL had created a home workout for moms, I downloaded all the LiveFit info and jumped into my new workout.
The LiveFit program was HARD. I was in the gym for an hour to an hour and a half nearly every day of the week. I was lugging a huge suitcase of a lunchbox to work every day. I was determined to succeed. At one point, we were going on vacation and I was so freaked out about not eating the right foods and amounts of protein, that I made meatballs and froze the equivalent of half a side of beef to bring with me. I got a gym membership for the week we were out of town.
I was not playing around, people.
But I also wasn't exactly overjoyed with the program. It was too much for me to keep up with. Even though the FaceBook group I was a part of was highly motivating, I ended up not finishing the 12 week schedule on time, and then decided not to do the carb cycling phase at the very end because I wasn't at a place physically were it made sense. The LiveFit trainer has done some amazing things for a ton of people -- it just wasn't right for me.
And of course, in true merry-go-round style, at the end of all that high energy, daily hours-long gym time and whirlwind insanity, I jumped off and landed squarely on my couch, where I sat for the next couple of months, wondering why I couldn't ever seem to stick with a program. At this point, I was still in a really defeatist mentality! It's amazing how much I changed through the course of 2012 while working with my rockstar online trainer.
Again, enter JNL. But this time, I listened. This time, my brain was prepped and ready to listen to new possibilities.
A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Danny J (The Sweaty Betties). She shared some info with me about JNL Fusion and a new supplement line coming out by BodyFX. Because I'm a research junkie, I immediately googled my heart out to learn everything I could about JNL. It only took seeing her picture to remember her as the same "mom's home workout" chick I had seen over a year ago on bodybuilding.com. I found it a little amusing that I had toyed with starting her workouts back in 2011, and here she was again, popping up on my radar.
I also learned:
She is her own success story -- losing over 80 pounds on her own after having her kids.
She created the workouts on her JNL Fusion DVDs.
She's 5'9! Yay! Almost as tall as me. I don't know why I always check out the height of my fitness role models, but dude -- it really matters to me!
She is UBER motivational.
She's really chatty, y'all.
Her workouts are short and powerful. 3 rounds of 30 seconds of weights backed by 30 seconds of plyo-style cardio for each exercise set. Totally my style of workout -- lots of movement, plenty of variety! I am stoked to try them out!
(Here's a quick example of her Fusion style workouts!)
And lucky for me, after that original meeting with Danny J, I decided to jump in with both feet, become a Founding Charter Coach with BodyFX and begin a brand new chapter in my journey to my healthiest life possible. This means my JNL Fusion DVDs are in the mail headed my way and I'll have the full line of supplements to try out before they become available to the public in May.
It also means I will be able to help many, many other people stay motivated on their own journey for optimal health. It's already begun, and I just can't believe how many blessings have been falling all around me in the last few weeks.
All because I was open to possibility. All because I decided to release my fears. All because I finally decided to say yes to something new, instead of doing my usual duck-and-cover approach to the unknown.
I could not be more excited. I've read up on this new protein powder and the rest of the supplement line and am so happy to finally have found something that is free of artificial ingredients, that has adaptogens to offer the metabolic repair my merry-go-rounding body needs!
So here's the accountability part of the plan. The reason Jes and I decided to start this whole blog to begin with -- we want off the merry-go-round and on the road to success -- and the best way to do that is to put it all out there.
When my DVDs arrive, I will weigh, measure, and take pictures (eeeek). I'll blog weekly to let you know how my workouts are going and what I think of the exercises -- and I promise to be honest about both my successes and my stumbles along the way.
