What I Am Giving Up For Lent 2015

As a Catholic, I honor Lent each year and do my best to give up something that could be considered a 'bad habit.' Now, this post is not to debate religious beliefs, nor for me to preach. I am simply giving up something that is an unhealthy habit for me, and Lent is the reason why.

Last year I decided to give up chocolate, and I did really well. I passed on many desserts and treats. The only drawback was that I had to pass on some dishes that had chocolate in them, like a chili that everyone enjoyed at a cook off.

This year I decided to change it up a little bit. I decided to give up candy and ice cream. Yes, ice cream. I drink chocolate Shakeology every morning, so giving up chocolate was not really an option unless I wanted to order another bag of Shakeology and pay for it. But last year, I found myself substituting other candies, like Twizzlers, for the chocolate I gave up. I also LOVE ice cream and probably eat too much, so by giving it up for a month and a half, I can hopefully cut back my ice cream intake as we go into summer.

Have you decided to give anything up for Lent? Please let me know below, and why you decided to give up what you did.

Rough Week

I'm writing this on a Friday evening with the hopes that after I get all of this off my chest I can wake up tomorrow with a clean, refreshed sense of self.

 

I've had the week from hell. I haven't been working out AT ALL and I've not been eating well. It's been rough. I've been sick, we've been off schedule, the list of monkey wrenches thrown in goes on. But, tomorrow is a new day and I plan to start off with a good breakfast, a good workout and some fun with my boy at the park.

 

 

 

So, I'm going to get some 'housework' done tonight and wake up tomorrow happy and motivated and refreshed!

New Year's Resolution #2 - Be More Active

So far in 2014 I have been making a conscious effort to eat healthier food and so far I've been pretty successful. Last night I waited for my chicken to bake in the oven instead of making a pot of Ramen noodles.

 

My second New Year's Resolution is to be more active. I find that this may be more challenging. Not because I don't want to, because I do. But because of this tiny little thing called time. It seems to escape me.

 

That's not an excuse, only a situation in which I need to work around.

 

1. Wake up earlier to get some sort of activity done, whether it be yoga or walking.

 

2. Find ways to incorporate some sort of activity into my evenings, like doing crunches and push ups during TV shows.

 

3. Avoid sitting down when I get home. I know you're not supposed to eat standing up, but lately it seems once I sit down, that's how I remain. Just keep moving.

 

4. Walk the dogs. They need to be walked just as much as I need to walk. This is a win-win for both of us.

 

This is obviously not the most detailed of fitness plans. Heck, it's not even close to a plan. But it is a mental list of ways I can at least start to be more active. Baby steps people, baby steps.

 

 

Kim

New Year's Resolution #1 - Eat Healthier

As I made my New Year's Resolutions the other day I thought about the typical 'I want to lose weight' resolution. But then I decided that wasn't enough. I didn't just want to lose weight, I wanted to become a healthier person. I've lost weight before, but greatly due to a very restricted diet. As par for the course with those types of diets, it didn't last. I also tried Weight Watchers once and it didn't work for me. I was kind of turned off by the people in meetings who would say they went to a Super Bowl party and only ate 5 carrots and drank 1 light beer. Personally, I would rather eat really well 80% of the time and bust my ass at the gym and still be able to enjoy wings and dips.

 

I decided that I want to be healthier over all. God gave me this body I'm in and I owe it to Him to take care of it to the best of my ability.

My first Resolution is to eat a better diet. Primarily cut out food with high-fructose corn syrup and fried foods. Eventually I would like to move to a 'clean-eating' diet. But I know that is a drastic change from my current eating habits and a drastic change like that would probably not be successful.

 

1. I am going to bring only healthy, nutrient dense food into my home. I'm not going to do a clean sweep of my kitchen and get rid of EVERYTHING that is 'unhealthy.' I think it's silly to waste that money. However, I will be mixing the good and bad foods and hope it's a good conversion for my little man.

 

2. I am going to plan out my meals. Meal planning is the easiest, most simple way to eat healthier. If you have a plan and stick to it, it keeps you from standing in front of the fridge wondering what to eat and settling on the tub of ice cream. (Which won't be coming into my house anymore)

 

3. I will be bringing my lunch to work everyday. It's much easier to control what you eat when you bring your lunch. Also, the only place near my office that is 'healthy' is a smoothie place and I don't want a smoothie everyday. Plus, it's expensive to eat lunch out everyday. So to save my health and money, I will be bringing my lunch to work everyday.

 

4. I will be keeping a food diary. This is a great way to keep track of what I eat. I tend to snack a bit during the day, grabbing a tootsie roll or two at work. And I don't want to see that 3 days in a row I ate 5 tootsie rolls. Also, keeping a food diary will let me look at what I've eaten over the past week and decide whether or not I should indulge a bit over the weekend.

 

I'm not saying my plan is fool proof, nor am I saying that I won't slip up and bring a carton of fro-yo into the house. But if I can stick to these healthy eating basics, I know that transitioning to an even healthier diet will be much easier. Ultimately, I want to get to a point where highly processed, over sweetened foods actually taste bad to me.

 

I hope everyone is having a happy and healthy 2014!