Be Better

Well – I did it. I completed the #whole30 challenge. I didn’t die. I felt better. I still haven’t weighed myself or done any measurements, but I’m okay with that. My clothes fit better and so do my workout clothes. You know it’s time to start trimming down a little when your spandex-filled workout clothes make you look and feel pretty terrible about yourself. Nice little shock to the system when you put on some yoga clothes and you don’t have a muffin top. I mean – that’s FULL of spandex. And when you look at yourself in the mirror and think “damn… I am really pulling off this Lulu outfit” then you know SOMETHING has been working. 

Last Wednesday was Day 30… and thinking about it right now – I have no recollection of what I ate. That’s pretty terrible. It was probably eggs of some sort… probably some sweet potatoes. Maybe some chicken. Who knows. Clearly it wasn’t THAT amazing because a) I don’t remember, and b) I didn’t take a picture of it. Bummer dude. But on Thursday – I was FREE. I could eat whatever I wanted! Well – kind of. I was trying to follow the reintroduction as closely as I could, I really did want to find out what agreed with me and what made me feel miserable. So what did I eat on Day 31? I had peanut butter with my apple for breakfast. And it was AMAZING. I know that peanut butter isn’t awesome for you… and I really do like almond butter… but it was just something that I hadn’t been able to eat and I wanted it. Hard. Lunch was uneventful – leftover jambalaya from my Fat Tuesday meal (all #whole30 inspired – with cauliflower “rice” also). I don’t remember what I ate for dinner… but I do know that I had beer. And DAMN was it delicious. I went a little overboard with my first night back drinking after 30 days and woke up with a hangover. How embarrassing. I was a passenger on the struggle bus for most of the day – I stuck with water all day and had half a Monte Cristo and salad for lunch (had a bit of a stomach ache after that fried business) and then Friday night was our 20/30 challenge at the yoga studio. (More on that later). There was snacks and such after class, and the only thing I strayed from as far as my #whole30 went, was the cookies. And I had three of them. But they were from La Mie and they had toffee and caramel in them. I could have eaten 15 more if they were there. 

So let’s get back to my other 30 day challenge – 20/30 for yoga classes. Here’s what happened. I didn’t make it. I didn’t complete 20 classes. And I’m actually REALLY upset about it. There is literally NO REASON why I didn’t complete this challenge. And it’s not like I missed it by 5 classes. I missed it by ONE. My 19^th class was at the party – with 150 other yogis. And there were people who completed MORE THAN 30 classes and I couldn’t complete 20. It’s my own fault, I know it is. I’m just upset about it. It was something I wanted to do – for me – and I didn’t do it. Yoga puts me in a good mood. And there were days I just didn’t want to go. And that makes me grumpy. (See the cycle developing here?) And now – I haven’t taken class since Sunday when my favorite yogi taught. And again – it makes me mad. Here’s what it comes down to – getting my lazy ass to the studio. One is within walking distance, one is close to my work, and another will be opening later in the year close to where my parents live. So literally – NO EXCUSE. Why wouldn’t I want to continue doing something that makes me happy? It just doesn’t make sense. So before I get all pouty and crabby (more so than I currently am making myself) I will turn on some Pharrel and do a “Happy” dance at my desk.

Other things… book club is tonight! Woop woop! I think it’s going to be a smaller group tonight which is fine… once school is done for everyone that may make our groups bigger. Plus – once the weather gets better, we can start having some more meetings on patios! Sigh… patio season is upon us. For this meeting we read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. If you haven’t read this book yet, DO IT. And bring tissues. If you have even an inkling of a soul, you will bawl your face off. I read it on a Saturday and the last 30 pages or so, I had constant tears flowing down my face. It was beautifully written, funny in the right places and sad in the others. Also – it was based on a true story. And any “based on a true story” books WILL end up on my list of “books I need in my life.” So many good movies-based-on-books coming out this year… I need to up my reading list to make sure I get them read before I watch the movie (my rule FOREVER.) Because the books are ALWAYS better than the movie. Always. 

As of late, I’ve been feeling… how do I put this… uninvolved. Which to some of you seems like a RIDICULOUS statement I should be making. With a full time job, part time job (only one now!), book club, weddings/showers/parties, etc. But then I also see some of my friends and the things that they are involved in… and I feel left out. Make sense? I like volunteering, I want to be on committees – I want to make a name for myself. In Des Moines there are so many opportunities to become a part of something, and I want to better myself in some way. While I was getting ready for work today, FoxNews was playing in the background (not my choice) and they had Blake Mycoskie – founder of TOMS – as their guest. Most of you know about or at least have a pair of TOMS shoes (I’m wearing mine right now) but I was unaware how far they’ve come since 2006. They’ve provided over 10 million pairs of shoes to children since then – and in 2011 they’ve restored sight to over 175,000 since launching TOMS Eyewear in 2011. And this year, TOMS Roasting Company was launched – their mission is to provide clean water to developing communities with the purchase of coffee, definitely something I can get behind. I mean – this guy… TOMS started as a small idea and now it’s a GLOBAL movement. And now he’s got a book out (that I totes want to read) and it’s called Start Something That Matters.

“My goal is to inspire others to go out and make a positive impact, to start something that matters to them.”

So maybe that’s my next goal. So many of my friends/family/co-workers/acquaintances are involved in SO MANY amazing things, I want what they have. I want to be involved. I want to better myself while helping others. Maybe another thing that made me want to be “better” was from watching Clueless a couple weeks ago. I know some of you are thinking – how in the F would Clueless make you want to be better? Well remember the part where Cher is trying to help Tai out? (Lord help us Paul Rudd and his baby face…) They decide to read one “non-school book a week” and do some Buns of Steel videos. Also – learning a new word to better yourself too. And then when Cher realizes she’s in love with Josh, she wants to help. She helps organize a relief fund so she can be “good” enough for Josh. Now ladies – I’m not saying you need to go out and change yourself for Paul Rudd (but really – he’s adorbs) but why wouldn’t you want to make yourself better? So for all the times that people said Clueless is the “dumbest movie ever” – maybe Cher can help you learn something.

“Always find time for the things that make you feel happy to be alive.”

Be happy,

S

Start the Countdown. 3... 2...1...

Well it has been a BUSY couple of weeks. I realize that I haven't written since mid-February (and I'm SO SORRY about that) but it has been CRAZY. Like for realz. I've moved into a new place, moved out of my old place, yoga'd my ass off, and still managed to follow my #whole30 trip. I'm pretty impressed with myself.
 
February has ended and March has began, and all is good. I'm making a new home my own - with a new roommate - and learning how to live with someone again. I mean - I LOVE living alone. It's probably one of the best things ever. You can watch whatever you want, eat whatever you want - and leave it out over night if you want, and at NO POINT while you live alone do you EVER have to wear pants. THAT may be the best part. I'm over a week in with my new roomie and all is good! While picking out new furniture (yipe!) and décor, we found out that we've got pretty similar taste. Which is SUPER convenient.
 
**TV TIMEOUT: I'm also watching the Oscars and I don't think I breathed AT ALL during Pink's performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Wow. Beautiful.
 
Back to the move...
 
Moving is a HUGE pain in the ass. Do we all agree? I think EVERY TIME I move - which has been EVERY YEAR SINCE I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL - I think I should have someone move everything for me. Have I done that yet? Sure haven't. But a big thanks to family and friends who have helped me over the years - hopefully I've paid you in beer/coffee/pizza/breakfast/love enough since you've helped! But NEXT time I move, I will for REAL just hire someone to move my crap. And for real - HOW do you end up with so much accumulated crap over a year? I mean - I would hate to have to do that with a house that's been lived in for 20 YEARS. (Sorry Mom and Dad... I promise I'll come help you if you guys decide to move someday.) It just amazes me. I mean - when I was packing everything up, I had to UNPACK boxes from my closet that hadn't been dealt with since I moved in the year before. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?! So crazy.
 
Let's see... I'll take a look back at my yoga journey next. I'm currently 13/20 (WAY far behind... I know I know.) But I've got until Friday to get my next 7. Tomorrow night I'm doubling up - so there's 14 and 15... and I've got the next 4 days to get the next 5. I did check someone in to PLY yesterday who had taken 40 CLASSES. Like for realz. I was super impressed. (Apparently I've been "super impressed a lot lately? I don't want to make excuses - but this moving thing certainly didn't help my class attendance. I'd be done by now if I didn't have the move. But I'm all moved now and I can focus on finishing up this challenge. I guess this challenge is a little longer than 30 days (those yogis never can get it done in a timely fashion...) which is totes fine with me. Friday night is our 20/30 Challenge party... which will be so fun. I love this community. They're so fun and community driven. After only being a part of this "community" for less than a year, it feels so much longer than that. I walk in for class and get greeted by name by the instructors, like I've been going there for YEARS. I love how community based they are - and now with my little tie-in to the community, I feel like it's even more a part of me.

After today, I only have THREE MORE DAYS left of my #whole30 challenge. Wednesday is my last day, and Thursday night - I'm going to have a drink. I know I'm supposed to slowly reintroduce certain foods slowly, but part of my wants to eat ALL THE BAD STUFF at once just to get it out of my system. But I definitely don't want to feel like shit either. That would be the worst. My reintroduction will be a longer process - a day with adding in dairy, two days back to my whole30 business, then a day of grains and two more of whole30. I can do this. Three days to go. I'm still feeling good though. I'm sleeping hard - even if I don't sleep as many hours, I'm waking up rested, my pants are fitting well, my complexion is brighter, and I just feel good. I feel proud of myself too. Honestly, I'd love to stick to this. I'd just want to tweak it a little - maybe not cut out grains completely, but definitely cut WAY back. I used to eat pasta multiple times a week, bread DAILY, and yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. I would have a lot of sugar - remember, I've been named a Candy Monster - starting first thing in the morning with my coffee (I've gotten used to black coffee), continuing on through morning snacks, lunch, afternoon snacks, dinner, before bed snacks... yeesh. Cutting that sugar out made a HUGE difference. I figured I'd have headaches like whoa - but they never came. Which is pretty stellar.

These last few weeks have been a journey. A true journey. I'm proud of myself - I'm proud of my #whole30 buddy for going through this with me. I can't wait to celebrate with pizza and beer - even if it will make me feel like garbage. I deserve it. We all deserve a little cheat sometimes. I like how it's made me plan - and I'm totally not a planner when it comes to food. That's definitely a big change for me. I'd rather just grab and go - and with this, you really CAN'T do that. You can grab snacks... but never a real full meal. I like the planning aspect - and want to try and keep that up.

I challenge you to try this. It's hard - it's absolutely hard - but I didn't die. I feel BETTER than I did a month ago and that' feels AMAZING. Why not do something like that for yourself? Why wouldn't you want to feel even MORE amazing than you already do? Try it - you'll amaze yourself.

Peace and love,
S