Could this be Real?

Could all of this be real?  Could this lifestyle change of healthier food, consistent exercise, and natural products FINALLY be sticking?  Is it FINALLY not so hard?!?

It is, it truly is!  Excuses have set me back time and time again.  That old 1 step forward and 2 steps back is what continued to happen to me over and over!  I couldn’t consistently eat well, exercise, and keep my mind positive to get myself to my goals.  Life gets busy and would make it way too hard and I would sacrifice my goals for easy fast food, or sitting on the couch, or simply not caring anymore.

When I committed to change this time, I was determined…wait, cross that out, I’m still determined!  I no longer want to be in the process of change, I want to be changed FOREVER!  I want to finally, FINALLY reach my goals and there is NOTHING that is going to stand in my way…NOTHING!

I finally feel like, I’ve got this!  I finally feel like I have control over my food.  That was my biggest struggle, seriously.  I could eat clean and healthy for a week and then stuff would come up and I wouldn’t get dinner made so I would make a poor food choice, and then I would make a poor choice for the next meal because, why not?  The last meal was bad so this one won’t matter either.  Then I would spiral downward and all my hard work would be sabotaged.  Do you do this?  Do you sabotage yourself when things get tough?  Do you even realize you’re doing it?  Many times I wouldn’t.  I would wake up one day and look in the mirror and realize the poor decisions of the last month have negatively impacted my body and I’d have to start all over…again.

It has been 46 days since I made this commitment.   I haven’t cheated once…I have stayed the course and only eaten real, good, healthy food and it really hasn’t been that hard.  Do you know what was different this time?  I was READY.  I was finally ready to permanently live healthier.  I was finally ready to let go of people who would drag me down and surround myself with only those who would support me.  I was finally ready to believe that no excuse was good enough to get in the way of my goals.

Why do I do this?  So many reasons…but first and foremost, for me.  I want to be the best wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, coach, wellness instructor, etc. that I can be, and I can’t do that if I am not living to the best of my ability; feeding my body healthy things, caring for my body the most natural way possible, and moving it by exercising and getting stronger.  I want to be the best example to my children that I can possibly be!  I want them to grow up healthy and strong with a love for physical activity that I never had.  I want to support my husband as he walks this journey with me.  We get to be each others biggest fans, shoulders to cry on, ears to vent to, and accountability partner to exercise with.  It isn’t easy, but we are doing it!

I also couldn’t do this without one of the best coaches I’ve ever known, Mark and his inspiration of a wife Stephanie.  They are an amazing example of living a healthy lifestyle day in and day out.  Want to learn more about Mark’s program, contact him via his website at www.corestrongkc.com  or check out his Instagram @trx_core .  This is my progress from Day 1 to Day 35.  I’ll post another one next week showing further progress…

Want to know why I embraced more natural lifestyle?  I have a FREE newsletter just for you!  Just go to www.getoiling.com/wellnessmomma to sign up for it!  It explains why we made changes in our home to live more natural and using the best natural products we could find.  Have questions or thoughts of inspiration to share with me?  Just leave a comment on this post, I’d love to connect with you!

Will it destroy me? (Day 10 Weight Loss Challenge)

Well, here it is, Weight Loss Challenge Day 10!

Today…well, it’s hard to put into words exactly how I feel.  So here it is…day 10 video to explain my feelings today.

 

I’m doing my best to overcome, be strengthened by it, and continue on my journey to get to a better version of me!

I also put together another awesome Instant Pot meal!  Here’s what I did, but I don’t measure anything, so I’ll do my best to describe it.  🙂

Chicken Veggie Soup

• 2lbs chicken breast (pre-cooked in instant pot)
• 4 c. chicken bone broth
• 3 carrots (peeled and chopped)
• 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 sweet potato (peeled and chopped)
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 2 c. frozen chopped kale
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
• oregano, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper

Put all ingredients in Instant Pot, lock lid and select “soup” setting for 12 minutes.  When adding the seasoning, do what is best for you and your family.  We like things a little spicy so we do a little more cumin and cayenne pepper.

It was super good, and helped turn my day around a little bit.  If I am able to cook without 3 kiddos in my way, then it is pretty therapeutic and helps me to know I’m feeding myself well and healthy.

What are some things you do to strengthen yourself?

 

Weight Loss Challenge Day 8 – Weigh in Day!

Every Monday I have decided to weigh in to help keep myself accountable and on track.  I began this journey 1 week ago, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how I was doing!  Check out how much I lost by watching the video!

Making small changes made a BIG difference!  What small changes can you make to help you live a healthier life? #letsdothis #Sliquein60

Weight Loss Challenge Day 7 – Small Goals

Today I wanted to share about a couple of the small goals that I have set for myself.  Small goals are important because if we don’t ever feel success on our journey to a big goal, we may never have the will power to accomplish that goal.  So when working on a large goal, I break it down into tasks or smaller goals so that when I accomplish those, I feel the goodness of that small success so that I can continue to have the momentum to move forward and accomplish my BIG goals, hopes, and dreams…

I share about my small goals in my day 7 video…

Remember, we all have choices everyday that will help us accomplish our goals, or separate us from them.  Some days the choices seem easy, and other days these choices feel like the ultimate sacrifice, but never lose sight of your goals!

Weight Loss Challenge day 2 & an Instant Pot Original!

Well, day 2 was definitely a little tougher than day 1!  We were gone to our homeschool co-op all day, so that definitely made it interesting!  Plus it makes it a little more difficult to get all my steps in.  Here’s my thoughts on today…

And now for the Instant Post recipe…

My husband and I used to make this dish that we called “black bean pasta”.  It was simply a jar of salsa, a can on black beans, a can of corn, and a couple tablespoons of cumin warmed in a saucepan.  You then poured that over noodles.  This was a cheap and easy dinner for us and we used to eat it all the time.  Tonight I decided to make a twist on this simple recipe into something a little more healthy eating friendly.  It made approximately 8 servings.  Oh, and a warning…if you need exact measurements, this recipe isn’t for you. 😉

To begin I put 4 frozen chicken breasts in the instant pot, covered it with some cumin, salt, and pepper then poured about 2 cups of salsa on top and 1/2 a cup of water.  I put the lid on and hit the poultry button and set the timer for 15 minutes.  I allowed it to naturally release for about 10 minutes, then it rested in the juices for about 10 more minutes.

I made these interesting Black Bean noodles that I picked up from Aldi.  It’s seriously just
black beans dried into pasta.  After looking at the nutrition facts I decided I didn’t need an entire serving.  Although it had some great protein and fiber, it was a LOT of calories, so I divided it into 8 servings instead of 4 and decided to bulk up our dinner with some zucchini instead.  We had 2 medium size zucchini squash needing to be used, so I used our spiralizer and turned them into Zoodles!  I then sliced up the chicken into bite size pieces, then placed it back in the instant pot with the remaining salsa and a can of corn.  This became our “sauce”.  To make my plate I took about 1/2 a zucchini’s worth of zoodles, 1/2 a serving of black bean noodles, and our sauce!  It was SO GOOD!  I hope you give it a try!

I’m in a Promo Video!

Any of my friends and family that have known me for years know that this past year has been a huge transformation for me in my diet and lifestyle.  I have never been an athlete, have never truly taken care of my body before, and have never really committed to exercise in any way.

I made a decision to change.  I decided I wanted a different course for my family tree and that I want to give my kids the knowledge to make healthy choices that I didn’t know about.  I want to encourage them to live an active and healthy lifestyle, and let’s face it…I can’t do that from the couch!

Our children learn best by following our example, and I decided I wanted to be the best example that I could possibly give them.

Back in June 2015 I tried out Core Strong Fitness and took my very first TRX class.  If you would have told me back then that I would fall in love with the exercise, the people, and the experience each week, I would have told you that you were crazy!  No way would I ever commit to that!  Little did I know that being a part of Core Strong would take me to the next level and give me the positive relationship with fitness and exercise that I have today.  I go to class 3-4 days a week because I LOVE it!  No one makes me go but myself, and this commitment has helped me be a healthier mom for my kids.

Recently our coach and owner of Core Strong asked me to be a part of his promotional video along with a handful of others from our classes.  I never thought in a million years that I’d be part of a fitness promotional video.  I was hesitant to do it, not really knowing what to expect, but the Lord keeps leading me to places outside my comfort zone and it always works out amazingly well.

Here’s all our hard work in an amazing video…

If you are local, come try a class!  Your first one is FREE!  🙂

If you are on Facebook, be sure to keep up with our journey and “like” our Wellness Momma facebook page.

Goals are Hard

Yesterday my friend Stacey sent me a text to see if I wanted her to grab my race packet for the Labor Day 5k.  I had completely forgot about it, not to mention I can’t even remember the last time I ran.  I did some with my daughter to help her prepare for her first 5k, but it wasn’t much because she isn’t a runner and struggled to do the walking and running.  (but she really did well when it came time for the race)  So without hesitation, I was like, YES!  I’m going!  Then I sat there and thought…what am I doing?  I’m going to be SO SLOW, it’s gonna put me in a bad mood and ruin my weekend.

Well, last night I spent some time praying and eventually told myself, “Elyse, you set this goal to do this race and even if you forgot and don’t feel ready, just do it anyway!  Who cares how long it takes you.”  I do go to TRX strength training 3-4 times a week, so it’s not like I’m not exercising, I just haven’t been running.

Getting ready this morning I just kept thinking, you are just gonna run the best you can.  It’s only a 5k…you’ve got this!  I drank my NingXia Red, put on some Young Living peppermint essential oil and headed out the door.

When I got in line for the race I was the calmest I have ever been before the start of a race. I felt peace in knowing that finishing this race was my goal, not getting a certain time.

During the race I pushed myself, I found some people shortly before mile 1 that I was keeping pretty good pace with so I challenged myself to stay with them.  Another goal set right in the middle of the race…and I did it!  I pushed hard to stay close to them, and you know what?  I was within seconds of my fastest time ever for a 5k.  My timing chip didn’t catch my start time, so it was just the clock time when I looked up my race time, but that’s ok.  I know I started about 30 seconds in, so I am so happy with myself!

I set goals for myself, and I crushed them!  I have worked so hard this past year to achieve goals in my life, and today was no different.  I am about to start some new goals in my life, and following through with this race is giving me the push I need to keep going!

Do you have goals that you are going after?  What helps motivate you?

Becoming Better…No Excuses!

Recently I’ve had a lot of people ask me what I’ve been doing in my life to lose weight and get fit.  Really it has been a road of ups and downs, but before I did anything I worked hard to change my relationship with food.  I now strive to make better food choices daily, use Young Living essential oils and supplements to support my health, and I MOVE!  I go to TRX 4 times a week.  That’s when those people’s mouths drop open and they say, I could never do that.  I tell them that 3 of those classes are at 6am so that I’m not sacrificing time with my family and that makes it easier for me.  They look at me and say, I could never exercise that early!  In my head, I remember when I made those same excuses.

Here’s the thing folks…I decided over a year ago to make a change in my life and in order to do that, I had to be committed or the change wouldn’t happen.  I couldn’t be successful at this if I wasn’t committed to making my body healthier so that I could be happier.  I truly enjoy going to TRX class as it’s something that has given me so much strength and helped me gradually push my body and build muscles that I didn’t even know I had.  Some days are harder than others, some workouts are not my favorite, but they all contribute to making me stronger and making me better.

I learned awhile back that if I complained, even in my head, about a certain exercise or movement, I almost always failed at it.  This negative self talk truly has an impact on what my body can do.  So for months now, whenever my coach cues an exercise that I don’t like or is one that is hard for me, I just say, “that one’s my favorite!”  Everyone knows I say it with a hint of sarcasm, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that just uttering those words each time have helped me achieve more in that exercise or movement than I ever thought possible.

There are even movements or positions that I now love! One of them is a suspended side plank.  I love it because when I began, those muscles were so weak that I couldn’t even hold a modified side plank on the ground.  I’ve progressed so much that recently I held a single-leg side plank for about 30 seconds or more.  You can see the drastic difference of those levels in the pictures below!  Neither of the pictures are of me, but I wanted to illustrate the difference between those 2 descriptions.

I don’t mean to only promote TRX on my blog, it is just a form of exercise that I have come to enjoy and it works for me.  That being said, find a form of exercise that YOU enjoy.  Even going for walks are a great way to get started integrating more movement into your lifestyle.  I used to love Zumba way back when my gym offered that class, and that’s an awesome way to burn some calories and work cardio.  Find something that you enjoy, and you’ll stick with it!

Keep following my family’s journey to get healthier right here on this blog and our Facebook Page –> Wellness Momma.  Learn more about TRX and my coach at www.corestrongkc.com

Modified side plank

TRX single leg side plank

Experience the Rugged Maniac

So back in April a few of my friends convinced me that it would be “fun” to do the Rugged Maniac together.  Don’t know what the Rugged Maniac is?  Well, I didn’t know much either except that it involved obstacles, mud, and water and I absolutely HATE doing anything in wet clothes.  Like seriously if you know me at all, spill a cup of water on me when I can’t change my clothes and I’m sorry for the wrath that will rain down upon you.  This was such my concern that it wasn’t until a week before the race that I decided to look up the Rugged Maniac and learn every detail.  Oh that was such a mistake!  I looked at all the obstacles that were captured in pictures all over the internet and I started to fear my survival of this race.  Pretty much every single one were things I had never done before.  Ok, they were ALL things I had never done before!

I seriously struggled to sleep 2 nights before the race because I had looked up all those pictures and what exactly the race involved and I started having like mini panic attacks in my sleep.  The night before I layered on some Stress Away essential oil from Young Living, and that seemed to do the trick to get me through the night so I was rested on race day.  As I pulled into the parking lot to meet my team, anxiety set in and I started to get really scared.  I rolled on some more Stress Away as  I stood there thinking that I didn’t know what to expect, but I had a little peace in knowing that my friends would be there for me through the entire race, and I knew they would be the support I needed to have the courage to try every obstacle.

One little detail that our entire team didn’t really think about, was the fact that the event was being held at Snow Creek which is the closest thing to a mountain we have here in Missouri. they cover it with snow for skiing in the winter.  If you weren’t navigating an
obstacle during the race, you were nearly crawling uphill or trying not to fall as your momentum pushed you downhill!  Oh, and another thing we were dreading…it was over 100 degrees!  It did make having wet clothes slightly easier to deal with though.

After EVERY obstacle I would take a quick look back and say, “I can’t believe I just did that!”  We joked about how it was everything I spend time telling my children NOT to do…”don’t play in the mud, don’t climb that high, don’t jump over FIRE!, don’t climb the walls!”  I still can’t believe I did it, and I wouldn’t have made it through the entire course (especially climbing the wall) without them!  We finished and I couldn’t believe I survived the entire thing and gave everything I had to that race.  It seriously is the most EARNED t-shirt and medal I’ve ever received, and I’ll be wearing that shirt with pride and happily share my story and battle wounds with anyone who’d be happy to listen.

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Finishing that race has got to be the hardest physical achievement I have done besides birthing my 3 children.  It made me realize that I could accomplish things that I never thought possible, and that my goals are not set too high.  If I can accomplish an entire race I never dreamed possible for myself, what else can I do?  Who else can I help do the same?  How can I take my new found inspiration and knowledge to people just like me?  I hope sharing my story will help inspire others to realize that they can achieve things they never thought possible for themselves.

Follow this blog and my facebook page, Wellness Momma so you can follow our story!

Had a Bad Day? 7 Things I Strive Not to Do

All of us have bad days.  Sometimes even bad weeks, bad months, or even times we feel like we are trapped by events or people in our lives and it lands us in a bad mood.

Many times the advice you get are all the ways to make you feel better.  Ways to relieve stress, or take the worries off your mind, but it can be hard to even have the initiative to do those things!  No one ever really talks about the things you should NOT do.

At our house, things have been a little crazy and upside down.  It feels like at least one person is having a bad day in our house everyday.  We are adjusting to a new schedule, home programming, and a whole new diet plan to support our son with his Brain Balance program.  We try to play outside, visit with friends, get out of the house to get our minds off of the stresses, but many days lately I feel like we are circling the drain!  So, how can I help my family and I to STOP doing things that contribute to a bad day?  Here are some ideas…

1. Quit Feeling bad for feeling bad.

So many times I apologize for my mood, for feeling bad.  But really, we CAN’T be happy ALL the time.  It’s ok to experience our full range of emotions from time to time.  Instead of dwelling on your bad feelings, please just allow yourself to be present in your emotions and work THROUGH them!  Many times you are able to let things go and make room for a sense of peace.

2. Don’t Eat Your Feelings.

I promise, it only feels good for a moment!  In my experience, shortly after I’m done eating that comfort food, guilt and shame make their way in and I end up feeling worse than when I started.  It’s taken me a LONG time to remember that each time I’m tempted by that feeling of a need for comfort food, that I feel worse afterward.  Now I’m able to reach for healthier food options or make a smoothie.  So remember to keep your favorite healthy food options close at hand in your home, especially when bad moods strike!

3. Are you focusing on the problem, or the solution?

Sometimes it feels really good to vent to your friends and share all your troubles with them, but be sure you aren’t complaining about the same things over and over without searching for a solution.  Plus, your bad mood could spill over on them, and you don’t want to be the cause of someone else’s bad mood.  So instead of complaining, try and come up with ideas and steps you can take to better your mood or situation.

4. Are you avoiding the fresh air?

Go OUTSIDE!  It will boost your mood almost instantly. Don’t give in to that feeling of wanting to crawl in bed and binge watch episodes of your favorite show on Netflix.  Instead to out and enjoy nature!  Find a local nature trail, take the kids to the park, or simply go for a walk around the block.  Sunshine is nature’s antidepressant.

5. Never moving at all. Ever.

I know, I know…exercise is tough, and not fun for so many, but even if it feels like the least appealing thing to do in the entire world, DO IT ANYWAY!  5 minutes with an elevated heart rate can boost your mood for hours after.  For me, taking TRX class has been a giant help for my mood.  Even when I don’t want to go, I go anyway because I know how much better I will feel after it’s over!  Plus my coach is really awesome about accountability.  So get up and DO something, I promise it’ll be worth it to help you get out of your “blah” mood.

6. Staying in your head.

When we’re in a rough mood, we tend to focus on the bad. We go over negative situations and outcomes like a video replaying in our mine. Don’t wallow in self-pity or overanalyze past drama, start living in the here and now instead. Do activities that bring you joy: coloring, cooking, reading a good book, or doing yoga.  Find what works as an outlet for your mind to release those bad emotions.

7. Use some essential oils.

I know, crazy right?  But really they help tremendously with helping your body feel more balanced.  One of my favorites is Stress-Away from Young Living.  I put a little on my neck, or a few drops in the diffuser and it makes a world of difference for all of us in our home.  Check out Oils 101 for more info on these wonderful oils, I’d be happy to help you with a wholesale discount.

Want to continue to follow our family’s journey in health and wellness?  Like our Facebook page Wellness Momma, and follow our blog!  We’d love to have you along!

KEEP READING:   #anxiety #depression #happiness #meditation #personal growth#self-awareness #self-care