21 Day Fix: Week 1 UPDATE

So Monday marked my first full week with 21 Day Fix!!!

 

I'm happy to report that there was only one day that I failed to do my daily exercises. That is huge progress for this exercise hating mama! The first few days were difficult but now I've started to see an increase in energy and am actually looking forward to my thirty minutes of activity each day!

On the flip side I haven't seen too much of a change on the scale or my measurements. But again I'm happy with the program so far. I'm happiest actually with the decisions that I'm making when it comes to food. DUDE I was a horrible snacker! The clean eating and portion control hasn't been hard for my main meals but I'm seeing just how frequently I was making bad decisions and grabbing unhealthy foods just because they were around and easily accessible... I mean WTF do we really need cookies and doughnuts in the office almost every day... holey temptation! I am happy to report that I remained strong though and only deviated from the plan when we had people over & when we had dinner at a friends and indulged in a slice of pie!

Now the real test begins as I'm embarking on a 10 day work trip... Let's see how I deal when I'm on the road and in various countries/time zones.... In fact, as I'm typing this now there is a HUGE basket of super unhealthy but yummy snacks in front of me... Time to grab my go-to afternoon snack of Almond butter and an apple... and repeat over and over again that I will NOT each the chocolate chip cookies and fruit snacks... I WILL NOT!!!

I'll be back later today with a GREAT burger recipe!

Spring Soccer

Emma doesn't have a soccer game this weekend but I wanted to share some SUPER cute photos from a few games ago.

They are a mixture of Emma and Hunter playing during half time.

National Heat Awareness Day

Now I know that everyone is looking forward to a long weekend and the "start" of summer.... but as a mama of three I cannot let today go by without highlighting that it is National Heat Awareness Day!

It is SOOOOOO important to remember that every year children die in hot cars. It breaks my heart and I cry uncontrollably every time I read or see a story about a little helpless child dying in a vehicle.

I personally have major anxiety about this issue and during summer months I ALWAYS leave my purse in the backseat when I have my kiddos with me. Chelsea, from Two Twenty One, shared a facebook post recently that she and her hubby put their left shoe in the back seat by the baby... not getting too far without that!

Whatever you do just make sure that you are mindful about that little guy or girl in your back seat! Accidents happen and people are forgetful especially when doing things outside of their normal routine that is why it is soooooo important to start a habit NOW that will force you to look in the back seat before locking up that car and walking away.

I would never want anything to happen to these precious kiddos

Our backseat configuration is a little different and kiddos are bigger but you get the idea of what is REALLY important!

here is a story about a young family that lost their little girl way too early!

21 Day BeachBody Fix... THE START

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to start taking working out seriously... well let's be honest... I ran two days in a row and after that weeks of NOTHING!!

Then an angel whispered in my ear... Well actually my bestie Holly... but they are pretty much the same thing!!!

She has been raving about the whole 21 Day Fix through BeachBody Program and I figured that it was worth giving it a try.

The abbreviated concept is that for 21 days you eat clean healthy/natural foods in proper portions and you work out for 30 minutes a day EVERYDAY! After all they say that it takes 21 days to make a habit of something! MAJOR selling point with this program is that you can also substitute, occasionally, one of your containers for a glass of red wine!

I ordered my package through Holly, she is now my coach, and they sent me everything that I needed to be a success.

I carry this freaking eating plan around with me all the time!

 And I use these portions control containers to keep me on track and not over eat.

They also provided me with DVDs of the workouts and I am able to stream them on my computer for when I travel for work!

I'm really looking forward to the program and starting the habit of eating healthier. I'm not specifically trying to loose weight I'm just trying to be HEALTHY and make smart decisions!

PLUS the healthiest foods are really the yummiest! I mean look at some of the meals that I've already made while one the program.

 

This is my go to breakfast!

 

I also found this great website with some worksheets to make all of the tracking a little easier!

VIA

 

So who else wants to take this crazy 21 day challenge with me? If you are interested let me know and I would be happy to put you in contact with Holly and you can join our facebook group where we all keep each other accountable!

 

While I'm on the challenge I plan to have a weekly post devoted to my progress, thoughts on the program, and I will be sharing YUMMY recipes that I've tried out... ALSO I will be out of town for 10 days out of the 21 for work and I will share how easy/hard it is to stick with the program while on the road.

Weekend update

Dude we ROCKED this weekend! We are just knocking off items on my list of goals for the month of May!

FRIDAY-

• Moved our old living room chairs over to my dear friend Virginia's house! She also received our old sofa, earlier in the week. Have to pay her back someway for all of the AMAZING photos that she takes of my family! ** If you live in Northern Virginia please check her out! House of Maps Photography

SATURDAY-

• Woke up SUPER early to drive, an hour, to Warrenton for Emma's soccer game. Just the two of us went and it was great talking to her during the trip.
  
• Cleaned out my Van... Matt feels that I do not appreciate my car and that it is always a disaster... He has cleaned it out multiple times and it always just goes back to its former junky glory... SOOOO he said that I needed to full detail it myself so that I would fully appreciate the effort that it takes to clean the car... Three hours later... after a lot of internal cursing... the car is immaculate...
• Made this yummy dinner from veggies that I bought at the Farmers Market last week... Sooo good. Just some avocado oil, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes and salt/pepper to taste.
  
• My little guy learned to stand up on his own. He is up to 4 steps now... YAY! 

• After getting the boys to bed Emma and I went to see the new Pitch Perfect movie.

SUNDAY-

• I successfully donated my 2000th item and fully completed my Declutter 2000 GOAL!!! WAHOOOO. I plan to keep my momentum going though and getting fully organized with the help of THIS book.
• We are ALMOST done with the closet in the boys room AND I made a bed skirt! Bed skirt update tomorrow.
• I took my measurements to start the 21 Day fix workout regimen from Beachbody. I did my first workout this morning... 20 days to go :-) My goal is to really just tone and start the habit of leading a healthier life. Cannot believe that I'm sharing this but here is a before.
  

May 2015: Goals

So the month is half way over already so I figured that I better share my goals for MAY!

I LOVE the month of May and I plan to take full advantage of the great weather that we are having.. perfect spray-painting weather.

Here are my goals for the month:

• Update upstairs Gallery Wall and Share on the blog
• FINISH the boys room!
• Bed skirt
• Closet Organization System
• New photos on the wall
• Record height on the wall
• Deep clean Rug
• Touch-up paint where needed
• Hang Gibson's new guitar
• Join a workout program & actually WORK OUT!
• Blog 15 Times
• Emma's Craft of the Month
• Start home office update
• Finish De-Clutter 2000 -- UPDATE I'm already at 1600!
• Find a new sofa
• Get Sewing Machine Fixed
• Clean out car... ehhh no fun

As you can see I already have a few of my items crossed off! I'm getting excited about the boys room and I cannot wait to share the final results.

Favorite Things Friday

I'm currently reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and as stated in the title it is Life-Changing. It will transform the way that you think about the possessions that you surround yourself with.

I fully plan to make this Blueberry Tart over the summer!!!

Ahhh Can I please live in this dollhouse??

Beets AND Artichokes in the same dish! Two of my favorite things!

This Fish Hotel almost makes we want to go buy a goldfish

 

I'm jumping on the bandwagon with this whole Clean eating movement and here are some yummy breakfasts that I cannot wait to try

 

There are oh so many items that I drool over in this house. the kitchen island, how light and airy the dining room is, the massive square coffee table, the wine closet that you can see in the dining room photo,  and the finish of the wooden floor and beams.

 

I'm a sucker for a good room remodel and the one over at IHeartOrganizing has sooo many great things to swoon over... but do I spy with my little eye a GOLD Playstation controller??? This TOTALLY makes me want to spray-paint our gaming equipment!!! Matt would probably kill me! After some searching I actually discovered that they do in fact MAKE a gold controller and you can buy them on Amazon... Now I guess the real question is do I have any self-control???

 

This week I fell in love with this print for sale at Joss and Main and while the price and size is great I'm actually falling more in love with the idea of a photo LIKE this but of a location that means something to us. Perhaps the water in Savannah or Traverse City.

 

For my final Favorite things Friday share I want to pass along a coffee table DIY that had my jaw hit the floor... Like Shut the front door! This was just added to Matthew Park's, ever growing, ToDo list! If he were to make this for me for my birthday (hint hint) I would be a HAPPY WIFE!!! And I think that it would go GREAT with our new sofa! Matt has been saying for a while now that he wants to get rid of our current Glass Top table... I'm going to e-mail him now...