So it’s now been two weeks since I posted that I was
challenging myself to walk 20,000 steps per day. So far, I’m not doing too bad. Here’s a recap of how it went down:
Step 1: This was the week before I started walking
more. This was the week where I was
inspired to work on cleaning up and purging junk out of our house. That alone was energizing and motivating, but
of course, didn’t change a darn thing about my waistline. But this was such a refreshing task, that I
wanted to share it with you all. I
happened upon Allie Casazza’s blog and she had a 3-weeks to Minimalist
Motherhood link at the top of her page.
My blog is in no way/shape/form sponsored by anyone, so this is strictly
a plug for something that I found useful and wanted to share. I did not purchase the package when I went
through the free class – maybe I will later, but for now, the tips in the
webinar were enough to get me rolling. The thing I loved about it was that it wasn't so much about the stuff. It didn't tell me that I need 5 shirts and 2 pairs of shoes. The focus was on thinking about what kind of a mother you wanted to be... what kind of mother you deserved to be. And for me, that was the ticket. I’m
far from perfect on this minimalism deal… but I’m a lot better than before. No longer am I trying (and failing) to play
catch-up. This is silly, but one of the
best things is that I’ve sworn off laundry all weekend. Now, if they kids say, “hey, let’s go to the
park”, we go to the stinkin’ park and can do so without feeling like I need to
be doing something else. Being able to go to the park or invite someone to stop over without freaking out about the house... that's some serious freedom... and certainly helps me be more of the mom I want to be. So for me, step
1 was about cleaning up my space.
Step 2: This is where
I started actually USING my desk treadmill.
I wrote about this a bit earlier, but it was really my first week where
I cleaned up my routine. It was nice to
add another level on top of my clean space… I’m not at all a person who can
adopt 7 new habits at once. I’ve tried
and failed at that many times. I can
start with one new thing, then slowly add more.
Maybe you’re like that, too. Right
now, I keep telling myself that if I keep adding a new layer each week or so, I’ll
have all kinds of good habits in place six months from now. So week 1 of this part was using my treadmill
desk – and that week, I averaged between 14,000 and 15,000 steps a day. Week 2 of this challenge is when I wrote my
last post – challenging myself to get in 20,000 steps per day. This took a considerably larger commitment on
my part. About halfway through that
week, Brandon challenged me to drink a gallon of water a day, too. Eeek!
To recap on these challenges: I
haven’t been perfect – that’s for sure.
I am able to get 20,000+ steps on weekdays because I spend 8+ hours
behind my computer… and it takes about 3.5-4 of those hours walking at a slow
enough pace that I can still type/write/speak during meetings for me to get in
20k steps. Not too shabby. I’m not as great on the weekends – and I’m
okay with that. I did realize that I
needed better insoles in my shoes – more arch support, please! When you add a gallon of water, you get about
4,000 steps in per day just walking from your desk to the bathroom and back –
for real! And I realized that I’m quite
the sweaty beast at work now. It’s a
darn good thing I do work from my house.
I’m going through more clothes (because I cannot walk all day in
jeans/capris) and when I’m off work, I’m thankful for the freedom of flip flops
and to get my feet out of the socks and tennis shoes they’ve been roasting in
all day. Is that TMI? Ha.
Here’s the result of this, though: my resting heart rate is down about 14 beats
per minute. Whoa! That was a completely unintended
benefit. I don’t check my blood pressure
often (because it’s never been a concern), but I can say that my high-strung
hubby has greatly reduced his blood pressure by walking with me. The first week of walking 20k steps/day
resulted in a weight loss of 2.4 pounds.
Yahoo! Remember, I didn’t do more
than just that – I was still eating fast food and ice cream. In fact, I probably ate MORE ice cream that
week because I knew I was about to add a diet to the plan and I wanted to pack
in all that frozen deliciousness beforehand.
That’s how I roll. This week
ended with a night out with friends – what a way to end my pre-diet week,
right? Awesome!
Step 3: Last week was my first week jumping back on the Keto
bandwagon. I know this will come with
mixed reviews, but trust me, with an exercise physiology background, I’ve had
more than my share of classes on nutrition.
I understand how my metabolism works… and no, not just from hokey
websites and such. I researched ketogenic
diets for about a year before I tried it for myself. I tried it in March this year – but only made
it about two weeks before I lost motivation.
At that time, it was just me… without much accountability… and dang it,
social gatherings made it hard and I just gave up. I will say that my family loved the meals I
was making and I felt pretty darn good after the first three days, so I knew
that when I added the diet layer to my new routine, keto was my go-to. As someone who’s had a weight complex (with either
real or perceived concern) since high school, I’m certain I’ve tried just about
everything. This time, my husband was on
board to try this with me. I pulled a
ton of recipes from dietdoctors.com and continued to read and absorb as much about
this lifestyle from others I could. If
you have Netflix and totally dig documentaries, watch “The Magic Pill”. This is the film that solidified this diet
for me. The results for brain function
and development were incredible. We have
one kiddo with crazy ADHD and if we can stabilize some of that with diet, I’m
in. And Buggy – if we can give her brain
the clarity it needs to function at its highest possible level, of course I’ll
do it. Now – Brandon and I are on a
strict ketogenic diet right now – the kids still have some grains and fruits in
their diets, but we’ve eliminated some of the processed yuck they were eating
before. So far, no complaints. I take that back… the boys complained that we
didn’t have Pop Tarts. I said, “Sorry, I’m
not buying Pop Tarts anymore.” And that
was the end of it. After the first week
of keto, I was down an additional 4.4 pounds.
That’s 6.8 pounds in the two weeks that I’ve been tracking weight. That alone is enough motivation to keep me
going. The fact that I’m not hungry all
the time and have freedom to function at full capacity without really thinking
about food much – that’s incredible!
Clearly, step 3 is all about cleaning up my diet – I imagine I’ll be on
this step of the journey for several weeks before I add anything else. I’ll keep you posted.
I feel pretty great (although my legs are sore some days
from walking so much), my house is clean – for the most part, I have more
energy, I am not hungry, and I’m sleeping great. Those are the biggest benefits for me – I’ll
take any weight loss as a result, though!
So who wants to hit me up with their best Keto family recipe? Fat bombs that are to die for? I have some that I’m sure I’ll share,
too. Yum.
Here’s to feeling better and jumping into the craziness that
is summer with a few new habits. Here’s
to staying accountable. Here’s to taking
care of myself and my family! Here’s to
being a little more like the mom and wife I WANT to be each day.
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