mnb challenge: week three!

This week was the final week of the mnbchallenge that was put together by the fabulous Fit Approach and Lorna Jane activewear.  It's been very fun and rewarding to have a daily challenge to meet.  I've really enjoyed having the goals and the playing with my creativity to meet them... This week was a little more difficult as far as creativity went because I started the 21 Day Fix, so that took up a lot of my time!

This last week was believe.  It was all about focusing on yourself and inner strength vs outer.

Feb. 17: Spoil Yourself!

I'll be honest - Monday I got on a kick where I needed boxes unpacked.  We've been slowly moving boxes out of storage, because let's be honest, it's really hard to unpack when you've got a two and a half year old and a four month old.  I need room in the kids playroom so that a) our toddler could have his play space back, and b) I'm hosting a fit group at my house each night doing the 21 Day Fix  We only have one bathtub, and it's not in great working order right now {loooong story} or I'd have happily plopped my butt in a bubble bath.  Instead, I snuck a couple of ice cream bites, and read a book that was just for fun.  :)  There's my happy place!!

Feb. 18: 5 Mindful Minutes

There are still more boxes than I'd like, but there's a nice big area to play and workout now.  I took advantage of this for a few minutes to myself, closed off from the rest of the house, in peace and quiet.  :)

Feb.19: Be Happy! 

We were supposed to post about our happy place.  To be honest, I have two! One is South Padre Island.  My hubby first told me that he loved me there, we got engaged there, we honeymooned there... I have many, many incredible memories there.  It's pretty much impossible for me to go there and not be happy!!! The other is the Brazos River.  I've spent countless weekends here during the summer {sometimes even during the winter}.  There's not much better than floating on the river on a hot Sunday afternoon just letting the water ebb and flow and rock you to sleep.  The scenery isn't too shabby either.  ;)  It also doesn't hurt that this is how/where I met my husband.

Feb. 20: Thankful Thursday! 

I usually do a Thankful Thursday on the blog, but after a crazy week I chose to unplug and didn't get one done.  Thank you Lorna Jane for at least having me do this so I could still fit it in! :)  Choosing to give up dairy and soy isn't something I would've done if it weren't for our daughter, and it's not something I think many people would do willingly.  For me, there wasn't ever a choice - continuing breastfeeding was the only option in my mind.  I have had so much support in making this decision, and so much support in following my fitness/nutrition dreams... so I am incredibly thankful for the family I'm surrounded with.  My entire family is on a journey to get healthier, and I can't imagine where I'd be in my life if I weren't surrounded by these amazing people.  I'm getting to spend time with my mom, sister, and cousin every night that we wouldn't get otherwise, I'm getting to share in some awesome fitness/nutrition experience and knowledge with my best friend {while also getting to cheer her on while she's in nursing school!!!}, and I've got some fantastic family to back me up along the way. So very, very thankful.

Feb. 21: Share the Love! 

I already touched on this, but today was specifically geared toward our #1 supporters, so here they are! My kids are the reason I'm even on this journey, and my sweet husband never even blinked when we made the decision to completely overhaul our "diet".  It hasn't been easy, and every day is still a journey, but I'd never have been able to get so far without his support.  He's willing to try new recipes, help balance the chaos that cooking so much from scratch creates, and never fails to remind me how proud he is of the choice I made for our daughter.

This week never failed to remind me how incredibly lucky and blessed I am.  Looking forward to continuing the fitness and health journey with all of you!

mnb challenge: week two!

Week two of the of "move.nourish.believe." challenge with Lorna Jane and Fit Approach is over. I'm a little sad that there's only a week left! In case you missed last weeks post, basically you have a daily challenge that meets the weeks theme.  This week was nourish.  Each day you take a picture of that days challenge, and post it on Instagram and Twitter.  Not only have I met some awesome people, but I'm in the running to win a grand prize of $1000 in Lorna Jane active apparel.  This mama could do a lot with that many new workout clothes!! You can check out all the details here!

This week wasn't exactly easy.  We had plans to go grocery shopping on Monday, my hubby was supposed to be off all week, and our plans got flip-turned upside-down.  Like whoa.  Instead of being able to really plan this week out like I fully intended, I had to wing it.  I'm not great at winging it... but somehow, I made it through! :)

Feb 10: Go Meatless 

I'd be lying if I said this was an easy day for me.  I love my meat.  I have nothing against veggies, but I'd prefer them to be a side dish vs the main dish.  But, that's just me! I had a veggie chili with homemade cornbread.  Not too shabby!!

Feb 11: Take Your Lunch to Work 

I'm a stay at home mama, so every day is bring your lunch to work day! Haha! Like I said, I hadn't been grocery shopping so it was literally - eat what's in the fridge and pantry week - so I had an all natural pb&jelly sandwich on organic wheat bread with sweet potato chips, an apple, and kiwi.  As well as coffee {my fuel to get through my day with two babies}and some water!

Feb 12: Write it Down! 

Isn't it funny how writing your food down can sometimes make you cringe? It's not that I ate bad, it's just a visual reminder that I probably don't always eat enough.  I get busy, forget I'm hungry, and find myself missing an entire meal.  It's something I'm trying very hard to work on.  Hopefully the 21 Day Fix will help with that! :)

Feb 13: Smoothie Day! 

I love smoothies.  They're delicious! I won't lie, for years, I was notorious for starting smoothies around this time of year every morning for breakfast as part of my "countdown to spring break.  Since I've been a mama for the past 3 spring breaks, that wasn't really my focus, so it made me laugh when I made this on Thursday. It's funny how things like a smell or an insignificant action can transport you somewhere else immediately.

Anyway, my Shakeology that I've been impatiently waiting for came in, so I got to try my very first one as smoothie day! Woo hoo! I have to use the vegan formula since lil miss can't have milk or soy, but so far I'm pretty impressed with the taste.  This particular smoothie was tropical strawberry Shakeology, half a banada, a Cutie, and ~ a cup of strawberries with coconut milk.  I added some honey to sweeten it up because that orange twang just about did me in...  but then again, I'm not an orange fan.  I've since tried it with pineapple and I'm totally in love!! Yummmm...

Feb 14: Go Raw Friday! 

I was truly out of my comfort zone on this one! I'm not a raw fan, but I decided to broaden my horizons when my hubby took me to dinner for Valentine's Day! Our waitress started talking about the raw bar and I was immediately excited to see what they had to offer - easy check off for the last day of this week's challenge!! My pick was tuna tartare.  It was absolutely delicious.  Really.  I'll definitely be trying that again!

Next week is the last week in our challenge, and it's believe.  Tomorrow, I'm supposed to spoil myself.  Hmmmm, any suggestions??  :)

mnb challenge: week one!

Alright folks.  Week one of the "move.nourish.believe." challenge is over! I love doing these challenges.  It holds me accountable, it forces me to step out of the box and try new things,  it gives me "easy" content to post on social media {which some days is much needed, haha!}, and it gives me a focus.  I tend to be all over the place because I get too excited and start getting too much going at once, so focus is good.  {If you want to jump in and join in on the fun, click here for the event on Facebook! It's an awesome party!} You're supposed to take a picture that relates to that days challenge, post your accomplishment on Twitter and Instagram, and then recap here at the end of the week!

Besides, the grand prize for this fabulous challenge is $1,000 shopping spree to Lorna Jane!!! As a mom who's always putting her kids needs before her own, I could use workout gear... I've been using the same stuff for several years now! 

Week one was all about movement. {Does anyone else get the I like to move it, move it song from Madagascar song stuck in your head when you talking about moving? No? Just me? ok.}   So, without further adeiu, here's how my week went! 

Feb 3: Sweat it out - show us your favorite way to sweat it out! 

I'm a stay at home mama with a two and a half year old and a four month old.  Workout DVDs are a staple for me.  I love to get out and walk with the kids when I can, but it's been too cold here to get them out.  Boooo.  To be honest, our Playstation has been trying to fritz out for awhile, and I think it finally bit the dust... I couldn't get the silly thing to boot up.  So, I worked out on my laptop.  I wasn't going to let anything stop me starting this challenge on Monday! In case you can't see it in the picture,  I broke out my Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Boot Camp dvd, it's an oldie but a goodie! :) 

Feb 4: Change it up! Sweat a new way! Find a workout from movenourishbelieve.com/category/move and show your post-session selfie! 

This is a prime example of why I love this challenge.  I had to log on to the move.nourish.believe. website and find a workout to do for this day.  I had to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. After scrolling through several workouts, I picked this travel workout.  I don't have the confidence quite yet to try some of the yoga stuff she had posted without causing myself harm! I added a little extra to do it by pulling up a video from +Natalie Jill on Instagram.  Love her workouts, and I hadn't done this one! 

Feb 5: Let's get planking! Plank for at least 5 minutes today.  You can split the planks up.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have a love/hate relationship with planks.  I'm four months out from my second c-section, and it still ceases to amaze me how different I feel even when compared to after having our son two and a half years ago.  I've always prided myself on having strong abs, but there's just something about carrying a baby around then having those muscles sliced through that puts you in a new category.  It's worth everything you go through, it's just a different kind of challenge.  I spent some of my planking time with my favorite little boy riding on my back.  Totally makes any workout fun! Love this kid.  

Feb 6: Buddy up! Workout with a friend today.

My favorite workout buddy happens to be my sister.  I'll be honest, we have had the most incredibly rocky relationship, and I love that we are now at a point in our lives where we seem to have called a truce and just enjoy being around each other.  I think that for the first time in our lives, we actually aren't competing with each other, we're working as a team.  I still haven't seen it, but I've heard that our relationships mimics the one in Frozen {and no, I don't have magical ice powers, sorry to disappoint, haha!)...  We popped in another oldie but goodie: Flirty Girl Fitness - abs and booty.  I haven't done this workout in awhile, and I rememberd it being a halfway decent workout... Our legs were both jelly by the end, and today, I'm feeling the repercussions of "leg day".  I'm all those ridiculous meme's you see all over the interwebs.  

Like this one.  

Feb 7: Show your five fitness favorites.  Exercise, people, whatever gets you moving and motivated! 

I'm hoping in a few months I can come back and revisit this, and some of my items will be different.  I have a few things on my fitness "wishlist", like a Polar, or fitbit, new sports bras and shorts/yoga pants and leggings, new shoes, etc...  :)  But for now, these are my go-to essentials.  My favorite Pink yoga pants, my loved Nike sports bra {so comfy}, my Under Armour shoes, my yoga mat, and my fave workout DVDs: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Bootcamp {hey, I'm from the DFW metroplex, I love my DCC!}, Flirty Girl Fitness, anything Shaun T - the man is crazy but knows how to get 'er done, and Yoga Booty Ballet.  I'm actually about to begin a new program - which just shipped tonight - hooray! in a little over a week and I'm almost beside myself with excitement!! Woo hoo!!! 

Next week is Nourish.  I'm supposed to eat a meatless meal on Monday which should be interesting as I loooove my meat.  And so does my husband...  Hmmm.  Wish me luck!