Michael and I have been on a new health journey, and it began in November 2018.
How odd to think to start any new health regime smack dab in the middle of a busy, holiday season full of turkey, my mother in-law’s famous jello pretzel salad, and of course Christmas’s tamales.
Michael, my husband, had the idea that if we could withstand a workout regiment during the busiest seasons of the year, we could continue to keep our commitment to living a healthy lifestyle for the rest of the year, so thus began our commitment 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving.
We started with beginning with Autumn Calabreses’s 80 day obsession program, and after completing that program, we started it all over again.
160 days into this health journey, we decided to do Autumn’s 21 day extreme real time, and after this we are now in the middle of Joel Freeman’s workout regiment called Lift4, 4 days of building muscle with HIIT cardio, and on the days that I am off, I am spending my time with Linda Baffa, a yogi on Yoga Anytime, to stretch my tired muscles and calm my mind.
All that to say, my husband and I have made working out a part of our daily routine just like brushing one’s teeth is a non-negotiable act. Michael and I are supporters of rest when you are sick or injured, and I promise you there has been a few days in our health journey that we took time to heal, but when we are both healthy, Michael and I make room in our schedules to honor our bodies by taking this time in our day.
We have experienced the discipline, joy, and hope that fitness has been bringing into our lives.
We find that as we have exerted energy, we actually have gained more energy as we have continued to persevere.
We took the time this past Sunday to meal-prep and prepare for our week. We have adopted Autumn’s portion control eating plan, and the times that Michael and I have been intentional enough to follow through with keeping our commitment to eat clean, we would see immediate results.
Autumn’s rule that she is adamant about is preparation truly determines success, so Michael and I took the time to plan our meals for the week since I am back at work full time.
This week, I made a Broccoli Crust Breakfast Pizza to last us Monday through Friday, and they are the easiest, most convenient food item to grab and go. I microwaved my slice for only 45 seconds, and because this breakfast has the sturdiness of a pizza, it is easy to eat on the go.
I took the time to portion our snacks for the week. Michael’s fruit portion is a little bigger than mine, so he gets to double up on green grapes and extra strawberries and blueberries. We both get to eat sunflower seeds and lots of carrots.
Our lunch this week will be a variety of salads, wraps, or a la carte chicken with a side of veggies. I made chicken satay with the yummiest peanut dipping sauce, so Monday and Wednesday, I plan to have the chicken satay a la carte with a side of broccoli with a pita bread, and other days, I plan to dice the chicken into my salad with my favorite poppyseed dressing.
Michael and I went back and forth with dinner. Autumn does not mind eating the same thing every single day, so when I asked Michael if he was fine eating shepherd’s pie every single day this week, he just laughed and responded with his desire to forever eat shepherd’s pie until the day he dies. With that response, we are only planning to have shepherd’s pie once this week and change up our dinners throughout the week.
Preparation determines success.
As much as meal-prepping took over my entire Sunday evening, and working out sometimes requires me to re-do my make-up twice in one day, I look back at my day, and I don’t have any regrets.
Take the time this week to nurture your health in some way shape or form whether it is loving yourself more to choose the healthier route.
Sometimes self-love is saying no to the going out, the binge-shopping, and the extra cookie or that glass of wine; sometimes self love looks like a night in to truly self-reflect, living in contentment, and saying yes to the veggies and that glass of fruit-infused water.