Chasing my dreams

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New and exciting things are happening for me and this little blog! I can't wait to share more with you guys!   I have been on an extreme life high since Friday.  My mind is full of ideas and I am so excited about life!  I know this is super vague but I don't want to share too much until I know a little more about what I am doing.
The 5th Annual Tone It Up Bikini Series is officially kicking off Monday! I can't wait!  If you're not familiar with Tone It Up or the Bikini Series I encourage you to watch their video about it.  The excitement in the TIU community is just courageous right now!  I love it!

The TIU Girls- Karena & Katrina posted a video recently that got me really thinking... In the video they encouraged everyone to pursue your dreams.  Take risks.  I NEVER take risks... I am a play-it-safe-kinda-girl!  But I'm super excited about a new life adventure for me that is coming soon!  I can't wait to share it!
Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

What brought me to the Whole30

Before diving into my experience with the Whole30 I figured I should first talk about what brought me to the Whole30 and why I did it.  I honestly felt like I was lead to do this, like it was something I had to do.  

I decided after 15 years to stop taking hormonal birth control.  Not because I am ready to have a baby but simply because I might be one day.  I have wanted to stop taking it for years now but I have been TERRIFIED of getting pregnant without being ready.  So before I stopped taking it I did some research on other methods of birth control.  I think I will do a separate post all about that.

One of the books I read was Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I was so interested and floored by all of this information about my OWN body that I never knew.  I did not learn these things in Sex Ed, I did not learn them from my doctor, and my mom did not teach me these things.  I cannot recommend this book enough. Regardless of wanting to have a baby now or ever this book is FULL of information about the female body that is so useful to every woman.  I just can't say enough good things about it.  Seriously, if you are a woman you must buy this book and read it ASAP!

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After reading the book I joined a couple of Facebook groups of people with similar interests.  Someone mentioned a podcast, Fertility Friday.  Its full of a ton of information. I have a long work commute so I figured a podcast would be great for me.  She talks a lot about the Weston A Price Foundation and nutrient dense foods.  

One of the podcasts' guest was Laura Schoenfeld of the blog Ancestralize Me.  This particular podcast was about Recovering from Post-Birth Control Syndrome.  You can read all about that episode here! I loved listening to her talk and this whole episode resonated with me big time.  This was really my first time putting any thought at all into a Paleo/ Ancestral Diet.  I immediately dove head first into Laura's blog and podcast.  This opened up a whole new world for me.  

After many hours of different podcasts and reading different blogs (all paleo-based) I decided I would give this paleo thing a try.  The very next day I did the best I could with what I had to eat a paleo diet.  

That night I ended up on the website- Whole30.com and decided I would start this immediately.  I didn't put a ton of thought into it. I just felt compelled to do it.  I bought the book It Starts With Food and read it in one day, and I was on my way.  I started the Whole30 on a Friday because I did not want to wait another day.

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I decided it would not be about weightloss.  It would be about nourishing my body with the best foods for me.  Lots of health fats, local and grass-fed meats, TONS of veggies, and fruit. 

I am on this journey to get my hormones in balance after 15 years of suppressing them... 15 years of stopping a natural process from my body...  So I decided I would start with my food... 

Weekend Wrap Up

I hope everyone's Easter was filled with candy, relaxing, and family.
This weekend was very low key!
Friday night I went to the gym to do my Bikini Body Guide leg workout. It was KILLER!
Saturday was so lazy.  I woke up and had to go get my brows done.  Then I came back home and pretty much did nothing for the rest of the day/night.
I cooked Mexican burgers for dinner.  Basically, a hamburger topped with homemade guacamole!  Saturday was my last day of the Whole 30!
Then we randomly played Monopoly and watched tv the rest of the night.

Since Sunday was my first day off of the Whole30 I planned on introducing dairy back into my diet and keeping everything else as it was to see how it affected me over a couple of days. I cooked my eggs in butter, ate some cheese, and a little yogurt.
Then husband and I went on a long bike ride.  Afterwards he went to the store and returned with my absolute favorite candy of all time!  Cadbury Cream Eggs.  I decided to have a couple.
It kinda ruined my plan to slowly reintroduce the foods that I've been avoiding. I did get a headache almost immediately after. I don't know if it was a coincidence or the sugar did it. Oh well...
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, washing clothes and meal prepping.  Here are a few things I made for the week:

Homemade Ghee/ Clarified butter

Fresh Almond Milk

Paleo tortillas/wraps from Against All Grain's cookbook- Meals Made Simple

Not pictured:  Flank Steak in the crockpot and meatballs

Sunday night we ended with fish tacos

Grilled cod, paleo wraps, avocado, lettuce, cilantro, and pineapple salsa

I am absolutely loving making all of this stuff at home recently!  My grocery bill has went up but because we are eating every meal at home we have been saving money on not eating out and drinking on the weekends!  My next project I will start soon is homemade Kombucha!!!
Do you meal prep for the week?  What's your usual Sunday routine?

30 Days of Yoga

Happy Saturday and Happy Easter EVE :)
I decided that I want to make an active effort every day to be more gentle and loving with my body and mind.  You see... I'm VERY VERY type A personality/perfectionist.  I must do things the right way or no way.  I tend to be VERY hard on myself about things.  I think this is why dieting, rigid plans, being restrictive has always backfired with me.

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I think someone would automatically think that by doing the Whole30 that would trigger those obsessive and perfectionist feelings.  I won't lie- it has a couple of times when I accidentally ate something that had some unapproved ingredients in it. But I learned from it (that I should do my research and prepare) and moved on.  But to be honest I feel like it has done the opposite.  I've learned that I need to eat more food every day and I have learned to NOURISH my body.  I don't feel like I am being restrictive because I'm putting really good quality and nourishing foods in my body at every chance I get.

Also, with the Bikini Body Guide- that is a strict workout plan.  The schedule has 3 strength training days, 3 cardio days, and 1 stretch day. I'll be honest- I don't think I have stuck to that schedule one time and I am on week 7.  I learned that because I'm doing quality effective workouts I don't feel like I need to be so hard on myself if I skip a day.  And I've skipped a few days.  I think I only skipped 1 or 2 strength days on the program. But I've skipped several cardio days.  And I don't feel bad about it.   Not at all.  And guess what- I've still seen results that I am so happy with.

When I got sick this week I took several days off and slept in... No guilt.  This is all new to me.  This is something I am working on and working at constantly.

So that brings me to my newest challenge for myself- 30 days of yoga... Yoga is something I have always wanted to get into more.  I used to go about once a week and I always really enjoyed it.  Then I stopped that for quite a while and I miss it.

I got this idea from Yoga with Adriene's 30 days of yoga series.  I am going to use her videos in addition to the local studio that I won the gift card to. After 2 years I am finally going to cash in the month of unlimited!  I think this will go hand in hand with my new attitude to be more gentle and loving to myself.

I want to go to the studio as much as I can and days that I cannot I will do one of her videos.  This may be a little hard to do in addition to the BBG workouts. But I am going to find a way to make it work even if it is a 10-15 minute practice real quick at night or before work.

I am starting today with her day 2 video because it sounded better for me- Stretch your body and soothe your soul.  I am super sore from my leg workout yesterday and I think I need this.  My schedule is a little messed up from being sick this week and I would like to get in a cardio session or a strength session later today or tomorrow.

Today is my final day of the Whole30 program and I couldn't be more pleased with myself!  I will do a full review/wrap-up of that soon!

Happy Easter!

April Goals

I feel so much better today, almost completely back to normal. I just have low energy. But I think thetas totally normal considering I didn't have any solid food yesterday.
I wanted to share my April goals with you guys today.

I love to utilize the space in my Inkwell Press planner to jot down ideas or very general goals for the month. Its called a personal mission board. I love that!

Here's a few goals of mine for the month!

*I want to start yoga again.  I won a month of unlimited at a local hot yoga studio that I LOVE 2 years ago and I have never cashed in that free gift.  I always find an excuse to not use it. I would love to do that this month.  

*Spa night/ face masks at least once a week

*Stick to budget

*Plan date nights

*Sign up for the 2015 Tone It Up retreat!!!

*Blog during the week

*Keep going strong with the Bikini Body Guide. I'm on week 7 and I absolutely love it! I will do a full review when I am done with the 12 weeks

*Workout 5 days a week

*Continue eating Paleo

*Continue eating at home. minimum @ restaurants

*Do a few home improvements/ updates that we have put off for 2 years!!

What are your goals for the month?  I love reading other peoples' goals!