Hello all!
Mandy here . . . I thought I would take a break from my hurry-get-as-much-done-as-you-can-because-Bethany's-at-preschool-and-the-boys-are-entertaining-themselves morning to finally say hi to everybody and go public with my goals so as to further commit and be held accountable.
Longest sentence ever.
Of course, my boys start screaming as soon as I sit down here to do this.
Oh well.
SO, after an eventful rollercoaster of a time of the past three years, I am FINALLY feeling ready to take on more than just survival. What then? Keeping an especially clean house? Volunteering to get back on board with all those callings at church I had to abandon to maintain my sanity level (it may not be high, but at least it's consistent!)? Reading all those books I've been wanting to read? Taking an online class or two to renew my intellect? Start writing that book I've been wanting to write? Planting the garden that the lonely Northeastern Corner of my backyard calls for? Or...renew my health?
Hmm...that's a rough one.
Carrie and Somer's invitation came at a really good time for me. I have been feeling ready to start taking better care of my family's health and get all this stinkin baby weight off since about the middle of summer. Started strong...everyone got sick. And stayed that way. For three months. Ugh. THEN, everyone started slowly getting better and here we sit...just a couple light colds. I can surely deal! So, here I am, being forced to pay more and more attention to what we eat and what we do to take care of our bodies. First, by having a family full of sickies. Then, by joining up with you guys to hopefully add some extra motivation!
Here's the plan around these parts . . .

*Keep it simple! Ask myself this question...what do I really want? Answer . . . a healthy, happy and thriving family (of course, myself included). I want to be able to funtion well and have powerful health ...to train my buns off and start dancing and performing again!
If I am trying to make a decision about what to eat, do, think or plan...see what fits into the spectrum of what I really want.

*Focus on my food being REAL FOOD, not a food product. Real food has a function, something it does for my body. Real food doesn't have a lot of ingredients. Now, I know just as well as anybody that we all have treats from time to time. In those moments I will smile and enjoy a taste of something purely enjoyable. But for the most part, everything that goes into my body will be real food.

*Avoid red meat and dairy

*Avoid any other meat that is not organic.

*Eat appropriate portions.

*Try to do without additives. Clearly the ones other people put in my food but try to avoid adding things to my food like salt, butter, white sugar, etc. Keep things as simple and raw as possible.

*Be active every day. I am going to try to find time throughout the day to do my strength training...just while the kids are entertained and/or happy, try to find a few minutes here and there to go through whatever exercises I want to do that day, alternating my daily focus (upper body, lower body, core, etc.) Then, in the evenings after bedtime, hit the cardio hard. Also, stretch in the evenings and mornings.

*LISTEN to my body. If you think about it, we really know what our bodies need...it's just a matter of learning to listen to it. After growing up in a world of advertising it's not easy to do and definitely a process, but I think this is a big part of gaining and maintaining health. I have been learning to be conscious of this in the last year or so and am ready to take it to the next level by applying it in this quest to lose weight!

*THINK positively. Studies have shown the benefits of this. It is rarely easy to do so, this much I know! But, whatever I'm eating, whatever I'm doing, I will think positively about it and focus on what good I am doing and try to learn from but not punish myself for the imperfect parts. We can pull positive energy out of any food, any activity, any surroundings if we try to. I think I sometimes sound like a hippie...

*Be religious about taking my vitamins and supplements. The more power my body has to stay healthy, the less power it's using to fight off toxins and sickness...the more energy it has to put toward fighting off the fat!

*DRINK, drink, drink water! Get my intake WAY up and make it (almost) my only source of fluids. I don't mind having some fruit juice every once in a while, but water is where it's at.

Well, anyway, that's about it for now. Just wanted to get all that out there.
I am really excited and trying to ignore the fact that my body wants to get sick this first week! Haha...told this cold to get the 'beep' out of here last night with some high-intensity yoga. Can't keep me out of the gym, you energy-draining, flem-producing germ, you!!!
I hope that paints a lovely picture for all of you.

Good luck!!!!!
Love to all,
Mandy