H2O & Sleep!

Short update! Last week I fell off the deep end. Yep. I ate terribly, barely exercised...goodbye progress. However, this week I am back on track! I've got my mind set on a few things that I know are going to help me as I move forward on this health journey:

1. Hydration! I decided yesterday that I'm going to cut out soda cold turkey until Thanksgiving (see what I did there haha). Anyway...I only drink soda when we go out because we don't typically keep any at the house, however, we've been going out a lot lately. We've decided to quit doing that as often so that we can save money and pay off debt, which will help me tremendously to not have the temptation there. I think by Thanksgiving I'll be so used to not drinking it, that I'll only want it every now and then anyway because I'll be feeling so good without it. So if you see me go for a soda STOP ME! I drink a lot of water already but know that I could be drinking more. Being hydrated always makes me feel more energetic, so I know it will be good all around!

Although it's more important to hydrate from the inside out, I also have been slacking in my skin care (which I'm usually on top of). I've been slipping into bed with my makeup still on, which means I didn't moisture up before going to bed. So it will be back to my normal skin care regimen!

**Tip: If ya'll have never tried it, coconut oil is THE BEST skin moisturizer I've ever found. Which is awesome because it's cheap and natural. I buy a jar of it, melt a couple of tablespoons in the microwave, and then pour it into my bubble bath and soak for a while (it's a good excuse for getting to take a long, hot, relaxing bath and read for a bit. As if we need an excuse, but I know sometimes we feel like we have to justify spending time on ourselves). Seriously though, try it. My skin has never felt smoother than when I use this stuff once or twice a week. **WARNING: It makes your tub EXTREMELY slippery!! Seems like common sense, I know, I just don't want to get blamed if someone slips and hurts themselves. I usually do a quick wipe down of my tub after each bath just because I like it clean when I get in the next time, but even doing that, the tub will be slippery for a few baths after the initial coconut oil was put in. Just be careful if you are clumsy like me!

2. ZzZzZz! Sleep is the next thing on my list! I have been getting in bed way too late, and once I'm there I've been having trouble sleeping. Is it possible to be so tired that you can't sleep? That's how I've felt the last week or so. I think being more hydrated and getting back into my good workout routine will actually help with this, but I have to do my part too and actually plant my booty in bed at a decent hour and start winding down. There may be one NyQuil night in my near future to force me back on schedule (don't judge...I use NyQuil about once every month or two to get a good nights sleep when I'm having a week like this). I've found that once I have one good rest, my body gets back on track and realizes how much it likes those ZzZz's.

3. Quiet Time! I just started studying Matthew in my quiet time, so I'm sure I will have exciting things to share in the near future on that! But my prayer right now is to keep consistent with it, and not let being tired or "busy" distract me from it. I'm pretty excited about all that I'm learning in it so far, and I'm only about half way into chapter one. : ) God is just awesome in taht way!

REPORT IN LADIES! Let me know how you are doing whether you've had a great health week, or a bad one like I had last week. We can't keep each other accountable if we don't know what's going on.

I hope you are all having a great week so far!

Accountability and Zoodles

Alright ladies....reality time. Why am I the only one posting on here?! I'm going to keep posting no matter what, but it would be SOOOO much easier to keep each other accountable if we were all posting on here. I think we could all benefit from each other's support and encouragement during our ups and downs of trying to be healthy!

Zoodles....ever heard of them? I have a feeling I may become obsessed. I LOVE squash and zucchini...but of course my favorite way to eat them is FRIED. Delicious, but not the healthiest. So I bought this new contraption to make zoodles. 

That's right...they're noodles made out of whatever vegetable you can find! Yum! I love pasta but know that it isn't very healthy at all. So I'm going to try and make some things out of these instead and only eat pasta for a treat here and there. I feel like this zoodle maker will come in handy a lot. So tonight I made a dish that my mom taught me how to make. She used to make it with spaghetti noodles and then sometimes makes it with squash noodles which is also delicious. 

You start by frying up some bacon (obviously not the healthiest, but all of the other ingredients are healthy, so I think we are okay. You could substitute and use turkey bacon as well, we just didn't have that at the house).

I made a little extra bacon so Jaret could have some, but you can use how ever many you prefer. I broke the bacon up and put some green onion (any onion will work), then some minced garlic. Next I threw my zoodles in there with some salt and pepper and cooked it until the zoodles were soft to taste. It was delicious...Jaret even ate it!! Of course he said it would be better with actual pasta.

What's On My Playlist

So if any of you are like me, music is a major part of my life. No matter what mood or emotion I'm feeling, there are always songs and artists that I can relate to. I just crank it up and listen and let them be my remedy, or in the case of working out, my motivation.

My playlist is ever changing and contains all genres...but here are some songs that are currently on it to help me when I work out:

Cardio & Strength/upbeat work outs:

1. Shine On (Needtobreathe)
2. Something Beautiful (Needtobreathe)
3. Girls Chase Boys (Ingrid Michaelson)
4. Brave (Sara Bareilles)
5. Overwhelmed (Big Daddy Weave)
6. Let the Good Times Roll (Ben Rector)
7. Wake Me Up (Avicii)
8. Forever (Kari Jobe)
9. Shake It Off (Taylor Swift....yes, I'm ashamed of this one, I really can't stand her, but it has a good beat!)
10. I Love My Life (Demarco)

Stretching, Yoga & Cool Downs:

1. The Long Day is Over (Nora Jones)
2. Count Me In (Early Winters: The Lucky One Soundtrack)
3. Hold On You (Ponderosa: The Lucky One Soundtrack)
4. You Got What I Need (Joshua Radin: The Lucky One Soundtrack...which I obviously love every song on)
5. Violin (Amos Lee)
6. We All Need Saving (Jon McLaughlin)
7. Yours Forever (Dara Maclean)
8. I'll Follow You (Jon McLaughlin)
9. You are the Best Thing (Ray LaMontagne)
10. Let it be Me (Ray LaMontagne)

This is just a small snippet of my playlist. It goes on and on...and on haha. Hopefully some of you have some songs that get you moving that you want to share! I ordered something to help me on my health journey and should be getting it in the mail tomorrow, so I'm excited to share that with you guys! Hope everyone is having a great week!

**Also, a dear friend of mine, Tara, shared her story as a comment on the first post I put up on the blog. So go check that out and support her on her health journey as well!

Where I'm At...

I'm so happy to know that I am not the only one in need of this blog/support group...whatever you want to call it! I've been attempting to improve my health for a while now with not a lot of results. My life is busy...and busy in a good way. My husband, Jaret, and I are always on the go it feels like. We have small group, church functions, family get togethers, hanging out with friends, going on dates; all of which we absolutely love and are not willing to give up. When we aren't doing that I'm cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, and learning how to be a better wife (I'm pretty new at this stuff still).

I started noticing lately that I've just felt tired. Those of you that know me well, know that I'm a people pleaser...I don't know how to say no (I'm learning though). If I'm being honest, I started feeling like I was taking care of everyone else, but who was taking care of me? Oh pitiful me...I know haha. I feel like on average, I'm a pretty upbeat, positive person, and could slowly feel myself getting away from that and just dragging through the day. The truth is, I have a great husband who does a ton for me, and I have God taking care of me every day...I just haven't been doing my part to take care of myself...because that's selfish right?? NO! It isn't selfish at all. How am I supposed to take care of other people (which I LOVE to do) if I'm not even spending just a small portion of my day taking care of me. It's kind of like the whole oxygen mask on the plane concept...put yours on first, then help the person next to you. Easier said than done! But I'm doing it now, and am so happy to have other women around me that want to join in and do the same for themselves. I can only imagine the craziness of some of y'alls houses that have cute kiddos running around. It is beautiful chaos at it's finest I'm sure! I know that compared to you guys, I don't even know the definition of busy. I'm hoping this group can help all of us out.

So...my story of where I'm at and where I want to be.

Spiritually, I always want to improve and grow closer to God. There again, the hectic schedule I have has become an excuse. "Well, I have small group tonight, so if I skip my quiet time this morning it's okay, because I'll still be in the Word today" or "I just need those 30 more minutes of sleep or I'm not going to make it through the work day...I'll read tonight....after this episode...after my bubble bath...ZzZzZz...oops". My goal here is simple....have my quiet time every single day without fail. Because of all the different types of health, this one is the most important to me.

Mentally, I want to improve my attitude in certain areas, or with certain things in my life. Revert back to the last paragraph to see my solution to that. Being close to God, in His word and through prayer will solve this; I'm positive!

Physically; where to begin. The short version is that I grew up an athlete my whole life. I was always in shape and able to do anything I set my mind to. Oh that willpower (and stupidity in some situations I'm sure haha). I always had jobs that required me to be on my feet, moving around, lifting heavy things, etc. I've noticed my physical health slowly decline over the past few years since I've had a desk job and not been in college where I'm running around playing ultimate frisbee with friends, or whatever else it was we did. I don't enjoy sitting at a desk and always said it is the one job I would never do. Never say never! Since this job doesn't necessarily fit what I enjoy (although I'm very thankful to have it), I've let it get the best of me physically and mentally, and enough is enough! I was flipping through old Facebook photos the other day and came across this pic from just a few years ago when I was still in college:

The picture kind of hit me hard and made me realize I needed to do something. I learned some things from this picture:

1. My hand looks oddly white compared to the rest of my body...weird. Kind of looks like someone else's hand (It's mine though, trust me, I just have man hands) : )

2. I thought I was huge at that time. It's sad that the world makes us feel that way, because looking back I feel like for my height, that is when I was at my healthiest.

3. My unhealthy habits didn't happen over night, and getting back to healthy ones won't either. I don't need to have the mentality of, "well I messed up today, I might as well give up". It's going to take hard work and dedication, and I'm ready for it.


But enough of that...now to the good stuff. After looking at the picture and really thinking about what I needed to do, I started thinking about my body as the dwelling place for the Lord. Holy crap Rene....what are you doing?! I eat junk, I don't exercise as much as I need to, I'm not in the Word every day hanging out with God, my father and best friend. In the Old Testament when the temple was being built, they used only the absolute finest and best of everything to build it. They knew it would be a dwelling place for God. As beautiful and fine crafted as that building was, there is something even more beautiful...us! We were created by our perfect God, and when Christ died on the cross, there was no longer a need for that beautiful temple, because the Lord now dwells within us when we accept Him...what a privilege! This isn't like having some people over to your house and saying, "Ignore the mess, I didn't have time to clean". This is God...living within us. How can I not take care of my body that He has blessed me with and uses as His dwelling place.

So...I am extremely happy to get this blog and my journey going, and am thankful to have you women to share it with! I wanted to give a little (okay, a lot) of back story on why I wanted to start it in the first place. I want this to be a positive and encouraging place where we can share our struggles, recipes, scripture, encouragement, jokes, prayer requests work outs, articles...just anything and everything and then some.

I kept the blog private, so when random people are on google it doesn't pop up, that way no negativitey creeps it's way on here. So if you know someone who wants to join and be able to post on here too, just get me their email address and I will add them as a member. Everyone is able to read it, so feel free to share the link with anyone that you want even if they don't want to post!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full and well."  - Psalm 139: 13-14


-Rene Smith