30-day shred ~ week 4

i haven't had a chance to post any updates on my 30-day shred with jm. but don't think it means i've given up! i'm still going at it and i'm surprisingly loving every minute of it. can't believe i'm even saying this, but i'm kind of...addicted...to working out. what? i know!

for all of week 1, i did the level 1 workout. on the monday of week 2, i moved on to level 2 and that's where i've been ever since. but i'm also deviating a little bit. many days i don't do the 30-day shred workout and, instead, i do the p90x videos with my husband. p90x makes me sweat more, and i like that.

i'm already feeling healthier -  my vision of healthy is simply being able to do the things that my four little manimals need me to be able to do. i need to be strong, in order to lift and carry my heavy babies without hurting my back or shoulders. i need to have endurance to get me through the days, if anything, but also to be active with them instead of just watching them be active.

if i've learned anything thus far, it's that becoming healthier requires a lot of changes. it's about breaking habits. it's about constantly being aware of my body.

my biggest vice is definitely the fact that i'm a starbucks addict. i buy a drink at least once a day. there are many days where i buy more than one. my most favorite drink is a triple grande soy mocha. while my afternoon drink is a grande soy chai latte. and sometimes i'll just stick to a regular brewed coffee or iced coffee. i knew i wasn't going to completely cut starbucks out of the picture, {because that would not be good for anybody around me} so i knew i needed to re-evaluate this habit first. i'm sure you can imagine the high-calorie count in those aforementioned beverages, so i'm not even going to go into specifics with that. but i will tell you that i only allow myself to order ONE beverage now {well, i guess it's really two because i can order it hot or iced}: a venti brewed coffee with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla syrup and nonfat milk. only 60 calories. an incredible amount less than what i used to order daily and it still satisfies my starbucks craving just fine.

another bad habit was fast food. with four kids with completely different schedules, we're constantly on the go and it always seemed easier to swing through a drive-thru and pick up lunch. five mouths fed, no work put in by me, easy peasy. but now, not only am i eating healthier, my kids are eating healthier, too. and we're saving so much money at the same time. of course, we still sometimes have to scarf our lunch down in the car while on the way to jiu-jitsu or baseball or soccer, but we're now scarfing down homemade sandwiches and snacking on carrot sticks and celery. once i learned to manage my time better {and there's always room for improvement there; that could be a whole different post on its own}, we all eat better and reap the benefits.

i've learned to be more conscious of my body. i've learned that i don't need to feel full in order to have had enough. i've learned to stop eating because i'm stressed/overwhelmed/bored and exercising instead, in order to relieve those feelings. i've learned to drink water and not hate it. i've learned to push my body beyond what i thought were it's limits, push for a few more reps when i feel like i can't do anymore, push for another minute of cardio when i feel like i'm just going to pass out. just like jm says all the time, "it's mind over matter".

three weeks in and i feel great. my personal success is not measured by the numbers that show up on the scale or what the tape measure reads at 30 days. my success is about learning more about myself, learning how strong i really am, and giving myself the opportunity to be healthy, to be taken care of, because no one can do that for me, but me.