Just Do It June - Update #2

Courtney:

Well I've learned a couple of things about myself over the past few weeks, but the biggest one is this:

I'm not very consistent. Whether it comes to dieting or blogging or working out or whatever. I have a hard time sticking to a plan. And that's because I'm just very chill, very go with the flow - whatever happens, happens. I can make things happen too, but not on a schedule or a time frame. And sometimes that can be a good thing, but other times not so much. So I don't necessarily think it's something that I need to change, it just needs some fine tuning, to work more for my success, betterment and benefit.

My workouts have been very inconsistent because I get off work at a different time every day.
Hard as I try to plan meals ahead, I often fall off the bandwagon in the nanny home when it comes to sugar.
Drinking water and portion control have been a breeze. My problem isn't quantity, it's quality.

And I have made progress on the quality front, but I still don't have that will of steel to say NO every time.

Now I'm on vacay with my family, which has proved to be even more difficult. I miss working out and I hate travel food. I also have homework that is backing up as I type, but I'm going out of the country for the week, so I wanted to update this blog before I go off the grid.

Just whatever you're doing, don't give up! If you want to see results, then you have to quit quitting. And I know I need to take my own advice too. So cheers to your goals and progress and to much success!

<3 Courtney

Hello loves!

How has June been for you? Thus far in my life there have been birthdays, tests, medical issues, new jobs, more busyness and...*drumroll please* WEIGHT LOSS!

Here's the instagram pic :) 5lbs down!

It's been a crazy journey, but I finally saw the scale move after 4 months of working hard at these goals.

Here are my confessions about it all:

I haven't been using MFP this month...like at all. Not sure if it's the reason why I'm losing weight, but I think I was becoming a little too obsessed, so taking a break has been nice.
I mentioned that my calorie intake is generally low since we're cut sugars out, and I'd say that's mostly true still. I've had some pizza this month...that was great, but I knew that day was gonna be crazy.

As for straight up sugars and desserts, I'm happy to repost only one splurge since my last entry!! Ed asked me if I would eat a root beer float with him so he didn't have to have it alone. He's been so supportive about all of this that his sugar intake has gone down as well. It's awesome.

Other than that, I have been happy to eat fruits and such as my only sweets. It's not to say the temptations aren't all around me all the time...trust me, passing on the cinnamon rolls in my early morning class the other day was rough, and not eating a treat when it's been a long day and I'm hurried to get something in my tummy is no easy thing. I walked around the grocery store yesterday for an hour just to find something acceptable to snack on.

All of it is worth it when I think of the awesome feeling I get stepping on that scale. I've lost 5 lbs. total now and I feel awesome about it.

I have more energy, I'm sleeping better and I feel good about myseld, which is really the most important thing.
It helps that Ed has noticed the changes. I put on my bathing suit the other day so we could go down to the river and he couldn't keep his hands off of me...that alone was worth passing on the treats! :)

So yea, it's tough...reading every label, feel frustrated and deprived from time to time, but it's been worth it!

My exercise life has taken a dip due to some medical things I'm working out right now. I'll know more next week and let you all know what's going on and how I'm going to proceed, BUT I'm still going to my aerobics class twice a week and getting a good burn going those days.
I'm also walking more. All this energy means that I don't mind walking around for things and being quick about it. My pedometer app has helped me see how I've been improving and I'm happy that the numbers are going UP!

I need to do better about water, especially now that it's hot all the time, however, I am eating LOADS of watermelon these days and that's been helpful :)

Not sure what else to say and if I think too hard I won't finish...so I love you all! Have an awesome 4th of July and BE SAFE!

xoxo Jenny

Just Do It June - Update #1

Jenny:

I taught my mom to take some selfies ;)

Oh hello friends. Here's something awesome: My mom (and cousins) came to visit me from California! :D YAY!
Another awesome thing: we all went out to ice cream today and I didn't get any!

OK...so let's be honest, this has NOT been an easy challenge. But here's how I'm doing:

2/5 Days worked out.
Portions: GREAT (until tonight)
Water intake: Needs Improvement
Sugar: Average (scale of 1-10 I'm at 8)

Here's the dealio...I might be sharing TMI, but without my Fiber One Bars I get a little back up, if you know what I mean. I swear by them (as Courtney says), but they have chocolate in them :(

I tried going without them the first two days and it was NO BUENO, so I've had one each day since. Other than that, I can't say I've done too bad. I try to read EVERY label and "just say no" when things aren't meeting the criteria. I even said no to some sugar free popsicles because they used Splenda.

So I feel good.

Here's what I'm noticing:
I'm less and less hungry and crave sugar less and less with time.
I have more energy (go figure) and I'm not "crashing".
I don't eat as many calories because my food options are smaller and make me want to keep my portions small.

Overall, so far so good...except I need to exercise more, but with my mom in town, that was my excuse ;)

Also, my loving husband saw I was bummed to say goodbye to my mama, so he got me some Italian food and I ate WAY too much. Luckily, I felt it and stopped, but about 30 minutes later I got my watermelon out and went to town. I guess I was hungry today!

That's all for me. I hope you're all having a great day!

Be happy and healthy!

xoxo Jenny


Courtney:

I think the reason I'm not losing weight anymore is because I'm stressed. And I'm not sleeping enough. Not to make excuses for myself and word-dump on the blog, but seriously, I picked a heck of a time to start a new eating and workout regiment.

Just the motivation I needed!

Working 12+ hours per day, 2 online science classes that I don't understand and will determine when I graduate, temple rep over the YSA conference for the entire summer, random Sunday school teacher and RS teacher, also planning my brother's wedding reception for June and trying to spend time with my sister before she leaves to serve an 18 month mission for the LDS church in July. On top of all that, I have to plan healthy eating habits and spend 1 or 2 hours at the gym (plus showering afterwards). Needless to say, I'm a little bit frazzled these days. I get home from work or the gym completely exhausted, and have to stay up till all hours of the night doing homework, then get up early for work the next day. It's a never ending cycle, and it's going to be the death of me. I didn't realize I had taken on so much this summer till it was too late. Now I'm just going to have to suck it up till the fall. So if you could just pray that I don't fail these classes, cause that will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

But I'd say I'm doing pretty good so far on the June challenge, considering... everything.

- I've worked out every day since Monday.
- The only portion I haven't been controlling is my salads, they are out of control and I love it! :)
- Water intake is strong and steady at 8+ glasses per day.
- The sugar thing is kicking my trash. I haven't been doing very well at avoiding it, or even taking the time to check if the things I'm eating have sugar  :/ *derp*

Example A - good day!

Example B - bad day

Though I have had a little breakthrough of my own, not directly in correlation with our monthly challenge. I've been counting calories for over a month now. And I love the MyFitnessPal app, if for no other reason that showing me what kind of crap I've been eating, and how I can eat everything better in moderation. I'm slowly learning what's best for me and my body. Here are some of the pie charts from the MFP app, and I just love seeing what has my ratio is every day. It makes me more cautious and aware, and I don't really count the calories so much anymore, as I do the nutrition of what I'm taking in. So I'm not stopping here, I'm definitely going to be staying on top of this challenge and finding the right ratio for me, but MFP/counting calories is not going to be me for the rest of eternity, it's just a means to an end, until I get to a point where I'm knowledgeable and in control enough to not use it as a crutch anymore. Somewhere in the future, down the road, I will get there! :)

If you're new to our blog, introduce yourself and share some of your stories, successes or secrets! We're excited to get to know all of our friends and followers here :) hope you all have a great weekend ahead!

<3 Courtney

June Challenge (We need name ideas!)

Courtney:

Okay, ladies and gents!

Jenny and I have been keeping this blog for roughly 3 months now, and though we haven't seen too many results on the way to our health and fitness dreams, we sure have had fun with these monthly challenges, and we've learned so much! About what we like and don't like, and about what works and doesn't work in our separate and different lifestyles. She's a student and a wife, I'm a nanny and a single lady, so our schedules and our daily requirements call for different things. But we're still willing to make the same commitments - determined to be fit and healthy, and make baby steps along the way!

Precautions from the website ;)

So for June, we're going to kinda incorporate a few of the challenges from the past few months. Jenny and I were debating about what kind of challenge to do for this month, and we had a few ideas, but after some pondering and cruising Pinterest, we decided that this would be the one. A huge challenge, but doable I think..

Here are the details: (http://skinnyms.com/4-step-weight-loss-challenge/)

1) Increased water intake (at least 8-9 cups per day)

2) Avoid all refined and artificial sweeteners (4 daily teaspoons of unrefined sweeteners is allotted, along with Stevia, because it's natural)

3) Portion control (using salad plates for meals, and measuring food with hand palm)

4) 30+ minutes of exercise per day, 6 days a week

So. We've tried a little bit of everything over the past few months, but now we're going to throw it all together. The only thing that intimidates me is the sugar. I've seen how some of my friends get when they haven't had sugar over the an extended period of time, and I don't want to go crazy like they did, hahaha! Another hold up I know I'm going to have is that I can't eat the food at my nanny house anymore, and I don't have a lot of time to plan meals beforehand, early in the morning before work, but I guess I just have no choice anymore. I'm gonna do my best and do nothing less! Wish us luck!

<3 Courtney


Jenny:

Doesn't Courtney have an amazing attitude?

In my last post I talked with you about depression and I've been curious as to some natural ways to help in my battle with it.

By no coincidence, we're learning a lot about nutrition in my Child Development and Psychology classes right now, so it was the perfect time to do some research and make some changes.

I agree with Court, that the hardest part of this months challenge will be really taking a good hard look at what sugars I'm putting in my mouth.

Ed and I went grocery shopping Saturday and read EVERY label. (He's so supportive!) We found out that some of the things I've thought were healthy are NOT and some of the things I thought weren't healthy, fit the parameters of this challenge. Go figure.

So we made some purchases and I've committed to this as if I were starting all over.

A few things I've already done:

I'm making my green shakes at night now, just before bed, so I can grab and go in the morning.

I bought agave nectar, and a few other ingredients to replace the things I already use that might have been more sugary.

I found bars, snacks and meals that include all whole foods and aren't as processed. There are a few exceptions, but I will tell you as I go.

I am doing some serious research about what the nutritional value of certain foods are AND comparing things. (Do a google search about honey vs. agave, for example...so informative!)

I am packing my gym clothes the night before in an effort to make that more seamless. I would sometimes skip the gym if my clothes weren't washed or if I couldn't find them...lame, right?

I'm still using MFP, and want to use it even MORE specifically so it can help me track my sugars and other things like fat and sodium.

I'm really excited about this challenge, especially in conjunction with my aerobics class, a marathon I'm running in September (more details later) and getting help for my depression. I know this "high" will have a low to go along with it, so please help me and Courtney by commenting on our Facebook page, Instagram, YouTube or here on the blog so we can push through the hard times.

I love you all so much and I'm so excited to see how June changes us for the better!

Be happy and healthy!

xoxo Jenny

A quick P.S. I decided to start this challenge tonight after I fasted for church and I had some greek yogurt with a dot of honey and a dot of agave (I was comparing flavor, etc.) and it was AMAZING...no clue why I haven't been eating that my whole life!