Happy Easter weekend! I love Easter, I love spring, I love this time of year!
In the spirit of Easter, I loved this beautiful short video put out by my church. <3
Such a touching and profound, yet simple message. I’m so grateful for my faith in Christ and the miracle of His Resurrection and atonement.
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter tomorrow!
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This past week has been Spring Break for my kiddos and it’s been a really nice week.
We decided not to go on vacation, but stayed home instead. It was actually wonderful! We spent time relaxing, getting a little more sleep and doing some fun things together.
We went to the park a couple times…
The weather was so beautiful and almost felt like summer!!!
We also went to the library. I had to laugh because as my little kiddos were picking out their books, my 15 year old was bored to tears and started playing word search games on the iPads.
I snapped this pic of him hanging out in the little kids section. Ha ha!
His little brothers joined him soon thereafter…
I took my little kiddos to the Trampoline Park one day and they had a ball! They never wanted to leave!
And this morning we went to our city’s Easter Egg hunt.
It was a little chaotic, but fun!
This week, we also went to lunch a couple of times and just enjoyed spending time together and taking a little break from the daily grind.
I love these kids! Ya know, I have six kids, but sometimes I feel like I have two separate groups of kids. I have my three teenagers, who in true teenager fashion, are always running around and busy! Then, I have my three little kiddos who are growing up waaaaay faster than I’d like them too.
My 15 year old son seems to flip-flop between the two groups. He hangs with his older siblings, but thankfully is still available to run around with me and the little kids sometimes too!
I enjoy my kids at every stage, but have sure learned to soak them up at every age and never wish it away!
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Well folks, as far as health and fitness goes, this week has been interesting! Funnily enough, at the beginning of this week I felt thinner than I’ve felt in a while. My weight was the lowest it’s been in probably a year and half!
FYI, the past 5 months or so, I’ve just been trying to up my game overall. I’ve been more aware of what I’m eating, trying not to eat too much and doing things like intermittent fasting and having a green smoothie every day, which always help me.
I haven’t been perfect at it, like at all, but I have been consistent! I just keep going back to what I know makes me feel my best and not giving up.
With that being said, when Spring Break first started on Monday, I thought, “I’m going to enjoy a little bit of crappy food this week!” Ha ha. I wanted to let loose a little and feel like we were on a little bit of a staycation.
Soooo, I ate a little bit of crap! It was nice, but I think I might have gone overboard just a bit. We got donuts one day and I made cookies another day. Kev and I got candy and some treats one night and watched a movie, which was fun, but um ya, we didn’t need it. Ha ha.
We did go out to eat a couple times and I chose decent options, which was good. I guess it could’ve been worse. All in all, it was kind of nice to just enjoy myself and eat a little junk. BUT, I gotta say now I feel a little bit blah-ish as well. Go figure!
I feel bloated and poofy, which is not a surprise. My weight is up four pounds, but I’m thinking most of that is water retention. We shall see! Fingers crossed!
I’m going to eat some Easter candy tomorrow, but then I’m MORE THAN ready to get back to work and to my nice consistent healthy eating lifestyle again on Monday!
I think it’s so nice to take a break and indulge once in a while. It’s fun and it also helps me remember that I actually enjoy eating well and fueling my body with good, clean food so much more. It’s a good reminder and motivator!
I also gotta say that in order to have long-term success with healthy living, to feel well and to maintain a healthy weight, you have to make it a lifestyle!
You don’t have to live it every single day, but it’s so important to find out what works for you and what you’ll be likely to go back to and stick with. I could write an entire post all about that (and I have, many times!), but I just wanna say that if you just follow a random diet plan or do what “so and so” is doing, it may work for a while, but it most likely won’t stick!
I think the best thing to do is to look at the lifestyle you’re already living and the foods you’re already eating and find ways to subtly and consistently improve that. Identify the healthy foods you do like and eat them often! Cut out a lot of the crap you’re eating and just have it on occasion. Drink lots of water. Don’t overeat.
Find things that work for you and that you can stick with and DO THEM. Find forms of exercise that you love and that feed your soul. Find things that help you feel motivated and that make you feel your best!
Intermittent fasting, drinking lots of water and having a green smoothie every day are some of those things for me!
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I’m happy to say that although I indulged in a little bit of cruddy food this week, I also got some awesome workouts in!
On Monday, I ran over to the gym and did my own strength training workout, which was great.
Sometimes I focus on one or two muscle groups, sometimes I just do upper or lower body, but this time I did a whole body workout. It was great and I definitely felt it the next day!
When I work the whole body, I try to pick at least two exercises for each muscle group in the body and work them out well. I also love doing more of a superset style workout because it’s so efficient! I take very little breaks and just prefer to switch off between upper and lower body moves so I can rest a muscle group while working others.
It felt so good!
I really love to go to classes at the gym, but sometimes it’s nice just to put in my headphones, listen to some good music and do my own thang too!
Sometimes I use the machines in the main part of the gym and sometimes I like to tuck into the empty classroom, load up a barbell, grab some dumbbells and just get to work. It’s mental therapy for me as well!
On Tuesday, I went on a 4 mile run and felt so so good! I hadn’t been on a run for about a month, so I was so happy to get out and ruuuuuuun!
The weather was perfect. It had been raining all day, so when it cleared up, I headed out. The air felt so fresh and it felt like spring! I loved every second.
I was also so happy that my body felt so good too! I didn’t pay attention to my pace, I just ran at the pace that felt good to me. At the end of my run, I realized I’d been running faster than I’ve been running lately too. That was awesome.
FYI, the past year or so, I’ve been running around a ten minute pace; this run was around 9:30 and felt easy!
On Wednesday, I went to one of my favorite Strength Training classes at the gym. It’s always such a great class, but this week it felt extra hard for some reason. I was so glad I went though and snapped this sweaty selfie afterward,
On Thursday, I went to an incredible Boot Camp class at the gym and loved it. It was kind of a HIIT style class and killed me.
I took Friday off and tonight I’m planning on hopping on my treadmill for a quick run as soon as I finish this post.
Ya know, I love a good workout! Sometimes I don’t feel like gettin’ it done, but I always feel so so good afterward! This week felt great because I was able to get a little more sleep and allow my body to recover adequately. It felt fantastic.
I gotta say, that when we work our bodies hard, especially when we do weight training and break those muscles down, it’s so important to make sure we get enough rest!
I struggle with getting enough sleep all the time, but I keep trying! I KNOW it is vital and makes a HUGE difference in overall quality of life and overall health.
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Well folks, I guess my overall message today is to strive for health and happiness! Strive for consistency and keep trying! Allow yourself to live a little, but then get back to work! Be honest with yourself and make changes that are necessary and that will bless your life.
I hope you all enjoy a beautiful Easter tomorrow. I love you all. Really I do. Mwah! xoxo
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