Pepper's Healthy Change Challenge

What a challenging week I've had. How about you? Did you have one of those weeks that didn't fall into line with the normal routine? That's how it was for me--and I'm proud to say that I still met my weight loss goals! That is a 1-2 lbs a week weight loss. Anymore than that could be unhealthy. And again, this is not a race to get to a specific weight (at least not for me). For me this Healthy Change Challenge is a way for me to kill the word diet.

That word sets us up to fail because having a diet 'state of mind' means that we are in a mindset that we are doing something unpleasant. Maybe creating a strict regimen works for a while but my goal is to create a different thought pattern about weight loss and becoming healthy. I do this by incorporating acceptable changes to the way I live and if it is something hard then I give myself a challenge with a specific time frame. After that time frame ends than I have the choice to go back or keep going forward without feeling as if I am cheating. For the last 2 weeks I've given myself a challenge that I couldn't make.

Friday I walked up the garage stairs and although for about 5 minutes after I felt as if i was going to pass out, by the time I began driving I felt invigorated. Same thing happened today. I feel energized having forced my heart to pump and the oxygen to give life to my sluggish cells.

You might ask what happened to the other days of the week...well that is where life happens. Mom had to go to emergency Monday evening and...well it would have been just down right bad to worry about walking up the garage steps when your Mom is waiting for you to drive her to emergency (smirk). I was with my mother for the next few days. She is okay. She is actually better than okay. She's had her first chemo treatment and she didn't get ill (knocking on wood).

So, despite the fact that I didn't have any stairwell to climb I did stomach crunches every night to make up for my lack of stair-walking. In addition I added more healthy foods to my diet by creating a world winning salad that I crave even now. I crave it more than unhealthy food and have eaten it 4x in a week! Also I found a Vietnamese restaurant right next to Mom's hospital and I got a big bowl of Pho (no meat). Eating Pho is like eating a 4 course meal to me--that's how much I love it. And it's just broth, noodles and fresh veggies! Perhaps I should buy a weeks supply of the soup--I could literally eat it every single day.

In addition to finding healthy foods that I don't mind eating, I start my day with oatmeal. I will never tire of oatmeal. But if I want eggs than I'll do that occasionally. All in all I've had a good healthy week and I feel good. This week's healthy change is stretching.

Yep. Stretching. Did you know that you don't stretch before a warm-up, but after? Do some light cardio and then stretch when your body and muscles are warm. Don't bounce and hold your stretches for 30 seconds. If stretching causes pain than you have stretched too hard. You should feel a pleasant pulling.

In the winter months our bodies need the stretch. My joints ache, my back is stiff, my knees make noises like snap, crackle and pop! Worse is that I just feel sluggish. But when I do my crunches it makes me want to feel the burn in my muscles from some activity and I have noticed that it doesn't take much to increase my flexibility. I walk different because I stretch--yep no more shuffling like a zombie, my hips flow from side to side (smile).

let's stretch this week. You know you want to!