Post Camp Update

Hey everyone! It's been so long- it's time to update!

It's Deeper Life time again! I have been going to the same camp in Blackduck, MN for the last.... 15 years. I counseled for, I believe, 10 years, and this year I figured I wouldn't be able to go to camp since I have a baby. I asked the person in charge of staffing if there was anything that we could do as a family and found out that they needed a camp nurse for the 9th and 10th grade week so we signed up. Camp was June 26th- July 2nd, so we got done at camp and went straight to camping at my aunt's house in Bemidji for the 4th and came home late Monday night.

Camp was really good, but definitely different. After counseling for so many years it was really hard to be in a position that wasn't as intense. I had to keep reminding myself that this season of life is about being a mom and getting to be at camp at all was a huge blessing. As the week went on I had some great conversations and we had some great moments as a family. We brought Zoe to the lake one day and she got to go in the lake for the first time. She went in a pool (quickly) at 2 weeks, but had never been in the lake before. At first she hated it (it was pretty chilly) but didn't mind once her butt was in the water. We only had her in there long enough to snap a few quick pictures but it was fun. Wednesday night at camp was a really intense and redemptive night at camp and from that point on you could really see a difference in the lives of the kids.

Now to talk about my healthy lifestyle, or lack of a healthy lifestyle, while I've been away. I had big plans to do Ripped in 30 every day at camp. I don't know why this didn't occur to me, but I had absolutely no space to do it. Even if I would have rearranged my entire cabin I don't think I could have fit in the exercises. That went out the window immediately. My second plan was that I would run every day and with 90 degree days that went out of the window pretty quickly too. Overall I ended up going for one run in the entire time I was gone (a little over a week). As far as eating goes, that was also really hard. All of my meals were made for me so I had to eat what was made. I tried to eat in moderation but I still ate dessert when given to me and made a lot of poor and reckless choices in regards to food. This experience has been a good example of what you would call a fail.

In the past, when dealing with issues of being healthy, if I failed I would just quit. I've never been able to mess up with eating or exercising and get back on the horse. With the craziness that my life has been since getting home I haven't been back on track yet. This time I plan to get back on track again. Tonight I'm going running so that will be a good start. I got new shoes and I'm so excited to try them out! I've been having quite a bit of pain in my right heel when walking or running so hopefully good, supportive shoes help. The good news in all of this is that even though I didn't lose weight while I was gone, I didn't gain any either, so I haven't back tracked.

Update! Since writing the first part of this I weighed myself again and am now 21 lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight! YES! It feels good to be 153! I can't tell a huge different in how I look other than my thighs, they seem like half the size they used to be :).

I have many more thoughts so there will probably be an explosion of new posts soon since I haven't had the chance to post for so long!

Ripped in 30

This is our new workout called Ripped in 30. If you haven't been following my blog, here's a quick recap: I had a baby and then started out doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. During those 30 days I changed my eating habits and ended up losing 12-13 lbs and went down in pant size. After that I spent two weeks running and then ran a 5k. Now I'm on to my next workout adventure, which is this video.

This video has been pretty similar to the Shred so far. It's another circuit workout, which means that you do 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and one minute of abs, three times through (with a warm up and cool down). The work outs are 24 minutes long and one difference with this video is that there are 4 levels instead of three. They are broken up into weeks, with week 4 being called "Madness" (which makes me shiver a little). This video seems a little bit more difficult than the Shred so we didn't skip ahead to higher levels, we started off on week 1. Today will be day 7, meaning that tomorrow we will move on to week 2. It definitely makes you sweat but it's only 24 minutes so it's completely do able. If you click here it will take you to Amazon where this video is about $10. Also, if you have Netflix and don't need the DVD portion for the next month, you can get this DVD through Netflix too.

I would recommend that you all incorporate some sort of circuit training into your workouts. I recently learned that the difference in circuit training is that it kicks up your metabolism, which causes you to keep burning more calories through the day when you're not working out. This is why a 24 minute video can make such a big difference in your looks and health.

So I started Ripped in 30 at 159 lbs. I just weighed myself after 6 days of working out (8 days total) and I am now 155! It's been so awesome to watch that number drop. I'm starting to slowly lose that hopeless feeling that I've always had regarding my weight. It can be done!

PLEASE READ: I just want to throw it out there that I am breastfeeding, and that makes a difference in my weight loss. By just feeding my baby I'm burning about an extra 500 calories a day. If you're not nursing a baby right now you're not getting this advantage so please don't compare your weight loss to mine, it's not fair. You can lose weight though, and you will if you just stick to it!

People actually read this?

I keep having people mention my blog, or tell me that they have read it. That is so awesome! I honestly didn't think that anyone would take the time to read it so I'm glad that people are and hopefully they're getting some motivation.

This last week was pretty hard. Mac's work schedule changed to one where he's gone from the time we wake up until I'm putting Zoe to sleep. I'm used to getting his help at night when he gets home, so the result of this has been an extremely tired Nyki. I've worked out almost every day but there were a couple days where I felt too exhausted to do anything that day.

After my "tired week" I have two thoughts that I've been processing. The first thought is that I need to have grace for myself or this "healthier living" is going to be short lived. There will be days when, because of whatever circumstances, I am too exhausted to work out and that's OK. I cannot be perfect. As Jillian Michaels says in Ripped in 30, "Perfect sucks!", ha ha. My second thought was that although it's ok to take a break some time, I can't live in a world of excuses. Yes, sometimes it would be healthier to not work out and take a personal day, but you could probably come up with a reason to take a personal day every day. The fact of the matter is that life is generally pretty wearing. We live in a "busy" society. You don't just lose weight and become a healthy person without effort, so some days this looks like working out even when I'm exhausted.

Now I'm off to tell you about our new adventure called Ripped in 30...

5k Update!

Saturday was finally the day of the 5k. The two weeks before the 5k were supposed to be dedicated to running, but with 90 degree weather that didn't work out well and my friend and I only ran a few times, leaving me feeling pretty nervous and unprepared. I kept questioning whether or not I was really capable of running a 3.1 mile race 3 months after having a baby.

The day of the race was here! I woke up early and took a warm bath to try to loosen up my calves (they were sore from running the day before, which I shouldn't have done). The bath seemed to help a lot. I then ate a small breakfast and put on my workout clothes. The night beforehand my friend and I decided that we should go and get some fun new workout clothes, so we did. My thought was that my awesome new clothes might just distract everyone from noticing how out of shape I was :). Before we went shopping I decided that I wanted a shirt that was the color of a tennis ball and some shorts, and that's just what I got. My brother (and parents) were visiting from Bemidji and my brother had agreed to do the 5k with me, so my brother, Mac, and I got into the car and headed to the 5k. We got to the St. Francis High School where the 5k started and registered. Last years shirts were tan and not very attractive at all. This years shirts were burnt orange (one of my least favorite colors) with blue and green font.... very, very ugly. This was a bummer considering that at least 10% of the reason I was doing the 5k was for the shirt. I wonder how many 5k's I will have to run before I can get a nice looking shirt?

The whistle blew and we were off! My friend and I intended on running together but once we started things were changed up a bit. My friend ended up running with Mac since they were both a bit faster (7 minutes to be exact) and my brother stuck with me. He ended up being the least encouraging running partner ever. He kept telling me how slow I was going and even stopped to point out that my jogging was as fast as his walking pace. It ended up being pretty great though because I don't get to spend much time with him and after he got all of the discouraging words he could think of out of his head we were able to have some good, deep conversation, which I wasn't expecting.

41 minutes after the whistle blew I crossed the finish line and finished the 5k without walking. My time is pretty slow but my only goal was to jog the entire way and I did it! I really love the feeling after finishing a race, even though I was super slow I felt like I could do anything after that. The world was my oyster the moment after crossing that finish line.

Now to my next goal. Before the end of the year is up I would like to run a 10k (6.2 miles), again with the only goal being that I would jog the entire time. I am going to look at the different options for this soon and I'll update when I choose one.

Breakfast

I just finished cooking and eating breakfast. I had 2 fried eggs (fried in a very small amount of olive oil), 2 pieces of toast with a very small amount of margarine on each piece, half cup of orange juice, and a banana. I'm full and feeling ready to go for the day!

My question to you, reader, is: Does eating (or not eating) breakfast affect how you feel during the day? Do you have any fun breakfast suggestions?

Personally, I can tell a huge difference in my day if I don't make time for breakfast. I am sluggish, tired, and unmotivated. I also seem happier when I eat breakfast because it just feels like the day was started off right. In an article by the Mayo Clinic here it talks about how breakfast keeps you from unhealthy snacking later in the day, fasting too long (by missing breakfast) can cause you to store fat and gain weight, people who tend to eat breakfast eat a healthier diet throughout the day because they start on the right track, and you have more energy if you eat breakfast, leading to more physical activity (which burns calories!).

FOOD:

- I usually eat the egg meal I ate today if I have time or a Kashi granola bar and a piece of fruit if I'm in a huge hurry. I eat a lot of hard boiled eggs at breakfast so I will boil about 10 of them at a time (Mac eats a lot of them too) and I will put them in their own egg carton marked "Hard Boiled" so that I can easily grab one for breakfast or a quick snack.

-Here are some links for fun, smart breakfast options! Please add your own in the comment section too.

* This page is titled "Smart Breakfast Ideas For Children", but I think anyone would enjoy these meals.

*This site talks about healthy living as a whole and if you scroll down it gives some good breakfast meal ideas.

*This is my favorite page so far because it has an easy to read lay out full of good meal options.

YES!

Over the weekend and the last couple days I haven't felt that motivated (probably due to the 90+ degree weather. I skipped a couple work out days and ate a little more reclessly than I normally do so when I stepped on the scale this morning I was expecting to be disappointed, but.....

158!!!!!! I finally hit the 150's that I've been so excited about!!!

I'm off to a doctor's appointment with Zoe so no time to write more, but I just wanted to share my exciting news!

Heart Issues

Yesterday my friend (that I work out with everyday) and I met up for another exciting work out, except this time it was in 90 degree weather. We decided that we would bike to the park, hide our bikes in the woods, run for as long as we could stand, then ride home. It ended up working out really well.

While we were biking and running we started decided to make the most of our time and talk about heart issues. It was really good but I bet if someone was watching us it would have looked really funny to be running in 90 degree weather, panting like crazy, and talking about our deep feelings :)

Today we've decided not to work out. It's another 90+ degree day and we both just feel gross and unmotivated. Maybe I'll do a workout video with Mac tonight. He recently signed up to do a "Biggest Loser" thing at work, which is really funny if you know him. He is a pretty little guy and we realized he has pretty much zero chance of winning, but it's still good that we're getting on the same page now, as far as health goes.

Food:

Hard boiled eggs are my new favorite thing... ever. I've been boiling like 10 at a time and then I put them back in the carton (marked "hard boiled") and then put them in the fridge. I have one of those handy egg slicers and I love it! Eggs make for a great meal or great snack!

Weight loss

Although weight loss isn't my only/main goal in this process, it's definitely a plus.

I had a really weird weight situation during my pregnancy. I was so sick for the first 26 weeks that I ended up losing 20 lbs instead of gaining any weight. After 26 weeks I managed to gain back the weight plus an additional 20lbs (Zoe was also overdue by 2 weeks so I kept gaining after my due date). I was able to lose those 20 lbs within the first 6 days postpartum but I still had/have a long way to go.

I weighed myself this morning and since deciding to life a healthier life (a little over a month ago) I am 14 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight! Yay! Before I got pregnant I weighed the most that I ever have in my life, 174 lbs, and I am now down to 160 :) One more pound and I will be in the 150's which will feel amazing. For my height I've read that a good goal weight for my body would be about 128 so that's what I'm shooting for.

As a weight loss tip, which I'm sure you already know, remember to weigh yourself at the same time every day. I have been weighing myself 1st thing in the morning before eating anything which has worked out great.

Tuna Steak

This weekend went by so fast! I can't believe it's already over. It has been a busy weekend with big plans and not much actually getting done.

Yesterday was a laundry day for me. Our washing machine broke 3+ weeks ago and we immediately purchased another one from Lowe's. We cloth diaper so it's very important to have a washing machine. They ended up not coming for our set delivery time and then days later when we actually received the washing machine it was broken and flooded our basement. They finally came today (an hour later than the scheduled delivery time) and gave us a dented washing machine. That situation left me with 5 small loads and 2 large loads of laundry to wash and dry yesterday, so off to the laundromat I went! That whole experience was a workout! I didn't realize how much strength it takes to carry around all of those baskets full of clothes but it was really hard work. It was pretty awesome to see how much easier something simple like carrying a full laundry basket was for me after a month of working out.

Today Mac and I worked on getting the house clean, which was a huge chore but we got quite a bit done.

I decided to take the weekend off from working out since I haven't had a break in over 2 weeks. We did Ripped in 30 (one of Jillian's videos) on Friday and I must have worked out some new muscles because I've been really sore over the last two days. Tomorrow Sara and I will be running again to prepare for the 5k on Saturday. I can't believe it's less than a week away! I don't feel very prepared but I'm gaining more confidence each time we go running. I can do it! My only goal is to not walk, I hope I can do it!

In the "Food" area of my blogs I'll include any meals that I think are worth telling you guys about. Some of them will be simple and some will be more complicated. My hope with the food section is that I will give those of you, who have no idea how to change your diet, some ideas.

Food:

Ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread (2 slices ham, one slice cheese), with romaine lettuce, pickles and a little margarine. On the side I had lowfat cottage cheese and pickles. It was a great, filling lunch. Calories= 413

Mediterranean Pizza was Saturday night's dinner and it was a blast to make. Whole wheat dough rolled out with tomatoes, spinach, fresh basil, olives, and feta made a great fresh-tasting pizza. This is one of the meals from Jillian Michael's meal plan that goes along with Ripped in 30 Days, which can be found here. It's one of the Vegan options and Mac and I both love meat so we decided that if/when we make this meal again we will probably throw on some Canadian bacon. This meal was 388.5 calories.

Tonight for dinner we had tuna steak. I didn't grow up eating fish so it's definitely not my comfort zone. I have never had tuna steak before but it's a healthy food suggestion so we decided to try it out. Mac bought pre-marinated tuna steak from Trader Joe's (if you haven't been there, go!) and we cooked it in a frying pan. We ate it with green beans on the side and a small (red) baked potato. I LOVE sour cream and recently discovered that Greek yogurt (as gross as it sounds) tastes really similar to sour cream, so I used that on my potato and it was great.

What this blog is about:

Hey everyone! My name is Nyki and this blog is about my transition into a healthier life.

I gave birth to my daughter 12 1/2 weeks ago and decided at around 5 weeks postpartum that I really needed to make some changes in my life. I had been watching a lot of The Biggest Loser during and after my pregnancy and it was really inspiring and redemptive watching a show where people were given a second chance at life. At first these people just wanted to look better, but as the show went on they realized that a healthy lifestyle was more than just looking good, it was about being stronger, feeling better, and being able to be there more for their friends and family. As I watched them transform into people who were unrecognizable my view on "dieting" changed dramatically. I have always gone on "health kicks" where I am extreme with my diet and exercise and then quickly burn out because that lifestyle isn't maintainable. This has always been unsuccessful and has left me with the idea/lie stuck in my head that I will never be able to be a fit, healthy person.

A little over a month ago I decided that I needed to make a change in my life instead of just going on a diet. I want to be better for myself, a better wife to my husband, and a better mom for my daughter. I want to be able to chase her around while she's a kid, teach her how to be healthy growing up, and equip her to be a healthy adult some day.

For the last month a friend and I did the 30 Day Shred workout every day. We just finished on the 31st of May. It was hard but it was a really great work out. It's a 25 minute (I believe) workout, so it was perfect to do with a newborn at home. I could just put her in her down for a short nap and do the work out. I didn't measure before starting (I recommend that you do) but I did lose 12-13lbs over the month, which is great. Since ending the 30 Day Shred we have been running to prepare for the Pioneer Days 5k that we're running on June 11th. My only goal is to finish all 3.1 miles without walking.

Eating has probably been the biggest change for me. I went from eating everything in sight to eating a more appropriate amount of calories. Most days I average about 1600 while still feeling full. I have been having a lot of fun figuring out healthy food options and how to find healthier alternatives for tastes that I like. As I continue this blog I'll share some of my finds!

I think this blog will be about my journey into a healthier lifestyle as a whole. I plan to include healthy food ideas, my exercising, stories about my life, spirituality and my thoughts about the process. I hope you enjoy but if you don't, that's ok. This is more for me than anyone else!