30 Days of Healthy Living

Hi everyone!  Just a warning this is different from what I usually post, BUT living healthy physically is just as important as spiritually! 😉

You may or may not know, but the past 30 days I did a challenge of 30 days of healthy living through Arbonne.  I had been feeling in kind of a rut with my health and I knew I wasn’t really where I wanted to be physically.  I was working out as often as I could with a full time job and applying to graduate school and my 3 hour commute from Chicago and back.

That’s when I saw my friend post about this 30 day challenge and her results, and I decided that is exactly what I needed.  Now for someone who has never tried to limit what she can and cannot eat, this was a HUGE learning experience.  I learned what different foods do to your body and how a lot of the time when we eat it really is because we are bored, not because we are actually hunger. (I learned this because at work when I was bored or stressed, I found that was when I would reach for something to eat).

Now I’m not going to post my weight numbers, because I know that can really effect people in a negative way.  Heck, it gets into my head; making me think I need to be as slim as the other person.  But I will just give you the general weight loss, so I lost 14lbs in 30 days.  AND I literally lost 3 INCHES from my waist and hips.  And an inch off my thighs!   Let’s just say, my jeans have been fitting REALLY loose in a good way lol.

I am also going to post some of the crazy before and after pictures I have!  And man, I started when I was the heaviest I have ever been.  I had just gone on an amazing road trip, where I ate and drank anything and everything.  And it was great, other than the consequences, when I got back to reality.

So I began my challenge on October 9th.  Knowing it would be hard, but also not truly understanding the sacrifices I would be making over the next 30 days.

Within this challenge,  I gave up gluten, dairy, sugars, ALCOHOL and COFFEE, and pretty much was eating as many veggies and fruits during the day with two protein shakes at some point, and a well balanced, healthy dinner.   Which in theory sounds pretty simple.

BUT it was a drastic change, and I will admit that first week, I was seriously doubting if I could even enjoy life while eating healthy.   Just a hint for anyone who may be interested: you need to stock up before that week.  I did NOT, because I had just flown back the night before from San Antonio, TX.  So the first day I went into with maybe like a banana (which I also found out has like the most amount of sugar for a fruit LOL) and I was starving.  You need to set yourself up right, have 2 hard-boiled eggs ready to go, some hummus (without vinegar), cucumbers, a plum (I found my new love of plums), and maybe some bean chips and salsa (also without vinegar).  Now that is how you do it, AND you can go easy with dinner and just do a omelet (4 eggs, some kidney beans, spinach, onion, garlic, maybe some mushroom).  You can put a bunch a yummy stuff and add pretty much whatever spice you want to it.

Anyways, now I’m rambling, but seriously I struggled that first week, but after that I started meal prepping, which is also something I have never done before, it all went way more smooth.  I found out that I could have Chipotle, if you are wondering how that could be good for you, it does have a lot of calories, so I would recommend trying to eat half, BUT some days I would just scarf it down.  You can get brown rice, black beans, veggie and chicken, pico de gallo, and guacamole.  It was a really good meal and a nice treat that I would give myself on the weekend.

Okay, so if that was just all too much information, you can just skip down to this part lol.  These are my results from eating healthy for 30 days:

 

 

 

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It is actually kind of creepy how well this actually worked.  But I will not lie, it was definitely difficult!  My will power was at an all time high, and there were highs and lows.  Some days I felt like I knew what I was doing and I loved it, others it was the end of the world that I couldn’t eat pizza lol.  But I made it, and now I am trying to figure out how realistically, I can continue with a healthy lifestyle.

I am giving myself a celebration for the next few day, but come Monday, November 12th I will have a plan.  Because of this program, I now know what I should and should not be eating.  I also know that I can still appreciate the delicious things in life, without continuing to gain as I was before.

Sorry this was sooo long, it has definitely been a long 30 days!  Thanks for all the support from everyone!!!  If anyone is curious about it, feel free to reach out and I can let you know more about it!   I would recommend this program if you are looking for fast results, but you have to be ready to sacrifice as well.   If you are looking for a kick start like me or trying to figure out what a healthy lifestyle looks like (also me), then this a really great program.  Looking back, I would definitely say it was worth it, and if I need another kick start in the future I would not hesitate to do Arbonne again.  So that has been my life the past month, time to celebrate!! 🙂

I love you all! Have any amazing day! ❤

xoxo,