Day Five

DAY FIVE of Whole Living's 28-Day Challenge

What I Ate?
A banana
Steamed broccoli and squash
Blackberry blueberry smoothie (1 cup frozen blackberries, 1 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup hemp milk, 1/2 cup apple juice)
Carrot sticks with hummus
Apple with almond butter

Detox Your Bod: Yoga Release, Back Strengtheners, Walk for 20 Min
Starting your day off with these exercises feels great. I tend to keep doing them right after getting out of the shower. They're stretches that feel great, but not enough of a work out to break a sweat. Doing them right after showering feels great, because I'm already feeling clean and energized. Eleanor Rigby was not a big fan of having to walk in the rain today, however. Good thing she had on her little coat to stay warm!


Detox Your Mind: Catch Yourself Complaining and Stop
I'm amazed to say I actually did this! I have to be honest, I complain a lot. I work in an industry where it's natural for everyone to be going off about this customer or that customer. While venting is healthy, in this scenario it doesn't do much more than upset me. It's officially my goal to not complain at work. It's the one place I'm guaranteed to complain multiple times. If I can manage to stop complaining there, it'll have massive repercussions on the rest of my life.

Day Three

DAY THREE of Whole Living's 28-Day Challenge

What I Ate?

Green Smoothie

Apple with almond butter

Hummus with carrot and celery slices

Blueberry and Green Tea Smoothie (I used blackberries instead of blueberries- mm!)

Approximately 5 oz steamed broccoli and an apple with almond butter

Detox Your Bod: Yoga Release and Walk 15 Min.

The yoga release is unbelievable. I'm very tempted to up this exercise and do several other yoga poses in addition to these. Any of you who do yoga most likely understand what I mean by this- once you start doing yoga, it feels so good and is difficult to want to stop!

I am thoroughly enjoying upping the walking time. While an extra five minutes doesn't seem like a lot, I could feel it in my legs. I always assumed the walks with Eleanor Rigby were 10-20 minutes. However, having been timing them all this week, I discovered they average around 10 minutes. This discovery is now making me both nervous and excited about next week's transition from walking to running. It's going to push me, all for the better though!

Detox Your Mind: Start a Stress Log

By far, the stress log was a brilliant addition to this challenge. A huge part of why I took on this action plan was to help deal with stress. I know you must be wondering, "What in the world does a 20-something have to stress about?" Well, quite a bit actually- finances, job security, etc. Journaling about it feels great. I've able to get my thoughts out in a healthy manner. Another plus of a stress log is complaining to a notebook saves other around you the annoyance of complaining to them.

Another note: I noticed that dairy can be introduced on day 11. Since, I'm vegan and don't eat dairy, I've decided I will reintroduce soy into my diet on day 11. For the most part soy is my dairy. I use soy butter and soy yogurt in a lot of things. I will still refrain from soy milk, tofu, and tepah until day 13.

Yeah for me! I made it to bed before midnight tonight!

Day One

DAY ONE of Whole Living's 28-Day Challenge

Dietary Challenge: Cut out/avoid added sugar, processed foods or beverages, alcohol, caffeine, wheat/gluten, dairy, peanut products, fruit juices, soy, corn, eggs

The diet part of the challenge was by far the easiest for me to do. Since I already follow a vegan diet, dairy and eggs are already omitted from my diet. I would say the hardest part was cutting out soy. It's a vital protein source for me, but I bought a ton of almonds and cashews to curb any tofu or soy milk cravings. I have to say I'm a huge fan of eating five or six small fruit and veggie based meals per day.

What I Ate?

Peach smoothie

An apple with almond butter

Spinach salad with half and avocado, red onion, sprouts, and shredded carrots (pictured above)

Curried Lentil Soup

Kiwi smoothie

Detox Your Bod: Yoga Release and 10 Minutes of Walking

This week's physical challenges are going to be the easiest. I already do 10+ minutes of walking with Eleanor Rigby everyday. Yoga is also something I thoroughly enjoy. However, since I haven't touched my yoga mat in over a month, it was nice to do a few simple stretches yesterday.

I am savoring this first week. I know it'll be the easiest, but I'm also looking forward to challenging myself physically in the upcoming weeks!

Sunshine and Leaves

Eleanor Rigby and I had a wonderful afternoon yesterday. We...

Played in the leaves

Took these fun photos

Eleanor Rigby chewed on sticks...and then mommy got mad at her for chewing on sticks

And it was a lovely, fall day :)

Meet Eleanor Rigby

This is my pup, Eleanor Rigby.

And I love her.

But Mommy's mad at me for chewing on her favorite pair of heels last night.
I might have to buy her a new pair!