That Body and Soul Challenge

BTW, I always want to write "sould". Hmm. Wonder what that means?

Anyway, how's that going? Yeah. Not well. Totally off that wagon. Oops!

I think the problem is twofold. First, the second week was all about eating better, adding fruits, veggies, and whole grains to your diet. I don't eat as many whole grains as I would like, pretty much stopping with whole wheat bread and brown rice, tossing in couscous occasionally and every once in a while some whole wheat pasta. Other than that, I already do those things! When I'm feeling well (and that's the second problem, but more on that in a moment), I eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I go to a local farmer's market on Saturdays (and you would be surprised just how many farmer's markets there are in Houston. It's odd, really. Such a yuppie, Walmart-y town, but there are some serious pockets of resistance! And not all of it is the rich, spend $300/week at WholeFoods crowd) and get a HUGE bag of produce for about $17. All of it fresh and organic, most of it local. Nice! I then purchase some basics and use that produce for my meals.

Another thing that I do is get a giant box of organic salad blend from Sam's Club for about $4, which is only .50 more than the 4 oz you can get at the grocery store. I also get a lb. of prewashed organic spinach for about the same price. Then, I eat salads all week, mixing the spinach and greens. I also need a quick breakfast that is filling, so I make a "breakfast sandwich". I get English muffins from Walmart (I know, I'm part of that dreaded Walmart crowd, but times are tough)--12 for about $1.50--and briefly saute a handful of spinach, then cook one egg, toast an English muffin and spread it with chipotle mayo (take a can of chipotle peppers and puree the whole thing. Then use the puree! To make chipotle mayo, add between 1 tsp to 1 tbsp to about 1/4-1/2 cup mayo (can you tell I just eyeball this?), depending on how spicy you want to make it). Top with the spinach and egg, and you are eating! Yum!! I get a really fast breakfast that has some greens in it!

Because I already eat relatively healthy (and by relatively, I mean that I still love chips and have been known--ok, ok, I am known for--to overindulge on the margaritas and chips and salsa at my favorite dive Mexican restaurant), I really didn't take the second week seriously. That was the beginning of my derailment.

Then, I got sick. Over and over again. Sigh. First, I got a UTI. In order to get rid of it, I took antibiotics. This just wiped out my healthy flora and fauna, and I got a cold. After the cold, I got this really nasty virus that knocked me out for about a day and a half, and I'm still recovering (bland foods,such as white bread, noodles with butter and parm cheese, and pb&j sammies, have been my preferred diet for nearly a week, and I'm just getting back to my regular spicy and flavorful diet). This was the second blow to that challenge.

This week was supposed to be the exercise week, but I have barely moved at all, aside from my regular dancing throughout my classroom, alternately trying to motivate and yelling at my students.

I've decided that if I want to try that challenge again, I'm going to need to revamp it. Obviously, it's called a challenge for a reason, and if something isn't challenging to me, then it shouldn't be a part of a challenge, right? So, this may be an unfulfilled goal, or perhaps I will come up with my own variation of the challenge, and proceed accordingly. Either way, I'll keep you posted.