I haven’t been posting much because there has been a lot going on. A lot. Some good. Some bad. Some kinda boring like spending 30 minutes a day practicing hypnosis.  Yeah, I’ll get to that but first let’s start off with the good.

The Good

We got our new RV. You can see pictures of all 400 square feet here or if you prefer here’s a video tour. Aside from the decor looking a little generic (it feels very impersonal like a hotel room) we are loving it. There is so much more space and the kitchen is amazing.

The full size fridge has changed our life. No more playing Tetris after coming home from the grocery store. We even renewed our Costco membership. So that’s all good.

We’ve been traveling around in Florida hanging out with friends. Our first stop was a full time RV family rally. About 40 families who live full time on the road in their RVs like us were there. That’s just the kids at the rally in the picture above! It was a lot of fun even for an introvert like me.  A few days later we headed over to Orlando to spend a few more weeks with other families. The boys have made a lot of new friends so that’s good too!

While we were in Orlando my nomad friends, some who I have known and some who I had just met (even a few I just met that night), threw me a surprise baby shower! I was in shock!  These are the type of things I’ve come to accept that I miss out on by living on the road except I didn’t. What a blessing!

I mentioned last month that I was going to start blogging for a company. I started writing for Go RVing. It’s a trial partnership but so far it’s been a lot of fun and feels like a perfect fit. You can check out my posts on their site.

The Bad

Now for the bad.

My OBGYN was diagnosed with cancer and is taking a leave of absence. So sad.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

First of all to be diagnosed with cancer is terrible and I’m so sad for him and his wife.  At the risk of sounding selfish, I panicked about who was going to deliver our baby. I was 32 weeks along and we moved to Florida specifically for this OBGYN because he has such a high success rate with VBACs (vaginal birth after cesearean). My doctor in CA was no longer allowed to perform VBACS due to a hospital ban on them. Since I have already had one successful VBAC  (before the ban) with a midwife from my doctor’s office in CA, my doctor there said, “It would be criminal of me to give to you c-section.” His words. I’m not going to spend the time right now debating women’s rights, medical liability, and the like. I’m just going to say the risks of complications of me having another c-section outweigh the risks of me having another vaginal birth. I’ll agree to a c-section to save my or our baby’s life but I will NOT be cut open due to oppressive hospital rules or for someone else’s convenience. Period.

“Coincidently”, the day we found out about my doctors’s cancer we had met with a midwife earlier that morning. I was hoping she would either be my doula or could recommend one. I had a doula with both of my other births. Considering the unfortunate turn of events, we decided to go with her as our care provider for the remainder of the pregnancy. So while it is very bad news about my doctor, I’m thankful we found someone who will take me this late in pregnancy and and does not want to cut me open. I feel very blessed to have met her when we did. Not only does is she very kind, she is very experienced.

I want to share more about VBACs later. Many women don’t even realize that a vaginal birth after a cesarean is not only possible but most of the time (not always) a safer option than a repeat cesarean. There is a growing movement of women standing up for their birthing rights!

The Blah.

So between getting a new RV and finding a new healthcare provider, I’ve been doing lots of stuff that some of you might find blah. Of course, I don’t find nesting, exercising, and preparing for baby blah but I realize a lot of people do.

Stuff like reading birth books (I’ll do a post about the best birth books later), researching strollers, and nesting in preparation for our baby nomad. We are getting excited. It sure is going to be different raising a baby in an RV with limited space. I’m looking forward to not having all sorts of baby crap that we don’t need laying around.

Along with the nesting and research, I’ve been practicing self-hypnosis using Hypnobabies. Hypnobabies believes in peaceful comfortable birthing. There is so much unnecessary fear surrounding birth, most of it put in place by our culture. It reminds me a lot of the standards of beauty women are expected to maintain. Like those standards, I don’t buy it. I’m retraining my thinking to believe that birth is  a beautiful, sensual, bonding, and peaceful experience.  As part of this preparation, I’m spending roughly 30-60 minutes a day practicing self hypnosis. Hypnosis is not what most people think. It’s not like the cartoons you saw as a kid or about losing control. In fact, all of us experience various states of hypnosis every day! It’s quite the time commitment but, not only are there some really great reviews online, I’ve had a few friends talk about how much they enjoyed their births almost pain free. Their stories were enough to convince me to give it a try. So I’ll let you know in a few weeks how my experience with Hypnobabies goes.

Speaking of baby, my last post I mentioned Thing 3 was breech. I’ve been doing Spinning Babies (told you some of this was boring) for the last few weeks and I’m pretty sure he has turned. Not only am I pretty certain I can feel his bum and legs in my ribs, yesterday I used my dad’s stethoscope and found his heartbeat at the bottom right. I even counted the beats and it was 138 bpm. While I’m sure my count was off, it’s close to the 140 bpm that the doctor had been recording at my last few appointments.  I have an appointment with my midwife this afternoon and hopefully she can tell me if I’m right!

Yesterday, I went to the chiropractor for the first time ever. I went to someone who is Webster certified. I have read good things about chiropractic care for optimal baby positioning. (There’s a lot of baby talk today!) Thing 2 was born posterior which means his face was facing up when he came out. Posterior, or “sunny side up”, babies often mean gnarly back labor for most women.  Typically, a baby is born anterior with his face facing the backbone of the mother. That way the smallest part of the head goes through the pelvis and the skull isn’t grinding against the spine. If possible (Pleeease Lord!) I’d love to avoid pushing out another posterior baby so I headed to the chiropractor. She said my sacrum was crooked which doesn’t surprise me after taking a very bad fall on my snowboard last winter. Again, I’ll let you know how it all goes after the birth.

33 weeks

34.5 weeks

Lastly, I’ve been keeping up with my workouts. I’m still doing 2-3 kettlebell workouts a week, a few days of yoga, and a decent length walk every day. I wish I could show you something exciting but really it’s just been about consistency. There have been no feats of strength or impressive numbers, just me and my kettlebell hanging out a few times a week.

Well there it is the good, the bad, and the blah.

Have you ever been to a chiropractor? Tried Hypnobabies? Worked out with kettlebells pregnant?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States.

The post The Good (New RV), The Bad (My Dr Got Cancer) and The Blah (The Rest) appeared first on Girl Heroes.

We, as women, are bombarded every day with mixed messages. At the grocery store check out line we are told how to get flat abs, have better sex, and “perfect hair”. The ultimate message being we aren’t enough.

Then we log onto Facebook and see our friends sharing images or articles with the message “Real Women Have Curves” or  bashing (or praising) Maria Kang for posting a meme about excuses or a multitude of other anti-body shaming messages. Don’t get me wrong. I’m NOT for body shaming and I’ve seen some really really great articles on body loving. I’m glad women are speaking up and saying it’s okay to love our bodies as they are because that couldn’t be more true no matter what you look like.

No matter what you look like.

Not nice.

Because sometimes the attempt at body love goes too far one way and depending on where you are on the spectrum of body types the message for many women still is “you are not enough”. Often this message is coming from (well intentioned) friends and family and that can be harder to hear than the messages we get from media outlets. We know that _____ (insert company) wants to sell us _____ (insert product) because it will supposedly make us more attractive, successful, or desirable. I think most of us also know that that message is also a load of crap.

It’s important in this social media backlash against the ideal (whatever that may be because depending on whether you are looking at Vogue, Fitness, or a mens magazine I see more than one ideal represent.) to remember that these women are human and no amount of dieting, makeup, or plastic surgery can change that fact. The woman with the tummy tuck, breast augmentation, face lift, and hair color is just as real as the crunchy hippy wearing nothing but a faded sundress.

NOT nice no matter how you look at it.

Just as we shouldn’t make an overweight person feel less than. We shouldn’t make the skinny woman feel as if she’s not a real woman because she doesn’t have curves. Or call the girl with the six pack abs and sculpted deltoids a “man” or worse (in my opinion) selfish because she chooses to make choices that keep her looking lean and fit. Or assume people who work hard on their appearance (physically or financially) are  self-centered. Or declared that someone is motivated by fitspo is shallow.

That’s not to say certain behaviors are not sometimes signs of underlying issues. Excessive plastic surgery, over exercising, over eating, or restrictive eating are potentially dangerous habits that should be addressed but last I heard having issues doesn’t make us less than human. Having issues makes us human. And humans, all humans, are worthy of love and respect.

People are so much more complex than the endless list stereotypes we stick on them.

You are valuable six pack or not.

You are valuable skinny or not.

You are valuable curves or not.

You are valuable with or without plastic surgery.

You are valuable as mother or not.

You are valuable in a relationship or single.

The list goes on.

Nothing can make you more or less valuable.

Nothing can you make you more or less “a real woman”.

Nothing.

You are enough as you are. You are valuable because you are you.

Don’t let any media with its narrow ideals or well intentioned social media meme tell you otherwise.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States.

The post Are you a “real” woman? appeared first on Girl Heroes.

We had a good amount of unexpected snow last week which meant more time than usual on the mountain and less time for the computer.

There is nothing quite like riding in powder. It feels like like floating.

Exhilarating. Freeing. Soul soaring.

We are powder seekers.

And we fit together “like legos”.

We finally made it out to A-Basin one morning last week….

…where we found some more fresh powder.

We went with my new Australian friend, Helen. I met her in my snowboard class the week before. After A-Basin in the morning, we went to Keystone to ride for the afternoon.

Later in the week, we went riding with some of our fellow gypsy friends. We called this shot “Pieter and the Shredders”.

There was falling and laughing.

And jumping.

And cheering for those of us (ahem) who were more timid on the double black diamonds.

This is me riding down Whale’s Tail, one of the easier double blacks, for the first time. (As you can tell) I’m not an awesome snowboarder but I have a TON of fun! I think this was my favorite run of the season so far!

Just hanging out with the two coolest little boys I know.

We are leaving the mountains in three weeks from today. It’s going to be bittersweet but I’ll tell you this: I’m looking forward to flip flops.

So yeah I got a lot of riding in last week. I also got in my regular strength training workouts.

Monday – Strength Training and Snowboarding
Tuesday – Snowboarding
Wednesday – Strength Training
Thursday – Snowboarding
Friday – Strength Training and Snowboarding
Saturday – Snowboarding
Sunday – Rest (I needed it!)

I’m also still on track with my step goal for the year. Last week my daily average step count was 10,589.

While it looks like a really happy week, I was actually struggling with some minor depression. I managed to push through but it wasn’t easy. Five years ago it would have knocked me out and I would have been in bed all week. Nowadays, I know that getting outside and working out help me more than any sort of medicine.

Finally on Friday after a week of off and on sadness, I went to the gym and just for fun tested my pull up. Much to my surprise I did one. Then I did two more! I had lost my pull up a few months after we moved into the RV. Over the summer I got a portable pull up bar and set a goal to get my pull up back. It feels so good. Nothing makes me feel as strong as being able to do pull ups.

Lastly, I wanted to share a great experience I had with a company, Ladies Only Sportswear. I finally decided to purchase a couple of Handful bras and when I received them two days later (crazy fast shipping) one of them was cut strange. I contacted customer service at Ladies Only and they sent me another bra right away no questions asked and covered the return shipping for the defective bra. I’m loving my new Handful bra and right now Ladies Only has them for 20% off and free shipping.  (I’m not an affiliate or anything. I was just super happy with their customer service that I wanted to share!)

Well that’s it! I hope you had a great week!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

The post Powder Seekers appeared first on Girl Heroes.

A week and a half ago, I set a goal to land a jump by the end of the season.

Saturday, I landed!

It wasn’t a very high jump but I don’t care. For me, it takes a lot of courage to go off the small jumps because they look a lot steeper riding up than they really are on the other side! It’s mind game for sure.

A mind game I’ve been wanting to play for 20 years.

You see, I skied as a teenager (and loved it) but remember watching the snowboarders glide down the mountain with envy. They looked like they were riding magic carpets. They looked so free without poles and skies. Just a board and a body. Twenty years ago snowboarders were the minority. They were the rebels and I can’t help it, I’ve always loved rebels. (I think that is what is so appealing about Jesus.)

Anyway…

I was about 15 years old when I decided to take a snowboarding lesson.

I’ll sum it up in one word.

Fail.

I ended up riding the board down the hill like a sled with frozen tears on my cheeks. My dreams of riding were crushed under an avalanche of frustration and failure.  The pain I had in my tailbone from falling mocked me for 20 years.

Then this winter, I decided to try again.

Before we got to Colorado I said to Brent, “I will be happy if I can just get down the blue (intermediate) runs without falling.”

I never thought I’d be going off jumps with my husband and kids.

Or riding up the tallest lift in North America. (We won’t talk about how hard it was to get down.)

This winter has been more amazing than I even dared to imagine. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Michelangelo.

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

I’m so thankful I decided not to let my past failures define my present. I would have really missed out on something wonderful.

Anyway, all that to say, last week rocked! Other than snowboarding I did my usual 3 days of strength training, walking/hiking, and a day of resting as well.

Do any of you snowboard? Have you ever tried something as an adult that you really wanted to do as a child?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post I did it!!!! – Failures don’t define our futures. appeared first on Girl Heroes.

It’s not often that I sit down and feel I need to write but tonight is one of those nights.

On the first of this month, I wrote that I was going to take on a different kind of challenge, forgiveness.  Forgiveness February is what I called it. I had a series of posts I thought I’d write discussing the topic of forgiveness.

To be honest, I forgot about it.

But God didn’t.

I’ve been in a pretty good place with relationships for the last few years. Sure there have been some bumps and a person or two who I decided it was best to distance myself from but overall things have been good in the relationships department.

Then a few days ago as this month neared its close, I got a simple Facebook message and friend request.

From someone who had hurt me. Deeply.

My first response was to hit delete, “not now”, or ever. Or throw my phone across the room.

For over five years, I have wanted to let her know how. much. she. hurt. me.

Then I remembered I had declared Forgiveness February in my little world.

I knew.

I knew in my heart God was asking me to let light shine into a tiny but dark crevice of my life.

I knew I was to finally, after 5 years, extend true forgiveness.

For twenty four hours I chewed on my thoughts. I read reread the message looking for cryptic signs of insincerity.

Then I replied to the message and accepted the virtual handshake.

Accepting a friend request isn’t a big deal but realizing I still held some resentment and letting it go was.

Accepting that friend request and replying to the message opened up a space to let peace trickle in.

Peace I had convinced myself I had but didn’t.

Yeah, it really was Forgiveness February.

Or perhaps I should of called it Freedom February because with forgiveness comes freedom.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Forgiveness February – Not What I Expected appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Last week, Brent and I met an older couple while riding the lift. We came down the mountain and ended up on the same lift with the couple again. Our third run down the man said, “We’ll just ride up with you guys.”

We learned they spent half the year in the Outer Banks where he works in the trades.

We learned they had two kids.

We learned about new runs we should try.

We learned they had started snowboarding together 15 years ago at the age of 50.

Rad!

That, my friends, is why I workout consistently. 

Sure a flat stomach is nice and strong shoulders look great in halter tops.

But the older I get the less those things really matter.

The people who inspire and motivate me the most are the people advancing in age who are hiking trails, snowboarding down mountains, running races, lifting some iron, and living life.

Once I read about a woman who died from getting thrown off a horse…

at 102.

For over 10 years that article of the elderly cowgirl has stuck with me.

God willing, that’s how I want to go. I don’t want to break a hip falling down the stairs.

I want to be thrown off the back of an Arabian (That’s my favorite breed and what I rode when I was younger.) while riding through the mountains.

Not to go all Bible on you but I’ve said before I’m a little Jesus flavored.

2 Timothy 4:7 – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

I want to age gracefully but not passively.

I want to keep running figuratively and literally.

The only chance I have of being able to be literally finish running or be gloriously thrown off a horse at 102 is to eat real nutrient dense food and maintain my strength.

Eat real food.

and

Lift.

Lift your body. Lift iron. Lift big bags of dog food.

Just lift.

Lift heavy. Lift consistently.

Snowboarding, hiking, running, dancing, tennis, golf, or whatever activities you enjoy…they are all wonderful but they are all second to strength.

Strength is the foundation of every healthy body.

With that here are my workouts of last week. There was fresh powder a few days so my schedule was off. I’m also doing an upper lower body splits  after months and months of full body workouts. I still love (and prefer) full body workouts but I needed a change and my legs need a bit more rest since I’m snowboarding so much.

Monday – Rest
Tuesday – Strength Training – Upper Body Focus
Wednesday – Strength Training – Lower Body Focus
Thursday – Snowboard
Friday – Strength Training – Upper Body Focus
Saturday – Snowboard
Sunday – Snowboard (This was probably my best day so far. There was powder and I hit more black runs that day than any other day!)

I also walked every day. My lowest step day was 4,478 and my highest was 13,914 so I’m still on track for meeting my 3,000,000 step goal for 2013.

So how was your week? Why do you workout? Who motivates you?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Lift Heavy. Lift Consistently. Age Gracefully not Passively appeared first on Girl Heroes.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to bore you for a few more weeks with more snow pictures as we have decided to stay in Colorado until mid April. The original was plan to leave March 1 but Colorado is much too beautiful and snowboarding is much too fun to leave quite yet.

Here are some highlights of last week.

Getting some vitamin D.

It was warmer than it looks.

My skin has been covered for months and it felt so good to get some sun exposure and “breathe” on our hike. I almost blend in with the snow. I’ll be this white come July too.

Nico loves to hike as well and holds her own. Nigel, our other pug, is getting too old to walk for much more than 20 minutes so he usually stays home unless we are just going around the block.

I surprised Brent with Nico as a Valentine’s Day gift 9 years ago. They had a rough start, i.e. she chewed up the sprinkler system he installed, but they’ve become buddies over the years.

Speaking of Valentine’s Day we don’t really celebrate it. Never have. I don’t have negative feelings towards it but I don’t care about it either. This year we went to bed early and watched Amelia.

Today, however, is a very special day because it was 14 years ago today our crazy love story began.

The snow got pretty deep in some places.

Other highlights were hitting the slopes with these guys for “P.E.”. (I can’t believe how tall Thing One is getting. It’s sort of freaking me out.)

We had a powder day last Friday. It was cold but sooooo worth it. A real magic carpet ride.

I also had my first scary fall the other day. It was snowing so hard that I couldn’t see very well. I was going faster than I should have been going and didn’t see I was approaching a hill on the rolling terrain. By the time I realized I was going up the hill it launched me in the air and I landed where my neck meets my shoulders. The fall scared me more than it hurt. I may or may not have started sobbing.

My workouts went pretty much as planned for the second week in a row.

Monday – Strength Training
Tuesday – Snowboarding
Wednesday -Strength Training
Thursday – Snowboarding
Friday – Snowboarding
Saturday – Strength Training
Sunday – Chill

I also walked every day as well. My step count ranged from 6,975 to 15,518 per day.

On days we go to the mountain I don’t typically snowboard all day. The nice thing about living a few minutes away from the lifts with a season pass is that I can head over for an hour or two and not feel bad about not using my pass.

I haven’t made it back to yoga. I would love to but to be honest I don’t like “stuffing” my days with activity. I get overwhelmed too easily. I do hope to make it back to a few classes but as of now I haven’t.

How were your workouts this week? How do you get Vitamin D in the winter?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Valentine’s Day and Vitamin D appeared first on Girl Heroes.

Since we have stopped moving, i.e., decided to spend the winter in Colorado, my weeks have become a little routine.

Last week there were a few twists to keep things interesting.

One

I tried my first black run on a snowboard. Despite my I-conquered-this-beast posture in the above picture, the run didn’t go so well. It was an ungroomed run through the trees. Have you ever seen a walrus in a zoo or aquarium? Well you know how they move on land? That’s how I look when I fall in powder on my snowboard. 

I should have learned my lesson. The week before I tried an ungroomed run under the lift and got stuck in a few feet of powder. I ended up wallowing around like a walrus in the snow shouting, “I. AM. NOT. HAPPY.” to Brent who was further down the hill. I’m certain the people on the lift appreciated the entertainment.  

Two

I tried hot yoga for the first time. It was a hot vinyasa class that was…well…really hot. I surprisingly enjoyed it as long as I wasn’t thinking about other people’s body moisture filling the air at an alarming rate. It also confirmed some imbalances and tightness I knew I have going on with my body. I’m considering taking more classes either at the hot yoga studio or at the recreation center. I’m torn because it seems the quality of the teachers would be better at the studio but the recreation center is more affordable. Hmmm….

I also have a whole new perspective on yogis. I always thought it was a bunch of “woo woo” people sitting around sniffing sandalwood seeing who could zone out the most or twist themselves into the smallest pretzel.

I was wrong.

There were some seriously strong girls in there. It was impressive, beautiful, and peaceful so I apologize to my yogi friends for my misconceptions. I definitely see more yoga in my future.

Three

For the first time in a long time, I stuck to my workout schedule. You know your life is exciting when you consider sticking with a workout schedule “a twist”.

Monday  – Strength Training and Walking
Tuesday – Snowboarding and Walking
Wednesday – Strength Training and Walking
Thursday – Snowboarding and Walking
Friday – Strength Training and Walking
Saturday – Walking (This was the day I also tried hot yoga)
Sunday – Walking

I’ve also decided to do at least part of my 10,000 steps a day with my boys. I had been doing a large part of them on the treadmill but then it hit me: why not spend time with them and help them to keep active rather than spend an hour and twenty minutes on the treadmill. Duh.

Anyway this was my week in a nutshell. I fully intended to edit another workout video but it got lost among homeschooling (It’s like a job but without pay…not complaining…I feel very fortunate to be able to guide my boys education.), snowboarding, errands, cooking, laundry, cleaning the rv toilet, and all the other stuff that makes life glamourous. I am hoping to get to it this week and I also have another Girl Hero to share so until then….

How was your week? What sort of workouts did you do? Have you ever tried yoga? Hot yoga? Any advice on deciding between the yoga studio and the town rec center for classes?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post My Week and the Wallowing Walrus appeared first on Girl Heroes.

My jeans are finally fitting better.

I haven’t made an effort to lose weight since I trained for my RKC weekend. I’m generally pretty comfortable in my body (most of the time) but over the last year as we traveled I ate more calories than than I burned. Pretty simple.  I wasn’t fat…not by a long shot…but I got to a point to where my jeans weren’t fitting.

It happens.

I had to make the choice to buy new jeans or lose some weight.

So I decided to eat a little less and move a little more. I also decided I wasn’t going to do anything extreme or follow any kind of “plan”.

No offense to those who follow Paleo. There is some solid science behind Paleo. I just thought it was funny. :-)

No cutting carbs.

No eliminating food groups.

I was just going to eat what I wanted but keep an eye on portions/calories.

And something amazing happened.

By moving more and eating a little less (I can pound a serious amount of food) I’ve been losing about a pound a week.

I haven’t felt deprived once.

The majority of my food has been whole real food because nourishing my body is a priority regardless of my weight but I’ve been reminding myself a serving a almond butter isn’t half the jar.

Although I’ll confess, up until a few days ago, I was even eating cookies, cake, and candy. (We wont’ talk about the hot doughnut shop that’s a short walk from the ski resort parking lot.) Keeping a food journal, an eye on calories, and having an accountability partner has helped me to eat those things in *GASP* moderation. It’s no small miracle because moderation is my strong suit.

Then few days ago, I decided I needed a “reset” because I was eating some sugar every day and decided to pass on sweets for the rest of this month. The sweets didn’t seem to be slowing down my weight loss but considering my past sugar addiction I was fearful things would spiral out of control. I don’t want to go there again.

Of course, the day I decided to pass on sweets (I like the word “pass” because it implies a choice and my choice puts me in the powerful position not the food.) a guy on the bus opened a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints and offered me one. When I said, “No thanks.” He offered me three. Punk. I decided to pass because February is short but the satisfaction of the cookies is even shorter.

There has been no extreme exercising either. Although unlike my tendency to try extreme diets, extreme exercising has never been an issue. I just decided to get up off my butt and move more. I go snowboarding a few afternoons a week, do short full body workouts 2/3x a week, and walk an average of 8,400 every day thanks to the motivation my Fitbit provides. It’s more than manageable. It’s been fun.

All this to say (once again)

It’s consistency that counts not perfection.

And

There isn’t a magic plan.

I’ve skipped workouts. I have had hot doughnuts.

But the difference is I didn’t say, “Forget it. I messed up.” Then blow off the rest of my workouts for the week and eat two dozen cookies a day.

I just made an effort to move more and eat thoughtfully consistently.

And it’s working.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Consistency or Cutting Carbs? appeared first on Girl Heroes.

This morning I was laying in bed thinking about the new month, February.  I was thinking about doing a fitness challenge this month but as I lay there under my warm blankets I thought of another challenge, challenge that, for me, is much harder than any sort of fitness goal but one that reaps benefits far greater: forgiveness.

The word forgiveness usually brings up religious connotations but, religious or not, I think we will all agree that forgiveness is an important aspect of happiness and being able to experience life to the fullest. After all no one is perfect and we have all been hurt or have hurt someone else at some point of our lives.

What is forgiveness?

The Free Dictionary defines forgive as

Notice the definition doesn’t say to “forget” a fault or an offense? Sometimes I think we confuse forgiveness with forgetfulness. I know I do. Sometimes I think since I haven’t forgotten it means I haven’t forgiven.

Sure it would be great to “forget” but, the fact is, forgetting is not always possible. There are some offenses that may leave lifelong scars but those scars do not have to define who we are or our emotions.

Forgiveness is also not “condoning” another person’s actions. We forgive people (or ourselves) because they have wronged us. By forgiving someone we aren’t saying that their choice was right, we are saying, “You have hurt me but I’m choosing to let go of the anger and resentment I have towards you.”

Forgiveness is magical but it’s not always instant. I say magical because forgiveness opens us up to emotional freedom but sometimes we have “let go” again and again and again. Just because you can’t forgive instantly doesn’t mean you have failed. It’s means you are human.

We can forgive people of material things, i.e. physical “debts”, but we often, perhaps even more, need to release people of unmet expectations. I’m sure many of us, myself included, have been let down by a friend or family member who didn’t meet our expectations. On the flip-side,  I know I have hurt or let others down, and I’m grateful for the forgiveness that has been shown to me.

However, forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to continue in the relationship. Some relationships are so toxic that it’s better for you (and them) to remove yourself from the relationship. Admittedly, it can be hard to know when a relationship reaches that level of toxicity and if you are unsure it might be wise to seek out help from a respected friend or even an  professional. Sometimes it can be hard to see clearly from the center of a storm but once that storm passes forgiveness will bring the calm we crave.

When we choose to forgive, not only do we release others but we release ourselves from an emotional/spritual cage because ultimately, unforgiveness hurts and traps us more than anyone else.

What does forgiveness mean to you? Do you find it hard or easy to forgive?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!

Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!

The post Forgiveness February – What is forgiveness anyway? appeared first on Girl Heroes.