Okay, okay. So I didn’t exactly eat “clean” the entire month but I definitely made some different choices than normal during the month of May. Earlier this year I had gotten into the groove of eating a lot of packaged food. With life being so busy lately and not being the type of person who loves to cook, I definitely wasn’t eating a lot of fresh foods so to speak. I was starting to feel a little “blah” and like I just needed a restart. So, I kind of went back to the basics. I told myself that I was going to focus on prepping more vegetables, eating more fruit for my carb sources (instead of just packaged items), limiting my alcohol intake to no more than 3 drinks a week, no fried foods, and to up the water intake. I obviously allowed myself some leniency 1-2x a week (I guess what you would consider a “cheat” meal to be) but otherwise I was making some “better” choices on a day to day basis. And before I go on, I’m putting the words clean, cheat, and better in quotes because I truly don’t believe any food is good or bad for you. I really do believe in everything in moderation. But it just makes it easier to know what I’m talking about with using these terms.
Also during the time, I became more lenient with my macros…sort of. For over two years I have consistently tracked and used a scale to weigh out everything. Around the time I started to do this “clean eating challenge” I also decided to put away my scale. To be honest, I know that macros work (they work really well if you follow them correctly), but I just wanted to take a break from weighing every thing out. This wasn’t because it was time consuming or stressful in anyway, I guess I just felt like I needed a mental break to be honest? I had been doing it for over two years and just wanted some time “off.” (Wow, I’m really doing a lot of “quotes” this post, sorry guys! Haha). But you get my point. During this time, I was still keeping track mentally of what I was eating and just eyeballing portion sizes. This way, I knew that I was more or less getting the right amount of each macronutrient. Obviously not as accurate as with a scale, but since I had been weighing food for so long I have a better idea of what proper portion sizes are.
So how did I feel at the end of this month? Honesty, not too different. I mean, I definitely didn’t get any leaner haha, but I didn’t really expect to given that I wasn’t working out as regularly or counting macros. However, it did feel good gravitating towards eating more whole foods. I think there is a mental component of feeling better when you eat fresher and “healthier” foods. When I am strict with my macros I see changes really quickly so I will say that macro counting definitely shows more physical results when I stick to it. But I think that there is something to be said for the mental aspect–like, it felt good to eat more fresh foods. I definitely feel like since last month I’ve still tried to overall stick with those changes. Yes, I did buy the dark chocolate PB cups from Trader Joe’s the other day BUT I also prepped a lot of veggies for this week. So hopefully moving forward I will have a little bit more of a balance and remember some of the basics aka veggies and water!
Regarding counting macros. I think it was good that I stopped weighing everything for a bit–about a month and a half to be exact. I mean to be honest, it wasn’t a comfortable feeling stopping. When you’ve been doing something for so long and you know it works, it can be difficult to stop. The first fews days I had a huge temptation to get out my scale and measure my avocado on my toast because I hated not knowing the exact amount. But after about a week I had forgotten about the scale and felt totally fine just eyeballing things and not tracking as strictly. For the last few days I’d been trying to decide if I want to go back to weighing my food or not. Yesterday I finally decided I would go back to macro counting (with a scale, not just eyeballing) for a few reasons. One being is that I’ve realize that I have the tendency to go overboard (like eat several…ahem 8…dark chocolate PB cups when I probably just need 1 or 2 haha), so macros ensures that I have some guidelines. Even with eyeballing things, I think I allowed myself more leniency because I’m like, well this COULD fit…maybe I didn’t have enough fat earlier?! haha. Also, since my workouts have been not as regular recently (like 3-4x a week), counting macros makes me feel a little more “in control.” I mean, I do notice a difference in my body with the decrease in workouts and more leniancy with my macro counting but I haven’t been as strict with myself (since January I started cutting down my workouts some and then I got more lenient with macros than in the past so I expected to see the changes. Like, I don’t feel like I had dramatic changes in one month but they did add up over time). And while I want to count macros again to help make some physical changes, I am still working on pushing aside how I physically look and focusing on overall what it best for my well being. It’s not easy for me to cut down on my workouts and allow myself more untracked days if I’m traveling, or socializing but I realize that these things are more important than how I physically look. My mental and emotional health needs to take just as much of a priority! So moving forward even though I’ll be counting macros, I am still working on finding and accepting that overall balance.
There isn’t a right or wrong answer to this. I think it’s whatever works best for you based off your lifestyle and your goals. I think I’ve realized that this fluctuates for me and that’s okay. Some weeks or months I may want to count my macros more strictly and others I may want to take a break and be more lenient. To be really honest, the fact that I’ve gained about 8 lbs since our wedding still “bothers” me in some ways. Part of me is like who cares–you’re healthy and you live a balanced life. And then the other part of me is like–should I be working as hard as I did last year? And it’s not the number on the scale that annoys me at all–what gets to me is when I go to try on clothes from last year and they literally don’t fit anymore. And yes, part of that is from muscle gain but I also can’t help but feel that part of that is from me being more lenient. So it’s that constant battle of finding that line–being confident in your own skin but also allowing yourself grace. I think it’s something that everyone struggles with to some extent, no matter how “body positive” you are. I know there are moments where I am too hard on myself and I’ve gotten much better at pushing aside those negative thoughts and showing myself love.
So yeah, it’s still a learning process for me BUT I will say that I am 100x farther and in a better place than I was about a year into my fitness journey. I accept that there are ebbs and flows, I don’t really feel stressed or anxious if I’m “off track” for a certain period of time, I have learned that health goes much beyond what I look like. Do you guys have any thoughts on this post? I would love to hear what you think!! xx C
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Thank you for this post! I love your approach to fitness and eating. We all have different seasons of life and it’s ok to not be all or nothing!! Are you changing your workouts during this time? What are your workouts like currently?
Hi! My workouts have pretty much stayed the same! I follow the Strong and Sexy Body Method by @paosfitworld, and also do spin 1-2x a week!
My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on various websites for about a year and am concerned about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
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Hey, how’s it going?
I want to pass along some very important news that everyone needs to hear!
In December of 2017, Donald Trump made history by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Why is this big news? Because by this the Jewish people of Israel are now able to press forward in bringing about the Third Temple prophesied in the Bible.
Jewish Rabbis have publicly announced that their Messiah will be revealed in the coming years who will be a leader and spiritual guide to all nations, gathering all religions under the worship of one God.
Biblical prophecy tells us that this Jewish Messiah who will take the stage will be the antichrist “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). For a time he will bring about a false peace, but “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (Matthew 24:15)…then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).
More importantly, the power that runs the world wants to put a RFID microchip in our body making us total slaves to them. This chip matches perfectly with the Mark of the Beast in the Bible, more specifically in Revelation 13:16-18:
“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”
Referring to the last days, this could only be speaking of a cashless society, which we have yet to see, but are heading towards. Otherwise, we could still buy or sell without the mark amongst others if physical money was still currency. This Mark couldn’t be spiritual because the word references two different physical locations. If it was spiritual it would just say in the forehead. RFID microchip implant technology will be the future of a one world cashless society containing digital currency. It will be implanted in the right-hand or the forehead, and we cannot buy or sell without it. Revelation 13:11-18 tells us that a false prophet will arise on the world scene doing miracles before men, deceiving them to receive this Mark. Do not be deceived! We must grow strong in Jesus. AT ALL COSTS, DO NOT TAKE IT!
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11).
People have been saying the end is coming for many years, but we needed two key things. One, the Third Temple, and two, the technology for a cashless society to fulfill the prophecy of the Mark of the Beast.
Visit http://WWW.BIBLEFREEDOM.COM to see proof for these things and why the Bible truly is the word of God!
If you haven’t already, it is time to seek God with all your heart. Jesus loves you more than you could imagine. He wants to have a relationship with you and redeem you from your sins. Turn to Him and repent while there is still hope! This is forever…God bless!
“EITHER HUMAN INTELLIGENCE ULTIMATELY OWES ITS ORIGIN TO MINDLESS MATTER OR THERE IS A CREATOR…” – JOHN LENNOX
We all know God exists. Why? Because without Him, we couldn’t prove anything at all. Do we live our lives as if we cannot know anything? No. So why is God necessary? In order to know anything for certain, you would have to know everything, or have revelation from somebody who does. Who is capable of knowing everything? God. So to know anything, you would have to be God, or know God.
A worldview without God cannot account for the uniformity and intelligibility of nature. And why is it that we can even reason that God is the best explanation for this if there is no God? We are given reason to know or reject God, but never to know that He does not exist.
It has been calculated by Roger Penrose that the odds of the initial conditions for the big bang to produce the universe that we see to be a number so big, that we could put a zero on every particle in the universe, and even that would not be enough to use every zero. What are the odds that God created the universe? Odds are no such thing. Who of you would gamble your life on one coin flip?
Is there evidence that the Bible is the truth? Yes. Did you know that the creation accounts listed in the book of Genesis are not only all correct, but are also in the correct chronological order? That the Bible doesn’t say the Earth was formed in six 24-hour days but rather six long but finite periods of time? That the Bible makes 10 times more creation claims than all major “holy” books combined with no contradictions, while these other books have errors in them? The Bible stood alone by concurring with the big bang saying, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1); and says our universe is expanding, thousands of years before scientists discovered these things. Watch a potential life-changing video on the website listed below with Astronomer(PhD) Hugh Ross explaining all these facts based on published scientific data. He has authored many books, backed even by atheist scientists.
Jesus came to pay a debt that we could not; to be our legal justifier to reconcile us back to a Holy God; only if we are willing to receive Him: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).
God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten son, so that whoever believes in Him, through faith, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus says if we wish to enter into life to keep the commands! The two greatest commands are to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and your neighbor as yourself. All the law hang on these commands. We must be born of and lead by the Holy Spirit, to be called children of God, to inherit the kingdom. If we are willing to humble ourselves in prayer to Jesus, to confess and forsake our sins, He is willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking of Him; giving us a new heart, leading us into all truth!
Jesus came to free us from the bondage of sin. The everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels due to disobedience to God’s law. If we do the same, what makes us any different than the devil? Jesus says unless we repent, we shall perish. For sin is the transgression of the law. We must walk in the Spirit so we may not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, being hatred, fornication, drunkenness and the like. Whoever practices such things will not inherit the kingdom (Galatians 5:16-26). If we sin, we may come before Jesus to ask for forgiveness (1 John 2:1-2). Evil thoughts are not sins, but rather temptations. It is not until these thoughts conceive and give birth by our own desires that they become sin (James 1:12-15). When we sin, we become in the likeness of the devil’s image, for he who sins is of the devil (1 John 3:8); but if we obey Jesus, in the image of God. For without holiness, we shall not see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
The oldest religion in the world is holiness through faith (James 1:27). What religion did Adam and Eve follow before the fall? Jesus, Who became the last Adam, what religion does He follow? Is He not holy? He never told us to follow the rituals and traditions of man but to take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23). There are many false doctrines being taught leading people astray. This is why we need the Holy Spirit for discernment. Unlike religion, holiness cannot be created. It is given to us from above by the baptism of the Spirit. Jesus is more than a religion; He is about having a personal relationship with the Father. Start by reading the Gospel of Matthew, to hear the words of God, to know His character and commandments. Follow and obey Jesus, for He is the way, the truth, and the life!
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