Barre 3 28 to Great Challenge: The Final Update

I've been meaning to give the final update to my 28 to Great Barre 3 Challenge for a few weeks now but I am just now getting around to it.  Well, I did it!  I made it through 28 days of no processed foods (except Diet Dr. Pepper) and 6 days a week of barre workouts.  As I said in the beginning, I am not good at sticking to stuff so I was a little impressed, if I do say so myself, that I made it until the very end.  Here are my random thoughts on the whole thing:

• It was hard.  For me, it was a total 180 from the way I was used to eating so of course, the food part of the deal was the toughest.
• While I really do love the online class option, and will still do them from time to time, I am much more in love with the local class that I can go to with friends.  The girls in my class are all so funny and hearing a mid-plie complaint from someone always makes me laugh.  Knowing that someone I know and love is suffering along right next to me somehow makes it so much more bearable.  I did stick to the workouts though and did a class at least 6 days a week.  I snuck a few of the workouts in LATE at night but I did it.  My plan going forward is to try to do 3-4 barre workouts per week.
• The food I missed the most was pizza.  I thought it would be something sweet and sugary (like my beloved sour gummy worms) but it was definitely pizza.  While there are plenty of whole food pizza recipes, I had also given up cheese so pizza wasn't an option.  I did not realize how much I love cheese.  I had pizza 3 times the week after my challenge was over.
• Starting today, I plan to return to a "mostly" whole foods diet even though the challenge is over .  A few days after my challenge ended, I had a three to four day stretch during which I ate horribly.  I'm talking gummy worms, greasy fries, fried mushrooms, fried pickles and queso (not together.)  I was miserable.  My stomach could not take it.  I had terrible headaches and was so tired.  I realized right away that I felt MUCH better when I was eating clean.  While I won't be as hard core, I am going to try to go back to a 28 days way of eating for the most part. 
• I'm still not happy about how expensive it is to eat healthy.
• It's also so inconvenient to eat healthy so I have to be really organized about it and that's hard.  You definitely have to be prepared and eating out is not really an option if you want to eat clean so I am definitely going to have to start planning ahead.  Snacking is the hardest part.  I definitely had to be prepared by cutting up fruits and veggies and by always having healthy options ready to grab.  Hard work!
• I did lose weight.  I was pretty surprised at the weight loss because it's not like I was counting calories or doing intense cardio.  I will say that I've already gained about 3 pounds back in the few weeks that I've been off the clean diet.  This just proves that eating clean works. 
• I still never drink water.  I may need to do a 28 Day H2O Challenge.  I CANNOT seem to get in the habit.
• Speaking of another challenge, I really did find myself determined to stick to this because it had rules and because I felt like I had accountability since I was updating on the blog along the way.  It made me think that I should do this more often with other areas of my life.  I was thinking about a 28 Day Morning Quiet Time challenge because waking up early is so hard for me to do.  I also thought about a 28 Day Organizing challenge with set areas lined up in advance because as many times as I say I need to clean this closet or that drawer, I always seem to put it off.  I am seriously considering at some point a 28 Day Spending Freeze but that one is pretty terrifying.  I'm not a big shopper but I still think it would be so hard to not purchase any items that weren't absolutely necessary for 28 days. 

So that's it.  I did it!  I will do it again at some point.  It was a CHALLENGE for sure but worth it.

© 2013 paperdoll designs Please don't be shy!! I'd love to hear your comments!

28 to Great Barre 3 Challenge: Day 17

I'm on day 17 of my Barre 3 28 to Great Challenge!!  For 28 days, a friend and I are sticking to a whole foods diet and have committed to doing barre workouts at least 6 days a week.  The Barre 3 plan has a list of approved foods but basically it is whole foods.  Cheese does not make their list (sad face) and most carbs are a no no too.  It calls for drinking lots of water and getting a good night's sleep.

I can't believe I've made it past the halfway mark!!  Really, I can't believe it.  There are moments when all I can think about is sugar and bread but for the most part, I am surviving.  Here are some of my thoughts on the challenge after 17 days:

• I picked a bad time to accept a challenge.  This is a pretty drastic change for me considering I have never tried to cut out sugar and I eat a lot more processed foods than I realized and I love bread and cheese.   It probably would have been wise not to do this during one of my busiest work seasons.  I have discovered that I am a stress snacker and carrot sticks just aren't the same as chocolate .  I've had a few grumpy moments.
• I'm not even really trying to get lots of sleep.  In fact, I just realized this morning when I got my weekly Barre 3 email that sleep was part of the deal.  OOPS!  I've stayed up until 4 am twice this week so I have failed that part of the challenge.  Again...I should have picked a less busy time to try this.  I'm going to try to get more sleep this week and see if my energy picks up.
• H20.  I'm doing better.  I don't know why it's so hard for me to drink water.  I have never been a water drinker in all of my almost 40 years.  I am not in the habit and I don't crave water when I'm thirsty.  I have to make myself drink it but I'm getting better.
• I still LOVE barre.  Have you tried it yet?  You must.  It's such a great workout.  My posture is better and I'm seeing some changes in my legs for sure.  The workouts are tough and I'm still sore after almost every workout but I never get tired of it.  Try it.
• My snack of the week is plain popcorn popped in a brown paper bag in the microwave.  I add sea salt and lots of cracked black pepper.  YUM
• Our grocery bill has gone way up.  Like, I want to cry at the checkout stand, way up.  WHY is it more expensive to eat healthy???  Makes no sense!  I will say that we have only eaten out once or twice (including lunch) so we aren't spending money at restaurants AND we are eating all of our food instead of letting the fruits and veggies go bad like we have in the past so maybe it's a wash. 
• I am so glad I had the bar height work table built into my office last year!  It's made the perfect place to work out.  Yesterday I even did 3 ten minute workouts in between filling orders.  Fill an order...do a 10 minute barre online class.  Fill another order...do another 10 minute barre online class...keeps my workday interesting.

Anyone else out there doing the challenge or thinking about it?    I'd love to hear from you!


© 2013 paperdoll designs Please don't be shy!! I'd love to hear your comments!

It was a good day...

Lately I've felt like I've been locked in my office.  Other than Christmas, this is my busiest time of year.  I've been pulling all nighters which means I've skipped A LOT of morning workouts.  I'm so glad my workout buddy, Karis, convinced me to get out of my office and meet her at the gym this morning after getting the kids off to school.  It's amazing how much better a workout can make you feel.  I totally didn't want to go as I was walking into the gym but walked out SO HAPPY that I went.  We did this workout that I found on Pinterest a few weeks ago.  We added some abs at the end and it was a pretty good workout.  As I was leaving the gym my friend, Shelle, asked me if I wanted to go on a walk and since it was a beautiful day AND I really needed a PaperDoll break AND I hadn't seen her in a while, I said yes.  My FitBit was thrilled to be moving!  I was thrilled to have a little time away from working.  I'm so glad I enjoyed the sunshine...it's going to be 39 tomorrow!!  Hello, Oklahoma!

It's back to work tonight but not before I do a little catching up with my dvr:

I love me some of these guys!

Are you watching?

© 2012 paperdoll designs

Fitbit: My new fav gadget!

I've been on a eat healthy, get fit kick lately.  In fact, my friend Karis and I just realized that one year ago this month we started doing crossfit at The Grand and much to my surprise...we are still at it!  There are weeks (this week) that I am a major slacker, but for the most part I've been pretty good.  I definitely couldn't do it without my exercise buddies!  There are several fabulous ladies that brave the workouts but Karis is a major cheerleader and when I think one more burpee will kill me, she assures me that it won't. 

I started looking into The Fitbit at about the same time that we started doing this crazy exercise thing.  I thought it would be an extra motivator if I knew how many calories I was burning and how many steps I was taking.  I am not an impulse buyer.  It took me almost a year to buy it.  I've been living happily with my Fitbit for about a month now.  I love it. 

I will confess that the first few weeks had me mildly obsessed.  I was constantly checking the screen and syncing the app on my phone to see how many steps I had taken, how many calories I had burned, how many miles I had traveled, etc.  It gives you the goal to take 10,000 steps a day and for a girl that sits at her computer most of the day, that is HARD!  Even on my run days or xfit days, I have a hard time meeting that goal BUT it is motivating!!  There have been several nights that I've run up and down my stairs at 5 minutes until midnight just so I could make my goal.  I've called for impromptu dance parties in living room so I could hit that 10,000.  I've gone so far as to jump on the trampoline with all three kids for some extra steps/calories.  Mommas that have had three babies don't need to jump on trampolines. 

Now that the newness has worn off, I'm not quite as obsessed but I still love it and I still wear it everyday...it's tiny...clips to my waistband and I never even notice it.  It's my favorite little gadget. I love that it pushes me to move more.  I find myself parking further away at the grocery store so I can get extra steps in.  We've been going on more walks/runs in the neighborhood which my kids love.  It's really pretty cool.  I know there are lots of trackers like this out there but I'm a Fitbit fan!

*this is my own opinion...fitbit didn't ask me to write this...they have no clue who I am.  :) 




© 2013 paperdoll designs