Day 29 - - of many.

Today marks the day of the final weigh in of the challenge Joel and I were taking for the month of August.

Basically it is a way to cleanse your body of all gluten, dairy, sugar, caffeine and alcohol so you can reintroduce these at the end of the 30 days and you can see how these foods affect your body and how you feel.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it - - ha! It was DIFFICULT at first. I mean... I'm the sugar cereal, toast with jelly, pasta mama! Did I mention bread?!? I LOVE bread! -- and to be truthful, not having coffee with oodles of creamer (coconut please!) and a nice refreshing beer at night was so hard!

We did 'cheat' but I don't like that word at all, so I would say that we indulged - - allowed - - ourselves in a few treats throughout the month. A 12 oz of beer a few times, cheese on a bun-less burger, ranch on a salad, and I'm sure a few more. <--- probably more than a few.

We did find a new way to live though. We found discipline.... not only in our eating habits but it carried over to a lot of our living as well. But tonight we're talking about food.

We started our journey as we were spending almost a week on the road. Rather than eating out for every meal, we chose to go to the grocery store and purchased more whole foods than we'd probably ever eaten. We spent the following week at the fair (Lemon-dairies, vikings, funnel cakes and more!) and packed our dinner and snacks for every night we were there. (I've rarely packed a cooler because it always seemed much easier to just go out and eat) Now that takes discipline folks!

It got easier as the month went on. We spent many meals having the basics that we knew we ok to eat.... brown rice, black beans, salsa. That did get old at first but that just meant we needed to find more creative ways to eat.... again discipline to sit down and meal plan. Pinterest has a lot of ideas!

The first 5 days of this challenge, I truly felt like a bus had smacked me right in the center of my being. I felt like CRUD! I thought I was getting the flu.  Little did I know, that is completely normal when you start to detoxify your body. I have spent many MANY years eating whatever I wanted and now I was paying for it. But my body was thanking me... (it was - I could hear it loud and clear :)

Day 6 I woke up feeling better and by the afternoon I felt FANTASTIC! I think I lived with a constant headache. With constant bloating. Always tired. Always crabby. I could tell that was all gone. I felt soooooooo good!

I knew at that point I wasn't going to give up! I wasn't going to give in to the temptations that were screaming at me EVERYWHERE we went. Coca-cola, snickers and donuts were a norm for this girl.

Now, I had a baby 8 months prior to starting this challenge. I was still holding on to about 30 extra pounds. Not a good feeling. But I couldn't seem to shake it. (now don't get all fussy on me - "well you were eating snickers and donuts silly!") I'm still nursing and I was sure I would lose the weight faster because of that. Nope. Turns out I needed to actually CHANGE the way I was LIVING.

Fast forward to today. Today was the final weigh-in. In 29 days, I have learned how to eat healthy and feed my family in a way I can be proud. I have also lost 14.8 pounds. That is 8.4% of my body weight (you can do the math :) JUST BY EATING RIGHT!

My mom yoga pants are baggy. My jeans fit. (I'm not completely squished into them) I feel good. I have more energy. I know I'm a better wife and mom.

I must say having it be a challenge was really good for both Joel and myself. We kept each other accountable (we've always been enablers for each other) and I'm proud to say that Joel even lost just over 13 pounds this past month too.

To celebrate a month of discipline, I wanted to go to the store and find a treat to indulge in. Like a reward. I searched the whole store - the 6 aisle store we have in our little town - to find the perfect sugary treat. I stared at the Oreo's, soda, and gummy candies. I went home empty handed. Nothing looked good. Like at all. So I opted for a nice cup of tea.

I'm changing. And I like it.

If you want to learn more about the challenge, check out Jenny's website.

I have another pretty funny but VERY SERIOUS story for you later too. It has to do with the other half of being healthy.... Fitness!

Stay tuned.

XO.
Jari

Egg-stra yummy Breakfast

Yeah, that was really cheesy (like funny... Not cheesy like dairy)

Ok. It's late.

Joel and I have been doing pretty good with our 30 Days to Fit Challenge. (We may have 'cheated' a few times) We are learning how to make delicious food by following the plan - free of dairy, sugar, gluten, caffeine and alcohol. 

I want to share with you our little breakfast we had yesterday morning.

It's so simple. 

Black beans (rinsed and warmed)

Fried egg (1 egg + 2 egg whites)

1/4 avocado 

fresh parsley (you could use cilantro if you prefer)

And if you like a little heat, add some Cholula (or sriracha, tapitio, or salsa!)

I've pretty much failed at sharing what we've been eating every day... Sorry. 

But I'm happy to report that so far Joel has lost almost 10 pounds and I am down almost 12!  In just 3 weeks! I wish we would have taken our measurements. I think we would have seen a big difference there. 

We haven't been exercising like we said we would be. (Ill start on Monday.... No I won't!) but we do need to get a routine to make that a priority. 

I feel so much better. My jeans fit better. Even my 'mom' yoga pants are getting a little baggy. I have more energy. I don't remember the last time I had a headache. 

We have decided that we are making this a lifestyle change. To choose good healthy goods at least 80% of the time but to be ok having sweets every once in a while. And by sweets, I mean cocktails, frozen yogurt, bread. 

It's so crazy to say this but I'm not craving my cokes, donuts and snickers anymore. At all. 

This makes me happy. 

One more week to go! We will finish strong!

XO

Jari

Gold Anyone?

Michelle Smith made her appearance at the Little League State Tournament in Missoula last weekend. Our girls were so excited to participate in her 2 hour pitching camp. 

I'm not sure if they even realize who they just got coached from, took their photos with and got their ball signed from. 

We are talking about Michelle Smith!!! Olympic GOLD medalist... Not once but TWO TIMES!! Michelle was a pioneer in the sport of fast pitch softball and is a great role model for young girl athletes. (I'm pretty sure the girls will be doing a report on Michelle this school year ;) because I'm the mom AND the teacher and I said so ;)

Softball has become a family sport here at the Spry house. Even so much that Joel is going to be head coach of the Montana Avalanche 10U team next year. (And I pray both if our big girls get a spot on his team ;) I couldn't be more excited and proud of him. My husband loves baseball. So when you are blessed with 3 daughters, you learn to love softball too :)

Joel has a love for the sport but even more, his passion is to help develop girls into strong young ladies on the field and off. Working hard and learning to be a good leader and encouragement to your team is so important. Doing your best without having to be the best is another key phrase when it's time to tie up the cleats. These are life lessons that they'll be learning but I also know that through this season in our lives (who am I kidding?! Like the next 18 seasons!) Joel and I will probably be learning more than we'll ever be able to teach. 

I'm sure you'll get to hear all about it right here over the next year. It's going to be a fun, fast-paced journey. 

Did you play sports as a child? What did you play? What was a life lesson you learned from that sport?

XO

Jari

Breakfast: vanilla protein shake with strawberries and blueberries 

Snack: granny smith apple 

Lunch: a cup of GF chicken gumbo soup and a big salad filled with fresh veggies and I used the juice of the pepperoncinis as my dressing 

Early Dinner: naked burrito with brown rice, black beans, lime chicken and mango salsa scooped up with tortilla chips. 

Snack: almonds

Snack: vanilla protein shake with peanut butter and cinnamon 

It's a Brand New Day!

As most of you know, I had my baby girl almost 8 months ago. What some of you could probably guess, I'm holding on to a LOT of extra weight. 

Joel and I want to have more children if The Lord allows but we both know that we need to get healthy before that day comes. We need to start leading healthy lives with our 3 girls so they can grow up knowing how to take care of themselves and make good choices with food. 

I've always been a Monday girl like I told you in a previous post.... But not today. Today I am a Thursday girl. Today I started a 30 days to fit challenge (with Joel) thanks to our friend, Jenny. 

We are using Arbonne products to help cleanse our bodies and start new eating habits. It's not a diet, just a change in what you eat and how you eat. I'm not a calorie counter, point watcher, no carb yoyo, starve yourself skinny kind of woman. I like to eat. But the problem was that I was eating the wrong kinds of food. 

We told our girls that we need to start eating foods God provided for us and depend less on what man has made. More whole foods, less packaged foods. When eating out, we need to make better choices. We basically started calling our food - fuel. So now, we talk a lot about 'good gas' and 'bad gas.' If I didn't tell you that, you'd think we were a super gassy family if you heard us talking like that ;)

The challenge is for 30 days and it's based in a 'Biggest Loser' style weight loss. 

I've never been this so insecure about my physical appearance in all my life (wait, I take that back. I realllllly didn't like myself after I had Arly over 10 years ago)

It's time to develop a little discipline in my life - and this blog is helping me so much. I'm an 'all or nothing' girl so I'm ready to change it all right now. 

I'm also 'committing' to the Scentsy Wellness challenge too! I love that our Scentsy Family cares so much about us too that they have developed a whole program to help their consultants get healthy and fit. 

I need your help though. I need you to hold me accountable. Today I weighed in and almost died when I saw the scale. 176 pounds. I am NOT proud of that number at all. In fact, I'm really embarrassed of it. But what I'm more upset about is being out of breath when I play with the girls, shopping at the bottom of the jean pile at The Buckle, and having 'chub rub' chaffing when I wear my summer skirts. 

I tell you this because it is real. It is me. And I'm ready for change. I don't want to prove my insanity by doing the same things I have done and expect a different result. I'm ready for change. 

Everyday for the next 30 days, I'm going to share what I eat each day at the bottom of every post.  Carrie Underwood keeps a food journal (so I heard!) and I really wouldn't mind looking more like her! Wink!

Breakfast: pineapple and grapes & protein shake

Lunch: grilled chicken on a bed of kale, chard and spinach with Italian dressing and broccoli and carrots

Snack: chips and salsa 

Dinner: chop house salad (we are traveling so right away we're learning how to eat the right foods on the menu: boy oh boy the chicken fry sounds so good!) the salad was a grilled steak to almost perfection on top of lettuce and spinach, with a light balsamic dressing and grilled red onions! Yum!

I just read tonight on a Pinterest post that 'Discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most.'

That really hit me. I can do 30 days of anything ( well almost) so that I can have better habits for the rest of my life. 

Thanks for listening tonight. 

Here's to a healthy journey! Slurp!

XO

Jari

Coolin' Off... Pool & Cocktails

Today, I was a YES MOM. I didn't say no! It was so hard but I learned something from my sweet friend who has been working on being a 'yes mom'. She has taken her kiddos bowling and hiking this week and when she witnessed the joy in the eyes, it's something she wants to continue doing.

Me too!

Today, I had both of the big girls bring a friend to our big, huge, way awesome water park - just ask the girls!

We stayed and played for 5 hours! 5 hours friends! I was by myself with one 10 yr old, one 9 year old, two 8 year olds and one 7 month old.... by myself. And I was a YES MOM!... (Did I mention I was by myself?)

No really, it was FABULOUS!
The big girls got along so great and little Bear and I relaxed all afternoon. She LOVED the water

 .... got wiped out and took a nice long nap while I worked on my bible study - Gideon by Priscilla Shirer (AMAZING study - if you ever get the chance - DO IT!)

When we left the pool, we went to DQ - YEP! YES MOM! They felt so 'treated' today and it was SO fun to hear about them talk about how much fun they had on our 15 minute drive home with ice cream drippin' off their chins. It was one of the best, lazy summer days we've had in a long time (first one this year for sure!)

Tonight, I wanted to do something special for my hard workin' hunk of love. (OK, I won't ever call him something cheesy like that again...... or maybe I will. But I'll try not to... I'll just call him Julio! <---- if you know us well, you already know that is what I've called my husband for a decade now. If you don't know us that well, well... now you do :)

He LOVES Bloody Mary's! I wanted to make a cocktail for him so I threw this little recipe together... I combined a few different ones from pinterest and came up with this one. It got his approval!

THE Bloody Julio - that's what I'm going to call this drink since he sucked it down faster than I've ever seen a drink disappear from a glass.

Ingredients are shown in the photo.

 3 cups tomato juice

1/4 cup vodka

1/4 cup olive juice

1/4 lime juice

2 T. worcestershire sauce

2 big shakes of hot sauce

Stir it all up and serve in a glass of ice with some jumbo olives, pickle spear and if I would've had some celery and pickled asparagus on hand I would've totally used that too!

What's your favorite cocktail? I would love to try it! Please post it in the comments here! :)

I also made a homemade pizza - just your regular crust with some red and green pepper and pineapple! Yum!

If you are on instagram - follow me! - -and join me in Elsie's challenge of one self portrait a day for 30 days. Today is 3/30 for me. It seems silly at first and hard to 'get a good shot' but I think it will help me be a better photographer and actually get a few photos of me. You know, if you're the mom who's always behind the lens you rarely get photos of you. So.... yeah... it's fun! Join me!

XO.
Jari

Scatterbrain... all day, every day

I still have 12 minutes!... I only have 12 MINUTES! I said I was going to write every day for a whole year... and I'm on day three and I onl..... 11 MINUTES!!!!!

Some days I feel like I can't keep ANYTHING straight... Like I have 1.3 million things to do... but I always get side tracked... I have so many ideas, needs, desires, and plans and goals upstairs but I  - - - 10 MINUTES!!!!

Where was I? What was I talking about? Oh yeah, GROCERY SHOPPING!
Today I finally went grocery shopping. It was long over due. I haven't been home and cooking in almost 10 days and I was craving some good, summer time meals. You know... BBQ chicken on the grill, spicy hot potatoes on the grill, bacon wrapped salmon on the grill, corn on the cob on the grill... Yep, we like to grill!

Ooooo... that big beautiful pineapple would look good on the grill!

See how my brain works?!?! It takes a LOT of effort to get my thoughts out on 'paper' in an orderly fashion. I know this blog is going to help hone my writing skills. It'll come with time... until then, please be patient with me :)

Menu planning, as you have heard, has never been the easiest thing for me. Well, not even easiest... it has been almost none existent for way too long. Like my whole life.

BUT, with the help of Pinterest (see what I find P-Interesting on the top right corner of this page) and fellow bloggers I'm really going to give it a go... for real this time.

Today, the girls and I wrote out ideas and things that we would like to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next week or two. It was so much fun teaching them how to plan a well-balanced meal. (see home schooling happens EVERY DAY!) - This is Arly's list - at first she wanted sausage sandwich with a side of bacon! Ha! Good thing we bought that half a hog! :)

I'll be sharing a few of our creations throughout the days and I hope you'll share your family favorites with me too!

Tonight we had Baja Citrus Chicken on the grill (LOVE the grill! -- speaking of grill, do y'all grill all year round? We only have about 3 months of summer here in the mountains of Montana but we grill even when we have to shovel the snow off the top) - Joel also made some potato wedges which he grilled in tinfoil with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and wing sauce, sprinkled with garlic salt. I do believe a version of this delicious side dish originated from my sister, Jackie, and we ate it MANY years ago when she lived in NC. That was Joel and my first trip together - - driving from SD to NC with NO CRUISE CONTROL and NO NAPS! Young and dumb adventurous! <---- that's a whole other story for another day.

Ok what were we talking about? I think I just started day-dreaming about my main squeeze when I should be night dreaming with him now.

Oh yeah - - I'm going to start sharing our yummy (mostly healthy) dishes with you in hopes that you'll share yours with me!

Uh oh - now it's midnight - - times up!

Thanks for spending another day with me!
Until tomorrow. (When I will share a MIRACLE with you! - well, 2 of them!)

XO.
Jari