Day 2 of the challenge and I feel pretty darn good! I slept very well last night. Better than I have in quite some time. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have so much processed sugar in my system. My hubby thinks it’s all in my head. Hey, if it means I get better sleep then I’ll take it!

I got up this morning and prepped my food for the day:

BREAKFAST: coffee w/creamer (I still need to work on a better creamer alternative), watermelon and banana.

LUNCH: rotisserie  chicken, brown rice, and sliced avocado

SNACKS:  celery w/almond butter (yum!), banana, hard-boiled egg.

I mentioned the coffee creamer. Now, I love coffee. What I really mean to say is I REALLY LOVE COFFEE. Luckily, coffee is all natural and actually has health benefits (yay!). The creamer is the struggle. I’ve been using Fat Free Coffee Mate creamer for years. If you read the nutritional value on the bottle is says “Sugars 0g”. BUT, read the ingredients: “WATER, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL**, AND LESS THAN 2% OF SUGAR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM CASEINATE (A MILK DERIVATIVE)***, COLOR ADDED”. I don’t know what half of that stuff is! So I talked with my trainer and a few friends who are into the “clean eating” lifestyle. They all agree that half & half, 1% milk, or almond milk are excellent alternatives. Guess I’m hitting the store again on the way home from the gym tonight. 🙂

I’m trying to fit in more activity during the day. My job is a desk job and requires me being at my desk for most of my shift. I don’t move around nearly as much as I should but I’m determined to change that. So, I ate my lunch in between phone calls and during my 45min lunch break today I took a nice walk around my building. I was able to complete two lapse in 30min. It felt good to get out and walk off some of the stress that comes with my job, and I’m already half-way to my 10,000 step goal for the day. The only downside? Now I’m sweaty at work. Ick.

Had one of my best runs tonight. My trainer started me on walking for 1min 30sec @ 3.5mph and then run for 1min 30sec @ 6mph. She also wanted me to shorten my run time from 50min down to 30min. It was a great challenge and I feel pretty amazing!

Dinner tonight was a green salad with fresh tomato, avocado, grilled chicken breast, and salsa in place of salad dressing. It was awesome!! Very fresh tasting with a bit of zip!

I have to say, for it only being day 2 of this challenge, I’m pretty optimistic, excited, and energized. I truly needed this challenge to get me back into the mental groove of my journey. I knew there would be ups and downs, but it’s part of the process. I’m feeling pretty good!

Liz