Kick Ass? Or Ass Kicked? How Was Your Week? 8-week challenge

Frump...frumpity frump frump frump. I usually don't do the frump posts, because...well, I guess it's because I break most of the frump rules, as shown here. I'm more of the frame of mind that if you feel good about you, then looking good will follow. Its the inner frump I'm talking about.

This is what I think the 8-week challenge is about. The 8-week challenge for many is getting in better shape and being healthy, thats what it is for me, but it can be anything that you need to do to make yourself feel good. Because seriously, confidence is sexy and very un-frumpy.

To help you on your quest to be healthy, I had intended to talk a bit about eating healthy on a budget, but wow, its just really hard to do that. Kashi is working with this organization to teach families how to prepare healthy meals on a budget, but for the life of me I couldn't find anything on the site to help us. So... here are a few tips I found elsewhere.

• Buy produce that is on sale, and go for the big bags as opposed to the single priced per lbs kind.
• Buy produce in season. Its cheaper
  
• Plan your meals around your produce. If you buy tomatoes and use them in salads, sauces and snacking.
• Plant a garden (thats my tip, I grew up with one). Makes things so easy to just to run out to the garden and grab a tomato.
  
• Make your own single serving snacks, don't buy the little packs. I know their intention is portion control...Of course if you're like me you would probably find yourself sitting in front of a box of 100 calorie cookies, opening them one after another and pouring them into my mouth. So just skip these all together.

I bet Ashlee has better ideas than me, she plans her meals a whole month in advance. How do you eat healthy on a budget?

That question just brought a little side tangent to mind. When I was working in inner city Detroit, one of my fellow slaves students had a freak out moment. She began crying and ripping the Eat Organic sticker from the bumper of her car, yelling about how the people we worked with would never be able to afford to buy organic. And she was right, is right. It is freaking expensive to be healthy. A chicken sandwich from McDonald's is $1. Can't beat that. Ok, tangent over.

As far as how I did on my goals? Well, I modified my one sweet a day rule to one sweet per sitting. So, after dinner I had 1/2 a piece of cheese cake and 1/2 piece of chocolate cake. I was at a pot luck, I can't choose between cheesecake and chocolate!

Plus I ran FOUR times this week, and my run today was the BEST RUN EVER! Almost every time I start running I think I'm going to die, but by the time I hit 1/2 mile mark I'm usually ok. Today, however, I didn't even feel tired till after a mile. I had added this song to my workout and it made me feel like I was flying. Today... I ran TWO AND A HALF MILES! I'm feeling very proud of myself right now and I can tell you, I already feel a difference in my body.

I'm also going to add the goal to write one creative piece per week, because, quite frankly, I feel much better about myself and life when I'm being creative. I'll just post it over at Ghostwriter's Haunt, which is getting a new home here. Fiction Friday has been reduced to a once a month thing, so you'll still have to suffer through it the pleasure of reading it here.

One last thing before I hand the floor over to HB. Did the mid-week check in help out at all? Or was it a waste of cyberspace? Let me know if I should continue doing a mid-week pep or not. Just a quick shouting out to keep you on track and see how you are.

Ok, this is Sister Sassy Signing off.

Grandma Jean has been here all week. I'm not sure if you you realize it, but she's a southern girl who knows from cooking. I had a decision to make. Enjoy her cheesy broccoli cornbread and southern taters and slow cooked meats and dump cake, or...abstain. It's really all about choices and I choose to look good and feel good. So I compromised.

I ate a protein-rich breakfast every morning. I took a low-carb, low-calorie lunch to work. And then I chose to enjoy smaller helpings of Grandma Jean's dinners. I didn't want to hurt her feelings after all. That's why I'm her favorite daughter. (This is Sassy rolling my eyes)

I also cut my caffeine intake in half, which is huge for me. AND, I have been going to bed before 11:00 every night. I haven't been taking my vitamins, nor have I exercised as much as I want to. But my clothes fit better and my tummy feels flatter. Baby steps, no?

AND! And. I have a job interview this morning! So I have all kinds of life-improvement activities going on this week. Please send me your prayers and "Rock that Interview" vibes.

My goals for Week Two: Exercise 4 Days, Salad for One Meal each day, VITAMINS, Protein Rich Breakfast each morning.

Tell me about your week. Did you stick to your food and exercise plans? What good thing did you do for yourself? What good thing did you do for someone else? What challenges did you face and how did you handle them?

Week Two is going to ROCK. (Thank GOD Grandma Jean's going home!)

Do you want more frump fighting tips? Go here!
What's that? You want to comment? Just click on the itty-bitty words below that say "Gimme Some Sugar". Can you see them? Good. We can't wait to chat with you.