A Few Moments to Myself

This will be brief, trust me (the few moments to myself, I mean, not the post. When was I ever brief?). I wrote on my other blog about how we are having a historically un-white Christmas and it has been raining cats and dogs for days. Hence, my children are going stir crazy. When you live in an area where is hardly ever rains and you can nearly always send your children outside to run off some energy, these days of confinement begin wearing thin very quickly.

Plus, the rain gives me a headache which makes me guess that I am lacking patience.

Anyway, this past week has ultimately become a total rest week. Too many late nights of staying up and trying to order customized calendars before the sale ends because someone (me) procrastinated in uploading photos this year have left me zapped of energy. I also suspect the fact that I've been eating cookie dough and other gluten products is a contributing factor. Next year, I'm going to have to take the plunge and look into making gluten free cookies, I think, even when I swore I wouldn't do it.

Anyway, many of the lengthy BeachBody programs such as P90X or Insanity have a rest week incorporated into them where you do lighter exercise. And then they recommend taking a week off in between ending one program and starting another. Counting back, I never really did that after P90X, so this will be my rest time before starting TurboFire on Jan. 3. I think I mentioned that my sister has already started it and she says it's really challenging. My friend and fellow BeachBody coach, AnLee, has recently started Insanity, and Anne just started P90X, so I feel like I'll be in good company as I get back in the swing of things.

Besides, my children have been camping in the basement in my workout space, so that's cramping my workout style just a bit.

I'm feeling a little sad that I obviously can't partake in the Christmas cookies like in years past. The whole intolerance to certain foods does make me wonder about a lot of things. Like I think it's interesting that I notice this so much more this year. Is it because I have mostly removed gluten from my diet and when I add it back in, my body goes haywire? Why is that? The body is a curious thing.

As you ponder whether or not you want to do the post-holiday challenge with me (I'll put a few details below so you can decide if it's for you or not), consider what you might eliminate. I think that you'll be surprised, too, in just six weeks time, if you eliminate certain "toxic" foods, how your body will not like it if you try to add them back in. What would you eliminate? Soda? Diet soda? Refined sugars? Artificial sweetners? Is that even how you spell sweetners? Or is it sweeteners?

Anyway, here's a brief summary of what the challenge will entail.

-This first challenge will be four weeks long
-To be eligible, you will post in the comments section here or on the Facebook page I intend to set up, probably at the very last minute, your daily accountability--the workout you did, what you ate
-You will follow some sort of plan. If you are doing a BeachBody program that has you on 5 or 6 workouts a week, you do that. You are welcome design your own program to walk or run or whatever, but you have to do it for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week.
-You don't have to track your calories, but I highly recommend you do so. It's very enlightening!
-There will be prizes!
-We're on the honor system. I won't be watching you from secret cameras planted at your house. Or maybe I will...

So, just something to think about. More details to come. Let me know if you have questions.

And now, back to my gluten detox...