Want to connect?

As you can probably see - this website 1Fit2Serve is dedicated to health and fitness information as well as sharing what I offer as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach. Maybe you've read my About Me and would like to connect BEYOND the health and fitness aspect! I have set apart this website as a way to share health and fitness tips and advice as well as my personal journey (and my husband's even) with health and fitness while battling a chronic pain disorder (and in my husband's case complications from his chemotherapy treatment for cancer). I started this at a time in my life when God was calling me to do something more; something more than sitting around in pain all day and watching my family wishing I could do more. I haven't left that path, and I still feel it is a vital calling for me that I will continue to pursue and offer support, encouragement, tips, and honesty in my own journey! Our health is SO important that I feel blessed and honored to be able to support and motivate others to improve their health!

I feel like God has called me to something MORE, though - beyond this - not instead of it, but as well as it! I believe I have shared before that I do have a personal blog as well, which really is personal. It's basically the nitty, gritty everyday happenings in my rather "unique" life! I never found a need to integrate a personal blog with this website aside from my personal health and fitness journey, which of course, reflects bits and pieces of me personally: I felt like everyone is here for a purpose, though, and that purpose is the health and fitness aspect. So I will always keep a personal blog as well!

Now I have expanded even more on my Pea of Sweetness website.

Pea of Sweetness really does have a more personal touch because I blog about business, life, homeschooling, and have also recently started encompassing reviews and giveaways! I really feel like this is an extension of me! So if you really feel that by visiting this website you would like to connect beyond the health and fitness aspect I invite you to visit Pea of Sweetness as well as my Pea of Sweetness Facebook Page! Pea of Sweetness even gets some copy and pastes from my personal blog as well - but not too much that it would really lose interest of those that are more for "general" personal blogs rather than "in-depth, emotional type" personal blogs. I would absolutely LOVE to have you visit me on Pea of Sweetness because my calling is extended into healthier living beyond what we think of in the health and fitness category. I mean healthier living as in taking care of ourselves in other ways - using more natural personal care and household products, spiritual health, etc. I hope to see you there as well! :)

A new challenge

Are you up for a challenge? It's a totally different challenge, and it will probably sound easy. I know for me it WON'T be easy, but I'm going for it! I heard this challenge on the radio and it really made me think! What a great idea! You may already do this or have done it. I never have, and I admit I'm kind of nervous!

OK, OK, so what's the challenge? For the entire month of April I'm going to commit to drinking water as my only beverage - nothing else. Meal replacement shakes or other whole food supplements in drink form won't be counted as beverages, of course: things like juice, coffee, soda, tea, lemonade, etc will be off limits.

So why did this intrigue me? For one, I'm sure I've said this before, but I don't like drinking water - at all. I do it because it's necessary and beneficial, but I have been finding lately I'm not drinking enough because I'm always drinking something else! Water is so important to helping our bodies function correctly and getting all the nasty stuff out! Our bodies need water and need constant replenishment! A lot of people who started increasing their water intake due to a similar challenge felt better, had more energy, and had improvements in their skin!

Did you know that 8 cups (64 ounces) per day is the bare minimum recommendation? Ideally you should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces. For example: if you weigh 160lbs you should be drinking 80 ounces of water daily. Now if your weight puts you below the 64oz recommendation you're not off the hook! Haha Like I said - that is the minimum! One thing that I recommend (and need to start implementing again) is getting a water bottle and filling it up x amount of times (whatever your ideal is) so you know if you're drinking enough.

Drinking ONLY water for a month will definitely be challenging for me, personally, and I hope you will consider joining me on this challenge and keeping each other accountable! So, are you in? If so, let's start pumping each other up now so when April 1st rolls around we'll be ready to go! We will start an accountability group now to discuss a plan of action to avoid temptations! I'm excited to see what changes I will notice during the challenge, and my goal is to become more disciplined with my water intake so even after the challenge is over I will have the deep rooted habit of drinking plenty of water daily! All it takes to develop new habits is to start something new and commit to it for a length of time to where it's just a natural part of your life. So I am taking that step April 1st. Will you be joining me?

* Please do not confuse this challenge with consuming water alone as in a fast! I'm a breastfeeding mom and require an EXTRA 500 calories/ day, during which I would never consider a complete fast! When I say drink water only I am referring to drinking water as my only BEVERAGE. I wanted to make sure that point is clear! :-) *

Meal Planning

So we moved a few months ago and still aren't completely settled. It takes a long time to unpack when you lose a lot of space (we lost 800 sq ft of space) and when you have 3 kids. One wants to help, one wants nothing to do with helping, and the other THINKS he's helping when really he's just making a mess. haha Being still somewhat unsettled made me realize my meal planning has gone out the window. Grocery shopping has become more difficult and more expensive. When I don't have a plan I tend to just buy whatever I think we may use, which costs a lot and results in a lot of extras in the pantry that I can't use until I get more ingredients to make something else, etc. It has caused a lot of frustration! Like, anything, it's been a learning experience! I love learning experiences because then I can share them with others as well! What have I learned? ALWAYS have your meals planned and make a grocery list based on those meals (and those meals alone to avoid temptations to get things you will regret getting later!). Yes, even when you're stressed out with traveling, moving, whatever it may be - it may seem the time it takes for meal planning isn't worth it, but NOT planning only adds to the stress - and hurts your budget! You are much more likely to dine out when your meals aren't planned, and that adds up quickly!

So where do you start? Anywhere! If you're a great "planner" coming up with meal plans and a grocery list based on those plans can definitely be done by yourself! Make sure you know the full recipes for each meal and base your shopping list on the ingredients needed for each. I personally try to use a variety of recipes that use similar ingredients, but the main part of the meal is different - such as a different entree but similar sides or a different meat in the entree but similar prep style. If you have kids, though, they may not mind having the same thing over and over again - and we actually do that a lot here! haha Now there are so many options out there for meal planning. Some cost a small monthly fee, some are free - and you have to find what works for you. I have found the meal planners that are connected to fitness sites are less likely to have kid-friendly options, so if you're a parent this can be extremely frustrating and a little more time-consuming because you're basically taking those meal plans and then adding more to the recipes or even additional meals for your kids. For more family friendly I found one I like called Food on the Table. They also offer meals based on what coupons are current at your grocery store! It's a great family friendly option! Another that I haven't personally tried yet but will be looking into (after now recognizing my dilemma of falling off the "meal planning boat") is eMeals, which is recommended by Dave Ramsey. We plan on fully diving in to his financial guidance this year, so it definitely makes it appealing for me to look into it! If you already use it I would LOVE to hear your opinion! :)

Maybe you use something else - if so I'd love to hear about it! Whatever you use, remember to use it consistently!