21 Day Fix Update: Opposition

Here we are on day four of the 21 day fix and this is what I have to say so far:

OPPOSITION.

The past few days have been pretty rough. Which is not what I expected. My eating has been on point, I have been getting my work outs in every day, I have been getting enough sleep, I have been spending time in my Bible....But I have felt like a fish trying to swim upstream when it comes to doing all of that.  By the end of the day I've been WIPED! And I've come to this conclusion: when doing something new & good like this, reality is you will face lots of opposition. Only God knows why, but it is a matter of acknowledging it and being strategic to overcome it so it does not overcome you. 

Here are the biggest opposition points for me since we started:

Kids
We have young, young children (a little over 2.5 and almost 9 months) who are simply very demanding. At this age it is just the name of the game. I remind myself often that it won't always be like this, but for now it is. In the last four days as I have been making my needs (daily work out and healthy eating aka more time in the kitchen) a priority, it has been very apparent that this isn't met well by the kids because their needs have to wait sometimes and aren't met immediately like they would like. Practically speaking this translates to fussy, whiney children that can derail me with stress if I let them but I have been taking my own advice and doing my best to not let this get to me.

My own mind
In one of the work outs the trainer said "Your body will only go where your mind will let it." SO TRUE!  My physical body is a lot stronger than I think. It is my mind that is weak. It is my mind that I have to train just as much, if not more, than my body because the negative self talk kills momentum. "I can't find the time to meal prep" "I can't find the time to make healthy meals" "I can't get through this work out" "I can't loose the weight I want" "I can't I can't I can't." I noticed that I go there a lot! Too much! I want to change my natural response to "I can do this." "How can I make this happen?" "Who do I need to ask for help so I can?" Working on that day by day.

Maybe for you it is your busy schedule and finding time to pack or make your food. Or maybe it is a financial hurdle that you have to save up to be able to do something like this. Or maybe it is a rut of laziness or an injury. Your points of opposition may look different than mine, but we all have them. So how do we overcome them?

In the past four days {I know, such a long time :)} I have found success in:

• Identifying the hurdles (kids and my own mind) so I can be prepared when they come up
• Leaning on those "in my corner." For me this looks like asking my husband to entertain the kids so I can get dinner ready or do bed time because I am so emotionally fried. Or reaching out to a close friend for encouragement. 
• Decide that what I'm trying to accomplish is more important than the opposition.

Hopefully this has helped you! Here's some of what I've been eating!

Seasoned chicken, roasted green beans, and roasted broccoli. Each of these is 1.5 red, and 2 green

Turkey bacon, plain nonfat greek yogurt with strawberries, and oatmeal with blueberries. This is 1 red, 1 purple, and 1 yellow.

21 day fix approved stuffed peppers. One green, one yellow, one red.

And of course daily Shakeology. We got the variety box of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla this time around. I add a cup of fresh spinach to every shake and depending on the flavor I choose also things like strawberries, blueberries, almond milk, or peanut butter. 

I've been making Copelynn smoothies when I drink my Shakeology and she has been gulping them down. I love it because I get a handful of spinach in hers too :)