21 days!!!

Well, it's a quarter after nine...that means just a little while until it's officially been 21 days! I just had a great snack of strawberries and this awesome trail mix from Trader Joes. I am excited that I made it through this 21 day detox from sugar. Not perfectly, but who's perfect? Well, out of the rest of us? I have definitely reaped benefits from it though and if anyone out there is needing to lose a few pounds, feel healthier and have more energy; I totally recommend it!

Oh, so I took a nap this afternoon and woke up to this delicious smelling aroma....Tom baked brownies! I didn't even realize we had any brownie mix, but my brother had sent it to us in a package a couple of months ago. Anyway, I admit it, I took a snitch! Yes, I finally ate something chocolaty after 20 whole days of no chocolate. I felt a little loserish for giving in after being so strong, but I only ate about a 1/2 teaspoon worth and then I got pretty mad at Tom. It's not easy to stay mad at him...he's such a sweet guy but seriously! My LAST day and you decide to BAKE brownies!!! Oh well! We're still so in love!

So, tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. I am going to go to Walmart and eat a whole gallon of ice cream, drink a 64 ounce soda and eat a whole bag of chips!!!! Before even leaving the store! Just kidding! I am going to go and teach Pilate's at church!

Oh, and Coty! Great job on your detox! It's been so great reading your updates and having someone else enjoying all the perks of this with you (when everyone else thinks you're nuts! :-) Anyway, you're the only person who has followed through with the whole thing so I have a package to send ya so email me your address at tomandmeljensen(at)hotmail(dot)com. Way to go Coty!

Day Twenty!!!

Whew! I'm almost done with this 21 days detox! It's been great and very worthwhile and I plan on incorporating the discipline into everyday life. The exercising has been great. I've been running regularly and can definately tell I am getting better (just a wee bit faster :-) and when I come home in the morning from running I feel so invigorated for the rest of the day. I LOVE it and need the energy being a mom. I also came home from my pilates class this week feeling so excited and grateful that I get to teach it. In just 5 weeks my class seems to be just doing better every week and I have the nicest ladies and 1 guy that come and are getting better and better themselves each week. I'm also going to start teaching Pilates and Yoga to ladies and (at least one older gentleman that I know of) from church starting Monday mornings at 7 a.m.!

Detox: Day 16!

Okay, sorry. I have been meaning to post about it for the last couple of days. I've been trying to upload a video from when we went to the zoo a week and a half ago and our computer doesn't seem to want to comply.

Anyway, still going good. Some days and moments are easier; other times I feel like it's one of the hardest thing I've ever done!!! Last night we had enchiladas for dinner (which I usually just use regular tortillas) but I'm totally sold on whole wheat tortillas (I hope you guys liked them too Sarah). We loved them here! They have a heartier taste to them and we thought it was great. Tom and Taylor had a petitie chocolate cake from the bakery outlet where I get bread for dessert and I thought it was downright cruel! :-) Oh well! I've gotten used to it.

I did eat some doritos over the weekend though! Oops! At least they're not sugary, but still one of those things I'm trying to avoid. I'm trying to end this thing strong, but honestly I'm looking forward for it to be done so I don't always have to feel so on guard. I plan on doing it again and again though b/c it's been such a great way to stay motivated and healthier. I also love that we haven't eaten out. It's good for my family's health for me to plan and prepare healthy meals and it's good for the pocketbook as well!

Sailing Shoes 5k!!!

Another thing I was excited about accomplishing is my first 5k of the year! It was this last Saturday. I had set the goal to run it back in January and it felt so great to get out there and do it. I'm such a slow runner too so I got to enjoy it for quite a while! :-) It was a beautiful morning, nice flat course, beautiful downtown, hundreds of friendly runners....ahhh! I loved it! I felt so exhilerated and energetic the whole rest of the day. I just love waking up early and pushing yourself to do something that some may consider torture...but I think it's great!

While running I came up with another goal for myself...I want to run at least 100 races in my lifetime. I want to be the sixty plus year old lady running with the youngsters. I love seeing those people now. They're so motivating to me. Anyway, last Saturday was my 4th race (not counting ones I ran in high school) so I have a long ways to go and I plan on enjoying every moment of it!

To Good Health!!!

craving something sweet?

mmmm... this pic is for you Mar! ;-)

detox update...day eleven!!

Wahoo! The 21 day sugar detox is pretty much exactly half way over! Still going good although I should say I haven't done everything perfectly like eat 10 whole servings of fruits and vegtables. I've probably done that only twice, but I've come close most days and that's better than usual for me. I also ate raisen bran for breakfast the other morning which I felt a bit guilty about b/c of the sugar coated raisens in it...so no more of that for me! I also don't think I've gotten 8 hours of sleep everynight which is something I really need so I have still got to work at that.

The great thing is I feel so good and energetic! I love it! I can definately tell a difference in my energy levels. I also feel fuller throughout the day b/c I've been eating more protein for breakfast (like cottage cheese) and all the fruits and vegtables and whole grains have so much fiber....oh, speaking of fiber (brace yourself!) I realized today how much more regular I am! It's great! (sorry dad for being so explicit! :-) Another, thing I've noticed that's better is that I'm sleeping better at night. I used to have to take sleep aid pills to help me sleep most nights (I have anxiety problems). Anyway, I haven't been taking them at all during this and I'm able to fall asleep and stay asleep really easily. It's been very nice! Anybody else feel like joining in? You can do it with me for the last week (starting Monday) or 10 days (starting tomorrow) and see how much better you feel too!

Max is 3 months old already!

I can't believe little Max is already 3 months old! I'm so grateful this little boy has come into our lives and family! He's been such a sweet, little baby and is so happy and easygoing. I love having a son! And I'm so glad that it's Max. He's my little sweetheart!

these pictures were taken by my friend Sarah who just had her own little baby today! Congrats Sarah and Curtis! I'm glad Sydney is finally here!

Week one down, two more to go!

detox update....

Yeah! I'm so excited seven days are done! I have had no sugar and it's great! I still think it looks pretty good though, but yesterday I went grocery shopping again once more before dinner and it was much easier! I just knew I wasn't going to eat anything unhealthy and so I didn't even allow myself to crave it. That was nice.

I did technically slip though. Friday night I went to a girls' night and the girl that had invited me had fixed this big dinner for everyone and I ate it...and it was good! But, it had ground beef and regular tortillas in it which I'm trying to avoid right now. I didn't have any of the chocolate deserts she made though.

Here's to another two deprivating, but healthy weeks!

Seven Falls...

We went to Seven Falls the Monday after Max's blessing after Tom got off work. Thankfully, we had a coupons to get in for much cheaper b/c I didn't think it was worth the 9 bucks per adult charge. It was still neat to see though and we had fun. The stairs were a great workout! I had always thought there would be seven waterfalls, but it's actually this huge waterfall that has seven breaks in it....you can see the stairs going along side the waterfall. My father in law counted and said it was 217 steps (If I remember right). It felt like a thousand! :-)
sweet Max taking a snooze...

okay these signs were pretty funny...here's a close up:
this is the furthest one. It says 'City Drinking Water No Wading' Now check out the one below and see if it seems a little interesting.
YIKES!
This was on the hike at the top...it was very pretty.
And here is little Miss Taylor who walks like this when she insists on not holding hands with you.

Max's blessing weekend...

We blessed Max in church on Sunday, June 1, 2008. It was a beautiful, great day. Actually, it was beautiful and great all weekend. Tom's parents and my dad came for the weekend so we decided to be tourists (there are so many fun, amazing things to do and see here!) and we went spent the whole day on Saturday visiting really cool places. So, here are some pics from that weekend and there are some slideshow videos at the bottom if you want to see even more pictures. Our little family
us with Tom's parents
us with my dad
And here is our sweet little guy...he's so sweet and fun to be around. My Grandma gave us his blessing outfit. I loved it. It was so cute and perfect for a warm first day of June.
His smile melts my heart!


Royal Gorge Railway Canon City, CO

We actually rode this at the end of our day out...it was breathtaking and so much fun! We loved it! It goes right alongside the Arkansas river and we saw tons of rafters so I've decided next summer (I won't be nursing anymore) that we're going rafting...let us know if you want to join us!

Ghosttown Museum

This place was a lot more interesting and cooler than I thought it was going to be. It was so neat to see so many things from that time period and they were so well preserved.

Cave of the Winds

This was our first stop that morning. It was great! It's amazing to realize there can be such big caves in those mountains we see everyday.

cave pictures.... ghost town....

royal gorge railway

The end of day four...

It's still going pretty good! Still have a long ways to go though! Tuesday we had chicken stir fry and brown rice for dinner. It's one of my favorite meals and I usually put brown sugar in the teriyaki sauce but not this time and it tasted great still. At Walmart you can buy a frozen bag of the great value brand of stir fry vegetables for about $1.70. They have at least two different varieties of them...I like the deluxe one. It has broccoli, peas in the pod, mini corns (whatever those things are called), water chestnuts, red bell peppers, carrots...I think that's it. Then I like to add some fresh vegetables like onions, zucchini and mushrooms to it, grill and slice some chicken and I use store bought teriyaki sauce to cook it all in and we eat it over brown rice...it's so yummy and a great way to eat a lot of different vegetables.

Last night Tom took his little sister out to dinner and a movie so I had some leftovers for dinner. Tonight we had fajitas. I slice up a big onion, two peppers (I love red ones), fresh garlic and chicken. Then I get a fajita seasoning packet to season it with (it's not authentic but tasty) and tonight we ate them on whole wheat tortillas (which I don't usually get b/c I haven't liked them). I'm just trying to make myself like them and really they not bad. Especially if they're filled with tasty food. I've also been eating some tuna, a lot of cottage cheese, lots of fruits and vegetables. Oh yeah, last night my friend Sarah came over and we had smoothies and they were so good! They had frozen berries, fresh strawberries, yogurt, grape juice and milk. Mmmm!

Exercise is going good. Tom's sister has been visiting with us so Monday we went hiking, Tuesday we went on a walk with the kiddos and I teach a Pilate's class on Tuesdays, yesterday Tom's sister and I did yoga and Pilate's for over an hour and today we went hiking with some of my friends and came home and did some more Pilate's for about 30 minutes. I haven't been running though....I need to work on that.

I've also done a pretty bad job at going to bed early! Tuesday night Tom and I went to a late movie (Indiana Jones) and last night he got home late from his movie. I have been waking up early too so I'm lacking a couple hours of much needed sleep.

Yeah for these people!

These are the people doing the detox with me:

COTY- this is my friend from Stillwater. I finally fixed her link so it's her actual blog now :-)
LACEY- my sister in law
ELEANOR-mother in law
TAMMY-sister in law
COLLEEN-sister in law
ELLEN (for a week while she's visiting us...this is Tom's little sister)
TAWSHA-my friend from the mission

Wahoo! Go ladies! Good luck! You can do it!


If anyone else wants to do it...feel free! You can start whenever you want (you can even do it for 7 days if you want....you choose you're own guidelines for it) read the post below if you have no idea what I'm talking about....

BTW, yeah for everyone else too! I love you all and appreciate your support.

Day Two...

It's day two of the 21 day detox...whew! It's going pretty good, although yesterday was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I went to the grocery store right BEFORE dinner (always go grocery shopping AFTER you've eaten! That's great advice I heard once. :-) Anyway, I felt like I was craving EVERYTHING!!! Thankfully, I didn't give in and came home and we had spaghetti for dinner with whole wheat pasta and lots of veggies. Then we had a delicious fruit smoothie for desert! It was all so good. Funny thing is, I've tried whole wheat pasta before and I didn't like it so I have just said "I'll eat whole wheat bread and bread items, but keep buying my usual white angel hair pasta." Anyway, trying it again was a good thing because I really liked it this time. There is also this kind called Barilla-Plus that has added fiber and omega-3s and it's really good too. Probably pretty processed...but good.

I also found that I really like Braeburn apples. Well, to those of you doing this with me I hope it's going well! I hope you don't hate me for it! :-) To good health!

I'm GOING to do it! Care to Join me?

(the chocolate cake that did me in...)
(the chocolate cake producing culprits ;-)

OKAY...so I decided to go off sugar (for the most part) after having Max. My mom was here for a while and she was great motivation...she always motivates me to be healthier (thanks Mom!). And, I was doing pretty good...I quit eating chocolate (except really dark chocolate) until my husband's birthday and he requested that his mom make him the "ultimate" 4 layer chocolate cake and told me I should eat some just b/c it was his birthday...well, unfortunately I gave in and I haven't been doing so good since.

SO, I need some new motivation and decided that I am going to publicly go off sugar (completely this time) for 21 days (it'll be a 21 day detox), blog about it and reward myself in the end...if I do it. AND, I would LOVE for ANYONE who wants to, to join me! I thought this way, we can motivate each other...so if you choose to join me here is how I thought we can do it....

1) announce on your blog that you are going to go on a 21 day detox

2) explain when you are starting it

3) list your own personal rules (everyone can personalize their own detox plan-but feel free to copy mine if you want)

4) invite anyone else to join you and in a post later list everyone who said they would

5) blog about how it's going (you can keep a food journal if you want) at least once every 3 days

6) list a great reward that you can give yourself if you accomplish the task--although if you accidentally slip-don't despair! Just keep at it! You can do it!

(feel free to copy and paste this list to your blog if you'd like)

NOW, I want to be clear that this is not a tool for drastic weightloss! It is for helping to curb those bad cravings, become more disciplined and become more healthy...I've struggled a lot with poor body image...as I'm sure a lot of you have. We live in a cruel world when it comes to media and body image. I'm trying hard to not focus on "comparing" and trying to have a "perfect" body, but rather to have a healthier body, to feel stronger and more energized and to feel more control over those stubborn sugar cravings.

One of my favorite quotes is "a mother who radiates self love and self acceptance literally vaccinates her daughter (child) from a poor self image" (it goes something like that-I heard it on Oprah long ago). So, this is something I've been working on a lot and I invite you to join me in it!

I LOVE learning about health and I it motivates me when I read about it so, in addition to setting this detox goal I am going to read one of my favorite books on health 'YOU: Staying Young' by Dr. Oz and another doctor (I can't remember his last name-sorry Dr.!). So, I invite you to read it or another book on health and post either here or on your blog about it when you can.

ALSO, I know some of you who read this don't have a blog...well, I'm not leaving you out of this invitation! You can either email me at tomandmeljensen(at)hotmail(dot)com and I'll add your name to my list and any comments you want me to post to my blog. Or you can always start your own blog (see that icon at the top of mine that says create blog? click there and it's so easy to make your own blog) if you want me to walk you through it email me your phone # and I'll call you and walk you through it.

Okay, so here I go:

I'm going to go on a 21 day detox starting Monday, June 9th, 2008!

(I'm giving myself a chance to stock up on healthy food and give you a chance to start with me then if you choose-you can always shop Monday!)

My personal rules for my detox plan are:

NO SUGAR! So, no chocolate, candy, sugary drinks, etc.

Eat 10 servings a day of fruits and vegtables, mostly fresh

Eat whole grains and whole foods, avoid refined carbs

No eating out...cook healthy meals at home

No beef, only lean poultry and dairy products

Exercise at least 20 minutes everyday except Sunday.

Get to sleep earlier and wake up earlier.

So, ANYONE and EVERYONE please join me!!! If you choose to do so, either add a comment here or send me an email (my email address is listed above) and I'll put up a post with a list of your names...if you read this after I posted the list I'll edit it and add your name then. Come on! It'll be great AND you'll be glad you did it!!!

My reward for completing this detox in 21 days will be a trip to the hair salon (it's badly needed! and I already have a gift card) and a new outfit!

One more thing, I am REALLY hoping to get some of you to join me with this...so as an incentive to you...if you commit to doing it with me and follow the steps and everything (if you don't have a blog-just email me at least) I'll do a "bloggy" giveaway and put your name in for a drawing to recieve a prize...I don't know what'll be but it'll be something special! :-)

OKAY, so I think that about covers it....PLEASE join me or at least help me stay motivated with some support! Thanks everybody and good luck with it!

Garden of the Gods...once again.

A year ago from today was Tom's first day of working for the Boy scouts and we had just moved here to Colorado! It's crazy that it has been a year already and yet so many things have happened in this last year...including getting pregnant about a month and 1/2 after we moved here and having a baby! Anyway, we are so glad we're here...We LOVE Colorado! This last weekend my dad and Tom's parents came to visit for Max's blessing at church. My dad got in on Thursday evening so Friday we went to Garden of the Gods. It's always so beautiful there. Here are some pictures from that day:

Funny picture...

I've been meaning to post this for a while...we thought it was so funny. Tom and I thought it'd be funny to try to "smile" like Taylor does (see second picture) and in the last picture we were excited to see Max joining in the facemaking as well!

He was only five weeks old in this picture...