Whole30: Week #6 Reflection

June 12, 2017 by Sharita

Another legit week of doing this Whole30 gig… Once again, food was pretty tasty and I had some cool Non-scale victories (Read on for more.)

Weekly Ranking (1-10)
9

Felt pretty good and I was grateful to have time to food prep adequately last week. I tried a couple of new recipes (which were a success) and minus a few moments of tiredness (something about having two kids, doing the ministry/educational things I do and a my hubs continually intense work schedule I think…

On My Menu

I kind of “created” a Cauliflower pizza casserole– and it was uber tasty. I’ve attempted actual cauliflower pizza a few times, but can never get the “crust” correct– so this time I just made it into a casserole since I knew I had to eat it with a fork anyways. Still tastes just as good and a whole lot less time consuming. Also, it converted into a pretty tasty breakfast dish halfway through the week by tossing a couple of over-easy eggs on top if it.

Also, I busted out the avocados this week (for some reason I haven’t been capitalizing on them much.) I had toad-in-a-hole for breakfast one day, then made some guacamole to go with my prosciutto-wrapped beef/veggie egg muffins (don’t be intimidated by the name… I just used the Prosciutto as the muffin “liner” and scrambled some eggs with part of the cooked ground beef/bell peppers that I was using for Cauliflower pizza casserole. Easy peasy.

Oh, and taco salad– AH-MAZ-ING! I had cilantro-lime cauliflower “rice” for the first time and seriously– I bet if you didn’t tell a non-whole30er about it, they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Victories

I got a chance this week to do some “benchmark” workouts to see if/how I have physically improved since starting Whole30. Well, let’s just say it was super encouraging! I improved my 2-min time limit sit-ups by 8, push-ups by 5 and (get this!) I took a whopping 3 min 4 seconds off my 2 mile run time! I am being realistic knowing that I likely will not be taking that much time off in future months per-chunk, but definitely a (huge!) step in the right direction. Thank you, Jesus.

Struggles

Nothing too major to report here– there were a few nights that I really wanted to just grab something on the way home, but the fact that I had food ready and waiting for me in the fridge was a huge keep-me-accountable factor. (Again, the major importance of food prep!) Also, I had a few anxiety flare ups (Charis briefly had a headache/fever thing going on for like a day and, like a moron, I googled her symptoms. #WhenWillILearn #UG) Brandon’s super intense schedule/long hours/non-sleepingness wasn’t helpful… So I had some lightening cravings of “I WANT SUGAR” or something to make me “feel better” but thankfully, knowing that I needed to remain accountable to our Facebook Group AND Jesus kept me on the straight and narrow.

Tweaks for Next Week

I really don’t think I have much that I am doing differently– Kroger Clicklist is still my BFF in this season and splitting up food prep over a couple of days has been really helpful and less frantic/stressful. Also, I have yet to get sick of Madras Chicken Salad… Pretty sure I’ve eaten 5 out of the last six weeks for lunch.

So friends– until next week– stay strong!

To the Glory of God alone,

“I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.” ~Psalm 143:6

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Filed Under: fitness, food Tagged With: fitness, food, freedom, healthy, Whole30

When the Going Gets Tough: Part 3 (Giveaway/Link-up @ AWN)

June 7, 2017 by Sharita

All good things must come to an end– but not before we go out with a bang! Welcome to our final installment of tips and tricks on how to survive (and maybe even THRIVE) when the going gets tough as milspouses. (Just joining us? Check out our previous posts in this mini-series by clicking here and here.)

Today, my tip for toughing-it-out survival is once again pretty simple. My go to when I start to feel a bit cray-cray? Get. Some. Rest.

It might sound impossible, but I learned that “rest” can come in a variety of forms, not just catching up on the eleventy-billion hours of sleeping you feel like you are behind on. Yes, it’s true that I do try to take some kind of “nap” several days a week. Much against popular believe, a nap does not need to be 3 hours long to be effective. Even just laying down for 20-30 minutes will do wonders for my body and soul.

Rest can also be shutting off all the noise in the house and just breathing deep for a few minutes. It could be forgoing the to do list and heading to bed right after the kids hit the hay. Try to take things off your “list” to free up a little more space for margin in your life. We are a single-income household and when we were recently preparing to birth our second kiddo, we pulled some strings to outsource the “house-cleaning” a couple times a month. Now I have clean toilets AND my stress level is so much lower… AND I have a little bit of time to rest instead of worrying about how long it’s been since I vacuumed.

But again, don’t just take my word for it. Check out the final (awesome) tips contributed from our AWN milspouse viewers like you by clicking the following link:

When the Going Gets Tough …

PS: Don’t forget to enter our giveaway and link up!

Going get tough, I get Jesus,

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” ~2 Corinthians 12:9

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Filed Under: Army Wife Network Tagged With: Army Wife Network, giveaway, Milspouse, tough

Whole30: Weeks 4 & 5 (Month #1) Reflection

June 3, 2017 by Sharita

You know, after all this time of following Jesus, I really shouldn’t be so surprised with Him. But alas, He keeps rocking my world.

I have completed a full month of Whole30 lifestyle (again) and couldn’t be more pleased. Probably the greatest revelation I’ve had in the last couple weeks was this thought: “I am so freaking busy right now. WHY did I decide to do Whole30?!?!” Which was immediately followed by:“I’ve needed more energy, contentment and legit-Jesus attitude more in the last month than I have in a very long time. I don’t NOT have time to keep this up!” [Read more…]

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Filed Under: fitness, food Tagged With: food, freedom, journey, recap, Whole30

Because of Jesus: Photo Series #1

May 31, 2017 by Sharita

A few months ago, while I was up late one night pondering life feeding my newborn (see also: counting the minutes until I could go back to sleep) I had a revelation about this 7 Days Time stuff.

I wanted to do a photo series. And wanted our follower’s to contribute.

It would be called “Because of Jesus…”

So I went to work and asked our Facebook friends and followers to complete the sentence. Man oh man, did you all deliver!

I added a couple of my own and we were able to come up with 100 unique “Because of Jesus” statements. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Jesus Tagged With: faith, growth, Jesus, miracles, photos

That Empty Chair at the Table (Army Wife Network)

May 24, 2017 by Sharita

I’ve been an army wife for what my husband commonly refers to as “a hot minute.” You would think that after all this time, I would stop being surprised at #AllTheThings that come with army wife life.

But nope. Experiences like random TDYs, changes to our no-plan-plan, promotions, future duty stations… It almost always catches me a little bit off guard. (I have grown significantly in my ability to be flexible…)

There is one aspect of the military wife life that I’ve experienced over and over again, but yet it still surprises me every.single. time. It typically occurs at the military ball. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Army Wife Network Tagged With: fallen comrade, Memorial Day, military, remembrance, sacrifice

Whole30: Week #3 Reflection

May 22, 2017 by Sharita

Ah, another week of eating well and chowing down on all of those awesome Whole Foods… And I have to say, I think it’s my best week yet! #ThankYouTigerBlood

Weekly Ranking (1-10)
8.5

Pretty great week! My body is now realizing, “Oh hey… THIS is what we need to function!” and I feel good physically AND emotionally (see below for victories.) Overall, I’ve been less of a jerkface to the people in my life (aka, husband and Tiny Humans) and already experiencing more joy. (Seriously, I still can’t believe that’s a non-scale victory that can come from our food!) [Read more…]

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Filed Under: fitness Tagged With: fitness, food, health, Whole30

When Jesus Makes You Queasy

May 17, 2017 by Sharita

This “following Jesus” thing can make us have, well, #AllTheFeels.

Warm and fuzzy. Confident. Peaceful. Hopeful. Comforted. Reassured.

All great feelings. But ya know, sometimes Jesus makes us feel a little bit queasy.

Like when he asks us to take a leap of faith and puts an idea on our heart that feels a little bit like it’s out of the back 40. (That’s the country girl in me talking there.)

Those moments are what I have titled as the emotion called “Thrillified.” That’s thrilled and terrified combined. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: faith Tagged With: doctorate degree, education, faith, journey, surprise

Whole30: Week #2 Reflection

May 15, 2017 by Sharita

Well, friends– another week of Whole 30 in the bag. It wasn’t quite as awesome as week 1, but I stayed compliant… So that’s a victory in and of itself. Let’s dig in, shall we?

Weekly Ranking (1-10)
7

On My Menu

My menu wasn’t nearly as impressive this week– I don’t know if I had pickier tastes or what. (Or maybe I peaked early with all of my super delicious foods/side dishes in week 1?)

This week for breakfast was a spinach, leek and mushroom frittata casserole. I was very underwhelmed– it didn’t taste bad, but it just really didn’t taste. I choked it down for three days then gave up.

Lunch again wasn’t as substantial as I should have planned– and leftovers weren’t as bountiful either. (I apparently need to start cooking larger quantities of food!) Lunches consisted of broiled seasoned shrimp with pine nut and leftover sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts with balsamic glaze. (I added random leftovers to it throughout the week too.)

Pork cutlets were ok and the poached ahi tuna was decent too (I think I overcooked it- but raw fish– when not sushi grade– freaks me out!) Best meal this week was spaghetti with zoodles (spiraled zucchini.) It’s the first time I had pre-made Whole30 compliant marinara sauce– and it was delish!

Victories

Emotional and roller-coaster-y week. So my victory: NOT eating a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich or #AllTheSugar when I was feeling stressed. Also, I had spurts of that unspeakable joy I was seeking– I think it will show up in full force soon now that my ahem, post-preggo hormones are FINALLY leveling out. (Sorry if that was TMI. The woman-struggle is real.

My workouts continue to improve. Joint pain is completely gone and I was able to do a pretty legit ruck march on Wednesday (with Tiny Human in tow.) Workouts are also slowly starting to become something that relieves stress and balances things out instead of being such a chore. Hooray!

Struggles

Again, emotional and intermittently grouchy. I really wasn’t super pumped about some of my food options this week and food prep on Sunday was exhausting. (Apparently I really DO need a day of REAL rest.)

Oh. And the coffee I was drinking was apparently headache inducing! (Sad life. Just one cup!) So I ditched that and headaches are chilling out. Might try again next week and see what happens– or switch to a higher quality brand of ‘Joe when we run out.

Tweaks for Next Week

I’m changing up my menu again for next week and re-fixing/adding some of my delicious staples back into the menu rotation (Madras Chicken salad and coleslaw.) I don’t really know why I think I have to cook all completely different things each week. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

Going to also keep drinking more water and try to slow down when eating. (Again, #KidProbs.)

Overall, not too bad of a week– but I am hopeful that Tiger blood will be kicking in soon– so stay tuned!

Friends, if you are doing W30, how did your week go? Leave a comment below and let me know. (Wow. That’s a lot of rhyming.)

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Filed Under: fitness, food Tagged With: fitness, food, growth, health, Whole30

The God-Mother Complex

May 10, 2017 by Sharita

It’s no secret that being a mother is one cool gig.

It’s also no secret that it is sometimes the hardest job on the planet.

As you (probably) know, we welcomed a new Tiny Human into the world almost three months ago. Time has flown– and honestly, I’m not really sad about it. (I will pause as you gasp and say, “Oh, treasure these days, for they go so fast,” etc.)

Nope. I like it when my kids start getting a little bit older and more “stable,” i.e., I don’t feel like I am going to break him every time I touch him. And the better sleeping habits too. Let’s not forget that.

During the last three months of night-feedings, I have had a lot of time to think. And pray.

And I’m sure it’s just me, but if I think too much, it can quickly turn into worry. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: fear Tagged With: baby, God, parenting, power, worry

Whole30: Week #1 Reflection

May 8, 2017 by Sharita

Well friends, Week #1 of my Whole30-60-who-knows-how-long-I-will-go-on-like-this is complete! I made it through The Hangover and Kill-All-The-Things stage. (But more on all that in a minute…) Let’s recap, shall we?