Wednesday, April 18, 2012

6 Months..Perseverance? I think yes!

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Dear friend,

Today marks my 6 month anniversary living a plant strong life--come visit Spinach and Apples and hear my best tips for the same success.

And of course day 8 brought exercise in the form of a 1 hour service project--double awesome!

xo Viv

Monday, April 16, 2012

four, five and six, seven

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Dear friend,

I am all about multitasking this week...I have had so much fun this last week--I have had two guests visiting both 12 years old and all the excitement that entails.  We got very creative this week with exercise...

April 13...2 hour Rec. Center visit-volleyball, jogging, basketball, tag, and walking
April 14...1 1/2 hours of dancing in a mosh pit to the Spazmatics {an 80's cover band}
April 15...Sunday rest.
April 16...A big red wagon walk/ jog with Izz and her silly friend Hads.

This may not be marathon training but I have decided balance and longevity is what I wish for...I want activity to be part of my life and not a scheduled hour.  I very rarely sit down in a day unless I am driving, I am always moving and multitasking is the only way for me to accomplish all the fun things I want to do so...I will feel great about it, especially because so much if it I share with my little Izz.  I know I will never regret that(:

xo Viv

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Day 2: Walking backwards

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Dear friend,

Today was, yes, the title is correct...walking backwards.  I took Izz on a blustery day walk...we took a crepe paper roll and made a kite and we were headed off to see the ducks in a nearby neighborhood.  Little did we know that the wind had other plans.  As I attempted to walk so that Izz did not endure the brunt of the bluster I had to walk backwards for at least 2 miles of our walk and my calves have never felt more sore.  Did I look silly?  Yes. But, the smiles on the face of the people driving by were hilarious and the adventure was fun, Izz thought is was so silly and giggled the whole way.  Oh, did I paint the picture vivid enough...Me a jogging stroller and giant backward strides.  I wish I could have seen that (:

xo Viv

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Day 1: Birthday Countdown

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Dear friend,

Day 1---today I jogged up red ledges by my house with Izz, my sweetie girl.  We jogged to a farm, visited with the moos, horsey's, and baa's and jogged back, yay!  Jogging...check!

xo Viv

New version of the calendar printable, click here!

Free Printable Calendar

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Click here to print your calendar!
Dear friends,

As promised here is a fun calendar to mark your moving mayhem.  I made it blank so we can use it over and over as we put some strength into this year.

Have a happy day!

xoViv

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A few numbers: 48--6--26--30

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For this free print click here!


Dear friends,

48 is for 48 days. 48 days since my last post.
I have been MIA but I am back now, yay!  In February I was so excite to share a new series I was going to be writing called Plant-strong pregnancy but before I was ready to unveil it, things changed and I experienced my first miscarriage.  Read more about it here if you would like.  I learned so much and have come away from the experience with such an immense gratitude for life and the miracle that it is.  I believe in life we experience storms but those storms are only to steer us in the right direction, if they are accepted with humility and grace we are allowed the greatest opportunity for growth and learning and I am humbled by all I was allowed to learn.

6 is for weight lost-26 pounds down!
From a body standpoint my hormones caused a small weight fluctuation but within a month I was feeling better and not only dropped the little bit from the hormone craziness but lost another 6.  Yes I weighed myself this week and am down 6 more lbs. making that a total of 26 lbs. lost since becoming plant strong in November.  The amazing thing to me is if I had endured the same experiences I have gone through before becoming plant strong, not only would I be dealing with the storm of those experiences I would have forgotten about whatever diet I was on and I would have went into survival mode.  This time I felt that my health was part of that crucial life raft that was going to help me come out of it better than at the onset.

30 is for a birthday coming up in 30 days, my birthday!
I am so excited for this birthday, I am not totally sure what it is but I do know it is ushering in a year I will look back on with fondness forever, I can feel it.  There is a book I bought my hubby for Easter, a children's book, called A Good Day by Kevin Henke.  It begins with Squirrel losing her nut, Dog getting tangled up, Fox losing her mother, and Bird losing her feather.  And then it comes to a page filled with colorful stripes that says, "But then.."  I feel like my family right now is in that page, our life is in that precipice of what is to come.  There is so much hope and excitement here.   In the book the Squirrel finds a bigger nut, fox turns around and finds her mom, Dog untangles himself and romps through the dandelions and the bird forgets his lost feather and flies higher than he ever has before and a little girl finds the feather, tucks it behind her ear, and runs to her mother saying...what a good day it is.

To begin this year the right way I am going to aim big in health...I am dedicating myself to 1 hour of different exercise each day until my birthday.  I am going to post a printable chart tomorrow if you want to follow along, with the exception of Sundays, I am going to post a candle with a description of the exercise each day--so that I hold myself to it.  Here is my list of exercises that I have so far but I need your help...

Jog
Walk
Hike
Bike
Long Board
Yoga
Zumba
Elliptical
Treadmill
Power Board
Kick Boxing
Spin
Soccer
Basketball
Wagon pulling
Swimming
Kenpo
Spinning


Okay...I am 12 short so if you have any ideas...please help me finish my list and...

if you see me skipping down the road you will know why, I am just getting creative.

Here's to 30!

Viv

Update: Here are the calendar posts-

PINKY VERSION

BRIGHT VERSION

Monday, February 20, 2012

Wait...this is what I meant.

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Dear friend,

Well, I so loved this saying left on my facebook by a friend that  made it into a logo.  As I was sharing it on Pinterest and Facebook I noticed something.  Not everyone understood what I was trying to say.  So, I googled the saying to see if there was anything else out there similar to what I was thinking and here is what I found--people were using it in terms of rock hard abs strong is the new skinny, like to replace the Kate Moss version of skinny with Jillian Micheals skinny.

THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT.

In fact while we are on the Jillian point--I know she has motivated a lot of people to get fit but in an interview I saw on late night--that woman believes that if her fitness were taken away from her she would be nothing, I don't even think she would like the woman left over...she spoke very harshly of her former self with quite a bit of distain.  This is not what I was trying to express when I created this image.

I was trying to express what living a plant strong-whole foods life has given me.  A holistic acceptance of myself.  I am strong--not rock hard ab strong-- but strong in that I know who I am and no matter the size if I am doing my best I love myself.  I am strong from the inside out.

It's a mental clarity mixed with will power and motivation to continue forward in reaching my full potential.

Strong to me is achieving my optimal health not just physically but mentally and spiritually.

And the only way to do this is by accepting yourself, seeing your beauty without qualifiers, without comparisons, without criticism.

Be good to yourself with the gift of healthy fuel, invigorating exercise, kind words, and support...be your own best friend, don't belittle yourself or live your life as if your happiness must sit on the shelf until this is defined or that is slimmed down...just take care of yourself.

Keep harmful things out and put helpful things in and I promise, the peace of mind, the clarity, the kindness it allows you to give yourself is worth so much more than that image you have of the perfect physique.

If your self worth, your view of yourself hinges on the outward--what happens when you age, if, heaven forbid, your physical appearance is changed with illness, or an accident.  Love yourself for that deep beauty you possess and reach for the full potential inside of you.

A woman who can truly see her own beauty is priceless, that simple knowledge creates so much power.

I was 10 when I can first remember looking in the mirror and not liking what I saw... and it took me almost two decades to change that.

I can not remember the last time I said a negative comment to myself--and to me that is truly amazing.

It frees up so much of my time and energy to focus the things that really matter, I don't stand in my own way anymore...it makes me feel as if I can do anything.

And I can.

With love,
Viv