Ultimateyou30daychallenge finale

I almost made it halfway through the challenge, but I’ve lost all motivation to continue.

I have learnt a few new things which I will try and continue with so it’s not a complete failure.  A lot of the challenges are lifestyle changes which I find difficult to make because we are so set in our ways already.  It’s easier when it’s just you, but when your hubby and 2 kids need to make the changes as well it gets a bit tricky.  I will keep taking small steps to change some things and hopefully by this time next year it will be the norm.

 

Our main problem is our eating habits.  They are shockingly bad to say the least.  I’m hoping with me getting home a bit earlier each day I can take over the cooking duties again and hopefully start getting healthier meals out.

 

Realistically I have only stuck to one of the new habits and that is the no caffeine after 13h00.  Every now and then I do have a cup after 13h00, but I have definitely cut down on the coffee intake.  My boss lady and I actually had a chat yesterday about how coffee just doesn’t taste right anymore.  I’d rather have one decent cup of coffee than 10 “cheap” coffees.  How quickly tastes can change!

 

I was doing well at one stage with drinking water, but I’m finding it hard to keep doing it.  I think it might be because I can feel the season changing and I know the cold is coming.  I always tend to drink less in winter.

 

I’ve looked through the remaining challenges and there are a handful I might still try out, but the rest I’m just going to leave =

• No electronic screen 2 hours before bed –  I definitely watch too much TV and lately I’ve actually been falling asleep on the couch.  It’s not a good habit to have, so this might help stop that.  It’s also a good way of getting back into reading, but does reading off a Kindle count as screen time?  It’s not flashing lights and noise, so maybe it’s not as bad.
• Eat a healthy lunch – It’s easy to concentrate and eat healthy when you are not hectically busy at work, but when you’re in and out of meetings, fixing one crisis and problem after another, it’s difficult to focus on what you’re eating.  You end up latching on to whomever is going down for food and buying the cheapest quickest ready made whatever.  We have however found a new takeaway shop that makes healthy quesadillas, so maybe that’s one step towards constant healthy lunches.
• No sugar – When I was Dukan I cut out sugar, but was using sweetener.  Since being pregnant the second time I have completely lost the plot with regards to sugar intake.  I never used to have a sweet tooth, but lately all I want is the sweet stuff.  I can polish a bag of wine gums by myself in no time, a slab of chocolate just as quickly and then comes the doughnuts. mmmm.  Yep, I definitely need to put a stop to the sugary stuff!
• 5 minutes of deep breathing – Doing the stress test during our wellness day at work confirmed that I am a very bad breather.  I tend to breath very shallowly and hold my breathe a lot.  This isn’t good for the stress levels and general good health.  Regular deep breathing exercises eventually becomes a habit and you will end up doing them without thinking about it, thereby changing the way you breathe normally.  It’s also one reason people smoke, they realise that the 5 / 10 minutes break they take to smoke is actually all about them taking deeper breathes and therefore calming down.  Yes they’re inhaling crap along the way, but it’s the deep breathing that is actually calming them down and not the nicotine.  I still get cravings for a cigarette every now and then, but then I do some deep breathing and the impulse passes.