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Good Morning, GORGEOUS people! Last Monday I posted a video of Rachel Hollis with a link to her #Last90Days Challenge. The challenge starts today, October 1st, and I’m really excited to share it with you, and hopefully simplify what you need to do, so you can all jump right in and get started this morning! Sound good? Ok, here we go.

The premise of the challenge is that we humans often throw in the towel when it comes to fitness and nutrition during the last three months of the year. With all of the Halloween candy, turkey, and can I get an AMEN for all of that pie that will be put in our path over the upcoming holiday season, it’s no wonder so many of us fall off the wagon. We all vow to do better next year and start fresh on January 1st. Personally, I’m usually hungover and also promise myself to drink less, but that’s neither here nor there.

With #Last90Days, Rachel Hollis challenges herself and all of us to spend these last few months of the year taking care of our bodies and ourselves. Instead of overindulging on sweets, let’s overindulge on self-care. Instead of spending our time stressing out about making the perfect family dinner or buying the perfect gift, let’s say fuck perfection and focus on just being happy with life being the brutifal (that’s both brutal and beautiful) way that it is. Let’s ramp up for the new year and start our healthy habits now. If we can do that, think of how awesome and inspired we’ll all feel in January.

The challenge is so very simple. All you need to do is follow Rachel’s Five to Thrive plan, and get ready to end 2018 strong!

Five to Thrive

1.) Get up an hour earlier each day and spend that extra time on yourself and ONLY yourself.

2.) Exercise for 30 minutes each day.

3.) Hydrate. Your water intake in ounces should equal half your body weight.

4.) Give up one food category that you know you shouldn’t be eating. We all know and love these categories well; sugar, alcohol, dairy, soy, gluten. Choose one and kick it to the curb.

5.) Write down ten things you are grateful for every day. These things can be general (my children) or very specific (Haagen Daaz Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream that has been set out of the freezer for 5 minutes so it scoops perfectly onto my waiting spoon).

That’s all there is to it. You can officially sign up for the challenge here to receive weekly videos and emails designed to inspire you to stick with it!

I’m excited to officially start today and I hope you will all join me!

Here’s a link to a great video that will hopefully inspire you to make the time to achieve your goals, and help get you in the right frame of mind for the next three months. Rachel gives us some tough love in this one, and she’s not wrong. We DO have the time and we need to decide what we want most.

We CAN do hard things!

♥ Erin

It’s almost summer! This is mostly thrilling, especially after the winter and 2nd winter we’ve had, but is anyone else kicking themselves for not sticking to their New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier and workout more? I am no where near where I hoped I’d be with swimsuit season looming, but really, who gives a fuck!? Can we all promise to quit the body shaming this summer and instead focus on our mental health with self-love and self-care?

My June-olutions:

I will praise my body for being healthy and strong enough to give birth, feed and care for my baby. It’s easy to get caught up in what our bodies are not. However, when we spend all our time focusing on losing the baby weight, or just finding our abs again (speaking from personal experience here), we lose sight of everything our bodies have done and continue to do every day. Our bodies have so much more to offer than just perky boobs and a flat stomach.

I will look in the mirror and give myself at least one compliment every day. Doing the opposite is so much easier, I grant you, but why are we doing that crap to ourselves. I know you’re all hot mamas and there has to be at least one thing you like about your bodies. If you’re still having trouble, ask a girl friend because, I assure you, they will have a list of your finest attributes ready to go before you finish asking the question.

I will be more active with my family. Working out seven days a week is a great goal, but it’s not always doable. If instead you resolve to play, to run, to wrestle with your kids, you’ll be working out without even knowing it and having a blast in the process. If you have older kids, try signing up for some fun runs or walks together, start family karate lessons or go ice skating.

I will laugh more. We should all strive for more laughter this year! Let’s laugh more with our kids. Let’s laugh more at ourselves. Let’s see life for the crazy, sometimes painful, sometimes joy-filled, roller coaster ride that it is and just laugh!

I will remove the words, “I’m fine”, from my vocabulary. Sometimes you are just NOT fine! Be honest with your family and, especially, be honest with yourself. Talk to your spouse when you are angry or hurt. When a trusted friend or family member asks how you are and you’re really struggling, by all means, share with them. You’re not a burden to them. They love you and will gladly take time to be there for you. It’s ok to not be ok all of the time.

I will make the invisible visible. The hardest part of motherhood has to be the mental workload. Someone has to remember to schedule the well check-ups, research preschools and remember to pick up a gift for some random two year old’s birthday party. It’s easy to ask your spouse to do the dishes or change the laundry, but all of this other invisible work typically goes unnoticed. The pressure to be on top of everything all of the time is exhausting! Get your spouse in on the invisible work by asking them to pick out that gift or to research and find a good and reliable babysitter. The world doesn’t have to rest on your shoulders!

 I will ask for help when I need it. This goes along with the last two, and it is something I struggled with even before having kids. You DO NOT get extra good mom points for doing everything completely on your own. When a friend notices the overwhelmed look on your face and asks if they can keep your kids for a few hours, let them. When the bagger at the grocery store sees you have your hands full and asks if they can walk you out to your car, let them. When you’re sick and can barely get out of bed, ask your husband to come home from work early or call a babysitter. No one can do this job completely alone, so cut the shit and accept the help!

I will be as kind to myself as I expect other people to be to my kids. OMG, I go full Mama Bear when I think someone is being cruel or unfair to my kids! Why, then, do I allow myself to say such horrible things about another person I claim to love, me! If I heard someone calling my kids fat, stupid or useless, there is honestly no telling what I’d do, but I’m guessing it would involve fire.

I will believe that I am enough. Being perfect is not the goal, unless you’re going for being perfectly average, but, honestly, some days I can’t even claim that. We need to remember that, while we struggle to plan the world’s most Pinterest perfect first birthday party or blame our kids’ minor illnesses on our lack of perfect housekeeping skills, our kids eyes are lighting up every time we enter a room. We are not perfect, and they could not love us more!

I will put my oxygen mask on first. This one is all about self-care. I know we all want to be great mothers, wives, daughters, etc., but that simply can’t be accomplished if we are too sleep-deprived, overwhelmed or depressed to function. If you’re not already doing this, please take time out for yourself. Lock yourself in the bathroom and meditate for five minutes. Go to a Moms Night Out and commiserate with other moms who’ve been there. Tell your spouse (Don’t ask!) that you’re going out to Target, and spend an hour mindlessly wandering the aisles. It will help. If that’s not enough, please find a therapist. Ask a mom you trust. You may think you’re the only one struggling and needing therapy, but you are not alone. It’s not a failure to admit that you need more help. In fact, it’s the bravest thing you can do for yourself and for your family.

I hope this summer brings you every happiness and the knowledge that you are strong, worthy and beautiful women that your sons and daughters can look up to.

♥ Erin

2. The No-Excuses Workout

3. This Tabata Workout

4. The 10 to 1 Workout

5. The Scientific 7 Minute Workout 

All of these workouts include cardio, but also work your core, arms and legs for a total body workout that can be completed in as little as 7 minutes. Damn, I think I’m finding all of my excuses melting away!

♥ Erin

I know I’ve written about this before, but it is an absolute bitch to lose weight in your late-30s. So, because Goonies never say die, I decided to try something a bit drastic this week: no alcohol for 5 days! Ok, so there is obviously more to the plan than that, but that part, along with no cream in my coffee, was the hardest part for me. Here’s a breakdown of the plan:

Cut The Crap comes from the BeachBody program and it promises that you will lose up to 5 pounds in 5 days if you stick to the eating plan religiously. It is obviously not meant to be sustainable after the first week, but they say it should give you a good place from which to start. They hope that when you finish the program you’ll realize that you can survive without sugar and salt, and go forth to make healthier choices.

For five days you eat:

• Black coffee or coffee with 1 tsp. coconut oil
• 6 servings of protein from eggs, greek yogurt, fish, shellfish, lean chicken and turkey breasts and ground, turkey bacon, and canned tuna
• One carb for breakfast-brown rice, plain oatmeal, quinoa, sweet potato, small whole wheat wrap
• 3 servings of vegetables- carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, onion, squash, cauliflower, green beans
• Condiments- mustard, hot sauce, lemon juice, all salt-free spices and seasoning
• Water- Try to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces.

If you don’t see it on the list, you don’t eat it. Pretty restrictive, right? I’d been approached about doing it by a friend of mine who is a BeachBody coach, but I thought the limited diet sounded impossible. However, a few weeks later another friend told me she’d tried it and had lost 8 lbs. by sticking to the plan. Well, now, color me intrigued! She told me it hadn’t actually been too hard to eat only the things on the list and she’s not one of those salad people. She loves a beer and burger as much as I do. I decided it was worth a try.

Here’s what I ate: I tried to eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and snacks every day, but my dinners varied a bit. They were usually some kind of lean protein with lots of veggies.

Breakfast: Two egg frittata with tomatoes and arugula over one small sweet potato, black coffee

Lunch: Two mini turkey burger patties, two tablespoons Greek yogurt with a splash of hot sauce, small salad of arugula, tomatoes, cucumber and carrots, one hard-boiled egg with lemon juice and 1 tsp. of olive oil

Snack: Shakeology vegan chocolate smoothie

Dinner: Baked fish or chicken, cauliflower rice, roasted zucchini or carrots

Snack: hard-boiled egg or veggies and greek yogurt with hot sauce

Disclaimer: I don’t eat a lot of meat so I sometimes subbed my animal protein for lentils or chick peas during the week. I also probably ate more than three servings of veggies a day and drank a few cans of La Croix the first day. All of this may have affected my results.

My results: At the end of the five days I’d lost three pounds. This wasn’t the five pounds I had been hoping for, but it wasn’t just about the number on the scale. The spare tire I keep around my waist where my abs should be was feeling a lot firmer, and I looked slimmer. I was also feeling really good about myself. I’d slept better all week and had more energy. On Saturday, I ate very well until the later afternoon when I had a beer or three and then mainlined a large bowl of spaghetti. When I woke up on Sunday morning and stepped on the scale, (surprise, surprise) I’d gained those magical three pounds back again. Wah, wah.

Take-Away: If you’re doing this program solely to lose weight, you might be pleased when the five days are up, but you’re probably going to be disappointed in the long run. However, if you can use it as a jumping off point for a healthier diet, than I would recommend you try it. When a diet is so restrictive you really find out which foods you can handle skipping and the ones that are hard to go without. It turns out I didn’t mind forgoing the cheese in my frittata and the bowl of berries at breakfast, but skipping the cream in my coffee made me wonder if life was even worth living! This week I’m keeping up with the low-carb, no sugar, no alcohol for five days, but I’ve added back cream, salt while cooking, and more than 1 tsp. of olive oil per day. The original plan is so limited and low-cal that when you finish it you can add things in gradually and still be eating a very healthy diet.

Let me know if you decide to try the plan!

♥ Erin