30 Day Challenges to Better your Health

My son was born in March 2011.  He was my first child and I gained 60lbs during pregnancy.  I had always been fairly thin with a fairly athletic build (not to be confused with being athletic, that I was not).  I went back to work when he was 5 weeks old and never had much time for trying to lose weight.  It took 9 months for me to lost 50lbs.  I never lost the last 10lbs, instead I got pregnant when he was a year old.  I told myself that no way would I let myself gain that much weight again.  But I also didn't believe in starving my growing fetus.  Well, I gained another 60lbs and my daughter was born December 24, 2012.  Now there is 70lbs to lose.

This time, I was determined to lose weight.  I am now a stay at home Mom, so it's much easier for me to focus on me.  I switched to a low carb diet and by mid February, I was down 30lbs!  That was encouraging.  Things slowed down, I lost another 10 pounds over the next month and a half.  Then I stalled.  I didn't lose any weight the month of April.  I was so frustrated.  But, I decided I had to step it up if I was going to keep losing weight.  And today, 3 weeks later I am down 6lbs.  I've lost a total of 46lbs, only have 14lbs to go until I hit my my pre-baby weight then another 10 after that to my ideal weight!  And it's only been 5 months.

The 30 Day Squat Challenge.  I started this last month, I got about 2 weeks into it and we got hit with 3 weeks of illnesses running through our house.  I wasn't able to keep up, though I am still doing 50-75 squats a day.  Beginning June 1st, I am going to start again.

This is looking to be a pretty serious challenge.  The 30 Day Ab Challenge.  I am going to start this June 1st.  The reason I am waiting, is because I am not fit enough to even do the first day yet.  I can do the crunches and leg raises, but I'm only halfway there on the planks and sit-ups.  I have 10 more days to get there.  

This has been my favorite "challenge", as it's not really that much of a challenge!  The 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge!  Brought to you by The Unconventional Kitchen.  It is going on live during the month of May, but you can do this ANY time.  All their recipes are on the page and after awhile, you may just start making up your own like I do.  

Lastly, this is my own challenge that I have come up with for myself, starting June 1st as well.  30 Days No Processed Foods.  After a quick Google search I see a few others are doing this too.  Good, I'm not the only crazy one.  :)  For this first month, I will not bring my family on the same diet (My husband is harder to persuade and my 2 year old son is, well, "picky" to put it nicely).  My husband will have dinners with me, but he eats breakfast and lunch away from home during the week anyway.  So, join me June 1st and watch as I eat No Processed Foods for 30 days!