Today’s Monday Motivation is Mamavation Monday. I am half way through Mamavation’s 2 Week Challenge. Wow. I have made it. I have completed each day’s workout. Felt like I was going to die but didn’t, obviously! One thing I have struggled with is the goal of 10,000 steps. I nearly made it on Saturday and am pretty sure I would have made it last Tuesday when we attended a farm tour that included a lot of walking, plus I lifted 400 lbs of feed in and out of the van. For the most part I spend a lot of time in front of the computer, so that’s why I invested in a pedometer to help me get up and get active. It arrived on Thursday. On the busier days of computer work, it doesn’t seem to help me much even when the pedometer flashes, “Walk me!” Nice reminder but when I have client projects, two articles, four blog posts, a giveaway and 2 sponsored posts due, guess where I end up? Yep, so it’s been hard to get more active beyond my beginner workout.

Eating has been going ok. I find myself snacking less, which is a good thing or at least reaching for mostly healthy snacks. I find that Mamavation provides not only accountability (we have to post our meal photos to Twitter) but support as well. It’s encouraging to get a tweet or comment saying “You can do it” or “Way to go”. Not to mention I can get answers to why I am craving sweets and carbs. Mr. Bookie Boo suggested more protein, fiber in fruits and chewing gum. On Saturday I was craving sweets and carbs and caved to a Snickers bar (Ugh probably not only a GMO product but also laden with sugar, fat and calories) and pretzel sticks. I love my carbs and lately we rarely have wheat bread, though I love it, in our house due to a couple of children’s reaction to it and our mill being broken. Yes, we ground wheat berries into flour with the mill. We tend to make unbleached white flour products, not the greatest, I know but it’s just where we are at while we figure out allergies. We do have coconut flour in the house and maybe some arrowroot or rice flour but not enough to make things for the whole family. I need to order more from our food co-op.

This 2 Week Challenge has been good for me. It’s shown me that I can take steps to getting back in shape. It has also piqued our children’s interest in getting enough exercise, so I have ordered them a child’s wrist band S2H (Switch 2 Health), which I mentioned in another blog post. The girls have earned theirs already, but the younger crew is going to have to work for theirs! Responsibility and accountability for all. Another huge reason I want to join the Mamavation Sistahood. I think Mamavation is going to play a huge part in helping me get back into shape, which I need to do if we are going to add more animals and veggie production to our farm!

If you have been struggling with getting into a fitness routine, I highly recommend Mamavation. I love that I can do everything from home and being such an online person myself, it really fits my lifestyle and job too.

I cannot very well teach about health and wellness if I am not in shape myself, can I? Another huge motivator.

Here’s to the second half of Mamavation’s 2 Week Challenge and beyond….yes, I am even thinking of beyond now.

“This post is sponsored by Salba Smart and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway.”