Elf 4 Health 2013

I participated in Elf 4 Health this year. When I first read about it, I knew it was something I had to do. The basic premise is this. It's a 4 week program broken up into 2 rounds (2 weeks each). Every day has a different challenge. Challenges are fitness, nutrition, or just working on you, etc. Each round you are paired up with another "elf" who you go through the challenges with, discuss challenges, successes, etc. So here's my recap!

Challenges
ROUND 1

Round 1 I was matched up with Sarah, a senior studying nutrition and dietetics at Arizona State University. LUCKY ME! She had such great ideas as far as food was concerned and was so nice to share them with me!

Day 1: Go Meatless
So I am an avid food prepper. But for some reason I chose not to look ahead at my challenges when I was prepping for the week. So late Sunday night I looked and panicked as the food I prepped for the week had meat in it. What was I going to have that was still healthy and would still give me enough energy to work out after work?? So during my lunch break I ran over to Safeway to see what I can find and it was rough, but I finally found the deli and that they had a veggie sandwich. So I had them make me the following:
Wheat Bread
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Pickles
Red Onions
Green peppers
Artichokes
Swiss Cheese
I also got a hard boiled egg and a pack of pretzels and hummus. I am currently OBSESSED with hummus. I wasn't super wild about the sandwich. It ended up being super salty. Maybe it was the artichokes, which I rarely have. But it worked. :)





For Dinner, I took the "easy way out" and went to my FAVORITE local restaurant, Spoons. I got Potato Parmesan Soup, with a Caesar Salad with a little bleu cheese on top (yum!) and their delicious focaccia bread. I brought it home and ate it complete silence. No tv, no radio, no playing on my phone. It was a nice change.







DAY 2: UNSUBSCRIBE





The challenge was to unsubscribe from newsletters that you receive but NEVER read. I felt like I did a really good job unsubscribing, but every day when I'm checking my mail I realize there are SO MANY MORE I should really unsubscribe from.








DAY 3: NEW WORKOUT
Okay, this one was SUPER challenging for me. Mainly because I've been doing the same workouts for the past 3 years. And they work really well. Sarah told me about a website called thedailyhiit.com that had some workouts. I perused it, but nothing really struck me. I took to Facebook and asked for suggestions and tried to incorporate those as best I could.



While at work I was doing laundry, so I decided to run up and down the stairs with each trip. yay! I did this "Beach Babe Booty" workout that I had on my fitness board on Pinterest. I used a kettleball (that was a facebook suggestion) and for good measures I did some box jumps!

*Note: My trainer used to make me do box jumps and I was TERRIFIED. Doing these box jumps helped me power through my fear and I was super proud of myself.*




DAY 4: MAKE A PHONE CALL
Noah and me at my graduation party in 2009



I have a confession. I have a phone phobia. I absolutely HATE talking on the phone. Which is funny because in my younger days I was ALWAYS on the phone. But not anymore. At any rate, with it being Thanksgiving and not wanting to bother people who were with their families. I kinda put my own spin on this challenge.

I texted my friend Noah. It said this: Happy Thanksgiving! I just wanted to let you know I'm very thankful for you. I hope you're enjoying your time with your family.




DAY 5: TRACK WATER INTAKE




I don't drink enough water. I know this to be true. I try, but I just don't. My job makes it really hard to keep drinking water because I get so busy with the kids that I forget. But I did really well with this challenge. I ended up drinking 88 ounces of water. WOAH!

Also I had to pee. More than ever before. Also not conducive with my job. I've heard that if you keep drinking more water your body gets used to it and you don't have to pee as much. I'm not sure I buy it.



DAY 6: TREAT YOURSELF
Pretzel Friends





Basically the whole day was a treat! I went to the CSU Vs. AFA game. The weather was GORGEOUS. (A t-shirt in Colorado at the end of November???) I was with WONDERFUL people. Life was good. But my official treat for the day was a pretzel. Katy and I have a slight pretzel obsession, and these ones were fresh baked for us!








DAY 7: 100 BURPEES
This may come as a surprise... but I HATE BURPEES. When I originally read this challenge I said "You have GOT to be kidding me." But I decided to break it up. Mostly it was challenging because I was working in the morning, but during youth group I did some burpees and had the kids take pictures of me. Which led me to a few realizations: 1. burpees in leggings, a mini skirt and boots is not the best idea. 2. Sports bras are DEFINITELY a necessity.

Hey at least it was entertaining! ha!

I did some more in my office (when no one else was there) and then I went home and did 10 every commercial break of the Broncos game until I reached 100.

I don't think I've done a burpee since!

Day 8: HAND WRITTEN NOTE






I really debated who to write a note to. I wrote a few notes, but they weren't ones I wanted to make public, so I  wrote this generic one and posted it. And I actually heard from someone that it was JUST what they needed. Success!








DAY 9: EAT THE RAINBOW




Same problem as with Meatless Monday. I wasn't prepared... But I think I did pretty well....
Red: Red Peppers
Orange: Oranges
Yellow: Yellow Carrots
Green: Green beans
Blue: Blueberries
Purple: Raisins








Day 10: MAKEUP FREE



This one was DEFINITELY a challenge for me. Make up is a NECESSITY in my book. And I was convinced that the kids would ask me what's wrong with me. One of them told me I looked pretty so that was interesting. We also had a snowstorm this day, so not having to put make up on was kinda nice! :)

The best part of this challenge was all the other elves commented on pictures telling everyone how beautiful they were. It was SO NICE to see women building each other up, rather than tearing them down.



DAY 11: WORKOUT BUDDY



Confession time again. I hate working out with other people. I've tried it and I just don't do it because it either gets too competitive, I feel judged, or it just puts unnecessary strains on the friendships. I'm better just working out on my own. HOWEVER.... Wednesday nights, Katy and I go to Hip Hop and we have a flipping BLAST. We stand in the back, pretend we have moves and basically just laugh the whole time. Now that's the best workout buddy to have!






DAY 12: OPERATION BEAUTIFUL
Prior to Elf 4 Health, I knew nothing of Operation Beautiful and I LOVE IT.

For my piece, I wrote 4 notes and left them in various places in Kohl's. I hope they lifted someone's spirits.

They said...
1. Your smile is your best feature. Smile as bright as the sun shines. You are beautiful!
2. You are beautiful on the inside and out!
3. Keep on smiling. You are beautiful!
4. You are beautiful. You don't even know.

*So the last one is actually a lyric from an Andy Grammer song (Ladies) that I just adore*



DAY 13: FRIDGE & PANTRY PURGE
So I actually didn't do this one. I was out of town because my cousins were visiting, so I was 3 hours away from my fridge and pantry for the weekend. I still plan on doing this at some point. I didn't think it would be nice to do to my grandma just to complete the challenge. ;-)

DAY 14: GRATITUDE LIST





Seeing as how I participated in #ThankfulNovember i didn't find this particularly hard. So I sat down and quickly jotted down 50 things I am thankful for.









And with that... round 1 was over.

ROUND 2

For Round 2 I was matched up with Samantha, a senior studying Business Legal Studies at Arizona State University. (What are the odds that both of my elves would be seniors at ASU?!) She actually graduated during round 2!!!

DAY 15: CIRCUIT WORKOUT





Again... new workouts are so hard for me. So, again.... I went to Pinterest. and found this one. It was awesome!











DAY 16: PAY IT FORWARD

I stopped at Starbucks on my way into work with the intention of buying coffee for the person behind me... except for the first time in the history of EVER, no one was behind me. I had a crazy busy day of working 9 hours at my first job, driving 1 hour down to the other job for a meeting and then making the hour trip home.... So there wasn't a whole lot of time. So I discovered that you can "Tweet a coffee" so I sent coffees to my cousin Rachel (who was working so hard on her finals) and my dear friend Chance.

*Note: Apparently when you do this, it requires the recipient to give Starbucks unlimited access to their facebook and twitter.*

Funny thing: When I finally got home, I checked my mail and I had $45 worth of Starbucks gift cards from my brother's in laws! HOW NICE!


DAY 17: HEALTHY SNACK

Cookies, Chocolate, Donuts,  Cake, Cupcakes... The list goes on of the stuff that usually makes it's way to this table in our staff lounge. My boss actually said recently one day she is going to put fruit out just for me.... Apparently I have some sort of reputation. :)

So I brought a healthy snack for the staff! I signed it "Elf" but I'm pretty sure between the handwriting and the fact that it was healthy, everyone knew it was me.

I love hummus.



DAY 18: YOU-TIME

This challenge could NOT have come on a better day. I had a busy and LONG day at work due to it was my class' Christmas Program which meant an 11 hour day for me. I took this challenge very serious!

When I left work, I went to Garbanzo and got a DELICIOUS Chicken Shwarma pita with some falafel. I also had some of my favorite wine as I sat on the couch, watched Sean Saves The World and the Broncos game.

It was the perfect way to de-stress after that long day!

DAY 19: FASTEST MILE
Due to my long day on Thursday, today I got a 2.5 hour break to avoid any Overtime. I was exhausted but I told myself to just go to the gym to get this out of the way so when I was done with work I could just go home.

It was Pajama day at work so that was nice. So I drove alllll the way to the gym (30 minute drive), got in to the locker room and realized half my workout clothes (shirt and sports bra) were in my car. And the other half (workout pants) were at home.

But I drove all that way and luckily it was pj day so I was in sweats and a t-shirt. So I told myself to just go do the stupid mile. The only time I ever run a consistent mile is when I'm running a 5k. And I'm a SLOOOOW runner. But despite all the obstacles, I did it. Hooray!

DAY 20: CLOSET CLEANOUT





I'd recently done a closet purge, so that wasn't necessary... but my desk was definitely in need of some TLC.









DAY 21: PLAN YOUR MEALS
Ever since I started working a 2nd job on Sundays, my meal prep has fallen to the wayside. I've done it a few times on Fridays or Saturdays, but I pretty much just suck at doing it these days.

But on this day! I made crockpot chicken bbq (for sandwiches on sandwich thins), made salmon with veggies, protein waffles, and prepped greek yogurt and grapes.







DAY 22: MEDITATE




The challenge was to get up early and meditate. I already get up at 4:30, so there's no way that was happening. I was exhausted so half of my lunch break I just spent lying on the couch with my eyes closed and the lights dimmed.

When I got home, I found this meditation on YouTube, laid on my living room floor and felt quite relaxed. Definitely helpful!




DAY 23: WALL SIT
There is NOWHERE at the gym to take your picture
doing a wall sit without having to ask someone to do
it for you, so I crammed myself behind a machine to do this one. haha! 
I LOVE WALL SITS!!!

One day my friend Vita and I were doing wall sits at the gym and a guy approached us and told us we made them look so easy.

The longest I'd ever done a wall sit was a minute, so I set the super lofty goal of 3 minutes, thinking there was no way I could do it. When I stopped I was proud and thought I could probably hold it longer. I posted on Facebook asking people the time they thought I got and people said stuff like 17 minutes! So I felt totally lame, so when I got home I did a second one and held that for 4:03.


DAY 24: SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE

So I didn't even think I had any expertise, so yet again... I took to Facebook. I ended up writing a "My Expertise" blog.

DAY 25: 3 FOOD GROUPS



This challenge was to eat 3 food groups at each meal.
Breakfast: Oatmeal (grain) with raisins (fruit) and latte (dairy/protein)
Lunch: Ham Sandwich (dairy, protein) Fruits and Veggies.
Dinner: Salmon (protein), brown rice (grain), and veggies.






DAY 26: SELF LOVE X 6
After I did this, I read that some people did 3 physical and 3 non-physical. Oh well...
1. My heart-- I have such a giving and loving heart and I love that about me!
2. My body-- this one was hard as I think there will ALWAYS be aspects of it that I don't love, but I truly love it, how far I've come and all the things I can do with it!
3. My loyalty-- I am a loyal friend to the very end. That may get me in trouble, but I do love that about me.
4. My passion-- I am so passionate about so many things. I love it!
5. My humor-- Oh my goodness, I am ALWAYS goofy and cracking jokes. And I love it.
6. My drive-- It definitely takes drive to work as much as I do and still find time to workout and other things. I love that about me!

DAY 27: NEW FITNESS GOAL
I never got around to making a pic of this one because I was crazy busy, but I did come up with one! Coming up with these is so hard for me because I just keep working at what I have been so here we go. (I wrote it down, but can't seem to find it. Here's to hoping I remember!)
1. Try the TRX Training!
2. Hit my goal weight (that's been a work in progress for like 3 years)
3. DON'T GET INJURED!
4. Start training (maybe even do) a Tri!

DAY 28: MAKE A DONATION




I gave $75 to my favorite local non-profit SAVA.

I truly wish this kind of organization wasn't even necessary and I pray for the day that it isn't. But, as long as people are hurting others, I am SO THANKFUL this resource is available.







I absolutely LOVED this program. In the second round, I was able to join the Elf 4 Health Facebook group. It was amazing. Every post was liked and given the most wonderfully, supportive comments. It's crazy because I feel like typically, women DO NOT support each other. But the group of women I "met" doing this are AMAZING. I felt like a lot of them understood me more than most of my "real world" friends.

I hope you'll join me next year!

~Jessica~

What do you do to help get through the holidays???

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