He & She Eat Clean | Healthy Recipes & Workout Plans

#ProgressIsPerfection [3 Simple Ideas to Reach Your Goals]

Whitney CarlsonComment

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

You guys. We use Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk for ALL. THE. THINGS. You've seen it in our grocery store pictures and in our food prep pictures. From protein bars and shakes to oat bakes and casseroles, we use it on the daily. We used to buy it at our local grocery store but we did the happy dance when our Costco started carrying it in packs of three!

We've worked with Silk in the past and we are so excited to introduce you to their new campaign: #ProgressIsPerfection. Could the name be more perfect? I don't think so! You know we are all about NOT being perfect. We don't spend hours a day in the gym or running, and we don't eat within strict guidelines or completely eliminate certain food groups from our diet. Yes, living a healthy lifestyle is important but so is having a healthy relationship with food and living your life!

Speaking of #ProgressIsPerfection....believe it or not, we are halfway through March. Where does the time go? This is the perfect time to reflect on the goals that we set at the beginning of the month and even the ones we set at the beginning of the year. Since we started the Detox Your Life Challenge in January, where we focus on a different topic each month, it was easy for us to look back at the progress we've made on our goals.

  • January (Detox Your Fitness): hit those goals (and yes, we've even been doing yoga once a week!)
  • February (Detox Your Money): we hit most of those goals
  • March (Detox Your Nutrition): so far so good!

Over the years we've learned to celebrate the little successes and not dwell on the things that we didn't accomplish. Easier said than done, I know!

If you are still struggling with your goals, try to approach them with a progress mindset instead of always seeking perfection. Below are a few of our tips that are quick and easy and will keep you on the right path.

3 Simple Ideas to Reach Your Goals

1. Short Workouts

If you are pressed for time, your workouts don't have to be time consuming. Try this Short but Sweet Sweat Session during the day. It's only 4 minutes of work so you could do it every hour, during your lunch, or during your workout as an active rest. Also, taking on one of our monthly fitness challenges will give you a roadmap for the month and a sense of accomplishment each day! Just keep moving!


2. Easy Swaps

Swap out the sugar and creamer in your coffee and try Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk. Not ready to completely ditch the creamer? That's okay too. Swap what you normally use for Silk's Almond Creamer. If you are a cereal lover and not ready to give that up yet, look for a cereal that is low in sugar with no artificial ingredients and use Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk.

3. Easy Meals

Preparing food in advance is definitely how we have been able to maintain a healthy lifestyle for so long. Whether you do an entire food prep like we do or just make your breakfast in advance, it all adds up! When you have healthy food on hand it's much easier to stick to your goals.

One of our favorite easy recipes is chocolate avocado pudding. You could have this pudding for breakfast (add a little protein in the form of eggs, protein shake, etc.), a snack, or even dessert after dinner.

Easy Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Ingredients:

Directions:

  • Combine all ingredients in a blender.
  • Place in a mason jar to eat the next day or consume straight from the blender!

Tips:

  • This could be two servings, depending on the size of your avocado.
  • Add liquid egg whites or protein powder to add a serving of protein to your pudding. If you do add protein powder you will likely need more almond milk.

Reflect back on the last few months. What goals have you accomplished? Always keep in mind that small steps really add up and that progress is what we should aim for. You can do it!


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Detox Your Nutrition: March

ChallengesWhitney CarlsonComment
Detox Your Nutrition: March

MARCH. 2018. The fact that it is already March of 2018 blow my mind. The beginning of a new month means the beginning of a new challenge! If interested, we also have a Full Body March Madness Fitness Challenge here.

The entire goal of our Detox Your Life Challenge is to improve a different area of our lives each month. It's okay if we don't accomplish ALL of our goals; however, we will take much pride in tackling the goals we set and use those accomplishments to build momentum in tackling our remaining goals as the year goes on.

Last month, for the Detox Your Money Challenge, our goals were to:

  • Opening a new savings account to maximize the interest we’re earning (check!)
  • Categorizing our grocery receipts to help drill-down on wasted expenses (nope!)
  • Reviewing our retirement investments to ensure we’re saving enough for retirement (check!)
  • Reviewing the new changes to the tax code to identify incremental income that can be poured into savings and take advantage of new opportunities (check!)

I (Whitney) have been super busy over the last few days (weeks) getting everything ready for our taxes and Scott has been really busy at work. While we wish we would have been able to better analyze our receipts, we were pretty happy with how we didn't waste any money during the month of February and how we were able to open our new checking and savings accounts (that came with a $500 bonus!).

Again, just because a new month is upon us doesn't mean that we are going to completely forget about our January fitness goals or our February money goals. We will continue with our previous goals and simultaneously move forward with our nutrition goals!

Wondering what all of this detox stuff is all about?

Take a look at the concept behind our Detox Your Life Challenge here.

Let's take a simpler approach to nutrition this time, shall we?

High carb. Low carb. High fat. Low fat. High protein. Low protein. Juice cleanse. Cookie diet. Grapefruit diet. There are so many buzz words being thrown around that it makes my head spin! I have a feeling you feel the same way!

We're going to simplify nutrition for you: Eat Real Food.

Get started with these steps:

  1. Read Getting Started with Clean Eating
  2. Read 8 Things You Need to Know When You Start Eating Clean
  3. Download our FREE 13 to Clean Challenge and/or take a look at our 1,500 Calorie Meal Plan

Keep in mind that just because your sister, brother, best friend, and/or co-worker lost 25 pounds on a certain diet doesn't mean that same thing is right for you. Just because you see it on Facebook or hear about it on a TV show also doesn't mean it's right for you.

Keep things simple. Our bodies need all nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Choose lean protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

So, what will we be working on this month?

March is a really busy month for us (big news coming soon!) and to top it off we travel to Arizona at the end of the month but we will keep nutrition at the forefront of our mind.

  • Do an entire food prep each week
  • Drink our apple cider vinegar detox water every day
  • Try to incorporate vegetables into breakfast
  • Drink at least 64 oz of water each day
  • Limit added sugar
  • Eat out twice per week, max

Looking for ideas for your own challenge?

Need to write down your goals with pen and paper?

We do too! We have a simple printable for you! You can print it in color or black and white and then just fill in whatever notes or goals you need to jot down. Get it here.

Reminder: Make sure you are signed up for the Detox Your Life Challenge emails so that you know when a new challenge is released or we have something fun to give you like a new printable!

Check out these additional resources:

Get Ready for New Recipes & Tips to Help You Along the Way!

3 Simple Money Habits That Changed Our Life

MoneyWhitney CarlsonComment
3 Simple Money Habits That Changed Our Life

We're wrapping up our Detox Your Money Challenge with 3 simple money habits that changed our lives! We aren't done sharing money tips though, be on the lookout for more coming soon!

>>>> If you feel like you need to detox your money, get help here.

3 Simple Money Habits That Changed Our Life

1. We avoid buying on impulse. If we do, we return it.

Impulse buys, whether they are at the grocery store, department store, or gas station, can eat up a large chunk of your budget without you even really realizing it. If you are out with friends and decide to stop and get a coffee, there goes $4. Then you pick up a few items at the checkout at the grocery store and there's another $10. These small expenses really add up over time.

We aren't immune to these. I would say that Costco is the place where a lot of our impulse buys happen (maybe because that seems to be the place where we spend our time shopping!). We will end up with a lot of stuff we needed and quite a few things we didn't. Once we get home we realize we probably didn't need another flannel shirt or more bowls so we return the items we don't use. As long as you haven't used something and it fits within the store's policy, there's no reason to not return something you aren't going to use.

2. We spend less than we earn.

This one sounds easy but tends to be the hardest for people to accomplish. Your main bills (mortgage/rent, utilities, etc.) should be pretty consistent each month. Figure out what those are, then add in the variable expenses like groceries. This is the minimum amount of money that you need to make. If you don't make that money at your current job you have a few options or a combination of options. You can find a way to reduce those expenses even more, look for another job, a second job, or start selling things you don't need or use. We made thousands of dollars last year selling things we no longer used.

If you do have extra money left over after your bills, use it to pay down debt, start an emergency fund, or save for retirement! Keep in mind while shopping that it doesn't matter how good of a deal it is if you don't need it!

This might be a good place to mention that we actually DO use credit cards. We actually use credit cards for every single purchase we make. The difference is that we pay them off in full every single month. We use them to accumulate points for cashback and/or travel. Credit cards are often times more secure than debit cards as well. This strategy only works if you actually pay them off in full every month. If you rack up credit card debt in the name of getting points the amount you pay in interest will likely outweigh any credit you receive.

3. We don't care about what other people are doing or buying.

This is commonly referred to as keeping up with the Joneses. We've both always had our "blinders" on when it comes to what other people are doing. We don't care about what kind of house, TV, car, etc that someone else has. We focus on our goals and what we need to do to accomplish them. Trying to keep up with what other people have will leave you broke and exhausted. Keep your focus on you and your family.

I hope these give you a fresh perspective and try to incorporate them into your life. You may also be interested in 3 Simple Fitness Habits That Changed Our Life and 3 Simple Eating Habits That Changed Our Life.

Join one of our popular Money Saving Challenges and read through more finance related posts below!

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