Recommitting to Clean Eating

What gets you out of bed in the morning? For me, it’s looking forward to my 6am workout at Goals in Motion.

My alarm rings at 4:50am; I’d be exaggerating to say that I hit the floor running, but I do get up without hitting snooze and head to the kitchen for some breakfast. I’ve been dedicated to my 6am workouts for over a year now, but for the past few weeks I’ve had a little extra incentive to be sure I'm there and setting a good example. I started coaching at GIM on August 6^th, welcoming in the newest group of challengers to the program.

An awesome group of 6am challengers weighed in, did their push-up, sit-up and mile-run tests. Being involved with this new group of challengers has been a great energizer for me. I will admit that I had become somewhat complacent with some of my food choices over the summer. Seeing their dedication to food journaling and making good choices has lit a fire under me to do better as well.

As our challengers participate in week 3 of their program, the common theme I’m hearing among them is that they are getting bored with their food. It is normal for people who begin down a path of healthy eating, to think that chicken and salad are their only options. Although good options, yes, they are not the only ones.

Our fitness studio stresses clean eating for better health and weight loss. We don’t use gimmicks or pills or fake food. We tell our challengers that 80% of their success will be attributed to good, clean food choices. If you're stuck in the chicken and lettuce rut, I’d like to share with you an excellent resource for recipe ideas:

Clean Eating Magazine

The folks at Clean Eating Magazine do a stand-out job of presenting healthy meals that use “normal” foods and are easy to make. I recently picked up the July issue with a scrumptious looking pork and papaya dish on the front cover. In this issue there is an entire grilling section, a cheeseburger pizza recipe AND a blueberry ice cream recipe. Now who can say that is boring?! 

In addition to the magazine, they also have a website: http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/ and several recipe books.

4-H Lamb Show, Biggest Boar, Super Bull.....

Last Friday, the girls’ lambs came home after a successful FFA show at the State Fair. We had one day of “rest” before Jack’s lambs had to be checked in on Sunday. We hauled 4 lambs down for Jack and made it through the vet inspection with all of them. Sunday afternoon, he competed in Showmanship, where he placed 5^th in a tough group of intermediate show people, receiving a purple ribbon.

Monday was the 4-H market lamb show, where Jack showed all four of his sheep. The competition in the 4-H show is as tough as you’ll find anywhere in the country, so he didn’t come away with any class winners but did a great job in the show ring. Jack’s lambs made the trip home last night, putting to bed a satisfying show season.

While at the fair, I did get to take in a few of the sights outside the sheep barn. I will admit that I participated in some fair food – pork chop on a stick and a bucket of cookies being highlights; and also checked out the “biggest” competitions, including the Big Boar, Super Bull, Giant Ram and the Big Pumpkin.

See the pictures below of the 1,196 lb boar, the 2,768 lb bull, the 483 lb ram and the 1,295 lb pumpkin!

State Fair Update

Just a quick update on the FFA show at the State Fair yesterday...

Chloe, Maddie, Kaylen, Morgan, Jack and Mark

First of all it was a BEAUTIFUL day! On the way to Des Moines in the morning our car thermometer was reading 56 degrees! Yes, 56 degrees, in August, in Iowa - unheard-of, but totally welcome! With weather like this it could be nothing but a good day ahead.

Morgan and Maddie each showed two lambs in the FFA market lamb show yesterday. They are excellent show-women, so did a fantastic job of displaying them to the judge. Morgan showed two wethers, that placed 5th and 7th and both earned purple ribbons. The lambs looked excellent! Maddie also did a great job, showing her two ewe  lambs and placed 5th with a purple ribbon and earned a blue ribbon with her second lamb. There were about 20 lambs in each of these classes, so they were definitely up there with the top-end sheep.

We were lucky to have purchased excellent lambs from even better people at Friest Club Lambs of Hubbard, IA and Kelly Cox of Sioux City, IA.

Iowa State Fair – Nothing Compares!

Where can you and one million of your closest friends, go to see thousands of sheep, pigs, cattle and goats; a cow made of butter, and eat nearly anything you can imagine, on a stick? I would have struggled with this answer a few years ago, but since meeting and marrying an Iowan, I can confidently answer – The Iowa State Fair!

Growing up in Canada, the “State Fair” was not a totally foreign concept to me.  We lived close enough to the North Dakota border that friends often traveled to Minot for their state fair, mostly to take in the grand stand shows, as there seemed to be excellent entertainment every year. I personally had never attended, as that fair was always the same weekend as our local 4-H show and town’s fair. It wasn’t until I was in my 20’s that I attended my first State Fair in Iowa and haven’t missed one since.

To those with an appreciation for agriculture and youth activities, the Iowa State Fair is a must-see. Thousands of 4-H and FFA chapter members descend on the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines for 10 days of competition, camaraderie and corn dogs. To give you an idea of what entries are like for the youth livestock competitions at the State Fair, I pulled together some exhibitor numbers for you:

FFA Beef Cattle – 366

FFA Dairy Cattle – 121

FFA Dairy Goats – 31

FFA Horse – 265

FFA Meat Goats – 143

FFA Sheep – 970

FFA Swine – 1521

4-H Beef Cattle – 1003

4-H Dairy Cattle – 400

4-H Dairy Goat – 137

4-H Horse – 299

4-H Meat Goat – 361

4-H Sheep – 1731

4-H Swine - 1694

These numbers represent exhibitors, so just think of the number of animals shown by these kids. The numbers above are staggering and don’t even include the open show exhibitors.

In addition to the youth livestock exhibits, the Iowa State Fair boasts competitions ranging from the Biggest Boar, to the Super Bull to the Biggest Ram; not to mention the turkey calling, mom-calling and fiddling contests! I can hardly do justice to the extent of all there is to see at the fair in my short blog post, but invite you to experience it in person.

The fair this year runs August 11^th – 21^st in Des Moines, Iowa. Our kids will be showing lambs in the FFA and 4-H sheep shows. The girls show on Thursday, the 11^th and Jack shows on Monday, the 15^th. The girls’ sheep will be getting baths and “hair-cuts” tonight, in order for their trip to town tomorrow. Oh yeah, I think we also have a veterinarian visit to arrange, in order to get health certificates for entry to the show. I sure hope Mark found a GlobalVetLINK, participating veterinarian to issue those health papers!

Do something for yourself today!

I truly believe that in order to be the most productive at work and at home you must take care of your health and well-being first. One year ago I started out on a journey that led me to discover the benefits a regular workout schedule and improved eating habits would have in my life. I’ve always thought of myself as an active person, playing sports from softball to curling to figure skating in my youth and then attempting to keep up a gym schedule, and sporadically running as I got older, and less involved in organized activity. Never though, have I been in better health as I am now.

Last spring, after an unusually difficult winter, I had a melt down over a pair of pants that no longer fit. At that point I was determined to do whatever it took to get back in shape and back into those pants! It took me a couple of months to find the fitness program that would work best for me and my schedule. Through a co-worker I was introduced to Goals in Motion (GIM) - Ames. GIM offers a full body workout, alternating between kick-boxing for cardio and resistance training using bands, core balls, kettle bells and bodyweight exercises.

GIM introduces people to their program through a 9-week challenge that includes fitness and nutrition coaching. At the beginning of the challenge you weigh-in, take body composition measurements and do fitness tests, including push-ups, sit-ups, sit and reach and a mile run. These may seem like daunting challenges all on their own, but none were as humbling as the “before picture” that had to be snapped prior to starting the program. Of course, you’re not required to strip down to your skivvies in front of anyone but the owner of the studio, but still, just knowing those images would be permanent record of the state of one’s physic at a particularly low time of self-appreciation is nothing short of terrifying.

Once the initial testing was over, the real work began. I was lucky to have my husband join me in this adventure, which made it much easier to get up at 5:00am, to work-out each morning at 6:00am. I will be honest; I used to scoff at the idea of getting up at that hour to workout. I swore I was not a morning person and could NEVER make that happen. I believed the only thing people should be doing at 5:00am is sleeping. Turns out - people can change. For over a year now, I’ve been getting up at 5:00am, six days a week to get my workout in. It is so much easier to do it at that time of day, than try to fit it in after eight hours at the office and between kids’ activities.

The first workout was grueling. It didn’t help that the first week of our challenge fell right in the middle of our county fair and that the first day was actually the day the kids showed their lambs in the 100+ degree heat and humidity. Because of the busy day, we had elected to work-out that evening. My husband and I are both very determined and committed and would not think of missing the initial work-out, regardless of the tough day we had put in. To put it gently, that workout kicked our butts. Mark was nearly incoherent for an hour afterwards! Well, we survived that day and pushed through to the end of our challenge, thanks to excellent instructors, coaches and the sense of accountability that comes from the group fitness setting.

It was amazing to see the improvements we had made in our strength and endurance, and those “after pictures”, although still humbling were not nearly as scary as the “before pictures”. The change in weight, body composition and fitness level were awesome and even better was the impact the increased activity had on my overall health, including state of mind, cholesterol, triglycerides - you name it, and it was improved.


Everyday, it becomes more apparent that most things in life are out of our control, but eating well and being physically active are two things well with-in everyone’s power. It is up to me and me alone if I decide to get out of bed in the morning to work out. Once I get there, I decide how hard I’m going to work and how far I’m going to push myself that day. I know the positive impact GIM has had on my life and I encourage you all to take the initiative to do something like this for yourself. If you live in the Ames area, feel free to come to GIM this week for a free, 6-day trial before the next challenge starts on Aug 6^th. If you don’t live in the area, find something in your community that you love to do that keeps you active and engaged. Do it for you; do it for your family; and do it for your professional life; you’ll be glad you did.