Category: Challenge

Posted in Challenge

Meatless March Fail

Posted on by teresamunoz91

Here’s an update on Meatless March…I failed. I lasted one week without eating any seafood, poultry, or red meat. However, by the end of the first week, I spent most days feeling lightheaded and weak. I made the mistake of not eating more veggies with iron. I had anemia in the past and even in my early pregnancy, not getting enough iron was an issue for me. Another thing that made it hard was that I still live at home and my mom usually cooks dinner.

Most days I was too tired from taking care of my baby to make myself something for dinner, so I would just eat whatever my mom made for dinner. Usually what my mom made for dinner included either red meat or poultry.

I may not have been able to give up meat for a whole month, but I do plan on eating less from now on. Maybe I can eat meat twice a week and improve from there. It might take me a while, but I would like to eventually become either vegetarian or vegan.

Posted in Challenge

Meatless March 2019

Posted on by teresamunoz91

I’m a few days late with this post, but better late than never! This month, I am taking part in Meatless March. This is my 3rd year in a row taking part in Meatless March. During Meatless March, I am giving up eating red meat (pork and beef), poultry (chicken and turkey), and seafood.

The first year was the hardest. I used to eat a lot of red meat and chicken, so I definitely missed it when I was unable to eat it. The second year was a little bit easier. I didn’t miss red meat as much, but I did miss eating chicken a lot. Not sure how this year will go, but I am more prepared and have learned from my past mistakes in taking part in Meatless March. One mistake I made in the first year was not eating enough iron. This led to me being anemic and having low energy most days.

The reason I am taking part in Meatless March is to get myself used to eating less and less meat and chicken. My goal is to one day become vegetarian, but I need to take it slowly. I know there are some people who are able to give up meat overnight, but I am not one of them. The easiest thing for me to give up will be pork, since I don’t like eating pork. The only time I eat pork is when I eat pizza with pepperoni. Chicken and turkey will be a bit more difficult to give up. In my family, my mom cooks dinner with meat most days, so for the month of March, I will have to make my own meals.

So far it’s been six days since I had any meat and I admit that it’s been harder than I thought it would be. Hopefully I can make it through March without eating any meat. I just need to start cooking more for myself and add more veggies, especially spinach and broccoli.

Posted in Challenge

No Spend Challenge Update

Posted on by teresamunoz91

So far it has been 15 days since I started the No Spend Challenge. It was originally meant to be a 30 day challenge, but I wanted to make it a real challenge, so it is now a 90 day challenge. That means the No Spend Challenge will take place January-March!

For the most part, it hasn’t been too hard. I think the hardest part of this challenge so far is not buying fast food. I’m in the final days of my pregnancy and sometimes I crave Chick Fil A or even McDonalds. Since I can’t have any of that food, I have been eating much healthier these past few weeks.

The second hardest part has been not being able to buy anything at the Bath and Body Works semi annual sale. I love their lotions and body washes and in the past I would go and buy enough things to last me the whole year! That wasn’t possible this year. Luckily, I still had some lotions left and for Christmas/my baby shower, I was given perfume and lotion from there. They should last me at least until the challenge is over, maybe even longer.

Not buying clothes has been so easy for me. I think the last time I spent money buying clothes was back in August/September of last year when I was buying myself maternity clothes. I did buy a couple shirts after that, but for the most part, I haven’t bought much clothing during my pregnancy. I probably won’t get back to my pre baby body any time soon, so I don’t think I will need any new clothes for a while.

I have 75 days left in this challenge. I know as time goes on, this challenge will seem much harder. Next month I have three siblings celebrating birthdays. For two of them, I have already bought gifts during the after Christmas sales. Not sure what I will do for my brother.

Some things I have done to keep myself entertained is watch movies on Netflix (my mom pays for that), read books, write my novel and in my blog, cook and bake for my family, and spend time with my family. The baby will be here soon and then I won’t have much time to myself anyways, so I might as well enjoy these last few days.

Posted in Bucket Lists, Challenge, Life

Hello 2019

Posted on by teresamunoz91

Although 2018 was a good year for me, I am definitely looking forward to 2019. Of course the biggest things I am looking forward to is the birth of my baby girl. She will be here in less than 2 weeks! Still in shock that I am going to be someone’s mom. Never saw that coming. Some other things I am looking forward to is becoming a better and faster runner, finally starting my business, and paying off most, if not all of my credit cards this year. Every year I like to make a bucket list. This year is no different. Some things on my bucket list are small things like learn to make cheesecake from scratch, while others will take more time and dedication in completing them, like running a half marathon (13.1 miles) in under 2 hours. Here is my bucket list for 2019.

Personal
Have a healthy baby girl
Take part in Meatless March
Write two blog posts a week
Read 50 books
Take Ayanna to Disneyland for her 5th birthday
LA County or OC Fair with my family
Go to Universal Studios during Grinchmas

Fitness/Running
Do 25 pushups nonstop
Run a half marathon (13.1 miles) in under 2 hours
Run a 5k race (3.1 miles) in under 25 minutes
Run 1 mile in 8 minutes

Financial
No Spend Challenge
Pay off at least 5 credit cards
Start a business

Cooking
Learn to make cheesecake from scratch

Movies to Watch:
Glass
Captain Marvel
Avengers 4
Toy Story 4

Will be adding more to the bucket list as the year goes on!

Posted in Challenge

No Spend Challenge 2019

Posted on by teresamunoz91

In the past I have done many challenges. Some of them include the Meatless March challenge, no meat for the whole month of March, no TV for a month challenge, and I even went vegan for a week. The last one was really hard because I had to read the ingredients of every single thing I ate. Well, there is a new challenge I will be trying in 2019. It is called the “No Spend Challenge”. Another name for it is a Spending Fast. The main rule for this challenge is that you don’t spend any money on anything that is unnecessary. You can do it for a day, a week, a month, or even a year. I plan to do it for the month of January. The purpose of this challenge is to become aware of your spending habits. A lot of us don’t realize how much money we waste on things that we don’t really need. Any money I save by no buying things will go towards my credit card debt.

Everyone has a different idea of what is considered “essential” or “non-essential”. Here are the rules I plan to follow during my No Spend Challenge.

Essentials (can spend money on this)
Groceries
Bills
Gas
Toiletries (shampoo, toothpaste etc.)
Things for the baby

Non Essentials (can’t spend money on this during the No Spend Challenge)
Fast food
Books
Clothes
Take out/delivery/pizza
Going to the movies
Concerts
Soccer games
Jerseys
Races
Magazine subscriptions
Video subscriptions
Dvds
Beauty items such as nail polish, lotions/perfume