A one week challenge and a 3 week challenge! Oh, and some Kefir too

Yesterday I started a one week challenge of going dairy free to see if milk and cheese might be the cause of some problems one of my kids is experiencing. Actually, I should say we are going milk and cheese free. I can't seem to figure out how to cut out butter. I have no desire to buy margarine, and I'm hoping that a little pat of butter here and there won't affect our experiment.

My three week challenge is an exercise challenge. I have an exercise video (which I love!) by Karen Voight and Elle Macphearson. In the beginning of it Elle makes a promise. She says that after doing this video for 1 week you'll feel different. After two weeks you'll look different to yourself. And after three weeks everyone else will notice a difference. I started on Monday (actually I did it a couple times last week too, but we won't count that.) I was too tired to do it on Tue, but I did it yesterday. I plan to do it today and tomorrow and maybe even Sat. too. So my goal is at least 4 days per week for three weeks and see if anyone else notices how good I feel.

Besides all that I am also reading Pres. Hinkley's biography and trying to keep a positive optimistic attitude. Oh yeah, and one more thing. My friend gave me so me Kefir and it's multiplying on my counter! If you want to read up on it and it's benefits check out this site:

http://www.makingkefir.com/ It has a nice little video too.

I have so far just been using it to make smoothies. One of my kids loves these tart kefir smoothies and begs for more. Kefir is supposedly gentle on the stomach but so far it has been a little rough on my tummy. My husband say's, "well duh! You are introducing entirely new bacteria into your gut. Of course it's going to cause some gas!" He won't even try it because he says he's happy with the bacteria in his gut already. So today I am using my kefir to try my hand at some sour dough bread. I'll let you know how that turns out. I'm excited!