We’ve encountered a bit of a “rough start” to 2020, starting with us all (well, almost all) catching the flu. You may have noticed that one of my creative goals this year is to try to create one video a week this year. Some of it, I hope, will be sharing our adventures this year and a vlog-type feel. Some of the videos, like the one above, are more of a sit-down and share info type of videos.
Since we were sick weeks 2 & 3, and moms don’t really get a break from taking care of said sick family members, I decided to combine weeks 2 & 3 and sit down and answer some questions from our followers on @TheRognonProject on this week’s video.
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions:
Question: What Motivates You to Exercise and Eat Healthily?
Ellie: I am highly motivated through workout buddies and having an accountability partner. Even being accountable and transparent on The Rognon Project has been very motivating in helping me stick with my healthy habits and goals. I never worked out in my 35 years before last year, and I stuck with it the entire year. I’m pretty proud of that.
Another thing that first jump-started my motivation was having a focus and a reason and an end-goal. For me, that was working towards a cruise. We knew that we would be doing some physical excursions, such as hiking, and that really motivated me to want to get fit. I didn’t have a weight goal really, but I did want to be able to climb a huge pyramid and not feel like I was going to die.
James: Plus, we both realized that we would be spending a lot of time on the beach and swimming and the threat of walking around in a swimsuit for a week was also highly motivating to at least want to get stronger and make some changes.
Ellie: This year I don’t have a cruise to work towards, or a race to train for, or anything like that – so that’s my intention I’m setting for myself this month – to try to find something to work towards besides just hitting my workout goals. I like being able to push myself harder in my workouts, and I tend to do that more consistently and easily if I have a goal in mind that I’m trying to hit.
James: (This part was cut from the video but I’m adding here), A while ago our family went on a trip to Disneyland and our kids really wanted to go swimming together. And I finally just let go and went for it and I had so much fun and I saw the joy that it brought my kids. And for me, it was eye-opening and made me wonder how much I was holding back from experiencing in this world because of how I felt about my weight and appearance, and how my bad health and habits were holding me back.
I once heard a man explain that his motivation for getting healthy was when he realized that his family was dependent on him. He was the main breadwinner, and if something were to happen to him due to his health it would really hurt his family. So when I thought about it in that way, that was very motivating to me as well. And I realized that I really needed to step up and make some changes.
Question:You’re Killing Your Debt So Fast. How? Help!
Quick answer:
1. We increased our income.
2. We cut our budget. In Budget Boot Camp it’s called “cut the junk”.
3. When we moved, we downsized.
4. We use sinking funds to plan ahead and not be caught unaware, so we can stay on-target with our spending and budget goals, which in turn allows us to be consistent with debt payments.
5. We use (a form of) the debt snowball technique. As we pay off loans, that minimum payment is added to paying off debt so we put more and more towards debt each time a loan is paid off.
(You can find even more detailed info on what we’re currently doing with our finances HERE.)
Question: How Many Languages Do You Speak?
I (Ellie) only speak English fluently. I took 4 years of Spanish, and am hoping to become fluent, but so far I am not.
James speaks Portuguese fluently.
Question: What Do You Suggest For a Budget-Friendly Meal Plan? I feel like we are bored with the same meals and would love some ideas.
Right now we are trying to keep our meals easy, healthy & quick. With daily double-workouts, we just don’t have time for meals with a lot of ingredients that take a lot of time preparing. For us, we like meal prepping 2-4 meals to last us the entire week, and we always plan on leftovers.
With our proteins, we tend to cook a huge batch and then use it for multiple meals throughout the week. For example, we cook up some ground turkey and use it for spaghetti for a couple of meals, some Taco soup for a couple of meals, and then we heat up the taco soup leftovers (strain it) for supreme taco salad or something tasty too. We like to make new meals out of leftovers where we can to keep things interesting and not feel like we are eating repeat meals. Sometimes cook up chicken and just rotate through favorite sauces to mix and match things up – maybe we match the chicken with some quinoa, or add it sauce free to a salad. We like to keep things quick and easy, and that’s an easy way to do that too.
Meal prepping has also been nice and cost-effective and has also saved us a lot of time throughout the week. Also, knowing you already have a meal in the fridge that you just have to ‘heat up’ has saved us from being tempted to ‘eat out’ because we already have food cooked and ready at home.
And of course, we love Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. We like to try out a few of her recipes every month because even I (Ellie) can have them turn out. 😉
Question: What Made You Decide to Celebrate Paying Off Debt? Do You Budget Ahead For It?
This is our 2nd round of paying off debt. The first time we tried I went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, and I think it was going to take us 5 years to pay off debt if we cut all our expenses, ate beans-and-rice, and literally said no to everything. Not only did it take a longer time than that (hello Nebraska financial disaster issues), but I got BURNT OUT HARD. I literally felt like I was constantly stressed, scared, and now I know I was just living in this weird scarcity mindset of fear. I did not like it.
So when our circumstances finally changed, I knew I needed to do something different this time around. One of the biggest things I decided to do was have FUN on the journey. For me, that means taking the time to celebrate all our hard work. We decided that for every loan we pay off we were going to do something fun & out-of-the-ordinary to celebrate. Some of those celebrations are small and simple, such as picking up a pizza to eat to give us a break from cooking dinner. Some of the celebrations are huge, like buying all our kids’ bikes.
All of the celebrations are budgeted ahead. The larger celebrations, such as purchasing bikes, we had to save for a few months to have the money available to do it. The smaller celebrations are generally paid for with our “mad money” that we budget every month. In those cases, we just cater our celebrations to however much we have in our budget.
Question For the Kids: What Has Been Your Favorite Debt-Payoff Celebration?
Elena – Playing at the Waterpark
Max – Getting merch, surprising us to see Frozen 2 with friends, and making Gingerbread houses afterward.
Annabelle – Going to the waterpark
Jack – Top 3 were Waterpark, getting bikes, and seeing Frozen 2.
Hmmmm. I think I see a trend here.
Question: I Would Love to Hear What You’ve Done To Help You Learn to Love Yourself And Respect Yourself More Mentally. What Has Helped You The Most?
Ellie –Â There are a couple of things I do:
1. Stopped the negative self-talk
2. Do daily affirmations
3. Show my body respect by working out and (I’m working on this again since the holidays) feeding myself nourishing foods that make me feel good.
There were many, many other questions asked, some that we even filmed, but we ran out of time and space to put them all here. Thank you to everyone who asked questions. Keep them coming. We love sharing what has been working and hasn’t been working, and your questions are very welcome.
Until next time! Ciao.
