Oh don't you just cringe at the sign "Detour Ahead"? Blech! And we all have our gripes about road construction. But usually we all want the end results. Yes we want the wider interstates so there will be less traffic jams and hopefully LESS car accidents. But we hate the inconvenience. I want the awesome results just don't mess up my daily routine to get them, right?
Well as I tend to call this my healthFULL journey I am learning that I want the end results but that means I have to put in the extra work of adding detours and mapping out my new blueprints. You don't go from 300+ pounds and in two weeks at optimum health looking great in a bikini. (Although there are a lot of diet pills, scams, and books that want you to believe ANYTHING is possible ;) But if I want the end result to be better for the future that means some uncomfortable detours now.
First I have to listen to my body of today. Yes I want my future lifestyle to include healthy eating and exercise to be my daily fun not my daily chore. Its getting there, somedays I feel I am there at the end of the construction project and other days I look in the mirror and say "DANGER AHEAD!" . So first I have to eat for this body of today. Not the one I had two years ago and need to let go of those comfort foods of past (pop/soda, chips, and sweet pastries) and I look forward to craving my daily needs of beans, greens, and little meat. But not quite there. Too much health food might have me running back towards the comforts of the past :) I ate chinese two nights in a row. Oh many of you know how I crave those sweet sauces, and fried tastiness. How does this fit into my new blueprint. One night we ordered in and one night we cooked it ourselves. Our version twenty times tastier than the delivery version. I don't know how fresh the restaurant's food is but I know exactly the freshness and what ingredients we cooked with.
I want to get more active and I wish I could say that my family never overlooks the beauty of a beautiful day. Today was a gorgeous day for a family walk. We however ended up taking a family nap. Which also can be healthy. Obviously, we all needed a bit of extra sleep. This is something we should either adjust at night or that we all do have a tish of a bug. I am getting over a cold and my sweet darling son decided to puke on me three times in a row (there is nothing worse than sour milk). It actually was this last incident that made me think of the detours we need to take for the betterment of our later journey. His second bath for the night and my evening shower weren't necessarily on our agenda but when a detour pops up sometimes we don't have a choice but to follow.
It would have been easy to say after the low key day and not feeling a hundred percent to say oh phooey to the exercise portion. But after two suppers of Chinese food back to back - my body kind of begged for a little health stop. So I checked my pedometer at 11 pm and still had about 1500 steps to equal at least my regular daily goal of 7000+ steps. This had me exercise for my body of today and not for the ideal road conditions of the future or the abandonment of the past. I didn't grab shoes, or a sweat towel and honestly just stayed in pjs and began to pace my house. With a steady non-quick pace in twenty minutes I was able to check on my son, switch over laundry from the "sick" incident, straighten a couple of things in the kitchen, and manage to walk my 1500 steps to complete my daily goal. Yes, I could have easily finished those couple of things in less than two hundred steps and call it a night. But if I want different results I need to approach things differently so in my mind it was time for a detour.
It isn't easy to change old patterns of comfort into healthy routines but with a few detours and adjustments along the way; I have the utmost confidence we can all maximize our HealthFULL Journeys.
May your path conditions improve with the help of detours that encourage hope for a better life. 'Til we meet again. . .
Showing posts with label setting goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label setting goals. Show all posts
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Are you who you think you are?
Are you who you think you are? Cliches and general statements claim no one knows you better than you know yourself. But that isn't true for everyone. And sometimes I wonder if that sentiment is true for anyone. We aren't aware of other's perceptions and rarely are we as transparent as we think. We get in silly arguments that blow into full wage wars because we believe those closest to us should know what we meant or what we thought when really none of our actions have fully disclosed our needs or our wants. Or worse our words and our actions told different stories.
Do you ask for something but mean something completely different? Perhaps you ask children to do more around the house. They do more around the house but you are frustrated because you had specific chores in mind they didn't touch. Maybe you ask your significant other for more loving touches but you tend to shrug off their advances. You ask work for more responsibility - you meant promotion they give you grunt work. We tend to ask in generalities but desire specifics. Either we don't know what we want or we don't know how to ask for what we want. Either way we could improve our position by knowing who we are.
We tend to not know our own strengths or weaknesses; at least all of them. We tend to quit because we are scared of the end - we fear pain, hurt, success, failure, sometimes we just fear "the end". So we quit, we drop out, we grasp for excuses to share and crave rationalizations that comfort us why we couldn't possibly go all the way. Oh I could do never do a marathon. Whew I get worn out walking in my living room. What? I couldn't speak in front of hundreds of people - I get tongue tied in front of a small group of five people I know. I couldn't draw to save my life. I could never be a parent - too much responsibility. Its fine if you choose not to do something because it is not a desire of yours. But don't be scared to challenge the warrior, the mother, the athlete, the poet, the champion in your heart. They are dying to strut their stuff. Because when push comes to shove you could complete that marathon; perhaps it is in honor of a charity who is sponsoring your best friend. You could speak in front of a thousand people because you are sharing the gospel of Jesus. Maybe you become an artist because you sketched your baby's first nap. Its amazing what we can do because the stakes change and become personal. Possibly we know that greatness is as close as our fingertips and that we are only a step away from knowing ourselves and that is why we tend to push people away. Its becoming quite a habit in today's world.
Do you like compliments? You might say you do, but it seems the truer the compliment the quicker we are to deflect it. Someone compliments you for your speech; we may reply its an important topic. Someone compliments your cooking perhaps you share the accolades with a spouse - something along the lines of "my husband is the true chef I am just the assistant. Someone compliments your intelligence or beauty and we pass on the praises to our sibling - oh you haven't met my brother/sister they are the smart/beautiful one. Here our compliments to our face and we still don't accept our strengths or talents at face value. And our weaknesses are just as hard to swallow. Raise your hand if you have ever been completely honest at a job interview or on a dating profile. Name your greatest weakness. We all go for the positive spin. Curvy women you know you mark the voluptuous curves before the bloated jellyfish box. Or for work purposes - I tend to be obsessed with details. Forget to mention that you run tardy by ten minutes every day or that you like to gossip with co-workers. But then maybe you don't realize you have flaws because you didn't really know you have strengths.
I write all this because without knowing yourself : How do you live YOUR life? This HealthFULL Journey is really helping me to pinpoint specific wants, needs, and patterns I possess. And with the help of my handy dandy 12 resolutions for the 12 months of 2012 I am holding a magnifying glass on all aspects of my life. One of the most recent items that spurned this blog. A big grocery shopping trip my husband and I recently shared. The revelation after $450.00 worth of groceries (it was bargain shopping as everything was 50% off so we spent just over $200.00 and our pantries are filled and some of these items went in donation). But after this huge shopping excursion we realized I shop for a non-existent member of our household. This person obviously loves cereal, yogurt, soup, beans, pasta, spices, and nuts. If I go shopping by myself I tend to stray from our list badly. I will ultimately pick up these six items and I honestly can't remember ever in our marriage of us being out of these items. I put these items in our cart as if I am on auto-pilot.
Let's investigate the list shall we: Cereal - I love cereal. The sugary kind, the hot kind, the healthy adult kind. I enjoy cereal. Now ask me how often I eat cereal. Hmmmm....since October I have not had a single bowl. Yup that would be the truth. I sometimes use it as a crunch factor in yogurt or with fruit - we are talking 2 tbsps max at a time and occasionally a 1/2 cup here or there for cooking purposes. My husband never eats it and my son eats one specific kind. But right now we have the total of 3 unopened containers, one opened box (our son's) and two boxes with three different kinds mixed together separately in their own bags. So if you're counting that equals ten different cereals.
Yogurt - oh I love yogurt. I grew up eating yogurt. But since the attacks have increased I have suspicions they may be linked to dairy (which literally is a nightmare for me - both an attack and the loss of dairy). Also I tend to buy many yogurts fully knowing it has a limited life span before the expiration date and I don't try dairy after the expiration date. One bad episode with an expired date and you get a little cautious. But I like variety so I'll pick up ten yogurts thinking I have just under a month. I won't eat them all. I hope I will eat a couple of them before they find their way to the trash. When I want something sweet they usually aren't enough to satisfy the craving or they're too heavy/much sounding when I just need a bite.
Soup - I so rarely eat soup from a can. I'll use broth for a meal every now and then. But I like to have them on hand just in case I get in a cooking frenzy and am in need of four broths. We tend to open a package of broth or stock and then maybe use half and once again find its way to the garbage. We are trying to be more conscious and use items within several meals to cut down waste. But I still way overbuy soups in anticipation to feed our family a full meal for less than $3.00. Good dream but not really our reality all too often.
Beans in my mind equal a healthy diet plus the general public states beans are cheap to buy. So in my cart they go to make my family healthier while maintaining a line of budget. This however means they need to actually be utilized into our meals. And the thought of soaking beans is exhausting. I think like many people I get the impression I have to physically stand over the soaking beans for eight hours or delay our meal for eight hours. But in reality we just need to throw them in a pot of water (no cooking required at this stage) when we go to sleep and throw them in the crock pot in the morning. Or throw them in a bowl of water before we head to work. Ready to cook as soon as we get home. But the step of soaking them exhausts my mind and there the beautiful different color beans sit in my pantry in their lovely bags. I also overbuy canned beans because sometimes the draining them and rinsing them exhausts my mentality as well. Because then I'll convince myself that canned beans aren't as healthy as dried beans and if I don't have the time to soak my beans I don't deserve to sample the tasty beans. Yes people I seriously think in these circles sometimes :)
Pasta is my cruel way of teasing myself. It is one of my five favorite dishes of all time - between comfort, ease, variety, and flavor. I adore pasta; the different shapes, the different grains; the satisfaction of covering the noodles with tons of different toppings. But alas with diabetes pasta is rarely my friend and I tend to scoff at their serving size. But yet I buy it because I always am in doubt if we have enough in our pantry when I really know I shouldn't be eating that much of it so even having one package is plenty.
Spices - I am starting to flex my culinary skills and I don't like when my pantry is missing a recommended ingredient. I get frustrated when I can't try out a new recipe as I am out of or never possessed a certain spice; fully believing the whole recipe hinges on that one particular spice. And those we tend to like but rarely use I like to buy back-ups just in case we are low (as you see two tumeric, two thyme, two pepper blends, two cayennes, and three sets of food coloring). I must fancy myself quite the chef and baker which according to my pantry I am not.
And finally the nuts. I actually eat quite a bit of nuts. Lower in carbs, high in fat - mostly good fate, and an excellent source of protein. These quell my snacking tendencies and cravings. I can purchase sweet varieties and salty and even spicy. Therefore, I panic at the thought of running out. So when we see them in the store the cans literally jump into my cart as I peruse the aisle - just in case.
I admit all this because I finally have my eyes open to some self-awareness. I challenge you to take a true look in the mirror, checkbook, pantry, closet, and/or calendar. Are you who you think you are?
"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No,' 'No'; . . . " Matthew 5:37
May your HealthFULL Journey be a true reflection of the person you were, the person who you want to be, and most imporantly the person you are. 'Til we meet again. . .
Do you ask for something but mean something completely different? Perhaps you ask children to do more around the house. They do more around the house but you are frustrated because you had specific chores in mind they didn't touch. Maybe you ask your significant other for more loving touches but you tend to shrug off their advances. You ask work for more responsibility - you meant promotion they give you grunt work. We tend to ask in generalities but desire specifics. Either we don't know what we want or we don't know how to ask for what we want. Either way we could improve our position by knowing who we are.
We tend to not know our own strengths or weaknesses; at least all of them. We tend to quit because we are scared of the end - we fear pain, hurt, success, failure, sometimes we just fear "the end". So we quit, we drop out, we grasp for excuses to share and crave rationalizations that comfort us why we couldn't possibly go all the way. Oh I could do never do a marathon. Whew I get worn out walking in my living room. What? I couldn't speak in front of hundreds of people - I get tongue tied in front of a small group of five people I know. I couldn't draw to save my life. I could never be a parent - too much responsibility. Its fine if you choose not to do something because it is not a desire of yours. But don't be scared to challenge the warrior, the mother, the athlete, the poet, the champion in your heart. They are dying to strut their stuff. Because when push comes to shove you could complete that marathon; perhaps it is in honor of a charity who is sponsoring your best friend. You could speak in front of a thousand people because you are sharing the gospel of Jesus. Maybe you become an artist because you sketched your baby's first nap. Its amazing what we can do because the stakes change and become personal. Possibly we know that greatness is as close as our fingertips and that we are only a step away from knowing ourselves and that is why we tend to push people away. Its becoming quite a habit in today's world.
Do you like compliments? You might say you do, but it seems the truer the compliment the quicker we are to deflect it. Someone compliments you for your speech; we may reply its an important topic. Someone compliments your cooking perhaps you share the accolades with a spouse - something along the lines of "my husband is the true chef I am just the assistant. Someone compliments your intelligence or beauty and we pass on the praises to our sibling - oh you haven't met my brother/sister they are the smart/beautiful one. Here our compliments to our face and we still don't accept our strengths or talents at face value. And our weaknesses are just as hard to swallow. Raise your hand if you have ever been completely honest at a job interview or on a dating profile. Name your greatest weakness. We all go for the positive spin. Curvy women you know you mark the voluptuous curves before the bloated jellyfish box. Or for work purposes - I tend to be obsessed with details. Forget to mention that you run tardy by ten minutes every day or that you like to gossip with co-workers. But then maybe you don't realize you have flaws because you didn't really know you have strengths.
I write all this because without knowing yourself : How do you live YOUR life? This HealthFULL Journey is really helping me to pinpoint specific wants, needs, and patterns I possess. And with the help of my handy dandy 12 resolutions for the 12 months of 2012 I am holding a magnifying glass on all aspects of my life. One of the most recent items that spurned this blog. A big grocery shopping trip my husband and I recently shared. The revelation after $450.00 worth of groceries (it was bargain shopping as everything was 50% off so we spent just over $200.00 and our pantries are filled and some of these items went in donation). But after this huge shopping excursion we realized I shop for a non-existent member of our household. This person obviously loves cereal, yogurt, soup, beans, pasta, spices, and nuts. If I go shopping by myself I tend to stray from our list badly. I will ultimately pick up these six items and I honestly can't remember ever in our marriage of us being out of these items. I put these items in our cart as if I am on auto-pilot.
Let's investigate the list shall we: Cereal - I love cereal. The sugary kind, the hot kind, the healthy adult kind. I enjoy cereal. Now ask me how often I eat cereal. Hmmmm....since October I have not had a single bowl. Yup that would be the truth. I sometimes use it as a crunch factor in yogurt or with fruit - we are talking 2 tbsps max at a time and occasionally a 1/2 cup here or there for cooking purposes. My husband never eats it and my son eats one specific kind. But right now we have the total of 3 unopened containers, one opened box (our son's) and two boxes with three different kinds mixed together separately in their own bags. So if you're counting that equals ten different cereals.
Yogurt - oh I love yogurt. I grew up eating yogurt. But since the attacks have increased I have suspicions they may be linked to dairy (which literally is a nightmare for me - both an attack and the loss of dairy). Also I tend to buy many yogurts fully knowing it has a limited life span before the expiration date and I don't try dairy after the expiration date. One bad episode with an expired date and you get a little cautious. But I like variety so I'll pick up ten yogurts thinking I have just under a month. I won't eat them all. I hope I will eat a couple of them before they find their way to the trash. When I want something sweet they usually aren't enough to satisfy the craving or they're too heavy/much sounding when I just need a bite.
Soup - I so rarely eat soup from a can. I'll use broth for a meal every now and then. But I like to have them on hand just in case I get in a cooking frenzy and am in need of four broths. We tend to open a package of broth or stock and then maybe use half and once again find its way to the garbage. We are trying to be more conscious and use items within several meals to cut down waste. But I still way overbuy soups in anticipation to feed our family a full meal for less than $3.00. Good dream but not really our reality all too often.
Beans in my mind equal a healthy diet plus the general public states beans are cheap to buy. So in my cart they go to make my family healthier while maintaining a line of budget. This however means they need to actually be utilized into our meals. And the thought of soaking beans is exhausting. I think like many people I get the impression I have to physically stand over the soaking beans for eight hours or delay our meal for eight hours. But in reality we just need to throw them in a pot of water (no cooking required at this stage) when we go to sleep and throw them in the crock pot in the morning. Or throw them in a bowl of water before we head to work. Ready to cook as soon as we get home. But the step of soaking them exhausts my mind and there the beautiful different color beans sit in my pantry in their lovely bags. I also overbuy canned beans because sometimes the draining them and rinsing them exhausts my mentality as well. Because then I'll convince myself that canned beans aren't as healthy as dried beans and if I don't have the time to soak my beans I don't deserve to sample the tasty beans. Yes people I seriously think in these circles sometimes :)
Pasta is my cruel way of teasing myself. It is one of my five favorite dishes of all time - between comfort, ease, variety, and flavor. I adore pasta; the different shapes, the different grains; the satisfaction of covering the noodles with tons of different toppings. But alas with diabetes pasta is rarely my friend and I tend to scoff at their serving size. But yet I buy it because I always am in doubt if we have enough in our pantry when I really know I shouldn't be eating that much of it so even having one package is plenty.
Spices - I am starting to flex my culinary skills and I don't like when my pantry is missing a recommended ingredient. I get frustrated when I can't try out a new recipe as I am out of or never possessed a certain spice; fully believing the whole recipe hinges on that one particular spice. And those we tend to like but rarely use I like to buy back-ups just in case we are low (as you see two tumeric, two thyme, two pepper blends, two cayennes, and three sets of food coloring). I must fancy myself quite the chef and baker which according to my pantry I am not.
And finally the nuts. I actually eat quite a bit of nuts. Lower in carbs, high in fat - mostly good fate, and an excellent source of protein. These quell my snacking tendencies and cravings. I can purchase sweet varieties and salty and even spicy. Therefore, I panic at the thought of running out. So when we see them in the store the cans literally jump into my cart as I peruse the aisle - just in case.
I admit all this because I finally have my eyes open to some self-awareness. I challenge you to take a true look in the mirror, checkbook, pantry, closet, and/or calendar. Are you who you think you are?
"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No,' 'No'; . . . " Matthew 5:37
May your HealthFULL Journey be a true reflection of the person you were, the person who you want to be, and most imporantly the person you are. 'Til we meet again. . .
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Keeping things Currant
I thought this would be a good time to touch base and discuss how the resolutions are going. As we are in that dreaded two and half week zone. Three weeks to make the resolution a habit. But the "newness" factor wears off at two weeks and I have been hit by the don't wannas and fuhgedaboutit. BUT I push myself to keep on track. The best thing I ever did was to be specific. The goals where I can do a little bit every day is getting checked off my to do list. The once a month goals have been glanced at from time to time. On this HealthFULL (Finally Understanding Life by Living) Journey I have learned that I do better with deadlines. You need me to do something in a week, a day, an hour; Done and done! You need something done at my convenience or whenever; not happening it gets lost, forgotten, or buried under more pressing matters - like pinterest.com and reality tv.
To keep track of my 12 resolutions I bought a calendar date book that lists a week on two pages - starting with Monday and running through Sunday. I printed up a mini version of my resolutions for the front cover and write down the corresponding number on the calendar date. This way with a glance I see what I accomplished in a day or what got ignored during a week. It is really motivating to see a visual reminder and even more motivating to see the visual of the baby steps of completing a task. I have really enjoyed the number one resolution of being grateful every day and actually write my blessing down for the day. Most days by actually remembering my day I easily write down two or three blessings that were especially touching. Think of it as sprint journaling. Also my two other daily goals of reading the Bible in a year has been enjoyable as I skip around wherever the Spirit leads. My Bible shared the tip if you read three chapters(not verses as that wouldn't be enough and not books because that would be extremely daunting but chapters - which is completely doable!) daily Monday - Saturday and then on Sunday read five chapters. This is the pace I have been following and only one day did I miss as I wasn't feeling really well but caught up the second day. It is best to not get too far behind or these resolutions stop being goals and more like anchors! Also I like a record of when I exercise. It is easy to twist facts when they are only floating in your head. I think I exercised five times last week for an average of thirty five minutes a day. I'll count that. But in pen it holds more weight. Oh it was only four days blah blah blah. You get the message. The calendar helps me stay accountable and motivated. Great tools when you have many goals in a variety of your life.
Also we are keeping record of my favorite tradition/goal. The new produce or grain of the week. Look at the title of this post? No I didn't have a spelling mistake. This week's fruit was red currants. They were an easy pick for my hubby and me as we have heard of these berries but never really have seen them. Oh they were gorgeous in the grocery store. The red was so bright and inviting and the berries are tiny. They look like mega rubies. I must confess though as I was decieved as they looked sweet as they reminded me of champagne grapes (size-wise). I also expected the skin to be a little tough as the red was so bright with a shiny luster - I expected almost tomato skin with that bit of a bite. Nope! They are tart little bursts of juice. It was as if I was eating the pomegranate arils. Which I enjoy - but only when my taste buds are expecting that sour burst of juice. I was expecting a tough sweet berry. Alright what to do with these berries? I had so of planned on serving them with our spinach salad for dinner. However, my hubby is not the biggest fan of tart/sour flavors. So I headed to our trusty computer and searched for a recipe. Not a lot of varying recipes for the red currant. Big contenders were jellies (as the berries have a natural pectin most sites mentioned) and pies. I have never made a jelly in my life (adore buying homemade jellies from bazaars and farmers' markets but haven't invested in the canning supplies for myself. So pie it is. Not the healthiest choice but was a mighty tasty one. Really simple fruit pie which I added a little bit of blueberries and strawberries with the currants. As these are flavors we enjoy, and we didn't have a lot of currants to fill an entire pie. Even my 14 mo. old son tried a couple. Which proved to me he is truly a texture taster. Also he helped himself to the berries when we mixed the pie "together".
It is fun to feel in control of my life or at least that I am gaining back control. That I have a say in what I do and that I am making choices that create a better version of myself.
May your HealthFULL Journey bring you flavors of sweetness to soothe and sourness to motivate. 'Til we meet again. . .
To keep track of my 12 resolutions I bought a calendar date book that lists a week on two pages - starting with Monday and running through Sunday. I printed up a mini version of my resolutions for the front cover and write down the corresponding number on the calendar date. This way with a glance I see what I accomplished in a day or what got ignored during a week. It is really motivating to see a visual reminder and even more motivating to see the visual of the baby steps of completing a task. I have really enjoyed the number one resolution of being grateful every day and actually write my blessing down for the day. Most days by actually remembering my day I easily write down two or three blessings that were especially touching. Think of it as sprint journaling. Also my two other daily goals of reading the Bible in a year has been enjoyable as I skip around wherever the Spirit leads. My Bible shared the tip if you read three chapters(not verses as that wouldn't be enough and not books because that would be extremely daunting but chapters - which is completely doable!) daily Monday - Saturday and then on Sunday read five chapters. This is the pace I have been following and only one day did I miss as I wasn't feeling really well but caught up the second day. It is best to not get too far behind or these resolutions stop being goals and more like anchors! Also I like a record of when I exercise. It is easy to twist facts when they are only floating in your head. I think I exercised five times last week for an average of thirty five minutes a day. I'll count that. But in pen it holds more weight. Oh it was only four days blah blah blah. You get the message. The calendar helps me stay accountable and motivated. Great tools when you have many goals in a variety of your life.
Also we are keeping record of my favorite tradition/goal. The new produce or grain of the week. Look at the title of this post? No I didn't have a spelling mistake. This week's fruit was red currants. They were an easy pick for my hubby and me as we have heard of these berries but never really have seen them. Oh they were gorgeous in the grocery store. The red was so bright and inviting and the berries are tiny. They look like mega rubies. I must confess though as I was decieved as they looked sweet as they reminded me of champagne grapes (size-wise). I also expected the skin to be a little tough as the red was so bright with a shiny luster - I expected almost tomato skin with that bit of a bite. Nope! They are tart little bursts of juice. It was as if I was eating the pomegranate arils. Which I enjoy - but only when my taste buds are expecting that sour burst of juice. I was expecting a tough sweet berry. Alright what to do with these berries? I had so of planned on serving them with our spinach salad for dinner. However, my hubby is not the biggest fan of tart/sour flavors. So I headed to our trusty computer and searched for a recipe. Not a lot of varying recipes for the red currant. Big contenders were jellies (as the berries have a natural pectin most sites mentioned) and pies. I have never made a jelly in my life (adore buying homemade jellies from bazaars and farmers' markets but haven't invested in the canning supplies for myself. So pie it is. Not the healthiest choice but was a mighty tasty one. Really simple fruit pie which I added a little bit of blueberries and strawberries with the currants. As these are flavors we enjoy, and we didn't have a lot of currants to fill an entire pie. Even my 14 mo. old son tried a couple. Which proved to me he is truly a texture taster. Also he helped himself to the berries when we mixed the pie "together".
It is fun to feel in control of my life or at least that I am gaining back control. That I have a say in what I do and that I am making choices that create a better version of myself.
May your HealthFULL Journey bring you flavors of sweetness to soothe and sourness to motivate. 'Til we meet again. . .
Saturday, January 7, 2012
And the highest bidder is . . .
I'll admit writing down 12 resolutions was fun to tie in with the year. I like the roundness and completeness of lists and phrasings. I like ideas to click. It is a hard concept to describe unless you are borderline obsessive and compulsive with dreamer like tendencies. But I'll try.
Have you ever been involved with an auction? Aren't they exciting? The auctioneer is shouting and motivating the crowd. If you have a dull auctioneer nothing is being sold or what is being sold goes with no fanfare and cheap and frankly is boring. Oh but a true auctioneer with enthusiasm. Well you find yourself bidding on items you don't want but you just want to be part of the fun. You want to giggle about your purchase. You want to share the story of buying that hideous statue. But you will have enjoyed the moment. And what might be a very ugly statue becomes a source of pride, a memory of having fun. And all of a sudden it becomes a treasure. Because in the right moment you were ready to give yourself over to the moment and "click".
I think in a way I have imaginary auctions and amp the bids quickly and often. I am going to make a resolution this year. No, I'll make three. Oh, I do like the sound of five. . . but ten equals perfection. Wait its going to be 2012, I should come up with 12 resolutions! But isn't twenty a fun-sounding number and challenging. However, fifty sounds golden. Wait a hundred is .....Whoa a hundred is crazy. Stop the bidding moron! This is your life and you're the only one bidding. Enthusiasm is good, but frenetic and hysteria equals not good. So pause, take a breath, let's use a little common sense, and reach for something attainable. One and three resolutions and I'll trap myself into the world of generalities. Five seems a little low if I want this to be a truly FULL/Whole health journey. I like ten that seems possible but 12 sounds right it clicks. Its just that bit extra challenge - Can I do this? And if if I am going to commit to these 12 goals I'll need to get busy.
So on January 2nd I bought a calendar (for fifty percent off - see patience and not being choosy can have its advantages). A little weekly pocket calendar that allows me a chance to record my accomplishments and with a glance let me know if I need to have a heart to heart with myself. A resolution won't be left behind because of sheer forgetfulness. This HealthFULL Journey is teaching me to be aware of my choices. If I choose to skip exercise. That's okay (beware of making that choice a habit though). But to be aware it was a choice. It is so important to be active in one's journey so that we can FULLY UNDERSTAND LIFE by LIVING. That means choices. An informed choices tends to yield the best results.
I am excited to share with my handy calendar and New Year Enthusiasm I am feeling good about the progress I already have made on my twelve resolutions. This bid of twelve goals was a winner.
May you find yourself in situations full of fun and moments when you feel that click of satisfaction of being in the right place, at the right time, with the right attitude. ' Til we meet again. . .
Have you ever been involved with an auction? Aren't they exciting? The auctioneer is shouting and motivating the crowd. If you have a dull auctioneer nothing is being sold or what is being sold goes with no fanfare and cheap and frankly is boring. Oh but a true auctioneer with enthusiasm. Well you find yourself bidding on items you don't want but you just want to be part of the fun. You want to giggle about your purchase. You want to share the story of buying that hideous statue. But you will have enjoyed the moment. And what might be a very ugly statue becomes a source of pride, a memory of having fun. And all of a sudden it becomes a treasure. Because in the right moment you were ready to give yourself over to the moment and "click".
I think in a way I have imaginary auctions and amp the bids quickly and often. I am going to make a resolution this year. No, I'll make three. Oh, I do like the sound of five. . . but ten equals perfection. Wait its going to be 2012, I should come up with 12 resolutions! But isn't twenty a fun-sounding number and challenging. However, fifty sounds golden. Wait a hundred is .....Whoa a hundred is crazy. Stop the bidding moron! This is your life and you're the only one bidding. Enthusiasm is good, but frenetic and hysteria equals not good. So pause, take a breath, let's use a little common sense, and reach for something attainable. One and three resolutions and I'll trap myself into the world of generalities. Five seems a little low if I want this to be a truly FULL/Whole health journey. I like ten that seems possible but 12 sounds right it clicks. Its just that bit extra challenge - Can I do this? And if if I am going to commit to these 12 goals I'll need to get busy.
So on January 2nd I bought a calendar (for fifty percent off - see patience and not being choosy can have its advantages). A little weekly pocket calendar that allows me a chance to record my accomplishments and with a glance let me know if I need to have a heart to heart with myself. A resolution won't be left behind because of sheer forgetfulness. This HealthFULL Journey is teaching me to be aware of my choices. If I choose to skip exercise. That's okay (beware of making that choice a habit though). But to be aware it was a choice. It is so important to be active in one's journey so that we can FULLY UNDERSTAND LIFE by LIVING. That means choices. An informed choices tends to yield the best results.
I am excited to share with my handy calendar and New Year Enthusiasm I am feeling good about the progress I already have made on my twelve resolutions. This bid of twelve goals was a winner.
May you find yourself in situations full of fun and moments when you feel that click of satisfaction of being in the right place, at the right time, with the right attitude. ' Til we meet again. . .
Sunday, January 1, 2012
12 Resolutions for the 12 months of 2012
Well this has been quite a journey and it still continues. You think you found the perfect path and then you hit a dead end, a crazy detour, or get lost and end up back in the same spot. So you turn back to your trusty compass and gaze at your map. Circle the paths that were working and figure out a new route. There is no time better than the present. Today is the first day of the new year. And rumor has it the end of the world is nearing. If that be true I want to leave as the best version of myself. Of course with my Christian belief the Bible states (my paraphrase follows) that we don't know what hour our Master will return - so basically, let's get to work and do it now. So if this journey is to be FULL of Health that means my goals should be all encompassing, a little physical, a little mental, emotional, spiritual, you get it, it should be for the whole picture so lets count em down. 12 goals for the next twelve months in this fabulous year of 2012.
12. Lose 102 pounds. The weight isn't my number one priority but it is a goal. It is an unusual number. I like even stevens usually a bold hundred a perfect ten. But 102 pounds would bring me to 178 pounds. I have never seen that number on a scale in my adult life. 179 is the lowest number I have seen and it was when I was nineteen - twenty years old. So let's eliminate decade within a year. Its a daunting number but attainable - pound by pound. It also means I have lost nine pounds since this journey started 2 1/2 years ago. But also in that time I did gain a total of forty one pounds (mostly pregnancy related) so in actuality I've lost fifty pounds again. So we'll keep on the downstreak!
11. Another physical thing is to continue the new produce or grain once a week. This helps make a game out of eating healthy and stretching the horizons of what we imagine we could eat, should eat, and would eat. This allows 52 opportunities to consume a variety of vitamins and minerals in combinations we wouldn't otherwise know.
10. The perfect ten has to go to cooking myself at least twice a week. And not just cooking but learning a new recipe at least one of those two times but hopefully twice. This enables me to take more control of my health. It will help me not get caught in the trap of helplessness, boredom, or being overwhelmed by all the life matters we can't control.
9. To round out my physical improvements means I need movement. Documented exercise. I want to work out thirty minutes five days a week. But even more specifically to cover at least 366 miles this year of walking. I will count walking as part of my exercise during the week. But it would be awesome on those days I can count it as a bonus. That means one mile a day. Let's pound some pavement or at least some carpet!
8. I need to be more charitable. It is time to research some charities. And to be more consistent in giving and less about the taking, demanding, and whining. My goal is to donate to at least one charity every month: whether it be time, money, or donated goods. There are a lot of people who are doing amazing things to help those who need the extra hand. My soul thirsts to be more like a servant as I have ignored the calling several times.
7. Speaking of the Call. It is time to reconnect in a stronger fashion with God. I plan to read the Bible in one year's time and to take true meditative time with God on a daily basis (not just in times of distress which is too common for me). God is blessed me with too much that I have taken for granted too often.
6. Another calling - what next? I finished my B.A. this year which feels pretty darn good to mark that of the to - do list. It waited for nine years but it is crossed off. But now I have to figure out what's next? A new vocation? Start a business? Attain a masters? Lots of ideas but no true road map. Time to get research done and by 2013 working towards the next great challenge.
5. Let's get creative. This may be my favorite goal. I love to be creative and playful. Each month I am going to learn either a new skill or build upon a creative process. This might mean taking a class to learn how to do pottery. This may mean picking up a how to learn a new language. This might mean trying out for a play. Perhaps I establish a routine to write fiction/poetry. But it is time to get the juices flowing and the heart pumping. It will feel good to awaken that part of me once again.
4. Time to ...I even feel anxious typing this. Time to Socialize more. I tend to lead a hermit lifestyle. In the past I used to have people demanding jobs that I was pretty good at. But I tend to get easily connected emotionally to people and it would zap a lot of my energy. Other people's dramas, creating my own drama, and then stressing that I wasn't helping enough or that I wasn't capable to do more and I had a rough year that I shut down. I lost 10 people close to me in one year. All different levels of intimacy and relations, some were sudden some were expected. And these deaths were sandwiched between my mother in law being diagnosed with cancer (a survivor of 8+ years Amen!) and my own mother's diagnosis of cancer (a survivor of 7+ years - another Amen!) and in that time I quit college (nothing to due with what has already been mentioned I just didn't know where I was going or what I wanted at 22), got married (to the most amazing man in the world and still my best friend), moved, and started my first salaried position where forty-four people's lives were under my care. That was all in one year and also in that one year I gained seventy pounds. Sooooo yeah I kind of needed a break from people, responsibility, and instead of taking a break I kind of just shut down. So its time to wake up and get out. So I plan to have at least one extra outing a month not just family or work related. For some that sounds super easy but this may be one of the hardest areas for me to stretch. (and in honesty if I try a class or group activity - I'm counting it!)
3. Budget - I don't like to budget: not money, not calories, not time. I like to be spontaneous, at least I say that. But really it is another way to say I don't like to be controlled or pressured or to stick to rules. It crushes my freedom, it suffocates the spirit of fun. But not really I just allow myself to feel that. We all can use a cushion for "those days" and if you have read my blog I tend to have a lot of out of those blue kinds of experiences. So my hubby and I are going to sit down and comb through expenses and start true rainy day funds and not just talk about it. Blech! My stomach is already churning.
2. Time to organize the chaos. Some people are naturally gifted in completing tasks in a timely manner, keeping things together, and just letting objects gleam in cleanliness. I am not one of those people. I try hard to have routines that keep me and my family being swallowed up by household clutter and try to designate areas for those have to grab items. But it is a challenge. I am going to do a thorough cleaning (this is not the weekly or daily cleaning necessary to keep the household moving - laundry, dishes, vacuuming, ect.) in every area of our house once a month and each week take an hour to truly organize (actually create an address book, gather recipes that we enjoy in one spot, designate locations for important papers - declutter the filing cabinet).
1. The big number one is to truly be grateful within each and every day. To count a blessing every day. Hopefully this will take down the stress but more importantly remind me that it truly is a wonderful life and that all of us are granted a gift of life on a daily basis.
May your 2012 be a chance to let go of what brings you down and to welcome all that builds you up. 'Til we meet again. . .
12. Lose 102 pounds. The weight isn't my number one priority but it is a goal. It is an unusual number. I like even stevens usually a bold hundred a perfect ten. But 102 pounds would bring me to 178 pounds. I have never seen that number on a scale in my adult life. 179 is the lowest number I have seen and it was when I was nineteen - twenty years old. So let's eliminate decade within a year. Its a daunting number but attainable - pound by pound. It also means I have lost nine pounds since this journey started 2 1/2 years ago. But also in that time I did gain a total of forty one pounds (mostly pregnancy related) so in actuality I've lost fifty pounds again. So we'll keep on the downstreak!
11. Another physical thing is to continue the new produce or grain once a week. This helps make a game out of eating healthy and stretching the horizons of what we imagine we could eat, should eat, and would eat. This allows 52 opportunities to consume a variety of vitamins and minerals in combinations we wouldn't otherwise know.
10. The perfect ten has to go to cooking myself at least twice a week. And not just cooking but learning a new recipe at least one of those two times but hopefully twice. This enables me to take more control of my health. It will help me not get caught in the trap of helplessness, boredom, or being overwhelmed by all the life matters we can't control.
9. To round out my physical improvements means I need movement. Documented exercise. I want to work out thirty minutes five days a week. But even more specifically to cover at least 366 miles this year of walking. I will count walking as part of my exercise during the week. But it would be awesome on those days I can count it as a bonus. That means one mile a day. Let's pound some pavement or at least some carpet!
8. I need to be more charitable. It is time to research some charities. And to be more consistent in giving and less about the taking, demanding, and whining. My goal is to donate to at least one charity every month: whether it be time, money, or donated goods. There are a lot of people who are doing amazing things to help those who need the extra hand. My soul thirsts to be more like a servant as I have ignored the calling several times.
7. Speaking of the Call. It is time to reconnect in a stronger fashion with God. I plan to read the Bible in one year's time and to take true meditative time with God on a daily basis (not just in times of distress which is too common for me). God is blessed me with too much that I have taken for granted too often.
6. Another calling - what next? I finished my B.A. this year which feels pretty darn good to mark that of the to - do list. It waited for nine years but it is crossed off. But now I have to figure out what's next? A new vocation? Start a business? Attain a masters? Lots of ideas but no true road map. Time to get research done and by 2013 working towards the next great challenge.
5. Let's get creative. This may be my favorite goal. I love to be creative and playful. Each month I am going to learn either a new skill or build upon a creative process. This might mean taking a class to learn how to do pottery. This may mean picking up a how to learn a new language. This might mean trying out for a play. Perhaps I establish a routine to write fiction/poetry. But it is time to get the juices flowing and the heart pumping. It will feel good to awaken that part of me once again.
4. Time to ...I even feel anxious typing this. Time to Socialize more. I tend to lead a hermit lifestyle. In the past I used to have people demanding jobs that I was pretty good at. But I tend to get easily connected emotionally to people and it would zap a lot of my energy. Other people's dramas, creating my own drama, and then stressing that I wasn't helping enough or that I wasn't capable to do more and I had a rough year that I shut down. I lost 10 people close to me in one year. All different levels of intimacy and relations, some were sudden some were expected. And these deaths were sandwiched between my mother in law being diagnosed with cancer (a survivor of 8+ years Amen!) and my own mother's diagnosis of cancer (a survivor of 7+ years - another Amen!) and in that time I quit college (nothing to due with what has already been mentioned I just didn't know where I was going or what I wanted at 22), got married (to the most amazing man in the world and still my best friend), moved, and started my first salaried position where forty-four people's lives were under my care. That was all in one year and also in that one year I gained seventy pounds. Sooooo yeah I kind of needed a break from people, responsibility, and instead of taking a break I kind of just shut down. So its time to wake up and get out. So I plan to have at least one extra outing a month not just family or work related. For some that sounds super easy but this may be one of the hardest areas for me to stretch. (and in honesty if I try a class or group activity - I'm counting it!)
3. Budget - I don't like to budget: not money, not calories, not time. I like to be spontaneous, at least I say that. But really it is another way to say I don't like to be controlled or pressured or to stick to rules. It crushes my freedom, it suffocates the spirit of fun. But not really I just allow myself to feel that. We all can use a cushion for "those days" and if you have read my blog I tend to have a lot of out of those blue kinds of experiences. So my hubby and I are going to sit down and comb through expenses and start true rainy day funds and not just talk about it. Blech! My stomach is already churning.
2. Time to organize the chaos. Some people are naturally gifted in completing tasks in a timely manner, keeping things together, and just letting objects gleam in cleanliness. I am not one of those people. I try hard to have routines that keep me and my family being swallowed up by household clutter and try to designate areas for those have to grab items. But it is a challenge. I am going to do a thorough cleaning (this is not the weekly or daily cleaning necessary to keep the household moving - laundry, dishes, vacuuming, ect.) in every area of our house once a month and each week take an hour to truly organize (actually create an address book, gather recipes that we enjoy in one spot, designate locations for important papers - declutter the filing cabinet).
1. The big number one is to truly be grateful within each and every day. To count a blessing every day. Hopefully this will take down the stress but more importantly remind me that it truly is a wonderful life and that all of us are granted a gift of life on a daily basis.
May your 2012 be a chance to let go of what brings you down and to welcome all that builds you up. 'Til we meet again. . .
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