Time to make some changes

January 1, 2021January 1, 2021 ~ ~M ~ 50 Comments

This past year was not the best year for my physical and mental health. I think the fact that I stayed home the majority of the time was a big factor, but I have also had some recent health issues and found out that there are some lifestyle changes that I need to make. With all of that in mind, I decided to set some goals for myself. Here are some of the changes that I want to try and make part of my daily routine.

Goals:

1.) Drink one gallon of water daily, which equals four water bottles.

I have always had a problem staying hydrated, and recently my blood pressure has been really high. So I did some research and found out that drinking more water can help lower blood pressure. The reason water helps is because when your body becomes depleted of water, it tries to secure more water by retaining sodium, which can then cause high blood pressure. Of course, I also learned that drinking too much water can cause high blood pressure and other health issues, so I plan to stick with the daily recommended amount, which is one gallon of water per day.

2.) Lose 5 lbs. a month until I’m at my goal weight, which is 125 lbs.

I’ve noticed my weight slowly increasing over the past year. I went from 127 lbs. to 140 lbs. I think a lot of this is because I’ve been less active, but I’ve also been eating larger portions of food and eating when other family members are eating instead of when I’m actually hungry. So I think by adjusting when I eat and measuring out my food, I’ll likely do better.

3.) Eat oatmeal every day to help lower my cholesterol and eat Cheerios as my snack, which is healthier than chips.

Oatmeal is supposed to be a good way to lower cholesterol, and I recently had two different doctors inform me that I need to get my cholesterol under control. I really don’t want to go on medication, and I’ve been told I’m too young to be having this issue at my age, so I know I need to make some drastic changes to my diet. I’m planning to watch my intake of greasy foods and eat more whole foods. I also love eating chips, and dill pickle chips are my favorite. So I’ve decided to switch to Cheerios, which I also enjoy.

4.) Finish reading one book every month.

I find myself starting a lot of books but not always finishing them, and I really do love books. I also find reading to have a very calming effect on me, and since I’ve been struggling with a lot of anxiety lately, I thought putting reading on my goal list would help provide me with a reprieve from the daily stresses.

5.) Walk at least 10,000 steps every day.

For the majority of 2020, I walked 10,000 steps a day. Last month though, I had some knee issues, and I completely stopped walking. Over the past few weeks, since my knee is better, I’ve gotten my regular walking routine back, and I’m starting to feel so much better because of it. So I just want to continue doing this, and it’s probably a goal I will try to continue for the rest of my life.

6.) Do a seven-minute workout every day.

I recently found this app called “7,” which is a free daily workout app. (It’s the blue one in case any of you decide to look for it in the app store.) I love the app already because you just hit the go button, and it gives you a different seven minute timed workout for each day of the week. I ended up doing the workout with my family today, and it really kicked my butt. Lol… It just shows me how out of shape I really am.

7.) Journal at the end of each day and keep a daily planner.

Keeping a journal is something I’ve done off and on for years, but I want to start sticking with it more often, even if I don’t write a lot. Plus, with the new school semester starting soon, I need to have a daily planner to keep track of my studies and daily goals.

8.) Control portion sizes of food.

As I already mentioned, I need to be better about this, and I think measuring out my food will help.

9.) Avoid adding butter, salt, and creamer to foods.

I always lose weight when I eliminate butter and creamer, and I figure cutting out sodium can’t hurt either.

10.) Avoid soda and alcohol.

I always feel so sluggish when I give into my cravings for soda, and I don’t typically drink a lot of alcohol. Still, in recent months I started drinking more wine than I usually do. So with all the medical issues I’ve been having, I’ve just decided to eliminate alcohol to see if it helps me feel better. I figure it can’t hurt, and it’s something I can certainly live without.

Anyway, these are just some of the changes that I’ve decided to make. I think all of these goals have the potential to become permanent changes in my life. I hope everyone can do better in this new year. We just have to keep on trying.

Happy New Year, everyone! ~M xo

Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/change-new-beginning-renewal-671374/

The results are in!

June 1, 2017May 31, 2017 ~ ~M ~ 36 Comments

Well, as many of you know, I have been participating in the Whole30 program over the last month. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it’s a diet program which mainly consists of eating fruits, vegetables, and meat for 30 days.

It worked so well for my family and I that we have decided to continue eating this way on a regular basis. We all feel so much healthier and have a lot more energy. My husband had been dealing with skin rashes for over a year now, and those have been completely eliminated. And I had been suffering from lifelong digestive issues, and have found that I am free of the issues I used to have. But just to give you a little more in-depth knowledge before you go and jump on the bandwagon, I wanted to give you some pros and cons for this diet plan.

Pros:

You can eat as much as you want and you don’t have to count calories. We ate three meals every day and usually a couple of snacks as well. Nobody was ever left feeling hungry and it was nice not having to write down and keep track of every single thing we ate. Most diets require this, and I feel like it begins to get too overwhelming for me and then I just give up and lose interest.

You will lose weight. Without exercising, I still lost 6 lbs and 2.5 inches around my waist. My husband exercised some, and had better results than me. He lost a whopping 15 lbs! So proud of him! Our girls lost a total of 8 lbs, and have found that their clothes are starting to fit better. Not bad for a 30 day period!

You will have more energy and many of the health problems that you may already have, usually improve immensely.

You don’t need to worry about vitamin supplements. If you eat according to the Whole30 plan, those expensive supplements aren’t needed. You get enough nutrients through the foods that you eat.

You’ll learn a lot about nutrition and feel accomplished when you figure out that most of what you’ve been buying at the store, you can actually make at home yourself.

You’ll begin to crave sugar less, and find out just how good fresh fruits and vegetables really are.

You’ll love the way your body looks and feels and have a more positive outlook because of it.

Cons:

You’ll have to spend a lot of time planning before you begin this program. We ended up completely gutting our pantry and had to give most of our food away before we even started.

This program is time consuming. You have to read every label at the grocery store and cooking becomes an all-day chore at times.

Your skin will break-out more in the beginning, because the toxins in your body are being expelled.

There will be days in the beginning when you feel like giving up, because you may suffer headaches from caffeine withdrawals and feel tired because instead of getting your energy from sugar, your body is now having to get that same energy from fat. This process takes a few weeks, and so you’ll begin to wonder if it’s even worth continuing.

You’ll find your pocket book a little lighter. Buying organic is pricey and some of the grass fed meats I found were as much as $10.00 per lb, and that was for chicken!

You’ll find it’s very hard to eat this way if you are someone who has a very busy lifestyle, and needs the convenience which fast food offers. There really isn’t anything at a fast food restaurant that is allowed during the Whole30 program. So you’ll have to pack your home cooked meals and take them with you when you’re on the go.

And the biggest issue of all… you’ll feel so good by the end of it, that you’ll almost be afraid to ever eat another candy bar again or drink another caffeinated beverage. It will ruin your life in the best possible way and you will resent the Whole30 program because of it.

My family and I considered this an experiment with food and we’ve realized just how much junk food used to negatively impact our lives. I truly believe that if we continue eating this way, we will all live longer healthier lives and be happier for it. So with that said, I highly recommend the Whole30 diet program for anyone who wants to eliminate starvation diets, have more energy, and have fewer health issues. The only way you’ll know if it’ll work for you, is to give it a try. I hope you will, and if you do, let me know and I’ll be happy to give you some moral support along the way.

Here’s a sampling of some of the meals we’ve been eating:

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#weekendcoffeeshare – An introspective week

March 11, 2017March 11, 2017 ~ ~M ~ 29 Comments

Welcome to this episode of the weekend coffee share. I hope all of you have had a pleasant week. Please grab a mug of your favorite hot beverage and sit right down. This week was fairly uneventful, and yet I still feel compelled to ramble on about the blandness of its nature. So get comfortable and I’ll try to be quick.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I have been very introspective this week. I think that’s why I feel like I haven’t much to talk about because I’ve mostly been in seclusion; avoiding people like the plague. I’ve come to a point in my life where I feel I’m sort of stuck in the muck. It’s like I’ve been sandwiched between two very tall mountains, stranded in the ugliest looking valley you’ve ever seen, near a never ending river of molasses, and there’s nowhere to go, except up the mountains, or through the syrupy substance.

All of a sudden I’m getting hungry, are you too? All of this talk about molasses and syrup is making me crave gingerbread cookies and pancakes. Yum! Which brings me to a completely different subject. (See how easily I escaped that last one! Phew!)

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m about to start a new diet regime called, The Whole30. I don’t know if any of you have heard about it, but it’s a 30-day diet program, which allows you to discover which foods are helpful and which foods are harmful to your body. My poor husband recently discovered that he is allergic to about every food known to man, and so we are in desperate need of figuring out exactly what he can eat and what he can’t. Preliminary results from his doctor show that he will never be able to eat the majority of boxed or canned foods ever again. He is allergic to quite a few different preservatives and also nickel, which is found in thousands of different things (not just food).

I will now be able to add to my resume not just wife and mother of four girls, but master chef as well. The challenge will be to eat as organically as we can, which is still quite a challenge even today. It will require that we cut out all sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, and anything that could be considered a “treat.” We will only be able to eat meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and natural fats. And I really love bread, so this is going to be terribly hard. But I am having enough health issues of my own, so I’m hoping this diet will help me as well.

We live in a climate where it’s very hard to get fresh fruits and vegetables all year long, especially since the growing season is so short here. And with the cost of organic foods these days, I am not really sure how this will affect us financially. Yet we have no other choice, if we don’t do this, my hubby will continue to suffer on a daily basis and so we’ve got to get to the bottom of what is ailing him. Our girls seem more than happy to go along with this crazy experiment. I wonder what they will be saying after a few days of eating this way. It’ll be an adventure for sure.

If any of you are struggling with similar issues, I would be happy to have you tag along and partner with me and my family as we do this 30-day challenge. I won’t try to explain everything to you right now, but for more information, you can find all you need to know here. Since this sort of challenge requires such a strict and well-laid plan, I won’t be starting this diet until around April 1^st. I have a 421-page book to read through first, and then the meal planning begins!

Well now, I think I’ve rambled on enough for today. I’m feeling exhausted just thinking about what we are going to be facing next month. At least I’m at home most of the time. My oldest daughter was able to do this challenge successfully and she only has a toaster oven and a hot plate where she lives. So I figure if she can do it without a proper kitchen, than I can too!

Have a lovely week everyone and feel free to DM me on Twitter (@HerWritingHaven) if you want to take part in this challenge. It’s all about supporting each other through endeavors like these. I think I would feel even more encouraged, knowing that somebody else wanted to participate as well.

See you next Saturday! ~M

Many thanks to Nerd In The Brain for hosting the #WeekendCoffeeShare, a collective of chats over digital coffee among bloggers. To find out more, and to see this weeks posts, go here.

Photo credit: pixabay.com and giphy.com