Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New Things are Happening

I have started a new way of life, a new way of knowing and understanding food and tried to cut out a lot of unnatural things from not only our family diet but also our lives. It has been an exciting journey so far & I am excited to keep going.
I will start off with the most exciting part of this new life, getting healthier & stronger. I have changed my way of thinking and my visions of stride. Healthy is the new skinny. Instead of striving to look like a current actress or skinny girl, I am aspiring to be like the girl at the gym that can do pull ups, crank out push-ups with perfect form, enjoys cardio, has great flexibility and eats and drinks clean. I want to be strong. I have already done things physically I could never do. I can do 20 push-ups (on my knees, working my way up though) when I could not do one, I can do a 30 second front & side planks and my back doesn’t hate me the next day, I enjoy my cardio – youtube zumba right now or walking, and best of all I have energy after 30-45 minutes of cardio then 20-30 minutes of strength training I still pep through making dinner, washing dishes/house work/ enjoying Landen, getting Landen in bed and can enjoy my evening with my love. I can work hard without dying.
Eating healthy has been fun as well. It has been exciting to try new things & not be scared of calories. Now when I turn a product over I look at the ingredients first not how many calories it has. I don’t mind 300 calories when it consists of fruits, veggies and is packed with protein. I am really proud of what I eat on a daily basis. Fruits and veggies don’t stick around our house too long anymore. I find myself running to the store weekly to refill fresh items that we have ran out of. I have tried new things that I never thought of trying before, that I didn’t even really know were out there & so great for you. Some of our favorites have been star fruit, kale, almond milk, flaxseed, cacao powder, bee pollen, raw apple cider vinegar and tofu.
We have also added some new gadgets to our kitchen.  My favorites have been my ninja blender; it is so easy to use and easy to clean. Now it takes mere seconds to chop vegetables so there is no trouble adding them to our meal due to laziness, and the options for smoothies are endless. One of the best gifts I ever received. I also love my juicer, I have never even thought about getting a juicer, we are not big on juice anyways. But if I could have juice that is not full of sugar, packed with fresh nutrients, free of preservatives and fills me up – I’m game. Carrot juice right now is easy, there is a lot more juice in a carrot than I thought, and it’s cheap, add an apple or orange and bam an instant after work, guilt free pick me up or a late night satisfaction.  A few other things that are not everyday gadgets but super fun to have are our dehydrator, we made some peach, pear, mango and banana pieces to add to flavor up oatmeal or yogurt or just for a snack. We also made some granola bars; they are coconut, date, oats, and nuts bars & are the perfect snack, just enough crunchiness and a slight sweetness to tame that growling belly. These I don’t think are going to last a full week in our house. Lastly our guilty pleasure is our ice cream maker, though not so guilty. It is amazing knowing just what is put into your ice cream, frozen yogurt or sherbet. It doesn’t get too much easier than strawberries, water and sugar or other sweetener.
I am proud of what I am eating and doing now. {Today’s menu: breakfast - ½ cup oatmeal made with almond milk and dried peaches, lunch – purple cabbage and eggs, snack – cucumber and 2 oranges, and for dinner I’m thinking cauliflower pizza.}
As well as changing what I am eating, I have changed items around our house to more natural items. I have jumped on the no “poo” bandwagon and stopped using conventional shampoo and conditioner. I now use baking soda to wash and vinegar to condition my hair so it can natural cares for itself. This is one of the best things I’ve cut out, my hair takes very little styling now and doesn’t frizz in the humidity like it use to. We have stopped buying store made laundry soap but instead started using a very natural and economical homemade mixture, with a few scent beads thrown in. We have started using fabric napkins around the house, though we keep a roll of disposable ones for events or times then it should just be thrown away. This is a major cost savings not to mention less disposable waste. Lastly we have been recycling, which seems like a common thing, but fairly new to us. We actually started not mainly for environmental reasons but because we wouldn’t use as many trash bags therefore saving us money. It does feel good though to use more natural items and to be cleaner, personally and for the world.
More changes and discoveries to come.