LIVING WELL: MAKING A PLAN

Before getting pregnant with Soren I was eating very healthy and staying active several time each week. I felt great and loved my new motivation towards health and living well. After getting pregnant I became way less active and gave into cravings A LOT. Especially sweets. ;)  During this time I gave myself "pregnant" mercies and just let myself be ok with enjoying my cravings but still doing my best to also include healthy food into my diet regularly.

After having Soren I really wanted to take time to get back to it, start eating whole and yummy foods, and start being active again. I'm waiting my my doctor's final thumbs up to start exercising, but in the meantime I've been putting together a list of goals and ideas about how I can get back into shape and start living a healthy lifestyle again. It can be really difficult to get back into healthy living, it's especially difficult sticking to it! Here are a couple of things I'm doing in order to motivate myself and encourage myself to stick to it. :)

1. Set Attainable Goals - I'm trying to start simple by setting easy and straightforward goals at first. I don't want to overdo my expectations and lose steam if I can't accomplish them.

2. Baby Steps - When setting goals and rules for myself I love also giving it a timeline. For this first set of goals I'm planning to stick to it for 2 months and then re-evaluate and set new goals at the end of the two months. My hope is to create habits for myself while also creating defined stepping stones.

3. Rewards! - At the end of my 2 months I plan to reward myself after sticking to my plan. This will help motivate me to make it to the end of the two months and keep focused. Reward systems are the best. ;) Since I'm working on shedding lbs from the baby weight, my reward at the end of the two months will be a shopping budget for some new clothes. I can't wait. :)

4. Accountability - It's sad to say, but I find it quite easy to let myself down, especially when it comes to health. However, I have found that I get really motivated when someone is depending on me to follow through. Accountability is a powerful thing! Jon will be helping me out with these goals and he's planning to set some of his own for the next two months that I'll help hold him accountable to as well.

I'm currently working on writing out all of my goals and after I have my doctors appointment next week I'm planning on getting started! Maybe Soren will join me while I'm doing this??? ;)

Photo via Deb Schwedhelm

LIVING WELL: EATING INTUITIVELY

One topic of conversation that seems to come up again and again with my friends is food! We are definitely a group who enjoys the pleasures of eating. Oftentimes our get-togethers and double-dates are surrounded by the question, "Where should we go out to eat?" and "What kind of snacks should I buy?" Since most of my friends and family are working on making better habits of their food choices, we've often talked about when you should stop eating and what to do about those cravings.

After a great conversation with my friend Leah about eating intuitively, I began thinking more consciously about my food and desires. Now, what IS intuitive eating? Intuitive eating is a way to eat and really listen to your body while doing it. Are you hungry? Eat! Are you satisfied, but not stuffed? Stop! Are you craving something sweet? Grab some fruit or make a smoothie. Do you want something salty? Try some pistachios! Or maybe you want to really treat yourself and have been thinking about homemade custard. Go for it! Intuitive eating is asking yourself questions and following the signals your body is already giving you. It's also a great way to really enjoy the food you have rather than just passively eating out of convenience or boredom. Sound interesting? Here are a couple tips on eating intuitively:

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1// Hungry, eat. Full, stop. - This is a very simple concept, but many childhood meals of being told to completely clear our full plates have made us often feel like we need to finish everything and not waste our food. While I'm definitely a fan of not wasting things, the more important factor in this picture is listening to your body. If you start to feel the slight pangs of hunger, go grab a snack or make yourself a meal. Don't push it off and get yourself to the point where you're starved. If you need to eat small meals throughout the day to keep your hunger at bay, do so! Carry snacks with you in your bag for on-the-go hunger needs! On the flip side, if you are starting to feel full, stop eating! It is NOT comfortable to be stuffed and your body doesn't like it either! 

2// Pace Yourself - I've known many people who can throw down food very fast. Before they know it they're stuffed and moaning in the corner of the room. In order for your body to give you the "I'm full" sign at the proper time, be sure to pace your eating. Enjoy your food. Eat slowly. One bite at a time, chew, swallow. Enjoy! It's good! 

3// Portion Control - I like to apply this tactic to snackage time. It is really easy to turn snacking into an activity out of boredom or quickly become passive in your eating. For example, if you are watching a show and decide that you would like a snack and you grab a giant fresh bag of chips. You open the chips and just start chowing down. You don't know if you'll finish the bag, but you're open to it if it happens. After a while, the taste of the chips are no longer that good, sores from all the salt start forming in your mouth. You're not really enjoying it anymore, but you keep on going because it's there and you've formed a habit. So instead...my tip for you would be to go into the kitchen, grab a small bowl, fill your bowl with chips, leave the bag in the kitchen and take that bowl with you to your show watching time. Keep in mind that this is your portion, this is all you can have of your snack and you should enjoy it! Eating snacks this way has made me enjoy my snack foods SO much more and really appreciate my portion. I don't feel passive in my eating, but I feel like I'm actively enjoying its yumminess. 

4// Treat Time - I am not a believer in withholding things from your life that you love. I think being a healthy eater shouldn't make you also feel like your suffering on a daily basis. Eating healthy is GOOD. Making good decisions for your snacks and meals is also good! Also, and hear me out here....giving into a special treat craving is SO GOOD. I'm not saying that you should have chocolate cake everyday. But what I am saying is that every now and then you might be reminded of your all-time favorite milk-shake from your favorite ice cream parlor and you might REALLY want that shake. My suggestion? Get it! Treating yourself here and there to treats you really enjoy is ok. It's not a sin and it won't make you "less healthy", so stop feeling guilty about it. What's important is keeping a lifestyle of healthy eating, not never, ever eating anything that might be considered junk food. As well, one of my favorite saying is, "If I'm going to have cheesecake, I'm going to have cheesecake!" Don't skimp! If you want some yummy cheesecake go for it, don't buy that fat free icky crap that won't even come close to satisfying your craving. Not worth it. ;) 

5// Convenience Eating - When I first started working towards eating healthier, that's when I really noticed how much I ate out of convenience. If there was a plate of cookies in front of me, even if I didn't really want a cookie, I would take one and eat it. If you don't want that treat, drop it! If you're not hungry, ignore all those left-over party foods at work. Don't just eat because it's there. Eat because you are hungry. 

I can't tell you how much this way of thinking has helped me make better choices for myself and really learn to enjoy the food I eat. It's very empowering learning to listen to your body. Keeping in touch with yourself is so important for your overall health, so get to practicing! :)

Have any intuitive eating stories or tips?? Please share in the comments below!

LIVING WELL: THINGS TO DO ON A SICK DAY

This morning I woke up and felt like rubbish. The night before I had a wonderful coffee date with a friend, made plans to be productive in the morning and finish out my first week strong as a full-time small business owner. I felt a little funny before dosing off to sleep last night and then woke up a couple times during the night feeling off...and then the morning came.

Mornings have been interesting at the Wallace household lately. For the past several months we've had construction going on in the woods behind our condo. To paint a picture for you...my side of the bed faces the east window, so right around the time I'm ready to wake up the sun and all of it's "good morning, get out of the freakin bed" flares are right in my face. Our room is filled with light and right outside the window is a beautiful tree, and every morning a tiny bird that has a similar tone to a car alarm sings us awake from early dawn until be are literally out of the bed. And...back to the construction, for some reason starting around 6:00am a giant piece of machinery (not sure what it is, I haven't been able to spot it), makes that backing up "bleep bleep bleeeeepppping" sound for 3 hours straight. So we have the sun, the incessant bird and the melodic bleep bleep bleeeping of the construction work. AND right around 7:30am, Kaito, our grey-hairded cat gets hungry and makes sure we are very aware of it by howling at the top of his lungs at the tiny crack at the bottom of our door. It's truly a symphony to hear. ;)

Most mornings Jon and I can burry our heads in our pillows, put on a little static background noise and get an extra hour of sleep in, but this morning for some reason hit me all at once, I think I might have gone mad.

Photo found here.

Stumbling through our bedroom to the shower, I had that "feeling" come over me...today was going to be a sick day and more than likely I would be good for absolutely nothing. Sometimes it's hard to take an unplanned day off and force yourself to get well so you can heal and get all of the rest you need. I finally submitted to what my body was telling me, crawled back into bed right out of the shower and haven't gotten out since. I'm feeling loads better and plan to be back on my feet tomorrow but am thankful I took some down time today to get well.

During my day in bed, I came up with a couple of "must-do's" during a sick day:

1. Nothing - If you don't have the energy to read, work or think...just don't do anything. Try and get some sleep, lay still and just try to be as peaceful as possible.

2. Listen to Your Mother - I might not want to drink any water, take any medicine or eat a thing...but try and do whats best for your body. Stay hydrated and let your insanely amazing body work on the getting back to normal process.

3. Watch YouTube - Once your brain starts functioning somewhat normally and you are well enough to actually watch something, go to YouTube! Of course there is Hulu and Netflix, which are brilliant, but I've found a new obsession (thanks to my sister) on YouTube watching beauty and fashion videos. Currently loving this, this and this channel.

4. "Window" Shop - Since your stuck in bed, might as well browse the internet and do a little online window shopping. Sometimes it's just fun to put things in your cart or on your wish-list and never actually buy a thing. I DID however get inspired and bought myself a small haul of "love myself" goodies from LUSH. Omg I love that shop.

5. Enjoy - You're in bed. You're sick...might as well make the best of it and enjoy the day off, especially in-between the "i think this is the end" feelings. ;)

And now, with that, I'm going to take my own advice and do "nothing" by going to sleep. :) I wish you well and all the best in your health! I hope you have a wonderful weekend friends.

LIVING WELL: INTENTIONS

Talking with a lot of my friends over the past couple months concerning the topic of wellness, one major theme we've discussed is the reasons why we choose to exercise and eat right. I can't count the number of times I've heard reasons of wanting to fit into a certain dress or wanting to look good for an upcoming event. Most of the reasons were temporary point "A" to point "B" goals. At first, my idea of being healthy was this perception that someone wasn't happy with something about themselves so they set to reach a particular weight loss goal to be happier. I often thought to myself, "Well what then? What happens after the goal is met? is that the time to stop working toward health & go back to our old habits?"

It wasn't until April of last year that I felt I really began to understand health and why it would be important in someone's life besides just reaching a particular goal. I began to realize that my body is a vessel and I should seek to love myself by giving my body the good things it needs; not to reach a certain goal, but to live a lifestyle of health. We are always told to be good stewards of our possessions and money, but what about being good stewards of ourselves? Is that being self-centered or is that striving towards being the "best you" so we can go out and live fully, do the things we are passionate about, and be a fantastic sibling, child, spouse, partner, and parent? I would argue striving to be our best selves is a way in which we can LOVE and DO more fully.

As the new year begins and as many of us make resolutions for health, I would challenge you to ask yourself what your intentions are for your wellness journey. Let's seek after lives where wellness is a "forever" journey, where we want to build habits that last a lifetime and that inspires those around us. Where we are willing to keep promises to ourselves and love ourselves enough to steward something so precious.

While reading one of my favorite books on health, Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr, I came across her thoughts on self-stewardship and loved how she inspired me to think about it:

“Picture yourself when you were five. In fact, dig out a photo of little you at that time and tape it to your mirror. How would you treat her, love her, feed her? How would you nurture her if you were the mother of little you? I bet you would protect her fiercely while giving her space to spread her itty-bitty wings. She’d get naps, healthy food, imagination time, and adventures into the wild. If playground bullies hurt her feelings, you’d hug her tears away and give her perspective. When tantrums or meltdowns turned her into a poltergeist, you’d demand a loving time-out in the naughty chair. From this day forward I want you to extend that same compassion to your adult self.”  - Kris Carr

So, let's do this thing! Let's care about and love our bodies. Let's be compassionate and caring to ourselves. Let's encourage ourselves with truth and seek to live BIG and fully.

Photo found here and edited by me. 

WELLNESS: KEEPING PROMISES

I think one of the most difficult things about committing to health and wellness is that we often find ourselves in a place where we no longer trust our word. Maybe it was a few broken resolutions here and there or the fact that we promised ourselves we would wake up and do yoga, but decided to sleep in instead. Over time, these broken promises build up and subconsciously make us loose trust in ourselves. All of a sudden, a resolution or goal is thrown to the wind as a "that would be great if I could actually do that, but I doubt it will happen...", when in reality, the only thing holding us back from keeping promises is ourselves.

How do we break the habit of promise breaking and start trusting ourselves again? When I decided to start my health journey 7 months ago, a main motivation for that decision and its success in my life was the fact that I was done making "resolutions" and ready to start keeping promises. I was ready to start treating myself well and living. Throughout this year I've learned a couple things about keeping promises to yourself that I'd like to share. :)

Photo Via

1. Practice. ---> Just like loosing the trust of a loved one, loosing trust in yourself takes time to build back up. It takes little steps and a continual pursuit. Start with small things. Make a promise to yourself today and do it. Maybe for a couple days in a row, make a promise that morning and follow through. Begin expanding that to bigger promises and eventually "habit" types of promises like exercising regularly, flossing, and eating lots of greens every week.

2. Write it Down. ---> What's truly important to you to accomplish? Is it to be healthy? It is to accomplish a long hoped for goal? Make a list of the things you want to follow through on and keep it in a place where you won't let yourself forget. Start working on those goals and promises one at a time.

3. Recognize. ---> When you do follow through with something and begin building that trust with yourself, recognize it. Celebrate it! Stop and think about where you were, where you are and where you're going. Let that accomplishment motivate you to continue moving forward.

4. Accountability. ---> Whenever I've made a promise to myself that I've really, really wanted to keep, I make sure to tell as many people as possible. When I decided to shape up and start working towards being a wellness warrior, I told my husband, family, friends, acquaintances, and shared it on my blog. The fact that I told these people automatically made them a form of accountability for me. It's motivating to know that people are wanting you to succeed and you want to succeed for them, and especially for yourself. If you find that you need a deeper sense of accountability, seek out a close friend or family member that might be on the same journey as you...or better yet, further ahead, so they can encourage you and provide wisdom.

5. New Day. ---> There are certainly weeks when I'm not doing as well. Rather than give up or accept failure, I like to look at the very next day...or beginning of the week, as a fresh start. It's my chance to push the restart button and continue moving forward. It's important to accept that you won't achieve perfection and sometimes we just have "those days". Give yourself permission to continue moving forward and don't give up.

Seeing as Halloween week wasn't my proudest health week ever, I'm excited to take these things to heart and continue strong. Do you have any tips for keeping promises to yourself? I'd love to hear! Please feel free to share in the comment section below!

Also, one quick mention: My favorite health warrior, Kris Carr, just came out with her new cookbook, Crazy Sexy Kitchen! I just got it in the mail and I can't wait to read it and start cooking! :)