I totally get that the new year is the perfect time to reinvent yourself. I’m doing it with this blog, all I see on social media are “BE A NEW YOU” challenges, my son has started very deliberately ignoring me…we’re all trying new things. And while I know it’s all very well intentioned (minus my son) I’m trying to not get too caught up in the “new me” stuff.
For me personally, I find it as a set up for failure in a lot of ways. I’m not someone who can “cold turkey” things; I need baby steps. Jumping 110% in and throwing my whole life on it’s head usually ends with me in dirty leggings, in my bed, sleeping on Cheez-It crumbs and using Cinnamon Toast Crunch as medication, no good at all.
So in my quest to make some desperately needed changes, I’m starting small. I read the book Body Love by Kelly Leveque, which was a bit of an eye opener. She comes at nutrition from a very scientific, fact based place but does so in a way that makes it easy to understand and apply to your day. Her strategies are lifestyle based, not diet based, so I don’t feel like I’m on an eating plan or trying to follow a restrictive diet. Everything about it is very applicable to real life and I’ve found it easy to implement in small ways. I’ve been consciously eating and working within her guidelines for about 2 weeks now and I gotta say, I’m feeling good. More on this later.
The other big piece of this whole puzzle for me is simply taking better care of my whole self. And since we’re discussing real life, this is way easier said than done. I’m a mom, by definition everyone else’s care comes before my own. Hence the fact that everyone in this house has clean hair and I’m currently sporting 3 different kinds of dry shampoo. But I digress.
I came across this on one of my favorite websites, A Pair & A Spare, the other day and I was like, Ok that’s interesting. These are all excellent, positive, life enhancing habits! Things I should be doing everyday!
