Happy 2016 y'all! I hope you had a fantastic Christmas and that this new year finds you happy and healthy.
We've all set resolutions to immediately break them, and feel like a failure, so instead I'm goal setting this year-it's a journey, not something you can fail at, because it's ongoing. I'll share my plans and goals for 2016, and a few ideas on how to make your vida a bit crunchier.
We are gonna eat cleaner!
Look, food is one thing many people resolve to do better with, and it can be really hard, especially with little ones. My family definitely overdid sugar and under-ate on veggies this holiday season, so a definite focus this new year is getting things cleaned back up in the kitchen, and it doesn't have to be that hard. Here's how I do it:
1. Define what you want to change. In our case, less sugar, more veggies and nutrient dense meals!
2. Meal planning. Sit down with a calendar (I use
this dry erase board
) and plan your meals for the next week, two weeks, or a month. You can start with just dinners, or plan all three meals like I do. This will save you time (deciding what to make), money (you can shop for this menu, so you're not buying random food), and stress.
3. Groceries. You can make your list from the menu, and this can help you keep to the menu and not get distracted and derailed in the grocery store.
4. Meal prep. This one is particularly helpful if you are a working mama or have a bunch of kids. you carve out an hour or two once a week, look at your menu, and cook whatever you can to save time. Examples from this upcoming week for me: hard boil 2 dozen eggs, prep baby purees, set up breakfast bento boxes. (i'm using
these containers
for my meal prep)
Those are some of the parts of my system to get and keep our family eating more REAL food in 2016. If you are feeling especially motivated you can also do a Whole30. It's an intense but rewarding month of eating only the most nutritive real foods. you can read all about it at whole9life.com.
I am going to get my fitness mojo back.
we often resolve to lose weight or exercise more, but that's not exactly what I mean here. I feel so much better on every level when I'm moving my body regularly and putting effort into getting fitter and stronger. I'm not talking about exercise as punishment, or trying to fit some societal standard of beauty. I want to feel good and strong and energetic, and reach new levels and goals in my abilities. Sure, I want this belly pooch traded for abs, but more than that I want the daily victories of overcoming obstacles and becoming my best self along the way.
1.Find what you love when it comes to fitness. Try a bunch of stuff and find what makes your soul sing. I am passionate about Spin, yoga, and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and I LOVE a good swim.
2. Make it non-negotiable. I know time is hard to find when you're a mama, but I know in my case, exercise is like medicine, and I really suffer when I'm not making it a high priority. I have been less consistent as I've been recovering from an injury and it's taken a toll on not just my energy level, but my mental well being. It's so important, that, on any given day, if I work out, feed the children, and do school with Ladybug Girl, the day is considered a success.
I'll blog a bit about my fitness journey this year, and please feel free to reach out if you wanna talk about yours!
to boost Ladybug's immune system since she was about 15 mos old, and recently a friend mentioned she usually makes her own. My first thought was, "Wow! I wonder if that's any less expensive than buying it!" And...I promptly forgot about researching it, because, y'know, mommy brain. Then I came across 
.
