What works for us?
An anthem that keeps popping up in my head is, "Am I healthy enough for the lifestyle I'm advertising?"
What I mean is I have this vegan, natural business through Arbonne.
I blog about health. I instagram about health. I constantly talk about improving my health.
But, you better believe we bought Girl Scout cookies this year.
Does that make me a hypocrite?
Here's what's convinced me that I'm not.
We are not meant to be put in boxes.
Not through personality quizzes, not through religion, not through our parental status, not through our hobbies.
I've talked about moderation before. How we use the 80/20 method at our house. Or at least try to.
But what I talk about is more of an extreme, right?
However, there are all these ways that I KNOW how to get healthy. And it's my passion to teach those things to you and come along on that journey with you.
But what shapes our journeys are the methods that actually FIT with our lifestyle? How can we take that knowledge and shape it into where we want to get.
Just because we know them all, doesn't mean they all fit or that they're best for us.
You have to know your "why"...
Here's what it means to me:
When I started my health journey, I was eating loads of sugar, experiencing horrible pms, had cystic acne and struggled with joint pain.
When my husband met me, he was fine. He has stress-induced eczema but other than that, no other real issues.
As I was improving my health, I started slowly 8 years ago. I stopped drinking Diet Cokes. I stopped eating king size candy bars. Ice cream was no longer a nightly ritual. I started looking at ingredients hidden in my food and makeup. Sugar was my nemesis. That's when the acne cleared up. My best friend who has known me for 15 years tells me how great my skin looks. I love touching my face because it's smooth. I no longer have cravings and cramps that time of the month.
Then, I went to a Gluten sensitive diet and eliminated most processed foods. I just stopped eating things that were packaged because there were all these hidden things and it became a bigger chore to figure out what packaged food I wanted to eat, rather than just cooking some chicken up myself. The GF portion became bigger when I noticed by energy changed. I didn't get sick, but my energy definitely perked up.
Finally, and the task I'm still dealing with - is the dairy! It's in everything and it's not good quality for the stuff we can afford. Dairy brings back my cystic acne, gives me gas and overall doesn't sit well in me. This is where the husband part gets hard. He LOVES dairy. He was raised on a dairy farm. I also love things like mac and cheese, creamy artichoke dip, beer cheese and pretzels and RANCH. This is where most of our 20% unhealthy comes in, I believe.
My "why" has developed over these 8 years, because I've had different journeys in that time. At first, I wanted to lose weight and clear up my skin. Then, I wanted to run a marathon. Then, I wanted to teach others about it. Then, I have built friendships over it.
The bottom line:
I KNOW what makes my body feel good. I know home cooked meals and low sugar diets are best for our family. But what FITS is a date night of margaritas and chips and queso. I know I won't eat that for every meal, so beating myself up won't solve anything.
I KNOW that I love to meal prep and have a freezer full of minute-ready meals. I also know that after a long day, Chinese take out is the only thing I want and will FIT into my moderation approach. But I also know that I won't eat that every meal.
I KNOW I have a healthy breakfast and lunch and dinner 80% of the time. So when I decide on a donut or let my kids eat a candy bar or do pizza and (root)beer nights or just overall decide to be mildly unhealthy, I don't have to beat myself up for it.
There are parameters as to what we should be doing - low sugar, less packaged food, organic milk, variety of fruits and veggies - are all part of what will make us healthy. But we don't have to be perfect in it. It's progress over perfection.
It's not my intent to ever judge or talk down to those making their decisions, I just KNOW how I feel after making those changes and want others to experience that same enjoyment.
What are ways your family stays healthy? What are tricks that fit into your lifestyle? What are wellness tidbits that you're unsure of?
~T
What I mean is I have this vegan, natural business through Arbonne.
I blog about health. I instagram about health. I constantly talk about improving my health.
But, you better believe we bought Girl Scout cookies this year.
Does that make me a hypocrite?
Here's what's convinced me that I'm not.
We are not meant to be put in boxes.
Not through personality quizzes, not through religion, not through our parental status, not through our hobbies.
I've talked about moderation before. How we use the 80/20 method at our house. Or at least try to.
But what I talk about is more of an extreme, right?
However, there are all these ways that I KNOW how to get healthy. And it's my passion to teach those things to you and come along on that journey with you.
But what shapes our journeys are the methods that actually FIT with our lifestyle? How can we take that knowledge and shape it into where we want to get.
Just because we know them all, doesn't mean they all fit or that they're best for us.
You have to know your "why"...
Here's what it means to me:
When I started my health journey, I was eating loads of sugar, experiencing horrible pms, had cystic acne and struggled with joint pain.
When my husband met me, he was fine. He has stress-induced eczema but other than that, no other real issues.
As I was improving my health, I started slowly 8 years ago. I stopped drinking Diet Cokes. I stopped eating king size candy bars. Ice cream was no longer a nightly ritual. I started looking at ingredients hidden in my food and makeup. Sugar was my nemesis. That's when the acne cleared up. My best friend who has known me for 15 years tells me how great my skin looks. I love touching my face because it's smooth. I no longer have cravings and cramps that time of the month.
Then, I went to a Gluten sensitive diet and eliminated most processed foods. I just stopped eating things that were packaged because there were all these hidden things and it became a bigger chore to figure out what packaged food I wanted to eat, rather than just cooking some chicken up myself. The GF portion became bigger when I noticed by energy changed. I didn't get sick, but my energy definitely perked up.
Finally, and the task I'm still dealing with - is the dairy! It's in everything and it's not good quality for the stuff we can afford. Dairy brings back my cystic acne, gives me gas and overall doesn't sit well in me. This is where the husband part gets hard. He LOVES dairy. He was raised on a dairy farm. I also love things like mac and cheese, creamy artichoke dip, beer cheese and pretzels and RANCH. This is where most of our 20% unhealthy comes in, I believe.
My "why" has developed over these 8 years, because I've had different journeys in that time. At first, I wanted to lose weight and clear up my skin. Then, I wanted to run a marathon. Then, I wanted to teach others about it. Then, I have built friendships over it.
The bottom line:
I KNOW what makes my body feel good. I know home cooked meals and low sugar diets are best for our family. But what FITS is a date night of margaritas and chips and queso. I know I won't eat that for every meal, so beating myself up won't solve anything.
I KNOW that I love to meal prep and have a freezer full of minute-ready meals. I also know that after a long day, Chinese take out is the only thing I want and will FIT into my moderation approach. But I also know that I won't eat that every meal.
I KNOW I have a healthy breakfast and lunch and dinner 80% of the time. So when I decide on a donut or let my kids eat a candy bar or do pizza and (root)beer nights or just overall decide to be mildly unhealthy, I don't have to beat myself up for it.
There are parameters as to what we should be doing - low sugar, less packaged food, organic milk, variety of fruits and veggies - are all part of what will make us healthy. But we don't have to be perfect in it. It's progress over perfection.
It's not my intent to ever judge or talk down to those making their decisions, I just KNOW how I feel after making those changes and want others to experience that same enjoyment.
What are ways your family stays healthy? What are tricks that fit into your lifestyle? What are wellness tidbits that you're unsure of?
~T
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