19 July, 2011

Healthy Living


Since I wrote this post last week, I've really increased my efforts to adopt the lifestyle I want. I think blogging about what I'm working on is a great reminder to continue to work on these things!

In case you forgot, here's what I'm trying to incorporate into my life:

1. daily green monsters
2. yoga
3. more water
4. less processed foods
5. multivitamin and probiotics daily
(btw, this is a helpful article on the different types of probiotics and what they do)

Right now, this is what it looks like... on a really good day:

Get up. Drink a glass of water. Do some slow, gentle yoga to get my blood flowing. Make my green monster. I'll drink them at any point in the day, but I find that I feel best when I drink them in the morning. Eat a little bit of granola. Then, later in my day, I do an hour-long yoga workout (or part of an hour-long workout). I take my multivitamin and probiotics in the evening, and I try to make my meals at home... which is a lot easier to do when our kitchen is clean!

It's funny how all aspects of your life can really work and flow together. If one area is out of whack, all areas can be out of whack. This has been especially true for me lately. And sometimes it really freaks me out. It makes me feel really pressured to keep everything running smoothly and perfectly. And that leaves me feeling overwhelmed, which usually leads to me becoming inactive in almost everything. Right now, making my health a top priority seems to be helping in all areas of my life.

This week, a couple things clicked for me. It occurred to me that most of my thoughts are stressful thoughts. I can be thinking about putting moisturizer on my face before I go to bed, and that leads to, "Oh crap. I'm almost out of moisturizer. I need to buy more. Ugh, but it's expensive. I hope we have the money. Maybe I'm using it too quickly. I suck." Or I can be thinking about how I'd like to use a peach in my green monster, and that leads to, "Shoot. We've had those peaches for a few days now. I should have put that last one in the refrigerator. It's going to be moldy. Crap, why did I forget??! I suck."

UMMMMM, no thank you!!! No wonder I feel like I'm falling apart physically. I live in a stress bubble! And stress is a MAJOR factor in health issues. So anyway, this realization made me think about how you try to focus on your breath when you're practicing yoga. It occurred to me that I can do that in other moments too. When stress-y, negative thoughts start to creep in, I can slow down, breathe, and focus. I can literally breathe those thoughts out. It takes discipline, and I am certainly not the most disciplined person, but I'm really trying. I'm trying by doing all of these things, and I'm trying by being more gracious with myself. If I keep going, I'll get there, and where I'm at today is where I'm at today. And that is OKAY.

17 comments:

  1. It sounds like you are getting HEALTHY and FIT, my lady! Let's see each other soon. I think the OC fair has started, so let me know when you're planning on going. Also, do you guys do rides or mostly games and snacks? I'm trying to figure out if I should bring my slr? xo Kim

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  2. You are amazing!! I love reading your blog, and I love how open and honest you are about everything. I'm on my way to the store right now to purchase items to make a green monster....I need to get healthy as well. Thanks for being such an awesome inspiration!

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  3. I can state, unequivocally and with absolute certainty, that you DO NOT suck.

    Trust me on this one, and keep it in mind ;)

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  4. Hey girl!
    I love this-I'm right there with you with the spiral of negative thoughts and lately my anxiety/stress is sky high, so I've been doing the deep breathing things and actually visualizing the negativity leaving my body...right now it's hard for me to remember to do before it's too late but hopefully it will become second nature.
    And you're inspiring me to do a lil yoga in the a.m...I run a lot, but I find myself getting stressed about THAT-like uh I didn't make good time, etc. Sillyness!
    You sound really happy-that's great!

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  5. Wow. I think I probably operate in a very similar manner. And I hate it when other people talk down about themselves, but I totally do it, too, just mostly in my head! Ack! No good!

    Thanks so much for sharing this!

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  6. i'm so glad you're blogging about this stuff. it sounds silly but i get a lot of my inspiration for healthy, whole living from blogs. i guess it's the idea that if other women who seem to be a lot like me can do it, then i can too.

    also i do the same thing with stressful thinking. we need to be nicer to ourselves!

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  7. Such great goals! I'm working on not eating processed food, and since I started, I feel so much better! I feel less bloated and even lost some weight :)

    Ana
    My (Newly)Wed Life

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  8. You are amazing and so inspiring! The fact the you recognize these parts of you is remarkable. I'm so happy I get to read your blog daily.

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  9. You go girl! :) This post has really inspired me...I too struggle with letting little bitty things stress me out, and I need to remember to focus on the things that are truly important (like health & happiness!).

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  10. I do that too. I'm consistantly reminding myself that 'I suck' and quite frankly, that mentality sucks. May we both manage to leave it behind.

    Also, this was a GREAT post!

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  11. Thanks for turning me on to green monsters - they're great. I'm in my last month of pregnancy and they have been a great energy booster. Love your blog.

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  12. okayyyyyyy. i feel like you just wrote all the words in my head. i've been going through the exact. same. phase!! {well, hopefully it will turn out to be more of a lifestyle than a phase, but you know.} YAY for you! keep it up. and agreeing with everyone else... you do NOT suck in the least bit!!! oh my word. you are wonderful and living healthy just makes you feel as great as you are.

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  13. Your blog is one that I check each and every day because you are so open and let us all in on every aspect of your life. I really like that about you. Thank you for sharing and I agree--You Do Not Suck!

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  14. It's always good to know that other people feel this way too. thanks for making it easier.

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  15. girl we are living in the same stress bubble! ugh.

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  16. It's funny when I say these negative thoughts out loud how quick my bf is to point out that I'm "sweating the small stuff" when that's exactly what I aim NOT to do! Have you tried Kombucha? The probiotics are awesome and the drink itself is such an energy booster!

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