Back To The Real World

Now that vacation is over and we have settled back into our normal routine, it is time to get busy with some changes. Ughhh, that word "changes" just strikes fear in the hearts of people like me. I don't like change. Not usually, anyway. Change, for me, means that I have been doing something wrong and the behavior needs to stop. Or I need to improve on a way that I have been doing something to make it more effective for me and my family. So that is where I am at right now. Change. There are a few areas that I really want to focus on over the next few months. Things that I have felt I needed to address.

The first of those "areas" (areas sound so much better than faults!) is our health. Yes, it is a broad topic but I am going to focus on food and exercise for now. While we were on vacation, my daughter wore her iPod and used the step counter program just to see how far we were walking. We were surprised to find that we were walking 5-8 miles A DAY! Yes, we were tired at the end of the day, but boy, we sure had fun. Places like that actually make if fun to walk. Here, we live on a clay road which is NO FUN to walk on. Sometimes it is down right treacherous! If we get rain, the road is so slick and gloppy that it is impossible to walk on. If we don't get rain, the dust blows up around your feet and legs and you have to shower and wash your shoes when you get home. I don't know about you, but if I have to do all that just to walk, I am NOT gonna walk! And I am SURELY not going to DRIVE somewhere to walk! So I have decided to up my tv workouts. I have been doing them 3 times a week (mostly!) so now I will do them 5 times a week. It will be my only formal workout but, those of you who have a farm, know that farm work can be a workout in itself!

As for food, well that is going to be a bit harder. I LOVE food! I ADORE food! Food is wonderful! I love to cook it, I love to eat it, I love to grow it. See my dilemma? I have found one very interesting  thing that has been happening, though. I have been too lazy to make desserts for the last month or so and my craving for sweets has diminshed quite noticably. I had read that that has happened to people but I never in a million years thought my sweet tooth could be cured! Even on vacation, I only had sweets once or twice and, even then, it was only a few bites. Hmmmm, maybe the cure for sweets is to just avoid them for awhile and, viola, craving gone!
ANYWAY, back to my food dilemma. I have been a bit lazy in meal planning (notice the lazy trend?) so we have been eating not-so-healthy meals more often than not. I hate planning meals because I never know what I am going to be in the mood for. Here is where I found another one of those "you don't say" moments. I used this template from The Nourishing Home. Scroll down to the bottom of this post and click on her meal plan template. I planned out 2 weeks worth of breakfasts, lunches and dinners and guess what? I am wanting what is planned for each day! How weird is that. Maybe being organized leads to less problems....Who'd a thunk it?!

Well, my friends, I think this is enough for one day! More exercise and planned meals may just make me a healthier girl with a healthier family. Amazing what a little get away will do for the thinking! So I am going to keep you updated with my progress on this little journey. More exercise and better meal planning, this will be my mantra!