Well hello there again! I’ve been busy these past few days, mostly with working. In case you didn’t know I work part time at the liquor store in my town. I took the first photo above for use on their social media (found here and here). I worked at the liquor store about 10 years ago and loved it. I still do. I love the simplicity of it. I love the interactions with the customers. I love wine. It’s not complicated. I like that. My last job was complicated, to say the least. I don’t want complicated anymore. I like knowing exactly what I need to do. The liquor store does that. I can make a display and I don’t have to ask 25 different people for their permission. The ladies that work at the store are supportive. And encouraging. I like that.
Speaking of, I’ve been thinking (and if you know me, you know I think. A lot). I’ve made some major changes in my life recently (ahem…complicated job-gone. Complicated relationships-gone. Simplicity is our word for 2018. Live simply. Our grass is green. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Down size. You get the point). But there’s an area of my life that I struggle with, and that’s my health. My mental health, my physical health, and my emotional well being. They are all intertwined, no? So, here’s my accountability. I’m going to put it into writing and hope you all will hold me accountable. I weigh more now than I have in many, many years. Once upon a time I was very healthy and had a weight that I could maintain (well, once upon a time I was super skinny but I don’t think that’s a realistic goal for me so we’re going to overlook that part!). The Mister told me one time that I was the healthiest person he knows. I don’t think that statement is true any more. At all. However, I can maintain a healthy weight that would be about 25-30 pounds less than what I weigh now. So, here’s my plan:
- Cut out sugar, and this means cutting out coffee. My favorite way to drink coffee is french press. But I also put sugar in it (and milk and cinnamon). So coffee will be a weekend treat. No coffee during the week. Only Saturdays and Sundays.
- Cut out wine. I know. This is hard. Have I mentioned I love wine? And further than that, no more white wine. The sugar content in white wine alone! So red wine when I do drink wine. I’m not going to cut it out completely long term. Only short term until I get a jump start on my healthy living.
- Exercise. Don’t need to say anything more. Just get moving. Do what I can each and every day.
- Eat better. I’m a grazer. I eat. A lot. But not at all one time. Or at least I didn’t used to. But now I tend to eat more in one sitting. I feel better when I eat smaller snacks several times per day. Overall we eat pretty healthy. But we eat out a lot too. So I need to cut that out. If I eat at home and pack my lunch for work, eating shouldn’t be a problem.
- Mental health: by mental health I mean feeding my brain things that are good for it. I have really slacked off with this. Life got so busy and draining that I just couldn’t focus on reading things that were more intellectual or learning new things. Hell, I couldn’t think of words very often. I should have seen that as a sign that things were not how they should be. I started reading a lot of ‘fluff’ books just because I needed something to read. I don’t want to cut out my chic-lit completely because I find some of it really fun, but I want to start adding in things that will help me grow mentally.
- Emotional health. I think this will fall into the above categories and will be helped by exercising, eating right, and doing the things that make me happy.
I guess overall I just want to feed my body and brain things that will help nourish. But have a little fun on occasion. Find balance and moderation. Do homesteading things, being active in my community, be around positive, supportive people. All these things will lead to overall improvement in my health. And I hope you will follow along and hold me accountable. Starting today.
Do you have a word, or theme, for the year? Any goals you are working towards in 2018? I’d love to hear about it!!
Rob
Hi Kristin,
A wonderful friend (many years ago) taught me to not make any “concrete” statements. She taught me to say, write, be my intentions and do them “just for today”. So that is how I change things.
So, just for today you are not going to have coffee. Just for today you are not going to have wine. Just for today you are going to exercise……well, you get the idea.
That way if you do “slip” you won’t beat yourself up. You will just remind yourself to start again “just for today” the next morning.
It also helps me not feel deprived. If I have to give something up “forever”, well, that would be tricky. But giving it up just for today is something that feels possible.
Change begins with Awareness and you are already there!!!!!! You CAN do whatever you need to do to take GOOD care of yourself, “just for today”.
ALL the BEST!!!!!!
Rob
P.S. You can always add stevia to your coffee instead of sugar. It is a natural (not fake) sweetener. You will just have to experiment with it a little to get the taste right.
Rob
Hi Kristin,
Rob again. I forgot to tell you one other thing that works well for me. When I go out to dinner I ask the server to bring a box to the table WITH my meal. I take 1/3 to 1/2 of the food off my plate before I begin eating, put it in the box and VOILA!!!!!, a packed lunch for the next day!!!!!
Chicken Librarian
Hi Rob!
Thank you for your reply! You have lots of good information to share. I like your thoughts on ‘for today’. It makes it seem less daunting. I know for me, at first (for maybe the first 2 weeks), I NEED to give things up. I need to jump start my healthy eating, exercising plan so I can see some results. If I don’t see results, i.e. feel better, fit into my clothes, I won’t continue. However, once I see those results, I really like your ideas. I lost a lot of weight about 15 years ago by adhering to this plan-really strict M-F and then take the weekend off. I was able to maintain a steady weight until recently. So keep your fingers crossed that I can get this back on track.
And thanks for the stevia tip. I never know about these things. I do use raw sugar now, not white sugar. Part of my homesteading journey is learning more about natural alternatives.
Thanks again! And I’m glad to see you over on Instagram!
Kristin
Rob
A woman that matches her scarf to her chicken CAN DO ANYTHING that she sets her mind to!!!!!!!
Amanda
You are tackling a lot of changes at once, you ambitious woman. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Wine and coffee would sadly be my biggest challenge. Good luck to you and I am glad to have found your blog!!
Chicken Librarian
Hahaha!! Thank you for your kind words Amanda! I don’t feel like it’s a lot though. Just cut out some stuff and get moving until I start to feel better. Giving up wine and coffee is HARD though. I’ll admit I haven’t done so well giving up coffee though. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for reading!