A Time for Resolutions

Have you made your New Year's Resolution(s)?  I have.  I'm not usually one for making them and then I'm not usually one for sharing them with other people.  I feel as if they are pretty private promises you make to yourself.  In hopes of actually keeping the resolutions I made this year I've decided to share them today.  Not for any other reason except that I verbalized them.  Here.  For anyone and everyone to read.  Maybe if you see me out and about you can ask me how I'm doing keeping these guys.  Accountability is the key to my success I'm quite convinced.

Resolution 1: Complete Another Whole 30.

I'm sure most of you have heard of the Whole 30.  Right?  Well, if not I highly recommend that you read about it and try it out.  You can wrangle over semantics and argue that Whole 30 isn't a diet, but I consider it more of a lifestyle change.  The last time I did one I figured out that I was allergic to nuts and aspartame.  Even with cutting gluten out of my diet, thanks to my Celiac disease, I ached and hurt and felt bloated all the time.  The aspartame sensitivity was worse than the nut allergy.  When I say it was killing me I swear to you..it. was. killing. me.

I did one whole 3 last year and at the end of the 30 days I felt amazing.  My joints didn't hurt, I wasn't bloated anymore and I lost 10 pounds.  Now, weight loss is not the reason you are supposed to do a Whole 30, but let's be serious folks.  If I'm giving up tortilla chips and hummus then I better darn well  fit into those expensive jeans that are folded up in the top of my closet.

Today is day 2 and as crazy as it sounds I already feel a difference.  I think this time around I am going to pin point corn as my aggravater.  I LOVE corn in all its many yummy forms.  Tortilla chips, however, are my Achilles heal.  They always have been.  I know that my body doesn't like dairy so giving it up isn't as hard, although I sure love cheese.  Anyway, 28 days to go on this cycle.  I'll report back periodically.  Three pieces of advice is that if you decide to a Whole 30:

      1.  READ the book, It Starts With Food.  Seriously.  Read it.  (this is not a paid post.  just think                        
                                    you really need to read the book!)
   
      2.  Make out your meal schedule for the week, if not longer.  You can plan when to use leftovers    
           and when you need to make soup.  It's not an easy plan so beware!  It takes a lot of work but        
           you easily fall into the groove once you get the hang of eating healthy.
 

     3.  Pinterest will be your best friend.  I get almost all of my meal ideas from Pinterest.

I promise I won't post a picture of every meal I make but I did want to share this one.  Doesn't it look yummy?  I told Erik that everything looks good on my new dishes that he gave me for Christmas.

Resolution 2: Read the Bible More

Not a lot of explaining needed for this one.  I don't read my Bible on a daily basis and I really want to start. I am currently teaching Sunday School so I don't get to go to my Sunday School class and I miss it so much.  It was my time of the week to get fed spiritually.   I've purchased a Chronological Bible and the accompanying study book.  This set was highly recommended by some friends who have done this study so I think it is something I'll be able to stick with.

You can find about more about this study HERE.  My Bible is in but the workbook is not.  It should come in tomorrow so I hope to get started Tuesday morning.

Resolution 3:  Be a More Prepared Mother and Wife  

This is not super easy to explain nor is it easy to quantitate.  I just feel that most of 2014 was muddled through in a hurried mess.  I want to be more intentional with each and every day.  Maybe I don't take pictures of the day, maybe I don't blog about it, maybe I don't accomplish a lot of my to-do list.  That's ok.  I just want to be able to go to be at night and know that I "lived" the day.  Maybe I do take pictures, maybe I do blog and maybe I do check off 10 items on my to-do list.  As long as I was intentional and present in the day I will be happy.

To get myself off to a good start I sat down today and worked backwards into a morning schedule that I think will get my off on the right foot each morning.  I know that if I don't wake up and get ready for the day before my children then I spend the rest of my day chasing my tail.  So..here's what it looks like:

5:20 wake up and fix hot tea

5:30-6:00 Bible/prayer time

6:00-6:30 get myself ready for the day 

6:30-6:40 wake kids up 

6:40-6:50 prepare breakfast

 (this is a huge part of the morning since we are living Whole 30 right now)

6:50-7:15 kids dressed and fed

7:20 out the door

As they say "the best laid plans......"  I'm going to try my best not to sabotage myself or set unrealistic expectations along the way.  But I'm a big believer in making a plan and trying to stick with it.  Maybe..just maybe this will be my year to keep my resolutions!  Now if I could just get the kids to hate Doritos.....