January is almost over and, as usual, I’m a bit behind in talking about my goals for 2014. In a lot of ways 2013 was a great year, but in more ways, it was really rough. In November, I really started feeling drained, run down and even more exhausted than I had been feeling. The year was catching up with me and I knew that something had to change.
It took a lot thinking and praying, but I finally realized that what I was missing in 2013 was balance. As I got busier with this blog, I started letting things go. We started eating out more because I didn’t make the time to cook. Some days my only exercise was to walk to the mailbox! I’d often get only 5 hours of sleep when I really need at least 7 hours. I was working all the time and I needed balance. So I adopted the word balance as my word for 2014. My plan is to find more balance between work, family, and fitness.
I was discussing my new fitness goals to my friend Gina at Mom’s Lifeboat when she asked if I’d heard of The Daniel Plan, a new book about food and fitness from Pastor Rick Warren. I hadn’t heard of it, but I’m a huge fan of Rick Warren so I decided to give it a try.
For the first 10 days of the plan, I followed the suggested detox eating plan. I cut out dairy, sugar, caffeine and gluten. It was much easier than I anticipated and I still can’t believe how much better I feel! I have more energy, feel more mentally focused, and I’ve even lost 10 pounds!
Not only have I changed the way I’m eating, but I’ve also started moving more. I bought a new pair of shoes, downloaded the My Fitness Pal app to my cell phone and decided I needed to get moving. I started walking my daughter to school, which is just under a mile one way from our house. My goal was to walk her to school three days a week. I just wanted to get moving again.
In an effort to make sure I had a reason to get out of the house to move – we also got a dog. Her name is Ginger and she’s a 14 month old labradoodle. Ginger is very high energy and loves her walks – at least twice a day.
So far, I’m loving the changes I’ve made for 2014 and I’m looking forward to more balance this year. You can follow along on my quest for a healthier life on Instagram – where I post a lot of shoe, food and dog photos!
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