The Daniel Plan, New Shoes, and Balance

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!