Turning Green

If any of you have been monitoring my various social networking feeds of late, you may have sensed a sea change. Looking to makeover my life is not a terribly new interest of mine as every now and again, I realize my clothes aren't fitting right and maybe I don't like those shelves over there and I make a few changes, exercise a little more often, and nothing is usually too dramatic or long-lasting. But something is different this time. I feel it is my heart's longing to change and my mind is struggling to adapt. But adapt I will.

What is the source of this new lease on life? The source of all my inspiration: Andrew, of course. As he becomes more and more insistent that at meal times, he will eat what we eat, by golly, I'm getting more alarmed at the selection available to him. "Oh! I would never want him to have any of _____," I think. "That's far too unhealthy." But then I remember: I am putting it in my own body. Why do I love Andrew so much, but not myself and my husband enough to prepare more nutritious foods for the nourishment of our bodies? Wowza. That was a wake-up call. Or thought. Whichever.

So I'm not exactly trashing everything in our cupboards. I'm not banning cooked foods. I'm slowly, but surely make no mistake, tapering off refined sugar and flour, and finishing off the last of any processed items.

How to motivate myself? Keep it delicious. Don't deny myself treats. Find a way to love my new habits.

New habit one: walking every morning, with Andrew. So far, we have taken a 1.5 mile walk each day for the last two weeks (7 days a week). During this time, I'm usually quiet and focus on breathing fresh air and just being with Andrew. No, I'm not burning the calories like there's no tomorrow, but I'm moving and I'm spending time with my best person and I am quieting my mind.

New habit two: More greens, less garbage! We've been out of cokes for two weeks and I'm not buying more, fixing myself a cool glass of iced tea when the craving strikes. Slowly, but surely, all of my various sugar-y items are being consumed and they're not getting replaced. I have weaned myself from cookies down to granola bars. It's hard--sugar is a cruel and demanding mistress and I DO miss it. But I am already sleeping better and my jeans fit better and those are great rewards for a tired, bloated lady. I think it will only get better as I get more days between me and my addiction and the reinforcement will be overwhelmingly more positive. I started my green smoothie revolution today with items from the farmers' market: a huge bunch of spinach and a handful of strawberries plus 16 oz of water, 5 tablespoons of organic yogurt, and a banana. The whole thing totaled about 44 ounces and I stunned myself by consuming the whole thing hungrily in about 3 minutes. Me! The girl who can't drink liquids! It was very earthy smelling, but quite pleasant and after, my sugar craving was gone. I felt cool all over; it was lovely. Oddly, I did have an immediate sore throat and I wonder if maybe I drank some sand because I didn't wash the spinach very well? I am now about 2 hours out from it though and I feel great.

New habit 3: Stop eating late at night and by the time the sun goes down, if possible. We'll see; this may become more difficult in the winter, but I am happy I have a wide berth to teach myself in this season of long days!

The green revolution has begun! Wish me luck. :)