The challenge : to challenge yourself

There is much reference online to making a “bucket” list  for the summer and a bucket list to do before you reach a certain age and I was always thinking to myself, “why do people need a bucket list to get things done?”  I realized I challenge myself on a weekly basis and my life is basically a bucket list.  Not many people think like I do and that is okay, thus the reason for a bucket list.

Why make the change:

I am not encouraging you to go and make a list of things like swimming with dolphins, go skydiving, etc.  But what is wrong with making a list that pertains to challenging our own life and making it better?  Why should we “settle” for being a mom who doesn’t know how to cook, one who doesn’t have a green thumb, or maybe one who has problems communicating in her marriage?

 We should be striving as Mom’s to be the best that we can be.

Striving to better ourselves will improve our quality of life, may save you some money, and will help enhance those lives of people around you.

What are some things that prevent people from challenging their life?

• fear—fear of failure, fear of going out of comfort zone, fear of unknown
• over -thinking—people start over analyzing things and start making a mountain out of a mole hole.  Just take things one step at a time.
• not recognizing achievement—they fail to see how far they have come and look instead to how far they have to go
• learn from it–as with everything learn from your mistakes, take what you would do differently and don’t be afraid to try again

How to make the change:

This part is easy, start by making a list of things you want to improve upon in your life.  Examples include:

• learn how to bake homemade bread
• learn how to sew
• learn how to garden
• learn how to be a good listener-by keeping mouth shut
• share talents with someone–example teach sewing to neighbor girls
• cut my food budget by 50%
• make all foods from scratch
• organize my paper mess
• organize my household
• make a budget and stick to it
• make some extra income–brainstorm ways

There are so many different things you can do and with everyone it is a different story.  I encourage you to improve and challenge yourself and ways.  You will be a better person by stretching yourself and your comfort level.

 

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.

Confucious

 

 

The challenge: to get rid of the “bad” stuff from our diets.

Most all of us when we realize that we need to “lose a few pounds” immediately step into “diet” mode and start eliminating things from our diet.  We are often left hungry, moody, and look for every quick weight loss scam out there thus leaving us broker.  We “ban” ourselves from eating foods that are good for us in an attempt to shed a few pounds.  Sometimes we lose them and then we immediately return to our old ways and the cycle continues.

 

Why make the change:

The key to success in long term weight loss is to make changes that will stick.  We need to reprogram our brain to a completely different way of eating.  We have been falsely led to believe that everything in the store is good for us.  Even if the label says “natural” we think that it is good for us.

That is so not the case.

We need to be eating food that is found mostly in its natural state.  Sometimes this may sound overwhelming and expensive, but it doesn’t have to be.  The key to changing our lifestyle diet to a more basic, simple one is to get rid of the most processed things one food at a time.

How to make the change:

When you think of changing your diet, picture returning your diet to a basic one.  Think, “what would you do if there was no local store to buy your packaged food?” What would you serve for dinner tonight?  You want to return to a diet where you can buy things in bulk and eat off of them for a long time.  Think rice, dried beans, whole wheat flour, and popcorn seeds.

For most of us, myself included when I purchased my first bulk buy of those items, for the most part they sat in my basement only slowly getting used.  I enjoyed buying snack mix instead of making popcorn for snacks.  Oatmeal wasn’t as appealing as cold cereal.  Dried beans?? Those took too much time to make, I wanted canned ones.

I then had to do things slowly.  I made a list.  A list of how I wanted to rid our foods of packaged, processed foods and return to a more whole foods centered diet.

Here is our list:

1. eliminate white flour, sugar, bread, and pasta
2. replace sugary drinks and sodas with water
3. avoid packaged foods with more than 5 ingredients
4. replace fake margarine’s and vegetable oils with real butter and olive/coconut oils
5. replace table salt with sea or Himalayan salt
6. replace snack foods with fresh fruit or veges
7. stop eating out and start making meals
8. work on replacing a few items in my pantry each month that I buy as a “convenience food”.  Example–canned beans, taco seasoning, ranch mix, etc.
9. Make most of my grocery budget go to fresh fruits and vegetables

Did we make these changes overnight?  No we slowly worked on them.  It has been about a year and a half since we have begun this list and we are still working on completing it.

I am realizing the impact foods has on my children’s health as well as their temperament.  I realize that we have more energy, don’t feel as sluggish halfway through the day, and I realize that I probably eat more now that I have switched to a basic, plain diet.  Thus resulting in me not feeling the need to snack or like I am missing out on foods.

I used to believe in 3 meals a day with 2-3 snacks but I realize that when I feed my children “real” foods  that they can go much longer and feel fuller longer periods of time throughout the day.

It has been a slow journey but with each new choice, it takes some time getting used to and then it usually sticks.  I have found that it takes 5-10 times of offering new foods to my children before they even eat it.  I used to despise trail mix myself, thought it was gross but you know it has become my new favorite snack foods for the day.  Everything takes time, it takes time to reprogram our taste buds to something more basic and simple.   Thus the reason for this challenge, if you can start by changing one new thing a week or  month, then its better than not beginning at all.