Intentional Living: Month 2

My word for the year 2014 is intentional. 

In January I was intentional with my mornings. 

February I have been intentional about my health. 

I kicked off February with a diet cleanse. My girlfriends and I did it together in order to encourage one another. The goal: eliminate sugar, gluten, dairy, processed foods, high glycemic foods, alcohol, caffeine and soy for 14 days to see how our bodies would react. I was looking to kick my  daily-double-dessert sugar habit and see if going off dairy would help my sinuses. We followed the Arbonne detox plan (for 14 rather than 28 days) which allowed us to eat real food (a clean diet) and to eat as much as we needed. (Side note: I refuse to diet or alter my eating habits in front of my kids unless I'm fasting. What I liked about this program is that I could still eat normal meals with them I would just skip the cheese in my omelet or make us all smoothies. The whole thing was actually great for my kids health as well.) 

I learned a few things through this process:

- Herbal tea is in no way a replacement for coffee

- I do not utilize quinoa near enough

- Too much dairy does affect my sinus congestion

- After 2 days on this diet I had absolutely no bloat at all

- I missed gluten and sugar terribly

- Smoothies are awesome. You can get healthy fats, seeds, greens, protein, and fruit all in one punch. I'm now a smoothie addict.

- I've always loved snacking on nuts and now I love them more than ever

- A sliced green apple with almond butter is awesome around 3pm when you're starting to crash

After the 14 days you're supposed to gradually ease the eliminated foods back into your diet. I skipped that step and ate a monster burrito and drank a beer for dinner. It was delicious. 

Overall, I've come away with a renewed appreciation for eating a clean diet. I still love sugar and went right back to coffee. However, a Lara Bar (which I used to find disguising) now tastes great as a sweet treat (but cupcakes are still good too.) And a well made Americano in the morning with a splash of real half-in-half is just as satisfying as two cups of mediocre coffee. I have also continued to severely cut back on dairy. And both the kids and I are snacking much healthier than we did before. 

It's felt great to take care of my body nutritionally. I suffered in my late teens/early twenties with some major body image issues which resulted in a rocky relationship with food. Thankfully, with the Lord's help, I have come a long way since those days. I feel so much more content in my skin. 

I've also been doing some light weigh training with a friend twice a week. (Really it's just super fun to drop our kids off at the gym's childcare and chat for an hour uninterrupted). And I've been amping up my running. Running this past year has truly become an outlet for me. I enjoy the solitude, the challenge, the endorphins, etc. The more I run the more I love it.

It feels great to take care of myself. My hope is that I will always be able to keep up with my boys. I would love to hike and surf and run together, and to appreciate our health and wellness for the gift that it is.

on a run with my guy. i'm stressed smile is because he just forced uphill for a solid mile

What do you do to keep yourself healthy?

Has your health taken a back burner since having kids? 

For the month of March I'll be focusing on being intentional with my photography.