I have spent the past couple weeks mulling over the goals I'd like to reach this year. And honestly it's been overwhelming just to try to plan what I'd like to accomplish, much less to try to actually accomplish it.
You see, I have some genetic mutations that often throw a kink in my day-to-day plans. I never know when I'll be doing well and when I'll be doing…not so well. When I feel good, I get all excited and make all sorts of plans and run like superwoman and do all the things. But then, I get reminded that this body I live in is a little bit messed up. I crash, and I do none of the things. I drag myself around, trying to hold things together as best as I can until I have another upward swing.
Although I will never be “normal” and I will most likely always struggle with having bad days, I really would like for those to be as infrequent as possible! But that's not going to happen if I lie around feeling sorry for myself. Hiding under my covers and snacking on cookies is only going to make me worse off than I already am.
So as I've pondered what needs to happen to see some more improvement and hopefully see fewer bad days, I know deep down that my body needs some major TLC this year. Don't get me wrong, I've been working on this for around, oh, maybe 5 or 6 years. You would cringe to look at our grocery bill. We buy organic fruits and veggies, pastured meat, raw milk, etc. – everything as high quality as we can get without being ridiculous. Junk food and sugar is kept to a bare minimum. But…I need more.
I NEED MORE:
1. Food
It becomes such a chore sometimes to make sure I'm NOT eating the bad stuff, that I just don't eat enough, period. (Or else, I grab the “organic junk food” for a snack because let's be honest, it's easier to grab a bag of chips out of the pantry than to cut up vegetables and mix up some homemade yogurt dip.)
But I'm giving my body zero nutrition when I do that, and I need to quit making that a habit. It's fine and dandy for a treat, but not for a regular part of my diet.
2. Exercise
Exercise is so hard for me. With the problems I have, my muscles are very weak, my heart races, and I get out of breath very easily. (As in, it hurts for me to brush my hair sometimes and I get so winded I can barely speak.) However, I really feel that if I can push through some of that (in a very gentle way) to get regular exercise, it will end up helping me feel better. Part of what keeps me sick is that my body is unable to process toxins on its own, so I stay full of junk, which makes me feel terrible. But exercising regularly will actually help me get rid of some of those toxins and it will also send more oxygen to my cells, which will help to rejuvenate them. It's going to take some pain and really hard work, but I need to do this if I'm going to have more good days and fewer bad ones.
3. Water
I'm doing pretty well with this already. I got a huge water bottle that contains all the water I need to drink for the day. Now I don't have to keep refilling something and trying to remember how much I drank. I just make sure I drink one bottle full each day and I'm good. I need to keep this up because letting up even just a little makes a big difference in how I feel.
All of these things are critical to my being the best version of myself I can be, yet they all to often get pushed to the back burner to make way for other, “more important” things.
I'd love to share with you all of the things I am determined to do in regard to caring for my body – things like eating the proper balance of protein, fats, and carbs; eating all of my meals at the same time each day; moving my body; doing regular detoxing regimens – but that would take entirely too long.
Besides, that is not entirely the point of this post.
Along with giving my body some major TLC, I need to do a better job of taking care of my family's health as well. Too often I am struggling to drag myself through the day, which means they end up with peanut butter sandwiches for supper or whatever they can find in the fridge. (Shout out to my mom who has cooked countless meals for us over the past couple years. She has taken care of my family when I couldn't, even though she doesn't always feel the best herself.)
I want to focus heavily on preparing good food this year – for my own health and for the health of my family. Some days I will probably not be up to it, but on the days when I am able, I want to put more time and effort into preparing good food. I'll be honest and say that I have never enjoyed cooking and preparing food. I really only do it because everybody needs to be fed. Consequently, meal preparation gets treated like a dreaded chore – I put it off and do it half-heartedly when I finally get to it. And the result is most often a less-than-stellar meal in the nutritional department (and not always big on taste since I'm being honest here.)
Side note: I think the real reason I dread cooking is because I am so messy! I know I'm going to have a lot to clean up when I'm done, so I try to ignore the fact that it needs to be done and hope it will go away. Only it doesn't. So I might as well just choose to enjoy it!
Anyway, I feel like I'm starting to ramble, so I'll get to the big point of this post.
You know how it's popular to choose one word to define your year? Sometimes I do it and sometimes I don't. It just depends on how the Lord leads as I pray about and plan my goals. I wasn't planning on choosing one this year, but last night as I stood at the sink washing carrots for supper (yay me!) a word came to mind that I realized was the perfect summary of my hopes and dreams for this coming year.
That word is:
NOURISH
I feel like focusing on this one little word will bring big changes in lots of areas without overwhelming me. All I need to do is ask myself in each situation, “How can I NOURISH ____? (my body, my family, my spiritual life, my marriage, etc.)”
- I've started by rearranging our homeschool schedule to intentionally include cooking and baking time. This will give me an extra hour each day to prepare food that will NOURISH our bodies.
- I will remember that word when I'm tempted to stay up too late at night, knowing that a good night's sleep is what will NOURISH my body best, and an early morning spent with the Lord will NOURISH my relationship with Him.
- I will remember it when it hurts to exercise, thinking of movement as nutrients and a lack of movement as junk food. And I will NOURISH my body with the correct nutrition.
- I will NOURISH my relationships with my kids by choosing one-on-one time with them instead of indulging in too much “me time”.
- I will NOURISH my mind by picking up a good book before I go to bed instead of mindlessly scrolling through my Facebook feed.
I am thankful that the Lord brought this word to my mind because I believe it is exactly what my family and I need this year.
I will be sharing updates as I am able.
I'm looking forward to what this year holds!
Did you choose a word this year? I'd love to know what it is!
