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Food School: a 31 Day Course (Day 2)

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Welcome to Day 2 of Food School!

How did you like the video from yesterday?  Did it make you think about what your eating?  Create any questions in your mind?  If it did–great!  I’d love for you to share them in the comments.  If it didn’t get you to think about your intention at all–hhhmmm, that means you have homework :-)

Have you ever asked yourself any of the questions from day 1?  It can be over whelming.  So let’s figure out how we can be intentional about the next 31 days.  I have created this one page worksheet (HOMEWORK) for you to fill out or at the very least–look at it.  I know I will have some students who will print it off, fill it out and then send me an email for extra help and some who won’t even open the file . . . I’m ok with that.  You chose how you want to use this 31 days.  If you chose not to look at it . . . please know that it is there for you when you want it :-)

In this course I am boiling down several years of figuring out what mattered to me–you reap the benefits of me being on the slow train!  Here are the questions:

What? do you want to be intentional about?  

For me it started by recycling and having less waste.  Then I made some changes in how I clean my house–if you need tips my friend Kirsten has an awesome website!  I used cloth diapers . . . you get the idea.  Then my focus changed to food.  My intention was to cook real food for my real family–no processed food or snacks.  That was a little too lofty so I backed off and began with myself.  What did I want to eat and what made me feel best.  I kept a food log of when I was hungry and for what.  It quickly became obvious to me what my body was craving–fruit, nuts, some veggies, soups, crunchy bread and toast for breakfast.  I became more and more aware of what my body wanted to eat–NOT what I had been eating.  Coffee?  every morning, until one day I thought–uggh this doesn’t taste good–but it took me almost a year to say to myself–“you don’t have to drink coffee just because that is what you have done for 35 years!–it is ok to change.” and from that now I drink juice, tea, coffee if I want it, but I listen to my body each morning.  Why did I allow myself to just get stuck in a rut of–this is what I’ve always done!  So unlike me, but as a Mom, I was on auto pilot.  (sound familiar?)

Why?  

Assign a reason for your intention.  If your intention MUST HAVE MEANING.  Without meaning there is not intention.  Initially, I wanted to be healthier-but when I became really clear I wanted to lose weight–but even that wasn’t enough (because I’m still fat!)  I want to live a healthy life to honor my soul, my body and all living things.  With that–I look at food (and life) differently.  

How?

For this month in particular I am looking at food for how it will nourish my body–not feed my insecurities!  I weighed myself at the beginning and I’ll tell you if I have lost any weight at the end of these 31 days!  If you really want to know how much I weigh I will be glad to tell you–in a more private way!  cookies.  The idea is to remain flexible enough to forgive yourself–but rigid enough to stay on track.

Does all of that make sense?  If you have any questions send an email or message me on FB and I’ll “chat” you through it.  I’ll probably repeat this a few times but if you know of someone who might need a little boost in a positive direction–please share this with them.

Oh, I almost forgot.  In the side bar of this post will be an Amazon button, when you click it takes you to an amazon site–from there you can sign up for a free 30 day trial of Amazon Prime–this FREE 30 day membership has lots of perks–for this course it allows you to watch FREE documentaries  that I will be talking about.  I am an affiliate for Amazon.  So if you sign up you will be supporting this class.  (thanks in advance!)

 Tomorrow’s class:  food vocabulary.

Tomorrows recipe:  Almost Vegan chocolate chip cookies :-)

You can use the comments section to share what your food intentions.  Be Blessed.

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To receive a free copy of my Blessed by Breakfast cookbook, please go to http://blessedbybreakfast.com and sign up! I send updates that include; family tested and approved recipes, video tutorials, tips and tricks on how to begin your day with the blessing of food.

cookbook coming soon

Books I suggest: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat,

Young Readers Edition The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet

Some of my friends have also joined the 31 day challenge:  

Anastacia Maness  http://rocksolidfamily.com/31-days-building-commitment/

Racquel Narciso http://howtomakeitinsanfrancisco.com/…/

Pamela Hodges http://ipaintiwrite.com

I’m linking up to these blogs. 

 

31/31 days of honest: the end (and beginning)

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I have watched this video by Ann Voskamp–several times.

This 22 minute video of a new DVD series sums up where I am right now–with my 31 days, with my blog, and with my life.

I want to take my faith to the next level, I want to open my hands fully to the heavens and catch grace, love, peace and feel joy–in every moment of my life.

I won’t lie about my weight.

I will embrace my heartache.

I want memories not perfection.

I will find my sisterhood.

I will try to understand my limits.

I will try not to yell at my kids to get in the car (or at other times).

I want to clear out all the extra stuff that does not add value to my life and that does not assist me in living an intentional life.

I have learned so much about myself in the past 31 days of honesty–I have referred to it as my basement therapy–my intention was to clear out the physical clutter in my basement–what happened is that I let go of old; pain, dreams, heartache, and a huge box of what ifs, could have’s and might’s.

Be Blessed today.

I’m linking up with Good Morning Girls, Walk With Him Wednesday, Whatever Works , Women Living Well, Work in Progress Fellowship Fridays

29/31 days of Honesty

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I’m almost there!  Only 3 more days until my 31 days of honesty are over.

Sort of bittersweet.  I have poured my heart on these pages.  I have shared my joys and my demons.

If I had to do this all over again I would.  I would also plan ahead and not pick HONESTY as my topic.  I have 11 months to figure out my topic for next year.  Maybe next year it will be fluffy bunnies or . . .

What this writing challenge has given me is an opportunity to figure out what I really do want to write about and the direction of my space here on the web.

A few months ago I would have said that I share my journey on my blog but now I want that thinking to shift to I write, I inspire, I encourage, I create a place for conversation . . . and I am following my passion and quite possibly discovering my purpose–which I know will change, but right now–what I’m doing feels right.

I am reworking my blog.  I am figuring out the balance between writing and the rest of my life–caring for all my people is most important.

Sisterhood, kids, organizing/home management, cooking, projects that worked and not, and how my life is blessed–these are the topics that I want to share and have you join the conversation.  If it is one thing that I have learned this past month is that

I am not alone–I have you along with me on this journey . . . 

Of course, I’ll be giving updates once a month on my weight and how the basement is shaping up too!  Until the basement is complete and I’m at a healthy weight.  I want to live my life in a more intentional and simple way and I can’t do it with all the “stuff” that I have.  I want to be in the moment with my husband and kids, not feeling  a looming of projects, a to-do list or worse a should-have-done list.

Thanks for stopping by–I hope you enjoy the new format as it evolves.

Be Blessed.

The Better Mom, Multitude on Monday, Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday, Playdates with God, Motivation Monday, Mindful Mothering