Showing posts with label Work On It Wednesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work On It Wednesday. Show all posts
7/14/10
Work On It Wednesday - Loving Yourself Part 3
This is the third week in Work On It Wednesday where we are talking about loving ourselves. If you missed the earlier posts, click on the Work On It Wednesday topic to the left and they should all come up.
I think that 2010 is a pretty hard era for women to live in, in all honesty. Although in the past women may have been more confined to traditional household roles, at this point in time we are pretty much expected to be a jack of all trades - and a master of all of them too! Instead of being June Cleaver, who was "allowed" (or forced, depending on your view) to stay home, take care of her family, and be the perfect housewife, now we are expected to be June Cleaver but with a full time corporate job that not only are we passionate about, but we are excelling in too. We aren't supposed to be stay at home mothers because we should want that career, but we also aren't supposed to work because we are supposed to be completely dedicated to our children. Basically, we can't win.
I think all of these societal and personal pressures that we place on ourselves make the situation ripe for criticism. We constantly feel like we aren't completely dedicating ourselves to any one thing, so we are not doing our absolute best in any area of our lives. It isn't possible to the dedicated housewife, mother, spouse, and career woman all in the same breath. Something has to give. Maybe that means that you aren't working a job that you are passionate about, or that you are never really going to climb the corporate ladder, because you simply don't want to. Maybe that means your house is a mess, and you don't have dinner on the table every night for your husband at 6pm sharp. Maybe it means it has taken you two years to lose your baby weight, or that you haven't had a date with your spouse alone in months. All of these things are okay, and it seems like as women we feel like we need permission to have faults.
The goal for this Work On It Wednesday is to begin to accept your limitations. Maybe you aren't ever going to have the cleanest house on the block - you know what, who cares? Your true friends that come over aren't going to, and who else really matters. Maybe there are days that you really just need a break, so you plug your kids in for a movie for a few hours. That's okay! It isn't going to hurt them. Accept your limitations, and don't beat yourself up for living your life in that way that you need. If there are things that you are not comfortable with and you feel like need changing, than ask a spouse, friend, or family member for some help. Ask for the support that you need, because people can't always see it or know how to offer their help. And be okay with asking for help, because no one can do it all alone. The biggest goal is to not beat yourself up though. At the end of the day, who are we trying to prove to that we can do it all? Only ourselves - so the sooner you can accept that you actually aren't able to do it all, the sooner that you will be in a happy mental place by asking for support from those who love you.
7/7/10
Work On It Wednesday - Loving Yourself Part 2
I was listening to a podcast the other day while I was working out that was talking about Maria Shriver's Women's Conference, and the idea of women supporting each other. Basically they were talking about how lots of times when there is a women's conference or something of the like, the speakers and concepts presented are about women's issues around the world - sexual slavery, gender inequalities, etc. However, even though in the United States and most Western countries those things are not everyday issues, we still have "women's issues" that we need to address - and part of those issues is the practice of constantly bringing each other down.
I was talking to my father one day about the differences between men and women. He said that if you put a group of men in the same room, they will basically establish a hierarchy chain, and there will be an alpha male down to the non-alpha males. They have some more dominant males, and some less dominant ones, and don't normally question it or challenge the differences. Instead of jealousy, backstabbing, etc, they cheer each other on (for the most part) or at least recognize that some men are better at things than they are, or have better jobs, or whatever, and they move on.
Women on the other hand tend to be more jealous, and more threatened (or whatever you want to call it) by other women. Instead of being happy for a woman that has a better job or is more athletic or whatever, they tend to try and bring that person down. The biggest problem that I see with this is that by bringing each other down, we are bringing ourselves down too. Often times, the qualities that we are insulting or criticizing in others is the very ones that we are jealous of or want for ourselves. However, by constantly comparing ourselves to those around us, who may or may not have had completely different life circumstances that got them to where they are (good or bad), we disempower ourselves to be the best YOU you can be, and bring down everyone around you when you project your insecurities onto others.
My goal this week is to do my best to stop comparing myself to those around me. Maybe I won't ever be better than everyone else around me in every single facet of my life (how would that even be possible?) but you can rest assured that there isn't one person who is the best at everything anywhere. I know that I have positive characteristics, just like each individual in the world, and the most successful, happy, and fun to be around people are the ones that highlight (not verbally...that is obnoxious) their good qualities, and cut themselves some slack with their less good qualities. Everyone has drawbacks - that is what makes us human, but to accept yourself for what you are, and try to be the best you that you can possibly be, that is where you are really going to shine and have that sparkle in you that people adore. Coming to terms with your imperfections may be a life long journey, but it is never to early (or late) to start on that journey, and work toward a happier, emotionally healthier you.
7/1/10
Work On It Wednesday - Loving Yourself Part 1
This week, Work On It Wednesday (coming to you on Thursday...sorry about that!) is going in a little bit of a new direction. As I was working out yesterday, I was inspired by a podcast that I was listening to that was talking about women's issues. It covered a broad variety of topics, but the first one that I was to discuss with you is the problem with women being so critical of themselves.
I don't really have a good explanation of why this is, but I see it every single day in the women that I am around (and even in myself). We are so critical of our bodies, and so aware of every imperfection in them. Jillian Michaels was saying on the podcast that she was at a book signing where a woman came up to her and wanted her to sign her "Making the Cut" book, and the woman was talking to her about losing the "last 10 pounds." Jillian was saying that the woman was in great shape, and really didn't have a single pound to lose or need to do anything with her body, but the woman just obsessed about a tiny bit of skin on her stomach from having two children in two years.
Basically what Jillian said, and what I agree with, is that the problem at that point is not a physical one, it is a mental and emotional one. Instead of focusing on the positive aspects of her body - like the fact that she had two healthy, beautiful children in the span of two years time, and that she had lost all of her baby weight and was really taken care of her body, she was focusing on the one tiny little aspect of herself that she wasn't happy with. What makes us so critical of ourselves? Ultimately, why do we feel this pressure to look like we are ready to be on the cover of a magazine every single day? I don't have a solid answer for it, but I presume some of it comes from the pressures of women around us, some of it comes from society and the pressures of Hollywood and all that, and some of it comes from within ourselves.
The goal for this Work On It Wednesday is to stop. Stop criticizing your imperfections. Stop only seeing the negatives of yourself - your looks, your personality, or whatever. Each person has good and bad, and your personality is a balance between those. Focus on the positives - maybe you are really athletic, or really smart, or a great mother. Maybe you have wonderful arms, or eyes, or hair, or feet. Maybe you have extra skin because you lost a lot of weight - but you are so much healthier now than you were before, and no longer have the chronic diseases associated with obesity. Appreciate your body for what it can do, and where it has gotten you so far in your life. There are always going to be things about ourselves that we don't like, but so what? Who do you know that is perfect? This week, I am going to make an effort to look in the mirror every single morning and point out something that I love about myself. To begin to appreciate those small things that we see as positives is the first step in beginning to appreciate our beauty and uniqueness as individuals - and the first step to accepting ourselves as whole.
6/23/10
Work On It Wednesday - Get Outside!
For all of us in the north hemisphere, summer has official begun! As I'm sure you've noticed, I love summer. It is such a wonderful time of the year - great, fresh food, lots of activities, new flowers, etc. I don't really see any drawbacks to summer, aside from the fact that we don't have AC in our house, so we are sweltering away!
This week's Work On It Wednesday is a challenge to get outside! The weather is nice, and we all need a little fresh air and vitamin D! That being said, this post is going to be brief because I need to get to workin' on my yard.
Here are some fun things to do outside:
- Gardening
- Biking
- Hiking
- Roller blading
- Camping
- Going for a run or walk
- Paintball
- Whitewater Rafting
- Play basketball
- Picnic
- Go to an amusement park or water park
- Dirt-bike or 4 wheel
- Movies under the star (for all my Springs readers, here is a list of movies under the stars)
- Go to a game - minor league or major league baseball is in full swing right now!
- Have a cookout (and share all your real food recipes!)
- Rock Climbing
- If you live near water, swimming, boating, skiing, and scuba diving are all great activities!
- Fishing
- National Parks - some a free on select weekends this summer, so make sure and check that out!
That's all I can think of now, but if you have any great ideas on ways to spend your summer (outside!) I would love to hear them! Especially here in Colorado, where the winters are so long and cold, the summer time is a great opportunity to really enjoy the landscape around you and take advantage of all that your town has to offer. So get outdoors!
6/9/10
Work On It Wednesday - Get More Sleep!
This week, I'm working on my favorite Work On It Wednesday so far -- getting more sleep! Ahh sleep. Just mentioning the idea makes me smile.
There have long been ideas about how much sleep we need - 6 hours, 8 hours, etc. Conflicting reports tell us that we definitely need more sleep, but make sure not to get too much, or you'll be more prone to diseases! I'm not going to venture into that realm and try to tell you how much to sleep, but I will tell you this - sleep more! On average, Americans sleep one hour less per night than they did just 20 to 30 years ago. This doesn't come at no cost - the healthcare and loss of productivity costs for sleep deprivation are huge.
In this Work On It Wednesday though, we're going to be talking about the health costs. And although these don't cost you actual money (unless you are going to the doctor for your sleep issues, in which case it is probably costing you or your insurance company quite a bit of money) the health costs of not getting enough sleep are enormous.
Most adults need an average of 7-8 hours of sleep per night. That doesn't mean you are going to drop dead if you have a night that you don't get enough, but that is an average, so you should aim to be getting around that much sleep every night. Sleep does some really wonderful things for you including:
1) Keeping your heart healthy - not getting enough sleep has been linked with higher blood pressure and cholesterol, which are both risk factors for heart disease and strokes.
2) Sleep reduces your stress levels - although it can be a cycle where you can't sleep because you are stressed, and you are then more stressed when you haven't slept, getting enough sleep can help to drastically reduce your stress levels. Basically what happens is that when you aren't getting enough sleep, you body kicks into instinct mode, and all of your senses are on high alert. This makes you body produce more stress hormones, which causes an increase in blood pressure (which then increases your risk of heart problems, as noted in #1).
3) Deep sleep may help your body to release growth hormone (HGH) - although we've heard all kinds of crazy stories about people who take growth hormone synthetically (and how bad for you that is), the natural kind that your body produces is actually very good for you, particularly if you are trying to lose weight. HGH is the hormone that is responsible for helping the body to burn stored fat, so we definitely don't want to skimp on our production of that!
4) Sleep helps your productivity - Again, often times this can be a cycle. You don't sleep and your productivity suffers, so then you stay up all night worrying about all the things you need to get done. However, if you can break out of the cycle (tips on that coming later in the post), you productivity is much higher when you get a great nights sleep.
5) Sleep helps you lose weight - In addition to helping your body to release HGH, sleep also helps your body regulate the hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is the hormone responsible for helping you to feel satiated, and ghrelin increases your hunger. According to Master Your Metabolism just two nights of not getting enough sleep will cut your leptin levels by about 20 percent, and increase your ghrelin levels by about 30 percent, so the next day you feel significantly hungrier (and unable to fulfill your cravings) after a night of bad sleep.
So now we know all the wonderful reasons that we should get enough sleep every night, but you're still having trouble getting enough? Here are some hints to help you along:
- Ask Dad - If you have young children or babies, and you have a partner who is able to handle some of the tasks, there isn't any reason why you should be constantly exhausted. Ask for help! I know as women often times we have trouble with this, but you don't want to be sacrificing your health and wellness just because you don't want to ask for help. Your babies need you healthy, so do what you need to do to be healthy!
- Keep the noise quiet - if you have loud neighbors, barking dogs in your neighborhood (the bane of my existence!), or other loud noises around when you are trying to sleep, consider getting something to block out the noise. Be it ear plugs, a white noise machine, or my personal preference - a window unit air conditioner (in addition to being cooler, it is a wonderful noise machine!) do something to block out the noise so that you aren't constantly being interrupted.
- Get more exercise - I know it sounds counterintuitive, because if you are exhausted the last thing you want to do is go work out, but getting more exercise can help you clear you mind and also help you to sleep more restfully.
- Relax - Meditate, take a bath, sit and read an entertaining book, etc. Try to avoid hectic activities, intense conversations, or arguing before bed. Take the last 30 minutes or so before climbing into bed to really wind down and relax your body and mind. You could even do something like rocking your child so that you can clear your mind and really unwind.
- Check the temperature - make sure it is not too hot or too cold in your room. You want it Goldilocks' style - just right! =)
- Set a bedtime - It doesn't have to be rigid. After all, we are adults, but try to get to bed around the same time every night. Your body functions best on a routine, and doing this helps your body to expect sleep at a certain time every night, thus helping you to fall asleep at that time.
I can't wait to get starting working on this Work On It Wednesday! I love getting some sleep, so I'm going to make it a special priority this week to get into bed at a reasonable hour so that I can get in my eight hours a night! What are you going to do to make sure you get more sleep? Put the kids to bed earlier, turn off the TV, practice meditation? I would love to hear from you!
6/2/10
Work On It Wednesday - Plastics
This week, we're working on cutting plastics out of our lives. This is a huge one for me, as I know all the negative drawbacks to plastics, but I still feel compelled to use them at times (they can be so convenient and handy!) Regardless of their convenience issue, the negatives far outweigh the positives, and thus I am going to be making a conscious effort to really eradicate plastics from my life.
Plastics are far too abundance in the every day life of most Americans. From baby bottles to electronics, they permeate our lives, and cause some unseen damage that is just now coming to the forefront of the news. Time Magazine recently had an article about the Perils of Plastics that mentioned that "the dose makes the poison" an old saying that has defined the ways that chemicals are handled. The idea is that even if the chemicals that are present in our lives are bad for us, the dose in them will be so minimal that it really won't cause any harm. That's all fine and dandy, except that these chemicals are everywhere nowadays. So though you may never get a huge dose of one chemical from plastics, the buildup from other sources combine to have a large dose than would be considered safe.
Some of the chemicals that we especially need to worry about in plastics are Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, which have both been found to disrupt the endocrine system and cause issues ranging from hyperactivity to fertility problems including reduced sperm count and corruption of eggs. Children are especially sensitive to chemicals found in plastics, as their bodies are still developing and their hormonal systems are in formation. These are found in modern day plastics, and BPA has been especially found to breakdown and leach into the food in circumstances where the plastics are washed are heated. In fact, the Center for Disease Control has found BPA in the urine of 93% of people sampled in the US over the age of 6 - an alarmingly high figure.
The good news is plastic, unlike some other things like artificial sweeteners, are easy to point out. They are everywhere in our houses - plastic baggies, storage containers, shower curtains, and even wrapping up our vegetables in the refrigerator. Although I don't know that it would possible to completely and totally eliminate plastic, you can eliminate it in the ways that have the most impact - in cooking and in the foods that you eat. Here are a few tips to get your started on reducing your BPA and phthalate exposure.
- Never microwave anything in plastic containers. Even the vegetables that are "steamer" veggies that are supposed to be nuked in their bag, take them out and place them in a glass dish. They will still steam (I've tried it) and you will remove the situation where you are cooking them in plastics.
- Buy items in glass jars instead of cans - sometimes things like tomato sauces come in both glass and can, and you should always opt for glass. Cans are lined with substances that can leach BPA into your food, and more acidic items like tomato sauces are more likely to leach. If you must buy canned items, pick them ones with the farthest expiration date, as those are likely to have packaged more recently, and BPA leaches over time (which the more recently packaged items would have had less of).
- Look for the #7 recycling products. These include the ones that are made of polycarbonate, which is the plastic that you should avoid the most if you are not avoiding it everywhere. #7 plastics are often hard, transparent plastics used in things like children's sippy cups, water bottles, food storage, and baby bottles (ie all the things that really don't need to be exposed to BPA leaching).
- Look for children's toys that are BPA free. Often times you can find ones that are marked as such, but you can also explore alternative toys such as wooden toys that are not using plastics at all (this would be my preference, personally).
- Use glass storage containers. They are more and more affordable, and pyrex makes some that work great. Good rule of thumb - don't store food in plastics.
- Bring your own bags to the grocery store - stores are more and more rewarding consumers who do this by giving them a .05 credit for each bag they bring. This will more than pay for the bags themselves over time, and I find that my reusable bags are so much more durable and easier to handle than plastic bags. I actually love using reusable bags, so although it takes some effort to remember to bring them to the store, it certainly isn't a sacrifice for me to use them!
- Drink tap water. Bottled water is a waste of money, and costs dearly in environmental waste. Not only that, but most bottled waters are in plastic bottles! You can save the environment, your pocket book, and your health by not drinking bottled water!
I hope this gives you some helpful tips on getting started removing the plastics from your life. Although plastics are easy to spot, they are so abundant in our everyday use that ridding our lives of them completely is quite a step. Don't get discouraged - Work On It Wednesday is all about baby steps. If you can't (or don't want to) replace items at this time, then just work on replacing them with non-plastics when they wear out. Don't be overwhelmed by the process. Every step that you take is a step in the right direction, and here at Just Add Lauren we're all about the process and doing what you can.
What steps do you plan on making this week? Where are you planning on starting in getting rid of your plastics? Have you already gotten rid of plastics, and if so, what tips do you have for other readers? Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences!
5/26/10
Work On It Wednesday - HFCS
Last week, we talked about cutting out artificial sweeteners from our lives in the Work On It Wednesday segment. This week, we're going to take it a bit farther (uh oh!) and tackle High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).
You've probably heard about HFCS in the news lately - it is literally all over the place. From Facebook groups calling for it's complete ban to commercials on TV that defend HFCS as fine in moderation, HFCS seems to be the demonized element of the moment. I'm not going to join in on the hoopla of everything that people have to say about it, but suffice to say that HFCS is not included in certified organic products, which says to me that it is a less than natural ingredient. In my quest for increasing the "whole foods" in my pantry, HFCS doesn't really have a place.
A little background information: HFCS is made by changing the sugar (glucose) in cornstarch into fructose - which is another form of sugar- and then adding that product to more glucose. The end product is a combination of fructose and glucose and is a cheaper sweetener (due in part to the government subsidies on corn), which makes it very desirable for food manufacturers who are looking to increase their profit margin.
People on either side of the HFCS debate have vastly different opinions about how it interacts with your body chemistry. Proponents of HFCS (mostly the Corn Refiners Association) claim that HFCS is nutritionally the same as sugar, and contains the same amount of calories as both sugar and honey. In addition, they claim that HFCS is made from corn, which makes it "natural" (see more about that ambiguous term here).
Those claims may be legally true (ie. it does contain the same amount of calories, and "natural" isn't really legally defined) but there have been ample studies that imply that HFCS may interact with our bodies in ways that are not beneficial, and contribute to some of the problems that we experience. One of the most prevalent claims is that HFCS contributes to the obesity epidemic that the US is currently facing. Over the last 40 years or so, the US has increased it production of HFCS from 3,000 tons to 9, 227,000 tons. Since 1980 it has increased 350% (figures are from Master Your Metabolism). During this same period of time, obesity rates in the US have shot up to the current level of 64% of adults being either overweight or obese. However, just because these two happened simultaneously does not imply that somehow HFCS made everyone overweight, or that there is something inherently wrong with HFCS in small doses (although clearly that is a term that we in the US have trouble wrapping our heads around).
The thing that gets to me about HFCS is not the correlation between its production and obesity rates. There are lots of things that happened during the same period of time that could have also contributed to the rise in obesity rates (women working outside the home more, increase in work hours for people, low fat diet trends, etc). The thing that gets to me about HFCS is the studies that show that it does actually interact in your body in ways that are different from table sugar, which already isn't great for you. According to a recent study from Princeton University, rats that were given HFCS gained significantly more weight than rats that were given normal sugar, even when their overall calorie consumption was the same. They also did a second study on HFCS which monitored weight gain, body fat, and triglyceride levels in rats that had daily access to HFCS. Over the course of the six month study, these rats showed what we call in humans "metabolic syndrome" characterized by abnormal weight gain, an increase in circulating triglycerides, and an increase in visceral fat around the abdomen. Additionally, a study at the University of Pennsylvania found that fructose does not suppress the hormone ghrelin in the same was that glucose does. Ghrelin is responsible for increasing your appetite, so ideally when you eat something, ghrelin levels should decrease, allowing you to feel satiated. By eating things with HFCS in them and not have lowered ghrelin levels, we set ourselves up for constant hunger and insatiable cravings.
Whew! That was a lot of information. All that to say though, that I'm Working On cutting HFCS out of my life. Although the Corn Refiners Association may tell me that it is all natural, I'm not buyin' it! Wikihow has a pretty thorough article about reducing your HFCS intake, but here are a few foods to watch out for in order to reduce your HFCS:
- Breakfast Cereals
- Juice, Soda, Tea
- Bread
- Cookies, Cakes, Crackers (even Wheat Thins!)
- Cottage cheese, yogurt, and sweetened dairy products
- Ice Cream
- Baked Beans
- Jams, Jellies
- Salad Dressing
- Pickles
- Sauces like spaghetti sauce and BBQ sauce
A great rule of thumb with HFCS is that it is usually present in packaged and processed foods - reduced your consumption of processed foods and you virtually guarantee that you are also reducing your consumption of HFCS. Become an avid label reader - one of the good things about trying to reduce HFCS is that it is pretty obvious in the nutritional label of packages. It usually just says "high fructose corn syrup." By reading your food labels religiously, you are not only going to find surprising foods with HFCS in them, and thus be able to eliminate them, but you'll also become more aware in general of the additives and extras in your food.
How are you planning on reducing your HFCS consumption? What was the most surprising food for you to find HFCS in? Do you feel that this is something that should be eliminated from your diet? I would love to hear your thoughts!
5/19/10
Work On It Wednesday - Artificial Sweeteners
Since Work On It Wednesday is a new series, I thought we would start off with some thing relatively easy to work on. Not so much easy in terms of how much you love the food and don't want to give it up, but more so easy in terms of recognizing it in the foods that you are eating and being able to identify it on the nutrition label.
This week, it will be working on removing the artificial sweeteners from you life (eek!) If an effort to eat more whole, fresh, clean foods, artificial sweeteners have been the thorn in my side. As I mentioned in my article about the definition of healthy, for much of my life I defined eating healthy as eating less calories, and in that regard artificial sweeteners are a godsend.
However, with my new definition of healthy in hand, I am working towards eliminating all artificial sweeteners out of my life. You will find the artificial sweeteners labeled on the nutrition panel as saccharin, aspartame (the most common), sucralose (Splenda), neotame (newest version of aspartame), acesulfame, acesulfame K, acesulfame potassium.
Here are just a few reasons to eliminate them from your diet, if you haven't already:
1) Although it seems counter intuitive, artificial sweeteners may actually contribute to weight gain. A study at Purdue University said that rats that were given saccharin gained more weight than rats given sugary foods. It claimed that rats whose diet contained artificial sweeteners experienced a physiological connection between sweet tastes and calories, which in the end drove them to overeat and actually consume more calories than they would have if they had just eaten the sugary food to begin with. Although I am only one person, and certainly this is not a scientific experiment, I have found this to be true in my own life. When I drink something like Diet Coke, I experience very intense sugar cravings for days following. The cravings are extremely hard to satiate, thus I end up eating more sweets and carbs trying to make them go away. This is but one good reason to eliminate artificial sweeteners.
2) The jury is still out on the link between artificial sweeteners and cancer. It seems they go back and forth between whether or not it causes (or at least contributes) to cancer, but I'd rather not take my chances.
3) They are just plain artificial. In my quest to be eating more whole foods, artificial sweeteners have absolutely no place. Eventually, I'm going to Work On eliminating all refined sugars from my life, but I think artificial sweeteners are the first stepping stone toward that goal.
Most Common Foods with Artificial Sweeteners:
Diet Soft Drinks
Chewing Gum
Breath Mints
Some Cereals
Ice Cream Novelties
Jams and Jellies
Nutrition Bars
Ready to Mix Drinks
Ready to Mix Meal Replacements (like Slim Fast)
Pudding
Yogurt (this is a big one in my house...)
Anything that is labeled "sugar free"
Some chewable vitamins
There is much controversy about whether or not artificial sweeteners actually cause anything that I've talked about above. It seems every time I read an article about the topic, there are multiple comments saying that artificial sweeteners are fine, the government has studied them, and we're all overreacting. That's all fine and dandy in my opinion, but this is just a personal choice that I myself am making to remove them from my life. I know that they have negative side effects for me (headaches, excessive thirst, the aforementioned sugar cravings), and since I am making this effort to change my diet, this is something that I want to do for me.
As always, I would love to have you join me on this journey! Are you working on eliminating artificial sweeteners from your own life? What is going to be the most difficult food for you to give up? (Let me just lay it out there - diet coke is it for me!)
5/12/10
Work On It Wednesday
(I, for one, am working on getting new graphics...please bear with me!)
Well, I think you (meaning I) can. So each Wednesday, I am going to make that a point - to make a conscious effort to change just one thing about my life or work towards a goal. Whether that be nutritional, environmental, fitness related, or just lifestyle in general, there are many parts of my life that could use improving, so I am going to work on it step by step. I am a very goal oriented person, and I function better when I set out with a specific idea of what I want to do in my mind, so I think that by setting those small stepping stone goals, I can work towards where I really want to be in my life. I discussed in my post about the definitions of healthy, I think life is all about making baby steps towards our ultimate goal. There are few people that can set a goal and then achieve it within days (or weeks, or whatever). And personally, the times that I have set goals and in one great leap achieved them, it meant that I was not setting myself high enough standards. So this series is going to be the opposite - my ultimate goal is to live in a completely green, healthy, environmental friendly, organic way. Certainly, I am not there yet (see the gluttonous pile of Redi-Whip I put on my Angel Food Cake), but I am working towards that goal with baby steps, and it is a journey.
I would love for you to join me on this journey. Part of what I envisioned for Just Add Lauren is a blog where we can come together and share our paths towards a healthier (and thus happier) lifestyle. I want your feedback, your changes, your comments, everything! Let me know what you are doing to improve your life, and I will likewise share what I am doing to improve mine!
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