Many of you know that my husband I decided to become pescetarians a few years back to keep off some of the weight that tends to creep up and cling tightly to most of us as we age. We saw real and marked success with this change in many areas, but especially around the middle. Fast forward a few years and you'll find my husband and I doing pretty well with healthy eating. Healthy except for one main thing: sugar.
Sugar is my weakness, my Kryptonite. I'm fairly fortunate to have a personality that isn't easily addicted to much of anything. My body is awesome about that too. No real issues, I thought. Then for some strange reason one day I felt the need to try a whole week without processed sugar. No "healthy" yogurt pretzels or dark chocolate covered almonds. I even said no to honey for the fear of it becoming a gateway drug, leading back into the harder white stuff. Well, I'm reporting in that after more than a week of only real foods -including fresh fruits, I'm actually feeling pretty great. The first 6 days were rough and I literally dreamed and day dreamed about cookies more times than I'd like to admit. But then, the cravings slowly started to dissipate and my body feels a lot happier now when I reach for an apple instead of chocolate. While I'm sure that I'll eat sugar again at some point, my new goal is to extend my processed sugar ban for a month. Will I make it? Who knows, but I'm sure gonna try. Anyone else out there trying out some new goals? Best of luck and keep smiling!
Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and I am not giving medical advice. Phew, now that that is done we can enough the following cartoon. What if medicine was more focussed on HEALTHcare and less focussed on curing sickness?
This is humorous but true! Most of us know the things wer should be doing to stay healthy but we get lost in the space between knowing and doing. This week I decided to give up meat (like normal life) and processed sugar. WHOA, can I tell you how hard it is to give up sugar?!? I realized I'm a total sugar addict when I started dreaming about chocolate chips cookies just a couple days in. While it's been hard, I'm shocked to see how much better I look and feel. I'm not sure if I'll make it all the way to my month mark, but I'm sure going to try. What goals are you working on? I think that working towards goals gives us a sense of achievement and purpose which definitely increases feelings of happiness. I love it-becoming better makes us happier. It sounds silly and such but it's science. And I love me some science. Happy weekend and keep smiling!
I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to brag, but I just had to post about something that has made my week quite a bit brighter. We've been to one of his concerts before and it was amazing; he truly is a performer. And can we talk about talent for a moment? Hello, Michael is out-of-this-world talented. I could listen to that silky voice sing jingles. Anyway, who is your favorite artist? Is their a group out there that instantly brightens your day? Oh and in case you haven't heard some of MB stuff, here's a couple of my fav songs:
Some people have indoor pet bunnies and they say that they act a lot like dogs. Today's fun little videos actually highlight what I think to be a major difference between them. This is similar to how Oakley looks when I am trying to give her a bath.
This bunny reacts quite differently
And this one is almost unbelievable
The cuteness level here is almost unbearable! Keep smiling!
I love the idea of helping people. LOVE. I'm short on time this morning but I wanted to share this cute little video on how "magic" fist-bumps helped some people who were down on their luck.
Not all of us can do awesome magic tricks like this, but we all can go out of our way each day to do something for someone else. Try it-It feels good. And as always, keep smiling!
As I was walking to the gym today, the head of maintenance for our community (who is also a dear friend) asked me how I was doing. It was one of those moments where I knew that he was asking me because he wanted to share how he was feeling. I replied that I was fine for a Monday and then somberly he said that he was feeling low because his dog had to be put down this weekend. As we talked for a little while, my heart hurt for him. And it still does. It also made me realize that our time with these little pups is short.
My little Oakley has saved my life in so many ways and I'm so thankful for her. How easy it is for me to forget how wonderful she is when she is begging for something or peed on the floor (I'm not quite ready to discuss last night's escapades). It's so easy to lose perspective and forget that these little animals are truly one of life's greatest gifts. They honestly don't require much and in return they give you love 100 times what you deserve. So today I'm grateful for the fur-baby in my life. She is loving, kind, affectionate and, as witnessed by the above picture, patient when we put silly hats on her. While Oakley tells me she loves me ALL. THE. TIME. with cuddles and wet kisses, this next dog is a little more direct. For your viewing pleasure:
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