The past few days have been kind of chaotic on the whole plan. I haven't been exercising. I was downing orange soda like it was water. I was under a lot of stress. Of course, I give myself plenty of excuses, but now it's time to get back on track.
Today I was good. I had soda, but I only had lemon-lime sodas, which have no caffeine. We've gotten our hands on a Wii Fit Plus, so I've been playing with that for a bit. I haven't gotten to do much with it, but I'm hoping to start really working with it tomorrow. Like I've written before, the goal is an hour of exercise every day in some form or another. I think with the Wii Fit, I can possibly attain that goal. It's fun!
I may not be there yet, but I'm getting back on track. I'm looking forward to the yoga and strength training portion of this program. It's something that could do me a lot of good. I need to be in shape again and get my energy back. I need to do this, not just for me, but for my kids. It will help them as they'll see an improvement in my energy levels, and I'll be modeling good behavior for them. They'll be seeing a fit and healthy mom, which is what they need.
What I like best about the Wii Fit is that there's a meditation portion under the balance games. It's nothing fancy or flashy. However, it does hold it's own challenges and it's calming. The idea is to sit quietly and not move on the board. If you move, it will cause the flame to flicker. If the flame flickers too much, you're done. They throw in a host of distractions to try and catch your attention. Personally, I like it because I can clear my mind and just focus on the candle. It's a moment to clear my mind with a focal point.
Anyhow, I think I'm on my way to improving my lifestyle with this. Hopefully this will be one of many changes towards a better life. Along with this is the benefit of healthier activity levels, I'm also well on my way to kicking the caffeine habit. I resisted the urge to buy more soda today at the store, only juice! I'm already on my way to a more positive and healthy lifestyle!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Bug Thing
It looks like it's finally over! All the bugs in my daughter's hair were dead! They've all been combed out and we've got nothing left but those stubborn eggs. Those could take forever to pick out, since those combs do nothing like they say they will, but it worked, and isn't that a small miracle!
Unfortunately, my poor child is suffering. As I washed the chemicals out of the back of her head I noticed hardened lumps at the back of her head. When her hair was clean and dry I took a closer look. I was horrified at what I saw, what my poor child was living with! The skin had all been scratched up, and scab after scab had been torn away from itching! The whole area looked horrible and I was almost afraid of touching it for fear of hurting her! My poor little girl must have been suffering so!
This whole lice infestation completely blew up on us. One day she was fine, then out of nowhere her hair was completely infested! Of course, the doctor's office made us wait a whole week for an appointment, so she had to suffer not only with failed remedy attempts, but through a whole week of waiting for the doctor to give her a prescription. I think in cases like lice infestations, they really should offer something sooner than a week. Kids suffer horribly that way and it's not their parents' fault when the cures aren't working or that their kid brought lice home from somewhere. I feel bad for the poor kid, since she was probably miserable. I had cut her hair shorter in hopes of relieving at least some of it, but it didn't do much good.
Thankfully, after removing all of the scabs my daughter had scratched off from her hair, it didn't look that bad in the end. It seemed like her efforts not to scratch all day while the medication was in her hair really paid off. It should only be a couple of days before she's feeling better. I can imagine how relieved she must be not to have her head itch all day long! I bet she'll sleep better at night too!
So today's sustainability effort has been tossed so I can take care of my kids. My daughter is now lice free and will soon be nit free too. My son has had a fever all day and has been sick and miserable, poor guy! The baby has been nothing but cranky all day. However, in some small way, this is an effort towards sustainable living. It teaches my children life lessons when I can take a break from making the changes in my life in order to take care of them when they need it. It teaches them that family will always come first in my mind, so hopefully my children will be raised in a loving and respectful way, which will drive them to find their own path to sustainability.
Unfortunately, my poor child is suffering. As I washed the chemicals out of the back of her head I noticed hardened lumps at the back of her head. When her hair was clean and dry I took a closer look. I was horrified at what I saw, what my poor child was living with! The skin had all been scratched up, and scab after scab had been torn away from itching! The whole area looked horrible and I was almost afraid of touching it for fear of hurting her! My poor little girl must have been suffering so!
This whole lice infestation completely blew up on us. One day she was fine, then out of nowhere her hair was completely infested! Of course, the doctor's office made us wait a whole week for an appointment, so she had to suffer not only with failed remedy attempts, but through a whole week of waiting for the doctor to give her a prescription. I think in cases like lice infestations, they really should offer something sooner than a week. Kids suffer horribly that way and it's not their parents' fault when the cures aren't working or that their kid brought lice home from somewhere. I feel bad for the poor kid, since she was probably miserable. I had cut her hair shorter in hopes of relieving at least some of it, but it didn't do much good.
Thankfully, after removing all of the scabs my daughter had scratched off from her hair, it didn't look that bad in the end. It seemed like her efforts not to scratch all day while the medication was in her hair really paid off. It should only be a couple of days before she's feeling better. I can imagine how relieved she must be not to have her head itch all day long! I bet she'll sleep better at night too!
So today's sustainability effort has been tossed so I can take care of my kids. My daughter is now lice free and will soon be nit free too. My son has had a fever all day and has been sick and miserable, poor guy! The baby has been nothing but cranky all day. However, in some small way, this is an effort towards sustainable living. It teaches my children life lessons when I can take a break from making the changes in my life in order to take care of them when they need it. It teaches them that family will always come first in my mind, so hopefully my children will be raised in a loving and respectful way, which will drive them to find their own path to sustainability.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
An Unexpected Bonus for Sustainable Living
Today I managed to do something wonderful for water conservation and I wasn't even thinking about it at the time! This has gotten me thinking about other ways I can conserve water, but I'll probably go into those later. Until we own our own house, it's going to be challenging to conserve water in any other way than to restrict what we use.
As I mentioned earlier, my family has been having a problem with lice. These are the evil kind that can't be killed by anything but the most drastic of measures. We got a prescription from the doctor to handle this problem, so hopefully things were going to get better. Today was supposed to be the great delousing day. Hair was to be treated or shaved, sheets would be washed, soft toys put away until cleaned, and the lice problem would be gone. This isn't the best way to spend a birthday, but at least we would be lice free!
Unfortunately, this didn't exactly go as planned, but what ever does around here. Thinking it would be smart to review the information on the prescription before I attempted to use it, I flipped open the page from the pharmacy. This had all sorts of useful information like preventing this stuff from getting in the eyes and nose and cautioning children to keep their eyes shut while the chemical was put in their hair. All of that seemed simple enough. That's when I get to the warning. It seems that it is unknown whether or not it is safe to breastfeed while using this medication. There is a possibility that the chemical could transfer through the skin and into the bloodstream, only to get into the milk and poison the baby. While, in theory, this shouldn't be a problem, there is no evidence that this is safe to use while nursing. Further, it is recommended that a woman does not use this chemical while nursing, from the information I've managed to find out. I don't have enough milk stored to go a full day without nursing, so I wasn't going to take the risk. Who could blame me? Isn't the health of my baby more important than killing lice by chemical means? That would mean I'd have to wait a week or more to store up enough milk for an entire day of feedings, and I didn't want to make my family suffer with these bugs for that long. My hair was shaved and that was the end of it.
So where does the water conservation kick in? Do you have any idea how long it takes me to shower now? Hop in, soap up, rinse off, shave, and out. I can be in and out of the shower in two minutes or less. Normally it takes me at least fifteen because of washing my hair and all of that. I've heard that taking a bath actually saves more on water than showering, but I think in my case, I can shower and use less water than I would in a bath. It's going to save a lot of water!
This has more benefits than simply water conservation. Of course, conserving water means that less waste water is being produced. The state of Texas isn't exactly known for being water rich and droughts happen. Conserving water is one more measure to reduce the chances of a shortage. Then there's the financial benefit for my family. For those who live in states that tenants pay their own water bill, you may not understand the benefit. However, in Texas, or for most home owners, the water bill is just one more expense to add to the list. It's one more bill draining family funds. Therefore, if I'm taking quick showers and using less water, the water bill is lower and that money can be put other places, such as paying off my car or past debts to get us out of debt that much sooner. Who knew the act of shaving my head would actually save me on money? On top of that, I'm not using shampoo and conditioner right now, so the water has one less solution dumped into it and I save on the cost of shampoo and conditioner! It may not be a huge expense, but every little bit counts. After all, every penny saved is one more that can go towards creating financial freedom and stability for my family.
Of course, all of this resulted from yet another positive act for the environment, and for my family, breastfeeding. Because I breastfeed, I'm benefiting my family and the environment in a number of ways. Obviously, my son is benefiting from all the positive effects breastfeeding has on baby, like increased immunities, reduced chances of allergies, and the healthiest, most natural source of nutrition available to him. I'm benefiting by losing the baby weight that much quicker. My whole family is financially benefiting because breast milk is virtually free, or at least significantly cheaper than formula. Unlike the popular claim, I say that breastfeeding is not actually free. Most mothers consume more calories and have to take prenatal vitamins that they would not otherwise take due to breastfeeding, but the cost of an additional three hundred or so calories to the diet and prenatal vitamins in comparison to the exorbitant cost of formula is still relatively small. There's the environmental benefit because more formula packaging isn't finding it's ways into landfills and dumps. Breast milk comes in a natural and (eventually) biodegradable package. For many families there are no bottles to clean and sterilize, which reduces energy and water consumption. Even for families that do use bottles for pumping and storage of milk, unless they exclusively pump (which some do), they are still using less bottles and therefore consuming less water and energy to wash and sterilize those bottles and their pump than formula feeding families use. Finally, there's this unexpected benefit of breastfeeding meaning the only way to rid myself of these lice is through shaving my head, which means for quicker showers and even less water consumption by my family! Who knew that breastfeeding would end up saving me so much on my water bill every month?
What does this have to do with sustainable living? A good deal, actually! Breastfeeding, for example, reduces my dependence on outside sources of food for my family. This effects my impact on the environment in many ways, everything from the after effects of the packaging to the transportation of the formula to the factory that created it. I have my own self-sustaining milk production center right here! That reduces the negative impact on the environment left from my family, which is, of course, better for the earth. The more sustainable resources we use from local suppliers, the less of a pollution impact we have on our environment. With water consumption, all the crud that ends up in the water has to go somewhere, even if it's just purified out. That takes energy. It takes energy to pump the water to our houses. Especially in areas where water is limited during portions of the year, water is a valuable resource that shouldn't be wasted. Saving water could mean there's more available for livestock and crops. Saving water also means consuming less energy to transport the water to your home, which generally comes from unsustainable energy sources, like most conventional power plants. Financial independence may not strike many as a step towards sustainable living, but financial independence, freedom from all debt, will help with sustainable living. It means you need to earn more money to pay off bills and creditors. In a day and age where most people past the age of retirement can't afford to live off their retirement funds, it's a benefit to be out of debt and planning for your future as soon as possible. If nothing else, I don't want my kids to be saddled with my bills after I die! I would like to leave them free and clear, perhaps with something to inherit, even if it is just my house or some land. Being out of debt means no interest payments, which means more of my money stays in my pockets. That means more savings, or more money that can be put into creating an even more sustainable home, perhaps a place with solar or wind power. Everything cycles back to being a possibility to living more sustainably.
So in the end, it all started out as a frustration that breastfeeding prevented me from being able to save my hair, but what's a little vanity for a healthier means of living? I think the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences in this case. Who knew breastfeeding and the lice that would not die would end up leading my family to having so many benefits to push us further towards a sustainable lifestyle and more financial freedom? Maybe it was meant to be!
As I mentioned earlier, my family has been having a problem with lice. These are the evil kind that can't be killed by anything but the most drastic of measures. We got a prescription from the doctor to handle this problem, so hopefully things were going to get better. Today was supposed to be the great delousing day. Hair was to be treated or shaved, sheets would be washed, soft toys put away until cleaned, and the lice problem would be gone. This isn't the best way to spend a birthday, but at least we would be lice free!
Unfortunately, this didn't exactly go as planned, but what ever does around here. Thinking it would be smart to review the information on the prescription before I attempted to use it, I flipped open the page from the pharmacy. This had all sorts of useful information like preventing this stuff from getting in the eyes and nose and cautioning children to keep their eyes shut while the chemical was put in their hair. All of that seemed simple enough. That's when I get to the warning. It seems that it is unknown whether or not it is safe to breastfeed while using this medication. There is a possibility that the chemical could transfer through the skin and into the bloodstream, only to get into the milk and poison the baby. While, in theory, this shouldn't be a problem, there is no evidence that this is safe to use while nursing. Further, it is recommended that a woman does not use this chemical while nursing, from the information I've managed to find out. I don't have enough milk stored to go a full day without nursing, so I wasn't going to take the risk. Who could blame me? Isn't the health of my baby more important than killing lice by chemical means? That would mean I'd have to wait a week or more to store up enough milk for an entire day of feedings, and I didn't want to make my family suffer with these bugs for that long. My hair was shaved and that was the end of it.
So where does the water conservation kick in? Do you have any idea how long it takes me to shower now? Hop in, soap up, rinse off, shave, and out. I can be in and out of the shower in two minutes or less. Normally it takes me at least fifteen because of washing my hair and all of that. I've heard that taking a bath actually saves more on water than showering, but I think in my case, I can shower and use less water than I would in a bath. It's going to save a lot of water!
This has more benefits than simply water conservation. Of course, conserving water means that less waste water is being produced. The state of Texas isn't exactly known for being water rich and droughts happen. Conserving water is one more measure to reduce the chances of a shortage. Then there's the financial benefit for my family. For those who live in states that tenants pay their own water bill, you may not understand the benefit. However, in Texas, or for most home owners, the water bill is just one more expense to add to the list. It's one more bill draining family funds. Therefore, if I'm taking quick showers and using less water, the water bill is lower and that money can be put other places, such as paying off my car or past debts to get us out of debt that much sooner. Who knew the act of shaving my head would actually save me on money? On top of that, I'm not using shampoo and conditioner right now, so the water has one less solution dumped into it and I save on the cost of shampoo and conditioner! It may not be a huge expense, but every little bit counts. After all, every penny saved is one more that can go towards creating financial freedom and stability for my family.
Of course, all of this resulted from yet another positive act for the environment, and for my family, breastfeeding. Because I breastfeed, I'm benefiting my family and the environment in a number of ways. Obviously, my son is benefiting from all the positive effects breastfeeding has on baby, like increased immunities, reduced chances of allergies, and the healthiest, most natural source of nutrition available to him. I'm benefiting by losing the baby weight that much quicker. My whole family is financially benefiting because breast milk is virtually free, or at least significantly cheaper than formula. Unlike the popular claim, I say that breastfeeding is not actually free. Most mothers consume more calories and have to take prenatal vitamins that they would not otherwise take due to breastfeeding, but the cost of an additional three hundred or so calories to the diet and prenatal vitamins in comparison to the exorbitant cost of formula is still relatively small. There's the environmental benefit because more formula packaging isn't finding it's ways into landfills and dumps. Breast milk comes in a natural and (eventually) biodegradable package. For many families there are no bottles to clean and sterilize, which reduces energy and water consumption. Even for families that do use bottles for pumping and storage of milk, unless they exclusively pump (which some do), they are still using less bottles and therefore consuming less water and energy to wash and sterilize those bottles and their pump than formula feeding families use. Finally, there's this unexpected benefit of breastfeeding meaning the only way to rid myself of these lice is through shaving my head, which means for quicker showers and even less water consumption by my family! Who knew that breastfeeding would end up saving me so much on my water bill every month?
What does this have to do with sustainable living? A good deal, actually! Breastfeeding, for example, reduces my dependence on outside sources of food for my family. This effects my impact on the environment in many ways, everything from the after effects of the packaging to the transportation of the formula to the factory that created it. I have my own self-sustaining milk production center right here! That reduces the negative impact on the environment left from my family, which is, of course, better for the earth. The more sustainable resources we use from local suppliers, the less of a pollution impact we have on our environment. With water consumption, all the crud that ends up in the water has to go somewhere, even if it's just purified out. That takes energy. It takes energy to pump the water to our houses. Especially in areas where water is limited during portions of the year, water is a valuable resource that shouldn't be wasted. Saving water could mean there's more available for livestock and crops. Saving water also means consuming less energy to transport the water to your home, which generally comes from unsustainable energy sources, like most conventional power plants. Financial independence may not strike many as a step towards sustainable living, but financial independence, freedom from all debt, will help with sustainable living. It means you need to earn more money to pay off bills and creditors. In a day and age where most people past the age of retirement can't afford to live off their retirement funds, it's a benefit to be out of debt and planning for your future as soon as possible. If nothing else, I don't want my kids to be saddled with my bills after I die! I would like to leave them free and clear, perhaps with something to inherit, even if it is just my house or some land. Being out of debt means no interest payments, which means more of my money stays in my pockets. That means more savings, or more money that can be put into creating an even more sustainable home, perhaps a place with solar or wind power. Everything cycles back to being a possibility to living more sustainably.
So in the end, it all started out as a frustration that breastfeeding prevented me from being able to save my hair, but what's a little vanity for a healthier means of living? I think the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences in this case. Who knew breastfeeding and the lice that would not die would end up leading my family to having so many benefits to push us further towards a sustainable lifestyle and more financial freedom? Maybe it was meant to be!
Off to a Horrible Start
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. At least these good intentions didn't end up hurting anyone but myself, not that they're really hurting me. It's frustrating that less than a full day in I ended up failing, but tomorrow is a new day and I can make an effort again starting then. That's what it's all about, keep on trying until you succeed.
The caffeine thing, that didn't even last more than twelve hours. The orange soda was sitting there, calling my name. However, it's not a lot of caffeine, and once it's gone, I'm not buying anymore. I did do well with drinking green tea, which is a start. At least it's something healthier than soda. Now if only I could stick to that!
Exercise went well, but today I just didn't have the time! Well, I did, but I had other things to do, so I decided to be a slacker instead. There was just so much running around to get done! I've also been achy. I know, excuses, excuses. However, it's not me making excuses this time! I've been doing so much dance over the past two weeks that I think it's starting to wear on me. The muscles in my back and sides are sore from constantly using them in ways my slacker body isn't used to. It's wondering what all this proper posture stuff is! I know it's good for me, but until my body adjusts, it's going to be rough. Then there's having to put the baby in the carrier during class that isn't helping. The extra weight on my body is hard to adjust to when it's so suddenly on me. I think a day off isn't too much of a big deal, as long as I make no more excuses and get back to it. Because of this, I've come to realize that exercising every day is kind of essential for me. If I don't exercise every day then I'll just slack off on the day I'm supposed to. I really do need to get off my butt and do it already!
In other news, we've started talking about getting another car today. This topic leaves me a bit torn. On one hand, it leaves me free to do what I want to do since I won't be house-bound when my significant other is at work. On the other hand, I'm left worrying about the impact this is going to leave on the environment. Doesn't this just give us a larger carbon footprint? Won't this just increase the total emissions put out by my family? Is that something I really want to do? I suppose I don't have much choice. The only option is to only drive when necessary. I already have to leave the house anyway to do laundry, buy groceries, and run other essential errands. I suppose it doesn't make that big of a difference if I'm using a secondary car or not. I'll just have to keep track of how far I'm going. With the economy being so bad and gas prices being what they are, I don't think that will be much of a challenge.
Tomorrow is also my birthday. I get to celebrate it with doing something I don't really want to do, treat the household for lice. It seems there's a breed of lice going around that is resistant to the store-bought chemicals as well as almost all holistic treatments I've found on the web. Apparently it's gotten so bad that they've had to change the prescription they used to use to kill the nasty bugs for something they weren't resisting. This prescription medication is the hardest thing to find! It seems everyone has this nasty variant of the bugs because most of the pharmacies were out. I hate the idea of putting chemicals on my head or my daugher's, but the only other option at this point is to shave our heads. As much as I don't want to do that, I want these things gone. If the prescription doesn't work, it may just come down to that. It's sad when we live in a world where bugs have become so chemical resistant that it's not just the holistic remedies that don't work. My poor kids have been made miserable with all kinds of things put in their hair that were supposed to kill the bugs or help remove the eggs. We were joking that these things have become super lice! Apparently we weren't far off at all!
Tomorrow, after every male in the house has their head shaved but the baby, and my daughter and I get our hair treated, and the laundry is done, I'm going to try and think of something sustainable living related to do. Maybe I'll pull out one of my projects and knit. I may look up a local recycling center for reference. Maybe I'll just focus on my own health and go for a nice, long walk. It will be nice to stretch my legs and work out the stress of everything going on. Maybe it will help clear my mind.
Tomorrow is another day. A birthday is always a good day to start new and more positive habits. It's certainly one way I can do something to treat myself.
The caffeine thing, that didn't even last more than twelve hours. The orange soda was sitting there, calling my name. However, it's not a lot of caffeine, and once it's gone, I'm not buying anymore. I did do well with drinking green tea, which is a start. At least it's something healthier than soda. Now if only I could stick to that!
Exercise went well, but today I just didn't have the time! Well, I did, but I had other things to do, so I decided to be a slacker instead. There was just so much running around to get done! I've also been achy. I know, excuses, excuses. However, it's not me making excuses this time! I've been doing so much dance over the past two weeks that I think it's starting to wear on me. The muscles in my back and sides are sore from constantly using them in ways my slacker body isn't used to. It's wondering what all this proper posture stuff is! I know it's good for me, but until my body adjusts, it's going to be rough. Then there's having to put the baby in the carrier during class that isn't helping. The extra weight on my body is hard to adjust to when it's so suddenly on me. I think a day off isn't too much of a big deal, as long as I make no more excuses and get back to it. Because of this, I've come to realize that exercising every day is kind of essential for me. If I don't exercise every day then I'll just slack off on the day I'm supposed to. I really do need to get off my butt and do it already!
In other news, we've started talking about getting another car today. This topic leaves me a bit torn. On one hand, it leaves me free to do what I want to do since I won't be house-bound when my significant other is at work. On the other hand, I'm left worrying about the impact this is going to leave on the environment. Doesn't this just give us a larger carbon footprint? Won't this just increase the total emissions put out by my family? Is that something I really want to do? I suppose I don't have much choice. The only option is to only drive when necessary. I already have to leave the house anyway to do laundry, buy groceries, and run other essential errands. I suppose it doesn't make that big of a difference if I'm using a secondary car or not. I'll just have to keep track of how far I'm going. With the economy being so bad and gas prices being what they are, I don't think that will be much of a challenge.
Tomorrow is also my birthday. I get to celebrate it with doing something I don't really want to do, treat the household for lice. It seems there's a breed of lice going around that is resistant to the store-bought chemicals as well as almost all holistic treatments I've found on the web. Apparently it's gotten so bad that they've had to change the prescription they used to use to kill the nasty bugs for something they weren't resisting. This prescription medication is the hardest thing to find! It seems everyone has this nasty variant of the bugs because most of the pharmacies were out. I hate the idea of putting chemicals on my head or my daugher's, but the only other option at this point is to shave our heads. As much as I don't want to do that, I want these things gone. If the prescription doesn't work, it may just come down to that. It's sad when we live in a world where bugs have become so chemical resistant that it's not just the holistic remedies that don't work. My poor kids have been made miserable with all kinds of things put in their hair that were supposed to kill the bugs or help remove the eggs. We were joking that these things have become super lice! Apparently we weren't far off at all!
Tomorrow, after every male in the house has their head shaved but the baby, and my daughter and I get our hair treated, and the laundry is done, I'm going to try and think of something sustainable living related to do. Maybe I'll pull out one of my projects and knit. I may look up a local recycling center for reference. Maybe I'll just focus on my own health and go for a nice, long walk. It will be nice to stretch my legs and work out the stress of everything going on. Maybe it will help clear my mind.
Tomorrow is another day. A birthday is always a good day to start new and more positive habits. It's certainly one way I can do something to treat myself.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Beginning a Healthier Lifestyle
Taking a look at my life over the past few years, I've come to realize that it's simply not healthy. I don't mean that it's unhealthy. I'm not a pack and a half a day smoker that lives off of fast food, stress, and enough caffeine to cause your heart to explode. I'm more the kind of person that drinks too much soda, isn't active enough, and spends way too much time in front of the computer. I don't take enough care to eat healthy meals and do what's best for my body. It's time to change those patterns.
As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will a healthier lifestyle be easy to create in such a short time. It's going to take time for new, healthier habits to form. It's going to take time for my own system to adjust. Nothing happens all at once and it's far too easy to lose it all if you try to accomplish it all at once. It takes little steps at a time. They say it takes twenty days to break a bad habit, which means it takes twenty days to make a good one. Because of that, I'm going to try and institute each new change in a three week cycle, and hopefully I won't give up.
For the next three weeks I intend to institute a couple of new changes for a healthier lifestyle. These changes all kind of relate and should give me more energy, something I need with how tired I've been. More energy will certainly help on this path to a healthier lifestyle.
The first change isn't that much of a stretch from my current lifestyle, I want to do something physically active every day for at least an hour. As things currently stand, I dance three days a week for at least an hour. That means I only have four days to fill with something active and healthy to do. I'm not talking anything challenging, like running for an hour or anything like that. A walk around the neighborhood would be good enough, but I need to be doing something active.
Next, I want to remove caffeine from my diet. Preferably this will be done by removing all sodas as well, but I'll focus on the caffeine. Orange soda is unfortunately well caffeinated, and that is my biggest problem. It's also all to easy to reach for an energy drink when I'm feeling kind of sluggish rather than reaching for something healthier, or getting more sleep. I know full well that I won't be able to kick it all together, but once the rest of my soda is gone, I won't be buying anymore. Instead I'm trying to find healthier drinks, like green tea, to replace my soda habit. Juice and water are also great alternatives.
The final change I want to make could take more than three weeks to start. Once the house is unpacked I want to make a constant effort to keep the house clean. It's all too easy to let it get cluttered and fall behind. Who cares? You're just going to have to clean up later anyways, so what does it matter. Even though it may seem so much easier to let the mess build, I want to live in a healthy environment, and that requires a clean home, something I've never truly had in all my life. That one is going to be a hard habit to get into, but I have confidence in myself.
There are a few expected results that will show in all aspects of my life. On a physical level, I believe I will be a healthier person. I should have more energy, and therefore be able to get more done each day. On a mental and emotional level, I should feel much better about myself. Getting enough exercise and and eating healthy often has emotional benefits, making for a happier person. Increased energy also tends result in a better mood as well. My sleep schedule will improve given that getting enough exercise can help with sleeping, and the relation between caffeine and sleep is obvious. My kids will benefit because a happier, healthier mom with more energy has obvious benefits. It will be easier for them to maintain a regular sleep schedule as well because I will be able to do more with them and won't have such a hard time dragging myself out of bed in the morning.
This is just day one of the whole experiment, but hopefully by week three I will be well in the habit and ready for something new. In the future I hope to add practices that help with personal awareness, energy, and fitness, like yoga. With the local farmer's market due to open again soon, I hope to shop locally instead of making purchases at big box stores. Perhaps there will be research into companies that support green living so I can buy from them. There are many ideas on the horizon as to what the next step will be, but I'm going to do my best to focus on them one step at a time.
As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will a healthier lifestyle be easy to create in such a short time. It's going to take time for new, healthier habits to form. It's going to take time for my own system to adjust. Nothing happens all at once and it's far too easy to lose it all if you try to accomplish it all at once. It takes little steps at a time. They say it takes twenty days to break a bad habit, which means it takes twenty days to make a good one. Because of that, I'm going to try and institute each new change in a three week cycle, and hopefully I won't give up.
For the next three weeks I intend to institute a couple of new changes for a healthier lifestyle. These changes all kind of relate and should give me more energy, something I need with how tired I've been. More energy will certainly help on this path to a healthier lifestyle.
The first change isn't that much of a stretch from my current lifestyle, I want to do something physically active every day for at least an hour. As things currently stand, I dance three days a week for at least an hour. That means I only have four days to fill with something active and healthy to do. I'm not talking anything challenging, like running for an hour or anything like that. A walk around the neighborhood would be good enough, but I need to be doing something active.
Next, I want to remove caffeine from my diet. Preferably this will be done by removing all sodas as well, but I'll focus on the caffeine. Orange soda is unfortunately well caffeinated, and that is my biggest problem. It's also all to easy to reach for an energy drink when I'm feeling kind of sluggish rather than reaching for something healthier, or getting more sleep. I know full well that I won't be able to kick it all together, but once the rest of my soda is gone, I won't be buying anymore. Instead I'm trying to find healthier drinks, like green tea, to replace my soda habit. Juice and water are also great alternatives.
The final change I want to make could take more than three weeks to start. Once the house is unpacked I want to make a constant effort to keep the house clean. It's all too easy to let it get cluttered and fall behind. Who cares? You're just going to have to clean up later anyways, so what does it matter. Even though it may seem so much easier to let the mess build, I want to live in a healthy environment, and that requires a clean home, something I've never truly had in all my life. That one is going to be a hard habit to get into, but I have confidence in myself.
There are a few expected results that will show in all aspects of my life. On a physical level, I believe I will be a healthier person. I should have more energy, and therefore be able to get more done each day. On a mental and emotional level, I should feel much better about myself. Getting enough exercise and and eating healthy often has emotional benefits, making for a happier person. Increased energy also tends result in a better mood as well. My sleep schedule will improve given that getting enough exercise can help with sleeping, and the relation between caffeine and sleep is obvious. My kids will benefit because a happier, healthier mom with more energy has obvious benefits. It will be easier for them to maintain a regular sleep schedule as well because I will be able to do more with them and won't have such a hard time dragging myself out of bed in the morning.
This is just day one of the whole experiment, but hopefully by week three I will be well in the habit and ready for something new. In the future I hope to add practices that help with personal awareness, energy, and fitness, like yoga. With the local farmer's market due to open again soon, I hope to shop locally instead of making purchases at big box stores. Perhaps there will be research into companies that support green living so I can buy from them. There are many ideas on the horizon as to what the next step will be, but I'm going to do my best to focus on them one step at a time.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Challenges in 2010
As of Monday this week, we are officially free and clear of our old home. We've got everything packed up and chaotically fit like Tetris blocks in our living room. Slowly things are being unpacked and put away. We're starting to settle in and find our way in our new home. We're trying to make this new, smaller apartment into a home instead of just a place where all our stuff happens to be.
Of course, moving always comes with it's challenges, but this new place comes with more than expected. Some of the changes are good, some aren't. For us, this will mean a lot of changes in our lives, both in an effort to work with the bad, and in a positive direction for all the good new features of this apartment.
To begin, we'll start with the good things. The floors in this new apartment are carpeted. This is wonderful as it helps retain the heat and prevents the cement slab floors from freezing our feet. The place is far better insulated, so when it's cool, it stays that way longer. When it's warm, it keeps the heat in. There are very few windows for heat to escape from, and those are well seated and not drafty like our old home. We're on the first floor, so we won't have the challenge of the sun beating down on the roof and causing the house to be brutally warm, though we do have some problems with the master bedroom in the mornings. The ventilation system actually works, so we won't have the problems with trying to play with the temperature settings to keep the house tolerable in the bedrooms and living spaces at the same time. The place is also significantly smaller, which means there's less space to heat. Finally, right off our back patio is wilderness. I saw a fox out there two nights ago. Yesterday there were a pair of hawks hunting. They flew by as close as perhaps twenty feet away! One night last week we had a chance to meet one of our neighbors, a possum that was walking up and down the breezeway. It feels good to be in touch with nature again and not so cut off from the environment as we used to be.
Unfortunately, this place has it's own issues. The biggest problem I have right now is the lack of a recycling program. I know that's easy enough to solve. All I have to do is find the local recycling center and bring all our recycling down there, but it's so much effort! I'll admit that I'm lazy. Whoever lives above us is always banging about at five in the morning, keeping me awake. There aren't many windows, so natural ventilation is difficult. There is one window in each bedroom and the patio door in the living room. This also means a lack of light. Most of our windows are facing north, so that means very little light comes in, so electric lighting needs to be used in order to do just about anything in the kitchen, including homeschool activities. Our northern facing patio is also going to be difficult to grow plants on. Any kind of container garden I could have will need to be made of plants that grow well in the shade. I also can't set up a drying rack in the sun so that clothing can be air dried.
A problem we had at our old place has been carried on to our new home, a lack of a washer and dryer. While a part of this is just a convenience, it's also something that would make a huge difference here. Having a washer and dryer would make cloth diapering so much easier, which means less disposable diapers ending up in landfills and otherwise destroying the planet. I hope to save up to buy a nice, new Energy Star washer and dryer, since those have the least impact on the environment, probably less so than even the local laundromat. Better still, gas would be saved in transporting the laundry! That's something we need to work up to.
All in all, this apartment is a step in the right direction for us. It will be easier to maintain. It's required us to downsize the total amount of stuff we own. Most of what we're getting rid of is going to donations of some sort, so we're not just throwing it away and leading to more excess waste. We are taking steps to give our lives more structure and order. This has really been a positive change for us. Now we just need to cope with the challenges this new place brings.
Of course, moving always comes with it's challenges, but this new place comes with more than expected. Some of the changes are good, some aren't. For us, this will mean a lot of changes in our lives, both in an effort to work with the bad, and in a positive direction for all the good new features of this apartment.
To begin, we'll start with the good things. The floors in this new apartment are carpeted. This is wonderful as it helps retain the heat and prevents the cement slab floors from freezing our feet. The place is far better insulated, so when it's cool, it stays that way longer. When it's warm, it keeps the heat in. There are very few windows for heat to escape from, and those are well seated and not drafty like our old home. We're on the first floor, so we won't have the challenge of the sun beating down on the roof and causing the house to be brutally warm, though we do have some problems with the master bedroom in the mornings. The ventilation system actually works, so we won't have the problems with trying to play with the temperature settings to keep the house tolerable in the bedrooms and living spaces at the same time. The place is also significantly smaller, which means there's less space to heat. Finally, right off our back patio is wilderness. I saw a fox out there two nights ago. Yesterday there were a pair of hawks hunting. They flew by as close as perhaps twenty feet away! One night last week we had a chance to meet one of our neighbors, a possum that was walking up and down the breezeway. It feels good to be in touch with nature again and not so cut off from the environment as we used to be.
Unfortunately, this place has it's own issues. The biggest problem I have right now is the lack of a recycling program. I know that's easy enough to solve. All I have to do is find the local recycling center and bring all our recycling down there, but it's so much effort! I'll admit that I'm lazy. Whoever lives above us is always banging about at five in the morning, keeping me awake. There aren't many windows, so natural ventilation is difficult. There is one window in each bedroom and the patio door in the living room. This also means a lack of light. Most of our windows are facing north, so that means very little light comes in, so electric lighting needs to be used in order to do just about anything in the kitchen, including homeschool activities. Our northern facing patio is also going to be difficult to grow plants on. Any kind of container garden I could have will need to be made of plants that grow well in the shade. I also can't set up a drying rack in the sun so that clothing can be air dried.
A problem we had at our old place has been carried on to our new home, a lack of a washer and dryer. While a part of this is just a convenience, it's also something that would make a huge difference here. Having a washer and dryer would make cloth diapering so much easier, which means less disposable diapers ending up in landfills and otherwise destroying the planet. I hope to save up to buy a nice, new Energy Star washer and dryer, since those have the least impact on the environment, probably less so than even the local laundromat. Better still, gas would be saved in transporting the laundry! That's something we need to work up to.
All in all, this apartment is a step in the right direction for us. It will be easier to maintain. It's required us to downsize the total amount of stuff we own. Most of what we're getting rid of is going to donations of some sort, so we're not just throwing it away and leading to more excess waste. We are taking steps to give our lives more structure and order. This has really been a positive change for us. Now we just need to cope with the challenges this new place brings.
Welcome to the Den
Welcome to the Fox's Den!
This blog is going to document my journey, from here on out, as I strive towards a more natural, sustainable, and healthy family. Perhaps my journey can inspire others to strive towards sustainable living, natural parenting, gentle discipline methods, and possibly even taking education into their own hands! This blog will be about life, family, and leaving a positive impact on the world that surrounds us. The Earth is our home and we've been treating it far too poorly. Our bodies should be respected and cared for, since they're the only ones this life will grant us, yet we abuse them and feed them with toxins. Our children are our future, yet we fill their heads with garbage, negative social programming, and so much else that gets in their way of a positive, happy lifestyle. I hope to change those patterns so I may respect the earth around me, respect my own body, and raise happy, healthy and aware children.
My journey started years back with Girl Scouts. It began with recycling, planting trees, cleaning up the environment and other things that were positive for the environment. We were very big on the environment back then. I almost began to think Girl Scouts was more about being green than taking care of the world around us! However, it made an impact on me. I cared about environmental issues. I cared about the Earth. I hated seeing the way it was being damaged, yet didn't know enough to do much about it at the time. All I could do was hope for the best and do what little I could.
Years later I became involved with people and groups that showed me there was far more to all of this than tossing recyclables into bins to be picked up on trash day and planting a few seeds. There was more reason for it, and I had far more to gain because of it. There was so much more I could and should be doing! I had spent my whole life forming negative habits that I would soon have to change. My whole opinion about life turned about! I wasn't thinking with the narrow view I had grown up to have. My life was forever changed.
At this present time, I'm finally starting my path to changing my life for the better. I'm a mother of three children. I have a six year old daughter that is currently homeschooled. I have two sons, a two year old and a three month old. I'm separated from a man who did no real good for my family. He didn't share any of my values. He saw that change needed to happen, yet was unwilling to do more than sit and complain about it. Instead I'm involved with a man who is younger than I am, and far more naive. He doesn't have the understanding of life the way I do, but he's making an effort to educate himself. He's starting to see things my way, not because I'm brainwashing him, but because he sees the positive benefits a more natural, earthy, and sustainable life could have for our family. We're hoping to some day settle down, buy our own land, and create a positive place for ourselves with minimum impact on the environment around us.
There are many things holding me back from actually attaining this lifestyle. For starters, I'm kind of lazy, though I'm willing to admit it. In this world, it's easier to live in a damaging and unhealthy way than it is to live in a positive one. I'll admit, it's so easy to eat fast food and I have quite a thing for orange soda (often referred to in my house as "nuclear orange death"). Though I have a dairy allergy, I'd rather live with it and enjoy cheeses and the like than give it up. In general, society has come to a point where it's just easier and more convenient to be lazy, and we're all being programmed for it.
Thankfully, with my children, I've started on the right path. While I'm homeschooling my daughter, we're taking more of an unschooling stance. I let her learn as she chooses to learn and don't try and force knowledge on her. We've been working with reading and writing, but I've only been encouraging her, not forcing it on her. She's been learning a lot about weather, nature, how things grow and where things come from. She's taken an interest in history and learning how other cultures do things. Thankfully, she hasn't stopped asking the magic question of "Why?" I've done the baby wearing thing with all my children, including the new one who seems to like it more than the older two have. I've shared a bed with my children, each until the point where it was no longer possible or practical. The baby will be sleeping in the bed until he decides he no longer is interested. They're learning about things like saving water and recycling from a young age, and I try to keep them as involved in my life as possible. I let them express their own interests and creativity.
In the next year I hope to make some changes that will make all our lives better. I hope to start cooking for my family, cutting back on eating out, perhaps even starting a garden. I want to start taking the kids for walks so we can start taking lessons out into the real world. Hopefully there will some positive changes to write about soon!
This blog is going to document my journey, from here on out, as I strive towards a more natural, sustainable, and healthy family. Perhaps my journey can inspire others to strive towards sustainable living, natural parenting, gentle discipline methods, and possibly even taking education into their own hands! This blog will be about life, family, and leaving a positive impact on the world that surrounds us. The Earth is our home and we've been treating it far too poorly. Our bodies should be respected and cared for, since they're the only ones this life will grant us, yet we abuse them and feed them with toxins. Our children are our future, yet we fill their heads with garbage, negative social programming, and so much else that gets in their way of a positive, happy lifestyle. I hope to change those patterns so I may respect the earth around me, respect my own body, and raise happy, healthy and aware children.
My journey started years back with Girl Scouts. It began with recycling, planting trees, cleaning up the environment and other things that were positive for the environment. We were very big on the environment back then. I almost began to think Girl Scouts was more about being green than taking care of the world around us! However, it made an impact on me. I cared about environmental issues. I cared about the Earth. I hated seeing the way it was being damaged, yet didn't know enough to do much about it at the time. All I could do was hope for the best and do what little I could.
Years later I became involved with people and groups that showed me there was far more to all of this than tossing recyclables into bins to be picked up on trash day and planting a few seeds. There was more reason for it, and I had far more to gain because of it. There was so much more I could and should be doing! I had spent my whole life forming negative habits that I would soon have to change. My whole opinion about life turned about! I wasn't thinking with the narrow view I had grown up to have. My life was forever changed.
At this present time, I'm finally starting my path to changing my life for the better. I'm a mother of three children. I have a six year old daughter that is currently homeschooled. I have two sons, a two year old and a three month old. I'm separated from a man who did no real good for my family. He didn't share any of my values. He saw that change needed to happen, yet was unwilling to do more than sit and complain about it. Instead I'm involved with a man who is younger than I am, and far more naive. He doesn't have the understanding of life the way I do, but he's making an effort to educate himself. He's starting to see things my way, not because I'm brainwashing him, but because he sees the positive benefits a more natural, earthy, and sustainable life could have for our family. We're hoping to some day settle down, buy our own land, and create a positive place for ourselves with minimum impact on the environment around us.
There are many things holding me back from actually attaining this lifestyle. For starters, I'm kind of lazy, though I'm willing to admit it. In this world, it's easier to live in a damaging and unhealthy way than it is to live in a positive one. I'll admit, it's so easy to eat fast food and I have quite a thing for orange soda (often referred to in my house as "nuclear orange death"). Though I have a dairy allergy, I'd rather live with it and enjoy cheeses and the like than give it up. In general, society has come to a point where it's just easier and more convenient to be lazy, and we're all being programmed for it.
Thankfully, with my children, I've started on the right path. While I'm homeschooling my daughter, we're taking more of an unschooling stance. I let her learn as she chooses to learn and don't try and force knowledge on her. We've been working with reading and writing, but I've only been encouraging her, not forcing it on her. She's been learning a lot about weather, nature, how things grow and where things come from. She's taken an interest in history and learning how other cultures do things. Thankfully, she hasn't stopped asking the magic question of "Why?" I've done the baby wearing thing with all my children, including the new one who seems to like it more than the older two have. I've shared a bed with my children, each until the point where it was no longer possible or practical. The baby will be sleeping in the bed until he decides he no longer is interested. They're learning about things like saving water and recycling from a young age, and I try to keep them as involved in my life as possible. I let them express their own interests and creativity.
In the next year I hope to make some changes that will make all our lives better. I hope to start cooking for my family, cutting back on eating out, perhaps even starting a garden. I want to start taking the kids for walks so we can start taking lessons out into the real world. Hopefully there will some positive changes to write about soon!
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