Happy New Year~ The First Step toward the light!

 

 I just love everything about the New Year! A new year means new beginnings, fresh starts, clean slates! Technically, each new day, hour, minute, or second can mean that as well! However, I am a BIG thinker and dreamer. I am pretty much 'all or nothing', 'go big or go home'. It's how God made me. So I love the thought of an entire New Year ahead! A blank page of a years worth novel! Doesn't just the sound of that get you fired up?! I usually am pretty disciplined and do really well with resolutions and goals for part of the year. It's around that 3 month mark I begin to get antsy and bored then around month 6 I am tired and I usually fall short of what I set out to accomplish. I know this about myself and rather than beat myself up about it I am choosing to embrace it and just try my best to have a strategy that allows me to keep on track. Also trying to focus and acknowledge that I did remain disciplined for whatever amount of time I did as well as giving hope to the fact that I did it before so I know I can do it again, right?! It's all about how you look at it! 

This year I have resolved to stay as positive as possible and to avoid negative thoughts, judgements, anything that would bring me down. Rejecting them as soon as they surface. I know it will be challenging. Especially because my wonderful 2 week vacation will be ending next week and I anticipate many challenges but my new mantra is to Be the Light and to STAY Where the light is! Truly sending out as much love and positive energy into the world as I can. Being Bold and rejecting fears and insecurities. This is not to say negative frustrations or stress will not enter my thought process or life but when they do I want to recognize it right away and think a new thought and not get sucked in to the 'dark', if you will ;) 

It is probably no surprise to any of my readers or human beings that know me that I am most inspired by music, it is my true passion. My other obsession passion inspiration is John Mayer! His lyric in his song Gravity has always meant so much to me ever since hearing the song. We all fight gravity and each individual has their own 'gravity'. Those things that get us down, people that bring us or put us down, habits, choices, obstacles etc. that cause us to detour or fall short of happiness. All those things are our personal gravity and are different for each of us and trying not to get brought down my it is a battle we all face. The war between light and dark. Knowing our 'gravity' is crucial to being able to stay where the light is. Knowing our true passions and inspirations means digging deeper into our core and souls. Doing more of what makes us feel good will bring more light and energy into our lives. It's the universal law of attraction! Staying absorbed in those rather than being forced down by our gravities will bring us an amazing year!

The first step I began today was anytime a negative thought or comment surfaced I rejected it and made it a positive. I looked to the light and when I started thinking about something negative I immediately said to myself, "Be the Light!" It reminded me to look at it in a different way. When things get worse I will sing, "Gravity~stay the hell away from me!" I had a friend who once wore a rubber band around her wrist and anytime a negative thought would pop in her head she would snap herself with the rubber band, extreme?......maybe! However, she eventually was able to take off that rubber band and recognize her thought process without having to snap herself! She became a much more positive person and after several years she told me she ended up having to wear the rubber band again from time to time to remind her of her thought process. I thought it was brilliant and look up to her for that! I am a talker and a music lover so having something to sing or recite helps me better than a rubber band would but the first step is KNOWING yourself enough to know what will work for you! Having a plan and a step to work towards is key!

Step 1~ Notice your gravity and have a saying or strategy that allows you to move toward the light! Have several Mantras you can recite to yourself if needed! I even went as far as making a Pinterest board that I will refer to as much as possible of mantras I loved and will memorize them to keep me where the light is!

I hope you have a year of LIGHT and BLESSINGS! 

 

The Heart of Life!

 

This image is how I feel today! I feel like the Universe is pouring so many wonderful things in my cup that it is truly running over. I believe every perfect and good gift comes from God (James 1:17) and today he has my heart bursting with gratitude! Choosing to let the light shine in does the soul wonders! I hope you count all your blessings today! I pray you feel like a rainbow of blessings and happiness is being poured right into you for you to appreciate and experience! If you would have experienced my day yesterday you would have thought I would have woke up in the worst mood and had zero energy! However, I said my prayers last night and counted my blessings. I meditated  on what was good and visualized God taking the rest in his arms and lifting it away from me. I had beautiful dreams and woke up with a happy heart and plenty of energy! I encourage you to try real hard at the end of every day to focus on the good and let God take away the rest! Always leave room for the light to pour in because even when things don't always go the way they should the heart of life is ALWAYS good! ;) 

To go along with my post I chose this tune for your listening pleasure! Of course it's brought to you by John Mayer! :) Swoon Swoon

Have a healthy and happy week! 

~Ang

Just Be You!

All you need is Love!

Do It Anyway!

My friends and I went to Jungle Jims this weekend to explore all the healthy foods we could not get at our typical chain stores. Oh, that is another post! I have pictures and plenty to share on that later this week! I ended up with food from Jungle Jims and since they are more expensive on organics than Kroger I also had to go Krogering yesterday after my son's basketball game. Now, keep in mind my son had basketball and we had to leave at 1:15. We got back at 5:00 and he had baseball practice from 6-8! Our typical lifestyle plan would have been to run through the drive thru at some fast food place and we all would have sucked down a ton of calories, cholesterol, and fat. I am committed to this lifestyle change so I knew I had to have something ready when we got home. I did not "feel" like doing it before his game but I did it anyway. I decided on putting baked potatoes in my slow cooker. I have two slow cookers so in the other I put in asparagus and mushrooms. Which by the way is my new favorite veggie combo! YUM! I had some cut up honeydew in the fridge and that was dessert. I will tell you when I came home I was so glad it was ready for us to eat! I had ran to Kroger so I had produce everywhere in my kitchen! My fridge was a hot mess! I just tossed in all the produce bags. We ate dinner and it was great. Although I was not feeling like making it earlier, I was so relieved it was ready when we got home. I loved that feeling afterward. I love watching my son be able to be excited to go from basketball to baseball and have seen a new energy in him. Parents of the basketball team were even asking me what we were doing with him because he has slimmed down and has become a lot faster. He was not over weight but he is down 5lbs. He is a big boy by nature it has done him good to lose a little. It has increased his energy, sports ability, & his overall health! 

My husband took him to baseball and I was left with all this on the counter & island, not to mention a hot mess in the fridge which I refuse to show you....

It was Sunday and I just wanted to have a glass of wine and read my new book. I was in no mood to clean out the fridge let alone try and figure out what the heck I was going to do with all this food! I remembered how good it felt to have had dinner ready after basketball. I knew what our crazy week was ahead. With me working, kids having homework, basketball, baseball, and gymnastics. My daughter and I are also taking a yoga class 2 nights a week, & my husband coaching high school basketball tournaments. I would be stressing myself out all week trying to clean and prepare our dinners, & the kids lunches with my kitchen the way it was. I knew I would feel better this entire week if I just did it now. Even though I was sacrificing my Sunday evening I knew it would give me peace through the week. So I began washing, chopping, & getting things done. I took EVERYTHING out of my fridge cleaned it & began planning. 

Some tips and tricks I did that will save time this week....

I washed & chopped up my veggies & herbs for my minestrone soup & placed in freezer bag. I will put in slow cooker later this week. It's ready to be tossed in. I will add broth, beans, turn it on low & dinner will be ready when we are without the hassle!

Washed & cut the strawberries and placed back in the original container I washed out. Now they are ready for me to toss in kids lunch boxes this week!

Washed up all the produce and placed in bags so they are ready to go! Saves me a lot of time during the week night. I also juice so I placed my juicing veggies in a separate bag labeled juice! I can find everything easier in these clear bags and they take up less space in the fridge. They are washed and ready to be tossed in my juicer or a salad, or in a dish for dinner!

 

 

I had a lot of fruit so I decided to prepare the watermelon, honeydew, blueberries, & mango's as a fruit salad in this awesome BPA free container. It is ready for desserts or to toss in kids lunches! It also took way less space in my fridge this way!

 

 

My finished fridge with all my healthy foods ready to go for the week! Man it feels good to have done this!

I washed apples & pears and placed them with the oranges in a container. The rule in our house is that the kids can have fruit and veggies at anytime and never have to ask. They are ready for them to grab when they get hungry. I also have to mention that I find the canning mason jars so handy for so many things. Saving space & keeping things fresh for one! They are perfect for tomatoes, blueberries, juice, salsa, etc. We eat a lot of produce so I don't can them we eat them too fast but for storing and keeping fresh until we do I have found them to be amazing! 

It took me 2 hours to clean out my fridge, wash, chop, plan and put away everything. It sounds like a lot & trust me I was NOT wanting to do it, especially on a Sunday after a busy weekend. I am however, so glad I did. I am fully committed to this lifestyle and sacrificing 2 hours on a Sunday was not really that big of a deal when I think of all the stress it will prevent me during weeknight dinners. Everything is ready to go & all I have to do is prepare it. It's like my old quick boxed or frozen meals I would go to when I was in a hurry only they are full of complete nutrition for me and my family. Healthy food does not have to take a ton of time and a lot of stress just some planning and dedication!

Hope these ideas help you a little with your weeknight dinners. Mom's never get much of a break so let's make it easier on us and take that extra down time we rarely get to plan ahead knowing it will give us more extra time in the long run & less stress. We never really feel like doing it but tell yourself to do it anyway! Tonight after dinner I am going to have that glass of wine & read my book. After all I feel I deserve it! 

CLARITY!

I am on week 5 of my vegan plant based, gluten free, sugar free, soy free, and dairy free diet! I feel fantastic! My Dr saw me yesterday for my thyroid and he said, YOU LOOK GREAT! I could not help but smile and tell him, I FEEL GREAT! I have come such a long way since December and especially in a year. This new lifestyle has not always been easy but I can tell you it has been absolutely worth it. The scale is FINALLY moving in the right direction for me! I must admit one should be thrilled at the loss of 14 pounds, and I am happy with that. However, still a bit freaked out because although I have lost 14 I am still a ridiculous weight for my body and usual weight. I have 20 more pounds to go and I know I will get there. I have been purposely focusing on how I feel and trying not to focus too much on the weight. The way I feel is the blessing for me and the weight coming off is the bonus! I want to drop these last 20 pounds and get back to my old clothes and I know it will happen in time. For now I feel so great and I am focusing on that constantly.

So to break it down I am on week 5 and in 4 weeks I have lost 14 pounds which is an average weight loss of 3.5 pounds per week. Healthy and steady wins the race! Around the 15th day I was soaking in a bubble bath after yoga and I looked up with this new clarity. Literally the fog lifted and colors even looked different to me! I had been living in such a fog for so long! I was living on autopilot most of the time and was never fully present! This experience was so awesome. I wish everyone who is living in that terrible fog would give this a try so you too can feel so much clarity! In addition to the energy, awesome sleep, weight loss, and clarity, I have other benefits that have made my journey this far worth it! My skin looks so much better, my eye lashes are growing and are thicker, they actually look like they did in high school! My nails are stronger and are growing like crazy. I never knew my nails could do that, they are no longer thin, bend or peel! My digestive system has no more issues! I have not had a headache or body ache. The chronic rash on my right foot is almost invisible and has not bothered me in weeks! This rash has been there for over 7 years despite all the creams medications and trips to the Dr! AMAZING results in just 4 full weeks! Just another reason to pass on the animal, and processed products and eat veggies, fruits, beans, and legumes!

Of course I have to leave you with my newest theme song, and new alarm tone when I awake from my deep awesome sleep! It's by the amazing JOHN MAYER, of course! ;)

Conscious Treasures!

 While driving back home last night I was blessed to see the most beautiful sunset! The sky was lit up with orange, pink, purple, and the sun looked like a neon piece of sea glass!! It absolutely took my breath away! I pulled over and tried to take a picture with my phone but they never turn out as good as you actually see it! 

My heart was happy I felt God's presence and it inspired me to soak in the beauty of the scene and start counting all my blessings. I believe that not everyday is always going to be happy go lucky but there is always something to be thankful for everyday. I looked at the sky in awe and thanked God for creating such a gorgeous scene. I have always been a sunset person. The sunrise is very gorgeous but I am usually a night owl and find I appreciate sunsets more. I have made a conscious effort to run in the evenings toward the sunset because it truly fills my cup.

Do you find that in those moments when you feel wonderful and really alive it is those same times when you are being appreciative and giving thanks? In my previous post I talked about listening to your heart and doing what you love, simply being thankful for your passion can make a difference in your mindset! Do you find that the more you express your gratefulness to something the more greatness you notice? I encourage you to try it not just today, do it EVERYDAY! Find something to be thankful for, find some blessings to focus on, no matter what may be going on in your life, I know we ALL have something we can recognize as a gift. When you become conscious of them, you will feel so alive and so happy! I encourage you to notice the great outdoors. Notice the colorful bird, flowers, the sunset, the moon. I love to take what I call "freeze frame moments" mentally when I see my kids playing together and smiling, it makes me so happy. It can be a moment when my son is talking with his Dad about football and I see their passion. It can be when my daughter comes up and snuggles her head to my shoulder. It can be smiling and hanging with friends, it can be a song on the radio. A simple breeze that cools you off when your hot. I just challenge you to notice these special gifts and notice when you pay attention more are offered! I hope you will feel happier and more alive! 

 

I love this quote from Thornton Wilder. I have always believed and seen it many times in my life that God wont bless you with more if you don't appreciate what you already have. When you really make it a purpose to find treasures in your everyday, you will notice you receive more and more of them! What is something you can be thankful for right now?