Tag: Healthy

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Faith Family Productivity

Discipline…2021 Word of the Year…Again

2020 and Tech Did Not Mix

Last year, around September or October, I wrote about my 2021 Word of the Year. But, falling in line with all that 2020 was, my website went down and I lost over 4 months of blog posts. This is the one time I am happy my lack of motivation and overall busyness with other things prevented me from writing so much. 

But truthfully, after writing about Discipline, I started to feel like maybe that wasn’t my word anymore. I began to hear some other things from God, and I was actually sure that my word moved from discipline to discipleship.

So what did I do? In true Tanisha Rhenáe fashion, I bought some books on discipleship and started to pray. And honestly, my website going down and erasing my posts going all the way back to that Discipline post, I was about to take that as a sign that it wasn’t my word.

But then God made it very clear that I had a few areas in my life that needed some discipline. And those areas are ones that I’ve been struggling with, and I know that only Jesus would be able to pull me through. So I wanted to share some things I am hoping to build discipline in. Let’s start with my physical health.

My Heath

If you have been around for any amount of time, you know that I love food and I hate exercise. My Word of the Year for 2019 was Health. (the wrap up for 2020 is lost to internet Heaven and probably won’t be resurrected.). And while there were plenty of areas in 2019 that I improved health-wise, my physical health was not one of them. What I did include, I failed miserably at. And to be honest, I still wouldn’t be focused on it this year if I didn’t have to.

2020 Quarantine and Deployment 15

I’m lying when I blame the 2020 quarantine for my weight gain. I’m a homebody. And if I weren’t trying to do my part to save the world from this pandemic, I would still be in my house, away from the world. But hubby had a deployment last year, and it definitely played a part in some depression that made me want to do nothing but eat until he came home. (To be clear, him being deployed doesn’t make me depressed.  But me missing him adds to the depression I have already been diagnosed with.)

And let’s continue with the confessions (queue Usher’s album). When I say 15, I really mean 75. Pounds. Sign. So a couple of months after the quarantine started, my body did this crazy thing where I lost my appetite. I wasn’t hungry, and since I tend to get busy and forget to eat anyway, I wasn’t really eating. I ended up losing over 15 lbs. This was great because I could stand to lose the weight, to begin with.

My psychiatrist didn’t tend to think so. And since we were trying to figure out my insomnia, he decided to give me a sleep med that also had a benefit of increasing my appetite. Y’all, this medicine is the devil. It increased my appetite alright. Not only did I gain the 15 lbs back, but I also gained an additional 50. My hunger would hit me shortly after I take the medicine (at night since it was a sleep med), and I would literally not be able to go to sleep until I ate something. And, of course, it was usually something unhealthy.

And it all snuck up on me very quickly. This weight gain happened in a couple of months. I see my psychiatrist every two months, and bless his soul, he could immediately see the weight gain at my next appointment. And I couldn’t even blame it on the camera. But because my sleep was improving, it’s one of those things that you have to decide is it worth it to stay on the meds?  Well, we decided it was.  So your girl has to figure this out.

Getting Disciplined

So what am I changing? First, I decided I needed to track what I eat.  I know I overeat.  I make big plates.  I always eat sweets.  Pasta and other carbs are my favorite.  I just love all things food.  And while I don’t plan to count calories or anything like that, I wanted to see exactly how much I was eating (a lot, btw!).  And while I know I wasn’t only eating when I was hungry, it still shocked me to see how much food I was eating in a day.

I decided to pay for the premium subscription for the Lose It app.  One of the benefits of tracking what I eat is that I can also keep a close eye on my sugar intake.  I have fructose malabsorption, plus my glucose and cholesterol levels were up, and my doctor warned me that I needed to get them under control.  To do that, I switched from white bread to wheat bread and started to eat oatmeal for breakfast.  I also don’t remember the last time I had pasta.

I’ve also switched to eating more of lean meats and seafood diet.  My love for steak and oxtails are getting pushed to once a month or a quarter.  And while Chris just refuses to eat veggies, I am getting back in the habit of having 1-2 veggies with each meal.  Along with trying to eat one salad a day.  I also add fruit to my oatmeal in the mornings.

As much as I hate to admit this… to lose weight, I need to exercise.  But since I still despise exercise, I am only willing to walk.  The good thing is, I hang out with some people that love to exercise.  One of my friends has offered to go walking with me three times a week.  I’m hoping that Chris loves me enough to push me to walk with him at least three other times during the week.

Let’s Do This

I’ll admit, I’m not really all that excited about this.  But I know what I need to do when it comes to my health.  While I am all about body positivity and loving yourself no matter the size, my weight is starting to actually hurt me.  I feel the weight on my joints.  My fibromyalgia is flaring up more and more.  Not to mention, I always said that if I hit a certain weight, I would start exercising.  Well, that was 13 lbs ago.  So while I may not be excited, I am about to get disciplined.   

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Home

Finally Loving Your Home: Cleaning With FlyLady

I talked a bit about creating a homemaking block in my most recent post here on the blog.  While I enjoy cleaning and, even more, a clean home, I can sometimes get in a rut where I’m just tired of cleaning.  But as I mentioned here, I need to get out of it if I want to have my home being a sanctuary for my husband and me.  So I thought back to when I truly enjoyed cleaning last.  And it was a year or two ago when I was following the Fly Lady routine. There are still pieces that I follow to this day, but because I am not doing the whole process, it doesn’t feel the same.

But my problem with the system itself was, it is tough to follow because the details are not in one place.  I mean, her website reminds me of the late 90’s/the early 2000s and is full of items to buy from her. Her technique is to get you to sign up for her email, and she sends you what needs to be done throughout the day. For example, I signed up again for her emails to get started and have already received at least eight emails a day.  And her site says that she averages ten emails a day.  It’s a bit overwhelming.  Especially for a planner like me, that would like to plan in advance.  I’ve scanned her site, and it’s a bit all over the place to find what you need.  So let me try and break down how it works.

Update: This post got long! I was thinking about breaking it up until multiple posts and decided that defeats the purpose of having everything in one place.  So while this lengthy post will be published as one, let’s focus on one topic at a time.  Join me on my Instagram, where I will post our focus for the day, and let’s talk about it!

FLYing Lessons

The site tells you to start here. FLYing is all about “Finally Loving Yourself,” which she describes as having “peace of mind, pride in your home, and a passion for living.”  In the emails I mentioned above, you get what is called Missions for your daily Zone.  But wait, before you do that, you focus on what she calls Baby Steps.  And the first one is this: Shine Your Sink.  Now, this is a practice that I have followed forever.  Before I go to bed, I do what I call “Shutting Down the Kitchen,” and that includes making sure the kitchen sink is not only empty, but I scrub it out with a powdered cleaner and dish liquid. This is the same process that Fly Lady calls Shine Your Sink, and she outlines a 12 step process to do it.

Next, she tells you to Get Dressed to Shoes.  That means to get dressed for the day, including wearing shoes.  And laced up shoes at that.  She insists that doing this prevents you from slipping them off and lounging around.  I disagree with this.  I mean, I understand it’s much harder to take a nap with the sneakers on, but if I am tired, those shoes won’t stop me.  I’ll take them off or leave my feet dangling off the couch or bed.  And I hate wearing shoes in my house.  I have thought about buying a pair just for inside (slippers or slides).  I do believe that getting up and getting dressed helps motivate you, though.  When I transitioned from working in Corporate to working from home, I went from wearing skirts that I loved most days to wearing 50’s style dresses.  I won’t call them house dresses because that reminds me of nightgowns.  But something about wearing the dresses gave me pride in what I was doing from home, and that included my cleaning.  Now thanks to one too many Krispy Kreme donuts, I can’t fit most of my dresses anymore, but with the seasons changing, I plan on getting back to wearing dresses again.  Maybe just a little bit more flowing.  But I will miss my basketball shorts and leggings.

Baby Steps

Now we are finally getting to the rest of those Baby Steps she talked about.  Fair warning, clicking on that link doesn’t get you to the baby steps without having to click on another link.  Which appears to contain the same info from the first link AND the info about Baby Step #1, which was Shining Your Sink all to just, redirect you back to the link I provided you up there.  See what I mean about the struggle with finding out the information? And we haven’t even started cleaning anything but the sink.  Oh, and you have to click a new link to get to each new Baby Step, but you then have to go back to the first page to get to the next link.  But I’m going to help you out by listing the rest below.  Now each Baby Step corresponds with a day.  So it will take you 31 days to get through all of them.  She says this is to help you establish small routines, build consistency, and to take your time enjoying the process.

  1. Shine Your Sink
  2. Get Dressed to Lace-Up Shoes
  3. Put Out A New Dish Towel Each Night – This is something I try to do each night using these towels.  I think the actual step for this day is to review the website, but I’m saving you 10 hours.
  4. Post Sticky Notes on Bathroom Mirror and Kitchen Sink – This is to remind you to do #1 and #2.  And is the beginning of what she calls your control journal.  More on that later.
  5. Turn Negative Thoughts into Positive Phrases – If you find yourself saying you don’t deserve a clean home, seeing this list should help.
  6. Take 2 Minutes to Clear a Hot Spot – Find that one spot in your house that stays cluttered, set a timer, and clear it.
  7. Pick Out Your Clothes At Night – I think everyone recognizes that this helps mornings go smoother.
  8. Create Your Control Journal – She recommends a binder and some paper and to now break Steps 1-7 into a morning and evening routine, with #6 happening in both.
  9. Five Minute Room Rescue – Spend 5 minutes clearing a path in your worst room.
  10. 15 Minutes: Pick Up Trash and Rest – Set a timer for 15 minutes, gather all the trash you can, and take it out.  Set a time for another 15 minutes and rest.
  11. Inspiration In 15 Minutes – Take 15 minutes to write some inspirational quotes.
  12. Delete Her Emails – It’s been less than five days since I signed up, and I have 30 emails from her.  If she averages ten a day as she says, you should be deleting 120 emails on Day 12.  This is ridiculous.  She doesn’t like clutter but is providing digital clutter.
  13. Do The Mission for the Day – Now for some cleaning.  Take a break here and jump to the next section on Zones and Missions.
  14. Time for a Calendar – Find a place for a calendar (high traffic area) and get one up.  We’ve used this one for a couple of years now.
  15. Make Your Bed – Add this to your morning routine.
  16. Back to the Website – She wants you to read what others are saying about the system.
  17. Set a Bedtime and Stick to It – Don’t wait until it’s time for bed to do your evening routine either.  Start right after dinner
  18. 11 Commandments – But wait…another list. Luckily this one is mostly a repeat of what she has already told you with additions like don’t be distracted, do one thing at a time, and pamper yourself.
  19. No Rushing – This one was hard to figure out as she had another testimonial in there.  But don’t rush, slow down and set a time if you need to.
  20. Laundry – Start a load of laundry at night, put it in the dryer when you wake up, fold/hang, and put away as part of your morning routines.
  21. Clean Out One Drawer – So technically, this day was to read more things on her website, but she also said to clean out one drawer for each family member to make it easier to put laundry away.
  22. Office in a Bag – Work on building your control journal and keep everything you need to pay bills, make a grocery list, etc. in one portable place.  Just in case you need more to do, here are 15 steps to create your control journal.
  23. Afternoon Routine – Start dinner in the afternoon.  Plan your meals a week at a time and get them added to your calendar.
  24. Swish and Swipe – Swish the toilet bowl with the brush and wipe out the sink and clean the countertops with a rag.
  25. More Reading – Read some more of her website, but if you have more than one bathroom, use a different one each time you need to go and do the swish and swipe.
  26. Never Behind – A reminder to start wherever you are, even if you get behind.  I also noticed she added lunch and to drink plenty of water to the afternoon routines.
  27. Dinner – Prepare for dinner either the night before or in the morning.  Remove anything from the freezer you need, and don’t forget your side dishes.
  28. Take Care of You – Set a timer for 15 minutes and read.  Remember to eat good food, drink your water, take breaks, and get some rest.
  29. Weekly Pamper Mission – It looks like the idea for the day was a testimonial from a reader who got a back rub from her hubby after a relaxing bath.  Breakfast was added to the morning routine.  Water, meds, and vitamins were added to both morning and evening routines.
  30. Important Dates – Look at the calendar for next month and see what important dates need to be planned for.  This is also where you learn about your weekly plan, which is more routines.  Head to that section below to learn more.
  31. Don’t Worry – Another reminder to not get overwhelmed with all of the things she has you doing.

Zones

Zones are different parts of the house that she assigns you to clean each week.  There are five zones, and ideally, you would hit them all in one month.  The goal is to spend 15 minutes a day cleaning your zone based on the mission you are given (see next section).  Here are the zones and when she says they would be cleaned:

  1. Entrance/Front Porch/Dining Room – the first few days of the month until Sunday
  2. Kitchen – the first full week of the month
  3. Main Bathroom/Extra Room – the second full week of the month
  4. Master Bedroom/Bath/Closet – the third full week of the month
  5. Living Room/Den/TV Room – the last few days of the month, starting on Monday

 

 

Missions

Missions are your daily to-dos for the day.  Each week she tells you one mission to do each day.  It doesn’t appear that this information is laid out in advance anywhere, so you only get one week at a time.  Here are last weeks (the current weeks is here), for example:

Monday

Spend 15 minutes getting rid of 27 things from the Main Bathroom.  Do the same in the Extra Room.

Tuesday

Shine your tub/shower in the Main Bathroom.  Set your timer for 15 minutes and get the guest bed ready for company.  Wash the sheets if needed.

Wednesday

Wash your Main Bathroom rugs, shower curtains, and accessories.  Dust in the Extra Room, ensuring you get those cobwebs in the corner.

Thursday

Toss old or unused cosmetics, perfumes, and other hygiene products.  For the Extra Room, either spend 15 minutes getting rid of 27 more things or sweep/vacuum.

Friday

Clean the counters and sink in the Main Bathroom.  Take 15 minutes to relax.

Weekly Plan

Monday’s – Weekly Home Blessing for an hour

This includes tossing old magazines, changing the sheets, emptying the trash, vacuuming, mop kitchen and bathroom, clean mirrors and doors, and dust.

Tuesday’s – Free Day

Water and fertilize plants.  Spend 15 minutes in the current Zone

Wednesday’s – Zone Cleaning and Partial Desk Time

Finish zone cleaning and weekly cleaning. Clean the fridge. Write thank-you notes. Work on the menu and grocery list for next week.  Balance checkbook.

Thursday’s – Grocery and Errand Day

Make sure your menu is ready for grocery shopping. Confirm the list before you leave.  Go grocery shopping and run errands.

Friday’s – Paperwork and Misc.

Date night. Get food from the freezer for next week.  File papers. Write letters and cards. Cleanout purse.  Mend clothes and polish shoes. Pet care. Clean out car and check fluids. Clean laundry room.

Saturday’s – Family Fun Day

Sunday’s – Renew Your Spirit Day

 

 

But Wait There Is More

But I am not about to make this post any longer.  I found her detailed before bed routine, morning routines, weekly checklist (not to be confused with the weekly plan), and finally, the detailed cleaning list. The list alone is nine pages long.

Seriously it is almost easier to check her emails every day to figure out what to do.  She sends what is called a flight plan that gives you the daily checklist, challenges, and missions.

My house needs a good deep spring cleaning, so I am going to take a look at everything else and determine if all of this information is truly needed.  Or maybe I can see if I can figure out a way to simplify this or find simpler systems.

Look forward to more post about cleaning our home as we make this happen.  Have you heard about Fly Lady? Tell me what you think below.

*I’ve used my referral link in this post for Grove.  This gives you a 5-piece gift set for first-time users.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links included in this post.

Categories
Faith Family Marriage

In The Middle of a Hard Marriage

When I settled on marriage as one of my March themes for Year of Healthy, I had no intention of actually writing about it.  I mentioned that it was extremely personal, and I hadn’t been released to from God or my husband.  Then one weekend, while talking with Chris, we were going over how we both have had some wins lately.  In our marriage and out of our marriage.  We recognized that it was because of God and openly gave Him praise.  Then I started to think about some of the advice I’ve been given throughout our marriage.  What worked and what didn’t work.   I thought about the research I did when I was struggling and what I found and what I didn’t find.  One of the things that I did not see was someone that was in the middle of difficulties and what they did.  So many people gave advice multiple years removed from their struggles.  The frustrating part would be, when they reminisced about having a difficult time, but couldn’t tell you how they overcame them.  I vividly remember only two people that were able to give me advice on what they did (I will mention that these two people, we look to as wise counsel, and they have sat with us multiple times, mostly individually).  So after talking to Chris about that, I told him I wanted to share our “in the middle.”  He gave me his blessing, and I believe, that, and the fact that this even popped into my mind, was God’s way of saying do it.  I will say this will obviously be written from my perspective and thoughts.  Chris will read it before it’s published (as he does any post where he is mentioned, or the information may be sensitive to us – like when finance was my topic).  My goal is to write in such a way that I don’t have to remove anything.

Very Little Background

Today, we are celebrating eight years of marriage.  In the midst of 2019, I would have told you that each year was getting harder. Before marriage, I was someone who was driven, strong-willed, and a planner.  I knew exactly how I wanted my life to go, and I followed that plan.  And expected it to continue when I got married.  But the first three years, disrupted that plan.  Now to be fair, I want to point out that we had some outside factors that impacted our marriage that we could not prevent.  The first three years were lived in a blur. Those first three years, we were in survival mode and didn’t have time to have problems.  Once things settled, though, that is when our problems started.  The next five years were hell because we refused to deal with those earlier issues or communicate at all.

But I also thought I knew what was right.  That plan I created?  Even though things didn’t go that way, I expected us to get back on track.  And when it didn’t happen, I focused on other things.  But because I wasn’t successful at being a wife, I started questioning every other role in my life.  I eventually lost who I was.  Now, this wasn’t at the fault of my husband.  More so from what I exposed myself to.  Other people and marriages that I was trying to mimic ours around.  Things that I wanted to do that were discouraged. Somethings I didn’t want to do, that was pushed on me. I was so unhappy that I was willing to change anything.  So I tried to do what I saw people who appeared to be happy do.  This is the dangerous part of building a community.  I got to a point where I couldn’t take any of it anymore.  If you have read some of my previous posts, you will know that in 2019, I left for what I call a sabbatical.  During that time, I strengthened my relationship with God and dived into His Word.  I focused on me.  I had to work through all of this when I realized I didn’t know who I was anymore.  I couldn’t tell you what I liked.  And what I could come up with (for example reading), I hadn’t done in ages.  It was time for a change, so I started working on me.

But I Can Change Him

Now, some advice that I have been given a bunch of times was I can’t change Chris.  And I tried to—a lot. I fought against this advice because I wasn’t the problem.  He was, and he had all types of issues to work out. It took me a while, but I realized that this was toxic thinking.  Because I was trying to make myself out to be perfect. I was also speaking horribly over my life partner. And let’s be real, the problems in our marriage, clearly showed that HIS issues were really OUR issues.  So all of the years, I spent trying to get him to change was wasted.  Because guess what? You can’t change another person.  Well, you kind of can, but we will get to that in a second.  But one thing you can for sure change is yourself.  Give me a moment to explain because if you were like me, you are probably yelling at your screen, saying, “I am not the problem!”

After a million times trying to change Chris, I gave up.  It was exhausting; I was drained; I was tired.  I decided to become selfish.  But in a good way. I went searching for things that bought me joy.  Because of my personality, a lot of that ended up being self-improvement things.  I was reading again.  I was listening to podcasts.  What I was watching on T.V. was either educational or funny.  Now, to be completely honest,  this was shortly after a time where God was convicting me on the useless things I allowed to come into my spirit.  I wasn’t listening to secular music.  I wasn’t watching movies with a bunch of cursing and sex scenes.  But I want to be clear that although this is something that God convicted me on, it ended up helping me find me and what I enjoyed again. I also focused on how each thing could be applied to my life and what changes I could make because of what I was taking in.  This became a big part of why I created this blog and what I try and showcase.  How I saw things and thought about things was changing.  What I worried and stressed over was changing.  And then I realized, maybe how I was handling my marriage was wrong.  So my prayer became, God, how can I become the wife you need me to be for Chris?  I finally realized that Chris wasn’t going to change.  But I could. I was already starting to see what focusing on me was doing. What would happen if instead of doing this for me, I did it for my marriage? My relationships with others? My community?  I started to focus on being a better person for others after I took the time to focus on me.

That’s Great And All But What About My Marriage

Now our marriage didn’t magically become better.  I had moments where I slipped up.  Things were still pretty rough.  But after one particularly bad argument, we were told to do somethings that I think added to the work I was already doing.  We were told to do a daily devotional together.  And for Chris to pray out loud for me every day.  We were giving some other things to do, but those two things are what we were told to start with that we are currently doing.  We are doing the Kingdom Marriage Devotional by Tony Evans (I’m also reading the book on my own).  The devotional is formated in a brief 1 1/2 page devotional, three application questions, and a prayer.  Specifically, the questions have allowed us to be open and honest and communicate with each other about things that are important to our marriage.  Things that we had long forgotten about or just didn’t seem relevant to each other.  This paved the way for conversations that came from our answers, us sharing our concerns, and just being able to talk again.  It was a safe space to say, “this is the problem I have, and I would like to work through it.”  We always add to the prayer that Dr. Evans gives and try to cover things that we spoke about in our answers.  Chris also prays over me before he leaves for work.  This has made me feel loved and appreciated. We have started to dream again and talk about goals.  The important part is we are back communicating.

We are a long way from our problems being fixed.  We still have to do work every single day. But we see fruit from this.  In our marriage and our individual lives.  I think this is because we finally found the right order to things (thanks to the book).  My husband had to come under submission to Christ as the head of our household.  Not saying that wasn’t done previously, but it wasn’t done with intentionality and wholeheartedly.  At the same time (and that part is essential), I had to come under the submission of my husband.  Now I have always believed in the husband being the head of the household.  But my actions didn’t always show this.  I mentioned I was a strong-willed and driven person.  So I thought I knew best and didn’t honestly want to hear my husband’s opinion.  This was wrong in so many ways, but mainly because we are in a partnership, and I shouldn’t discount his thoughts and suggestions.  I was, also, 100 times nicer and more accepting of other people’s views and opinions outside my home.  But what I have learned from this is, the more I come under actual submission under Chris, the more apparent it is that we really are in this together.  He isn’t trying to rule me.  He listens to my ideas, and we, as a couple, create a solution.

Speak Life and Praise God

Changing my thought life and what I speak, also helped a ton.  I wrote about affirmations and manifesting before, but I started to put this into action.  I began to talk to Chris like the man and husband I knew he could be through Christ.  I spoke positively about our marriage.  I spoke scripture over us.  I asked God to let me be a wife that Chris can love, and he be the husband that I could respect. (Ephesians 5:33)  Allow us to be indeed one flesh.  (Genesis 2:24) Allow us to fulfill our marital duties to each other. (1 Corinthians 7:3).  I also spoke some specific scripture over the goals we had together and individually.  And actually, in my Bible reading now, I specifically look for things that I can turn into prayers and affirmations.  Characteristics of people that God found righteous.  Verses that speak to our identity in Christ.  So…many…proverbs.  I was previously one of those people that was making prayer so hard, and therefore, I struggled.  But God’s Word is so full of things that we can pray over ourselves and our loved ones.  This has made such a huge difference in how I have felt, how I look at situations, and how I handle things.  I am still not 100%, but I’ve come a long way, and it’s important to acknowledge that.

Lastly, it is important to give praise and honor to God for what He is doing in our marriage and our lives.  I make it a point to thank Him daily (multiple times a day really) for what He is doing.  Even if that particular day was terrible, I still thank Him for the work He is doing in our marriage and lives.  This frequently leads to me being thankful for other things and talking to God about what He is doing and His attributes.  I never want to forget who it was that made this happen.  Who allowed us to be able to do the work.  I know for me specifically, when I turned to build my relationship and foundation with God, and then when we brought Him into our marriage, mountains moved.  And to think, it started with me realizing that no, I couldn’t change him, but God could if He saw fit.  Thank God that He ended up changing us both.

Tl;dr? Marriage is hard.  We are in the middle of one now.  Here is what we are doing:

*Get closer to God.  Get selfish.  Focus on you and start doing what brings you joy.

*Don’t mimic other marriages.

*Pray about how YOU can change and do better

*Do a daily devotional with your husband.  Preferably, one with questions.

*Have your husband pray over you, out loud, each day.

*Get your house in order, and both of you come under submission: Christ -> Husband -> Wife

*Speak life into your husband and pray scripture over them.

*Give praise and honor to God along the way.

Categories
Family Food Home

About This Vegan Thing…

Welp, I did it.  I went vegan for February. Errr…for 24 days at least.  I’m officially calling it a vegan journey, but as much as I wanted to stay entirely plant-based, it did not happen.  I bought a bunch of premade “meat” items and some cereal (did you know Captain Crunch and Cinnamon Toast Crunch are vegan?).  I made a quick post on social media about how the first ten days went, so I won’t recap those items (but now that I think about it, I should have made that a blog post).  You can go here to see it. I am going to use this post to talk about my overall thoughts now that it is over and what we are going to do going forward.

I won’t say that I had my hopes super high for this plant-based journey, but I was very much interested in the benefits that I’ve seen with others.  I was, however, disappointed when not only did I not experience many of the benefits, but a couple of my medical conditions became worst (specifically my fructose malabsorption/IBS and my fibromyalgia).  And shockingly, my doctor wasn’t too happy with my decision to go plant-based.  Now, I really should have gone to her before I started and let her know what I was doing.  I didn’t until more than halfway through when I started having some pretty unbearable symptoms. She actually sent me back to a GI.  Who advised me that most likely, my body couldn’t handle the increase in fiber.  So needless to say, I am not going to continue to be vegan or plant-based.

I did lose a total of 7 lbs.  And that was all in the first week, so I do believe it was water weight.  When I added processed vegan foods into our diet, I started to gain 1-2 lbs back.  I would then lose those same 1-2 lbs over and over again.  So while I think most of it was water weight, I could tell looking at my body, I lost weight.  I tend to carry my weight in places that have me in disbelief when I step on the scale or can’t fit certain clothes anymore.  I mean, I’ve gained 20 lbs since I’ve been married and didn’t realize it because it is pretty well hidden in my stomach and thighs lol—areas that are already pretty chunky (or as I like to say healthy).  But I’m starting to see my little shape again!

Here is why I’m okay with my decision to add meat and dairy back to my diet.  I eat pretty healthily regularly.  I’ve eliminated most of the added sugar from my diet.  I very rarely eat processed food.  I dissect food labels before I buy anything (to avoid fructose/sugar and unnecessary ingredients).  And I’m eating more than my fair share of fruits and veggies daily.  But one thing that going plant-based helped me with is seeing that I could be doing better with the range of fruits and vegetables I’m eating.  It doesn’t have to be a side or secondary to meat or pasta in a dish.  It can be the star!  Now I will be making some permanent switches.  Instead of using regular butter, we will switch to plant butter.  I always buy plant milk, but I discovered and love oat milk now.  I’m not afraid of tofu anymore.  I plan on using cashews to make some sauces because it’s been amazing.

Now there are a few symptoms that I am going to try and target with food.  For example, I finally tried celery juice, and it wasn’t bad (today is actually day 2 of me drinking it with my warm lemon water).   And while I’m a little skeptical about the delivery (the guy who founded the movement), I can’t say that the tons of benefits I’ve heard from hundreds of people (seriously search YouTube or Instagram) aren’t tempting.  So I want to try and do celery juice for at least seven days to eliminated some inflammation and see improvements with my depression and anxiety.  Depending on how that goes, I’ll then try 21 days or 30 days.  But I wanted to start this after I made the vegan journey to clearly see the benefits of being vegan vs. benefits of the celery juice.  I mentioned above I have been doing my warm lemon water again.  When I drink it, I immediately notice a change to my digestive system, which is why I want to keep doing it.  But sometimes I skip a day, and that turns into a week.  But since the benefits are immediate, when I get back on track, it helps me on day 1.

I didn’t go plant-based for ethical reasons.  I do care about the animal,s and I wish we as a planet would find a better way to treat them since we are using them as food, but I do believe that it is okay to use them as food.  Maybe when we are in the second Eden, we will be plant-based.  Who knows? 🤷🏽‍♀️ For now, the hubby and I have decided to split our weeks.  3-4 days will be no meat meals, and 3-4 days our meals will have some meat, and it will most likely be seafood or chicken.  I am not a fan of meal planning because my cravings very much lead me.  But I am wanting to plan to buy certain things each week to make sure we have and do better with having prepped quick items I can snack on throughout the day.

But what is the biggest thing I enjoyed most about this journey?  How much Chris enjoyed the food.  If you know us personally, you know that food is a big issue for us.  I love to cook and eat.  Chris, not so much.  I like eating and cooking whole food and meals.  Chris could live on junk and fast food.  It’s led to plenty of arguments and hurt (on my part).  Another thing…Chris hates veggies.  He could go days/weeks without eating vegetables if I didn’t physically put them on his plate.  But Chris frequently went back for seconds and thirds for these meals that were plant-based.  He wasn’t adding things like hot sauce or siracha to cover the food.  I was so happy to see this!  Seriously this made it all worth it!

Have you tried to go plant-based?  What were your results?  Let me know in the comments.

Categories
Family Food

Year of Healthy: February

I’m Going Planet-Based 

If you know me, I can hear you laughing now.  Tanisha…the foodie…giving up meat?  I am.  For the month of February, I decided to go vegan.  I knew on this Year of Healthy journey that I wanted to dedicate at least one month to food (to understand why read this post).  I had a good friend go vegan late last year, and her testimony has been so inspirational that I figured I would give it a go.  I’ll be honest, I expect this to be hard, so I picked the shortest month. 😂 Jokes on me because 2020 is a leap year, so it’s not as short as I expected.

What Is Vegan?

I’m including a quick definition because when I share with people that I am doing this, they make it seem like I can’t eat anything.  According to Webster, a vegan is “a strict vegetarian who consumes no food (such as meat, eggs, or dairy products) that comes from animals.”  That’s it.  What’s a vegetarian? Back to Webster.  “A person who does not eat meat: someone whose diet consists wholly of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products.”  That leaves A LOT of options for me to eat.

Now, I have spent some time watching YoutTube videos and reading blog posts and man, the community really gets up in arms about vegan vs. plant-based.  Honestly, the difference seems to be that vegan means a lifestyle.  So you don’t wear anything from an animal, buy anything that came from an animal, etc.  But I also see that vegan means you still can eat processed foods.  Oreos are considered vegan.  While plant-based means you are eliminating animal products AND processed foods.  As of right now, I have no plans on changing my whole life around behind this.  I mean, I think the only animal things I own “may” be leather purses, but I’m not even sure if that is the case.  But for right now, my only change will be with food.  I may continue to learn more that may change this.  The purpose of me picking a topic for a month is to learn what I can and create healthy habits.

Why Plant-Based?

I’ve been working on my relationship with food for a couple of years now.  I’ve done Whole30 plenty of times, which is when you eliminate dairy, grains, legumes, sugar, alcohol, and soy for 30 days.  We live a Whole30 lifestyle 95% of the time because I can’t consume sugar and dairy without having some major stomach issues.  I’ve also gone without meat a couple of times during different fasts that I have done.  My goal is to get the inside of my body healthy.  While I understand medicines are beneficial, I would love to control my different health concerns with food.  I would prefer that I get my vitamins and nutrients from what I eat and drink.  And since the holidays, I have done a horrible job at cooking and eating my vegetables.  It also doesn’t hurt that my husband hates vegetables, and it gets pretty annoying to prepare them and him not eat them.  So going plant-based and trying out different recipes allows me to increase my vegetable intake.  I’m also hoping that a side benefit is that I can show my husband healthy food made only from plants isn’t a bad thing.

How I’m Getting Started

Planning and Preparation.  Those are seriously my two most significant tools for this journey.  I created a vegan section under my food board on Pinterest.  I eat very little processed food day-to-day, and I cook most of my meals at home.  So I will continue doing that.  Because I am cooking with even more fresh produce, I was advised to continue to go to the grocery store multiple times a week to prevent food waste.  I started on Friday by planning enough meals to get me through the weekend.  I hit the store Saturday since I had enough food to get through breakfast and lunch (oatmeal, grits, smoothies…I have options).  I made a grocery list for 2-3 days worth of meals and then picked up what I needed from the store and got to cooking.  I’ve had a fantastic time and experience so far, and a certain someone has even enjoyed the food.  Keep an eye on my Instagram and Facebook stories to see how this goes!  I’ve already created a story highlight just for this journey.  Are you plant-based or have tried vegan before?  Please leave me your tips below in the comments.

Categories
Faith Mental Health

Closed for Spiritual Maintenance

I won’t make this long, but I wanted to let everyone know that I will be taking a break.  My social media and website will be quiet while I focus on silencing the busyness happening in my mind, being still and surrendering to God.  I have quite a few things ready to be released on the blog, including continuing the #All66Books series, but for now, I am going to pause.  I hope that you enjoy the posts currently on the blog.  And don’t be afraid to take a moment to unplug this holiday season and plug into God.  Thanks for continuing to hang with me.  See you refreshed on the other side of this break!

Categories
Faith Family Finances

2020 Word of the Year: Healthy

Want to catch up on my 2019 Word of the year? Click here.

I hate exercising.

This wasn’t always the case. My first few years after high school, when I was commuting to college, I enjoyed walking. I often went to the gym with friends. I enjoyed using the gym at my apartment after working an evening shift. But shortly after, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and FOR ME, exercising triggered my pain and made me feel worse. So I stopped. And every time I tried, it was painful. Even physical therapy didn’t help. So I decided that exercising just wasn’t my thing.

I love food.

I’ve always loved food. I’m pretty sure; I will always love food. This didn’t matter much when I was younger because I was still naturally on the skinny side. But after I stopped exercising, some of the weight hung on. And the older I got, the more weight decided to stick around. I’m all for body positivity and loving yourself, so honestly, this didn’t bother me at all. No matter what I weighed, I always loved my body. Smaller, bigger, in between it’s still crucial for me to love what I look like.

My body is fighting me.

Thanks to those milk cartons at school, I’ve known since I was very young that I cannot tolerate much dairy.  I’ve stayed away from most dairy, except cheese and ice cream, the majority of my life. But if I have too much, I’m going to get sick and throw it up. My symptoms were different from most people I know that are lactose intolerant, so I wasn’t sure if that’s what it was or not. I remember my doctor saying to stay away from dairy. I don’t recall having any other food-related issues while growing up.

But in 2017, I got sick. I couldn’t keep anything in my system (I’ll save you from TMI). It was triggered by stress, but it forever changed my life. After months of doctor visits and hours of testing, they determined that not only was I lactose intolerant but I also had fructose malabsorption. What is that? Basically, my body struggles to digest fructose. What’s fructose? It’s a type of sugar. What is it in? ALMOST EVERYTHING. It’s naturally found in most fruits and vegetables. We realized that due to the stressful season I was in, somehow, someway my body went into some type of shock and decided it was going to start hollering any time I had dairy or sugar. The pain and cramps we’re unbearable. I lived in the bathroom (sorry TMI), and on a couple of occasions I’ve passed out. Still not sure if that’s because of the intense pain or dehydration, but I no longer lock bathroom doors for my safety when at home. It was a scary time for sure.

After being sent to a nutritionist (thanks to my GI doctor being real and telling me I can’t do this on my own), I realized my diet had to change drastically. We tried Whole 30 before and knew from that time how hard it was to find anything without dairy and sugar. But it was possible, so I adopted a 95% Whole 30 lifestyle. This made a big difference because I was able to avoid all added sugars, high fructose corn syrup, and any other sweeteners. But because fructose naturally occurs in fruits and vegetables, I still had some episodes. But I decided to accept this new life and what I could control.

What Changed

My Word of the Year for 2019 was Growth. And when thinking about my future, I realized I don’t want to scrape by. I knew there was more that I could do to almost eliminate my symptoms. After some prayer, I realized I needed to get truly healthy.

When I talked to God about what that meant for me and what it looked like, I decided that my 31st year was going to be spent on getting and staying healthy. Then I realized, I was given my 2020 Word of the Year: HEALTHY. Here are the areas I want to work on:

– Creating and sticking with a skincare routine (face and body)

– Start some type of exercise routine

– Eating better and reducing my malabsorption symptoms

– Building and sticking with morning and evening routines

– Building and maintaining relationships (God/Husband/Family/Friends)

– Creating and maintaining a healthy home

– Creating better habits overall

My favorite book from this year, The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma, speaks to Mindset (Psychology), Heartset (Emotionality), Healthset (Physicality), and Soulset (Spirituality). I realized that everything I want to focus on and improve fits into these areas.  Each month, I’ll create goals meant to grow myself in each set and make them a habit.  If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you see that I have slowly started this.  I drink warm lemon water most mornings, I have started to get up at 4:30 am, and I drink a gallon of water most days.  Those are just some of the habits I am beginning to build.  But this year will be full of habits that will continue to allow my growth and move me into being healthy.  Stick around for my goals and updates.

Have you picked your Word of the Year for 2020 yet?  What habits are you trying to build?  Let me know in the comments below!

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