Less is more

"I'd rather live simply and be comfortable". My husband said that to me the other day. He was talking about us buying a new house and not wanting to live above our means or be "just getting by". Of course I agree! However, I see that being our heart as a family in many different aspects these days...
I'm realizing since being a parent that one of the best things we can do for ourselves and our kids, is to remember that there's very little we NEED compared to what we fill our lives and homes with. Most of the things we fill our homes with are just an Americanized version of what we "need" and it's a poor representation of what really matters in life. I'm going to venture out and say that for some of us our homes are filled with so much stuff we don't need that more than 50 % of it is non-functional and serves us little to no purpose. I'm not saying to rough it and get rid of your Keurig, microwave, washer & dryer, toaster, pots and pans, TV, live in the tiniest house you can find etc.. Lord Jesus please don't take my Keurig away!!! Haha.. I'm more talking about the excess of things we own. Example: Are mugs useful? Sure! They are used for coffee, tea ect. However it is necessary to own 30? No it's not. You probably don't use them all, it's taking up space in your cabinet, and it's creating clutter. Having too much stuff can also create laziness because it causes you to feel too overwhelmed to have the motivation to do anything. I know this from personal experience! Also if you have kids, what are we teaching them by living this way? We are teaching them at a young age that life is measured by how much they have. We may know that's not true as adults, but in their little minds they may not understand that yet. Kids will adapt to whatever environment we put them in. If you surround your kids with too much stuff and clutter they think STUFF is what matters. If we surround them with only what they need and use, they will know that toys are to be enjoyed not collected and accumulated. We teach them that people and time spent matters more than filling their rooms and toy boxes with as many things as we can.

Ok so let me explain something before I go on. First of all, that story I just told about the mugs is me. Yep! Proud owner of way too many mugs haha... but not anymore!!! : ) Also, as a mom that was my heart from personal experience as well. I have to remind Alanna (who's 5) over and over that we don't keep things when they serve us zero purpose. Many of you reading this may already know this, but for the Lent season I took part in something called "40 bags in 40 days" - which was a 40 day commitment of de-cluttering things in our home. I did it last year too, but personally for me it was more than just a temporary "quick fix" this time around. It has changed my perspective on the kind of life I CONSTANTLY want to be living - And that is a life filled with more peace, more joy, more space, and LESS STUFF.

So there were two aspects to my journey and experience of this challenge. ONE: actually getting rid of things - trash, recycle, donate. TWO: organize what stays. I've realized it's important to be consistently practicing both these things. Otherwise if you are just constantly throwing things out without organizing, you are still left with chaos which can be really frustrating. OR if you are someone who never throws anything out but loves to organize, you are left with the constant burden of having to keep up with all the stuff. Neither are healthy and neither will result in peace. Side note but relevant: I want to mention that we are in the process of selling our house and moving. So of course part of all this was needing to stage my house for buyers, and realizing I didn't want to move half this stuff to our new house because I don't actually need all of it. BUT it's also a fresh start for us! The things I learned during this process has given me the motivation I need to make my new house a home filled with peace and order.

First let's talk about the actual getting rid of things. There are many reasons why we excessively accumulate things over the years. Sometimes it's the business of life, sometimes it's laziness, sometimes it's the sentimental value of things, and sometimes it's materialism and being too wrapped up in the worlds view of success - which very often hinges on how much we have. Owning too much stuff can feed our souls with the lie that owning more means that WE are more, but it will never actually fulfill you. Personally I struggle with all of those things. I find myself keeping "clutter like" useless things because of laziness, sentimental reasons, or the business of life. However I also accumulate an excess of things because I may WANT and even use them, but I do not NEED them (clothes is a big one for me!) I realized that keeping too many things no matter the reason can really be an addiction. You're either feeding into your business through poor time management, your unhealthy attachment to things because of sentiment, laziness, or your constant need for more. Once I was able to overcome all the excuses and my laziness, I then had to find a healthy path towards deciding what to keep and why. Something that really helped me through that was realizing this: Possessions should ENHANCE our lives not HINDER them. When trying to decide to keep or get rid of something I would ask myself these questions: Is this useful? Does this bring me joy? Do I already have multiple things just like this? Research where your local donation places are, but also realize that some things are ok to trash. We aren't meant to cling to the things of this world. Don't let the stuff in your house control you. Take control of your stuff.

Now to the organizing! The fun part right??? Haha.. To me anyway : ) Organizing can bring life and happiness to a space that was once chaotic and overwhelming. We all want that right? However, I'd be completely unrealistic and even insensitive to just say right now "well just do it... if your house is messy just clean it!" Haha... Firstly it's not that easy and I know that. Secondly, we are all dealing with life in our own way. Everyone's reasons for struggling with messiness or the desire for too much stuff is different. Time, parenthood, a job, materialism, mental/emotional struggles... who knows!!!! Keeping a tidy peaceful home can be near impossible if your life feels crazy and overwhelming. This I know. However if you're reading this and you too are struggling to find the motivation to get started, there's honestly very little I can say to help you on a personal level. I don't know you, your life, or your day to day struggles. You have to be willing and motivated yourself. Only you can do that. BUT what I will share is what motivated ME and maybe that can at least be an encouragement to all who are reading. There are honestly many reasons I was able to convince myself to do this, but the core reason is what drove the entire thing. It's something that has actually changed many things in my life including my health, and that is this: Be a better steward of what you've been given. That's literally it! Once I really was effected by the fact that everything in my life that's good has been given to me by God, it lit this fire under me to take better care of all those things. I thought to myself, "what better way to thank God for everything He's given me than to take good care of the very things He's given me." I also reflected a lot on the fact that there are SO many people all over the world that do not have homes or nice things to put in them.. and here I am in my nice house filling it with useless things and not really taking good care of the things or the space it's in. It really hit me when I thought of it like that. But you have to find YOUR why. WHY is it important to YOU to have a home you can breath in and feel happy in? Once you realize what that is, start off small! Don't feel like you have to tackle your entire house or even entire rooms all in a day. Choose one AREA or drawer/cabinet a day. Make lots of lists and check things off. I did this over the course of 40 days so I certainly didn't go at a quick pace. Make it work for you. Find your why, and realize that you are worth it and you deserve to live in a happy healthy home.

Lastly I'd like to share some quotes from an article I read recently. It was an article about "minimalism", which the article describes as this:
"It is marked by clarity, purpose, and intentionality. At its core, minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it. It is a life that forces intentionality. And as a result, it forces improvements in almost all aspects of your life."

"Minimalism brings freedom from the all-consuming passion to possess. It steps off the treadmill of consumerism and dares to seek happiness elsewhere. It values relationships, experiences, and soul-care. And in doing so, it finds life."

"Minimalism slows down life and frees us from this modern hysteria to live faster. It finds freedom to disengage. It seeks to keep only the essentials. It seeks to remove the frivolous and keep the significant. And in doing so, it values the intentional endeavors that add value to life."

"I have learned minimalism is always a matter of the heart. After the external clutter has been removed, minimalism has the space to address the deepest heart issues that impact our relationships and life."

Doesn't that sound life giving and Christ honoring? That's how I want to live my life.. BUT I'm not perfect! I am a work in progress in all this that's for sure. At the end of the day everything points back to God for me. How I spend my time, how I treat people, how I eat, how I view myself, how I treat my body.... and how I treat the things He's given me. When I started viewing everything through THOSE lenses I realized that it paints quite a different picture than the world does sometimes. The world preaches ENTITLEMENT - You deserve anything you want whenever you want it. Everything you are and achieve and own is because YOU are great. You can do whatever you want with your time money and things. But Christ says...

"Every good and perfect gift is from above" James 1:17

I heart food

I thought it would be fun to share some of my eating habits/tips. I very often get asked what I eat on a day to day basis, and even had someone ask me before to write out an example plan of what I eat on a good day. I am not an expert in any of this, and I never went to school for health beyond taking a health and nutrition class in college. I'm just a stay at home mom trying to be the healthiest me, by staying active and giving my body the nutrition it needs to function the way it was created to.

Before I go on to share my healthy food favs, I want to talk about something that has really helped me view food in a different way. It kinda goes along with that last sentence in the previous paragraph - "giving my body the nutrition it needs to function the way it was created to". Key word: CREATED. A lot of my blogs are written from the perspective of me being a believer in God. Since I've been more into healthy living I've realized that a lot of creation is actually Gods way of feeding us. Our bodies were not created to eat boxed cereal, soda, or really half the things we eat on a daily basis. That's not to say I don't eat any of that or that I'm saying you shouldn't... that would be a little intense haha. My point is more that when we reference nature more often for the foods we eat, our bodies are going to feel and function better. This is because our bodies and those foods all have the same creator! How amazing is that?! I'm not saying to be some crazy person who won't eat anything unless it came from a tree or grew from the ground haha.. I'm simply saying to add MORE of those foods to your diet. The more you fill your diet with REAL foods, the less room there will be for processed man made foods!

My "eating plan" is based on eating 5 times a day. I learned from being on the Tone It Up nutrition plan that it's better to eat 5 smaller meals a day than the typical 3. When I started doing this I noticed that I was less apt to over eat since I had just eaten 2 or 3 hours before. You shouldn't be waiting until you're starving to eat! If you're eating every 5 hours, your body's metabolism doesn't need to work as hard to process the food. But giving your body good healthy foods every 2 to 3 hours all day forces your metabolism to work harder and more often. So if you want a faster metabolism, consider eating a healthy snack in between breakfast/lunch and lunch/dinner. So anyway.. here we go! I will list a few examples of things I eat for every meal : )

MY FAVORITE HEALTHY FOOD FAVS:

M1 & M2 options:
⁃ Literally any kind of FRESH fruit! My go to quick fruit in the morning is a banana.
⁃ Perfect for M2: an apple - if you have time slice the apple and toss it in lemon juice and cinnamon! I'm obsessed!!!
⁃ Slice of Ezekiel toast with peanut butter and sliced bananas on top.
⁃ Eggs scrambled made with almond milk. I like to add veggies too if I have time to chop, or if I meal prepped veggies the night before! My favorites to do are peppers, onions, tomatoes, asparagus, and spinach.
⁃ Smoothie: FREEZE bananas! Blend almond milk, bananas, and your favorite protein powder together. (This is my breakfast if I workout first thing in the morning)
⁃ Greek yogurt w/blueberries

M3 (lunch):
⁃ Greens, fresh veggies (I love peppers, cucumbers, onions), and grilled chicken. Dressing is balsamic vinegar and lemon squeeze.
⁃ Turkey sandwich w/ mustard. I use whole wheat bread or with lettuce on a wrap.
⁃ Pre made turkey chili (I'll make a big batch Sunday for the week!)
⁃ Honestly.. sometimes I just have a peanut butter sandwich! HA!

M4:
⁃ Veggies and hummus (peppers, cucumbers, or carrots)
⁃ Raw almonds

M5:
⁃ Pasta sauce made with ground turkey over spaghetti squash or zoodles. I DO eat pasta! Haha... I just try not to go over board with carbs. A lot of the time I'll mix normal pasta with the spaghetti squash (which btw is very filling!!!!)
⁃ Fajitas: I do chicken, peppers, onions, salsa, leaves of fresh cilantro, plain geeek yogurt (as a sour cream substitute), and a squeeze of a lime. Sometimes I ditch the wraps and put that all over some greens and make it a fajita salad!
⁃ Turkey chili
⁃ Turkey burgers and sweet potato fries
⁃ Chicken, cumin, chili powder, salsa, corn, and black beans all in the crock pot. Shred the chicken once it's cooked and serve mixture over quinoa, brown rice, greens as a salad, or even on its own!

DRINKS: (and guilty pleasures haha)

⁃ I do not drink soda! Like ever. I don't really love it, and it's just something that I've made a personal choice to not ever buy or drink. Of course like once or twice a year I will have some sort of holiday drink at a party with ginger ale or something like that in it. But it is rare! Same with juice - orange juice very rarely OR a fresh juice from a place that makes them (I totally have a juicer that I should use more often though!)
⁃ I'm addicted to coffee and drink typically 3 (sometimes 4 yikes haha) cups a day. If I knew I wouldn't like have a heart attack or something by drinking more I probably would hahaha. BUT I do not put sugar or cream in it. Of course when I go to dunkins or starbucks I will sometimes get a flavor in it. But at home I put solely unsweetened almond milk in it.
⁃ I drink at least 72 oz. of water everyday. A lot of times I will make a pitcher of lemon lime water and drink it all week.
⁃ I have a cup of green tea almost everyday! I put nothing in my tea.
⁃ So I love wine haha.. and I do drink it 2-3 (sometimes 4) times a week! I love wine enough that it's worth indulging in to me. I don't really eat sweets or candy very often, so wine is my treat that I have often and I just don't care.
⁃ However.... my guilty pleasure candy is skittles!!!! I will eat them at the movies with my popcorn and I can't resist them if I see them haha (which thankfully is very rarely)
⁃ I also LOVE dark chocolate. Typically 1-2 times a week I will have some dark chocolate with my wine : )

So there you have it! All my eating choices and habits. Of course I also eat things like pizza, Chinese food, and ice cream! Haha! Who doesn't??? I heart food. But I try and live by the 80/20 rule. If I eat relatively healthy 80% of the time, I don't care about eating not so healthy on special occasions or the weekends. It doesn't effect my weight or overall health! Because remember.. eating one unhealthy meal does not make you unhealthy, just as eating one healthy meal does not make you healthy! It's all about consistency, balance, and everything in moderation. I don't believe in the terms "cheat days" or "cheat meals". You're not cheating. Never feel guilty, just know your limits. Enjoy life and enjoy food : )