2020 Life Focus

 

     Happy New Year everyone!!! Or as some people are saying: we are back in the roaring 20s again (without the prohibition era, of course). I took of the week of Christmas to think about the goals I had for 2019 & what I wanted to set for 2020. Looking back at the last 10 years, there were a number of things that I wanted to do but never happened. 2020 is going to be the start of getting some of that going.
 
In 2020, I have set three big goals along with little ones to help me achieve those. The three areas are still the same but the goals are a bit different since a great deal has changed since January of 2019.  Here are my goal for 2020 along with life updates from over the past year.

Health

     In 2020, I still am focusing on my mental & physical health.  I did find and engage in more activities that helped with my brain fog, focus, flexibility, & strength. For the last three and a half years, I have been meditating. I also started stretching at least once a day. This has help with the LBP (low back pain) & some other issues I was having. Along, with stretching, I started going back working out regular again. Usually I do four to five days a week just depending on how I feel. I do about 10 to 15 minutes of cardio, 30-45 minutes of weight, & 10 to 15 minutes stretching. It has been helping with making me feel more alert in the mornings.

Figured out what was going on with my allergies from the test I had last year as well. I looked all, the foods on the list and found a common denominator: most of these are grown in areas with pollen. My main allergy that I have is with pollen. Now that I figured it out a bit, I make sure to wash all my fruits, vegetables, & pasta before eating it. This has helped a great bit. I still eat rice & chocolate some but not as much as I used to. Lately, I've been super into blueberries & blackberries so there should be some recipes with those in the future.

I'm still listening to a lot of  podcast. The variety has changed a bit but, I've gotten a lot of great information from some of them. I'll be sharing some of my favorite ones at some point. The topics of nutrition, physical activity, & mental productivity are still going to be seen more on the blog. Especially now, there is so much happening in these three areas. Being the information buff/I like knowing what is happening,  I feel like this is my space where I can guide people towards bettering their health. Many people are under-informed or have no clue about the resources available. One of the positive things from 2019: now I have the time to put more energy into the blog, putting out what I see & find in the health area.

Finance

I ended up having to get another car in 2019, which took a bit out of my savings account. I also had to pay twice for the class I needed to graduate last month. I had been saving good amount each month when I had a job. Now I'm not eating out as much or spending money on random things. One thing I'm trying to do is anytime I want to buy something that's not a need I take the money & put it in one of my savings account.

While I'm looking for a job, I now have time to dig into all the finance books I have. When I had more focus (which seems like forever ago), I use to track what I was spending in a notebook. I'm going to talk about the easy ways to track your spending & keeping tabs on your accounts.

Personal Growth

Last year was a fail for reading for leisure. So, this year I'm going to try again with the trying to read a book a week for the 52 weeks of 2020. I have read two so far. I will do a wrap-up of what I read for that month at the end of the month. I'm also going to post each week what book I'm reading on Instagram. Today, I'm going to post the first two since I haven't done that yet. I am going to try to catch up.

I also did finish my CPT course. I'm also taking a course on becoming certified in Reiki. There's a bunch of things I want to do this year including travel, go to some seminars or retreats, & learn some new skills. I always pick to many things so if I at least accomplish three to four of them, I consider that a success. I'm also trying to get my Wellness & Nutrition business off the ground which plays into the blogging & social media thing. I'M NOT GREAT AT IT!!!! So, I'm going try to do better by doing a blog post at least three times s week & post on social media about the same. We'll see if that will happen.

Oh, & since I'm on the word that I want to describe my 2020 train, my word is Present. I'm always on the go & always feel like I need to be doing something. This year, I want to be able to enjoy the little things & not feel like I have to go somewhere or doing something every second of the day. I want to be in the moment & not over think everything (which I do alot).

I would love to know if anyone else is picking a word for 2020 or has set resolutions for the year.
Everyone have a great Wednesday. Peace & Blessings, all!!!

Fitness Tuesday: Ways to manage stress

   

Via

     It's the second week of January meaning that life is getting back to normal somewhat. Everyone is having to go back to school or work (unfortunately). This means that the stress of regular life is back. Its seems that more people are more willing to acknowledge & find ways to deal with their stress. According to healthy women, leaving stress untreated can cause depression, headaches, & obesity along with other health issues. Being able to not only handle stress but finding ways to deal with it are a big help.

Below are a few tips from MindBodyGreen and Nutritious Life on how to manage any stress that may come your way:

Listening to music

Listening to music can make you feel more relaxed. Music can help with stressful situations & how much they affect you. 

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a great way to help you relax & unwind from the day. You can incorporate aromatherapy in your life by dabbing essential oils on your wrists, breathing in the smell or by using it in a diffuser. Certain scents such lavender have been shown to work well.

Do breathing work

The simple act of deep breathing can be effective. Try breath work when you have no time to fit meditation in your day. It helps to calm the body down and puts you in a different mindset after.  Breathe Deep and Paced Breathing are two apps you can try to get started.

Watch something funny

A good laugh release endorphins into the body. This chemical in the brain makes you happy & helps battle stress. According to the Mayo Clinic, guffawing can also “stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.”

Get in a good workout

Besides laughter, exercise also releases endorphins. Exercise can also help manage depression. Working out helps with improving sleep. If you decide to take a walk outside, it has been shown to reduce stress well.

Take a vacation

Taking at least one vacation a year helped people be more satisfied and happy with their lives. Feeling less stressed is supposed to be the outcome of a vacation. Make sure to prioritize whether, big or small that a vacation happens. Remember: unplug on the vacation to relax & benefit from it.

Journaling

Journaling can be seen as a therapeutic. At the end of your day, write out anything negative that happened during the day. Doing this will let go of any stressful situations that you brought home & clears your head before sleep.

Anyone have any other ways to relieve stress not listed? 

Peace & Blessing, all!!!  Have a great Tuesday.

Thoughtful Thursday

     Happy 2020 Peeps!!! I was going to post my 2020 Life Focus/Goals yesterday but that didn't happen (shocker). I'm going to post those sometime next week. I just needed a mental break from a WHOLE LOT of things towards the end of 2020. 2019 had some great things happen like me graduating finally with my Masters (thank you Jesus) & having to get a new car (farewell to my 2000 Protege). Some of the not so good include losing my job (which I still haven't found another one at the moment) & my foot issues continuing.

When I look back at 2019 though, I'll see it as a year of growth for myself. Looking back on that decade of 2009-2019, I experienced some of the highest highs to some of the lowest points. Each year, I've a bit evolved (like I hope others have done). I've learned about life, love, had relationships  & friendships start & end (then some restart again), but most importantly I found more about who I am. Going into 2020, I know what out of life, the type of people I want in it, the direction I want it to take, & what I stuff I won't stand for in my life. Here are some quotes for first Thursday in 2020:

For real this time, I'm going to blog three to four time a week. Post will be up Monday-Thursday with topic days staying pretty much the same: recipes on Monday, Fitness (physical & mental) on Tuesday, Wednesday is just whatever comes to me, & Thoughtful Thursday. I'm also going to try to revamp the blog & post on IG more regularly.

Via

Via

Via

Via

Via

Peace & Blessings, all. Everyone have a great Thursday & rest of your week.

Thoughtful Thursday

Happy Thursday all!! It has been a long couple of day. Towards the end of last week I started breaking out in hives for some reason. I thought it was stress at first, since I do get hives sometimes when I'm super stressed out. I'm starting my nutrition consulting today. One of my old co-workers asked me to help her so I have to met her to make a plan.  Besides that, I'm just trying to get my schedule back in order.

I know this is short & sweat but here are some thoughts for this Thursday:

Via

Via

Via

Via

Via

Peace & Blessings, all. Have a great Thursday & rest of the week!!!

Fitness Tuesday: Meatless Monday receipes

   

Mushroom Cashew Lettuce Wrap

     With everything that has been going on in my life, I haven't posted as much as I wanted to. I was going to post this yesterday but we had some crazy storms come through. You know that a storm is coming when it is 69 degrees in December in the South. It was lighting & I didn't want to have to buy another computer like I did when my television was struck by lighting. Since then a few things have happened. I graduated with my Masters in Kinesiology at the beginning of the month. I finally finished my personal training certification course. Now I have to take the exam to officially be done. I'm also going to start my Reiki course once I finish the CPT stuff. Can't you tell I like learning? Outside of those courses, the YouTube channel/podcast that I'm a part of with my friends should be going live soon.

At this point, I'm ready for a real vacation & 2020 to get here. Since it been a bit since I posted about food I am going to share some more meatless recipes. Since October, I still have doing no meat on Mondays. I plan on making more of my own recipes in 2020 but until then, her are some I found on Cooking Light & Clean Eating Magazine websites that I want to try:

• Broccoli, Cheddar, and Brown Rice Cakes
• Southwestern-Style Black Bean Burritos
• Greek Spaghetti Squash Toss
• Broccoli, Kale & Cheddar Quiche with Savory Quinoa Crust
• One-Pot Vegetarian Lentil Chili
• Un-Caesar Salad Wrap with Eggplant Bacon

I will probably be making at least one of these recipes sometime soon. I'm trying to work on incorporating more vegetables in my diet. Usually I bake, steam, or boil my vegetables. I've been looking for new ways to cook them, using them in the dish beside chopping & adding them in. If anyone has any suggests, I would love to see them.

Until next time, Peace & Blessings, all. Have a great day!!!

Thoughtful Thursday

     Happy Thursday, all. It has been a week so far. I find out that I'm officially graduating tomorrow. I had been waiting for my teacher to put my grade in so that the incomplete would be removed of my transcript. Found out late Tuesday afternoon/evening that they had cleared me to graduate. I'm not going to walk though. Really just want my diploma after all the things that I've dealt with since May trying to graduate.

Just glad to be done. However, since I'm a "forever student" I do have to finish studying to get my CPT certification. I also, signed up to take a Reiki course. I've been interested in it for a while. I've had it done a few times & it did help. The person who usually does mine gave me a book about it, which I'm finally going to get to read. Anywho, here are some thoughts for today:

Via

Via

Via

Via

Peace & Blessings, all. Have a great day & keep positive energy, peeps!!!

Detoxing after the Holidays

Via

     Hard to believe that it's not only December, but that we are about 4 weeks away from 2020. I don't know about anyone else but I'm trying to recover from all that food I ate on Thanksgiving and on Black Friday still. With Christmas around the corner (21 days away to be exact), that means a couple of things: family time, presents, and more food. One thing I'm going to start doing after holidays especially big food ones is a detox.

When I say detox, I mean a healthy, natural detox. I'm not talking about doing one of those crazy "you drink a jug of juice & water for two days" plans. Below are some suggestions on how to detoxify your body without all the crazy fads on the market:

Add veggies into you diet. For an easy way to add more into your diet, make a green smoothie or juice. This is a way to add extra nutrients in. 

• Go to the gym and work up a sweat. Exercise (i.e. breaking a sweat) is a great way to get rid of toxins from your body. 
• Make sure to stay hydrated. Try to drink at least half your body weight (in oz) a day. If you drink any other beverages outside of water (anything with caffeine or alcohol for examples), make sure to drink another 8oz of water as well.
• Cut back on your sugar intake. Been on a sugar tailspin lately? Try taking sugar out of your diet for three to four weeks.
• Reduce/eliminate caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine and alcohol can cause dehydration since it is a diuretic.  Eliminating/reducing coffee and alcohol intake will give the liver a break since it is the main organ that processes toxins from our body.
• Make sure to get seven to eight hours of sleep per night. Turn off your technology at least one hour before bedtime. The blue light from your phone, computer, & television can throw off your sleep. Some ideas to help make your room better for sleep include blackout curtains & wearing an eye mask when sleeping.
• Eat more frequently. Consider smaller meals spread out through the day. Larger meals are harder to digest. The body needs a couple of hours in between meals to digest food without interruption. Spacing out meals will help with any sluggish that may occur.
• Drink lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in 8oz of water in the morning. This helps the stomach break down food (especially protein). 

If anyone has any other suggestion or ideas on how to recharge or detox during the holidays, I would love to see them.

Peace & blessing, all. Have a great Wednesday!!!