Food Confessions | #wellness

If we are friends on Facebook, you have likely caught on that I share a lot about food on my timeline. I post things like information about the paleo diet, eating gluten free, and the lies I believe the government has told us for years about nutrition (i.e. fat is bad, sugar is not so bad - LIES!). I share these things because I follow a ton of food related Facebook pages and blogs... I follow them because I'm obsessed with food... Or, rather: I'm obsessed with my diet.

And, big confession: all of this roots in the truth that I am not happy with my body.

Now, I'm not writing this so people will respond and tell me I'm beautiful. So please don't do that. I am writing because I am on a journey and I want to share it with you. And seriously, I'm not the only one who isn't happy with her body so let's not pretend I am.

I want to be healthy and strong. And I am not as healthy and as strong as I would like to be. As I should be.

So this is my journey.

Sometimes (a lot of times), I find myself blaming society for raising us American kids with so much immediate gratification, indulgence, and really horrible food on the shelves in the grocery store. I want to blame my parents for giving me anything and everything I could have ever wanted before I even knew I wanted it. (They loved me so!) I want to point my finger and blame the people around me for raising me with bad habits and a lack of self-control.

But of course, it's no one's fault but my own.

Now, moment of truth: I'm a mom. And I do not have healthy eating habits. And it's time I face this issue of mine.

So, I stare into the mirror and ask "What will you change so that your daughter will not struggle like this?" I've said before that I really like (need) to focus on small steps. If I can change one thing at a time (maybe two), then I am more likely to find success in the future versus trying crash diets and huge overnight changes and failing repeatedly.

Because of what I share on Facebook and here on my blog, it's easy for people to assume that we eat paleo all the time, that we have a gluten free diet, and that we never drink soda. But the truth is, we still have a lot of bad eating habits and I share the research findings and interesting blog posts on social media because I am preaching to myself. I'm trying to learn, to take it all in, and ultimately to motivate myself to get my act together.

So here are our family truths:

• Eating paleo is always my goal around here, but we fail daily (see below). And Tommy is not really on board with the idea at all.
• I intend not to eat or serve starches at home (that includes rice, grains, and lentils, etc), but Tommy needs starches (both because he wants them and also because he is an endurance runner). So then I try not to eat the rice when I make it for him. But I always do.
• I believe gluten is bad for our bodies and we were not designed to eat it. But I purchase and we eat tortillas regularly. (I justify this by saying we don't eat bread… but I'm only fooling myself.)
• We drink soda. Tommy drinks it daily, I'll have a few swallows probably once a month. I love me some Mountain Dew.
• I am a fast food (Bojangles) junkie. I go through phases but my bad habit probably equals out to 1 meal a week from Bojangles (including sweet tea).
• I may have made the switch from white sugar to maple syrup or honey (both great, natural options), but I haven't changed the ridiculous quantity of sweetener in my life. I use a lot of syrup in my coffee, with organic half and half as well. (Although I've come a long way from the processed Sweet Italian Creamer!)
• I justify fats as being healthy... and we eat a lot of them. Coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, butter... and really these things are good for you... but everything in moderation. It's the moderation part I struggle with!

Those are merely the beginning of our truths. I am not happy with my body because I still have bad habits - eating and fitness. But I'm learning. It's a process… a journey.

I am going to be sharing my journey with you all in a little more detail than I have in the past. I hope to share the why behind the what, the resources I have found helpful, and the challenges I'm up against in our home. Our steps have been small, but they are adding up. Here's to health… and encouraging one another!

Read to me, mama!

Sunday says, "Read to me, Mama!"

And I say... "Tommy! Sunday wants you to read to her!"

And Tommy just can't say no...

But he knows what I'm up to. :)

Time on the trails | #Gratituesday

Well, it's about two years overdue, but we are finally trekking the trails together.

Tommy has been on his trail running journey for a while and I am finally dipping my toes into it this year. This past week we have been out on the trails three times as a family. It. is. awesome.

Sunday absolutely LOVES being out there. She is never more content and satisfied as she is when she's on Tommy's back and out in the woods. She inspires me so much. I try to not let the weather dictate our days together. It's been a goal to bundle up and go outside every day - in some way. It definitely doesn't happen every day, but setting the goal has helped make it happen a lot more often than it used to.

And I'm loving it. Fresh air and sunshine is so good for the soul. Uninterrupted family time, with no TV or laptops or work tempting our attention is so good for our family.

Here's to many more hours, days, even weeks spent in the great outdoors with each other!!

Join us for Gratituesday at heavenly homemakers!

In 2013, I resolve... | #101in1001

Each year my resolutions look kind of the same: exercise, simplify, learn better time management. So when I make my list of goals I try to be more specific, as specific goals seem to work better for me and I achieve more of them. It's as if the specificity holds me a bit more accountable. I've had some fun ways of displaying my goals around my office in the past. Check out my 2008 and 2009 goals. (Other years have been lost around the internet.)

This year I am resolving to bring back my 101 in 1001 list I started back in 2010. If my calculations are correct, it's been 743 days since the start of this challenge, approximately 500 days since I've abandoned the list, and I've got 258 days left to work on it. Of course, my life has significantly (an unexpectedly) changed since I started the challenge, so I went ahead and added a few more relative goals to the second half of the list (thus finally finishing the creation of the list).

Below are the goals I added, but you can see the list in it's entirety here.

1. Run another half-marathon
2. Earn a PR in the Smithfield Sprint triathlon
3. Earn a new PR in the 5k distance (so far my best time was 36 mins in 2007)
4. Run in a trail race
5. Have my work featured on at least 3 different blogs
6. Submit images and apply for WPJA
7. Work on lowering carb and sugar intake
8. Make the switch from coffee to tea in the morning
9. Swap our chemical cleaners for home made cleaners
10. Simplify our medicine cabinet by purging a lot of medicines and replacing them with herbs and essential oils
11. Learn how to heal our bodies naturally (and save money in the process!)
12. Travel to Florida to visit my grandmother
13. Travel to Colorado to visit my sister
14. Go on an anniversary trip with Tommy
15. Spend more time finding inspiration through online photo sites
16. Write something every day for a month
17. Create a social media marketing plan and follow it
18. Hire an intern
19. Transfer business status from Sole-Proprietor to an S-Corp
20. Repaint my kitchen walls
21. Incorporate the use of an ipad into my business workflow
22. Enhance Sincerely, Liz client experiences by adding gifts and surprises into my workflow
23. Redesign Sincerely, Liz website and combine all of my online sites into one
24. Rebrand Lynchburg Snapshot Studio
25. Create a marketing plan for Lynchburg Snapshot Studio
26. Develop and begin a preschool curriculum for Sunday (even if that means toddler school for now)
27. Make running a regular part of my weekly routine
28. Make 5 Pinterest recipes
29. Complete 3 Pinterest DIY projects
30. Create a "Sunday's First Year" book/album
31. Go to the Farmer's Market once a month in the spring/summer. Buy and consume more fresh foods.
32. Go geocaching with my nieces
33. Shoot a photo session in an ice skating rink
34. Simplify our magazine subscription list
35. Make a photo album of our wedding pictures
36. Swap out my beauty care products for natural, less expensive versions
37. Go to a dinner theater with Tommy
38. Have new head shots taken annually
39. Start an annual head shot mini session day in late winter
40. Go on a camping trip with Tommy while in Colorado
41. Sell my landscape and art prints online
42. Print and frame images for a collage of "life" in our hallway
43. Take a weekend and "unplug" from all things digital
44. Do a "day in the life" blog post
45. Send a bouquet of flowers to someone "just because"
46. Get a bold haircut
47. Create the habit of making a weekly meal plan
48. Find 3 healthy dessert recipes and make them often enough to no longer need to look at the recipe
49. Host a party in our home
50. Change most (if not all) the lightbulbs in our house to energy efficient bulbs
51. Print at least two landscape canvas prints and hang them in our home
52. Purchase some plants for our home and keep them alive
53. Simplify my wardrobe by making smart accessory purchases and blog about the experience
54. Move the Sincerely, Liz office into the basement from the current office space

I'm looking forward to documenting this journey here on the blog this year. A lot of these goals are already in-progress and it's exciting to think of all the great plans we have on the calendar for this year, both with the business and at home. I love living with intention. Life is so much better that way. <3

#christmas2012 | Christmas 2012 Recap

Last year at Christmas Sunday was still a teeny tiny newborn so this year really felt like our first Christmas with her as an interactive baby. We were blessed to have three different Christmas celebrations this year: one with Tommy's family, one at our own home and then one with my family in Fredericksburg. After the first celebration Sunday seemed to catch onto the unwrapping presents thing so it became super fun to watch her explore! Our first celebration was with Tommy's family and Sunday received soooo many goodies. I actually saved two gifts to put under our tree for Christmas morning because she was already having so much fun with the gifts she received first. One jackpot gift was this little Dora chair from Grandma & Grandpa (Tommy's parents).

She LOVES this thing and I think she feels like such a big girl when she sits in it. Sometimes it's the only place I can put her down when she is feeling especially clingy. I love these pictures of her!

On Christmas morning Sunday slept in until about 7:30, the latest she has slept in months! Of course! When she did wake up I insisted that the very first thing we do was put Jesus in His place in the nativity scenes. Tommy was a super good sport about that, as was Sunday. :) (I made him do it a few times so I could get pictures.)

We invited my mom and brother to come to our house for Christmas morning since my dad was going to be in Florida with his mom. Both of them brought gifts for Sunday and she opened the big one first. Tommy had to help her wake up a bit and give her a quick reminder of how to open presents. She got the hang of it quickly and we had a great morning of giving, receiving, and watching her discover.

Tommy got me an ornament to match my awesome Holy Land nativity scene (his mom gifted us the nativity and picked out each individual piece while she was in Jerusalem in 2011), and I went with a sweet homemade ornament I knew he would love. I was right, he asked me to make the same ornament every year from now on! :) He's so easy! Oh, and yes. We got Sunday a sock monkey ornament. So did everyone else in her life. We now have FIVE sock monkey ornaments. Too funny.

We had a lovely Christmas morning at home followed by a delicious lunch with Tommy's whole family later in the day. Fast forward a week and we were celebrating again with my family in Fredericksburg on New Years Day! Of course the entire time we were there was just depressing because my sisters family was set to move on the third. So, instead of taking pictures of the gift opening and dinner, I focused on capturing some sweet cousin interaction. Trying to freeze time, ya know. :)

We had a lovely Christmas and again I find myself overwhelmed with the blessings in our lives. Between our three celebrations we made incredible memories and each received wonderful, thoughtful gifts. I somehow managed to collect really nice trail running gear to help me kick off the new year on the right foot, including a subscription to Clean Eating magazine that I'm SUPER excited about! But... more on all of that later... :)