shifts in thinking

Over the past few months I've made a few changes to simplify life, and especially how we eat. In a lot of ways it is a fairly natural progression, with one change leading to another, leading to another.

I love my job teaching in a Special School, but it can be physically and emotionally draining. It's full on, loud, there isn't any down time, and no matter how prepared I am things often happen that mean you are thinking on your feet.   I am passionate about my job and the kids I teach and I find it difficult to switch off, and not give 100%. Most of the kids in my class have autism, and when I'm not on top of things, the day can go downhill very quickly! I was getting to work by 7, and getting home after 6, and often spending part of my night laminating or cutting or velcroing resources.

I was exhausted, my skin was crazy, and I was relying on sugar hits to get me through the day (I lived for my 3 o'clock chocolate!!). I realised that my body couldn't keep going like that. Between this I was also planning a wedding, and trying to (slowly) renovate a house. I was staying up too late, and pressing snooze time and time again, I was too tired to exercise and luckily L enjoys cooking, because if I was living alone I would have been eating breakfast food for dinner every night. I actually made some mid year resolutions here in April, which was at the point when I realised that things had to change.

Some of the changes are fairly non-negotiable. I now make sure I move my body for half an hour each day. I go for a walk, I go to yoga, I do a Michelle Bridges DVD or yoga DVD at home. I often don't want to do it when I'm starting out, but once I get going, and especially once I'm finished I feel better for it. I've never actually regretted it. It's that funny thing where the more I exercise (and I'm not running marathons here...) the more energy I actually have. I sleep better and get that down time.

I've also changed my diet quite a bit. I try to eat only 'real' foods, and have cut out most processed foods from my diet. I've also cut most processed sugar from my diet-I still eat fruit and add a little honey and maple syrup at times. A by product of cutting most processed foods and processed sugars from my diet has meant that I've also cut my gluten intake considerably. I feel so good. I have so much more energy, my skin has cleared up so much, I just feel really good. I'm not strict. I definitely had cake at my wedding, and again at a friends' birthday last week, and I went out to dinner and had pasta through the week too, but I am much more conscious of what I am eating, and making sure that most of the time it is nourishing me. I'm not gluten free, I'm not sugar fee, I'm not vegetarian, I'm not raw, I'm not paleo, I'm not any of those things, but I am trying to make healthier choices around food. I've found and cooked some amazing recipes, and waited for L to say how good it was before telling him it was healthy. Breakfasts, dinners, cakes and desserts, that he now requests over the unhealthier alternative.

Well done for making it this far-why am I telling you all of this? I'm going to be making some changes to my blog, mostly it will remain the same, but I'm going to start sharing some of these recipes here along with the renovating, organising and decorating. I've also started a veggie patch to grow some of our ingredients, which will hopefully keep on expanding (as well as growing!), so I'll be sharing that with you too.

I still have more wedding posts for you. I still have more renovating and decorating posts for you in the works too. But I wanted you to know that I have had a shift in thinking and a shift in how we live in our blue house, and with that has comes some additions to this little blog.

Have any of you had any shifts in thinking lately?