Category: Health&Wellness

Self-Care Isn’t Selfish

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

I wasn’t going to write about self-care today, but I saw this ad that really kinda irked me.  It’s for a random cookie company and the print ad is just a lovely white background and a picture of the cookie and the ad copy says: Ahhh, self-care!  That’s it, nothing else.  And tiny in the corner is the cookie company name and logo.  I love that we as a society are talking about self-care and how self-care isn’t selfish and that it is definitely needed, but marketing companies have now latched on to that idea and turned it into a money making scheme.

Starbucks is not the only way

And this bugs me because self-care and the conversations around the subject are mostly aimed at women – we don’t know how to say NO, we take on too much, we don’t ask for help (this is an over generalization – I know that not everyone has this problem) – and now we’re buying told that buying the cookies, buying the lattes, buying the weighted blankets are self-care.   Trust me, time at Starbucks to drink a grande white chocolate mocha while I read a book is totally self-care for me, but it’s not the only way!

I’m not trying to discount the need for fuzzy socks, good coffee, and products to help us feel more like ourselves.  Not at all – but self-care is also learning to say NO to things you truly do not want to do OR knowing you are tired and taking a nap OR talking to a friend or therapist about some deep-seated issues or just the fact that your husband or partner pissed you off.  Those are self-care items too.

Treadmill Vs Napping

Self-care is so individualized for each person, each month, each day, each moment.  My self-care routine and your self-care routine should look different.  You might like pole dance exercise classes and I might like dancing to YouTube videos.  You might like running on a treadmill while I like lighting candles and doing spell work.  You might like napping, I might like singing.  It should look different.  And your Monday is definitely going to look different than your Friday – and that’s okay!

Each person needs to figure out what their self-care routine is going to look like or need to look like and it changes based on the day, time, stressor, or mood. I’m not quite sure if I have a point or any suggestions, other than to say don’t let ads sway you.  If you don’t let ads tell you what type of laundry detergent to by, then don’t let them sway you into what self-care IS and NEEDS to be to be determined “real” self-care.  

Listen, if you like a particular kind of cookie or treat and taking that time each day with a cup of coffee or tea then yes, that most definitely is self-care – buy the cookies, have the pretty plates and cups! But if you think that’s all that self-care is – just buying things and being a consumer, then maybe we need to re-think what self-care is.

Everybody needs TIME

Self-care isn’t selfish –  I believe everybody (and I do mean everybody -women, men, and children) needs time to just be, to refill their cup, to do the things that make them happy –  EVERYBODY needs that. We are told, as a society, that taking time like that is bad,  that it’s lazy,  that you shouldn’t need that….but then that same society is pushing buying things as self-care as the only acceptable way.  I’m here to tell you – NO…buy the things that make you happy, but real self-care should be YOURS and yours alone. 

I believe that as long as you communicate your needs to others and make sure the people in your life are on board and that everyone gets the time they need, then whatever you do for that self-care is fine (you know, barring it’s not hurting anyone else).  It’s healthy to take that time away from providing for others and just provide for yourself.  Read the book, watch the TV show, have the latte, buy the cookies and blankets and fuzzy socks – but make sure it’s what YOU want, not what you think society wants.

What are you going to do today for self-care? Tell us in the comments below.  Me? I took a walk and actually dictated this blog post and now I’m going to have a lovely cup of French Vanilla coffee and watch an episode of a TV show I just started on Netflix before diving into work.  I hope you have an amazing day!

 

The form you have selected does not exist.

I Stopped Stopping and Started Again

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Why do we stop ourselves?  Why do we stop doing the things that we know help us?  Do we want to stay stuck?  Or is that just me?

See, I can write a bunch of things and blame everyone else, but the truth is – I stopped.  I stopped doing my morning pages, stopped walking, stopped dancing, stopped singing, stopped getting my tarot cards out, stopped finding my joy.  I stopped being happy.  I let the circumstances, the stress, the drama, and the work get in the way of me and my happiness.  I stopped because it got too hard, too busy.  I stopped because I was too tired, too stressed out, too mad at everyone around me (okay, not everyone…but I swear, people are the worst!).  I stopped. Me, I did that.

I don’t necessarily want to stay stuck in a rut, stuck in a “mood” as it were, but once you are there it is sooooooo hard to stop, so hard to get out of that place – that comfy place of discomfort.  I know, that makes no sense, unless you’ve been there – but trust me, once you get to that place, it’s almost impossible to find your motivation again, to find the “get up and go” that you need to try again, to start again.  It’s so hard to get out of the mood and start being happy again, especially when your life is still chaotic, stressful, and murky.  (Yes, I got that word from Phoebe on Friends – come at me, bro!) I had to make a choice, I had to decide to stop. I had to start doing something else. So, I stopped stopping and started again.

Not fully…but I am writing again – in fact, the first draft of novel #2 is underway – and I’m rearranging my life to get rid of some of the stress, the drama, and the work to allow myself some space to breathe, to play, to just BE for a while.  I work hard, maybe too hard, and I push myself until I can’t push any longer, then I get sick or something happens that makes my world crash and I have to stop.  This time, I’m stopping before that happens.  I’m getting off the merry-go-round, on my own accord.

What does this mean?  I’m not sure yet. All I know is that these last few months have seen me stressed out, irritable, angry, and mad at the world.  I have literally said the words, “I hate everyone!” at least once a week (or more).  I don’t want to be that person anymore.  I don’t want to be bitter and angry.  I want to be happy and joyous.  I want to feel light and fulfilled.  I’m taking some control back in my life and giving myself permission to be happy, to do the things that make my soul sing.  Watch silly Romantic Comedies (Music and Lyrics anyone?), play Disneyland on my Xbox with my kid, dance to every silly 80s song on YouTube just because, and write and keep writing and write some more.  Because I love writing.

Have you stopped doing something that you love?  Have you stopped allowing the space and time for the things that make you happy?  A few weeks ago I talked about how we aren’t really taught how to be happy, and I think it’s so easy to give up the happy feelings and the things that make us happy for similar reasons.  Misery loves company, but I believe happiness does do – so join me below, let me know the things you love to do and the last time you allowed yourself some time to do them and let’s keep each other accountable. Happiness can be our normal, I believe it can.

 

The form you have selected does not exist.

Under Pressure

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Stress…every adult has felt it at some point or another.  Some thrive on it, or claim to thrive on it, and others find ways to deal with it when it rears its ugly head.  Some hide away from it, ignore it, freak out about it, or deal the best they can and then burn-out.

I had a crazy, chaotic day yesterday and I thought I handled things better than I have in the past.  Not saying I was perfect, did my share of freaking out, but it was a bit more contained than normal. So I thought I would share some tips and tricks that I think might help you the next time you’re having ONE OF THOSE DAYS!

Write it Out

Write a quick to-do list, even if you normally keep everything on your phone – writing a quick list of everything on your plate might help you see your day better, maybe you can move stuff around more than you thought you could.  Or, turn on the timer for 2-3 minutes and just write out your frustrations.  Get out the annoying things that are clogging up your day.  (Tip – and this is TMI, but if you’re really strapped for time, do this while you’re already in the bathroom – you know, doing your business – I told you, it’s a bit gross, but instead of mindless playing Angry Birds, write out your stress)

Vent

Have a friend, partner, or significant other that you can vent to?  Great! Tell them you just need to talk for a few minutes and then let it rip.  That might work better for you than writing it down. Or, if you don’t have anyone to talk to – talk to yourself.  Yes, you’ll look like a crazy person, but it might help to just let the steam out…like one of those Instant Pots – you have to release the valve at the end before you open the lid.  Otherwise, the whole thing could blow. Yikes!

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

Stop blaming yourself.  I am sooooo guilty of this – even if the stress has nothing to do with me, I find a way to blame myself.  Even if you are guilty of causing the stress – oh well, placing blame isn’t going to take away the immediate stress you feel so stop, deal with your day the best you can, and then later – when it’s calm and you feel better – assess what went wrong and what you could do to avoid the situation in the future.  Stop making yourself feel worse just because it’s one of those days.

Be Kind to Yourself

To go along with that, be nice to yourself.  I was feeling crazy pressure to get a whole bunch of stuff done and laundry was on that list.  So I raced down to the laundry room in our apartment building and the machine still had 5 minutes left so I sat, and I took 5 minutes to just breathe, think through things, look over my list, and watch a cute YouTube video.  That 5-minute pause really was all I needed to get through the next few hours of Nutty Running Around.  I did it again after lunch too and then again after we got home from a meeting.  What would make you feel good even for just 2-5 minutes? Try to find or make the time.

Admit You Can’t Do It All

My son’s birthday was this past week and I had arranged a small snack-time party at school with his class.  Now I make a mean cupcake, and I could have baked up 3 dozen and frosted them all with homemade buttercream – but why?  Why would I do that to myself when I’m also trying to write a book, work, volunteer with the Parent’s Association, be a wife and mother, be a friend, be a daughter – you get it?  Why?!?!  So I went to the store and bought his favorite frosted Chocolate Donuts and he was happy, his classmates were happy, and I was happy.  That’s what I call a Triple Win Baby!  Is there anything on your list that someone else could handle?  Or even future YOU could handle?

Reward Yourself

Stressful day is over? Did you manage to get through it alive? GREAT! Grab your favorite beverage, dessert, movie, or TV show and give yourself the gift of slowing down and enjoying something.  Tell yourself that you did a great job, even if in the moment it all felt like it was going to hell in a handbasket.  You made it.  You did it!  I’m proud of you and you should be proud of yourself.

Do you feel better?  Do you feel like maybe the next time all the stress falls on your shoulders you’ll be better equipped?  No…make your own list.  What do you think MIGHT work for you? Write it down as a note in your phone and when you have ONE OF THOSE DAYS, grab your list and try something.  You never know what will help in the moment. For me, it was that 5-minute break in our laundry room to do nothing for Five Glorious Minutes…that helped me get through so much of my mile-long to-do list and gave me permission to do it again later in the day.

What do you do when you’re stressed out?  How have you managed to keep stress from causing you to tear your hair out or have you taken to wearing hats?  Let me know in the comments below.

 

The form you have selected does not exist.

We Are Not Taught How To Feel Our Feelings

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Last week I talked about being happy, and how we aren’t really taught this growing up – for better or for worse.  This week I want to touch on something else most of us weren’t taught – how to feel our feelings.

Again, this isn’t a judgment thing – our ancestors were too busy struggling to find food and raise children the best they could with what they had, but if we stop and think about it – it’s a huge skill that needs to be taught.  I’ve been working with my nutritionist on this the past few weeks and it’s kinda extraordinary how important it is to our well being.

Bam! Information Overload

On Monday, I watched a video from my Editor/Writing Coach about my latest first draft – it was her general notes, overall impressions, and thoughts about my novel – and, although it wasn’t too negative, it became apparent that I needed to write a whole different story from a different character’s Point of View.  And I was feeling things – big things!

I was feeling stupid – I mean I just spent months writing 78,000 words and now it’s all crap?  I was feeling like an amateur – how dare I call myself a writer?!!? I was feeling conflicted and confused and usually, this sends me to the bottom of a cookie package or an entire box of Mac and Cheese.  Or I turn on Netflix, grab my phone, and completely numb out.  This time though, I just stood there and asked myself a few questions.

Stop! Hammer Time…Uh, I mean – Listen

What was I feeling? And where in my body? My shoulders were tight, my stomach was doing flips, and my heart felt heavy.  Great! Now what?  I stopped and felt my body and what it was trying to tell me, but I didn’t really know what to do with that.  I can tell you that just stopping and asking myself those questions did stop me from binging  (both food and Netflix) and let me see the problems I was facing with a clearer mind.

When I went into my nutritionist’s office on Tuesday I was still trying to sit with my feelings and we talked about what to do next. She suggested a few things – journal or talk things out, ask if there’s anything I can do to alleviate the feelings within my body – movement, singing, talking – and we googled pain symptoms and their meanings.  Shoulders and heart had to do with Authentic Self and being true to yourself, making sure you are heard.  Stomach had to do with feelings of confusion, fear, and worry.  Whelp — that’s pretty much described exactly what I was dealing with.  Being authentic with myself and owning up to my intuition and the fact that I’m still learning, I’m allowed to make mistakes, I’m allowed to start over.

How Dare You!

See, the thing was – part of me wanted to give up, the part that was ashamed I had made the mistake in the first place.  But my authentic self knew I would be destroyed.  I am a writer, and I’m a new writer – yes, I have one book published, but that does not make me some sort of expert.  Far from it, and that’s okay.  My body was telling me to listen to the rest of my soul, to the rest of the voices- the positive voices, the ones cheering me on and telling me it will be okay.

And so…I have come out on the other side without binging, without losing a day to Netflix and old Friends reruns, and I have a plan to move forward on my writing goals.  I have also come to understand myself a little bit better and I have a little bit more knowledge about how to stop and listen, feel my feelings, and move through them – not around them, not ignore them – listen to them, listen to what they are really trying to tell me.

Our Bodies Aren’t the Enemy

Have you ever learned how to sit with your feelings or do you ignore them?  If you have sat with your feelings, what happened?  I would love it if you’d share below in the comments.  I think the more we talk about these things, the more we learn and grow and realize that our bodies are not the enemy.

 

The form you have selected does not exist.

We Are Not Taught How To Be Happy

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

The writing mastermind I’m a part of online has been discussing various aspects of our personal and business journeys in relation to End of Year Goals – as the final 100 days of 2018 approaches. In one of the discussions, we started talking about Joy and Doing Things that Make You Happy and a lot of us had a hard time coming up with lists of things that make us happy and activities that bring us joy.

Everyone in the group could think of people and a few items, but it took a while to come up with a substantial list – especially when it came to things we enjoy doing. We all realized that we aren’t taught how to be happy in this life. This is not a slight against anyone or their upbringing – I’m saying this a whole, as a community, as a country. We are not taught how to be happy.

We are taught right from wrong, strong work ethics, how to be a good person overall – all good things by the way – but HOW TO BE HAPPY? Not really on the list. We usually do find things along the way that lights us up growing up, but how many of us still do the things that made us happy when we were kids and had fewer responsibilities?  I’m going to bet, not many.

So, I want you to take a few minutes today and think – what makes you happy? What brings you joy? Write it down. Spend five minutes and think about the people, places, things, and activities that make you happy, make you excited, make your soul sing. Then try to incorporate more of those into your day. I know, I know you’re going to tell me you don’t have time – trust me, I know!

Let’s say you put music down as an enjoyable thing that makes you happy. Can you listen to music on your way to work or school? Can you take a 5 or 10 minute walk at lunch and listen then? Let’s say you put down talking with a friend. Can you schedule a phone or Skype date with one of them and actually put in your calendar? Can you text a friend you haven’t spoken with in a while and just see what’s up? Ask about grabbing a coffee?

We deserve to be happy. It’s hard out there – we are all stressed and have mile-long to-do lists, but if we don’t take just a few moments every day to be happy, to spend time doing something enjoyable, then what is the point? What is the point of the hard work? What’s the point of running around and completing that mile-long list of endless to-do’s?

Let’s teach ourselves how to be happy and then maybe we can pass that information down to our kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews – so the next generation can change the world and be happy!

If you would like to share your list below in the comments, I would love to see them because I am still discovering things to try, things that might make me happy. If you’d like to see my list – let me know and I’ll post it below as well. I hope you have a great day and that you find some HAPPY in it.

 

The form you have selected does not exist.

Mindful Food Tracking

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

I’ve been working with my nutritionist for awhile.  First, we started with my mindset, being okay with who I am right here and right now.  Not putting off goals and life just because I carry extra pounds, being happy and enjoying life and food because life is meant to be enjoyed.  Once we felt like I was doing okay with that step, we moved on to mindful food tracking.  This can bring up so many emotions for a person who’s been dieting or “trying to change her eating habits” for years.  It can bring up memories of Weight Watchers journal and points, failed attempts at “watching” what I eat and about lying about certain foods on those journals because people will see them, people will judge me, people will punish me for enjoying chocolate.  This was different.  It was just for information to start seeing how my body reacts to hunger.  How my body tells me it’s hungry.  It was about learning and exploring and being curious.

Information vs Judgement

To track your food, mindfully, you need to be in the right frame of mind. This isn’t about judging yourself, beating yourself up for eating, or about calories.  The type of tracking I do for hunger and fullness cues from my body.  I believe that each of us is different.  I believe that our bodies react differently to being hungry and being full.  The problem with distorted eating (binge eating, binging-purging, or not eating) – it causes the body and the mind to stop talking and then you can’t really know what your body is trying to tell you.

Tracking

Start with a goal and keep it simple.  I started with wanting to figure out my hunger cues, then I moved on to the other side of that coin – fullness cues.  If you’re trying to see how balanced your meals are or why you’re raiding the office fridge at 3 PM then you’ll have different goals and different things to track.

Once you have an idea of what you want to track, think about how you want to track. Online app, spreadsheet, or a simple notebook? I have used all three and while I’m using a shared google sheet with my nutritionist now I really like simple notebook the best.

I started with Time, Food, Hunger/Fullness on a scale of 1-10 (for me, 1 on hunger was going to eat my own arm off and 10 was not hungry at all and 1 on the fullness scale was I still need so much food and 10 was going to need a wheelbarrow to get me away from this table full), and then a space for journal or notes.  I have just recently added a space for tracking my daily movement.

I keep it easy and simple without measurements.  I’ll write for breakfast:  2 eggs, sausage veggie patty, coffee, half and half, sugar, and grape tomatoes. Then I’ll write I had a level 5 hunger and afterward, I was at a 7 for fullness.  I ate breakfast at 8:12 AM and in the notes column I marked down that I finally remembered to put down the phone for the entire time I was eating. I also marked down that I went for a 10-minute walk this morning after I put my son on the school bus.  Done.

Helpful Tips

  • There are charts online with the hunger and fullness cues and I have one somewhere, but actually I had more fun when I wrote one for myself with funny sayings and things that might happen – like eating my own arm – it helps me connect better to the scale and to what I’m personally feeling, but I had to work up to that.
  • If you are unsure about what you’re feeling then wait five minutes and check in again.  I know they tell you to drink water if you think you’re hungry and it’s not time to eat, but I’m not sure I agree with that – that seems like old school diet talk.  If you’re hungry, you are hungry.  Hunger and the feelings associated with it are so hard – it took me months to finally figure it out and some days I still miss them.  Fullness was a tiny bit easier, but not by much.  I’ve been working on this with my nutritionist for a year and a half and I still don’t feel like an expert on my own body’s cues.
  • Start small, if writing down what you’re eating is too triggering for you, then just write down time and hunger or fullness levels and a maybe a sentence about where you are or what you’re feeling – maybe even one word.  8:12 AM, hunger 8, stressed – done!  At least you are bringing some attention to your body and your feelings before you sit down to eat.
  • Because for me, this is what it’s really about.  Bringing some attention to your body so you’re not a floating head.  Please tell me I’m not the only one that doesn’t fully live in side her body and walks around totally disconnected most of the time?  I mean, I’m getting better about this, but still – I run into walls, knock into tables, and think I’m smaller than I am because I’m not fully embodying my self.   
  • Slow down when eating. This was so hard for me and some days it’s still so hard for me, but if I can be present with my meal, say thank you for the farmers and the animals (since I’m not vegetarian or vegan) and the truck drivers and my husband for buying the food and my stove for working, then I’ve slowed down enough to not be rushing into my meal. I also try to put my fork or spoon down sometimes and check in with myself.  Is the food tasty?  Am I still hungry?  What am I feeling?  I put the utensil down and look out my window, think about my day or my son and something funny he said.  I put an intention into my day of peace and joy and happiness.  It works, because food should be eaten with JOY not with punishment…but more on that in another post.

Your Turn

So what do you think? Have you ever tried tracking your eating in this manner? Does it work for you or do you find yourself slipping back into old destructive habits?  Hiding what you’re eating from the chart – which no one should see if you’re doing this for yourself – but I know that feeling, oh I shouldn’t write down the Peanut Butter Cups I just ate, because those are “bad” and I will be a “bad” person because I ate those.  That’s bullshit and I’m here to tell you that, if you want to track that you enjoyed every last bite of those PB Cups, then write them down.  If you ate them and barely remembered, write that down too so next time you buy them you’ll slow down and enjoy them. I’m not telling you not to eat them, because chocolate is a major food group for me and I need it a few times a week in some way or another.   Enjoy life…and that includes food!  Thoughts?

 

The form you have selected does not exist.

I Feel Like A Failure

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Get ready for some real talk.

For the past few years I have been learning about and implementing Health At Every Size (HAES) and Body Positivity into my life, but for the past few months, I’ve been hating myself and my body.  Generally, I feel like a failure. A big fat failure.

I am fat.  That’s a fact.  I don’t say this as a negative thing, I say it as if I would say, I’m tall. It’s a descriptor – nothing more and nothing less.

I had negative self-talk going through my head for years – and I don’t know where it came from as my parents and my immediate family have always been loving, kind, and amazing – but I would hear things like: You are too fat to exist, you shouldn’t be allowed to be outside or eat in front of strangers, you are worthless, you are stupid, you totally suck!

Body Positivity, HAES, and Intuitive Eating along with working with a nutritionist and therapist have helped – I have made huge strides.  I started doing Facebook Live videos, finished my book and self-published it on Amazon, started marketing and meeting other writers and readers online.  I stopped hating myself all the time and started truly enjoying life again.  But lately, I’ve been sliding into the negative self-talk again.  I’ve been eating to console myself, to make myself feel better when I’ve had a somewhat bad day, or I didn’t sleep well, or just because it’s Tuesday.

Hate

And for me, at least, when I start to hate my body and it’s size it slips into other areas.  I start telling myself things like: you are a bad mother, you are a terrible friend, people don’t like you, how dare you think you should exist, or be outside, or talk to people.  You suck!

What I hear in my head is not always pretty, and it’s not the truth – this I know.  But in the moment, when I’m already feeling down, I believe the voices. Luckily, I still have all of my supports in place and will be talking to each of them, leaning on them, relying on them, and continuing the hard work but I feel like a failure. I feel like I have failed at being a good person because I slid back into self-hatred and not fully embodying self-love.

I feel like, once again, I just proved the voices right – that I suck, that I can’t do anything right because I screwed up again.  The thing is, I haven’t screwed up – I didn’t kill anyone, I didn’t set the world on fire, I didn’t start a war or anything, but I still feel like I failed myself.  I showed myself that I am unworthy. Again.

Food

It’s weird, too, because when I hate myself I eat poorly (now I’m going to stop right here and say that no food is inherently BAD or GOOD, it’s just FOOD – but I know for ME and me only that I feel better when I eat proteins, veggies, fruits, and drink more water). I don’t exercise or get any movement in.  I feel bad, eat crap, don’t move, feel worse – oh right, it’s because I suck – rinse and repeat.

When I’m feeling more positive, I take better care of myself.  I walk or dance or do yoga because it’s fun! I eat food with lots of colors and textures and I look forward to cooking and fixing my plate.  I feel better, I do better – I keep feeling better, rinse and repeat there too.  Until it stops.

This time though, I knew to stop and ask myself – when was it last working?  When was I last feeling good, doing good? What can I do to get back there? 

For me, it’s reading some Body Positive books and Journaling. 

Love

So I grabbed a book from the library called Women, Food, and God by Geneen Roth that’s been amazing and I started back with my morning mindset practice (which I talked about HERE). And I’m slowly coming out of the fog of self-hatred and back to feeling better about myself and where I’m headed.

And I’m going to keep talking and working with my nutritionist and therapist.  I’m going to keep moving one foot in front of the other, forgiving myself and being compassionate about my mistakes and my missteps, but it’s hard.  It’s hard to be still and love myself when I feel like I’ve failed.  I need space and time and kindness – towards my self.

I also need people, my community, my tribe – I need to continue doing the things I love – writing these blog posts, connecting with people on Instagram, doing my Facebook Live videos because I’m an extrovert and I need that connection.  I work from home so I don’t always see people in real life during the day, but if I can feel connected to writers, readers, fans, and family or friends I will feel better.  I know this, but when you are knee deep in feeling like you suck, you assume everyone thinks you suck and you withdraw – and for an extrovert, that’s horrible.  It’s the exact wrong thing to do.

You?

So I’m here – being completely open and honest and brave in what I’m owning up to.  I feel like a failure, but I’m still growing and learning. I’m trying and failing, getting back up and trying again.  What do you guys do when you feel like you’ve failed at something?  How do you handle these feelings of I Suck? How do you get yourself back on track with your goals?

 

The form you have selected does not exist.

Adulting Is Hard – Meal Planning: Do People Actually Do This?

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

For today in Adulting is Hard I thought I would write about Meal Planning.  Now, I love (LOVE) paper planners (yes, I know everyone and their Mom carries a smartphone nowadays) but I seriously love planning my week and daily to-do’s in a colorful paper planner – bonus points if I get to use stickers and colorful pens/markers/highlighters – but Meal Planning…I just don’t get it.

Do people really figure out their breakfasts, lunches, and dinners a whole week in advance?  I normally eat the same general thing for breakfast so as long as we have eggs, cheese, veggies, ham, and veggie sausage patties I can make eggs in a variety of styles for breakfast.  I basically eat the same thing for lunches as well – deli meat, cheese, veggies, fruit, and maybe some crackers.  I also like to have soup on hand as well as chicken sausages.  Easy things I can throw together for a healthy, quick meal.

Yes, Chef   

I’ll be honest here, I don’t do the majority of cooking in this house – my husband does, but I do help with prep or when we’re cooking in the crockpot (or he needs to work late, of course).  I guess he decides weekly what to buy from Fresh Direct, our online grocery store, but I honestly don’t know if he has a day by day plan for cooking dinner.  We text on his way home from work about what he needs to pick up at the market and that’s when I usually find out what’s for dinner -unless we already talked about the crockpot or any sides I’m helping with.

So…I guess we have a small idea, but we don’t write anything down or decide anything a few days in advance.  Do people (not on YouTube) actually do this?  And if you do, help me out – how?  I tend to follow an Intuitive Eating plan from my nutritionist – I keep things on hand that I like to eat for breakfast and lunch and snacks and then eat what I feel like eating when the time comes up.  I let the one that does the cooking plan the meals for the most part, with my help on Saturday when we order food – like, I sometimes say – this week let’s make this – but that’s pretty rare.

Buttered Noodles, Please

Maybe I would meal plan more if my kid ate what we did?  My son tends to eat one of like six things so we always cook his stuff separately – chicken nuggets, Amy’s pizza rolls, buttered noodles, etc.   And sometimes he gets hungry even before my husband gets home from dinner, so I cook his dinner early. I’m not going to starve a six-year-old.

Do you meal plan? On paper or just in your head?  Do you sit down weekly and decide for the whole week or do you shop twice (or more) a week?  We tend to order a large batch of food from Fresh Direct on Saturday (delivered on Sunday) then we hit up the Fruit/Veggie market or smaller grocery store a few times a week to buy produce and things we either forgot or that Fresh Direct didn’t have.  We don’t do Costco or the like because we have a tiny apartment, even tinier kitchen, and no pantry to speak of – so we don’t have room to store giant gallons of anything.  How do you shop and deal with meal planning?

 

The form you have selected does not exist.

Consistent Inconsistency

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

I have a bad habit of inconsistency.  I start projects or goals with so much gusto, so much energy but usually, I fall off in a matter of weeks. I’m very consistent in my inconsistency too as I’ve had this bad habit for years (decades really).   Here are a few examples: I started meditating daily a few months ago.  I was doing great, hitting streaks in my meditation app and feeling calm, centered, and positive.  Then something happened (who knows what it was – but I was probably sick or missed a night) and bam, the streak was broken and I was out of sync. Now, a normal person would probably just start back, but this is a hard concept for me to grasp so instead I just quit meditating altogether.  I haven’t even opened that app since.

Exercise is another one that I do this with ALL THE TIME.  I will start with a routine or a plan, and I’ll get – maybe 3-4 weeks and then something will happen and I’ll miss a day, or I’ll get sick, or go on vacation or…you get the idea…and I’m off track and out of sync and I just can NOT get back into it.  I have a mental block that keeps me from just jumping back in without panic, without overly worrying, without breaking down.  It’s annoying and I’ve realized it needs to stop.

Problem Meet Solution

Okay…so I’ve admitted my problem, that’s the first step, right? Next comes the plan – it’s called the Respawn.  Yes, that’s based on video games where when your character dies you can come back to life at a checkpoint, the last place you finished or leveled up.  I got this idea from Nerd Fitness, the group I’m a part of online for Health and Wellness and all things Geeky, but I never really took the idea to heart or thought much about it…because at the time I heard about it I was IN IT, I was on track and things were going GREAT!  Now they are not.

So, I’m going back to when things were ON for various things I want to get back to including exercise, meditation, some self-care stuff I let slide, and nutrition (eating my veggies mostly). I’m looking at where I was and what was working.  Using the meditation app and a timer, for instance.  Or using my 8 Minutes in the Morning book (which has a plan for exercise with moves and a journal). Or using my cuticle balm and hand cream while watching Jessica Jones before bed.  Or cutting up veggies and keeping them in a baggie or Tupperware in the fridge so they’re ready for a quick grab and go lunch or snack.

Solution = Plan

Next…actually plan these things back into my week slowly.  Pick one I want to add back in, add it to my online To-Do app or write it in my daily planner and just start.  Then pick another one and do the same thing.  But here’s where it gets tricky, for me, I get worried because I fall off so many times – I was serious when I said the only thing I’m consistent with is my inconsistency – it’s true, I fall off and I stay off.  That’s why I’m implementing a Respawn policy: It’s okay to fall off as long as you come back, always and as many times as you need to, just remember to keep track of where you level up or hit a checkpoint so you don’t start over at Level 1.

Here’s the truth – you never truly have to start all the way over from Square One – because you know things now, you have the experience (even if it was only 1-2 weeks or heck, even a few days you know things now – maybe you know what didn’t work and that’s good information too!).  If I can remember that and keep that in mind when I start then I don’t overwhelm myself because I will fall off, it’s just in my nature – I get derailed over little things and instead of fighting that, I will try to work with it.

How About You?

Do you need to Respawn with anything?  Do you need to start over with a goal or habit that you dropped off or out of? Let me know in the comments and we can help each other, I could even help you brainstorm some ways to get back on track – or tell me where you Leveled Up or what “checkpoint” you’ve already hit and let’s see what we can do to get things back in the groove!

The form you have selected does not exist.

I Hate to Cook, but I Love to Eat!

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

I’m on a quest this year to take better care of myself and my health.  This includes spending time in the kitchen cooking meals with real food.  If you love to cook this isn’t hard, but I hate to cook…I’ve had panic attacks in the kitchen while trying to cook.  Even just thinking about cooking can send me into cold sweats, but ordering in or eating crap food makes me feel crappy and keeps my weight at a place that doesn’t make me happy.  When I eat more veggies, more protein, and other real foods I feel better.  I have more energy and I get more done.  I have more overall patience and can take care of others better because I’ve taken care of myself first.

Courage

My word of the year is Courage so my nutritionist asked me to take that word and apply it to the kitchen, food, exercise, and my health in general not just my writing goals.  We came up with a list of ways to do this including trying new foods (both at home and when going out or ordering in), cooking more meals, and being more creative when it comes to meal planning and shopping.  So, I took some of my Christmas money and bought a cookbook called The Can’t Cook Book! By Jessica Seinfeld and I went through it and picked out one recipe to try.  Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings and it was fairly easy to make and was super tasty so we added it to our monthly rotation of meals.  Then I picked out a 2nd recipe (who am I?) and tried that one – this time Chicken Drumsticks with various marinades – we chose the Mustard Rosemary option and I cooked those.  Again, fairly easy and really yummy!

Crock Pot

As you may remember, the gas in our building was turned off due to a small explosion (and then the building needed to upgrade pipes so it was MONTHS before it was turned back on) and we got quite a bit of use out of the crockpot.  Well, that was easy for me to throw stuff in and set it and forget it while working from home so I’ve been doing 1-2 meals a month this way, especially since my husband has been working a lot of over time (normal for this time of the year).  Usually I would just fix crappy food for myself for dinner, make sure my son had something to eat and call it good, because hubby is the one that really loves to cook and is good at it too, but this year I’ve been really trying to eat better even when he’s not home to cook dinner.

Done, not Perfect

Am I perfect?  Heck no, I slip up and fall back into old patterns all the time, but it’s one meal here or there not all the time.  I had already added good breakfasts and lunches into my routine a few months ago, so adding in dinners and working on my snacks (which I’ll talk about soon) was the next step in my journey to Intuitive Eating and being mindful about what goes into my body and how I feel when I eat a certain way.

What are your favorite dinners? Do you use the crockpot or the new favorite, the Instant Pot, to make dinners easier?  Do you have a great easy cookbook you could recommend?  I use Pinterest a lot to find easy meals, especially for my slow cooker, so hit me up over there with your ideas and suggestions!  And do you love to cook or do you tolerate it? Or…do you ignore it like I used to?  Maybe we can keep each other accountable in this area – just let me know in the comments!

The form you have selected does not exist.