Planning for change (with food) *update*

I am a very impatient person (one of the things i need to work on) as far as my food journey goes i have re-established my food philosophy. By this i mean that i am developing my own food philosophy and not just taking an idea or someone else's way of living (i.e. the Paleo way of eating) and trying to follow it exactly. My food philosophy is one that has been around for a while but i've adapted it to suit our family. That is "Everything in moderation excluding all things that have no nutritional value" (the main one of these being processed sugars). So we (my family) will choose not to eat things that have no purpose in our bodies, instead choosing to eat what will effectively fuel and nourish us. This week is our transition week, i am using up all of the not so good ingredients and foods or discarding them. I am aware that preparation is the key, i'm looking forward to this change x

Music that soothes my souls, captures my imagination and warms my heart.....

I'm seriously blessed to have musical people in my family, however, i am not musical. I can't play music and according to my husband i can carry a tune, but i would never consider myself someone who would pursue singing or making music, unless of course it was entirely just for fun and my lack of ability wasn't an issue. I also have musical friends. These people make me happy, as do many of the artists out there who make a living with their amazing talents. I want to share with you today just a taste of the music that soothes my soul, captures my imagination and warms my heart. Music makes me feel alive, reminds me of how amazing this life is.

This first artist is actually my sister, i couldn't be more proud of the fact that someone who shares the same bloodline as i do possesses so much talent and passion. The world is missing out on something special, they just don't know it yet. Yes i'm probably biased but check her out, you won't be disappointed.
I will shelter you- JaimeLee (original)

I remember loving this talented person when he was on the TV show Australian Idol,  it won't be the defining moment of his musical career, i know this because of the absolutely inspiring music he is currently capable of. I was fortunate enough to see him play live recently, having heard nothing from him since i had seen him on the show, now i can't get enough. I have the Roadtrip Confessions album, i listen to tracks 7 (Please) & 8 (Oh! My Kingdom) over and over.
Crazy Heart- Buffalo Tales

I was also fortunate enough to see this guy live too. He was so brilliant and i can't wait to get my hands on this Album. I love his sound and recently read a descriptive of the songs on his album as i listened to it i feel fortunate to know some of the thoughts behind music that i enjoy There is so much Aussie talent out there right now.
Man on Fire- Harry Hookey

Saw Busby Marou play the same night as Harry Hookey, these guys have an awesome sound and some really great lyrics. Always a favorite, can listen to them all day any day. Their Farewell Fitzroy album is brilliant.
Luck- Busby Marou

There are plenty more than this but this is just a taste and i hope you enjoy x

Feeling good about my place on the planet

I've been cleaning surfaces in my home with this little concoction for a while now, in fact is has been a long time since I have purchased a surface cleaner. It has been a little difficult to get used to for a couple of reasons. One being that I really used to hate the smell of vinegar but I am slowly becoming accustomed to it and also that I had been used to that very sterile perfumed clean smell that comes with store bought cleaners. I use eucalyptus oil in my cleaner (you don't have to) because I enjoy the smell. This is just a baby step on my way to making all of the cleaning solutions I use in my home including washing detergents, laundry powder floor cleaners etc.

Taking time to breathe

Sometimes I forget to breathe, life can be so overwhelming and I allow the stresses of everyday to snowball and become an ever present looming shadow over every decision and action that I make. Doing small things or making small decisions seem to feel like they are life altering, although they are far from it. The last few years have felt like a very stressful time and have caused me to become tightly wound and moody. Quick to fly off the handle and my parenting has suffered for it. I find myself with an attitude sometimes that I'm not proud of and i feel even worse when this exact attitude is expressed by my beautiful children (namely Master 6). I have a fierce protective and unconditional love for my children and it breaks my heart to think that I could be causing them to be unnecessarily stressed or to have a negative outlook. So sometimes just breathing is a problem. Taking the time to take a deep cleansing breath before I act or speak is something that I really need to work on. Maybe counting to 10 and deciding if what I was planning to do or say is really what I want. Allowing myself to see the possible outcomes or just to let feelings of stress, anxiety or frustration go. I hope we all get the chance to take the time to just breathe in this beautiful world that we've been blessed with.

My Paleo Plan

I have been trying to figure out where to start and when to start as well. Having to think about three other people who live in this house as well makes it a bit more difficult to just jump in. I'm allowing us and everyone else (mainly my little boys) the school holiday period in preparation for change. We will be celebrating a 4th birthday as well as indulging in a bit of Easter craziness and since they have been looking forward these times i would hate to take the excitement away. So we have two weeks to consume the things that we really shouldn't be and then say goodbye, at least for the vast majority of our time. Granted every now and then we won't have preferred choices but that's ok, i plan to address that issue if/when it comes.
I also plan to do a pantry raid. I have a couple of reference lists of what foods are Paleo approved so i will cull everything that isn't on that list (so nearly everything ha ha) and throw or give it away. There are some items that i can keep like spices and canned items (eg. tomatoes) but once these are done i will be choosing the organic version in future re-stocks.
Then I need to come up with some workable meal plans. The first 30 days focuses on resetting your body and taste buds, it isn't recommended to have any sweeteners, not even Paleo approved ones. This is so that you get used to the taste of purely natural sugars from fruit. So i will need to plan this time very well as i can imagine myself craving sweet and salty processed treats and caving in because i am tired and detoxing.
This is my plan, i hope that i don't fail myself and my children. I am really motivated to make this change and i really hope to keep this feeling and enthusiasm long enough for us to make the change and realise how wonderful this change could be.

Reading as a catalyst for change

I have over the past few years acquired a couple of the most lovely and inspired books. I wanted to share the five i currently have that i hope will become a catalyst for change in my home, in my heart and in my soul. I know that I am the only one that can make changes to who I am and what i do but i take inspiration from the world around me and the clever, thought provoking people who live in it.

This is one that my Mum gifted to me, I have only just cracked the spine as i have been feeling a little bit lost lately and have felt like i need a few words of wisdom to give me courage and to help me understand  what the future may bring for our little family. Boys are very special creatures and being a female having a little enlightenment on how to decipher them can only be a good thing, right?

This was today's splurge, I have only just come across the Paleo way of eating, i refuse to call it a 'diet' because it isn't that, it's a way of living. Learning to nourish our bodies with the things that they were made to process and digest is very appealing to me. My hope in changing the way we eat will be that not only will i feel better every day but that i will give my children the tools that they need to live long and healthy lives. This book and this chef are inspiring and i am looking forward to spending a lot of time with it.

This book is simply gorgeous, it is just a lovely book to sit down and read while enjoying a cup of tea. I've scanned the whole thing and then gone back and read a few things that have been relevant at certain times. It encourages us to live simply, to slow down and to live more sustainably. The way it is set out and the pictures just bring me a calmness and a hope that this is what my life may one day look like.  

 This is my own personal visual journal (i guess you could call it). I'm quite a creative person and a heavy thinker so i need an outlet or i start to feel claustrophobic in life. This book i am using for a whole bunch of different ideas, to record thoughts and of course to draw when i feel the need. I'm not an artist, i prefer more of a crafty outlet but this has been quite fun and enough to tide me over until i have the time and space to get creative again.

This book has been so inspiring for me, i have had it a couple of years now and i keep referring back to it.  I feel as though i am very very slowly on my way in my journey of unstuffing and organisation and this book really helps to break it down in a very sensible way. I hope in the future to become minimalist and a lot less consumer driven. Ironically i have misplaced my copy and i really need to find it, or i will be purchasing another copy. 

So there are a few of my favorite books and i'm really excited to be sharing them with you.

Breaking it down to rebuild it a better way

One of my issues is that i'm pretty much on my own in the parenting, the  house keeping, the  providing sustenance and in the planning for a healthier lifestyle. Having a partner who is a brilliant provider but who has hardly any spare time in the week can be pretty tough. I need to be understanding that he needs his down time but it can be really hard when we all get so tired and frustrated with the life that we are currently living. It is my hope that i can influence him and our adorable children by changing as much as i can. As it stands we live an ordinary, average life. We watch tv, they play video games (very limited), i plan meals and shop at grocery shops and buy what we can afford, we buy takeaway, we don't have a very active lifestyle and i'm not proud of how i keep my house at this stage. We are consumer driven and are influenced by advertising and society.
That's just a touch on what i believe are borderline negatives and some definite negatives. I'm 30 and i am starting to let myself get into the frame of mind that 'it's too late', i've lived this way for 30 years of my life and i am wondering how i am meant to make these changes when this current way of living is so ingrained in me. However the thing that saves me from letting this become an all consuming thought process is the fact that my children are 6 going on 7 and 3 going on 4. They still have a whole long life ahead of them and this time in their life is so very important in giving them the tools they can use to live a happy, healthy and fulfilling lifetime. So for me at this stage i need to break it all down so that i can rebuild it all in a much better and healthy way.

The following are the things that i need to alter, i know it will require research, time and effort but here we go down the rabbit hole....

1.My way of thinking.
*Taking responsibility for my roles
*Not allowing negativity to cloud everything
*Taking time to enjoy life

2.The way we eat.
*Implimenting the Paelo eating plan to see if it works
*Cut down or out Takeaway
*Encourage the children to cook and bake

3.The way i run our home.
*Get motivated
*Take pride in where we live
*Create a home that i love

4.My parenting
*Being an available parent
*Better time management and routine

5.The way i look after myself
*Excersise
*Healthy self-indulgence
*Yoga, yoga, yoga!
*Meditation
*Always listen to music as it nourishes my soul.

I feel like i'm slowly getting my mojo back, although sometimes is feel like i'm in a never ending cyclical battle of will, determination and inspiration that is consistently opposed by negativity, tiredness and practicality. I do think I will get there, if not now then at some stage. This is what i really want and the lifestyle that i desire to be living. I want to feel alive and i need to know that i am using this life that i have been born into and blessed with in a way that i will feel content with.

...... and somewhere along the way i got lost

I was living this life

                              

........................ and then somewhere along the way i got lost.

Having a reflective moment that was brought upon me by the gripping feeling of being overwhelmed by everything caused me to journey back a little bit through my own mind and through my old blogs (this and a couple of others that are now inactive), i saw the person i hoped to be, the joy i had, the motivation and the inspiration that i found in life,

..................... and then somewhere along the way i got lost.

How it happened, i'm not sure. I still want the same things that i did a year ago but i somehow fell off the path and have been on a cross country trek through dust and fog to try and stumble my way back. 

These days i just feel old and tired. It sounds a bit pathetic, i know this, i'm only 30 and i have two beautiful young boys that give me reason to feel alive each day. But still i look around me at what surrounds and i look inside myself at what i aspire to achieve and then i just feel lost. 

This has to be the starting point for a new beginning, I just have to figure out which part to start at. The influential factors that will catapult this change will be health and diet, organisation and unstuffing, being an involved and available parent and the dream of simple living. I know i need to start somewhere, even with baby steps, i have every motivation that i need sitting right in front of me in the form of my most precious, adorable children. Now i just need to get to it, go out there and catch my dreams.