The New Me

Does anyone else have this perfect image of themselves that they always hold onto? In my perfect world, I'd be totally fit (working on it), and I'd be a pseudo-hippie (I love the idea of eating clean, buying organic, and making my own stuff, but still enjoy using modern conveniences). I'd be totally active and outdoorsy, and I'd absolutely be a runner. I'd be babywearing (check) and cloth diapering (check), and I'd make AE's food (um, about that...).

I've always felt like this vision of myself was unattainable. There's no way this full time therapist could be a "crunchy" mom and also be active and healthy and all organic. After a month of focusing on health, however, I'm starting to feel like I can be the girl in my vision. I took a look at myself yesterday as I was running errands, and started to see the beginnings of my perfect world falling together. I'm still a long way off, and it'll take hard work, sacrifice, and probably some compromising from my plan, but the baby steps have started.

So here's my look at myself and my day:


A day in the life -- Monday 2/10

So Mondays are my day off. I work 10 hour days Tuesday through Friday, and get to stay home with AE on Monday. Being my day off, it varies. I could spend the day at home cleaning or, on days like yesterday, spend most of the day running errands.

I always start Mondays off with my Bikini Body Mommy workout. I always aim to get up before AE to do my workout, but being my day off, it's hard to motivate myself to get out of bed. Yesterday, AE hung out in her little car toy on the floor while mommy did her workout. Yesterday was "Love your legs and booty," and my legs are still feeling it today.

We then do breakfast. AE has a fruit/oatmeal combo and some formula, and mommy usually opts for a protein shake. Then time for AE's morning nap (my shower time).

After nap, we had lunch (leftover wings for me and formula/fruit for AE), and started getting ready to head out the door.

First step was to Martin's for some more coconut oil for cloth diapering.

Then I stopped to buy a used (new with tags!) hiking backpack from a local mom. Brand new $300 Kelty Kids pack for $100! Awesome deal! Now we just have to use it!

Got coffee (black, two splendas) on the way to the Board of Ed for fingerprinting and a badge. Did I mention I'm officially a school therapist on Thursdays? I work at a middle school through a grant that my agency got through the end of the school year.

Went into Shepherdstown, WV for some shopping. I LOVE Up On the Hill, and was trying to get my hands on a new wooden Spock teether for AE (dogs got a hold of the last one), among other things. I was deeply disappointed to find that they are no longer shipping to retail stores (boo!), but got a Beetles-esque submarine teether instead, a handmade toy that looks like one of the characters from Little Big Planet, some new cloth wipes, and some all natural balm for AE's dry legs.

While in Shepherdstown, I decided to check out some of the stores down there that I always drive by, and have never dropped in on. I went to Two Rivers Treads, which I didn't realize at the time is focused on minimalist footwear, and got fitted for some shoes. Now to decide if I want to go the minimalist route and actually buy some, or if I want to get some traditional shoes.

I also stopped at a neat little juicing shop (hence the green juice pic), and got a "Green Lemonade," which was kale, apples, and lemons. Yum! Not bad for a first green juice.

Final stop was to the outlets to get some cold weather running gear (let's not have a repeat of Sunday, shall we?). Got some neat cold gear at the Under Armor outlet. Also dropped into the Vitamin World outlet and chatted some with the girls in there about our area's sore lack of any kind of natural food store.

Home for a nap with AE before hubby got home and we got into our night time routine.



Anyone else notice a trend with my day? I was pretty pleased to see that I am starting to become the person that I've always wanted to be. I'm making healthy choices, choosing natural products, and staying pretty active lately.
Next steps? Looking into making my own cloth wipe solution and considering an invite to join a ballet class... Basically: focusing on being healthy and loving life.

Have you made any healthy changes lately? Tell me about them!