A Healthier {Nap-less} Me!

Good Monday Morning, Y’all!

I hope you had a great weekend!

Ours was very sad.  Sad smile  We lost our sweet dog, Champ, on Saturday.  He was hit by a car {again,} but this time, he didn’t make it.  We were all devastated.  The house just doesn’t seem the same without him in it.  The boys have cried and cried.

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This was our first dog as a family.  We got him almost five years ago, and he was a wonderful dog!

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I wanted to share with you today how I have been taking steps to a “healthier me.”

As I have shared before, I have put on a lot of weight over the past three years.  I think it has to do with metabolism and hormones.  {Basically, I’m getting old.}  Smile 

This past year, I have really been trying hard to take steps toward a more healthy lifestyle.  I have only lost a few pounds, but I love the way that I “feel” right now. 

I have a ton of energy and have gotten rid of my daily naps. 

I feel like I have discovered the Fountain of Youth or something.  But I haven’t. 

I’ve just been eating “clean.”

What is “clean eating.”  Well for me, it is basically not eating any processed food.  I stick to the basic meats, fruits, and veggies. 

It’s so simple, but it seems like the best kept secret in the universe!!

Before I started eating clean, I was taking a nap every day.  Sometimes two naps.  Yes.  Two.  I would drop the boys off at school in the morning and head to McDonald’s or Panera to work on my blog/computer.  When I would get to the parking lot, I would lay my head back on the car seat for a  few minutes just to “rest my eyes.”  Smile  Sometimes that would be a 10 minute “rest,” and sometimes I would wake up 45 minutes later!  In my car, y’all!

Then later that afternoon, I would lay down about an hour before the boys got off the bus because I would be so tired I could not hardly keep my eyes open.

I felt like a slug.  Seriously.

I knew that it had to do with my diet.  So I decided to start eating more “clean.”

To help me eat clean and get more exercise, I started doing the workout program “21 Day Fix.” 

I love this program.  It is a great way to control what you are eating each day and help you exercise.  My college friend, Tammy, is a Beach Body Coach, and I was in her 21 Day Fix facebook group where we would report in every day and tell how we were doing.  Tammy is great at encouraging me through words and scripture, and the accountability is great! {If you need a great Beach Body Coach, I highly recommend Tammy.}

The food plan in this program is clean, nothing processed.  And within the first few days, I immediately began to see a change in my energy level.  Not only was I not tired when I woke up in the morning, but I had no need for an afternoon nap. 

Usually, when I sit and work on my computer in the afternoon, I can barely stay awake. Not anymore!  I can work on my computer in the afternoon with no problem at all!  I’m not tired one bit! 

That is like a miracle to me, y’all!

And it’s all because of the food I am NOT eating anymore.

If I could encourage you to do one thing to improve your life, it would be to eat clean.

 

Now, I need to say that I do not eat 100% clean, but more like 80%.  And I haven’t gotten my boys to eat totally clean either.  They love their cereal and chips.  Smile  Of course, they have ten times the energy I do every day, so I am not as worried about them.  Hee.hee.  But when I cook for them, I try to make it as healthy as possible. 

The other thing that I am doing to become a “healthier me” is using my Young Living Essential Oils.

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I’ve talked about them on my blog before, but I love my oils!

 

It is crazy how much these oils of have helped me, and I love that they are 100% natural and good for my body.  I really believe that these oils have a lot to do with how much better I “feel” now. 

You can learn more about the oils HERE.

 

So, that was a really long post, but I just wanted to update you on the healthier changes I was making in my life.  I’m not getting any younger y’all, so I’ve got to do all that I can to take care of myself and my body.

Do you have any tips or advice to share with me?  What do you do/use to help you feel your best?

25 Comments

  1. Hi Traci! I have been enjoying a cleaner way of eating too!! I purchased a NutriBullet, which allows me to eat ALOT more leafy greens than I ever have before! And contrary to what most folks say….”Eeeww!”..it’s not that bad tasting. Believe me, I’m a southern girl, who was raised believing that butter and bacon had their own food groups. Much luck to you and to eating cleaner!!

  2. First and foremost, I am so sorry you lost your fur baby. :( Hugs! Eating clean is the bestest. I’ve done it and am trying to get back on it. Gave into temptation too many times. It stinks, we as a society, have all gatherings around food and most of it bad for you! It’s amazing what we can cure ourselves with what we eat! Great job and keep up the good work!

  3. I’m so sorry about your dog. :( It’s the worst to lose a pet.
    Good work on the diet! I’m doing Whole 30 right now and feel similarly great!

  4. Oh I understand your loss of your beloved pet. They truly become family members who accept us as we are and don’t we all need that! Just like friends I think they come into our lives for a purpose. Praise Him for allowing us to have pets. Praise Him for all that He does for us.

  5. I am so sorry to hear about Champ. My heart goes out to your family. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs to all of you.

    Glad to hear you are feeling better too. It is a struggle as we get a little older, but finding the right things that work for our bodies is very important. I have been on a similar quest and have found what works for me, and you are right it is like a miracle to not be so dragged out all the time and need to “rest our eyes” anymore :-)

  6. Wow, that is awesome, Traci! I’ve been trying to eat cleaner, too, but keep falling off the wagon. Boo… time to refocus and try again!
    xo Heidi
    PS — so very sorry about Champ. So heartbreaking to lose a beloved pet. Hugs…

  7. So sorry about your fur baby! Just like losing a member of your family. May time help to heal the hurt. What a sweet dog!

  8. My heart breaks for you on the loss of your family member. He sure was a cutie and I could see why this has to be so sad. Good luck on your diet.

    God Bless

  9. Aack! I read this just after eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (I was only going to eat half and save the rest for tomorrow, but you know how that goes when you’re eating and talking and not paying attention). Hopefully, that will be my only binge this week. We mostly eat healthy, cook from scratch and grow our veggies. I think that soda should have a warning about diabetes on the can just like alcohol has a warning. It makes me sick to see people drinking so much of it.

  10. First off, I’m so sorry to hear about your dog – how devastating for all of you! Thinking of all of you, because it’s so difficult losing a furry member of your family.

    I hear you on the clean eating!! Getting older really stinks sometimes doesn’t it? I feel so much better when I eat clean, but sometimes it’s so hard to break the cycle!

  11. Oh my gosh, you described my life before I started eating clean a few months ago. I was constantly taking naps too and popping pills for this and that and blaming it on hormones. It’s amazing how we treat our bodies and how in turn our bodies treat us. I’ve been writing on my blog about my weight loss challenge and how much better I feel now that I’m down almost 40lbs since the beginning of the year.

  12. Love your blog. So sorry to hear about your dog. We too lost our dog on Saturday. We had to put her to sleep . She was a lab named Molly she would have been 11 on the 4th of July. She developed paralysis of the larnyx, a condition that makes the dog unable to get any air. It was horrible, and there is not much that could have been done for her. an operation that we would have had to travel 2 hours for and the vet said she would have never made it. Our whole family also is devestated but especially my DH. I’ve never seen him so broken. I will pray for ya’ll because believe me i know what you’re going through.

  13. I am so sorry about your family dog. Thanks for the weight loss tips.. I felt I was reading about me.. gaining weight/no energy etc.. I will try this too not just counting my calories.

  14. Losing a pet is just devastating. Dogs are every bit a part of our lives and I’m so sorry about your loss. The pain doesn’t feel like it will ever go away, but of course, it dulls – just like all pain. We lost our precious dog 2 1/2 years ago and are ready to get our next one this Thursday. We just couldn’t do it before.

    Very interesting about the clean eating. I need to look into that program for myself and my husband. Might be the “cure” for my tired and grumpy family!

  15. I can relate to the tired dragginess. It’s very hard for me to get going in the mornings, although once I’m up and moving thing improve. I will keep aiming for clean eating–do too much fast food–keep thinking I don’t have time for cooking, nor do I enjoy it so much. I need a change of direction I think, and trying to imagine it wears me out!

  16. So sorry about Champ :-( thats so hard. Did he run away a lot? I’m just so sorry for your family. I’ll be praying for all of you.

    Good job on eating clean. Glad you feel more energetic! ;-)

  17. I am on week five of a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) classes. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I love it. I’m 37 and have found that increasing my strength is a huge energy boost.

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