Healthy | Mommyhood Land

Let me be completely honest for a minute here.

I need to learn to love my body.

I am fully aware of how amazing my body is that it was able to carry 4 beautiful babies to full term. And it is not my stretch marks that I worry about. It just over all my body, the extra weight here and there. But it is so much more than just physical, it is also emotional.

So I have decided to do something about it, for me and for my kids. I don’t want my kids to grow up in a house where their mother is not comfortable in her own body.

So here is what I want to do, I want to feel good, physically and emotionally. I want to be comfortable in my own skin. I don’t want any of my kids to deal with the issues and problems that I have dealt with. You see, I have never really been comfortable in my own skin. When I was a teenager I suffered with eating disorders. And I never want my children to suffer that pain and heartache. I want them to look in the mirror and feel proud and happy, not ashamed and sad. I want them to be proud to look in a mirror, not hide from them. And part of them being able to do that is for them to see me be able to do that.

I love fitness, I love salads. But here is the problem. I fall off the bandwagon. I stop working out and I stress eat, which then makes me feel worse and I eat more junk. It’s a gross circle. A circle that I am going to break.

So from now on Fridays will be Fitness Friday. I will focus on my body and mind and all things healthy and good. Fridays will be a time to reflect my weeks healthy journey, my workouts and healthy eating. But it’s not just my body that I need to work on, it is my mind. I can work out till I can’t move, but unless my mind is in a good place it won’t matter.

So here is how this week went. I worked out, I’ve been walking in the morning and the afternoon and doing Zumba as well. My kids love a good dance party, and I get a workout, everyone is happy after, it is a win-win for everyone. I have been eating more salads, and snacking less. I have started to journal again, which has really helped me work out my thoughts and clear my head. Overall I have noticed a small change in my moods, which is good. It has been a hard emotional summer, and I am finally feeling like my motivation is coming back.

This up coming week my plan is to continue eating healthy. Cooking all meals at home. Drink more water. Workout more, do something active every day. Journal every night before bed to help clear my mind and prepare for the next day.

I would love to know what your favourite workouts and healthy meals are! Please share with me!

~ Michelle

One day I came up with the great idea to stop eating meat for the week. That was 3 years ago. 3 years ago today actually.

I would love to say that I stopped eating meat because of animal rights or some cool thing like that, but the truth is that I stopped because I realized I felt better when I didn’t eat it, I slept better, I had more energy, I got sick less often.

However it hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine, being the only vegetarian in the house can be a pain sometimes. Having to cook two separate meals can be annoying. I admit, some nights I’m so tired that after cooking a chicken meal for the family I am left eating a grilled cheese or something. I have even done meal planning, and go shopping, and totally forget to come up with a second meal for myself, again grilled cheese to the rescue!

This is probably the part when you are waiting for me to drop some wisdom about all the wonderful things I have learned in the last 3 years on this vegetarian journey, so here it goes: Kale is yummy.
Yup, that is about it. Sorry. I loved all fruits and vegetables before this, and would rather eat a salad any day, but with that being said, I still never tried Kale before this. I put Kale in my fruit smoothies, veggie stir fry, chilli, and salads. I have yet to try Kale chips.

One question I always get asked is when will I eat meat again? Honestly I have no idea. I never set out to stop eating meat completely, and honestly sometimes when I am BBQing steak for the family, it can be hard to resist.
For now I will continue to BBQ my veggies while the family enjoys steak. Lucky me.

I am always on the look out for good vegetarian recipes, so you if you know any, pass them along!

~ Michelle