So How Are Those Goals Coming?

Good day to you! I am feeling guilty/reflective today. Going over my goals for January, I see that I still have a lot of work in this last week of the month.

Here are the goals:

My Goals for January 2018 

-Stop eating out/ordering take out - this is going well, except that I forgot to take into consideration that my mother and I have an ongoing promise for me to take her out to lunch once a month. Joe works as Manager On Duty once a month on a weekend day, if that makes sense. For Jan. is was last Sunday. I had planned on taking her to a local restaurant, but it was closed for the month. We live in a resort area and winter is a slower time so many local places close for January through mid-February. I ended up taking her to Mellow Mushroom for a small Greek salad and pizza. Mom took the left over salad and I took the pizza. Joe had the leftover pizza for dinner while I nursed a sore tummy with broth. It's interesting how quickly my digestive system became used to homemade food. For February I have to come up with an alternative to dining out. For her, it's a treat. But for me, it goes against what I know to be true, that most restaurants use the same GMO/pesticide tainted food. Its costs too much, financially and medically.

-Do a juice cleanse for 3 days to restart system - I haven't done a complete cleanse yet, just enjoying a juice for lunch on workdays.

-Drink at least a gallon of filtered water a day - This is harder than I thought it would, but I am getting it done. I have to remind myself.

-Get at least 6 hours sleep each night - With the exception of the weekend, this is VERY challenging. We tend to be night owls, which is fine is you don't have to wake up early. But my alarm goes off at 5:30am on weekdays and going to sleep at 12:30-1am really wears me out. I have to work on this one.

-Make own shampoo, laundry detergent, dish washing detergent - I have been making my own for years, so I thought this would be an easy one. But I keep putting it off because I want to film how I make them.

-Walking 15 minutes at least twice a week. - This one I thought might be challenging, but I've been able to hobble around. My knees are still swollen from moving my mother, so I have been walking very slowly. Sitting 9 hours a day at work hasn't helped at all.

-Sprouting grains, greens, etc. - I think this has been my favorite for both experiments and posting. Sprouting rocks! From mung beans to buckwheat groats, it is not only fun to watch, but easy. De-hulling isn't my favorite and I am still open to easy ways to de-hull sprouts. Mung beans have big hulls that can be removed, but the smaller sprouts...

-Make own sweets/stop buying store-made desserts- Other than Joe making ice cream and I made some fudge sauce, I haven't been doing this. Time and desire has been the issues. An evening dessert has become a habit hard to break. But I know for a fact that if I make homemade muffins/cookies/brownies/cakes/etc. our portions are smaller. Store bought sweets disappear quicker because, I think extra sugar/msg/HFCS/etc. are far more addictive. I know the juicing that I still need to do will help.

-Organize and use the recipes I've been collecting over the years (and I'll share) - Working on this one and it's going well.

-Exploring different grains, sweeteners, oils, etc. - This one will have to be carried over to February.

-Finish reading the book, "Nourishing Traditions," by Sally Fallon Morell - Again, working on this one. I am about 3/4 finished and loving it! I am learning so much! I found out that Sally has a third name, so I am updating my post.

-Make at least 1 video and post it- I not only posted 1 video, but 3! They are unedited or raw.


So overall, I am progressing. This first month has really been an eye-opener! The notion of homemade used to be as natural as breathing, but this busy/over committed lifestyle has turned me into an over-processed hippie. Blogging has helped me stop and think about how I want to live the remainder of my life. I want to be free to make/grow/create as much as I can. One more week in January and I still have work to do.

Thank you for reading. Peace to you!