Welcome

This is a documentation of my journey seeking "my best self"
I am a blessed woman, 2 healthy loving sons and an abundance of all that one needs.
This is not a journey to more of the material stuff, but in seeking my passion and living my best life.
Due to illness, parenting, and busy everyday life, life has lived me instead of me living life.
The purpose of this journey is to turn this back one step at a time.
How will I accomplish this? This I will learn gradually, one thing I am sure of each day of my journey will take me closer to myself.

Blessings,

ETA: I am separated and I can assure you it is for the better. The boys and I are doing good, they are sad but at least they have some breathing space now and don't have to march to the beat of their father's drum anymore. I am more relieved than sad and feel freed from his constant state of depression and lathargic way of living.


vrijdag 14 december 2007

To Do list 12-14-07

vacuum living room

clean tiolet
Hang laundry
wash one load
fold laundry that is on the line now

make home cosy for the weekend

Cook

Off to do my chores!

Edit:

All done!





Friday Menu's




Saturday: Homemade pizza
dried italian herbs
4 cans of tomatoes
1 can tomatomash
garlic
onions
zucchini
can of tuna
can of salmon
grated cheese
pizzabase

Sunday: Fried rice
rice
salt fish
tomatoes
eggs
onions
garlic
chinese herbs
parsley
homemade pickled cucumbers
Monday: stir fried noodles with grilled salmon
noodles
sweet and sour sauce
salmon
onion
garlic
ginger
kai lan (chinese veggie)

Tuesday: Rice, fishcakes and stringbeans
rice
onions
garlic
stringbeans
tomatoes
2 cans of salmon
egg
breadcrumbs
parsley
Wednesday: Spaghetti
Spaghetti
Canned tomatoes
3xcourgette (zuchini)
2xgrated cheese
1xdried italian herbs
onions
garlic
garlicbread
Thursday: breadday
french bread
croissants
eggs for omelette
sausages for the boys (they wanted to eat some meat so I decided on a bread day I so don't want to smell raw meat)
sardines
whole weat bread
custard
fresh fruit salad

Friday: Rice, tilapia, cabbage
rice
tilapia
cabbage
onions
garlic

Yeah me ;-)

The babysteps are working really well! I have portion control again and I drink 3 liters of water daily. Not eating after 8 and 2 pieces of fruit a day are still somewhat of a challenge but I am getting there. Yesterday I walked for 3 hours with a girlfriend, it was the most fun I had since ages we laughed and talked and had so much fun it didn't even seem like excersize LOL We were really good girls too, we ended up in a lil snackbar for cups of hot cocoa and when we were asked if we wanted whipped cream we kindly refused



After defrosting we walked some more! How cool are we?! We are planning to do this weekly and I know that in 6 months times we will have fab toned legs and flat stomachs.



Frugal skincare

I used to spend way to much on skincare/make-up/bodycare products, 60 euro's a month was not uncommon. I still had breakouts (mostly because I didn't stick to my routine) and was looking for a more simple and definately less expensive option. I started researching how to make my own skincare products. I found an article online called The Oil Cleansing Method and after reading it through I decided that this was something that I could do, however I was scared I would break out because of all the oil. I decided to give it a week and if I had rash or breakouts I would immediately stop. Almost 3 months have passed and I have beautiful skin no rashes no acne and the blemishes of the acne in teens are disappearing, even the lil whole's are filling up!!! All of this without spending one dime! I cook with olive oil and I use castor oil for my locs. I use a mixture of 50/50 for the "oil wash" and rub a lil of that same mixture for skincare.

If you are looking for a frugal working way to take care of your skin, click on the oil cleansing method and read the whole article.

dinsdag 11 december 2007

Tackle it tuesday!

I found this site while surfing ;-) I haven't fully explored it yet but I like the sound of tackle it tuesday!

Tackle It Tuesday Meme


I have to move mountains today, or at least that is how I feel. It's after 9 a.m. and you guessed it I am not dressed yet, ofcourse I have an excuse I have to scrub the bathroom and figured I could do that right before showering. (yes I remember saying no excuses allowed LOL)



My to do list:



take 2 loads of wash off the clothesrack and fold them Done

hang the one that is in the washer now

clean breakfast cupboard

clean shelves kitchen

clean cutlery drawer

clean bathroom

clean tiolet

vacuum downstairs

vacuum eldest son his room and make the beds caus my auntie is staying in there. Edit: The room was a bit more work then just making beds. I dusted and cleaned the windows and after my lil break I will head back upstairs and finish it.

Make livingroom clutterfree (I am doing this after the kids are in bed)



That's enough more might have to be added to the list but this is enough for now any more would depress me.



Will be back with progress (I hope)

Edit: Thanks for the comments ladies! I was able to do all the things on my list but my internet was cut off because of a mistake the phonecompany made. They promised to reconnect it right away but right away turned out to be 20 hours later. I wasn't able to come and update :-(

maandag 10 december 2007

Flylady?

Some members of my forum and I started using the flylady system to get organized in april of 2006. We all started with babysteps and after that we all had a simple morning/afternoon/night routines in our control journals.

Some of the ladies have since than kept their home in perfect condition. They get up in the mornings make their beds, groom themselves while swish and swiping the bathroom, get dressed (shoes and all), have breakfast and start their days. I am not one of those ladies, everytime I am in pain and/or get hospitalized(wich both occur far to often) I fall off the routine and have to start the babysteps all over again. There have been times that I even had to restart babysteps in the midst of doing them because I was out of routine again.

There are 2 habits that I have taught myself to really stick too the first is making a menu and the second is shining my sink every night now I am not able to do the second one always and my sweet dh has made that his fly-task

As christmas gift to myself I am making a brand spankin new control journal. The one I have now is just not functional for this family. I am planning to make it extremely cute so I will want to look in it daily. I am also promising myself that even if I am in pain I will make an effort to get dressed and groom myself every morning before 9 a.m. no exeptions!!

If you are looking for a way to get organized and stay that way i highly recommend this system! Next to the daily routines the house is divided in zones and each week another zone is focused on this way all zones get thoroughly cleaned once a month. The zone is cleaned from ceiling to floor focusing on not just cleaning an decluttering but making the space more inviting for the familymembers and guests. This week is zone 2 the kitchen, last month I gave my tiny lil kitchen so much love I am still feeling it every time I walk into it. I started in the zone today and because I have a raised temperature (due to inflamations) and a hecke lot a pain I decided to do 2 cupboards today. I went inthere set the timer for 15 min and before I knew it I had cleaned 3 cupboards, one shelf and my messy drawer (you know the one I know you have one too :-D ) I might be in too much pain to go to yoga today but i got my zenn from spending time in the heart of my home

zondag 9 december 2007

Babysteps to healthy eating

This post was a comment that I left on Micah's blog Since I fell off the wagon I decided that it would be a great day to start with babysteps again. I have been taking antibiotics again so fasting is not an option so it didn't really matter wich day i started. No time like the present right? OOOh and I am so excited dh decided to join in

Are you familiar with the flylady system with babysteps to teach you new habits for keeping your home in order? I made babysteps in order to teach myself new eating habits simular to the flylady system. The members of my forum and readers of my website used this system along with me and all of us lost a minimum of 5 pounds in the 30 days!
The steps with a * are to be repeated everyday.

For example day one drink 1,5 liter of water day two drink 1,5 liter of water and eat 2 pieces of fruit. These steps are going to become your habit and doing these lil things daily will change your way of eating forever.

Day 7, 14, 21 and 28 are fasting days on those days you are only allowed to drink fresh fruit and veggie juices, water, veggie or chicken stock and herbal tea. I fast as a way to release the week and prepare for a new week mentally and spiritually, it also helps the body to release toxins (wich cause weight gain) and to heal. I fast with water only but that is not recommended when just start! (Read this for some more information and tips on how to start http://www.healingdaily.com/juicing-for-health/how-to-fast.htm) I fast on sundays but you can choose any day that works for you.

Day 1) Drink at least 1,5 liter water each day *

Day 2)eat 2 pieces of fruit *

Day 3)rub yourself from toe to shoulders with firming bodylotion *

Day 4)replace one snack with a healthy snack of choice *

Day 5)get up 15 minutes earlier and eat a healthy breakfast *

Day 6)prepare yourself for fasting tomorrow (light meals non-fat)
Day 7)fastingday

Day 8) make a control journal ( I use a a5 map with plastic cases inside to slip in ideas, recipes etc and some lined paper to journal)
Day 9)search the net and magazines for healthy snack ideas and put them in your controle journal

Day 10) weigh your dinner *

Day 11) go on and find some more recipes and ideas for your controle journal

Day 12) make a healthy filling lunch for example 2 slices of whole grain bread with some cheese (or lean meat if you eat meat) tomatoes, lettuce and on the side a nice cup of tomato or other veggiesoup*

Day 13) prepare for fasting (see day 7)

Day 14) fastingday

Day 15) go on and find some more recipes and ideas and file in your controle journal

Day 16)no more solids after 8 p.m. (get some different flavors of herbal tea to help when you feel a urge to eat)*

Day 17)build up a sweat for 20 minutes a day (doesn't matter how, go jogging, go to the gym, do jumpingjacks at home, just break a sweat!)*

Day 18)write away negative thoughts (seeing these horrible things our minds tells us on paper will soon help to shut up up the negative innervoice)*

Day 19)ask your partner to give you a nice massage (or splurge and get a proffesional massage)
Day 20)find inspiration for your contole journal. prepare for fasting

Day 21)fastingday
Day 22)find pamperingmissions for your controle journal. Make it a habit to pamper yourself at least once a day *

Day 23)walk around the corner on your break the fresh air will help you concentrate better at work, if you are a sahm take the kids to the nearest park for a quater of an hour. It will do you and them a world of good!*

Day 24)take 1000 mg of vitamin c daily (this will help the skin to stay firm while loosing weight)*Day 25)on the right track? Check here to see if your daily intake is what it should be (http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramids.html) and pls remember portion control!

Day 26)Try a new veggie!

Day 27)Yeah you have been moving for 20 minutes daily for 10 days now! Time to kick it up a notch and make it 40 minutes a day! * (prepare for fasting)

Day 28)fasting day

Day 29)find some new inspiration for your controle journal

Day 30)congratulations you've build a health routine for yourself! Keep up the good work!

Because this is a refresh course ;-) for me I decided to do more than one step at a time.

So far I drank 1,5 liter water today and it's only 1:30 pm. I was dreading fruit again (I think it's the antibiotics everytime I take them I loathe fruit) but I forced myself to eat some anyway. So I made a fruitsalad with peer, apple and banana and shared it with my lil man. It was fun eating it since lil man decided that he would pick wich fruit we would have in wich order before I knew it the plate was empy :-D

I had 2 slices of wholeweat bread toasted with aioli ( I am so addicted to this stuff poor dh I smell of garlic all day) and I am going to make some tosti's for me and the lil man now. Right on track not bad for a strayed weightloser (<---- is that a word lol)

Okay my coffeecup is empty, time to get moving again. (As you can see I am taking this blogging thing a bit more serious now

Blessings!