Three weeks ago I stopped eating bread, pasta, sugar, processed food etc and started to eat plenty of fruits, seeds, nuts, and vegetables instead.

Less salt too (almost no salt actually) – and no coffee (yes, you read right, I ditched coffee too 🙂 )

And I feel great!

I have not missed sugar and coffee at all and I decided I would do the no sugar/no coffee/no junk food thing for a couple of weeks just to see how it was but now it’s already three weeks and I’m not planning on stopping;

I’m going with this flow because I really enjoy it!

Sometimes when we decide to make a change in our life some hindrances comes up, small things that can easily deviate us from the new path.

They are called “excuses”.

On my first day without coffee something happened that required me to really think (technical and time-consuming things that I had to attend to) and I also had PMS (which makes me unfocused) and the first thing that came to mind was that “I can begin tomorrow, I really need to be sharp now”.

Did I succumb to the excuse and had a coffee even if I had decided not to? No. I made some tea from fresh ginger instead and pushed myself through the technical stuff that I had to do.

And it was really challenging (and the coffee kept trying to get my attention) but I didn’t cave in.

I knew it was a trick of the mind to get me postponing my decision to another more convenient day.

Anyways, ..

One thing lead to another and soon I was a vegetarian again (a week after my no sugar/no coffee/no junk food decision) and then a couple of days after that I decided to not eat any dairy anymore and then shortly after that I started working out everyday.

And I feel absolutely fabulous! I love it! 🙂

Is it hard? Yes, it is. It’s a new habit and habits gets created by doing something over and over again and in the beginning it might be challenging and hard but you do it anyway because you know it’s for the best.  

Soon it won’t feel as hard as it does in the beginning, and it feels really great (it’s very rewarding) despite of the challenge and I’m enjoying this wave I’m on right now so I’m all in. 

I don’t think about exercising until it’s time to go and I don’t watch the clock during my run, instead I stay in the moment doing my best, and I have already improved!

The first day I went out I power-walked/walked very fast (I don’t do the arm-swinging thing, I just walk very fast) and the round took me 47 minutes and now, a week and a half later I power-walk/jog it in 38 minutes.

Not that I compete with myself, I just noticed it today and it made me smile 🙂 

One day I was really tired and didn’t feel like going out at all but I did anyway and after about ten minutes the battery died on my phone so I had no music anymore and that could have been an excuse for me because the music really helps when you’re exercising.

But then I smiled and felt even more determined to do the round – because I knew it was my mind that tried to make an excuse for exercising “tomorrow” instead (and we all know tomorrow never comes).

I have been out everyday and when I come in I take a really cold shower (it’s good for your muscles etc and it makes you become very ‘awake’ lol) and then – here’s the best part; I wait for an hour and then I have the yummiest fruit salad on earth!

Lots of berries, Chia seeds (they are full of protein), fruit and soy milk and fresh mint leafs.

It’s delicious and that’s the reward that my body and mind gets and looks forward to every day.

When implementing new habits it’s a good idea to have a reward because it gives the mind something to look forward to after ‘the hard work’, and it should be something healthy, not a beer or something like that 🙂

Not to mention how good you feel when you move your body to the point where you sweat and are huffing and puffing! That in itself is a reward. 

But it’s not all fun though; I went through a withdrawal period (was very tired and sluggish etc) because of the food changes (and because the body didn’t get any caffeine and sugar) but it’s all good now. 

And my body and taste buds celebrated the new changes pretty much from day one; everything just taste yummier and feels healthier, you can feel it in your whole being how happy the body organism is when fueled with proper food.

Set a Goal For Yourself and Resolve to Follow Through

I have a personal goal when it comes to all this that I’m doing right now (I’ll share it later) but no set rules of what I will or will not eat or drink later on.

For now I feel great without coffee and sugar (I don’t even miss chocolate!) so for now I just continue eating and drinking the way I do.

I’m eating fish and seafood and will continue to do so until/if I feel that I want to change that and even if I don’t eat dairy anymore I will continue to buy bread in the grocery store for example even if I know it contains eggs and dairy.

Not that I eat bread right now but when I do later on, I’m not going to live my life looking at every label and I’m not going to bake my own bread either. 

And occasionally I might want to have cake with cream and if so then I’ll have it (if it feels right). 

Plus, if someone wants to invite me for dinner I want to make it easy for them so I just let people know that I’m a vegetarian but that I eat fish and seafood.

That’s all they need to know. 

And oh, a few days ago I started taking supplements too; vitamin B12 and iron.

I did this because I have done a lot of research and have learned a lot when it comes to food, nutrition and exercise recently and one thing that I have learned is that if you’re a vegan/vegetarian it’s good to take those two supplements. 

So for the past three weeks all these changes has happened in my life and since I feel really great about it I’ll continue on this path – Who knows where it leads! 🙂

It wasn’t my conscious choice but it just snowballed and more and more healthy choices were made clear to me and laid out before me as I learned more and more and I can feel that this is what Life wants.

I don’t feel like it’s really me being on a mission of some kind, it’s more like Life is on a mission to make me live more healthier and it’s very direct (and supportive) with me and I love that. 

There was a day last week when I had made a sandwich but when I took a bite from the bread it felt yucky so I removed it and had some salad instead and immediately it felt ‘right’ again. 

Always Listen To Your Body and Intuition

When an apparent hindrance comes up just when you have made a healthier, more constructive choice, know that it’s just your mind who wants things to stay the way they have always been because it doesn’t like change.

It likes the familiar and it likes things to be comfortable, but change is not always easy (it requires some kind of effort) nor is it always comfortable.

I wanted to share this with you as an inspiration to get started if you feel the pull to live in a healthier way too.

Just get started and don’t tell people right away until you’re a few weeks into your new routine or habit unless you know the people around you are supportive.

Give yourself the time needed to adjust, go though the withdrawal symptoms, the cleansing of the body that happens naturally and so on before you tell anyone who might potentially bring your enthusiasm down.

And as you move forward you will find your own way by adjusting yourself to your own flow but don’t be too comfortable, meaning you have to push yourself when it comes to exercise.

You have to break a sweat and get the heart rate up.

In the beginning I had a goal of doing 30 minutes of workout twice a week (YouTube is full of videos you can watch) and power-walking 45 minutes the other days (except for one day per week when the body gets to rest).

But then after feeling so good after my workout I started to go out immediately afterwards (before the body cools down) for an additional 45 minute power-walk as well but I quickly realized that that was too much so now I’m exercising about 30-45 minutes per day.

Plus, I walk the dog too (I’m dog-sitting right now) in addition to that for at least a couple of hours every day (slow/normal walk).

I don’t see that as ‘exercise’ though as for me exercise means you get the heart pumping and a walk in the park is, well, a walk in the park and since the dog has butts to sniff, socializing to do and so on, the walks are all about him and not me.

You have to let dogs do their thing and not rush it, it’s very important 🙂

But of course walking is beneficial for anyone who does it, even a short walk around the block is a great beginning for someone who might be overweight or who has never exercised at all.

And by the way; I can’t even do one full push-up yet without exhausting myself.

We’re all on different levels and should respect where we’re at while at the same time truly resolve to make the changes that are called for (that our intuition tells us to do).  

I have these two things I focus on when I work-out that helps me and that is intensity, meaning I do my best during the whole exercise.

Sometimes I can only walk (fast) and that’s okay, but when I regain my energy again I jog, and on and off it goes.

Just doing my best with intensity. Not slacking off. It’s only 30-45 minutes and I intend to give it my all.

It helps thinking of my fruit-salad reward too 🙂

The second thing that helps me is to not think about the time. I never watch the clock. Instead I’m in the moment listening to music and that’s that.

Hope this inspires you to change your routines and habits too if you feel the calling. 

Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions about anything.

♥♥♥

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