Many people begin the New Year by making resolutions. Most times these resolutions are around loosing weight, exercise more or improving your over all health. Resolutions are a great way to start the year with great intentions, but it is easy to fall back into our old habits.
(Source) Why is it so hard to stick to those New Year’s resolutions?
Here are some ways you can make your intentions a reality this year:
1. Write down your intentions, share them with a friend and then put the list in a visible place such as the bulletin board in your office or on the refrigerator.
2. Be clear about what your life would look like once you achieve your goal. If you resolve to go to the gym more, how will this benefit you? Get connected to the result of your action, and you will be more likely to stick with your plan.
3. Find someone to support you. This maybe a friend or family member, or a professional such as a certified holistic health coach.
Big changes do not require big leaps. Permanent change is more likely to happen gradually than through one big restrictive plan. Allow yourself to climb the ladder one rung at a time.
To help you get started on achieving your goals for the New Year I am offering my 4 week web-based series.
This five-week teleclass program is designed to start your 2012 off on the right foot; moving you toward a life of optimal health and wellness. Each week covers a key theme that is essential in achieving optimal health.
In just four weeks you’ll learn:
– the tools to losing weight naturally without deprivation
-how to shop and prepare foods that nourish you
-the steps to take to manage your time so you can take care of your body both inside and out
-ways to exercise that you’ll love
-how to boost your self-confidence
This 4-Week program includes:
-Each week you will receive a 15-20 page workbook guiding you towards making positive steps for your health.
-Additional weekly handouts to help guide you in reaching your goals.
-Weekly e-mail support from me.
-Bi-Monthly Newsletter.
This 4-week program values at $150 today I am offering it to you for only $24.99 until 2/14/2012.
Last May Neil and I did a short detox where we avoided caffeine, alcohol and processed sugars. Although challenging at first in the end it felt great to take a break and let my body rest. As much as I love coffee and a really nice microbrew or glass of red I’ve decided that I want to do a pre-Christmas detox. I also think it pairs well with the 30 Days of Yoga Challenge.
So from now until Christmas I’m going on a caffeine and alcohol detox. I know it’s going to be a challenge with the days getting colder but instead of turning to a nice warm cup of coffee I’ll be turning to a nice decaf tea. As for the alcohol not as big of a challenge but I’ll just have to wait to try Neil’s newest home brew until Christmas.
Tips to Reduce Coffee
To slightly reduce the depleting effects of coffee add a bit of ginger, cardamom and a few grains of salt to your coffee.
Try half herbal coffee such as Teecino and half regular coffee. Slowly increasing ration of herbal until you make the switch. Alternatively try half regular and half decaf and use the same method.
Switch to teas such as green tea and yerba mate both of which boost energy but without the negative side effects associated with coffee.
Are you a coffee drinker? Have you ever tried to eliminate or reduce your coffee intake?
…and “Hello November!” I have am anxiously waiting and preparing for November first to come. For me the start of a new month means a start of new possibilities and November is going to be a crazy one filled with new adventures in my personal, blog and business life. I wish I could reveal everything right now but I am going to resist the urge and leave a little mystery until everything is more secure but trust me it’s exciting. Don’t worry though I’m not going to leave everything a mystery here is what is going on with each part:
Personal
Neil and I are finally taking a mini vacation to Philadelphia over Thanksgiving! We have been in need of a vacation for months now and unfortunately it seems nothing has worked out. We were supposed to go to Vida Vegan Con in August but then something (I can’t discuss here) prevented us from doing that. Then we planned to go to Philadelphia for a long weekend in August with our friends and then Irene decided she wanted to rain on our parade. Next my trip to NYC for an IIN conference was cut short because Neil went and fell of his bike and bumped his head. Also a result of Neil’s injury (which he has now recovered from- wahoo!) caused us to rethink our Disney World Half Marathon due to the fact he lost over a month of running time. So now we are taking the time to get away and enjoy a new city and each others company.
We also are doing a mini trip to NYC in December to meet up with our friends who we haven’t seen in years. This is my favorite kind of trip because we are flying down (thank you JetBlue for cheap flights) and we are renting an apartment via airbnb.com. It makes the trip so much less stressful when you don’t have to drive and stay in a hotel (which is 3x as much in NYC). I tweeted earlier today about doing a meet up in sometime between Dec 8-11, if you want to join our little meet up e-mail me lindsay@cookveganlover.com
Looking forward to these tasty treats
Running: I have been keeping up with running and even signed up for a half marathon in February! Neil is also going to be running this half. It isn’t Disney but the good news is that we will be able to run our second half at Disney because we were (luckily) able to defer our registrations to another race. We chose to do the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon next September/October (the date hasn’t been released yet) which I think will be more fun because it will be warmer and at night.
Also if you are in NYC and want to come out and run with us or cheer us on we are running the NYRR Jingle Bell Jog while we are on vacation in NYC on December 10th. We are so excited for this race!
Blog
I am planning a face lift for the blog. I am not loving the color and the layout and it just needs to be rejuvenated. I am also looking to add some new features which will be revealed as they finish up. In addition to visual improvements I am working to improve my photos, recipes and blog posts. Instead of just posting to post I have been scheduling time in my day/week to actually sit down and blog. I hope that this improves my blog and my writing. I love my blog but I know I need to make improvements to it.
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I am also offering a free teleclass on December 5, 2011 from 7:30pm-8pm EST that will discuss the top ways sugar is negatively affecting your health and happiness, tips to eat foods you enjoy and not deprive yourself, and ways your lifestyle affects your cravings. In addition you will also receive tips and suggestions on how to use natural sweeteners in your upcoming holiday baking.
Lastly, in January I will be rolling out a special CVL plant based health coaching program that you will find right here on the blog. I am in the process of developing the entire program and more details will be coming out over the next month. That being said I would love to hear what you would like to see in a program.
Other Events:
Hunger Mountain Coop’s 18th Annual Food and Wellness Expo
November 5, 2011
Location: Montpelier City Hall Time: 11:00 AM
Enjoy free samples of local and organic foods, free consultations with wellness practitioners and free massages! Bring a food item for the VT Foodbank and receive a $5 OFF coupon to The Coop!
Today I’m juicing and I’ll blog about that later but first head over to the Health & Wellness with Lindsay Blog and check out a few new things.
New Things:
Warm Wishes: I would like to give you the opportunity to send a friend a little fall treat (warm mulling spices) and a warm wishes message from YOU. Read more here.
Pumpkin Cookie Recipes: Yes you read that correctly- TWO pumpkin chip recipes for you. Which one do you like more? Get the recipes here.
Today has been a busy day between blogging and freelance work this morning and then I headed my day job where I started my day with a mug of this delicious tea.
Shortly after getting to work I was ready for a snack so I broke out my homemade trail mix. In the mix there is raw cashews, almonds, pistachios, tamari-wasasbi almonds, fruit sweetened cranberries, raw pumpkin seeds and mulberries- such a good combination.
Lunch was leftovers from dinner chickpea chili in a wrap, a quick and easy way to transition dinner to an easy lunch. I love wrapping leftovers in a tortilla.
My work day ended and I head straight to the gym to get out 2.5 Miles for Ashley right on track for my half marathon training plan. After my run I stretched and foam rolled, holy hell I haven’t foam rolled in awhile and the foam roller was having a love-hate relationship with my IT band. Reminder to self: FOAM ROLL MORE!
Following my gym sesh I had a health coaching sesh which went really well. I have great clients and I love working with them.
Now it’s time to relax a.k.a. work on the couch for a bit while I ice my knees and enjoy a glass of vino.
REWIND
Anniversary Dinner: Tuesday was Neil and I’s 5 Anniversary since we got together. We have been married for 3 years and we don’t usually celebrate our dating anniversary but since it was 5 years it was a big deal and the Hubz decided to surprise me with dinner at a new restaurant, The Bobcat Cafe.
Neil called, checked on vegan options and made a reservation (big deal he never does this) and I swooned. Then we enjoyed an amazing dinner:
Started the Night with a Beer- Bobcat Cafe is also a brewery!
Then we started with the Black Bean Gazpacho and...
a Green Salad with an amazing Roasted Corn and Basil Dressing
The star of the show was the 5-Spiced Tofu A-M-A-Z-I-N-G
Overall Bobcat Cafe was amazing. The food was incredible, the service was great and the beer was good. The atmosphere was a mixture of classy restaurant and a pub- which made for a wonderful place to eat.
Q. If you’re married to you celebrate your dating anniversary?
Welcome to September a new month filled with new possibilities and tons of apples, squash and colorful leaves. It is also the start of a new month which means new monthly goals. I honestly didn’t do great at accomplishing all of last months goals but I am really proud of myself for how hard I worked last month while making time for me as well. For me goals are a guide to keep you on track and I am hoping to accomplish all my goals this month.
My September 2011 Goals
1. Start Training for my first half-marathon. Two 30-45 minute runs and one mileage run per week PLUS two days of cross training and at least one day of yoga.
2. Meal Plan. Neil and I are both training for our first half marathon and part of training is eating well and learning what our bodies need. Additionally, we have 4 months to figure out what the best fuel for us is when it comes to long run days. In order to keep on track we need to continue to improve our diet and incorporate new healthy foods that are good for runners.
3. Organize my kitchen. <—–Did not complete last month. My kitchen is by no means a mess but it just isn’t in top order as I would like it to be. I actually cleaned out my fridge this morning and it felt great. Looking forward to doing more.
4. Early to bed, Early to Rise. <—–Still need to work on. Lately we have been more like Late to Bed, Early to Rise and it is starting to wear on me. My goal is to be in bed by 9:30pm with my book and read until I fall asleep. Then up by 5am to work, stretch and/or workout (not necessarily in that order).
5. Read two new books. I haven’t decided which ones yet but I need to read more. I only read one book last month and again did not achieve my goal.
What are your goals for September?
In Other News
My CVL September Newsletter and my Health & Wellness Newsletter were both distributed today (completely different newsletters). If you haven’t signed up I encourage you to do so today, you can also now subscribe to my newsletters in your reader so you never have to miss a thing.
Neil and I spent the last weekend in July enjoying an outdoor concert, a trip to the pool and working. Yes, working. We have been gone almost every weekend this summer and August looks like it will be that way too so we tried to catch up on a number of different projects. I was going to take the weekend off from blogging but then I remembered that I needed to write my Thrive in 30 post, so that went up yesterday. Although we did work a bunch this weekend, we did find time to relax and enjoy ourselves since it was the weekend.
Friday: Coffee, Coffehouse Games & Live Music
Beautiful Coffee.
Game- Barista. Even though I worked a summer as a Barista, I failed horribly at this game.
Bright Eyes & The Mountain Goats at Shelburne Museum Concert on The Green
Saturday: Pool Party and A New Beverage
Relaxing by the Burlington Tennis Club Pool
New Beverage. It was meh okay, not great.
Sunday: Work Day, Raw Muesli & Iced Tea
Homemade Raw Muesli. It was good until I put a gross almond milk on it (different brand than I usually buy).
Yummy Iced Tea. I made two other flavors too.
How did you spend your last weekend of July 2011?
Now it’s August and I have been thinking about goals.
My August 2011 Goals:
1. Stick to Pre-Training Plan. Two 30-45 minute runs and one mileage run per week PLUS two-three days of strength training and at least one day of yoga.
2. Meal Plan. I have been really thrown off lately with our schedules and our CSA when it comes to meal planning and I want to get back on track. I do so much better when our meals are planned out ahead of time.
3. Organize my kitchen. I love to create recipes but lately it’s been difficult because I feel like our kitchen is so unorganized. It’s time to go through and reorganize and purge. I should rather say just get organized in general because I need to organize all the rooms in our house and my personal, blog and health coaching things.
4. Early to bed, Early to Rise. I would like to be in bed by 9pm to read and lights out by 10pm. I would like to be up and out of bed by 5am. I used to be in bed by 8:30p and up by 4:30/5a most mornings but since we have become more social I’ve been going to bed too late and getting up too late. I am so much more productive in the morning too.
5. Read two books. This one goes with goal number four.
