If I’ve learned nothing else in my 41 years, I’ve learned these two very important truths about myself:

1) Deciding to start a new diet on New Year’s Day typically means I act like December 15 – 31 is the end of the world as we know it and end up eating buckets full of chip dip (oh my beloved velveeta) and a bag full of chocolate covered potato chips (those are a real thing) in preparation for “having to be good.” This makes January 1 and the salads that come with it very depressing.

2) Only God knows what the new year will bring. Trying to plan ahead and be  amazing and full of will power and resolving to make this THE BEST YEAR EVER has always left me disappointed within two weeks when one of my kids starts puking or my printer gets jammed or my favorite mug breaks (all at the same time – don’t picture it).

Indeed, the only resoluting I do now is to be resolute about resolutions. That sentence is either profound, or it barely makes sense. But you have to admit, it sounds better than if I had tried making a profound sentence using the word “indeed.”  Indeed, the only indeeding I do is to be indeedy about indeedness.  Chew on that one a while (or not).

It’s too easy to put my goals on a pedestal, then to feel like a failure when life happens and I don’t achieve perfection. It’s best if I leave my goals and planning at the Lord’s feet. It’s also best if I only munch lightly on the chocolate covered chips and dip on New Year’s Eve, savoring each bite while smiling lovingly at my children while relishing in the moment and all that good stuff.

Now, with that said, I will share that there are so many areas in my life I long to improve. I don’t have any specific plans (because that would be resoluting and I think I’ve been clear on how I feel about that), but you can be sure I will be very prayerful about how I can have a wonderful, kingdom focused, and healthier than ever 2015.

Ah, healthy living. What if instead of resolving to do one BIG thing this new year, we all simply resolve to take many consistent and intentional baby steps toward a healthier lifestyle? Doesn’t that sound much more doable? Doesn’t that sound refreshing? Doesn’t that sound indeedy? (sorry, I had to bring it back just one time.)

Leave a comment and share ways you hope to improve your health and the health of your family during 2015? As for me, I look forward to continuing my big fruit and veggie campaign for my family (and yours!), as well as continuing on a consistent personal work-out routine. I feel so much better when I do these things!

Let’s be healthy together!

Tis the week before Christmas. I know what we’re all thinking about right now:  The most natural way to clean a bathtub. Obviously.

No? Perhaps that’s because you’re more focused on making a plan for your garden this spring. Maybe you’re distracted with all the excitement in the air over the joy of creating a balanced budget. Oh, wait. I’ve got it. You are deep in thought about ways to incorporate more kale into your diet.

I know you all so well, don’t I? Or maybe my crazy self forgot what day this is and that the countdown to Christmas is ON! Wrap, decorate, bake, peace, joy, love, go, go, go!!!!!!!!!

It’s okay. We are all very busy and also likely a tad more interested in frosting cookies than steaming brussels sprouts or cleaning bathtubs with vinegar. This time of year is FUN!!! There’s much to be said about taking time to enjoy this season with all its tinsel, peppermint, gift giving, and focus on Christ.

But I also wanted to take the time to share something really cool with you, even if “a healthy lifestyle” may not be at the forefront of your mind in these last few days before Christmas.

It’s been nine and a half years for our family.  That’s how long we’ve been on this healthy living journey – ever since our youngest was born with chronic eczema and turned our lives upside down (which totally spilled my Pepsi). I get tired just thinking about all the hundreds of changes we’ve made during this “almost decade.” From boxed cereal to homemade granola, from chemical-filled cleaners to non-toxic options, from conventional doctors to homeopathic doctors and herbal remedies – we’ve made huge strides.

We love this lifestyle, recognizing more and more that we still have much to learn, that balance is key, and that if Jesus isn’t in the center of it all – none of it really matters anyway. There were times we felt better immediately after making a healthy change, and times we felt worse as our bodies had to get used to the good changes we were making (fun times).

Change can be very difficult, and I’m telling you – making transitions from poptarts and boxed cereal every day to learning to make wholesome food from scratch was hard at times. I didn’t even know what wholesome food was (or where, pray tell, to buy it). Ditching the comet, lysol, palmolive, and tide to find non-toxic cleaners? Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. Finding doctors and home remedies that treated root causes instead of slapping a band-aid on symptoms was foreign to me.

But dear ones:  That was just the beginning of the journey. It wasn’t the end of the story (though it was the end of my Pepsi drinking days).

The journey never ends. We will all continue learning more and becoming healthier. It’s exciting, really! The changes we’ve made on our healthy living journey have been so very worth it – even (especially) the really difficult changes. At 41, I feel more physically and emotionally stable than I ever have. This is absolutely because of God’s work in my body and my heart.

Are you on a healthy living journey too? I hope so. No matter where you are in your journey, I want to offer you encouragement. Stick with this! Don’t be discouraged about the difficulty that comes with trying to do what’s right in a fallen world. God’s grace covers all in a powerful way. (Picture it!)

Yes, right now. Each step will take us no more than 5 minutes a day. This is SO doable, even during this busy time of year, I promise.  The challenge is so easy, so simple, yet so effective. Most of all: it will change your life. (Feeling good feels so good!)

Sign up for the challenge here. The smallest changes can be the biggest blessings in your life. Let’s do this together! You have nothing to lose. It’s FREE!!!

How’s you’re healthy living journey going?