6 months in and changes I made....

Changes I have made…yet to be made and current goals toward stress relief….

Posted on June 19, 2011 by odbcat

Welcome to Light For Good!  This is the recording of my journey to health.  I will give you lists of references and books that have helped me to get where I am.  You can see my grand victories, my funny adventures and my silly mistakes.  I am six months into my transformation this year and have many of all of those …victory, funny stories and silly mistakes.  The theme of my journey is progress not perfection.  I am not expecting perfection from myself.  I am striving for progress; continuous progress.
These are the changes I have made to date.

1. Vegan
2. 95% raw
3. no processed foods
4. no processed sugars
5. no gluten
6. no foods on my allergy list

After a while I noticed other things that I was doing that are unhealthy.  My hair color, nail polish, deodorant, clothing fabrics, body lotions, face creams.  I am an interior designer so I am very aware of the things in my environment that I should stay away from.  I will do a blog on those things at a later date.  I am working on the things that I just listed.  Vanity is preventing immediate changes in everything.  I am working toward it though.

1. I switched my deodorant to a enzyme deodorant, I am not impressed…especially during the hot summer in a silk dress.  So, if anyone has deodorant suggestions…I would love to hear them.
2. I have given up shellac nails.  There are still polishes available for use.  Right now I am going without until I can research it.
3. I love breathable polyester for workouts.  I should reevaluate that.  I have a natural tendency toward “real” fabrics like cotton, wool, linen and silk.  I love the new hemp products that are available.
4. I love NV Perricone products.  Dr. Perricone is a dermatologist and a nutritionist.  I intend to look into the products more.  I love Cold Plasma, it is a wonderful product.  I don’t use any of his products that include fish oil.  I have avoided studying Cold Plasma because I don’t want to give it up.  I love the body lotion, the face, eye and now the neck lotion.
5. I try to stay away from all chemical cleaners.  (LOL…that is not a struggle for me.)  I do not dry clean.

I have my hands full with the food changes and stress relief.  I am going to commit to making gradual changes to the list of 5 above.  I will make more of a committed effort next year.  I believe that it is a mistake to take on more than what we can reasonably handle.
Now that a vegan/raw lifestyle is comfortable and natural, my main goal is to eliminate stress.  I will continue to add one new recipe a week to my cache and learn from all my new sources.  My main focus will be to relieve stress with the following:

1. Pinpoint the things that cause stress in my life by daily journaling and then going back and highlighting anything stressful in my day.
2. Continuing daily exercise of 30-60 minutes of HIIT cardio and 45 min. 3 times a week strength training.
3. Praying and spending a minimum of 30 minutes daily quietly with God.
4. Practicing biofeedback and other stress reducing activities.  (I am signed up for 10 yoga sessions, we will see how that goes).
5. 30 minutes minimum daily learning, reading and growing spiritually.
6. Very limited political news.
7. Very limited television.
8. 1/2 hour daily reading and talking time with my granddaughter.
9. 2 rounds of golf a week with my husband.
10. Nightly walk with my husband after dinner.
11. Community contribution and involvement through my church and other fitness organization.
12. Steps to reduce stress in my business by eliminating stressful associations and relying more on trusted and reliable people.
13. Eliminating superfluous household items, furniture, people in my life.

I know that I have a lot on my list.  Who ever would have thought that eliminating stress in our lives would have so many opportunities!