Taking stock of progress…part 2 of 2
Once upon a time, my whole diet was Ben & Jerry’s, pizza, French bread, Diet Coke, and a fruit or salad mixed in to make myself feel better about it all. I started to change one thing at a time. Sometimes I’d have periods of big progress, and other periods of slight backsliding.
It was almost imperceptible, the forward motion, but now I find my whole kitchen is full of…..
A container of sprouted flax crackers on the counter.
Bags of buckwheat, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, oat groats, currants, and homemade sundried tomatoes in the fridge.
Coconut oil and extra-virgin olive oil in my pantry.
Jars of homemade raw sauerkraut in my food storage.
Always a quart or two of kefir growing on the counter.
The top shelf of my fridge full of young Thai coconuts. And pints and quarts of green smoothies.
Today I stopped to take stock and chose NOT to beat myself up because of how long it’s been since I made sourdough whole-grain bread.
Instead, I chose to be blissed out today because (a) I did a perfect headstand for the first time, and (b) my daughter asked me last night if she could have a handful each of pea sprouts and fresh blueberries in the fridge.
(There are lots of things to do WRONG as a mom, and there’s plenty of reminders of that when you’re raising teenagers! But apparently I’ve got some things right, and today I’m going to live in that spot, bask in it. They’ve developed tastes for good food, and I know how to shop for, grow, cook, and store the good stuff.)
Sometimes when something stressful happens, Kristin and I remind each other, “It’s PERFECT!” This is our code for, “What just happened might not be what you wanted, what you would have chosen. But it generally works out to be better than you think. And it teaches you really cool stuff. Maybe even provides you something you wouldn’t have thought to want. So, it’s PERFECT in its ability to instruct and shape you. At a minimum, it gives you a story to tell and something to laugh at.”
Please, today, congratulate yourself on your progress. Let’s spend today ignoring anything we want to do in the future that isn’t part of our current reality, and just BE. When I’m fully present in my NOW, I’m far happier.
I’m so proud of you for being here, on this journey, to being a better you. To influencing people in subtle and positive ways to raise the bar for themselves. I’m just brimming over with gratitude for PROGRESS! Congratulations on yours–wherever you are in the journey! Feel free to share your own here, today and always.
Posted in: Mind/Body Connection, Relationships, Whole Food
Wow……thank you so much for this post!!! I have a very busy weekend ahead of me and will be going in a hundred different directions and I was stressing and fretting about how I was going to get my smoothies in and eat properly and keep my family fed well etc. You are just so right and I’m going to congratulate myself for what I have done right…..which includes making a couple extra quarts of green smoothies so that even if nutrition is perfect the next couple of days………we’ll get our greens:) Happy Mother’s Day Robyn!!!
It’s always encouraging to read your blog! Thank you.
My husband emailed me saying I would never guess what he saw… Yup another guy at his work brought in a green smoothie. (my husband takes one every day to work) When you work with a bunch of guys it is surprising to see 2 guys drinking green smoothie’s! yay!!! Due to green smoothie’s and not eating as much meat my husband lowered his blood pressure!!! yay!!! 🙂
I know I have asked this before on this blog, but does anyone have a good O.B. out there that is in the SLC area. I’m trying to find one that I can go to, I would prefer one that supports natural child birth, won’t kill me when I say I’m thinking of not vaccinating my kids, and takes insurance???? Help please!
Oh and Robyn… You are kind of amazing!!! thanks for everything! 🙂
I had a similar moment this last weekned. When I compare what it looks like when I open my fridge now, as compared to a year ago, the difference is amazing. Sometimes I can’t believe it’s my fridge. Endless ziploc bags of bright, cool crunchy veggies. Before, everything was gold, brown, white, orange – hot dogs, cheese, pastries, leftover macaroni and cheese. Now it’s all red cabbage, lettuce, radishes, parsely, spinach, tomatoes, red onions, bok choy. Bok choy! In MY fridge. Unreal. But I will admit to one thing I still have not tried. Beets. There’s just something about the idea of beets…: )
Robyn, I love this blog entry. I too believe that slow and steady steps is truely the path to lasting change and leading by example to our children is very powerful. I have a quik story also about my three children ages 4, 6 and 8. I was on the couch one evening with a terrible headache and when it came to dinner time the kids said that they would make their own dinner. I let them go to it, when they came to show me what was on their plates I almost had tears. Each of their plates (dinner size) were at least half full of raw spinach, carrots and strawberries!!! I think of that night often when our meals are not all that great, and now when they ask if they can make their own dinner once in a while I say “Sure”.
Wow, Robyn. Your blog has made my day. I had tears in my eyes after reading it. I, too, have teenagers who eat amazingly different from their peers. In school my girls speak up in health class when nutrition is discussed, but are mostly criticized for it-especially the sunblock issue! They generally just say, “Mom, they just don’t know.” By the way, my refrigerator and pantry look very much like yours! Today, I have GRATITUDE for you.
Can you talk about the kefir some. I prefer to stay away from dairy products, but I did make kefir last summer using raw milk. Can you go over benefits, how much to use, how often, etc. I am currently having some intestinal problems and wonder if my “gut” is healthy. I know kefir is good for this.
Robyn, I have been reading your blog for a year and have purchased the 12 step books, etc. I love the idea and I feel like it is going to take me years to get to where you are–which I am fine with as long as I continually push forward. Your blog and website helps me do that.
I have a question, though. You talk about saurkraut a lot. I have never had it or even heard of it. What do you do with it and how do you incorporate it into your diet? I hear it is extremely healthy, and would like to get that into my family’s diet.
Thanks,
Erin
I would like to learn more about dehydrating. Can anyone tell me what would be great to start out with besides fruit. Thanks!
I loved this post. It was probably my favorite post of yours. So heartfelt! Have a fantastic Mother’s Day!
I will join with all the others and thank you for this post! Very inspiring and just what I needed today. Thank you!
Just what I needed to hear today. Thanks Robyn!
Christa,
You can dehydrate anything that goes in your green smoothie. I have done this and have all the ingredients in my basement–just in case there is a time when I have to depend on food storage. Just this week I didn’t have any fresh spinach, so I pulled out a bottle of dehydrated spinach and added a handful to my green smoothie. I couldn’t tell the difference
Start out with spinach because there is really nothing to do with it except lay it out on your trays, then set the temp to “live foods” on the dehydrator. It dries very quickly.
I’m new to all this green smoothie, raw food stuff. I have a VERY LONG way to go and the last few days have been particularly confusing and frustrating for me. I really appreciated your comments today about living in the moment and enjoying the progress that IS being made. Thank you.