renew.

Ali Edwards has been running a one little word challenge for the past few years.  Basically, you pick a word to live by in the coming new year and reflect upon its meaning in your life.

Previously, I have chosen a word and then promptly dismissed it come February.

This year, Ali has teamed up with Big Picture Classes to offer a class entitled One Little Word.  This class will return your focus back to your chosen word the first of each month in 2011.  I am very excited, and promptly signed up. 

My one little word for 2011 is RENEW.

re·new   /rɪˈnu, -ˈnyu/
To begin or take up again; resume; to make effective for an additional period; to restore or replenish; to make, say, or do again; to revive; reestablish; to recover; to restore to a former state; make new or as if new again.

Happy New Year!

creative inspiration.

We are doers in this household (except the teenager, but I guess that is to be expected...).  We don't do very well on vacation.  Being teachers, we get a lot of those, so we've gotten really good at finding ways to keep ourselves occupied.  I have a lovely craft room in our basement where I scrapbook, sew, quilt, and have about 5,000 unfinished projects.  I figured I should make this room an integral part of my "me makeover" and created this cover for my notebook/journal.

It even has a pocket inside the front cover to hold odds and ends I may come across and want to hang on to.

Now I have a fun place to store all my recipes and notes for my journey!

menus.

So, I've been a little concerned about the detox plans.  Is there enough food that is NOT on the taboo list for me to eat? 

I spent some time going through recipes to plan ahead for next week.  Here's what I found that looks good...

From Whole Living (host of the 28 Day Challenge):
Fresh fruit with applesauce sweetened tahini
Millet bowl with black beans and vegetables
Lots and lots of smoothies!

From The Vegan Table:
Butternut squash soup
Stuffed bell peppers
Masoor dal (red lentils)
Arborio rice with roasted red peppers, pine nuts, and basil
Tuscan white beans with sun dried tomatoes

From Color Me Vegan:
Grapefruit, yellow pepper, and avocado salad
Ginger-roasted parsnips
Summer squash with cherry tomatoes and pine nuts
Edamame soup
Winter white soup
Jicama slaw
Couscous and veggie medley
Carrot and avocado salad
Farrot fresh vegetable medley

Translation: I have nothing to worry about.

And I drooled a bit on my keyboard.

last hurrah.

The detox begins next week.  Monday.  I've been weaning myself off of too much caffeine. It actually helped that I had a pretty bad sore throat over the weekend, so all I really wanted was tea and water anyway.  I got some yummy decaf black vanilla tea from Numi that I just can't get enough of.  I haven't had a coke zero in a few days.  Not as hard as I thought it would be.  We'll see how I do when I return to work next week.

Diet hasn't been great.  I had a quite a few indulgences the past few days...holiday cookies, chinese food on Christmas day (as usual!), wings, assorted other crap.  Not to worry - I'm still supremely grossed out as I watch Man v. Food with hubby, but I haven't been an angel.  This needs to get better.

New Year's has me nervous.  We typically do a huge muchie spread for the day and watch the Twilight Zone marathon.  We have  bunch of junk already, but I need to find some healthier alternatives for me.  I don't want to jump into the detox after having gorged on crap. 

Off to research some healthy snacks.

my achilles heel.

One of the commitments I made to myself was to get the one thing I hate about myself fixed. 

My teeth.

I have been cursed with bad teeth.  Due to faulty genetics, I have very little enamel on my teeth and they are extremely prone to decay.  I am completely OCD about taking care of them, but it doesn't ever seem to make a difference. 

This has translated, as I'm sure is no surprise, to a huge dentist phobia.

The last dentist we went to was not the nicest person.  I felt very judged and was extremely self conscious about my mouth.  I remember, she even asked me if I ever brushed my teeth.  Yikes.

I haven't been in 3 years.  For my husband this wouldn't be an issue.  For me - catastrophic.  I currently have 2 teeth that have broken beyond repair, and 2 other molars that need to have a major overhaul performed on them.  Not to mention the other teeth...

So, when I brought the boys to the dentist this past week (a new one) I asked to schedule an appointment to have my broken teeth looked at.  Lucky me, they had an opening right then and I was able to get over it.  Dr. B. was amazing.  He was sympathetic to my embarassment and was so reassuring and supportive.  I had all my x-rays done and will return in January for the first apppointment toward my new choppers. 

I know it's hard to believe, but this is such a huge step for me.  Last year at this time I never would have even thought of doing this. 

I feel so good.

the plan.

To tackle the dietary aspect of this ME makeover, I've decided to following the Whole Living Action Plan: 28 Day Challenge.  This is a 4 week detox dietary and exercise plan that really makes sense to me.  I've never done a detox before, and I'm a bit skeptical of my own willpower, but I'm hoping that I can pull through.  Really, the first week is going to be the hardest, as the following things are BIG no-nos on this plan:

• Added Sugar.  This one is not too bad.  I really don't have a huge sweet-tooth and much prefer salty foods to sugary ones anyway.
• Processed Foods or Beverages.  Hmmm...this gets a bit more complicated.  Say bye-bye to my Coke Zero and potato chips.  I've been wanting to do this for a long time, though, so it's worth it.
• Alcohol.  Sad, but doable.  I do love wine, though.
• Caffeine.  Yikes....this is probably going to be the most difficult on this list. 
• Wheat/gluten.  Not sure how this one is going to go.  I love my carbs, and bread is one of my favorite things...but it's added back in Week 2, so I think I can stick it out.
• Eggs.  Not a big fan, anyway.
• Dairy.  Milk - not a problem.  I will miss cheese and yogurt, but they are brought back during Week 2.
• Peanut Products.  Doable.
• Fruit Juices.  Not a major part of my current diet, anyway.  Doable.
• Soy.  This one is more difficult, as I'm a vegetarian and normally consume large amounts of soy.  I will have to focus more on beans and fish this week.  This one is also reintroduced in Week 2.
• Corn.  I do like corn, but can certainly live without it.

Alright, so the tough areas apparently are processed food, caffeine, and soy.  Processed food is going to be difficult, but I know I can abstain.  Soy is hard, too, but as long as I include a good protein source I'll be okay.  Really, it seems like caffeine is the most difficult one.  I really need to focus on cutting back this coming week to prepare myself.  Of course, it doesn't help that I will be returning to work the first week of detox, huh?  Note to self: stock up on tea.  Yikes.

reflection.

I've spent a lot of time the past few weeks reevaluating my life. 

What I want.  Who I am.  Where I want to go from here.

It all comes down to the fact that I am not happy as I am at this very moment. 

That's very sad.

I have family and friends that love me as I am.  Why can't I?

So I've declared the year 2011 "The Year of Me."  Yep, ME.