CLEAN FREAK: New Year

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

2014 {a year in review} : Take a Risk.

Happy New Year!

Every year I make time to sit down and write a year in review. A lot can change in 12 months! I'll bet when I read this in January 2016 a lot more has changed in my life. I suggest you do the same and reflect back each year.

I have always heard this saying (below) and I bet you have too!

But, did I ever truly take the risks I felt I should be taking? Four years ago I went all into EATING CLEAN and the rewards were GREAT, so GREAT! I am still living, breathing and experiencing those rewards. But, there was one thing I always wanted to do that I never did (never ever did): move to warmer weather and leave Indiana. I let fear, the unknown and the "what ifs" keep me on the "shore" (or should I say, in the "cornfields"). Not to mention all the "work" to relocate.

I have ALWAYS hated the Indiana winters. The seasonal depression. The limitations Indiana winters bring. The mood and funk it puts me in. The complaining and crankiness it brings out in people around you. The shoveling snow. The painfully cold temps. The lack of sunshine.

Well, after a record snowfall for the season 2013-2014 (Dec-Jan-Feb) of 51.6" of SNOW, we had enough. I think a part of me died that winter. Seriously.

We, as a family, decided (in July) it was time to risk it all. Select a place to live we hoped to be happier living in with more sunshine! Closer to a beach, closer to mountains and let's get to the important things...close to a Costco and Super Target! With that decision came loads and loads of research. After we landed on an area (near Charlotte), my husband began the (what seemed impossible) job search.

I did have hope, it was dim at times, but I had it. I had faith in God that he would lead me to where we should be if it was his will. Without my faith in God, I wouldn't be where I am today. We experienced so many emotions to get where I am today: Lake Wylie, SC. , but it was worth it. It's currently 30 degrees warmer than Indiana. Enough said.

I have had that breakthrough at almost 40 years of age. It's NEVER too late to take a risk to be happier.

I challenge you to look at your life and evaluate your happiness level. You deserve to be happy. Risk something. Risk people judging you for your new wacky food choices....risk your family being upset with you that you will no longer be nearby....risk going into a new challenge without knowing how it will change you....risk letting go of the comfortable ....risk moving away from your rock, your best friend....simply risk something!, because without doing so you may not experience some of the greatest rewards life has to offer.

Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.

~Paulo Coelho

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

~John F. Kennedy

If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.

~Richard M. Nixon

A ship is always safe at the shore - but that is NOT what it is built for.

~ Albert Einstein

If you ever wondered it weather impacts your mood, it does. I am so much happier here. My kids are happier. They love their new school. They have met new friends. I have met new friends. I hear birds chirping in January! We have been enjoying the sunshine (and even the rain compared to snow). I will blog more down the road on the differences I have experienced moving from IN to SC.

As I reflect back on my 2014 I am grateful for my health. My husband and my kid's health too. I am grateful I am alive and well. I am grateful our families stayed positive during this HUGE decision to relocate. This is a big change for them as well and even though they would prefer us closer, they want us happy! We all take different paths in life and they don't always lead us to the same physical destination.

I am STILL grateful for making the change in 2010 to completely overhaul my life and my family's life. I have told you many times I think I was living in a processed food "fog" for years. Eating Clean gives me clarity and perhaps more courage.

Taking a risk in your life may just be what you need, read Why Taking Risks Comes Great Rewards

Don't let a world of processed food weigh you down from being the best you that you can be. Eat clean. You deserve to feel awesome.

Have a splendid 2015. I'm going to try to!

I look forward to sharing all my new adventures with you all! xo Angie

Sunday, December 29, 2013

2013 {a good challenging year}

2013 has been a year of change for my family. My husband had a very rough year at his job in regards to job security and stress. He had to personally lay off 70 employees earlier this year at ONE time. It was very hard on him and he experienced severe debilitating headaches during the final months at that job. Bad enough he decided to get a CAT scan to be proactive and as he would like to report: "there are no cats in my head".

Please, do not take stress in your life lightly. Stress will negatively impact your life (and fast)!

Also equally stressful for us was the fear of losing our only income at any given time. With that being said he decided to move on from that company.

By a miracle of God, another job found him a few months ago (it's not easy finding a job near us in his field that he wanted to do). And you read that right...they found him. This job is one that he loves (and it's closer to home)!

While it is a lot less pay, it is stable and rewarding. The owner of the new company practices many acts of "giving" in the community, which by now you know is very important to me (and to good overall well being). A true blessing.

Other than that my year has been a great one.
Could I have worked out more in 2013? YES!
Will I let that bother me? No.
I have now completed 3 years off Diet Coke and ALL artificial sweeteners. I have continued to feed my family a healthy clean diet that I feel great about. My 9 year old knows how to read an ingredients label and does so on her own many times. So proud!

Many of my family and friends aren't well and are struggling. This is hard to witness, but it drives home the importance of being healthy (mentally, physically, and emotionally) for a greater quality of life.

My husband's headaches have went away with his new job. What a blessing! It goes to show that stress can cause you a lot of discomfort, worry, and medical bills!

My pastor has been speaking lately on being filled with HAPPINESS vs being filled with JOY. There is a huge difference.

Happiness comes and goes as situations change around you (finances, health, relationships), but being filled with JOY stays consistent day in and day out allowing you to see good beyond the struggles. Allowing you to do God's work. Allowing you to accept that life will have struggles and speed bumps and through those you will grow.

Being able to be filled with God's JOY and always seeing things through a positive filter is a true gift. There are many "happy" people in this world that are miserable. They are always wanting more "things" and always seeking other's approval and acceptance. They will probably forever be trying to fill some void.

Have you ever wondered why a person with cancer (even on their death bed) can be filled with such happiness? Well, that's not happiness, that's JOY! Deep in their soul they are filled with JOY and share it with those around them. I have witnessed this first hand with two friends that left this Earth way too soon from cancer. Their strength, love, and joy has changed me forever. I will NEVER, EVER take a single day for granted for as long as I am on this Earth. Even the crappiest of days I will look for the good and I have them both to thank for that.

Joy is a Fruit of the Spirit, which every Christian receives at the moment of salvation. Our joy is constant because God is constant.

Therefore, we are to be constantly delighting in the Lord.

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, wracked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” - Agatha Christie

I found this wonderful blog post below...

It has never failed that when I have been through the most heart-breaking passages of my life — betrayal, financial hardship, divorce, dreams dashed — the pain brought me to the floor of my being, and what was there to be found?:

The simple joy of being alive. So cosmically basic it’s mind-blowing: the joy to be here, connected, animated, breathing, blessed, resilient, to be broken, to be open, to have what was, what’s left, what’s coming. The joy just to be part of reality.
Happiness. Love it when it comes.
Joy. It’s the love that lasts no matter what.