As I have mentioned before, this pregnancy was an unexpected surprise. Simply put, I was not ready. That is kind of a funny statement to make, because in this life and on our journey God has given us the opportunity to ride out on Earth, things do not always happen when we want them to! That is the beauty of it all!
When I became pregnant I was in a selfish mode mentally and physically. I was going back to school to live my dream and be a chiropractor and I was still losing weight from my last pregnancy. I seem to have an issue embracing what is given to me sometimes, whether it be homeschooling my children or a precious new life growing in my womb. These are blessings of course, but in my limitations as a human, I can forget this. Reconnecting with God and MY spirit reminds me that I am incredibly blessed!
This all leads me to the roller coaster I have put myself on the last 9 months or so. I am now 36 weeks pregnant and not in the pristine health I would want. I have no one to blame but myself of course, but that does not make things better. I blame myself too much for things!
Two nights ago I was finally relaxing on the couch and noticed how swollen my ankles were. I have not had swollen ankles in my last three pregnancies, but I do often this time. As I was thinking about the puffiness of my feet and ankles, I noticed my feet were splotchy as well. Then that led me up my legs and the wonderful varicose veins I have popping out as well. All of this along with how tired, weak and impatient I tend to feel about did me in!
I am not supposed to feel this way! Do not get me wrong. This pregnancy has been great physically in a lot of ways and overall I feel great. That does not mean I feel at my optimal health though. I mentioned this on Facebook the other day and someone teased me by saying I should find a good chiropractor! Well, that is the one thing I do have right! There are a few more I want to grasp too.
You can not make others change. Period. They have to hit the point where staying the same hurts more than changing. As I sat with my legs reclined the other night, I realized it is hurting more to keep my bad physical and mental habits than it would be to change them! I have been in a very healthy state before and due to a whirlwind of life circumstances (ask my hubby), I lost the importance of taking care of myself. No more!
I went to Whole Foods and Sprouts yesterday. Oh the joy! I restocked on my New Chapter PreNatal vitamins. I also bought a good Magnesium Supplement via the advice of my friend Henny. It may help with my weakness and mood. When Brandon and I checked my prenatals, we realized it was very low in Magnesium. This probably would have helped me months ago! We looked at the probiotics as well and decided to buy a case of G.T.’s Synergy Kombucha instead because it is full of probiotics among other amazing properties. The last thing on my list was Cod Liver oil. We used to take this everyday until it started grossing me out. It is being added back in.
As far as nutrition goes, that is getting a makeover as well. I added green smoothies back in this week. Yesterday we stocked up on fresh, vibrant fruits and vegetables and treats such as raw cheese, organic dressings and organic dark chocolate. I have to say, I love looking at my fridge right now!
Now, I wish I had made myself more of a priority much sooner, but I have to let the thought go at that. I can not beat myself up over what I should of done, but instead feel good about what I am doing now!
I recently read Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Health (I prefer his book Eat to Live) and have read other articles on this same subject. He was talking about ’super seniors’ or centenarians in other cultures. They all have the same things in common:
They consume the majority of calories from fresh produce.
They have an optimistic outlook on life.
They maintain a social circle of friends.
They stay physically active.
I am already taking steps to change the first one. A plant based diet is what I am embracing. I plan to eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables as possible, make healthy meals and if I want a treat eating something like organic dark chocolate instead of processed ice cream or chocolate chip cookies (although they are yummy).
An optimistic outlook on life. I think this is the one I need to work on the most. I have been: beating myself up over everything, having a hard time making decisions, not thinking or doing good things for myself and stressing too much. I am now going to focus on doing things that are good for my physical and mental health by making myself more of a priority instead of last in my family. I am going to focus on my good qualities. I am going to have Faith in the Lord that things will work out instead of stressing and worrying too much (I have actually been doing this already and it is awesome!).
I have been making some good friends that are healthy friendships. Women who love and support me for who I am even if we do not agree on everything. I used to choose friends who were self destructive and judgmental. How is that going to be a positive thing in my life? It’s actually detrimental for me! Also, the most important person to have a healthy relationship is my husband. We have been making us a priority and it has been great.
With the other changes I am making, I know I will have the energy to be more active once again. I used to walk miles a day and now I have been sedentary! The nutrition and physical activity obviously go hand in hand!
I did not post for almost 2 weeks and now I cannot stop writing! There is a lot to ponder when a mama is pregnant and getting ready to birth a baby, but I think even more so when she is taking all the responsibility by enjoying an unassisted pregnancy and preparing for an unassisted birth. I am enjoying the changes I am already making and looking forward to the better physical and mental well being I will have through these postive changes.
Yes, I ate a McDonald’s ice cream cone yesterday and I loved every minute of it. In fact my daughter didn’t want her’s so I had 2! You can call me a hypocrite, crazy, or say good for you! I don’t care. I need a balance between being healthy and enjoying life! When I became healthier and lost weight before I would still get treats, but always the best. I used to eat Pacuigo’s gelato once or twice a week! I had found a good balance that worked for me.
It’s this balance that I am struggling with now. I’m in a different state (TX vs. AZ), environment, around different people, the elements of my family have changed (a new baby), my body is different (another pregnancy and now nursing). Finding the right balance can be a bit tricky. It’s kind of touch and go until one day you realize things feel right. You feel great, look great, have a good rhythm to your day and your family is happier. This is what I am working on now. This is where my journey is at the moment. It’s kind of exciting actually. I get to write my life. I am the author with a pen in my hand (or a keyboard in front of me) getting to decide not only what is going to happen today, but also what the next chapter will hold for me.
I am ready Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace. Now that’s quite a bit to ingest at first. To tell you the truth it’s a pretty book. That may sound strange, but it really does feel good to have around.
Chapter one or the first secret is to "Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing". That is a big concept to grasp. To do this, you must let go of all conditioning, preconceived ideas and what you have learned to be true. This is so much more to this life, this world, than we know. What we know is nothing, but a tiny piece of a bigger picture. Anything is possible. Anything! If you realize that you know just about nothing about anything, then you will see that there is no reason to have a closed mind about anything.
Since anything is possible, and there is much to this universe we don’t know then you can create anything you want, right? Have you heard the quote, "With God all things are possible."? I love that Wayne Dyer used this in his book. It is so true. If you do not think that you can do anything your heart desires, then you do not believe that with God all things are possible. It’s that simple. Do you believe or don’t you? Break down those barriers and layers of crap and get to your core. Have the faith of child. Believe!
How can you be open to everything? Wayne Dyer makes a bold statement. When someone suggest something to you that goes against you conditioning, instead of saying, "That’s ridiculous or impossible", say, "I’ve never considered that before, I’ll think about it!" Try doing this for a week and see if it opens your mind. You might realize that you are more negative than you think of yourself to be.
Another statement to make you think is this. "Let go of your attachments to what you’ve been trained to believe. Open your mind to all possibilities, because whether you believe something is possible or impossible, either way you’ll be right."
He believes that your attachments are a source of all your problems. You can be attached to things, people, the need to be right, to win, etc. By being open minded you can resist these attachments and have inner peace and success.
So, how do you release attachments? Change how you see yourself. There are two sides to people. Their ego and their spirit. Taming your ego and letting your spirit shine through to guide your life is key. Be a witness in your life. Have peaceful thoughts and then you’ll have peaceful emotions. You can still desire, but don’t be attached.
One more thing from the book. Let’s say you have two wands. With Wand A you can have anything physical you desire and with Wand B you can have a sense of peace for the rest of your life regardless of anything that comes up in your life. If you pick peace then you already have Wand B. Think about it. If you can love someone enough for them to be what they choose to be without any expectations or attachments from you then you will have true peace in your life. "True love means you love a person for what they are , not for what you think they should be. This is an open mine—and an absence of attachment"
That is awesome! It is very inspiring. Thank you Dr. Wayne Dyer!
I’ll give an example of how I had to let go of a physical attachment just a few minutes ago. I received a birthday present from a good friend. Something I had wanted that was cute and just for me. It just arrived and I pulled it out of the package. I had used a pair of scissors to open the package. I walked away for a minute to grab something and my 4 year old daughter jumped up on the counter, grabbed the scissor and cut the beautiful ribbon that went across the present. The ribbon was not on the packaging, but was actually part of the object. My first reaction was to be upset. I wanted to feel sorry for myself because I had just received it and already it was "ruined"! I wanted my daughter to feel bad, to have remorse. Then I stopped myself. It is a thing, an object. Does it really matter? Why am I attached to the point of being upset over it? So, I grabbed the scissor and cut off the ribbon and left the pretty bow and no one will even know.
It is interesting to me how attached we can be. Here are some things I am going to work on not being attached to:
-Anything physical in my life including bags, clothes, our TV, computer, and my phone. I learned that it was easy to live without a phone this week as I had left it in Utah and haven’t had an alternative. It wasn’t so bad. More peaceful actually!
-My hurt feelings and pride.
-Food
Are there any attachments you can let go of to strive for inner peace?
