"Here's to strong women. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them." - unknown.
A couple months ago, I listened to the book "Girl, Wash your Face" by Rachel Hollis. It was just what I needed. She talks about so many "lies" that us women believe or hold on to for way too long. The very first chapter Rachel dives into the idea of taking ourselves seriously. If we want to exercise, eat right or clean out the closet - then do it. No more making excuses to ourselves and putting others first (as in if I make a coffee date with my friend I will always make time for that, but if I tell myself I'm going to go for a run tomorrow but end up getting too "busy" I end up not running.).
When I heard it put like that, I knew I needed to up my game. Ironically when I was a single woman with no kids, I remember thinking and even telling people that I was "super disciplined" and let's be honest, I was. I ran 5 days a week, went to the gym, ate healthy and made lots of time for me. Little did I know that I had way more time for myself than I would ever have again in my adult life....aka once you have kids it's hard to make time for yourself because you're doing a million other things trying to make life work.
So I knew I needed to learn how to take myself seriously again. I needed to challenge myself and stick to it to prove to ME that I am in control and can be disciplined.
For the month of June (and July and August!), I gave up all things sweet and desserts. Now I admit, I'm not a natural sweet tooth sort of person, but life was going along and I was starting to eat more sweet bread, chocolate, desserts, cookies or whatever was available without so much as a thought. I'm not saying a treat every now and then is bad, I just knew I needed to prove to myself that I can make a promise to myself.
And I did. 30 days with no sweets. (update: Ended up going 90 days with no sweets!) It wasn't even that bad. In fact, I'm thinking about keeping it up for awhile, because honestly I don't even crave any of that any more. Something that helped the cravings during the summer months was actually grapefruit essential oil.
Many people use essential oils to help curb their cravings and detox their system. I like the taste of a drop of grapefruit oil (and any citrus oil) in my water, learn more about oils here.
As a woman and a mom, I not only owe it to myself to make myself a priority, but I know that I have little eyes watching me every day. These little eyes push me to eat healthy, get outside for a walk and set the example I hope they see. For my son and especially my daughter, I want them to see that Mommy takes care of herself, is confident in who she is and is a strong woman.
"Here's to strong women. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them." - unknown