Transitioning to a Plant-Based Diet: 3 Month Update

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It has been about 3 months of eating a solid plant-based diet, so I figured it’s time for an update. I don’t have a specific start date because I slowly started adding plant-based meals to my diet, but I’m glad I changed my diet so casually. I feel like if I had a date where I “started to be vegan” it would be more stressful to stay vegan. Here is a quick update about how it’s going.

It turns out it is very easy to do, but I’m convinced that it is because I can’t really socialize in a pandemic. I would say the hardest part is the social aspect, and the dreaded question, “why are you vegan?” I don’t have a clear answer to that yet that is quick and to the point and won’t start an argument. I want to say, “it’s just how I am eating that’s all”. However, this usually sparks the follow-up question, “HOW do you do it I could never stop eating meat and dairy!” Well, I hate to say it but I felt the same before I did some research and tried it out for a few months.

I will first give an update about how I’m feeling after eating plant-based for roughly 3 months, then explain why I’m eating this way and how I’m doing it successfully.

Overall, I feel pretty darn good! I still need to work on eating enough calories as it’s hard to get used to replacing all the calories that meat and dairy can give you. I definitely feel less sluggish and my meals don’t weigh me down for the rest of the day. I am also VERY regular it’s truly amazing. Every 12 hours I’m cleaned right out (TMI, sorry). I also feel good in general that I haven’t harmed any animals, and I’m finding the more I’m avoiding meat, the more I’m grossed out by it. Not like an insane amount, I still love the smell and could easily eat it, but the other night I had a dream that someone shoved a raw chicken breast in my mouth and it made me sick to my stomach (probably because it was raw and you should never eat it raw…) but it’s weird that there’s no food in the plant world that I would feel the same disgust. I just found that kind of interesting.

Moving on to why I am still eating plant-based. At this point, it is kind of a challenge I want to show the world. My plan is to find a way to make it easy to cook flavourful food, easy to eat this way around friends and family, and easy to be strong and healthy. I think that if I am not an anorexic twig like most people view vegans as, then it would change people’s perspective on it. If it is truly a sustainable and easy way of eating, and provides enough nutrients, then I think it would be pretty cool to show people we actually don’t need animals at all, they can just be adorable frolicking creatures in nature.

And finally, how I am still eating plant-based. Meal prep is key. At least for some meals throughout the day to make your life a bit easier. For me, I have basically the same breakfast every day (overnight oats/oatmeal with a variety of seeds, nuts, berries) and the same rotation of snacks (nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruits and veggies). Then, I keep a stock pile of beans, lentils and tofu for easy protein, and always have rice and/or quinoa on hand. Garlic and onions are key for flavour, and yams and potatoes are great starchy vegetables. From there, I go to town on all other vegetables, both fresh and frozen, and make all sorts of dishes. I have a wide variety of spices and sauces to make everything taste delicious. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy to only eat whole foods, and to cook all the time – we are human after all. So I allow myself to get a few fun snacks and drinks, order in, and for special occasions I’ll try some “fake” meat and cheese.

I think the only annoying part, especially once the pandemic is over, is to constantly ask if there’s meat or dairy in the food I’m eating. Right now I’m making 90% of the food I’m eating so I know what’s going in it. It’s uncomfortable to ask at restaurants, but even more so when you’re asking friends and family who might’ve cooked for you – especially since this was such a sudden change for me. In the summer I was eating BBQ ribs and chicken thighs, and now I’m not.

It’s going really well so far, and I’m curious to see what the future holds. Once we are allowed to go to events, see our friends and travel, I wonder if I will have a hard time eating plant-based. Things are looking up though, as I found out that DAIRY Queen has a NON-DAIRY dilly bar. Can you believe that?! It’s blasphemy. Perhaps it will continue to gain popularity so it won’t be so difficult to eat however you want wherever you are. If you are thinking about going plant-based, I highly recommend starting out slow and finding some recipes that you love. Once you have enough variety and easy go-to meals, it’ll be much easier to cut out meat and dairy!

Transitioning to a Plant-Based Diet

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Well, this year has been full of surprises. It’s been a wild ride adapting to the pandemic, being laid off, moving to a different city, starting a new job and now figuring out a new way of eating. I wanted to write about this today because it seems like a sudden change that I’m guessing all of my family and friends would be surprised about and thinking, “she probably won’t last 2 weeks without animal products.” This is a very new endeavor, and I want to explain how it came to be.

I have always been interested in healthy eating, but I struggle to have will power to make healthy choices when I’m around family and friends. I’ve cut out dairy a few times before because it was noticeable how it hurt my stomach, gave me dry skin and built up mucous, but it’s just so delicious that I kept going back. I’ve seen and read about animal cruelty in the dairy and meat industry, but it was never taken seriously with my family and friends; they would kind of just joke about how delicious a pig looks and that bacon is life. I kind of felt like a hypocrite though, because I could never kill a cute little lamb or a big ol’ cow if my life depended on it, yet I would gladly eat them.

I’ve read a lot about veganism before but it has always seemed like a taboo religion, almost like vegans act superior to others and are annoying with their activism. Not to mention, I can only think of a couple friends I know who are vegetarian, and I only know one true vegan. So I’m constantly surrounded by meat eaters, and thus it was very difficult to think differently.

Anyways, fast forward to moving to a new city with my boyfriend, and beginning my job working at a gym. Finally, after not working for 4 months I was back to having a routine and better yet, zero excuses to not exercise. I know that when I am working out consistently, I am more likely to choose healthier options to eat. I have always liked watching recipe videos for new ideas, and I noticed that so many videos would pop up that had something to do with a “whole food, plant-based diet.” When I hear that, for some reason it seems like another trendy diet like keto so I would kind of whiz past it.

The reason I began researching obsessively about taking on a plant-based diet was because I sort of had a random shower thought. For so long I’ve been frustrated with trying to figure out my hormones and mood swings, low energy levels, sensitive stomach, dry skin, allergies, asthma and so on. I wondered what would happen if I completely cut out dairy and meat. I mean, there could be other reasons why I have all those problems, including genetic and environmental, but a lot of the health videos I was watching claimed that eating plant-based has the potential to alleviate all of them.

I started my research very, very skeptical. First, learning the health benefits of eating plant-based to get me motivated to read more. Obviously I would get a lot more nutrients if I focused on adding more plants into my diet. I learned that it’s completely a myth that “you can’t get enough protein on a vegan diet” and that “you won’t get enough nutrients like vitamin B12”. In reality, I’m already low on B12 and I was eating animal products 3 meals a day. Both vegans and meat eaters need a B12 supplement to get enough because so much gets killed off in new ways of farming (B12 comes from the bacteria in soil, and cleaning and sanitization of crops kills it). Also, the “not enough protein” thing is too silly to argue about.

I thought to myself, okay so now that I know I can survive and thrive on plants, I will continue finding plant-based recipes. Next on my research list was to learn what could possibly be so bad about the meat and dairy industry. Well I watched “What the Health,” “The Game Changers,” and also watched a speech by Gary Yourofsky. I learned that the Diabetes and Cancer associations are sponsored by meat and dairy companies. Even though so many studies show that processed deli meat is carcinogenic, and meat causes diabetes (not sugar), these companies were taking money from the very things that cause these diseases. They even put these food items on their website as a part of their food guides.

If that’s not twisted enough, the company that wrote journal articles arguing that cigarettes are good for you and make you healthy back in the day is the same company that defends the meat and dairy industry saying humans need to eat animal products to be healthy. Not to mention, big fast food chains are huge in the meat and dairy industry and have been going crazy with it; with options to add cheese, extra cheese, more cheese, and put even more cheese in your pizza crust! Double, triple, quadruple patty burger with bacon and cheese! In between those lovely commercials are a million drug ads so the pharmaceutical industry can make billions off of people who have high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and so on. To me, it sounds like the more they persuade people into eating animal products that are proven to lead to a variety of diseases, the more money they will make from selling pills to “fix” it all.

With the coronavirus sparking so much uncertainty and shining a light on how messed up the media is (and always has been) I really started hating on big corporations and selfish people with power. I never had sufficient evidence of who is the “bad guy” because again, I’m getting all of my information from fake news. However, this information about the meat and dairy industry made so much sense to me that I started feeling quite upset about it all.

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to believe, but with so much controversy over the benefits of eggs, milk, cheese and meat I think I’m just going to stick to plants because you really can’t go wrong. No one has heard of a carrot causing a heart attack. There are so many ways that you can get all the nutrients you need, and to me it’s not worth jeopardizing my health just because something tastes good. I’m willing to continue learning about new exciting plant recipes that taste just as good, if not better, and changing my lifestyle. I have yet to conquer the difficulty of being the “odd one out” in social situations, but it will just be another learning experience.

I’m looking forward to sharing my journey on transitioning to a plant-based diet and sharing my successes and failures with you all.

Overcoming Procrastination

Today, I have come to realize how much of a procrastinator I have become. I thought I would take a minute to understand why I am procrastinating at everything so that I can improve my work ethic. Everything I have started was something I was really excited about at one time, and now it has lost its path. This is not the first time I have tried something then slowly stopped doing it after a while. However, everything I am working on I want to see through and keep working on it. Here is a list of what I am working on, why I’ve been procrastinating, and how I’ll change. Hopefully this will help you out too.

Blog

Yes, I am still blogging, but it’s not as often as when I began. I already knew I had unrealistic expectations when I was writing every day, but at that point I had a lot of ideas to write about. I was also very consistent… I started writing at 10:00am every day, then I started writing 3-5 times per week at the same time. Then I lost track of days and times so I started writing when I remembered at whatever time during the week, and this is where I started to really procrastinate.

When I started blogging, I wanted to share my self-improvement experience since it’s something I’ve always been interested in. It’s satisfying to potentially help someone else who is struggling with something, and create a supportive environment. However, I’ve always thought in the back of my mind how cool it would be to make some side cash from a hobby I am passionate about.

Of course, after doing research about how to monetize a blog, it started to feel a bit daunting. A huge factor in becoming a successful blogger is having a niche to be able to easily find sponsors, but I didn’t feel like I had a specific niche. There are people who write about recipes, nutrition, fitness, gardening, starting an online business – all very specific categories. Some people even begin selling consultations or online courses for their expertise. The more I looked into it, the more fearful I became about my blog not being successful.

I forgot why I started blogging in the first place. It slows down my thoughts to make sense of them, it allows me to be creative, and I can give my ideas to the world as well as read other blogs to learn something new. I have realized I fear that I am doing it wrong. I am learning along the way, but not knowing if I’m doing it correctly in order to monetize it sooner rather than later is driving me crazy. I never knew how much there still is to learn about the internet. It’s not as simple as I thought it was.

The reason I am procrastinating at writing blogs is because I am fearing failure and the reward seems very far away if it will be rewarded at all. I will have to change my mindset about it to stop procrastinating. Here are a few solutions: I will aim to learn something new about blogging every time I write; I will make a new goal to only write 3-4 times per week; and I will make sure I read and follow other blogs that will inspire me.

YouTube

One day, I asked my boyfriend to do a beer review with me and make a video. I’ve always wanted to learn how to make videos, and it was a different way to be creative. After I began, I needed to make it my own channel rather than rely on my boyfriend for help. I figured I couldn’t just make my channel about reviewing beer by myself, so I channeled my inner actress and wanted to make people laugh by doing skits.

I came up with a long list of video ideas, and I was creating a video once a week. It would be finished a few days before it went public on YouTube, so it was a stress-free hobby. Now, I am procrastinating and creating the video the same day that it needs to be posted, which isn’t a very relaxing feeling. I somehow have still posted every Tuesday at 5pm, but I can tell my creative juices are lacking.

I think there are a few factors here that are causing me to procrastinate. I have posted several videos of my comedy skits, but now the opinions of others are starting to flow. Not only the number of views and likes, but just what other people find funny or not. Some people will tell me their favourite videos, or favourite part of a video, so then I find myself over-analyzing everything. I have truly come to appreciate big YouTubers who have managed to work towards a huge following and come out with videos every single week.

Of course, the thought of this hobby also being monetized has crossed my mind, because who wouldn’t want to be paid for doing what they love? At least YouTube gives you a goal to reach in order to be able to monetize (1000 subscribers and 4000 watched hours), so I just need to keep improving my videos and learning about how to make them entertaining the entire time (people have short attention spans these days). I am even starting to second-guess my genre of videos (skits) so that causes procrastination as well. Maybe I should be making videos on ice coffee? Or hair? Or horoscopes??? I am just trying to stick to what my authentic self enjoys doing, and leave it at that.

To change my mindset for this, I first need to take other people’s opinions and number of views lightly. Art will always be subjective, and it can be surprising sometimes what does well and what doesn’t. I am also learning more about the power of social media, as I have been ignoring it for so long. I never enjoyed being super involved in social media, but it turns out it’s a huge factor in being successful at doing work online.

Rather than second guessing my video ideas, I’m just going to film and edit it without waiting an entire week of doubting myself.

Podcast

I started my podcast in order to have a platform to speak with other people and learn from them. I enjoy learning from other people and talking things through. Unfortunately, the pandemic has made it a bit difficult to get it started since I have to record podcasts through low quality sound through zoom. Also, I have found out a lot of people are scared to be recorded and to talk about themselves.

This is another area where I am unsure of the niche I want to have. I wanted to talk about the journey of breaking free from societal norms because it’s something I struggle with, but it’s hard to find people who feel the same why I do. This hobby might not be as consistent, but it’s something I am still interested in pursuing eventually.

Further Solutions to Overcome Procrastination

It’s important to recognize the reason why you enjoy whatever it is that you are procrastinating on, and to stop yourself from overthinking everything. Sticking to a routine is definitely a huge part of being productive, so planning out your days will help overcome procrastination. Also, remembering that all of these hobbies are more productive than other hobbies such as playing video games or watching TV.

I think it’s important for all of us to stop and find the reasons why we are procrastinating at something, because I truly think it frees us to be more creative and more productive. It’s never a good feeling to feel like something is weighing you down, so by finding solutions to motivate us again, it will lift the weight right off of our shoulders.

The Power of Body Awareness

I’ve reached the age where aches and pains start to become more noticeable and last longer. I remember playing with my friends as a child and always hearing the adults say how jealous they were that we were so flexible, able to run all day, and could wake up without being stiff and groggy. I never truly understood what they meant until now. I’ll be turning 26 this year which I’ve heard is the time “everything starts to go downhill” with your body. I’ve decided I don’t want to accept this, because I’m still very young and there’s a whole lot more life to live.

Perhaps it’s because I have a Degree in Kinesiology under my belt, but I tend to pay close attention to how my body is feeling and think of how I could fix it. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely ignore the dull pains and stiffness a lot of the time as we all do, but I’m becoming more and more aware throughout the day about what I am feeling and what my body needs.

Taking a short amount of time out of your day to meditate or even just to exercise is a great way to notice what’s going on in your body. Then, taking the time to stretch, or take care of muscles in whatever way they need it will keep your joints nice and flexible which will benefit your whole body. One tight or weak muscle can cause a ripple effect and lead to pain in other areas of the body. It’s truly amazing how our bodies work like a machine and if one part isn’t functioning correctly, it can mess up the entire system.

The more we stay in the habit of ignoring what is going on and what our body needs, the more dysfunctional the whole system will become. This is where it can lead to more severe issues in the future and the rest of our lives. There is a lot of room for injury in our lifetime, but if we stay on top of our physical fitness the chances of this happening will decrease and the severity of the injury can also decrease too.

I’ll use shoulders as an example. Let’s say we kept our rotator cuffs flexible and strong. If we got in an accident that would likely cause a dislocated shoulder, we might have more luck since our strong muscles will keep our shoulder joint in tact and have more range of motion before tearing could occur. Avoiding the dislocated shoulder altogether would avoid months of physiotherapy, pain management, and potential for getting a dislocated shoulder in the future. So perhaps paying attention to what seems like an insignificant part of our bodies could make a huge difference for our future.

Then when I think of old age, there are a lot of women that have osteoporosis and break bones often from falls. As we get older, it gets a little more difficult to build and maintain muscle. This is why it’s so important for us to pay attention to our bodies and give it what it needs in order to reduce the amount of pain and suffering we might endure as we get older.

So, the power that body awareness can provide is preventing a lifetime of aches and pains – by simply paying attention to what isn’t feeling right and making the choice to attend to it.

The Early Morning Hike

Top of Black Mountain in British Columbia

There is something about being in nature early in the morning that makes everything seem better. I think the reason that the early morning hike in particular seems so wonderful is because it doesn’t happen often. The effort to get out of bed, find a hike, do the exercise and see the view from the top is quite rewarding, but I do wonder if that feeling would go away if I did it every day.

There are not a lot of things that motivate me to wake up early anymore, yet it is still ingrained in my brain that the early morning is the best time of day. Now I find myself staying up later and later and have the desire to sleep in more and more. This is partially due to the fact I’m laid off, but even while I was working I would hit the snooze button much more often.

I think it’s important to find something that excites you to wake up and start your day every single day. It’s so easy to come up with excuses as to why there’s no point in waking up if you don’t have to. I envy people who go for a jog, bike to work, or walk their dogs in the morning every day. I have always wanted to be “that person” and I have tried many times, but haven’t made a habit out of it.

I have a new goal to go outside every morning, first thing. It might not exactly be in the forest but it’ll be a step closer to nature. I aim to ignore all of the distractions inside my home, and ignore all of the thoughts in my head saying “you don’t REALLY need to go outside” and just go. Even if it’s just to take the recycling out, or to go for a short little walk, I know it will benefit me.

I’ve been thinking about the reason why I love the idea of the early morning hike so that I can implement its benefits every day. Here is what I have come up with:

It’s usually a bit cooler in the morning which wakes up your senses and nervous system.
The smell of the fresh air endorses positive thoughts, and the colours I see remind me of how beautiful nature is.
The movement of going outside will bring in endorphins leading to a better mood.
The sounds of the birds will bring joy (unless they are Magpies, those birds are the worst).
It gives the feeling that something has already been accomplished for the day.

So I think whether you decide to just step outside in the morning, or go on a full on hike, either choice will provide the same benefits. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

The Need for Change

Change can be scary sometimes, especially if there is an unknown future. However, for some reason, I absolutely love change. Yes, I still get the anxious feeling when there’s uncertainty in how things will change, but in general, I am quite comfortable with it. I am writing this post for those of you who have a hard time with change and would like to know how some people manage it.

I learned to adapt at a young age.

I think my comfort with change comes from moving to a few different towns growing up. I would have to get used to a new room in a new house in a new neighbourhood and go to a new school with new people. Then once I was in university, I would have a new living space a few times a year – from dorms to my parent’s house to an apartment back to my parents house, to a basement suite to a upper level rental and back to my parent’s house.

I got used to moving around so much that I found it difficult to stay in one place, almost as if I needed more stimulation. I randomly decided to move to Kelowna so I would be forced to learn a whole new way of living. I’ve already lived in 4 different places in the 4 years that I’ve been here, and with each place I’ve managed to adapt to it and make a new routine.

I couldn’t imagine permanently settling down in a house… If I ever do that, I’m sure I would be doing some sort of renovation every couple of years as I would need a change of scenery.

I have a wild imagination.

I think that having a creative, imaginative mind has a hard time sticking to the same routine, schedule, and surroundings for long periods of time. I enjoy having variety in my life and can get bored easily if I’ve had the same routine for a while. This eventually causes me to try something new, after having a pity party that nothing is interesting anymore.

I’m still trying to understand myself, because sometimes it causes me to make impulsive decisions and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I mean, the easiest way for something to change is to take a risk and see what happens, right?

I am open-minded.

Since I’ve seen many different ways of living and have learned to adapt to them, I have developed an open mind. I like to listen and understand others’ point of view and thoughts. For those that I don’t agree with, I still try to rationalize why they might think that way to avoid conflict and arguments. This can be both a blessing and a curse – yes, it makes it easier to get along with people and be likable, but it also causes me to be vulnerable to getting hurt by people who take advantage of my passive approach.

That being said, I believe being open-minded is the easiest way to adapt to change. If you have a hard time doing this, try to switch from judgement and assumptions to taking a moment to look at a situation with a different angle. You are not always right.

No matter what, change will cause personal growth.

I have to admit – the adult life has definitely made the feeling of change a lot more difficult. I have developed an absurd level of anxiety that I am learning how to manage. I never used to be this way, and was always open to new things. I can now understand how others who aren’t so used to change might feel. It’s a lot more comfortable having a certain level of security.

That being said, despite how I think about the world now, I still remain optimistic about change. It might be more of an emotional struggle than it used to be, but I always come out on the positive side of things and look forward to a new future. I think the only way we can be comfortable with change is to be grateful about the past, and to find the positive things about the future and be excited to learn something new about yourself.

I think it’s important to see who you are in different situations, because you may just surprise yourself. Maybe you find out what you’re not good at, what you don’t like, and who you can’t get along with, but that is still a move in the right direction. We focus so much on making the right move to see what we are good at, do something we like, and be around people that become our best friends – but we only learn to appreciate these things by experiencing the opposite.

Change is inevitable.

Life will constantly change and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Whether it’s a slow, gradual change, a quick abrupt change, intentional or not, we will be forced to adapt and move forward. As long as you trust yourself that you will be okay, you will certainly be able to figure out a new way of survival and thrive.

Note to Self: Don’t Take Life Too Seriously

Christie Falls Trail (normal posing is boring)

Every once in a while I have the sudden realization that I’m taking life way too seriously. Unfortunately this usually comes in one big wave and I have to take a step back and kind of laugh. Why do I care so much about so many stupid little things?

The thoughts that tend to take over are usually just trying to make sense of life itself and plan accordingly. Everything from health to finance to emotions to career path to purpose… it’s so easy to try and understand, then make plans and goals and lose sight of the bigger picture.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what you end up doing or how you end up doing it. My most fond memories come from taking risks and not being so serious about my life. Being goofy around my favourite people and then laughing about nothing with them, being the coolest auntie on the block to my niece and nephew and becoming a kid again, trying new things for the first time to challenge myself, and pushing boundaries with what I already know. The most recent time I came to this realization was when I went rock climbing with my family this year.

I have gone rock climbing a few times growing up, but I never made it up to the top of the wall. I kept going about life just accepting that it’s not for me and I will never make it up. However, when I went with my family it was during a time that I was stressed out about life in general and having a hard time coping with it. Suddenly, my fear of heights and falling didn’t seem worse than the anxiety I had been experiencing all day every day, so I made it all the way to the top with ease. I completely surprised myself and it felt so good to accomplish.

It was a nice slap in the face that life is supposed to be fun, challenging, adventurous, and inspiring. I thought my days of rock climbing were behind me, because it was always something that we did with our school. It was a nice reminder about how exciting it is to try something new, and that the every day “problems” don’t really matter. This was just one example of many, but if you feel like you’ve been stressing out over way too many things all day every day, remember to take a step back and realize that you are, in fact, taking life too seriously.

One thing I have learned about myself is that I need to make sure other people are also not taking things too seriously because I know what it feels like when we do. I strive to surround myself with people that have the same mindset because I know that it will benefit everyone in times that we need it the most.

Feeling Down? Find What Will Bring You Back Up

We all have days where we feel low energy and are feeling a bit more negative than usual. On days like these, it’s important to first recognize that it’s okay to feel this way and that it won’t last forever. I am also learning that finding quick and easy ways to get a burst of dopamine also isn’t helpful. I’ve noticed that I look at my phone 10x more often when I’m feeling like this, not even realizing that I just keep going through the same apps over and over again.

Thankfully, I’m starting to recognize that I do this and that it’s not helping me at all. After this realization, I started to ponder what will actually get me in a good mood and I wanted to share these ideas with you

1. Get up and move

It doesn’t really matter how or where or what you do, but moving will immediately force your thoughts to keep moving forward. Also, any amount of endorphins will change your mood for the better.

I will do anything from putting in a load of laundry to going on a hike so I don’t stay in a rut. It might take a while to become self-aware and realize what you’re doing is negatively affecting you, but once you are able to recognize it the next step is to physically move out of it.

2. Make yourself laugh

I laugh at myself all the time, whether it’s because I did something stupid or because I think a joke I made was really funny… but sometimes I forget this “talent” when I’m feeling down. A couple of tricks I use (which may not be for everyone) is to dance like an idiot by myself or around my boyfriend. I also will break into character and sing terribly, but it usually makes me laugh.

3. Make someone smile

Nothing feels better than making another person smile or laugh, so sometimes when you can’t do it for yourself, try doing it for someone else! I’m lucky to have quite a few #1 fans of mine (my family) that I find super easy to entertain. It’s also easy to show love towards them which will obviously make them smile.

4. Be spontaneous

Perhaps you’ve just become bored out of your mind and that’s why you want to stay on the couch all day. This is the perfect time to think outside the box to switch up what you’ve gotten used to. For example, one day I made a living room picnic to surprise my boyfriend when he came home. I put down a blanket, put out place mats, poured some beer, and lit a candle. We ate leftover pizza… Nothing fancy at all but it became fun because I switched up our routine.

5. Find reliable mood changers

There are a few things that will immediately get me in a better mood other than the above that I can always rely on. This includes going on a drive with loud music (my boyfriend and I often do this when we are feeling down), meeting up with friends even if I “don’t feel like it”, going out for dinner instead of cooking (restaurants in Kelowna are opening back up now! Yay!), and phone calls with my #1 fans.

I hope these ideas will help you get out of the dopamine rush you are looking for and provide a genuine, positive feeling. I would love to hear how you get yourself back up after feeling down in the comments below!

Enjoy the Journey

Life is too unpredictable to focus on an end goal. We tend to focus on what we want to accomplish rather than what we are learning every day. The above picture was taken on an average day where we just needed to get out of the house. It’s just the same trail by our place that we’ve walked on many times before, but this is one of few pictures where we are both genuinely smiling instead of posing. My boyfriend was being an idiot and making me laugh as usual, which is something I make sure to appreciate every day.

We might not always feel like we have what we want or that life isn’t quite “perfect” yet, but I guarantee when I look back at this picture I will remember how good life actually was. Even looking at it while writing this post makes me calm down and realize how awesome it is that I get to be myself around someone who loves me every single day, and how the good days are actually really good! Here is what I have learned that helps me enjoy the journey.

Humans are meant to learn

I hope you don’t think that as soon as you have that job you’ve always wanted, or the big house you’ve been striving for, that you’ll suddenly stop needing to learn and grow. There will always be things to stress you out, or unpredictable situations and you will always be working towards something. If you think about where you are now, can you think of any failures or struggles that you’ve learned from? YES. Of course you can! You’ve learned from it and are now living with more knowledge than you had before and growing from it.

Think about what’s important

Ideally I would say, “look back on your life as if you were 100 years old, what do you remember?” but I’m assuming there’s not a lot of 100 year olds reading this post. So when you think back on your life as it is so far at whatever age you are, what do you remember most? It’s likely that you mostly remember memories that gave you emotions whether it’s positive or negative rather than items you bought or things you had. The positive memories bring you joy, and the negative memories gave you lessons. That’s why you need to remind yourself about what’s actually important in life – the experiences rather than what you have.

Appreciate where you are now

The best way to remember to enjoy the journey is to truly appreciate where you are right now, because you are currently living the journey. What are your current struggles? What are you learning from it? What are you working on right now to achieve your goals? What are you grateful for? Are you acknowledging every small accomplishment? I think that answering these questions helps keep you grounded and to remember that the amazing life you want depends on what you’re doing today, and not what you might have in the future.

Don’t wait to live a great life, make the life you’re living great by taking a step back and enjoying the process. We are meant to struggle, learn and grow over and over again until the day we die.

Binging Netflix? Here’s How to Stop

We’ve all had a show on Netflix that has sucked us in without knowing it. Maybe you found a show that’s “only 20 minutes long” … 3 hours later you realize the power of the binging vortex. Well if you’re like me, I feel extra lazy after doing something like that and a wee bit of guilt. Not only is it a bad feeling that you’ve wasted time, but it’s likely that you aren’t going to eat well afterwards either, and thus, feel worse. Here’s what you can try to do to avoid binge watching Netflix.

1. Delete Netflix

What?! How could I?! Well I figured I would start out with the most obvious answer that you probably don’t want to hear. Now, let’s move on…

2. Choose Wisely

Try to find a show that has less binge-worthy potential. For example, maybe watch a movie one night or a short Netflix Original rather than something that has 12 seasons and 25 episodes per season. Also, maybe choose something positive and funny or educational rather than something that will add more negativity to your life like learning about a serial killer. You already feel bad about watching a ton of TV, no need to also feel bad about humanity afterwards too. Of course, this is subjective, I personally like watching happier shows.

3. Limit When You Watch

Perhaps choose a day of the week that you will watch your show to leave room for excitement. Just like the good ol’ days, when we didn’t have access to everything all at once. You could set a timer to limit how much you watch too.

Also, an option that always works well for me is to have someone that is watching the show with you. My boyfriend is wonderful at only wanting to watch TV occasionally as he usually finds better things to do. With my out-of-this-world loyalty, I would never watch the next episode of our show without him.

4. Find Something Better to Do

There must be a reason why you’d like to stop binge watching Netflix… otherwise you wouldn’t have read this post. Whatever it is that you wish you would do instead of get sucked into the couch, go ahead and do those things. Easier said than done I know… So maybe you need something that gives you what TV gives you. Relaxation, entertainment, whatever it is… find something else that will give you the satisfaction.

We spend so much time on screens that I think we all know it would be best for us to find hobbies that don’t involve a screen. Some examples are: cooking, exercising, colouring (seriously, pick up an adult colouring book asap), painting, journalling, talking to a friend, talking to your family, playing with your pet if you have one, gardening… the list goes on.

5. Decide When to Binge

Now this sounds easier right?! Make the choice that you are going to binge and commit to a number of shows or hours… All of a sudden you will feel liberated from all of the guilt! The problem is that we usually don’t plan to binge, it just happens. We accidentally let the “Next Episode” countdown go without stopping it. So instead of suffering about the bad choices you are making, just make one huge bad choice and let it happen! Yay!

Conclusion

All jokes aside, there will be times that you fall into a rut where you keep wasting your time binge watching Netflix. If you have any sort of will power, I believe trying a few of the tips above will help you get out of that rut.

However, if you truly cannot stop and you really want to, you might need to go cold turkey and delete it all together. There’s so much more to life than sitting on a couch and watching TV, and it can be hard to see that when that is all we are doing.