Making Lifestyle Changes + Questions for YOU

Making changes takes discipline. It also takes recognizing you can't keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. But not all change is good - some change is even unwelcome. But then again, some change can be for your own good. One change in life that for sure takes some time to adjusting to is moving. Moving to a different company or moving to another state, it takes time to learn your way around and get acclimated with a new environment. It also takes time to "embrace the place where your at."

 

Around Town:

The Historic District (street) of Old Town Gilbert

 HUGE change from living in Miami.

Some environmental changes bring on a change in lifestyle. For me, our move from another city has brought on a change in lifestyle. I believe it's for the good though. One of the things I use to do when I was younger was pay more attention to health & fitness. But for whatever reason (work, school, relationship, time, or attention span) my lifestyle changed to making compromises. And those compromises had lead to unwanted change over time: muscle aches, back aches, and feeling tired. There comes a point in time (at least for me anyways) when you say "enough is enough" and start making changes. Here are four changes I've made in the past four (+) weeks for a healthier lifestyle:

 

NO MORE COKE!

CHANGE #1. Removing Coke from my diet.

Cold turkey - Just up and stopped. I've tried before, but would get headaches when I consciously would try to stop. This time, I just, without thinking about it, and a week past w/o headaches. Now it's been about six weeks without, and I don't miss it at all. I thought drinking Coke gave me energy - but it doesn't. Exercise + eating better + just being me is what fuels my energy.

CHANGE #2. Drinking more water.

Drinking water bores me. I don't like it. But I find living in the desert, it has become increasingly necessary to take in - DAILY. Not just because they say, "Drink 8 glasses a day", but because living in a HOT dry climate that you're not use to can bring on headaches. For me, no matter how many Advil I took, the headaches wouldn't go away. Hubs said it was from the Coke, so drink it (not the encouragement I'm looking for to live a healthier lifestyle - so NO.) I had heard on a local channel that dehydration can cause headaches. I thought, "But I'm not sweating. How can I be dehydrated?" Apparently what adds to sweating is humidity. In Florida, it could be 90 WITH 90% humidity - so yes, you sweat like a beast. Here in AZ, the humidity may be only 9% at 8PM in the evening with temps still at 109 - And if you're not drinking water (like I wasn't) the headaches came. Since I'm drinking more water, my headaches have gone away (except for the occasional times something ticks me off lol). I've also replaced my Coke drinking with Lemonade and Lipton Diet Tea.

 

Fresh from the local Farmers Market - Fresh basil & tomatoes for grilling pizza.

Fresh berries & bananas for morning smoothies.

 

Shopping the local Farmers Markets is also another lifestyle change I've been doing here in AZ. They don't always have these items stocked, but when they do, it's also good to help out small businesses and the local economy.

CHANGE #3. Eating more fruits & veggies.

For some reason, eating the veggies took too much time, thought or energy - for whatever reason I don't know - and many times my good intentions would end up in the trash. So I started to make smoothies and drink in that nutrition. And after seeing a tip on Pinterest to freeze fruits for veggies, now I'm not throwing food away because it spoils. I have it in the fridge to snack on, but before they spoil, into the freezer it goes. Adding in yogurt (Activia) has also been a great means of adding calcium to my diet.

 

LOVE the long straight-aways for the ride!

CHANGE #4. Adding aerobic exercise to my daily routine.

If you're a blogger, you've got it: Bloggers Butt. The inevitable once upon a time thing called secretary spread from sitting on your ass too may hours in front of the computer... Blog hopping, leaving comments, writing posts, and now: PINTERST added into the mix and hips become deadly. I've always been tiny (I got that build from my father) I also use to weight train in my 20's and did yoga in my 30's. Not to mention all the running around I would do 5 days a week visual merchandising in a 150,000 sq. ft. retail establishment (without fail: every morning I'd be CLEAR on the opposite side of the store from a bathroom and literally would RUN through the store to make it lol). Being now in my EARLY 40's  (will be 43 in August!) I've noticed changes happening - Those changes people talk about and we don't want: Weight gain. Hate it. And it's NOT going to stay.

 

Morning bike ride - In the desert.

I started biking again every morning. At first, it was a struggle to even finish a mile. That's just how "out of it" I was. But I started to increase my stamina. After making the one mile w/o chest pains, I tried a longer distance: 3 miles. than 4, then doubling it to 8. Once again, something I use to do (loved biking to the gym or from Bay Harbor to South Beach) but over time, just stop doing. Much of the water I've now been drinking is coming from quenching my thirst during my ride. I've been freezing my bike bottle with water - and while I'm riding, it melts enough to drink + it's still very cool. These four minor changes have resulted in more energy, clearer skin, and an end to my back pain I was having for the past two years (from a lifting injury in '09). Next phase of change will be to increase mileage PLUS: Get back into yoga again (the room is ready! No excuses!) Sometimes recreating yourself can mean finding who you were and waking it up.

 

Just a few blocks away from our home: 

The Potato Barn Home Furnishings - (yes - potato, not pottery)

Making changes, a little at a time also leads to wanting to make more changes (especially when you do start to see the changes happening). And speaking of wanting to make more changes: What are some changes you'd like to see here on the blog? If you're a follower from Florida where I began blogging, I'm sure you've noticed a slight change in my regular postings. I was posting regularly: M-F with occasional (but not often) weekend posts. Since our move, (and still getting use to the time change) I've not only seen traffic here die down, but seeing that traffic die (along with the lack of comments and the infamous "Follow - Unfollow" numbers) has me wondering...

NEED YOUR INPUT BELOW:

I'm questioning whether it is still worth blogging? If you're a blogger, you KNOW how time consuming writing, proof-reading, commenting on other blogs, back-linking for photo credit - and now especially - editing person photos of your work to be "pin- worthy" can be. I've blogged plenty of "How To's" from room redo's, rental redesigns, seasonal decor changes,  holiday decorating, tips & sources, store tours, online board design, home & closet organization, tablescapes done on a dime, thrifting for clothing & furniture finds, refinishing thrift finds, to Pinterest and joining link parties. I was even changing the color schemes or headers more regularly when I first started - but that is not only (crazy) too time consuming, I don't believe it does anything to help brand a person, their talent, their niche, their product or their audience. So here are 10 questions for you:

1. Have your blogging habits changed since Pinterest?

2. Have your blogging posts changed since Facebook Timeline?

3. Do you only follow blogs who do giveaways?

4. What makes you join one blog vs. another?

5. What makes you un-follow one blog from another?

6. What would YOU like to see more of HERE on this blog?

7. What are some topics you would like to see posted?

8. Do you prefer clear images? or the on-trend stylized Instagram photos?

9. What is enough photos for you in a post? 1? 3? 10? 20?

10. Are you reading posts? Or just looking for pictures to catch your attention (like at Pinterest) 

Another change I've noticed is I haven't been receiving the email alerts from blogger when people do kindly (thank you very much) leave a comment. I know I too have had to change my emailing address (twice in past six months) but I have checked the settings here, and comments should be going to nyclqd@yahoo.com. I am usually on Facebook and Twitter in the morning here before I head out to ride.  Are you on Twitter? Maybe this can help with future engagement: If you're on Facebook & Twitter, please leave your Name + Facebook link + Twitter name ("@____") here in the comment section. And to ensure I see the responses + get back to you, I'd appreciate it if you could send in your answers to the above 10 questions to my email at: nyclqd@yahoo.com. Also include the TIME you do your blog reading. In the meantime, I'll be doing some blog clean-up around here + taking in your feedback.

Speaking of TIME - Thank you again for yours.

For more inspiration, also be sure to join me at Pinterest.