Converting to Minimalism

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Last night I was visiting with a girlfriend of mine whom I have not connected with since Christmas. It was a really lovely visit.

We spent 2 hours at a local sushi restaurant and stuffed ourselves with delicious all you can eat sushi. We talked at length about relationships, her upcoming wedding and a bit about my life history that she never knew. I left the restaurant after feeling completely freed from my past, liberated for my future, and totally understanding the things that have been holding me back in life so I can make my present better. Mental speed bumps if you will.

During the conversation I had quite a few aha moments. The most important one has prompted me to write this post. In this particular moment, I realized that what I cherish most in life are the amazing experiences I have had. Travelling, meeting new people, trying new hobbies and finding my passions in partner dancing and horseback riding have been a few. I think back now, to how much I have wanted to keep trinkets or mementos from each of these experiences, and now I see many of them as clutter. Don’t get me wrong, I will certainly keep a few of them, but others I will let go, as they did not create the beautiful memories for me, the experiences themselves did.

What is a key chain or shot glass going to provide for me? How about a postcard, t-shirt or mug? They will be cute little reminders of my experiences for sure, but that’s about it. I’m ready to part with these things now, and to remember the experiences through photos or memories. I think letting these items go will be a huge step forward.

Belongings hold us back and tie us to our past. While remembering the past or treasuring keepsakes from family or friends can be good, we have no need to have our homes full of little trinkets or collections. What I realized last night is that eventually, all items are going to  break down or fall apart. So my question to you is this: Why spend your money purchasing items that you will later spend your time maintaining, for them to sit on a shelf and eventually break down? You will then have to spend more time to get rid of them. Personally I would much rather spend my money on another trip or life experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

It is with these thoughts that I go forward in completing my project of downsizing my home to be able to live simply and minimally. I finally feel freed from the guilt of letting go of my belongings and feeling like I had to keep old gifts and things I have bought. There is no need. Now I have the freedom to move forward, and cherish my current life without being held back by clutter. Each of our lives is a canvas that we hold the paint brush and palette of paint for……how will you paint yours?

I know what my canvas will look like going forward 🙂

 

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Change is sometimes for the best

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Wowie, have I ever had a long few years to make a decision that could change my life in so many ways. For a decade now, I have owned horses. As any horse owner would know, this is not a cheap hobby. For someone like me though, who views their pets like family members, it’s an extremely difficult decision to decide to find them new homes.

I have recently decided to sell, and it was a big decision which took a very long time – I sat on the fence for so long, not being able to choose. I didn’t have the strength to sell them previously, even though I’ve debated it for years. I think back, to all of the time I could have been saving money, and spending my time doing other things……but on the other hand, I believe that when things are meant to be, the circumstances will be perfect. This is what happened to me this weekend. I was trying to find the perfect home, and I had talked to a lot of individuals and families all vying to get my attention so that they could be the new owners. I even had a family 99% lined up, and they sounded wonderful, but hadn’t yet met my horses. Then, because my horse was sore, I had to get him treatment from someone I knew.

The next morning, I received an offer from this person and their family to buy my horses, and let me stay in the picture for as long as I want. It really was the perfect solution to my dilemma, and so much more than I had hoped for, so I gladly accepted. It was then, when I saw that all of the pieces of the puzzle had fallen perfectly into place, that I knew that this was the right thing to do.

What is the moral of my story? Don’t give up hope. If there’s something that you want, but you’re scared to go for it, wait until it feels right, and the conditions are optimal – because then you will know if it’s the right choice or not 🙂 I’m happy I now know. I’m ready to take my life in a different direction and enjoy all that it has to offer!

Creating new Habits – My weekly test to see what works #week1 #HabitExchange

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Good morning readers!

I am excited this week, because I am working on testing out some habits that I think could make my life more positive and healthy.

I haven’t been sleeping well, and I’ve been getting nightmares which I haven’t had for probably more than a year. This tells me that there’s some kind of stress, or unrest in my life, and now I’m looking for the cause.

For a few days now I’ve been eliminating dairy, coffee, junk food, and I’ve been sleeping 8.5-10 hours which is making me feel more rested, and not dizzy when I wake up!!! (such a relief!) I have also added taking Vitamin B, D, calcium and magnesium. My wrists and neck joints have been hurting since just before Christmas, I’m not enjoying that at all. I’m considering it could be stress ( I found my cat a new home, and am looking at re-homing my 2 horses as well), diet related, or perhaps not being fit. While I’m slim, I don’t exercise a lot, which hope to add into my routine as well.

This week I’m working on:

  1. Not having coffee, junk food, or dairy
  2. Sleeping by 9:30-10 pm and getting a minimum of 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep 
  3. Being early for work and appointments (time management and scheduling)
  4. Exercising more. I’ll aim for 3 days, but daily is the end goal
  5. Not watching tv, instead I will read 
  6. Wake up early, practice a morning wellness routine of stretch/meditation, morning pages journalling, tea, and walking my dogs if it’s warm out

 

I’m writing in my wellness journal daily, to document what’s working for me and what isn’t. I’m also writing to see how I feel with each of these changes, successes I have, and what I feel I need to work on etc.

I am really looking forward to seeing how I feel this week!

 

Do you love your life daily? I do!

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I am so excited about life these days! Honestly, I just feel so happy about the path that I’m on, and I wonder why it took me so long to find! The important part is I’m here now, and I’m so grateful 🙂 *Insert huge happy smile here*

Seriously though, what’s better than having a life you love to wake up to every day, and a career that you love to work on? I mean really love, with passion. So much that after a long day you want to go home and work some more so you can share new information or make someone else’s life better! This is what I’m experiencing now, and it’s AMAZING.

Want to know what I did to get there?

You can get here too! With a clear vision, goals, time, and elbow grease you’ll get there! I have been building this life, and working towards it for some time now, about two years actually. It has taken me this long because my vision wasn’t quite clear at the start. I knew I wanted change, and I knew what I’d like my life to look like, but I didn’t know quite how to get there. I’m still working on my daily routine! I’d like to have something that maximizes the efficiency of the hours in my day 🙂

Even with a clear vision and knowing what you want, you have to make the effort and just rip that band-aid off! It’s hard, I know! At first, it’s almost a bit scary, but once you start and see results, you’ll get more motivated. Until I was ready to put the work in to make changes happen, I was kind of in limbo between where I had been, and where I wanted to be. Picture a change purgatory, where we go to figure out our path, before we get to our beautiful new lives 🙂

So once you get really clear with yourself, it’s time to make some change! Maybe you’re already in the change process like me, and you’re feeling like all of the pieces of your vision are coming together? Congrats if you are! What a great place to be! If you’re not quite there yet, that’s ok too! You’ll get there if it’s what you truly want. And despite popular belief, there’s no real time limit for this kind of thing. It’ll happen when you’re good and ready. So get ready, get your hands in there and let’s make change happen! 🙂

If you need a little encouragement, or you’d like to share your story (I’d love to hear it!) comment below! I’m looking for some guest bloggers so I’d love to hear from you!

Have an amazing day!

Elevated Vitality – Women’s Wellness Community

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I am very excited to have launched my Women’s Wellness Community this week!!!! You can find it linked HERE. I am really excited to have this group going as part of my big picture vision, which is to offer Women Wellness Coaching, and Lifestyle Designer services.

I am so excited to give back to others, and to help them get through situations and changes in life with the assistance I wish I had when I was younger. It’s tough to go through things like depression and anxiety because of bad relationships, weight gain, traumatic accidents etc while feeling like you have no one to turn to because your friends and family have a hard time understanding. This is why I am creating a coaching business to help Women turn their lives around, and create the beautiful life that they envision for themselves through tools, programs, and support.

This is also why I have created my Women’s Wellness Community. It is a free group where Women can collaborate, support each other and have a safe place to work on self improvement. We are also starting a Book Club in February, in which we will read a wellness or self improvement book that has been chosen by group vote, and at the end of the month we can go over the book and choose one for the next month. I look forward to hearing during the month how the book is helping each person understand themselves better, and what they are learning and implementing. We are taking book suggestions and votes until the end of day Monday, January 25th. Feel free to Join us in my Elevated Vitality – Women’s Wellness Community group 🙂

I’m not making New Year’s Resolutions….instead, I’m upgrading my Wellness Lifestyle Routine!

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Good evening and Happy New Year!

This is an exciting time of year, where people get revved up to make New Year’s Resolutions and all kinds of new goals…..which often get left by the wayside a few weeks into the new year. According to research, only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s Resolutions and Goals! That is pretty pitiful, considering we have the capability to completely change our lives. So why aren’t people achieving their goals?

A New Year’s resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something slightly nice, such as opening doors for people beginning from New Year’s Day.[1]

I myself have made New Year’s Resolutions many times, only to realize later that I tried to do too much at once, instead of focusing on one goal at a time, or one step at a time.

Now, in the start of 2016, I’ve decided not to make resolutions. Instead, I’m focusing my attention on MAKING MYSELF A BETTER VERSION of who I was yesterday. After all, what are we achieving if we are not taking action to learn, grow, and excel towards our goals?

This year, I am going to spend time working towards my goals by taking actions that are specific to my goals. For instance: I love to read. I want to read more often, so I plan to read things that will further my knowledge in things like cooking and exercise because eating clean and getting fit are two of my big picture goals.

I also plan to exercise more often and get outside to try new trails for hiking, snowshoeing and running to help me get in shape and increase my fitness level.

I want to educate myself on techniques to simplify life and eradicate mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression so I can better help my clients who want to change their lives.

I’m working on a 28 DAY HEALTHY HABIT CHALLENGE to start the year off right by creating positive habits that will last 🙂

How would you like to try being Vegan and eating Plant Based for a month? Thousands of others are giving it a try HERE.

Comment below and let me know what Healthy Habits you want to master, and let’s try them together this month!

How embracing positive habits can improve your life

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Have you ever had a moment where you see someone else displaying a bad habit that you yourself have, and you look at them thinking, “wow, that’s no way to act!” Sometimes it takes seeing someone else doing something that we do, to realize that we don’t want to act that way.

I know some people who don’t even realize that their behaviour or actions are no exactly ideal, and it’s only when they see if from someone else that they understand what the problem is. Regardless of how we realize that we need to upgrade or change, I believe that being the best version of ourselves is the best way to live.

It takes time to change old habits, but making positive changes in my own life, has been the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I’ve been working at being very self-aware, and conscious of the things I say and do. Just recently my mom has told me how much she thinks I’ve changed, and how proud she was. I was really proud to hear that, because I’ve been working really hard.

Just this weekend I realized myself how much I have changed. From old habits of being too opinionated and blunt, to being mild mannered and only sharing relevant opinions, or keeping them to myself, I couldn’t be happier as I feel amazing. My “old self” would have said that she didn’t really care what people thought, because they either liked me or didn’t. My “new self” thinks that is really not an appropriate way to behave, and I’d rather be classy, and set a good example.

One of the biggest side effects I’ve noticed of my self improvement, is how positive my life has become, and how absolutely HAPPY I am, every single day! My goodness, it’s like I’ve done a 180 degree turnaround. From dealing with depression and anxiety, and feeling hopeless about my life, to realizing that life is exactly what I make of it, and by choosing positive thoughts and actions to fill my day, I can now say that life is amazing, and so wonderful.

Through these personal changes, I have come to know that I want to create a Wellness Lifestyle Program to help other women who are filled with self-doubt realize that they don’t need to feel that way. It is an absolute honor to help others change their lives, and live happily as I have done for myself. I can’t wait to make this difference in the lives of those who WANT change, are READY for change, and who want to be the best version of themselves that is possible!

If you’ve ever felt any kind of doubt yourself about getting off the “misery merry go round”, believe me, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE! You can change it today! Don’t wait to live a life that you love, because every day you spend feeling unhappy, or hopeless, is one day you could have spent making happy memories. Why not spend each day feeling wonderful?

Do you want some advice on how to get started? Let’s chat!

Buckling down in a Bad Economy – #MotivationMonday

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Good afternoon! Are you feeling any kind of insecurity about the current Canadian Economy? I sure am. Layoffs are everywhere! I am absolutely grateful to have my job still. I am noticing however that money is so tight, there is nothing extra. I’m really not sure what I would do in an emergency actually…..which is a pretty stressful feeling.

I’m working on a plan to make this situation a little more bearable, so I thought I would share it with you 🙂

I am creating a very minimal budget and way of living:

  1. Cutting out expenses I don’t need
    • no more lattes or eating out
    • not going to entertainment events, or outings (watching movies on Netflix is way cheaper! 🙂 )
    • trying to cut expenses I have, even though they are minimal already
  2. Using what I have at home before buying anything new
    • Cooking at home and making freezer meals
    • Trying to sell extra things I own to recoup some cash
  3. Only buying essential things on sale, or using coupons – being frugal
    • Buy in bulk!!! – I like Bulk Barn (saves on packaging too!)
  4. Pushing off some expenses, and paying them later such as hair color or cut (non-essential, but still needs to be done)
  5. STICKING TO THE BUDGET!!! This is a big one. Unplanned expenses kill the budget (put that latte down!)
  6. Saving for emergencies – this is next to impossible right now, but still a good idea
  7. Trying to earn extra money through a second job – in this case it’s building my Juice Plus (Facebook Page Here) and Epicure Selections (Facebook Page Here) businesses
    • Residual income is perfect for savings or paying debt
    • I can eat healthy at a discount!

If it’s not in the budget, I don’t get to buy it!

The plus side to all of this is that I’m practicing some wonderful tools and techniques to building a better life. Having a solid budget and sticking to it is a vital step to creating financial security. Learning how to save money, live efficiently and somewhat frugally are important steps to preparing for the things you do want to spent money on (and have budgeted for). IE: New car tires or upgrades, a vacation with your family, those expensive lattes we cut out above ; )

What is your plan? Share your comments and suggestions below 🙂

12 Days of Pre-Christmas Detox

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detox

Have you ever thought about doing a Detox BEFORE Christmas Holidays?

I came across this  pre-Christmas Detox, and decided I am going for it. What could happen? I’ll get healthier. Bonus. Sure there’s going to be a little planning and work involved, but that will make the end result better.

Here’s a little bit about the Detox:

For those of you looking to head into the holidays stronger and healthier than ever we have composed a 12 Days of Detox Challenge!! This group will be running from December 1st to 12th, here we can all work together to keep it clean for the first 12 days of the month… before that Christmas food and drink come on in full strength. Please feel free to join us on our 12 days of detox! Enjoy 12 days of holiday themed smoothie recipes and 12 days of eating clean to prepare our bodies for the Christmas season!!

 

Prepare your body with this beautiful cleanse before the eating, drinking and festivities really kick in. “Have yourself a Merry Little Detox – 12 Days of Detox.”

The challenge consists of:

1 – Start your day with the cranberry detox drink (Ask me for details on joining the facebook group where you will find these documents)

2 – Follow the Healthy Living Rules (#HLR)

         -Eat Whole foods and embrace the *Secret weapon* of no gluten,                    dairy and limiting sugar to 30g daily, not including our Juice Plus+                    complete shakes (use MyFitnessPal app for accountability)

         -Drink 1/2 gal to 1 gal (2/3L) of water daily

         – Exercise 30-90 minutes most days of the week

         – Sleep minumum of 7-8 hrs recommended nightly

3 – Track your progress by taking body measurements and photos at the beginning and end of the 12 days

4 – Take the Juice Plus+ Capsule Trio daily and drink 1-2 Juice Plus+ Complete shakes per day (ask me how to order these)

  • Periscope Video Support
  • Seasonal Recipes

 

It’s ideal to eat your Juice Plus capsules and Juice Plus Complete daily and have plenty of healthy groceries on hand. Plan to eat a protein with each meal/snack and keep in mind you may have to eat more often than usual just keep it clean. For best results replace breakfast and dinner with a fully load smoothie (check the smoothie recipe booklet in the files) and have a large, high protein lunch. In the Facebook Group files you will find HLR Guidelines, Smoothie Recipes and some clean meal recipes. Good luck and please post and share your successes and challenges as often as possible. Have yourself a Merry Little Detox!!

There is a webinar before the Detox starts:

webinar

→ → The link is http://www.healthy-living-webinars.com ← ←

Fill out this form and let me know you are interested in joining this Detox, and I will send you more information!

Follow my Facebook page for updates!

Today’s Healthy Habit Challenge – Drink water!

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Today’s ‪#‎HealthyHabitChallenge‬ is to stay hydrated consistently through the day!
GOAL: Drink 1 glass of water each hour for 8 hours consecutively.

We all know water is important to help our bodies function properly, yet most of us still don’t drink enough. Drinking enough water slowly throughout the day is vital for reducing physical and muscle fatigue, removing toxins, proper digestion, nutrient absorption, increasing concentration and alertness and so much more.

Did you know that water helps with proper circulation? The levels of oxygen in our bloodstream are greater when we are well hydrated. Our bodies burn more stored fat for energy when we have higher oxygen levels….which also increases energy and keeps us feeling full longer, which reduces our need to snack!

Low water intake actually causes fat deposits to increase! So tell me, how much water are you drinking today?!

Join my health challenge and share your results: SHARE HERE

Comment below and let me know what healthy challenge you would like to try 🙂

‪#‎onesimplechange‬ ‪#‎transform30‬ #healthyhabitchallenge #healthyliving #healthymind #healthyhabits #healthchallenge #drinkwater #drinkmorewater #fitness #fitbabe #ladyboss #T30 #osc #juiceplus