One Meal A Day

Healthy

Thanks to a health scare I had this Christmas Eve, and the documentaries I watch on Netflix recently, namely Sustainable, Forks Over Knives, In Defense of Food, and Cowspiracy, I have finally decided it IS time for me to do some major changes in my eating habits.

Among other things, watching those documentaries opened my eyes to the fact that the meat/livestock industry has been a major contributor in polluting our air and waterways, and it is also one of the culprits in the deforestation of our remaining forest cover. 

Hence, after careful research and reflection, I am going to follow Michael Pollan's advice to eat mostly plants. Starting January 15, I will eat VEGGIES ONLY  at least once per day. NO MEAT at all, and with very small portions of egg and cheese only.  Aside from salads, I will attempt to cook soups that will not easily spoil because I have no ref in my apartment. 

Since I am also doing intermittent fasting, and I only eat 2x a day at most, I will need to PLAN my meals carefully and will have to find a way to prepare most of the food I will eat because I want to make sure I am eating fresh, clean and whole foods (not boxed or processed).

The results I want to achieve are: 1) to keep my blood pressure at normal and healthy levels --because last DEC 24 it was at 160/90, and 2) to keep my blood sugar at normal levels. Thank goodness, i am not yet taking any medications but I am not careful, I know I will have to so I really want to prevent that from happening.

Of course I also want to lose weight, ex. 15lbs by MAY 1 would be ideal. But even if I keep my weight now, I would feel really accomplished if I can sleep better (at least 7hrs a day) and lose my cravings for sweets which at certain times of the month can be really distracting.

WEALTHY and WISE

This 2019 I want to focus on living an abundant life. Abundance for me not just means earning more but also GIVING MORE.

I want to be in a position to GIVE MORE of my money, time and energy to people and causes that I believe in.

During the last quarter of 2018, when my good friend Kristofferson Guela figured in a vehicular accident, it really shook me to the core.

WHY?

Because I know that anytime, and I mean literally,  AT ANY TIME, something catastrophic can happen to me or any one of my family members and I don't have any savings or insurance to mitigate such unexpected events.

But at the same time, I arrived at this realization: 
That I have such a strong FAITH  and that the Lord, my GOD, is  always there to protect me and my loved ones; and that everything has a purpose so I NEED NOT be afraid.

So, I want to focus instead on these 2 GOALS:

1. Making sure I am cultivating an attitude of gratefulness and remembering to always Thank God for all the blessings I receive each day including ALL the people and situations that are difficult to deal with. 

2. Work continuously to expand my network of contacts and keep an open line to people who I admire inside and outside the industry;  and make sure I let people know that I appreciate their efforts and that they have inspired me in some way.

I know that these are both challenging GOALS and that it will test my daily resolve because well, there are just days when I really have to force myself to say THANK YOU.. And there are certainly days when I don't feel like doing so and that I forget to acknowledge the little miracles I encounter. Therefore, I know I have to make a conscious effort by having a system for doing these. 

That is why I feel excited again because I have a new set of sisters in my VG that I can be accountable to. And at least once a week, I have to remember to do a Praise Report. So there, I have 2 systems in place to reinforce and cultivate this new habits.

MOVE ON na please..

And that is surely one of the reasons I started this BLOG at this time. The past 2 weeks has been a dark time for me, so I hibernated and I gave myself time to grieve and console myself for not being able to do as much as I can the past year in one area of my life. I felt so low and I kept blaming myself for being so myopic -- for focusing on what I can get instead on what I can give, and it took a little time for me to forgive myself and get out of my cave again. I don't know if I will get another chance or to make amends so I just resolved to keep quiet first and just allow myself to BREATHE. For now, I just want to shift my focus and get busy again. It's time to MOVE ON and MOVE FORWARD. Enough of the grieving and drama. I have work to do.