February: Sleep & Meditation Month!

Hello, Everyone! I hope this blog finds you well. How are those New Year, New You resolutions going? Are you able to keep up with them or have you become quite lax and unable to stay as motivated as you would like? I personally have become lax on one or two of my resolutions and have found it to be a bit difficult to stick with it like I would prefer. One of those resolutions is to post more blogs and as you can see, I have not been super great about that (sorry!). Another resolution is food and tracking it better. I used to use a meal tracker called My Fitness Pal that was great and I have used it for years at one time or another. It lets you track different meals with calories, fat, as well as weight and lets you have access to all kinds of blog posts and information. You can create meals and recipes as well which was very helpful. I plan to get back in the idea of that this month.

I was unfortunately, derailed from my New Year, New You resolutions by a couple of things: 1. My daughter got sick and then I got sick and then her aunt, Laura got sick and it was a terrible couple of weeks that no one wanted to do anything but lay in bed. 2. During that time, I needed comfort food which means junk food and once I started eating it, I didn’t want to stop! I have still kept up with one resolution though and I have to say that I am proud of this one: I am completely off of caffeine and have been for 31 days now! This is a big accomplishment for me because I absolutely LOVE Dr. Pepper. I was born in Indiana but grew up in Texas so I love the sweet Texas drink (it is bottled in Waco, TX after all) and cannot get enough of it normally. However, it is a lot of calories and sugar (150 calories, and 40 grams of sugar in one 12 oz can!) and that can really add up quickly! So, I have resolved myself to staying away from the sweet stuff and all caffeine and other pops available. Instead, I have been drinking a lot more water and adding some fresh fruit like lemons from my neighbor’s lemon tree or sugar and calorie free drink squirters so that it tastes a little better, because let’s be honest, straight water is just horrible (unless you are dying of thirst in the desert somewhere). I am proud to say that I have kept up with this resolution for an entire month now! :)

This next month in the New Year, New You plan for a new year is: Sleep and Meditation!

Month 2 is Sleep and Meditation. This month will be all about practicing things to improve the way you sleep and how well you sleep. Week One starts with turning off all devices before going to sleep. This means if you are like me and have always fallen asleep to something on the T.V. or phone, than it is time for a change! There are lots of applications out there that can help you with sleep melodies or random sounds like rain which I prefer, or ocean waves, like our mom prefers and they can lull you to sleep much better and easier than the T.V. ever could. Experts agree that the blue lights from T.V’s and phones is very disruptive to sleep patterns so even though you may fall asleep, you may not stay asleep, and what sleep you do get might not make you feel very rested when you first wake. So, turn off the devices and maybe try a nice soothing sound app instead that you can put on a timer and leave your light off. It is time to improve your sleep!

At least it does here in Central California!

The last thing I wanted to mention really quick is that we have started planting our garden here in California so that means it is Spring! Yay! I like spring, it is such a pretty time of the year with new life blooming all around and here in CA, it is time to plant some things! We just planted some potatoes, onion, and garlic in above grounds with these cool pockets to find them at the side so we don’t have to dig. We have also planted Green peas, Brussel Sprouts, and Romaine Lettuce. We have more plans and my Lavender from last year is also coming back already. My herbs like Sage, Thyme, and parsley never died so that’s nice and we have a Lemon tree in the backyard that I am desperate to get some lemons from-Wish us luck!

Best of luck with the resolutions! We are in a new month so try practicing just turning off the devices at night and try to improve your sleep. Start planning that garden from spring too! New Year, New You!

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