Converting to a healthier lifestyle

I am reading this book about making changes to live a healthier lifestyle. Of course I had never really considered what that really really meant. I mean everyone "wants" to live a healthier lifestyle. In true "Haley-fashion", I bought a book to read up on healthy lifestyles, hoping to learn exactly how to incorporate more veggies and exercise into my familylife. However, the book presents more issues than I was really prepared to deal with, but after reading about them and ready to challenge head on. For example, Carl and I are notorious for feeding Laney and Alie fruit snacks for snack at home. After reading more about preservatives, coloring, etc. we are moving more towards more natural foods. The book suggests (and rightly so, I'm guessing) that natural foods or whole foods are really one of the biggests keys to healthly living. It also talks about seasonal eating. To be honest, I had never really thought much about eating seasonally. Of course I get excited when my favorite summer fruits are "in season", but that excitement stems from my longtime work at the farm stand. The book really opened my eyes to the beauty of adjusting your diet to suit the season and the health (as well as monetary) advantages that can have. Of course this idea excites me since I'm always excited as the seasons change. Changing to more season appropriate foods will just make those seasonal changes more pronounced in our life.

The book also focuses on lifestyle changes that go way beyond your diet. It offers tips for getting a better nights sleep as well as suggestions for improving both personal and family life. Carl and I live a healthier lifestyle than I really gave us credit for. The book talks about spending family time away from the tv (our girls are not big tv watchers at all, and we've never really had to restrict it). However, there are some things that I pulled from the book that we would like to work on...first and foremost, creating a more structured bedtime routine. The book talks about the need to wind down for bed. I've certainly heard that a million times, but never really thought much about what that meant and of course never really thought that applied to adults. It evidentally applies to everyone. My bedtime bath fits really nicely into this wind down period. While we bathe the girls in the evening and read them stories, I would NOT characterize their bedtime as a time of peace in our home.

Finally, it talks about giving more time to the morning routine so that it is not a rushed time. I have been thinking about this for a while, but never really pulling it off. This week, i have been able to begin my day with a half hour of morning yoga followed by a sit down breakfast with the kiddos. Our morning routine has really been much more relaxed and that really has a direct impact on how I feel for the rest of the day.

I'm really happy with this book because it is NOT a diet book. Carl and I were looking to make a lifestyle change. We aren't looking to lose weight (although that would certainly be a bonus). We are looking for ways to be healthier and ways to teach our girls about taking care of themselves.