Two years ago, I had recently moved to Charlotte and was moving past the whole "just moved to a new place, have a 6 month old, have to get furniture, unpack, find a grocery store, meet a friend" crazy stage. I had started eating really healthy, was doing a lot of research online, and decided to sign up for an online program run by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to get my health coaching certification. Two to three times a week I would put my son in his stroller and go for nice long walks while I listened to an array of classes taught by the world-leaders in alternative medicine. Topics ranged from diet to spirituality, vegetarian recipes to how to prepare grass-fed beef, and I felt so good listening to them. They motivated me to get healthier, fueled my disgust for the corporate and government BS that is out there about health, and helped me dream a pretty fantastic future that included being a health coach, running cooking classes, blogging, etc.
About 2/3 of the way into my program I became pregnant with my daughter. And while I tried super hard to eat healthy throughout my pregnancy (for the most part I did pretty well, especially during the first trimester) life began to intervene and I started to slip a little. Compared to what I ate prior to Charlotte, I was still doing great. But what really took a toll was the time I could spend learning about nutrition and keeping in touch with current news regarding health and diet. When my daughter was born I sunk into the abyss that is the first six months of a newborn. I took a little longer to emerge this time because I now had two kids depending on me for all of their needs.
But today, I finally feel like I have emerged. Well, at least in this new "two kids" kind of way. I have come to terms with the fact that as life with your first baby will never be like life before children, life with two will never be the same as life with one!
Today the sun is shining down here in the Carolinas and it is a beautiful 70 degrees out. While my Music Man was at preschool, I took my Little Peanut for a walk through the neighborhood and re-listened to one of the courses from my program. It was all about whole grains and I hope to some day write a little about what I learned. It felt so incredibly great to think about something that wasn't diapers or laundry and actually use my brain to process some really important information. And it motivated me once again to continue on my sugar-free whole foods quest.
I am hoping to listen to these courses more. I don't think two to three times a week is feasible right now, so I'll try for once a week. Baby steps, the only way to move :)
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