I like to take a few quiet moments to reflect on the previous year. Usually, I do this during the quiet moments in December preparing for Christmas. This year I didn’t have many quiet moments in December, but I did have lots of great things to reflect upon.
The first of those is my health and the great strides I have made in that area. I finally feel like I have got this By Design thing down. It has been a bumpy ride at times, but a great journey nonetheless. Here’s a recap of where I’m at with Life By Design (LBD). For those of you who follow my blog, you may notice a few changes!
I have been familiar with the LBD principles for over a year now. I wasn’t new to chiropractic care, thank goodness, but I have seen the profound impact that being under wellness care has on a person’s life. I intend to be healthy for a long time and the care that I receive at The Wellness Group is instrumental in making sure that my body is functioning at its best. So what about the other 3 steps?
Here is what I learned over the course of 2013.
I started out really gung-ho with Eat By Design, mostly due to my life long quest to love my body. Eating By Design isn’t hard to do. There’s no weird food to source and I can pronounce everything I eat. I know that the animal proteins that I buy have lived their own By Design life at a local farm and have been treated humanely throughout their lifecycle.
By far the most challenging part of eating By Design is the mental component. Your body, and your brain, craves the heavy carb load. Pasta, sugar, bread, cereal, the staples of the North American diet, the foundation of the Canadian Food Guide, and the type of meals I was raised on. At the beginning I used to think what am I going to serve with my chicken? We have a meal mantra at home…meat and green. That’s how we prep our meals. A healthy animal protein (yes, my children actually ask me if the meat they are eating was raised “healthily”) and a colourful vegetable. That’s it. Easy Peasy.
I find inspiration for my meals from the Eat By Design Coaches, the 30-Day Life By Design Challenge Facebook Page, and have even started finding recipes online and trying to make them By Design.
Then I got really up close and personal with Think By Design teachings.
Initially this was the part of Life By Design that I was most concerned about. The last 10 years of my life have been challenging, to say the least, and I wanted to avoid the Pandora’s Box of memories that I had managed to package up neatly and seal in a vault in my mind. But I have learned that Thinking By Design has so much less to do with what events have shaped your current situation and so much more to do with accepting where you are and preparing to get out and forge your own path to a life you desire.
I was inspired by a special lady in London, Ontario this past September to really take stock of my values and have the courage to say “That sounds great, but I’m sorry, it just doesn’t align with my values.” Wow. Holy assertive, Batman! I managed to use that tactic and change a situation for myself and my kids that had been plaguing me for years. I use it in communications with my children’s teachers, when evaluating purchases, when out for dinner with people who wonder why I eat so “weird”, whenever something feels wrong or goes against my goals and plans. The funny thing is no one ever challenges me. So thank you, Cheri Frank, for that empowering statement and being such an amazing role model.
For me, Move By Design was my missing link.
This was the area of the greatest resistance for me. I really struggled to get on board. As a kid, I watched from the sidelines while people played team sports. I was shy and tended to gravitate towards solitary sports. I danced, did gymnastics and acrobatics, skied and was a competitive swimmer. As an adult, I dabbled in dance here and there, had a variety of gym memberships and did Strollercise after my kids were born. I would not describe myself as the type of person who had an active lifestyle.
That was until CrossFit 613 opened up. This is an entirely new way of moving my body that I am being introduced to and I am thriving in this environment. I feel like an athlete. I am constantly surprised by how strong my body is and what I am capable of. I am also proud of myself and feel my self-esteem growing every day.
This journey has not been easy and the road has had numerous bumps, detours, and roadblocks. It’s also had a lot of green lights, free parking and beautiful scenery, too.
So if you are new to Life By Design, welcome aboard! And if you have been following these principles for a while now, I encourage you to push yourself to be 1% better.
The principles of Life By Design have taught me and my family so many things, but the most important one is that health is our default and that we were all designed to be Extraordinary.
Since we are the drivers of our own bus, the road you choose is up to you. Life By Design is simply the roadmap. So buckle up and prepare for the trip of your lifetime.