I Got The Power

Posted on by Katie

So January has come and gone and to be honest, I don’t really have a specific resolution.  I don’t want to lose this much weight, or save this much money or achieve this particular goal.  I want to just do a generally better job of being me and taking care of my own needs. My sister and I are both doing this and we are calling it our Power Year.

Power Year

Whenever one of us is doing something we probably shouldn’t (like buying a pack of cigarettes or eating a block of cheese) the other kind of yells, “Power YEAR!” It seems obnoxious and maybe rude to yell this at one another, but it’s how we communicate.  For me it has basically involved asking myself, “Do I need this?”  I could be asking about an adorable tchotchke,  a cupcake, a vacation.  I don’t mean that I think having power this year means depriving myself.  I really want to focus on making better decisions for myself across the board.  Yes I want to be healthier, thriftier, and – let’s be honest – skinnier, but I want this year to be about healing my preconceived notions about how much I should eat or how trendy my house should be.  I don’t think this is really measurable, but more of a slow perspective change.

In the past, I would commit to working out everyday or tracking all my meals in LoseIt! and I still would like to be more conscious of those things, but this year I have more room to breathe. Before, I would do really well for a week, maybe 2 and then get mad at myself when I didn’t live up to my own expectations.  Now, if I miss a workout day, I do my best to do something the next day. If I have a calorie rich lunch, I eat smarter at dinner.  I have A cupcake, not 2, but oh man do I savor that cupcake.

Being solely focused on consuming is not healthy for anyone.  Must eat this, must buy that.  It’s causing me a lot of stress.  I am realigning my priorities to focus on relearning and not on achieving.

So here is to 2014, the Power Year.

Cheers!

Be Fun

Posted on by Katie

A few months ago, when I started Suburban Fervor, my goal was to just better my life and keep track of it here.  Being 23, I assumed a better life had to do with work, health and home and I was right to a degree. What I was forgetting was the fun part. I’M 23 FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. I need to stop living like I’m 43.  I can’t forget that this is the time to have adventures and to make memories that aren’t all weddings and babies and careers.  So like all 23 year old girls, I started pinning. I literally have a Pinterest board called “Be Fun.” Yeah, I’m that girl.  Just love me.

So I went to dinner and a play on Tuesday night and stayed out past my bedtime. Sounds tame, but for me that’s wild. I’m still a work in progress. I made a date night jar for the sole purpose of spicing up my life.  I love a good night of reality tv and leftovers as much as the next girl, but sometimes I need a little excitement! I need something new. Perhaps a road trip or a vacation to the northwest or super north (Canada) or super south (Belize).

I’m not married, no kids, and my job is pretty flexible. HOWEVER, I need a little help. Boring little Katie has a hard time with thinking up fun crap to do. What do you do for fun? How do you keep life interesting? Tell me!

Consequences of Juicing

Posted on by Katie

Don’t worry, we aren’t talking about the bathroom! Today is Thursday which means I ended my 3 day cleanse the moment I woke up yesterday. What did I learn?

  1. Know your limits. I was a first timer and I decided that to get through the cleanse I was going to need to eat some of the items meant for juicing  just so I didn’t feel like I was falling apart.
  2. I was definitely not getting enough fruits and vegetables before. Despite the challenging aspects of a liquid diet, I found myself feeling amazing! I felt lighter.  
  3. Transitioning back was not as hard as I anticipated. What makes it easy is the salad bar at work. I really don’t have to go out of my way to get a good salad.  Now that the cleanse is over I’m adding a small (non-creamy) soup to my lunch because it’s cold and I want to.

 

In a way, this has changed the way I want to eat.  It has changed what I crave and I think I’m all the better for it.

Suburban Fervor

Posted on by Katie

Yes, that’s a 30 Rock reference/play on words. I get the impression I’m going to need my sense of humor for this little endeavor.  What is it? I’m going to try to bring a little rural into this suburban townhome. I want to be more self sufficient and healthy. Doing things myself has just always been my way (read: stubborn). I have spent my life living in the suburbs of one the nation’s largest cities so I’ve had all the conveniences I could ask for.  I used to wonder how people who didn’t live within 15 miles of a Target survived. This is my attempt at figuring that out.  So I’ll be chronicling my journey to independence here.  You are welcome to revel in my successes and commiserate my losses.

This journey is also partially the result of hearing whispers (sometimes screams) that the progress we’ve made as a human race hasn’t been entirely positive. Things like fluoride in toothpaste or pasteurized milk might not be as good for us as we thought. One of my goals is to find out for myself whether or not these claims are true.

 The general idea is becoming more independent and knowledgeable in a few key areas:

  1. Home
  2. Health

Home:

I live in a townhome built in 1976.  It has had very few upgrades since then so it’s more than a little rough around the edges. My 4 roommates and I are charged with fixing it up. From wallpaper removal, new flooring and maintenance, we are going to learn to be homeowners.

Health:

Who couldn’t use a healthier lifestyle? Well, we definitely could. I’m going to figure out which habits/foods/products are helpful/harmful.  I also want to learn to grow, process, preserve and prepare my own food.

I understand that this is a lot to take on. It will be challenging but hopefully rewarding. I am lucky to have some supportive family and a house full of people just as ignorant as I am to try this stuff out with.