Refocusing On Taking Care Of Myself

School is back in session.

And I’m actually pretty excited about it. I feel like I’ve been in school forevvaaaaa since I kind of have, but I love the fresh start of a new semester. What I’m most excited about though is really getting into the Nurse Practitioner role with classes and clinicals. This is why I decided to go back to school. I love the RN role and being a nurse, but I ultimately want to be a Nurse Practitioner.

So along with a new semester starting today, and summer winding down this month I’m hitting the reset button on a new routine that involves more sleep and lots more vegetables. I write a lot about grace and letting go of food rules and eating cake while also eating kale and I’m super passionate about helping women find food freedom. And because of that, I don’t write much about cleaning up your diet and “healthy eating” and all that blab. Often, our culture is diet and health obsessed and I’m so over that. But I do think it’s ok to refocus on how you feel physically and take care of ourselves in a way that allows us to feel better– and we can do that with a refreshing and healthy mindset where it’s not about the food or our bodies, but it’s about how we feel and taking care of the body we’ve been given.

WIAW breakfast // oatmeal pancakes with banana + cashew butter + a scrambled egg

There was a lot of travel, a lot of good food, and a lot of wine this summer. It was a really good and sweet summer. A summer filled with lots of foods that nourished my soul. Sure, there was a good amount of vegetables and movement, but there was more boozy nights and dinners out and late bedtimes than usual. And I definitely lacked any sort of routine. But that’s the beauty of summer.

With fall, I always look forward to settling back into a rhythm and creating some more structure. So if you’re like me and are craving more vegetables, more water, earlier bedtimes, and a little less chaos – let’s talk about it. But not from a physical perspective, but from a heart + soul perspective. This fall I want to refresh my soul and get my body feeling it’s best with more home cooked meals, more sleep, and less wine + coffee. And that’s okay to want that. We just have to want it for the right reasons.

So what does that look like? How does that translate into small, little changes that aren’t overwhelming and instead life giving?

post yoga green drink // 1 scoop Amazing Grass + 1 cup almond milk + 1 cup frozen organic spinach

For one, I’m aiming to drink a green smoothie or some sort of green drink everyday. Every dang day. Sometimes that’s a bigger post-run smoothie with Vega One and frozen fruit and almond butter and sometimes that’s a smaller snack-size smoothie with just almond milk, Amazing Grass, and frozen organic spinach. Either way, I’m guzzling some green at least once a day.

I want to eat out less. This summer was crazy and so it felt healthy for me to eat out more. It was less stressful than cooking and it was a way to connect and build community with old and new friends. But now that school has started and I’m going to have to say no to more social things, I’ll be eating at home more and we’ll have people over for dinner more instead of going out. So that means on Sundays, I’m planning on setting aside a quick hour to cook for the week. It won’t be extravagant, but it will be enough to keep things simple and easy. That means one dinner recipe and prepping some veggies for lunches and making a batch of muffins or energy balls for snacks during the week.

lunch // kale salad massaged with tahini + apple cider vinegar + sea salt and topped with cherry tomatoes, red pepper and 1/2 avocado plus two slices of this super seed bread I made [SO good!] + cucumber and hummus and a kiwi 

I want to set a bed time. This summer I rarely was in bed before midnight or 1am. But I need to leave my apartment by 8am most days and I would love to get in my runs in the morning so that means an earlier bedtime. I can easily stay out with friends or Nick till 11 on a weeknight and then come home and chat with Brittany and Anne [my roommates] for an hour when I’m already tired. I know I’m not alone in this and there are some other of you out there that have all the best intentions of a bedtime but for some reason or another, it just doesn’t happen. But I think being disciplined in that is important and sleep is a HUGE part of health. So Sunday through Thursday nights I want to have my phone and computer off for the night and be reading by 10:30pm so I’m hopefully asleep my 11pm. Weekends are free game, but Sunday through Thursday, girlfriend has a bedtime.

afternoon snacks // Chloe’s crunchy salty sundae + vegan chocolate spelt bread split with Nick 

Yoga is going to be a weekly thing. I don’t know about you guys, but I love the idea of a weekly yoga practice- but the thing is, I never do it. I come up with a million excuses and other things I “should” be doing and just don’t do it. But I know how freaking good it makes me feel not just physically, but more importantly it gets my head and my heart in the right place. It forces me to get quiet and be present and be okay being still. So I know it’s good for me from all angles, I just need to make it a practice. Ideally, I want it to happen twice a week. But right now, I’ll be happy with once a week. There’s a Yoga to the People studio like a 1/2 mile from my apartment in the East Village and it’s donation based so it won’t cost me my right arm. So yoga…I want to make it a practice.

dinner // super simple sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes and kale with two fried eggs and lots of hot sauce + avocado toast made with Ezekiel   

So four simple things that I know seem basic, but bring such a sense of calmness and make life just a little less messy. Life is going to be messy because it’s, well…life. But it’s not about perfection, but instead getting  back to basics. And it’s not about always doing what we should do, but rather doing what feels good. There’s always room for dessert and wine and late nights and ice cream for a snack. And those are all good things that are good for the soul. But I think it’s okay to reset things a bit, to calm the chaos and settle into a feel-good rhthym.

So if you’re feeling the same, join me. And if you’re feeling good already, girl share your tips for self care in the comments!