happy at home

TWO PERSONAL CHALLENGES

This is the week of challenges for me. I am learning something with this blog...if I make a challenge to myself but also make it public (ie. write about it here), I am much more likely to stick with it. Because if I fail I only have two choices...either lie about my results, or admit my failure. I am definitely not going to lie and would rather not admit that I failed! :)
In some situations during my social experiment, especially in the very beginning, knowing that I would have to either 'fess up or lie, has kept me from caving in and cheating every once in awhile. So, I am posting not only what my two new challenges are for the week (in addition to my social experiment), but also the honest progress and result of those experiments. You may find this completely boring, but hey, it's my blog, so I can write about what I want, right? :) Here are my two challenges.

1. GO VEGAN. You are probably raising your eyebrows at this one. No, I am not doing it out of any moral obligation. I don't feel that eating animals is cruel and inhumane. Though, I will admit, when I think about milk and eggs and meat and what they really are and where they come from, I am pretty grossed out. I mean, I wouldn't want someone else to nurse my child, but I will drink milk from a cow? That seems slightly inconsistent.
No, I am doing it because I have spiralled out of control with my eating. For the first three months after baby B's birth, I ate very well and lost a lot of weight. Then the fruit snacks came into the picture. You have already read my confession. Then I went out of town. Didn't do so great then either. Now we have all the ice cream samples the hubby brought home. It isn't good people, it isn't good at all. I am an all or nothing person. I can't just cut back, I have to eliminate. So, this week is sort of a cleansing week. Detox, if you will. Only eating healthy foods for a week so I can cleanse myself and kick this junk food habit. I had originally thought I would just go vegetarian, but meat isn't the issue so much as dairy. Without dairy, I can't eat ice cream, cookies, etc.
Now, I am not going to go around reading labels on all my foods to make sure there is no dairy product in them. If my bread has a little milk in it, so be it. But, I will not eat anything that I know has dairy (like the ice cream) and I will not make anything (suck as cookies) that have milk and eggs in them.
My menu will consist mainly of fruits, vegetables, water, grains, and legumes.

2. WEEK OF REDECORATING. I am getting the bug to reorganize, declutter, and redecorate. This week I will be challenging myself to (re)decorate an area of my home each day with items that I already own or can be found in nature. I will not be going out and buying anything new to decorate with. I am also going to take an honest look at my closet of home decor items and get rid of the things that I don't absolutely love. It will be nice to reclaim that closet floor. Each day's decorating will be documented with a before and after picture. Today's challenge: the screened in porch. I'll be back later this afternoon to post pictures of the transformation!