Apart from Jesus, there are two things that in the last 2 years have radically changed my life for the better. I will preface this with the fact that this will sound like a post from Oprah. But I do feel like there are some practical ways that we can make our lives ready for what the Lord has in store for us in any given moment.
So, here we go:
1. Drink insane amounts of water.
I cannot tell you how much this will change your life. Seriously. Start by drinking about 3 bottles of water in the morning. And then 3 in the afternoon. I know this sounds like a lot, but you need to try it. Give it one week and I promise you will notice a difference in your day. Supposedly, we should take our body weight and divide it in half. That is the amount of ounces you should be drinking in a day. And that's water my friends, not ounces of coffee or coke. Actually, if you drink a cup of coffee, you will have to drink two cups of water to compensate. Ok, so if you weigh 160 pounds, you'll need to drink at least 80 ounces in a day. And if you exercise, it's more. This page can help you figure it out.
This whole drinking water thing has taken away the 2:00 pm desire to crawl into a hole and take a nap. It has changed my attitude with my kids. At night, I actually have energy instead of counting down the minutes to 9:30.
OK, so try it for a week. That's JUST a week and let me know how it goes.
Item #2
Eat till I'm satisfied, not till I'm full.
About a year ago, I realized that food was making me sleepy. Notice the sleepy theme happening? With 5 kids, I've got to maximize energy and attitude. So I tried limiting how much I ate. I don't do diets, I hate them. I don't like the idea of not choosing what I want to eat on a daily basis. So, I don't diet. But I got myself into the habit of eating only when I was hungry and then stopping when I was satisfied. That's hard for me, because I like food. But I started to really hate the feeling of being full. I now no longer like to get up from the dinner table with my stomach feeling stretched. But it takes a lot of self-discipline to stop eating when you discover you are satisfied and no longer hungry. You've got to tell yourself, "I won't die from hunger if I stop now."
I have had so much more energy and felt so much better after changing this aspect of my life. And as an added bonus, I've lost weight. Although that wasn't my intention. If it was, I wouldn't have done it. Remember, I hate diets and that would have felt like a diet.
I hope this helps all those who are feeling so rundown and exhausted. It really has changed my world.
