How my tile grout taught me an important lesson about life

June 10, 2015June 9, 2015 | Lara

Typical me. I was on a mission to do a quick clean sweep through the house. To swiftly pick up everything off the floors and tidy up the entire house. My second room was the guest bathroom. I mopped, grabbed the dirty laundry, and decided I needed to move on…until…I got a wild hair to deep-clean the grout on the floor.

Well guess what?

As I began scrubbing, the grout started to come off!

My head immediately started to spin. I’ve always wanted darker grout in here, so it doesn’t look so dirty all the time. If I just keep scrubbing I could probably remove all the grout right now! Then, I noticed the trim around the tub. You know, if I’m going to remove all the grout, I might as well rip out the water-damaged baseboards!

Lara…what was the goal today? Was it to start remodeling your bathroom???

Nope. The goal was to efficiently tidy up the house so I could move on with my day.

Sometimes we have a goal, but once we get rolling we become distracted. Whether you surf the Internet for a healthy recipe and you end up reading an article on how you aren’t exercising enough, or you decide you are going to try being more patient with your kids but a T.V. interview shares the importance of doing more crafts with your kids, reading to them more, and setting aside more one-on-one time, FOCUS ON THE GOAL and what you set out to do in the first place.

This is hard to do, I know. There is so much information out there, and unlimited reasons to get distracted. Do yourself a favor and put your blinders on. Keep you eyes straight ahead and get one goal under your belt before you begin entertaining something else.

Take-Home Message: No matter how many distractions you are presented with, FOCUS on the G O A L and accomplish what you set out to do first.

Are You on a Routine?

April 1, 2015 | Lara

The Difference Between Love It and Like It Foods

February 10, 2015February 10, 2015 | Lara

Close your eyes. Picture a special occasion where you are gathering with your closest friends and family. You are gathering for a feast. You knock on the front door, walk through the foyer, and spot the table. It is beautifully set with mouthwatering dishes of your favorite foods. As you step closer to get a better look, your eyes skim the array of your most desired indulgences. So what are they exactly? Could you list all of your favorite foods that were on that table?

Figuring out what foods you really love versus only like will be helpful so you don’t end up wasting your calories on foods that won’t get the appreciation they deserve. Peace with Food allows you to eat what you want, as long as it gives you peace, and you’ll find the foods that give you the most peace are either your absolute favorites or are healthy and nutritious for your body. Foods that give you peace usually aren’t just mediocre to the taste buds and/or to your overall health (at least they aren’t for us!).

If we laid twenty candy bars out in front of you, and asked you to record your favorite, it might be too hard to choose just one. Why? Because they all look so good! As a result, you may be tempted to write down (and eat) several of them! So how do you figure out if you really like it or love it? Finding this love-it list can be hard for some people because we think we love them all. But at the heart of our desires we really only love certain dishes. And when we take the time to discover these love-it dishes we can train our mind to block out the cravings for all the other like-it items on our list.

Another thing to consider is the temperature of the food you are eating or the environment in which you are eating. For example, I love pizza when it is hot, but if it is room temperature I only like it. When it is Christmastime I love hot chocolate but any other time of year I only like it. I have learned that I don’t even bother eating pizza unless it is warmed up to the temperature I prefer and I only keep hot chocolate on hand during the month of December. Don’t limit yourself to only the foods themselves. Consider all angles before you decide how you truly feel about it.

And instead of walking to your pantry or fridge to try and figure out what sounds good, really think about past experiences and foods that you really enjoyed and loved. We usually get different results when we are presented with too many options, so if certain favorite foods don’t come to mind initially, you may want to think twice about eating them. If you are anything like us, you are probably just eating some foods because it is “there” and easily available, not because you actually love them 😉

Take-Home Message: Make your calories count by finding foods you either LOVE or provide nutrition for your body.

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Lara’s Story

November 18, 2014November 22, 2014 | Lara

As Robynn said, we all have a different story which is compiled of dreams, hopes and fears. Each of us is unique, making every individual like no other…which brings you to my story…

I don’t remember how much I weighed back in late elementary school, but the way my body felt and looked is still vivid in my mind. I remember countless times staring at my reflection in the mirror and telling myself in disgust that I was–(I hate to use this word but this is how I “felt”)– fat. It pains me to this day even recalling that time in my life, because the ache it caused me was deep. I was unhappy and felt trapped in my own body.

When I hit eighth grade, I became more active in sports and hit a growth spurt. The combination of those two things allowed me to thin down, but that didn’t mean my eating habits improved. I was lucky enough to stay thin throughout high school due to being tall and active, but deep down I never had peace with food and the memories of my childhood food struggle continued to haunt me.

I gained some weight when I went to college and remember trying to diet–here and there–to shed a few quick pounds. Everyone may have looked at me and thought I was thin, but I had them fooled in regards to how I felt. Food, and my obsession to have an “ideal” body, secretly controlled my life. As a college freshman I remember buying a huge bag of kettle corn from Sam’s Club. I told myself I could eat only popcorn and water, in hopes to lose five pounds. I would even pass up eating dinner with my friends because I had promised myself to stick with my plan—only to throw my hands up in defeat a week later after a couple pound gain. Not to mention, I missed out on those fun outings I had passed up.

The saga continued after college and into my marriage. I had such a love/hate relationship with food. Loved how it tasted but hated how it made me feel after eating too much of it and the control it had over my life. I would frantically read any new diet fad on a magazine–in hopes to put an end to this madness–but it wasn’t until years later that I found the answer.

When I met Robynn, and our friendship grew, we began to openly discuss our secret struggles with food. It wasn’t until then that I realized I wasn’t alone. And the more we talked about our frustrations, the more we were determined to stop the food insanity that had taken over our lives.

That is where our peace with food journey began. And since it would be too difficult to try and share our experiences all in one post, we will share it in smaller segments as we continue to blog. We hope you’ll stay with us and invite others to join the discussion as we share how to live in PEACE with food.

More to come!