The D Word

Discipline.

Are you a disciplined person? I can’t decide if I am. I think I many ways, I am but in perhaps MORE ways, I am most certainly not.

I’m a strong starter but my follow-through is sometimes lacking. It doesn’t take much discipline to START projects. It does, however, take much more discipline to FINISH.

In school, I always started off the term gangbusters! Fully organized with my colour-coded binder and pens. The ultimate note-taker complete with perfect penmanship. After a few months (weeks?) the penmanship would turn to chicken scratch and the colour coding ship had long since sailed.

In many ways, I’ve overcome these counterproductive habits with far better ones. For example, I’ve run several half marathons, most of which I entered into fully trained and felt strong from start to finish. I’ve set all kinds of fitness and work goals and put the work in to complete them successfully. I’m proud of all those achievements where my outcomes were concrete.

But what about those “projects” that were just for my own personal development? The ones that no one witnesses and of which there were no tangible outcomes?

Meditation.

Spiritual practices.

Connection with a higher self.

These are all areas where a strong sense of discipline and consistency pay dividends. Also, all are practices that my discipline falls short. There’s no score kept and no one knows if I’m falling short of my goal, so it’s easy to let it slip by the wayside.

So! I’m holding myself accountable and inviting YOU to join me in accountability. I’m going to embark on a 30-day meditation challenge starting TODAY.

I’ll be using the Headspace app to guide me and plan to allot anywhere from five- to ten-minutes most days and one 20-minute meditation weekly.

I’m looking forward to discovering what a consistent effort in this arena will do for my mental health and spiritual wellness.

What about you? Do you meditate? What’s your experience been like? Don’t meditate and want to join me? Please do! I’ll post regular mini updates on my IG @alisonaugust and weekly blog post updates right here.

I’d say wish me luck but luck has nothing to do with discipline, so I won’t. 😉

How We Stay Happy and Active in Winter

Winter has arrived in Winnipeg! With a crazy snow storm landing in early October, it feels like winter came and left and then came back again. After a little bit of seasonal confusion, I feel that I can safely say winter is here to stay, so let’s embrace it, friends!

This weekend, a few families from our street bundled up and walked over a couple of blocks to Omand’s Creek for some outdoor fun. We spent two hours removing ice from the footbridge, sliding down hills, checking out natural ice rinks, and drinking hot chocolate. All in all, an amazing day.

I’m the first to want to hibernate and hide from frigid temperatures, but I know that actually just makes it harder. I definitely feel the affects of winter on my mental wellness if I’m not being pro-active and embracing it. Here’s what I find helps:

Exercise. This can be indoors or outdoors but incorporating some aerobic activity where I get my heartrate pumping a few times a week definitely keeps me feeling optimistic about life. My favourites ways to stay active throughout the winter are The Fitual, winter running, and Wheelhouse Cycle Club.
Spending time outdoors. Even if it’s reeeeeeaaallly cold, which will happen, it’s still so important to spend time outdoors and breathe in that crisp, cold air. I’m prone to come up with all kinds of reasons to stay in when it’s bitterly cold, so if you see me do that this winter please just refer me back to this post.
Dress warm! Layers, layers, layers. I love wrapping myself up in my MPG Sport Blizzard Down coat, it literally feels like a warm hug. Miles stays cozy in his bright red MEC Toaster Suit and Juliette is in year two with her Gapkids parka. She was very specific that she wanted a black coat with a fur hood just like mom’s.
Make plans with friends. Last winter, we started a monthly pizza night with a couple of other families. It was such a great way to stay connected and enjoy a night out as a family. Making it a pizza night is extra helpful because then no one feels pressure to cook!
Stock up on games and puzzles. Long hours spent indoors can wind up meaning long hours spent on screens if we’re not careful. Having a stack of puzzles and kid-friendly games will get us off our devices and enjoying time together. Some of our favourites are Telestrations, Headbanz and, the classic of classics, Monopoly (or Monopoly Jr.).

There you have it! A few fairly easy solutions to beat winter dulldrums and embrace what can be an unpopular time of year.

Thanks for popping in, friends!

What we’re eating: One pot curried vegetables

Jason called me around noon yesterday and said (with a mouthful of food, I might add), “I’m eating a chicken wrap for lunch… I forgot!” What he forgot is that we aren’t supposed to be eating meat anymore! At least not for the most part.

And before you ask, or make the recommendation, yes we watched The Game Changers on Netflix and, yes, that documentary was a big motivator in trying to make the transition to a more plant-based diet. If you haven’t seen the film yet, I definitely recommend checking it out. The main focus of the doc is on the health benefits of a plant based diet but they also discuss the environmental and animal side of things as well.

It’s been about a week and a half with our new-found eating habits, and by no means have we made the full switch over to all plant based. Will we ever go all in? I don’t know. Maybe yes? This shift will take some time and a bit of getting used to but so far we’re into it.

Surprisingly, Jason has been the main driver of it all. I mean, let’s not get confused, I basically do all the household cooking (and it’s not like that’s changing anytime soon), but he’s just as eager as I am to make the change and actually he was the one who piped up first and said “we gotta do this.” Both of us really prioritize health and wellness, so this next step feels like a natural evolution.

We all know the benefits of plant based diets whether we choose it or not. Lower cholestoral. Less animal agriculture. Better environmental impacts. But here is what I’m actually discovering to be one of my favourite benefits. MORE DELICIOUS FOOD OPTIONS AND RECIPE IDEAS.

I’m happy to report that I have navigated out of a cooking rut that I’d been wallowing in for a loooooong time. And hallelujah! Last night I made a one pot curried vegetable dish and it was, in my and Jason’s humble opinions, delicious! I’ve also started incorporating miso and ramen noodles into my repertoire. More soups and stews! And this weekend I am testing out a meatless Shepherd’s Pie with green lentils from Fraiche Food, Full Hearts. I’ll let you know how that turns out!

I was so stuck in my meat-with-a-side-of-vegetable cycle and dinners were just becoming so boring. Which is sad because I love cooking and, I love eating! So this shakeup in the kitchen has been welcome change. I encourage anyone who’s stuck in the same rut I was to consider going meatless a couple of days a week and force yourself out of your routine. You just may find yourself with way more culinary imagination and rewarded by delcious food! And with veganism and plant-based foods becoming so much more mainstream, it’s never hard to find inredients or inspiration.

Here is last night’s curried vegetable “recipe” in case you’re looking for some inspiration.

1 medium red or yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 medium carrots
Several mini potatoes (I don’t know how many I used! But just eyeball it. These will make up a bulk of your dish.)
1 red bell pepper
handul of spinach
1/2 cup of cashews (optional)
tablespoon-ish of curry powder (I actually didn’t measure so just use your own judgment)
1 can coconut milk
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
s + p to taste

Start by sautéeing the onion and garlic over medium. Add sliced carrots. Sautée for about three minutes. Add potatoes. Sautée another four to five minutes and add chopped bell pepper. Sautée another couple of minutes. Add can of coconut milk, vegetable broth, curry powder and cayenne. Let simmer on medium for five to eight minute and then reduce meat to medium low. Let simmer another six to ten minutes until vegetables are soft but not to mushyy. Then add the spinach and mix until wilted. Top with raw cashews and serve with toasted naan bread. Enjoy!

Do you have any great meatless dishes that you love? Share them with me! I’m always looking for new ideas.

Have a great one, friends!