Changes!

We are definitely right in the heart of Autumn without a shadow of a doubt. I have been loving the cosy evenings in and still am despite the horrendous weather right now – but hey it is that time of year right where with the British weather, anything is expected lol. I also can’t believe that we are just several weeks away from celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ where already with so many folks, in anticipation of this season of preparation which is already probably in the early stages of well, just that preparedness.

As I am now fully recovered from acute bronchitis which almost ended up with my doctor admitting me to hospital when I went for my appointment due to looking grey and struggling to breathe. I also did get a bit of a major ticking off for leaving it so late with making said appointment but we made it and we are still here! Life is full of the unexpected don’t you find and sometimes the journey is not exactly a bed of roses but it is ok and it really is! We can’t exactly expect to breeze through life without any hiccups, life experience and all the things, we really can’t!

So, the title – changes. I have made some various changes of late (this does not include a new home which is still a work in progress) but changes in regards to taking care of oneself with more care than before. Below are some changes that have started to be implemented:

Intermittent Fasting:

Several weeks ago, I decided to do intermittent fasting which I will say has been so incredibly needed in more ways than one. This was working very well until I became sick as mentioned above, where this way of eating went completely out the window! Now, I am definitely on the mend where it was the time to get back on track. So, what I have started doing in regards to intermittent fasting I will now share – so let’s go:

I have a window frame of when I have meals which is between 10am – 4pm and sometimes I will change this a little in the mornings to an earlier time but I make sure that after 4pm I have no more food! I have breakfast/brunch which will consist of cereal or eggs cooked in various ways or sometimes, a lighter snack of yoghurt and fruit. My main meal consists now of a bento box style of various foods which since I started putting this style of meal together on Saturday, I am absolutely loving.

Now, every day the above changes. I will swap ingredients around such as having rice or cous cous instead of potatoes; adding nuts and/or seeds; different fruits and different meats, veggies etc etc. But this for me is definitely my preferred way of eating whereby I am incorporating foods from all the food groups and it does work for me!

I may also decide to do a Breakfast/brunch style bento box instead of a main meal later on – the possibilities of foods are endless and I love creating and all of the things to make my meals not only interesting but colourful which also (when I can) look beautifully presented even being on my own and why not!!

The idea behind intermittent fasting for me by the way is not due to losing weight. My losing weight though needed has been happening without my implementing this new way of eating. Two years on with quite a large amount of weight lost though yes it is good, on the other hand I don’t know (nor do doctors) know why I am still losing weight without even trying. This has been a steady loss but I don’t know the details but I know God knows everything though it would be nice to get to the reason behind why but at the end of the day it is what it is!

You have no doubt noticed that I have only mentioned two meals. This is because I have got to the stage where I do not like having three meals a day and I struggle with a third meal. Yes, I have been known to snack but again I try to be careful here: One snack for instance is that I have mint dark chocolate in the freezer where I will limit myself to one square per day and that is it! Dark chocolate is far healthier than either milk or white chocolate (healthier, depending on the brand of course!)

I am also at that age, whereby I hate literally hate eating after 5pm as the food sits in my stomach. Not only this, but I cannot go to sleep with food sitting there as this causes me worse sleep issues than I already have with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I do go to sleep as early as 6 – 6.30pm quite often because when I become exhausted which is every day, I have to go to sleep when my body tells me it has had enough!

Now, if I go away then yes this does and will change – say if I stay in a guesthouse, or hotel or with friends, then I tend to make sure I have a good breakfast with a smaller meal later in the day. I will perhaps have the odd snack but not every day that I am away!

Onto the second change – Boundaries:

I have had to start implementing certain boundaries with not only various people but also with myself! (By the way before I continue, the changes listed are not in any set order!):

I have always had the type of personality where I am eager to help and I have more often than not volunteered to do x y or z without (a) praying about it properly and not just a quick prayer I need to add or (b) sleeping on something before saying yes or no! I am learning finally to do both and though this has taken forever, it is never too late to start implementing changes that need to happen!

Without going into details and adding who various people are, I have needed to start saying no a lot more which is something I should have started doing a long time ago. This girl here is not always very good at saying the “no” word and I really am not – for those who have known me for a long time, if you know, you know!

And yet another change to do with setting boundaries is to try to make sure that I switch my phone off at night and when I saying switching it off, I mean literally just that! I try to make sure that my phone is turned off at 7pm but if I know I have an online prayer meeting or homegroup again online, then I will switch my phone off after the meeting has taken place. Do I forget at times, yep I do but this is as stated yet another change I have tried to implement whereby this is also a work in progress!

Reading more:

I do enjoy reading and my priority reading above all else is God’s Word. However, I seem to have gotten out of the habit of doing more intentional reading when it comes to other books. Don’t get me wrong as I will read for a bit but I have then gone onto doing something else instead. So, now I make sure as much as possible to set my alarm for half an hour to an hour at any given period. I do prefer to have my head stuck in a book than say watching anything and yes though I would not exactly call myself a “book worm” now (and I do absolutely love books) but I have somehow gotten out of the habit of picking up a book or say reading from a kindle any kind of reading material!

From a very young age, I have loved to read. I remember going with my mother to jumble sales where I would make a beeline straight for the book table where I would buy several books in one hit. I also remember going to bed at night whereby there were times when my father would see the light on in my bedroom hence come to tell me that it was time to turn the light off and go to sleep. I have also been known to wake up at night and to immediately reach for a book – again a recollection of my father coming into my bedroom quite angry that I was reading and confiscated the book which if I recall correctly was a beautifully illustrated nursery rhyme book! So, yes I would read at every single opportunity I could which was a habit that went on up until I am not sure, around twelve years ago perhaps longer. Now, though I have started picking up intentionally on purpose reading with more zeal again!

On a final note:

The above are only three changes that I am listing that I have started implementing. However, there are one or two more changes which I have decided not to post about. The point behind this post is that being in a new season (well not so new anymore) as we are well into the heart of the Autumn season now, but it is to merely state that some seasons of change are needed especially when it comes to our health and wellbeing. On this subject alone there are changes that I did start implementing over just over two years ago and these changes were not only needed but are changes that have helped me enormously in my journey especially of mental health. Believe you me, these changes which I will share about at some point were definitely needed and changes that will be staying!! As stated, I will endeavour to share at some point.

There will be a major section that will be implemented on this website which will be coming again, at some point in the near future. This section will be on Biblical Womanhood. This section will be a unique section all of its own which will include recipes along with various ideas to implement for us as women of God’s Word. So, yes there will be other topics included but do keep an eye out on this section which will be coming in due course and is a work in progress:

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