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Thursday 5 April 2012

Step by step - April

Following on from Christine's slow living essentials monthly reviews, i decided to add a bit on last month. In the past i have always tried to conquer everything at once and given up in exasperation.  Step by step, month by month i'm hoping to make small lifestyle changes to improve mine and my families lives and health.


Review from March - my mini goals were -

Trial cloth nappies - This has been a huge success and i'm so glad i tried it. I had so many reservations about it, would they leak, be comfortable, smell? Apart from one leak which i think had more to do with user error (silly mama) i have had no problems with them. And given i bought them for $12 each on sale and disposables cost about 50cents each. They have already paid for themselves and saved me an additional $6 this month and every month from now they will save me about $30 a month. I'm thrilled and will be buying a couple more to reduce my disposable use almost entirely!

At least 25% of meat would be free range, organic - I have well exceeded this goal by organising to purchase in bulk direct from the farm. I have 2 sheep in the freezer and just purchased a pig and a friend of mine is going to purchase a calf which we are going to share the costs on so i will have organic, free range beef next year too. So much cheaper, better quality and healthier.

Cut out the coke zero- Dear goodness this stuff really is like crack. The other day i was stressed and tired and heard myself saying  'i neeeedddd a coke zero', wow thats a sad state of affairs.. I have done pretty well with this too, pretty much weaning myself off and in the last few weeks i've had none at all. I believe in everything in moderation including moderation so i still plan to have a glass occasionally when i'm out but i want to stop buying it to have a home. So far so good.

Continue with couch to 5k - so proud of myself with this one. Ive just finished week 3 of the program and it's going great. I'm going to treat myself to a pair of sneakers this weekend.

So all in all a pretty good start! Very happy!

So what's in store for April

- Carrying on from the recent breadmaker adventures i want to perfect this and be making all my own bread by the end of the month. Just incase you missed my previous misadventures....


This picture makes me laugh now! i wish i could say it was a one off mistake!

- Keep my sourdough starter alive! and make some good sourdough bread from it.

- Make at least 1 natural household cleaner and use regularly.

- Start doing breathing/ relaxation exercises at least twice a week.

The best part of some of these goals is the hunting for good recipes, oh how i love a recipe hunt.
Wish me luck!

6 comments:

  1. 2 lambs, a pig and half-a-calf??? You must have a substantial freezer. ;-)

    We just bought our first lamb and have 2 turkeys in the freezer along with a few other things and that baby is full. ;-)

    Make sure you go to a proper running store to get your shoes. The people are very nice, always excited to meet new runners and know how to fit your foot properly. Your knees and ankles will thank you. :-)

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  2. Hehe yes we have a huge freezer, but the calf wont be till late in the year but yes it is still chocka!
    I would love proper running shoes but i'm not sure about the cost i'll just have to go in and check it out. I am finding my knees and ankles a bit achy so it would probably be worth it.

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  3. Here in the US a proper pair of running shoes goes for about $90-115. Not sure what that means for you.

    They will video you running on a tread mill and show you any pronation or such that you might be having. Then they will pull out a few pairs that should work for your situation.

    It's definitely worth it to get proper fit... But also they have better quality shoes. The ones you get at the big box retailers are made with lesser quality materials in the soles, so you'll get let cushion and will have to replace them more frequently.

    A good pair of running shoes should last 400-600 miles (640-960km).

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  4. Thanks Kathryn, i ended up taking the plunge and getting a proper pair of running shoes fitted. I looked at cheaper pairs but they were still not cheap and i decided a healthy back and being able to continue exercising was more important. Wish me luck, here's hoping tomorrows run will be a lot more comfortable.

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  5. Keep going with the bread. M first sourdough attempts were particularly brick like.
    As for the running I want to get back into it too... oh it's going to hurt.

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    Replies
    1. Oh thanks, any advice on how often to feed it? Online i've read everything from twice a day to once a week!

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