Eat real food, one day at a time.

Last week, my three and a half year old son ran over to our fireplace stoop (his stage, of course) and began belting out some adorable lyrics to a song I know all too well, courtesy of that big purple dinosaur.

"Because we learn big things a little at a time

To go right up the mountain, first we learn to climb

I can be anything when I grow up

By learning a little at a time"

Who would ever figure that Barney could push me from contemplation to action?  This was an idea I've been wrestling with for months now.  Barney just solidified it for me.  Or likely it was the adorable kid singing a Barney song that did it.

We learn big things a little at a time.  To go up a mountain, first we have to learn to climb.  If I want to learn something, chances are good that I can.  As long as I pace myself and learn a little at a time.

To really drive this theme home, as I was reading The Organized Kitchen the other day, I came across these paragraphs:

"One of the biggest temptations in almost every area of life is to try to take on too much, too fast.  This is a huge problem when it comes to getting your kitchen under control.  Instead of trying to tackle organizational problems in small, manageable steps, people are often tempted to try to take on the entire room (or even the entire house) at once.

When too much is taken on too fast, people quickly experience 'crash-and-burn' syndrome.  You can quickly become discouraged, paralyzed, and exhausted, collapsing on a kitchen chair and looking around with despair.  But it doesn't have to be this way!"

Well if you've followed this blog for a bit, you know I do this.  Remember when I took on re-organizing the entire house in like a week?  I burned out BIG TIME.

At my six week check-up with my midwife recently, I was telling her how I've determined I'm a sugar addict so I'm going to quit sugar cold turkey.  She told me to tackle it in manageable steps, one at a time.  I explained to her that's not how I work.  I dive right into it and take no prisoners.  I will accomplish all the things!

I am a self-inflicted victim of crash-and-burn syndrome for sure.  How many things have I started and stopped?  So many.  How many things have I devoted a lot of time/energy/money to and then decided quickly that I didn't like?  Too many.

I am a do-something-new addict.  The truth is, I don't need to operate this way.  In fact, it is precisely because I've operated this way that I've left so many half-finished projects in my wake.

I've talked a lot to my husband about this recently, because it really is applicable to my issues surrounding food.  I'm a foodie.  I'm crunchy/hippie/granola.  I love to read about food, eat food, cook food and, truthfully, obsess about food.  I've watched so many food documentaries that I'm embarrassed to even write down the number.  But over and over I've tried to apply every concept I know about food all at once and then, a few weeks (or months) in, I burn out.  I fall back to my old, easy ways and soon we're eating packaged food and don't have a speck of local or organic food anywhere in our house.  Rinse and repeat a few dozen times over the past three years.

When I think back on the changes I've made in my life that have stuck, they're the ones I inadvertently accomplished a little at a time.  I didn't purposely take small steps, but for one reason or another, life forced me to take small steps.  To learn a little at a time, as Barney would say.

So here it is: my goal, my desire, put out there for accountability.  I've been studying food for three years and I feel pretty well versed in what is or isn't healthy and ALL the different philosophies of food.  I feel passionately knowledgeable and I feel it's my calling.  But for too long, I've felt I have to accomplish every part of a real food diet all at one time or what's the point?  Right?!

Wrong.  My journey is one of slow and steady change.  I will write out every goal I have - the big picture, or, every step I hope to have accomplished at the end of this journey.  And I will tackle it, one at a time, until each becomes a habit; until each change is just a new way of life rather than an overwhelming addition to my packed schedule.

Anyone want to join along?  I'll share each step here in depth.  I'll share the changes we see (or don't see) and whether or not I feel it's a valuable change that's worth the extra time, work or effort.  I'll be raw and honest, pinkie promise.  No sugar coating (or sugar consuming!) here.  :)

If you want to join along, let me know!  I don't expect it, but I would be stoked to have just one person to share the excitement (or disappointment/frustration, etc) with.  I'm writing out all my goals over this coming week and I'm starting my new journey next Monday (Aug. 20).