Are you looking for the perfect time to make a change in your life?
I was.
It never came.
There was always an excuse on why I couldn’t change my eating. That big party coming up, a family reunion, Valentine’s day, Christmas, summer….. Look at a calendar, I’m sure you would struggle to find 6 straight weeks without some sort of “holiday” or “celebration”- some excuse why you have to eat, drink and be merry!
I started clean eating the worst week, worst month, worst year possible. I started the first week of February.
Worst week: I was facing an entire week of teaching Full Day Kindergarten (as a former high school teacher- not my strength or my first love)
Perfect end to a day of teaching kindergarten is chips and beer!
Worst month: February. The shortest month of days but I just find this month drags. By February I’m sick of winter, all my Facebook friends are heading on glamorous vacation while I have my staycation in Puerto Backyarda. All I want to do in February is paint my toenails and make piña coladas in my Ninja Blender! Throw in the chocolate laced Valentine’s Day and Family day weekend with its trip to the Rideau Canal’s Beaver Tails.
Is this the month you want to dump booze and sugar?
Worst year: We are renovating! If you look back at some of the pictures on this blog you can see a few hints of the construction zone I am living in (and have been since October). In a few pictures you can see the lack of flooring, no back splash, and the general chaos we are living in. In February, I had no kitchen. Actually, I had 2 kitchens but both of them were less than functional.

The first picture is the new kitchen going up. The second picture you can see the our original kitchen amidst the construction.
Isn’t this the perfect time to stop eating anything out of a package and commit to making all my own food? Ha! I didn’t think so either. But it was time. I was sick of being overweight and unhealthy. Good thing I didn’t wait- our renovation is still ongoing :S The kitchen is 80% finished but the rest of the house is still a work in progress.
February turned out to be the perfect time to change my diet. I survived my week of FDK, my hubby gave me good quality dark chocolate for Valentine’s day and eating clean gave me something positive to focus on, something I could control during our chaotic renovation. It turned out to be the best time ever!
I’m not saying it was easy. There were family reunions, ski trips, birthday parties, March Break, Easter……. so many temptations. But you know what? I didn’t drink, I didn’t eat crappy food…. but I still had a great time at all those events. I brought my own food to the family reunion, ate kale salad beside the ski hill, drank sparkling water at the birthday party, etc…
Timing isn’t everything. There will never be a perfect time. Make your time now.
A recipe that really helped me through those days was this recipe for homemade Chocolate Protein Bars. They are super easy to make and make a quick snack to grab on the go. You can find the recipe at http://www.innerathletes.net/recipes.html The recipe is almost at the bottom of all the recipes.

After it has baked, let cool then cut into 9 bars.

I usually double or even triple the recipe and keep the bars in the freezer. These bars taste so much better than store bought protein bars and they are nut free.

The time is now to put yourself first and change for the better.

Choose happy 🙂